News

Sales and Customer Management

September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11
Government faces complaints over public sector contracts

The revelations over increased complaints come against a background of more determination by the government to get more SME suppliers selling into the public sector to encourage competitiveness and better deals in the hunt for savings as the deficit...
September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11
Butters heads to Easynet Global Services

Former BT Engage IT sales director Gary Butters is heading to manage network, hosting and services provider Easynet Global Services to head up its UK sales and marketing activities.
September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11
CSC hires to support services growth ambitions

Services and outsourcing outfit CSC has made a series of hires to boost its growth ambitions, key among them the appointment of former Fujitsu cloud services boss Jon Green as vice president of Global Business Services for the UK, Nordics and ...
August 30, 2011 30 Aug'11
Computacenter profits up a quarter despite UK weakness

Computacenter has turned in pre-tax profit for the first half of £26.2m, up 25%, on sales of £1.37bn, up 6%, following a strong product performance in its performance in mainland Europe, which masked the impact of continued weakness at ...

August 22, 2011 22 Aug'11
Business process outsourcing growth set to continue

Business process outsourcing is set to grow by just shy of double digits in Western Europe this year as customers keep the faith with using third-party providers to help them rather than returning these functions back in-house.
August 19, 2011 19 Aug'11
Tinglobal and Vickers set sights on services growth

Tinglobal is looking to build its services business and expand its operations as it looks to a fresh fiscal year with venture capital backing and the expertise of channel veteran Andy Vickers.
August 16, 2011 16 Aug'11
SAS Group boss reveals tough managed services landscape

Managed services providers are facing customer calls for price reductions and more features without raising fees as the impact of the fragile economic conditions dictate customer attitudes towards outsourced support. The tough state of the market ...
August 15, 2011 15 Aug'11
Recruitment trend likely to flounder as confidence dips

Cisco isn't going to be the only firm looking to protect the bottom line by taking the axe to staff numbers with warnings that plenty of other UK businesses are considering reducing headcount as the economy heads back into choppy waters.
August 10, 2011 10 Aug'11
Managed services growth delivers the numbers for Kelway

Kelway has pointed to the demand for managed services as one of the main contributors to a significant increase in its revenues for its fiscal year.
July 28, 2011 28 Jul'11
UK government should open up IT contracts to SMEs, say MPs

The UK government needs to beef up its in house IT skills, widen its supplier base and reduce its reliance on outsourcing after wasting "an obscene amount of public money" on IT projects.

July 27, 2011 27 Jul'11
Amazon international cloud growth dwarfed by American performance

Growth at Amazon's web services division internationally is falling further behind the company's performance in the North American market where AWS reported a massive revenue growth rate of 85% for its latest quarter.
July 26, 2011 26 Jul'11
Paying by credit card online? Use your webcam says Jumio

US Payment Company Jumio has released technology which it claims turns any webcam into a secure credit card reader making it easier for merchants to accept online payments.
July 26, 2011 26 Jul'11
CA partners adapt to deliver cloud-based services

Large numbers of CA partners are set to adapt their business models to provide cloud-based services for data protection and managed services for backup and data management - and nearly a third have already moved to a cloud model.
July 26, 2011 26 Jul'11
CA to offer services training for IT grads

CA Technologies hopes to give recent computing graduates a leg up in the services-driven IT sector through a new programme called the Associate Services Graduate Programme (ASCP), reports ComputerWeekly.com.
July 25, 2011 25 Jul'11
Red tape costs UK small businesses £16.8bn, survey claims

UK small businesses have claimed red tape is costing them up to £16.8bn a year and they are missing out on nearly £30bn of business opportunities because of the time and resources they spend dealing with regulation.
July 22, 2011 22 Jul'11
Mobile payment market growth slows in 2011

The mobile payment market is growing slower than expected and the mass market adoption of near field communication (NFC) payments is at least four years away.
July 22, 2011 22 Jul'11
Sony insurer claims policy does not cover data breach claims

The difficulties of insuring against cyber-attacks have been thrown into sharp relief with the news that one of Sony's insurers has gone to court to escape having to indemnify the electronics giant against claims arising from the massive data breach...
July 19, 2011 19 Jul'11
Adobe purchase of Echosign hit by patent lawsuit from rival RPost

Barely hours after Adobe's acquisition of web-based provider of electronic signature and signature automation, Echo sign, the companies have been hit by a lawsuit filed by US-based rival Post alleging infringement of 5 of its patents.
July 19, 2011 19 Jul'11
IBM beats Q2 estimates, raises expectations for full year

IBM's mainframe revenue jumped 61% as it posted better than expected results for its second quarter with revenue up 12% to $26.7bn and an 8% increase in net income to $3.7bn.
July 18, 2011 18 Jul'11
Akamai extends channel with NetAlliance partner programme

Cloud optimisation services specialist Akamai Technologies has announced plans to expand its channel with a partner programme designed to help global IT solution providers integrate the company's services into their offerings.
July 14, 2011 14 Jul'11
Yell launches local emarketplace

Resellers might well have used the Yellow Pages in the past to advertise their wares to the local business community but under plans unveiled by Yell dealers could be offered more interactive services.
July 12, 2011 12 Jul'11
UK product sales lag for Computacenter, but services upturn imminent

IT services provider Computacenter has said that product revenues from its more financial services-oriented customers in the UK were down 23 per cent in the first half of its financial year, even as it reveal edits first half profits will be "...
July 08, 2011 08 Jul'11
Systems integrators could take stake in police agency

Systems integrators that were paid billions to supply police computer systems could take a stake in the agency managing their contracts when it is privatised next year, writes Mark Ballard. Gordon Wasserman, who was responsible for police ...
July 07, 2011 07 Jul'11
Phoenix brings in former Fujitsu Services boss as CEO

Phoenix IT Group has filled its CEO position, which was going to become vacant at the end of the month with the departure of Nick Robinson, with a former Fujitsu Services UK boss David Courtley.
July 06, 2011 06 Jul'11
CFO's the power behind the IT budget

Resellers should be aware who holds the purse strings as dissatisfaction with the business benefits of IT lead to change in ownership of purchasing decisions, writes Linda Endersby.
July 04, 2011 04 Jul'11
IT services supplier Capita buys Ventura for £65m

Capita has bought contact centre business Ventura for £65m in a further sign of IT and BPO consolidation, writes Karl Flinders.
June 29, 2011 29 Jun'11
Ignoring customers will cost resellers

Those resellers that ignore customers and fail to update them on progress of IT projects and deployments face losing business. Lack of communication turned out to be one of the major reasons that suppliers were sacked by customers according to a ...
June 24, 2011 24 Jun'11
Data is the new oil? That's just too much

Judging by Google, there seem to be a lot of people around at the moment who are opening their presentations with the bold statement that "data is the new oil".
June 24, 2011 24 Jun'11
Network overhaul needed to boost remote working capabilities

Managed services provider Calyx has responded to this week's annual CBI and Harvey Nash employment trends survey, which talked up the growing importance of flexible working to UK businesses.
June 22, 2011 22 Jun'11
Five minute interviews

Find out a little more about what makes some of your favourite channel folk tick with our probing interviews.
June 21, 2011 21 Jun'11
Sysec plans for security services growth

Security specialist Sysec has outlined its ambitions to expand its managed services business after hiring an ex-Computer Associates staffer to run that operation.
June 07, 2011 07 Jun'11
Computacenter blamed in public sector open source row

Systems integrator (SI) Computacenter has taken fire in a growingbust-up over open source software at Bristol City Council, which MPs have been told proves the government's open source ICT strategy isunworkable, writes Mark Ballard. In a letter to ...
June 06, 2011 06 Jun'11
Acronis launches licensing model for managed services providers

Acronis is to give managed services providers (MSPs) access to a new monthly subscription-based licensing model for resellers looking to provide disaster recovery and data protection services to their end-user base.
June 02, 2011 02 Jun'11
Intact hands UK MD role to services boss Pett

Managed support services provider Intact Integrated Services has appointed its vice president of service operations Alan Pett to the role of UK managing director.
May 25, 2011 25 May'11
Creating a sustainable and scalable managed services business

Complimentary seminar from MicroScope in association with Kaseya Dates Thursday 9th June @ Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
April 20, 2011 20 Apr'11
Computacenter UK product sales floored by gov budget cuts

Government austerity measures took a toll on Computacenter's (CC) UK numbers as product sales fell by double digits in the calendar year to date but growth in services and continental businesses steadied group figures.
April 11, 2011 11 Apr'11
Computacenter buys into German Apple channel

Computacenter (CC) has made its second acquisition in as many weeks, snapping up German Apple integrator HSD Consult for €4.9m (£4.3m).
March 18, 2011 18 Mar'11
Computacenter underwrites IT cost savings in VDC sales push

Computacenter (CC) is trying to convince hard pressed CIOs to deploy its Virtual Data Centre by underwriting the IT cost savings.
March 15, 2011 15 Mar'11
Serco acquires Lawrence Dallaglio, contact centre firm

Outsourcing and BPO giant Serco has put down £55.9m - including £16.4m of debt repayment - to acquire contact centre services provider The Listening Company.
March 14, 2011 14 Mar'11
Data centre outsourcing on the rise after recession

After a rough twelve months for the market, data centre specialist Sentrum has noted increased willingness among UK IT buyers to start outsourcing at least some of their data centre requirements.
March 10, 2011 10 Mar'11
Computacenter files solid 2010 financials

Computacenter (CC) released a solid set of 2010 financials this morning that were underpinned by corporate customers replacing ageing infrastructure kit and a steady growth in services.
February 24, 2011 24 Feb'11
Business services sector set for growth

Resellers offering professional business services appear to be in a better place than firms that concentrate on the consumer market. The CBI's latest survey of the services sector reveals a full year of decline in the consumer space but growth and ...
February 16, 2011 16 Feb'11
Resellers urged to deal with more service queries online

Resellers are being encouraged to provide more help for their customers online via their websites and through social media platforms.
February 15, 2011 15 Feb'11
Computacenter stumps up £17.6m for Top Info

Computacenter (CC) has bulked up its French operation after splashing out €21m (£17.6m) on reseller Top Info SAS.
February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11
Phoenix IT Group staff defections to Concorde continues

Concorde Informatics Technology Group (CITG) has hired Servo's client director Matthew Wood to head up business development, adding to the growing band of defectors that have exited businesses owned by Phoenix IT Group.
February 02, 2011 02 Feb'11
Insight hires former HP exec to head up services push

Insight has named former HP Vistorm exec Steve Browell as director of services to renew its efforts in the market ahead of launching tools to migrate and manage customers in their transition to the cloud.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
HP offers cut down EDS services to mid-market partners

HP is drawing down the first line of services from its acquisition of EDS with the launch of Critical Advantage Services (CAS), to take channel partners beyond pure break fix and into areas including managed applications.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
EMC boosts channel with VMXe decision

Good news for the channel with EMC's announcement that the new SMB VNXe unified storage packages will not be available to its longstanding partner Dell which has been selling low-end EMC gear since 2001.
January 17, 2011 17 Jan'11
Computacenter CEO: we'll look to acquire this year

Computacenter will use its cash pile to fund acquisitions or return cash to shareholders in the second half of the year, according to chief executive Mike Norris.
January 12, 2011 12 Jan'11
Logicalis reveals secrets of public sector success

Logical is has taken the unprecedented step of releasing a framework document that reveals its secrets of being a successful supplier to the public sector.
January 12, 2011 12 Jan'11
Northgate creates public sector services outfit

Northgate has shuffled its management pack and underlined its commitment to the public sector after concluding a strategic review in response to the government led cutbacks aimed at reducing the deficit.
January 11, 2011 11 Jan'11
Computacenter talks up market recovery as 2010 sales rise

Computacenter is bullish that the economic recovery is sustainable after reporting rises in product and services sales across the group for 2010. The London-based firm today issued a trading update revealing services revenue on a constant currency ...
December 15, 2010 15 Dec'10
HP to add multi-vendor support to contractual services

HP has vowed to introduce multi-vendor support into its contractual services play for resellers next year and price it aggressively as it tries to recapture lost business from third party maintainers.
December 15, 2010 15 Dec'10
Atos Origin buys Siemens IT Services

German technology giant Siemens AG is selling its money-losing IT Solutions and Services division to French integrator Atos Origin for €850m (£720m).
December 01, 2010 01 Dec'10
Channel plunged into deep freeze

Distributors are battling through the wintry conditions with disruptions to deliveries in the north of England and Scotland amid forecasts that the weather will not improve until the weekend.
November 29, 2010 29 Nov'10
Phoenix IT Group to merge Servo and ICM businesses

Phoenix IT Group is to merge its Servo and ICM Continuous Business division from the beginning of April in a nod to the converging technologies they sell.
November 18, 2010 18 Nov'10
2e2 finalises outsourcing deal with Patni

2e2 has farmed out a range of customer and in-house support services to Patni Computer Systems in a deal that has resulted in one quarter of its team transferring to the Indian outsourcer's local operation.
November 17, 2010 17 Nov'10
Civica Services names Xerox GM Ginnelly as MD

Civica Services has named Xerox UK veteran Chris Ginnelly as the successor to outgoing managing director Steve Reynolds.
November 09, 2010 09 Nov'10
HP to examine Care Pack services rebate scheme

HP Americas is reviewing the Penetration Rate Index (PRI) used to calculate rebates in the Services Specialisation Programme following partner criticism, in a move that could have implications for resellers closer to home.
November 08, 2010 08 Nov'10
Large wireless deals contribute to Anite half year performance

Anite has revealed a couple of wireless deals transacted last month have helped it finish its half year with a flourish and trading has met the expectations the board laid down at the start of autumn.
November 03, 2010 03 Nov'10
HP overhauls services partner schemes following complaints

HP has overhauled its services partner programmes in response to partner complaints about the metrics used to calculate sales rebates.
November 02, 2010 02 Nov'10
Computacenter managing director Walsh resigns

Long standing Computacenter director Simon Walsh is leaving the firm at the end of the year to pursue opportunities outside of the company with his role to be divided up between existing management.
November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10
365 iT buys Fox IT

Basingstoke-based reseller 365 iT has notched up its fifth acquisition in four years by snapping up small service management and governance specialist Fox IT.
November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10
IBM puts cloud under services wing

IBM has repositioned its approach to selling cloud computing, putting sales of the technology under the umbrella of its services division. Big Blue is also recognising user fears around a wholesale shift to the cloud offering to sell services ...
November 01, 2010 01 Nov'10
Five minute interview: Alex Teh, Vigil Software

MicroScope puts its questions to Alex Teh, commercial director of Vigil Software What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? The best advice I received came from one of the founders of Vigil Software.
October 29, 2010 29 Oct'10
Pension changes could prompt SMEs to use more temps

Government plans to force companies to provide pensions for employees and eradicate the default retirement age will "deal a double blow to smaller employers" and push them to take on temporary and self-employed staff.
October 28, 2010 28 Oct'10
Commercial outsourcing deals down in EMEA

The total contract value (TCV) of commercial outsourcing deals in the UK and Germany fell by a half in the first nine months compared to 2009, far below the overall decline of 10% experienced in the EMEA market in Q3.
October 27, 2010 27 Oct'10
Connect introduces cloud-based business continuity scheme

Connect has launched a UK channel programme for resellers to sell a range of cloud-based business continuity services to the SME market.
October 15, 2010 15 Oct'10
Compuatcenter flies in Q3 despite Government slowdown

Computacenter (CC) had a storming third quarter in all its geographies after an improving commercial - particularly financial services - business more than offset declines in UK public sector spending.
September 29, 2010 29 Sep'10
Reseller attitudes to outsourcing evolving

Resellers are increasingly looking to outsource parts of the support demanded of them to third party specialists in order to keep customers contented.
September 07, 2010 07 Sep'10
Outsourcing spending on IT services set to grow

Outsourcing is set to grow this year particularly on the IT services front as more firms across Europe look to work with third parties.
August 27, 2010 27 Aug'10
Rebound product spend, services pay off for Computacenter

Computacenter chief executive Mike Norris has reported a strengthening rebound in infrastructure spending and steady growth in services during the six months to the end of June, after booking a 16.6% rise in pre-tax profits to £21.3m.
August 26, 2010 26 Aug'10
New Datapoint hires bulk up services practice

Networking and comms integrator Datapoint has announced the addition of ex-Avaya pre-sales team lead John Fenech to lead its UK and Ireland UC practice, and former HP man Meurig Jones as COO, as it moves to an enterprise managed services model.
August 24, 2010 24 Aug'10
Industry fears mount over ICT GCSE slump

Following last week's A-level results, this morning's GCSE results confirmed industry fears that the UK is not producing the new IT talent needed in the channel, writes Jenny Williams. Industry experts have warned that the 17% drop in the number of ...
August 20, 2010 20 Aug'10
Phone and preparation best tools to make a sale

The old methods remain the best for those resellers trying to get sales out of IT directors with the telephone and personal contact the most likely way to get a pitch heard and business won.
August 19, 2010 19 Aug'10
Systems integration, managed services shine for DiData

Dimension Data's Systems Integration and Managed Services units put in a strong trading performance for the three months to the end of June, the South Africa-based, London-listed firm said this morning in an interim management statement.
August 05, 2010 05 Aug'10
Fears UK will fall behind as pupils shun uninspiring ICT and Computing courses

Many of the pioneers of the IT industry and channel did not have an IT qualification and it's beginning to look as if the same will be true for future generations unless there's a dramatic improvement in ICT and Computer Science courses in schools.
July 26, 2010 26 Jul'10
Social networks influencing buying decisions

Those in the channel who ignore social networking do so at their cost with customers now using online platforms to influence purchasing decisions.
July 14, 2010 14 Jul'10
Griffin parent buys managed services outfit

Octium, the parent company behind business ISP Griffin Internet, has spent an undisclosed sum on the assets of managed services firm MBD.
July 13, 2010 13 Jul'10
Computacenter straddles services hobbyhorse as product slows

Services again became the primary growth engine for Computacenter in Q2 but good old fashioned product sales also contributed to top and bottom line growth, albeit lower than the first three months of 2010.
July 09, 2010 09 Jul'10
Customer relationship management benefits for SMEs

Every big business was a small business once. Therefore, selling to the present-day minnows will put you in pole position for selling to tomorrow's whales. They won't all make that leap - some won't want to - but the next generation of big beasts is...
July 06, 2010 06 Jul'10
Recovery continues but services sector remains fragile

Despite the UK economy continuing to emerge from recession there continues to be fears that the fragile recovery could be derailed.
July 02, 2010 02 Jul'10
Government launches campaign to free business from red tape

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has started his campaign to cut business red tape courting the public to find out which rules they would like to see axed.
July 01, 2010 01 Jul'10
Fujitsu to sell professional services via mid-market dealers

Fujitsu is opening up server and storage consolidation services to mid-market resellers that there previously aimed at large corporate and central Government customers.
June 21, 2010 21 Jun'10
IT services firms under pressure as CIOs look for value

Demands to reduce costs and the increasing need to innovate and transform business operations through IT will see outsourcing firms struggling to prove their worth, according to the latest KPMG report. While IT outsourcing is part of 'business as ...
June 10, 2010 10 Jun'10
Managed services filling gap left by reduced headcount

Businesses are holding off from replacing those IT staff that were jettisoned during the recession looking instead for the channel to fill the skills gap with its managed services expertise.
June 07, 2010 07 Jun'10
Bridging the skills gap

A sustained economic recovery might be on the horizon but persistent doubt about the immediate future has precipitated a crunch in the skills market as personnel in senior management positions keep their heads firmly below the parapet.
June 04, 2010 04 Jun'10
Analysis: IT innovation spending must be earnt

Those in the channel that might have been hoping that the customer attitude towards cost cutting IT budgets was lifting as the recession started to appear are set for disappointment.
June 03, 2010 03 Jun'10
Government sets sights on cutting red tape

The Business Secretary Vince Cable is setting out to cut red tape and reduce expensive legislation that is planned to be implemented but has yet to take effect.
June 02, 2010 02 Jun'10
More for less set to remain customer mentality

Those in the channel that might have been hoping that the customer attitude towards cost cutting IT budgets was lifting as the recession started to appear are set for disappointment.
May 24, 2010 24 May'10
Considerations for building a successful cloud offering

Mark Williams, managing director at Pensar, pinpoints the areas resellers should focus on when building cloud services. There is no doubting that cloud computing is an impassioned topic within the channel.
May 21, 2010 21 May'10
Seminar series: The future is managed services

The words "managed services" might as well be "here be dragons" for those resellers yet to make the move into delivering customer support in a different way, but the experience of those selling managed services is one that should inspire greater ...
May 20, 2010 20 May'10
Social networking increasing as reseller marketing tool

Blogs and online sources of news are the main places where IT decision makers are likely to turn to find information about their market.
May 10, 2010 10 May'10
New employment law affecting businesses in the channel

In recent years, the government has tried to make it easier for everyone to see the legislative changes that are coming by using a common commencement date system, writes Adam Bernstein.
May 04, 2010 04 May'10
Services revenue dips through recessionary year

Services revenue has been hit by the recession with revenues dipping worldwide last year and the consequences are still being felt in the market. According to a report into the global services market from Gartner revenue globally last year reached ...
April 23, 2010 23 Apr'10
How to make money in IT Managed Services

How to make money in IT Managed Services A complimentary seminar from MicroScope, in association with Kaseya Following the huge success of MicroScope's recent event.
April 23, 2010 23 Apr'10
Five minute interview: David Cuss, Quest Software

MicroScope puts its questions to David Cuss, partner sales manager at Quest Software
April 21, 2010 21 Apr'10
Capturing opportunities in education

Ian Curtis, head of UK and Ireland for interactive learning technology provider Promethean, looks at how resellers can ensure they are best placed to capitalise on demand for educational technology.
April 21, 2010 21 Apr'10
Symantec Hosted Services responds to calls for simplification

Symantec Hosted Services, formerly MessageLabs, has responded to reseller requests for simplification in its channel programs and enhanced the deal registration rewards it gives partners.
April 19, 2010 19 Apr'10
Trustmarque bolsters support for services specialists

Just weeks after Trustmarque cut support for volume resellers failing to add value it has moved to increase support for those dealers that are concentrating on services.