News

Salesforce Management

May 11, 2012 11 May'12
Regulatory pressures reveal poor risk management controls

A recent survey shows that in times of increasing regulatory pressures only a third of businesses think they have robust processes in place to manage governance risk and compliance (GRC), writes Linda Endersby.
May 10, 2012 10 May'12
Cisco bosses round on Huawei

Cisco's top brass have again shown they have Huawei on their minds, talking extensively about the competition and in particular their response to the growth of their Chinese rival on a conference call marking the end of Cisco's third quarter.
May 09, 2012 09 May'12
Avaya confirms Huawei man Culmer as Sheppard replacement

Avaya has confirmed the acquisition of Simon Culmer as its new UK and Ireland managing director, replacing Andrew Sheppard, who departed the comms firm in April after just eight months in charge.
May 08, 2012 08 May'12
Global SMB IT spend on the rise, reports Spiceworks

According to the State of SMB IT survey results released today by Spiceworks, the social business network, SMBs are continuing to expand IT budgets, which now average £94,000 ($152,000) per year, writes Linda Endersby.

May 04, 2012 04 May'12
Column: Wanted: honest relationship. Ts&Cs need not apply

Recently, one of the big supermarkets complained that shoppers are cheating them. It turns out that people who scan their own shopping are becoming increasingly dishonest.
May 04, 2012 04 May'12
Leasing becoming an option for cash-strapped firms

More customers are turning to leasing as a way to get access to funds in a bid to catch up on a few years of sluggish IT investment. Research carried out by Equanet has highlighted a three-year gap in technology investment, which is hampering ...
May 03, 2012 03 May'12
Acer eyes corporate resellers with new channel programme

Acer has revealed details of a new partner programme, launching in June, that it hopes will enable it to take a larger slice of the corporate market, while keeping focus on the SMB sector.
May 02, 2012 02 May'12
ACEs shortlist announced

The shortlist for the MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence has been unveiled with voting now open. A large number of entries made the judging of the long-list a challenge with many submissions containing quality reference points to back up the ...
May 01, 2012 01 May'12
Column: Just who is the ICO penalising with fines for data breaches?

I was fascinated by a story concerning how the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) punishes organisations that self-report data breaches.
May 01, 2012 01 May'12
Cloud purchase pays off for ShoreTel, but net profit still elusive

ShoreTel's 1 February acquisition of cloud communications vendor M5 Networks looks to be paying off, the firm has revealed.

April 30, 2012 30 Apr'12
M-hance launches first graduate recruitment scheme

Microsoft software house m-hance has teamed up with specialist recruiters Discovery Graduates to launch its first graduate recruitment scheme.
April 30, 2012 30 Apr'12
Datapoint makes key managed services hire

Unified communications (UC) reseller and contact centre specialist Datapoint has recruited former Easy net professional services head Matt Taylor to "inject much-needed momentum into the development of [its] professional and managed services ...
April 27, 2012 27 Apr'12
Ingram Micro's Monié fuels midmarket M&A fire

Ingram Micro CEO Alain has spoken again of his willingness to grow the business through acquisitions, pointing to the midmarket as a potential target.
April 27, 2012 27 Apr'12
Northamber's strategy starting to stir more optimism

Northamber continues to move away from "high volume but empty revenue" business but has been forced to make redundancies in its logistics operations to keep on track.
April 27, 2012 27 Apr'12
Avnet sales down on Euro crisis, but margin boost cheers distie

The Eurozone debt crisis weighed heavily on Avnet's third quarter results, dragging down overall sales by just under 6% to $6.28bn (£3.88bn) as both Electronics Marketing (EM)and Technology Solutions (TS)divisions booked double digit declines ...
April 26, 2012 26 Apr'12
IT insolvencies rise as UK heads back into recession

The number of IT firms hitting the wall grew last month revealing the cost to businesses of struggling to keep trading in a double-dip recession.
April 25, 2012 25 Apr'12
Business unit star performer for Virgin Media

Virgin Media Business (VMB) has been hailed as the star performer in comms provider Virgin Media's latest quarter, with 7.1% growth in unit sales to £170.4m contributing close to 50% of the group's overall growth.
April 25, 2012 25 Apr'12
Carbon rising up the channel agenda

It's looking like June will be the first opportunity companies will have to buy carbon tax credits under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), writes David Galton-Fenzi.
April 25, 2012 25 Apr'12
Apple sour on PC tablet convergence

Tim Cook has dismissed the idea that Apple may look to converge its iPad and MacBook lines in the future, and said that while other endpoint hardware vendors may try to go down that route, it would likely be "from a defensive point of view."
April 23, 2012 23 Apr'12
Column: The poaching clause that sounds like a closed shop

So it looks as if Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Walt Disney and Pixar are going to have to face the prospect of a trial in a class action lawsuit claiming they conspired not to poach each other's staff, writes Billy MacInnes.
April 20, 2012 20 Apr'12
OpenStack not yet a mature competitor, says VMware CEO

VMware CEO Paul Maritz has dismissed Rackspace's OpenStack cloud computing project as "relatively immature" and not yet a competitive threat to the vSphere environment, saying that VMware's greater, nearer-term challenge will come from Microsoft.
April 20, 2012 20 Apr'12
In-depth: HMRC goes real time

Soon to be compulsory, employers need to know about Real Time Information (RTI), a project launched by the government some 18 months ago to overhaul the way PAYE is run in the UK, writes Jason Piper.
April 20, 2012 20 Apr'12
Customer experience marketing is in the cloud of confusion

Customers. Let's be honest, they're an expensive pain in the assets. You can never do enough for them so who'd blame you if you took a leaf out of one famous telco's book and didn't bother?
April 17, 2012 17 Apr'12
Mid-sized firms losing out on talent to competition

Mid-sized firms are struggling to secure the top talent as they miss out on some of the most attractive staff to start-ups or larger rivals prepared to give bigger salaries.
April 17, 2012 17 Apr'12
Industry job applications hit new high

Specialist IT recruitment agency CV Screen has reported a surge in applicants for IT jobs, with an average of 194 applications per advertised vacancy during the last 12 months, suggesting that confidence in the sector was bouncing back.
April 17, 2012 17 Apr'12
Notion to back cloud firms with $150m investment fund

Investment specialist Notion Capital has unveiled plans to invest up to $150m in cloud computing and Software as a service (SaaS) companies in the UK and Europe.
April 16, 2012 16 Apr'12
Gartner survey reveals CEOs will increase IT investment

According to a new Gartner CEO Survey 85% percent of CEOs believe their enterprises will be impacted by an economic downturn in 2012, writes Linda Endersby. Despite this cautionary feel most CEOs will increase IT investment, but the analyst house ...
April 13, 2012 13 Apr'12
IT market leading jobs recovery

The IT market is leading the recovery in employment opportunities with the number of permanent vacancies in the sector hitting an eight year high.
April 11, 2012 11 Apr'12
Axing ICT teaching could worsen skills gap

With the deadline looming for responses to the government's proposal to axe ICT from the school curriculum one of the industry skills groups has called for a rethink.
April 10, 2012 10 Apr'12
Palo Alto in $175m IPO bid

Network security vendor Palo Alto Networks has taken the first step along the road to going public, filing a registration statement with the SEC ahead of an IPO that it is thought could value the fast-growing enterprise firewall specialist at as ...
April 05, 2012 05 Apr'12
Azlan revamps SMARTnet quote tool for Cisco VARs

C2000 enterprise networking wing Azlan has unveiled a series of tweaks to its Felix platform, which provides quoting, ordering and contract management for resellers using Cisco's SMART net support services plan.
April 05, 2012 05 Apr'12
FAST, Trading Standards piracy campaign heads for South East

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and Trading Standards are to bring their anti-software piracy campaign to London and the South East, writes Linda Endersby.
April 05, 2012 05 Apr'12
UK economy pulls back from brink of double dip

Fears of a double dip recession have receded slightly after the latest UK Services Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) from Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply (CIPS) showed the economy grew at its strongest rate in the first ...
April 04, 2012 04 Apr'12
Scottish IT firms encouraged to get behind paid intern scheme

Channel businesses located north of the border are being encouraged to support a new initiative from e-Placement Scotland.
April 03, 2012 03 Apr'12
Cashflow problems threaten to stall SME growth ambitions

Cashflow continues to be a problem for businesses struggling to get through the recession and could be holding back growth.
March 28, 2012 28 Mar'12
Tech employers confident they can fill jobs gap

Hopes that have been pinned on the private sector as being a source for jobs to offset public sector cuts look well placed when it comes to the IT market.
March 27, 2012 27 Mar'12
Workers want more spent on training

British workers would like to see their firms reinvest money into training with staff viewing some of the spending in other areas as wasteful.
March 22, 2012 22 Mar'12
Resellers urged to recognise rapidly changing landscape

Resellers have to be aware that the world has shifted away from Windows dominance as consumerisation starts to have a dramatic effect on the platforms being used in the workplace.
March 19, 2012 19 Mar'12
Juniper channel operation coalesces around social media

In the wake of a major partner programme refresh, Juniper Networks is making the case for integrating channel marketing strategies more tightly with social media, saying its partners need to transform the way in which they interact with both vendors...
March 13, 2012 13 Mar'12
Events: The Level Platforms MSP opportunity

The way events usually work is that resellers gather in a room and a vendor stands up and talks about how their solution can improve their lives. Usually the vendor, although with many years in the business, is coming from a background having worked...
March 12, 2012 12 Mar'12
Nominations open for MicroScope ACEs

MicroScope has opened the nominations for the Awards for Channel Excellence, which offer categories for resellers, distributors and vendors. Now in their fifth year, the ACEs have become established as awards that are worth boasting about if you are...
March 06, 2012 06 Mar'12
C2000 cuts ribbon on new digs

Computer 2000 has bid farewell to its Basingstoke home of 18 years, moving a mile up the road to new facilities at Chine ham Park.
February 22, 2012 22 Feb'12
Low returns to C2000 in public sector role

After a five-year stint at rival distie Ingram Micro, Cathi Low is heading back to Computer 2000 to take up the role of director of public sector, as Tech Data's UK arm preps a major expansion drive into the education, healthcare and government ...
February 13, 2012 13 Feb'12
Banks fail to deliver promised credit

The high street banks have failed to deliver the level of credit to SMEs that the pledged as part of Project Merlin. The banks were meant to hand out loans totalling £76bn last year but figures from the British Banking Association revealed ...
February 09, 2012 09 Feb'12
Monié sets out Ingram Micro strategy

Incoming Ingram Micro CEO Alain Moni has pledged to improve productivity within the business, grow its higher margin specialty business and invest heavily in its cloud proposition.
February 06, 2012 06 Feb'12
SMEs in the firing line as banks cut lending

Credit for SMEs is set to become an even bigger headache as the volume of lending from the major banks drops. A warning sounded by Ernst & Young groups SMEs along with those individuals with credit problems as likely to be the hardest hit as loan ...
February 06, 2012 06 Feb'12
CompTIA calls on channel to tackle IT misconceptions

Industry trade association CompTIA claims to have uncovered a damning lack of career information for those interested in pursuing a job in IT, with misconceptions and half-truths about the sector a bounding.
January 31, 2012 31 Jan'12
Big data and mobile highlighting skills shortages

The skills shortage is being felt acutely by those employers looking for IT staff in large firms and across London and the South as big data, mobile solutions and the need to meet regulations stretch existing resources.
January 31, 2012 31 Jan'12
Phoenix cutting 300 jobs as costs hamper business

Following a period of trading roughly in-line with the board's expectations, system integrator Phoenix IT Group has put a figure to the number of jobs it expects to cut as part of an ongoing restructuring programme, saying that over 300 back-office ...
January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12
Government called to think again about protecting creditors

The government's decision to abandon plans to make pre-pack administrations harder to enter into have been criticised for failing to protect creditors and vulnerable suppliers.
January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12
Demand for IT jobs set to grow

The demand for IT jobs is not expected to slow down this year as the demand for skilled staff continues to be a priority for recruiters looking to fill gaps in headcount.
January 24, 2012 24 Jan'12
Dunn takes HP role at Azlan

Azlan continues to shuffle its management pack promoting Nigel Dunn to run its HP business unit covering the vendors servers, networking and storage product lines.
January 20, 2012 20 Jan'12
Ingram CEO Spierkel calls it a day, shows channel the Monie

Ingram Micro CEO Greg Spierkel has announced his retirement from the role, with the reins of power to be passed to current COO Alan Monie. Spierkel has been with the broad liner since 1997, and ran APAC and EMEA for a spell before becoming corporate...
January 11, 2012 11 Jan'12
Teaching of computer skills to be revised with industry input

The computer industry is going to have an input into shaping the technology skills that school children pick up in the future as the current teaching programme of ICT gets scrapped.
January 10, 2012 10 Jan'12
Computer skills climbing on government agenda

The government minister for culture, communications and the creative industry has revealed that learning computer skills is something that the public needs to improve on if they are to exploit changes in the digital world.
December 16, 2011 16 Dec'11
Steria keeping eye on wage bill as staff walk out

Steria has set out its position over a pay dispute with staff revealing that it cannot add to its wages bill in the current economic climate.
December 14, 2011 14 Dec'11
Lack of skilled staff holding back SME growth

The lack of skills have again been highlighted as a problem holding back growth in the economy.
December 06, 2011 06 Dec'11
Watt benefits from senior reshuffle at Avnet

Graeme Watt has been promoted in a senior reshuffle at Avnet which sees the channel veteran extend his role at the distributor beyond its Technology Solutions operation.
December 02, 2011 02 Dec'11
Goom confirmed as UK managing director at Dimension Data

Dimension Data has shuffled its senior management team unveiling a fresh face in the managing director chair as well as the solutions and sales director positions.
November 30, 2011 30 Nov'11
Business groups call for greater investment in skills

There has been a call for more focus on developing skills, particularly at the SME end of the market, following the Autumn Statement.
November 28, 2011 28 Nov'11
Government credit easing fund could reach £40bn

With just a day to go before the Chancellor stands up and delivers the Autumn Statement it's already becoming clear that there should be billions of more pounds worth of credit for SMEs on offer.
November 14, 2011 14 Nov'11
Small business lending drops

The level of credit that banks are providing to SMEs has declined despite the best efforts of the government to force them to increase the flow of cash to smaller firms.
November 03, 2011 03 Nov'11
C2000 hands former LG Electronics mobile boss Brightstar role

Computer 2000 has appointed the former head of LG Electronics UK mobile division to run the Brightstar Europe operation.
October 31, 2011 31 Oct'11
Bank profits grow but calls for SME lending continue

The banks are being urged to do more to lend to small businesses with signs that where possible the finance sector is giving finance to those larger firms it deems to be safer bets.
October 27, 2011 27 Oct'11
Business collaboration could drive sustainable living

Businesses could wield a powerful influence over how people in the UK modify their behaviour towards more sustainable behaviour, especially if they collaborate to develop a set of ideas.
October 26, 2011 26 Oct'11
Office page print volumes fall for the first time

Office-based staff have reduced the number of pages they printed for the first time ever in 2011 - but the proportion of pages wasted has remained high at 62%.
October 26, 2011 26 Oct'11
Value added distribution is key, says Citrix

Citrix has stressed the importance of maintaining a value added distribution channel in the face of increasing pressure from larger distributor rivals. EMEA vice president of channel strategy Carsten Thomsen said it was one of Citrix's priorities to...
October 25, 2011 25 Oct'11
Cost still an issue for desktop virtualisation customers

The cost of additional infrastructure, licensing issues and complexity of virtualisation technologies are top of the list when it comes to customer concerns about desktop virtualisation.
October 20, 2011 20 Oct'11
Kyocera Mita hopes to spark spending with finance package

Kyocera Mita has launched a finance programme to give resellers more of a chance getting customers to splash out on hardware and document management solutions.
October 20, 2011 20 Oct'11
Banks still not doing enough for SMEs

The banks have long been criticised by resellers, customers and politicians alike for failing to provide enough credit and support for cash-strapped firms and the situation shows little sign of improving.
October 20, 2011 20 Oct'11
Wozniak urges industry to innovate

Steve Wozniak, the founder of Apple, has been sharing his experience in the industry with attendees at IP Expo urging the IT community to continue innovation.
October 18, 2011 18 Oct'11
Resellers encouraged to extend brand through LinkedIn

Resellers should encourage their best and brightest to shine on social media platforms rather than try to stem the adoption of tools like LinkedIn if they want to get the most out of online networking tools.
October 14, 2011 14 Oct'11
Channel has role to play plugging skills gap

The IT skills gap will only get wider unless more action is taken by both businesses and schools to get more young people to study ICT.
October 04, 2011 04 Oct'11
Fujitsu staff call off strike as talks spark breakthrough

Unite workers at Fujitsu have suspended strike action after a breakthrough in last minute discussions with the services giant.
October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11
Fujitsu strikers to take protest to Conservative party conference

Striking Fujitsu workers will protest at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester tomorrow as they try to highlight the ongoing struggle between the Union and the services specialist.
October 03, 2011 03 Oct'11
Osborne sets out plan to ease business credit

The challenge of helping businesses get access to credit continues to stir political debate with the Chancellor George Osborne using his speech at the Conservative Party conference to outline more measures to help cash-strapped firms.
September 29, 2011 29 Sep'11
Westcoast looks to spread apprentice sign-ups through channel

Westcoast is encouraging resellers to take an apprentice to help Britain improve its skills base and to grow the business through the current difficult trading conditions.
September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11
SMEs still struggling to get banking credit

Business Secretary Vince Cable might have taken to the stage at the Liberal Democrat conference today detailing plans to put more pressure on banks to lend to SMEs but the vast majority still feel left out in the cold over loans.
September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11
Avnet hires former Computacenter man to grow overseas

Avnet has hired former Computacenter and Bell Microproducts man Henry Godwin to help grow its operations in the Middle East and Africa. Godwin will be reporting into another former Bell old boy Graeme Watt and is charged with driving growth in what ...
September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11
Fujitsu staff to stage 24 hour walk out

Fujistu staff in Crewe and Manchester are staging a 24 walk out on Monday in a strike over victimisation of Union representatives.
September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11
UK IT consultants in demand from US firms

US firms are hiring UK IT consultants in the digital sector with an 275% increase in the number of American firms hiring Brits over the last year. The figures, from PeoplePerHour, showed IT and web programming as well as web design were the skills ...
September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11
IT recruitment remains steady

McGregor Boyall, specialist financial services recruiter, has published its latest IT recruitment report showing that hiring requirements are still significantly down on 2010, writes Linda Endersby.
September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11
HP's Autonomy deal keeps M&A activity going

Mergers and acquisitions watcher Regent has reported a significant number of deals last month with the HP billion dollar move for Autonomy taking the lion's share of the headlines, writes Linda Endersby.
September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11
Fujitsu could face penalties following Unite, PCS strikes

Services provider Fujitsu has been warned that it could face possible financial penalties should it fail to meet agreed SLAs as a result of industrial action by members of PCS and Unite, which is set for 19 September.
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...
August 24, 2011 24 Aug'11
IT sector failure rates rise but large customers hold firm

The number of IT firms hitting the wall rose slightly last month year-on-year as the number of insolvencies across the economy as a whole increased only slightly with large companies holding firm in the face of uncertainty.
August 19, 2011 19 Aug'11
Sacked Fujitsu union rep tribunal hearing set

An employment tribunal to deal with the case of the sacked Fujitsu union rep, which sparked a threat of strike action, will be heard next week.
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 08, 2011 08 Aug'11
SME owners turn to personal cash to stay afloat

Close to half of UK small business owners have injected personal cash into their firm to stay afloat as the cost of doing business in Britain remains high and banks continue to keep their wallets shut.
August 04, 2011 04 Aug'11
Meeting etiquette disrupted by technology

Technology might well have helped us become better connected and able to work more flexibly but it has also led to an increase in workplace rudeness with the humble business meeting the main victim of wandering minds.
August 02, 2011 02 Aug'11
In-depth: Holiday questions and answers

After a long hard winter the holiday season is finally upon us. Paid time off from work may mean a dream vacation for some, for others, the opportunity to catch up with friends, family or the gardening. Some may just take time out to do nothing.
July 29, 2011 29 Jul'11
Banks under pressure to meet SME loan commitments

Bank lending commitments to small businesses under the Project Merlin initiative are likely to come under renewed scrutiny when they report their half year results next week.
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
Job satisfaction? Show us the money say employees

Channel businesses would be well-advised to keep an eye on their staff because workers have revealed they are more likely to change jobs for better pay rather than more job satisfaction as they try to overcome the rising cost of living.
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
Workaholics or scared of losing their jobs? UK workers can't take a proper break

If you're reading this while on holiday, you're just another work-obsessed Brit who can't take a proper break when you head off on a vacation.
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 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...