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Salesforce Management

July 05, 2012 05 Jul'12
Skills warning as IT employment booms

A warning has been sounded by e-skills UK over the amount of new entrants into the IT and telco sectors required to keep growth on track over the rest of this decade
July 02, 2012 02 Jul'12
Avnet makes cuts in the North

Avnet Technology Solutions is set to close its Leeds office as it consolidates its Northern operations and has announced that Paul Cook is stepping down from his general sales role.
June 29, 2012 29 Jun'12
Channel struggling with skills shortage

MicroScope research reveals that resellers are finding it a major challenge to recruit skilled staff.
June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
Welcome to the new look MicroScope

Welcome to the new look MicroScope. All the news, analysis and opinions updating you on the latest channel developments are here on a freshly redesigned web site.

June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
Unite backs Fujitsu pay moves

Unite has approved of minimum wage changes made by Fujitsu increasing the minimum salary to £14,000
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
MicroScope's top stories, week ending 22 June 2012

Our regular look back at the top 10 most read stories on MicroScope.co.uk from the past week.
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
CompTIA may turn to schools to plug skills gap

Industry training organisation CompTIA is considering the possibility of targeting young people in secondary education with programmes and resources designed to tempt more people into ICT and channel careers.
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
CA Technologies unveils security boss to expand UK share

CA Technologies has brought on board a former Thales executive with experience of big projects including the national identity card scheme to handle its security business.
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
MicroScope ACEs winners revealed

The full list of the MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence has been revealed in the June digital magazine.
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
MicroScope's top stories, week ending 15 June 2012

The most read stories on MicroScope.co.uk from the last seven days.

June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
Computacenter to hire 700 services staff

Computacenter is to embark on a major recruitment drive, on-boarding over 700 new staff on the Services side - transferring others from customers and their historical suppliers - in the wake of a surprise upturn in its business.
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
Fujitsu hires cloud channel boss for midmarket push

Fujitsu has lit the blue touch paper under its channel cloud proposition, announcing a specific cloud accreditation for midmarket and vertically-focused partners, and appointing former Intact Software UK channel boss Paul Dobbs as its new Global ...
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
Comstor takes next step up Cisco training ladder

Specialist network distie Comstor has taken another step along the road to becoming a true Cisco master after being designated a Cisco Authorised Business Acceleration Learning Partner (BALP).
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
Face-to-face communication still crucial for channel success

With improvements in technology and social media, communication in business has been transformed, writes Linda Endersby.
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
ShoreTel orders up Pattie to run distribution

ShoreTel's EMEA operation is beginning to resemble an Avaya reunion after the unified comms vendor named a trio of ex-Avaya execs to its regional leadership team.
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
In-depth: Avoiding becoming a victim of corporate ID fraud

A quick scan of identitytheft.org.uk, a government website backed by organisations and companies with an interest in reducing fraud, is enough to put the frighteners on any law abiding reader, writes Adam Bernstein.
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
Millions of pounds on offer for ICT research projects

The Technology Strategy Board is trumpeting the £20m of government investment that is heading to high-tech firms with projects that could provide a crop of world-beating home-grown products.
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
SMEs look for credit to fuel growth ambitions

SMEs are planning to grow their businesses if the economy doesn't cause them too many problems with more looking for credit and finance to grow in the next few months.
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
Social networks becoming communication medium of choice

Resellers assuming that a website is enough of a cyber-shop window to promote their services and products could find themselves lagging behind as social networks become the primary form of communication.
May 29, 2012 29 May'12
Avnet adds social media to reseller services

Avnet has taken the wraps off a social media tool designed to help resellers keep their customers informed about the main developments in the vendor community.
May 28, 2012 28 May'12
Equanet sales head Holt heads to Lanway

Storage and network solutions provider Lanway has appointed former Equanet head of southern sales, David Holt, to run its own sales organisation.
May 28, 2012 28 May'12
Restructuring costs wipe out Phoenix profits

Full year pre-tax profit at IT services provider Phoenix IT Group has plunged 85% after the firm booked non-recurring costs of £14.9m relating to its ongoing re-organisation programme and £8.1m relating to the end of the ICM brand.
May 25, 2012 25 May'12
Five minute interview: Jason Dance, Exclusive Networks

MicroScope sits down with Jason Dance, Exclusive Networks UK sales director, for another hard-hitting Five Minute Interview. Tell us what you do for a livingAs sales director for Exclusive Networks UK, it's my job to make sure we hit, and where ...
May 24, 2012 24 May'12
Unite goes on the offensive over HP cuts

The Unite trade union has said it will hold urgent talks with HP in an attempt to safeguard up to 1,600 UK jobs that may be at risk as a result of the vendor's restructuring programme.
May 24, 2012 24 May'12
HP slashes staff, restructures as profits plunge 31%

HP has announced plans to ditch 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, and will embark on a radical restructuring programme in a bid to cut costs of between $3bn to $3.5bn (£1.9bn to £2.2bn) over the next two years.
May 23, 2012 23 May'12
Lenovo growth outpaces PC market again

Lenovo has proven once again that it seems to have hit on a secret formula for growing PC sales, after powering to record full-year numbers and booking quarterly sales growth of 54%, making it the fastest growing 'top four' PC vendor for the 10th ...
May 23, 2012 23 May'12
Michael Dell pins Windows 8 hopes on consumer upgrades

Michael Dell has spoken of his hopes for the upcoming launch of Microsoft Windows 8, saying that although enterprise buyers were still in the process of upgrading to Windows 7 and would tend to hold off, there were early signs of a massive refresh ...
May 22, 2012 22 May'12
KCOM profits swell despite group sales decline

Unaudited annual pre-tax profit at KCOM Group has grown by more than 55% to £51.1m as a result of increased EBITDA and reductions in both exceptional costs and the overall cost of borrowing.
May 22, 2012 22 May'12
Intrinsic appoints new CEO as market heads for the cloud

Insider Jarvis has been appointed CEO at networking reseller Intrinsic Technology as its market shifts to the cloud offering new opportunities for growth, writes Linda Endersby.
May 21, 2012 21 May'12
Tech Data reports mixed first quarter, sales down, profits up

Quarterly sales at Computer 2000 parent Tech Data have fallen substantially short of expectations, dropping 7.9% to $5.8bn (£3.6bn) in a torrid macroeconomic environment, with weak foreign currency performance against the US dollar accounting ...
May 21, 2012 21 May'12
Cloud Distribution hires northern sales boss

Cloud Distribution has appointed Tracey Hannan from telecom company KCOM to head up its sales operations in the North, writes Linda Endersby. Tracey will draw on her 15 years' experience in the industry to help lead, drive and manage sales as Cloud ...
May 21, 2012 21 May'12
CIF to promote Code of Practice at World Forum

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) is to put the case forward for a Code of Practice at this year's Cloud Computing World Forum The Forum feels that providers need to be clear in their cloud offerings to build trust with customers, who in turn need to ...
May 21, 2012 21 May'12
Avnet rolls SolutionsPath out across Europe

Avnet Technology Solutions is expanding its Solutions Path vertical market scheme across Europe after a successful experience with the programme in the UK.
May 18, 2012 18 May'12
More clarity needed around G-Cloud, urges VMware

Cloud services providers need to do a lot more to address concerns of lack of clarity and poor communication surrounding the government's G-Cloud initiative, if a new survey of public sector buyers by VMware is to be believed.
May 18, 2012 18 May'12
Dell confirms UK jobs on the line

Dell has said that it will look to make a series of limited job cuts in the UK as it bids to operate "as effectively as possible". The PC builder claimed this ongoing quest for operational efficiency required it to "rationalise resources and ...
May 18, 2012 18 May'12
Post-Comet life remains tough for Kesa

Electrical retailer Kesa has found life without Comet not much easier after weak economic conditions took their toll on the high-street player. Having off-loaded Comet to Opcapita for the princely sum of £2 back in February the latest trading ...
May 18, 2012 18 May'12
HP on verge of massive job cuts, say reports

Between 25,000 and 30,000 jobs could be on the line at HP, according to reports, as the IT giant preps deep cuts that expected to be made public in its earnings statement next week.
May 17, 2012 17 May'12
Motorola spin-off Cambium rubber stamps partner programme

Motorola wireless spin-off Cambium Networks, which split from its owner last year with support from VC outfit Vector Capital, has announced its first dedicated reseller programme, with the emphasis on broadening and developing vertical markets.
May 16, 2012 16 May'12
Poor strategy leaves IT organisations unaware of debt issue

New global research confirms IT organisations need a more robust application portfolio management strategy to curb IT debt and inform mainframe investments, writes Linda Endersby.
May 16, 2012 16 May'12
Exclusive sales power to quarterly high

Self-styled superVAD Exclusive Networks has booked first quarter sales of €62m (£49.5m), breezing comfortably past both sales and margin targets with 29% year-on-year growth.
May 16, 2012 16 May'12
Datatec despairs of UK economy

Datatec, the South Africa-based group behind Westcon and logically, has reported a solid end to its fiscal 2012 which closed on 29 February, but once again has bemoaned a challenging economic environment in the UK, revealing that the bulk of its ...
May 15, 2012 15 May'12
Dell launches social media training for partners

Dell Premier and Certified partners are to get access to social media training sessions, with on-demand modules set to be added to Dell's Partner Direct portal in the near future.
May 15, 2012 15 May'12
Cutting taxes and red tape pitched as way to encourage growth

With the Eurozone economic crisis deepening the pressure is being raised for the government to do more to help British businesses.
May 11, 2012 11 May'12
Dixons trading year ends on positive note

Dixons Retail has published trading results for the 16, 28 and 52 weeks ending 28 April 2012, showing sales down but better than expected, writes Linda Endersby. Although total group sales were down 3% over the year the period had a positive end ...
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.