Opinion

Opinion

Desktop PCs

• Why are Oracle EMEA server sales lagging worldwide figures?

  By the looks of it, Oracle needs to take some lessons in how to sell hardware in Europe. While revenue for the overall EMEA server market in the first quarter of 2011 grew 10.8%, the software giant failed to match the trend.  Continue Reading

• If this was football, vote of confidence for Ballmer would be kiss of death

  What a week it's been for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. First, he inadvertently lets slip the release date for Windows 8, then Skype, the company he has shelled out $8.5bn of Microsoft's money to buy, suffers from a serious outage.  Continue Reading

• North Korea to build three PCs. After Kim Jong-il, who gets the other two?

  You may not have seen it but there was quite a bit of coverage on the Internet devoted to North Korea's PC production plans. Apparently, it is making three models and Korean state TV showed pictures of eight people assembling one of them.  Continue Reading

• Windows 8 next year? Probably

  Hold the phone. Microsoft has jumped in quickly to downplay comments by CEO Steve Ballmer that Windows 8 will be released next year. Should we surprise? No. Does this mean it won't be released next year? No.  Continue Reading

• No system is 100% secure says Sony chief. And he should know

  Sony boss Howard Stringer made some interesting comments about the recent hacking of its PlayStation Network and the theft of the personal data from more than 100 million accounts.  Continue Reading

• Is Google's Chromebook the right idea in the wrong place?

  Google's Chrome book seems to me to be a good idea but not necessarily one that is being executed in the right way. As others have remarked, there is an issue over what you do with a machine that runs on a browser-based OS if you're not able to ...  Continue Reading

• Steve Jobs: business genius or football manager?

  Apple CEO Steve Jobs has a reputation for being tough but the latest anecdote about the less than perfect launch of its MobileMe online service in 2008, shows that a brutal boss can also be, intentionally or otherwise, quite funny.  Continue Reading

• Outrage over Foxconn's 'no suicide' pledge is a year late

  Foxconn has been making all the wrong sorts of headlines in recent months over the treatment of workers at its factories in China. Those factories have made products for a number of vendors, such as Apple, Dell, HP, Nintendo and Nokia.  Continue Reading

• Apple overtakes Microsoft on revenue and profit

  A landmark of sorts was reached this month when Apple overtook Microsoft in terms of revenue and profits in the respective companies' most recent quarterly financial results. The difference in the figures from a revenue perspective are quite ...  Continue Reading

• Is the Samsung ML 3310 ND printer a beast or a puppy?

  Every day, productivity in the IT in Context office is threatened by a monster who wants to invade the premises and eat every piece of paper she can get her teeth on. We call this monster Molly. (See left) But Molly isn't the most dangerous paper ...  Continue Reading

• Screen saver blues for Dixons: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (13)

  A Scope staffer was taking a wander around the Dixons in Heathrow Airport back in 2002, marveling at all the wonderful electronic gadgets for sale. Settling his gaze on a laptop, our man's eyes were drawn to the screen saver message scrolling across...  Continue Reading

• Location, location, location: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (12)

  Last week we recounted the story about the poor people working at Wang's offices in Cologne who had to answer the phone with the following words: "Wang - Cologne." But Wang wasn't the only company with a name that suffered from unfortunate ...  Continue Reading

• Angels swoon over Roll's sausage role play: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (11)

  Back in 1995, then Microsoft Office product manager Oliver Roll was making a presentation to top executives at London temping agency Office Angels.  Continue Reading

• Times were hard back then: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (10)

  If you think times are tough now in the computing industry, you should have seen it in the early days.  Continue Reading

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, IBM salesman: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (9)

  Back in the days of the cold war, two IBMers in Moscow on business got into a conversation about espionage. "I'd be careful if I were you," said the first one, "your hotel room is liable to be bugged."  Continue Reading

• A nasty blow in foreign climes: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (8)

  A foreign junket paid for by a favourite vendor was always a welcome diversion for hard-working resellers back in the 90s. It still is, even now, but such trips are far fewer than they used to be.  Continue Reading

• Bottoms up or you're out: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (7)

  It wasn't that long ago that the PC business wasn't exactly PC. And it was back in those times that this story occurred. A certain gentleman working at a mail order operation was sacked. What for? The owner's sister didn't like his bum.  Continue Reading

• The end of an era

  This next print issue of MicroScope (out on 18 April) marks the end of an era but not the end of the MicroScope story. After this issue the magazine will cease to be a print publication with our coverage of the channel being available online and in ...  Continue Reading

• The name's the thing: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (5)

  Over the years, MicroScope has found that company names (and product names for that matter) can be problematic.  Continue Reading

• When IT was a world of sex and alcohol: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (4)

  People like to say the Germans have no sense of humour, but Soap has recorded proof to the contrary. Back in 1987, microcomputer manufacturer Altos Computer Systems (remember Altos?) sent a telex (remember them?) to its German operation asking for a...  Continue Reading

• Mr Bean's Unisys Drop Box: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (3)

  When it comes to demonstrating a product's capabilities, nothing can beat showing people something working right in front of their eyes instead of relying on presenting it on a slide or a video.  Continue Reading

• When the supplies run dry: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (2)

  People in the channel can be pretty sharp and quick-witted when they want to be. This story, from 1995, is a perfect example: Back in the days when Compaq was battling with Dell to be the largest PC supplier in the world, the company found itself ...  Continue Reading

• Make 'em laugh: 28 years of MicroScope funnies (1)

  The news that MicroScope is to stop producing a print edition from the end of this month (while continuing as a digital and online magazine) is a good excuse for a bit of nostalgia.  Continue Reading

• If the MacBook Pro is "the last notebook you'll ever need", what's the point of making any more?

  Apple hasn't been slow to trumpet the InfoWorld review for its latest MacBook Pro and it's not hard to see why when reviewer Tom Yager waxes so enthusiastically about it to the point where he states: "After more than two weeks of continuous testing,...  Continue Reading

• Dixons profit warning: It's the economy stupid

  Is it really any surprise Dixons has announced profits for the year end in April will be at the lower end of analyst expectations?  Continue Reading

• Linguists in war of words over Apple App store trademark claim

  Do you ever get the feeling some companies just have too much money for their own good? And that maybe they could be using it to better purpose than lining lawyers' pockets?  Continue Reading

• Diary: Spot the Engineer at the PC Tools racing event in Paris

  Here's the Renault Megane sponsored by PC Tools, which was unveiled last week in Paris. Questions: Why is a computer performance enhancer like PC Tools sponsoring a racing event? How much are they sponsoring it for? How can you, as resellers, get ...  Continue Reading

• Apple faces exodus of customers over 'gay conversion' app

  Apple's app store has been very successful - the recently launched Mac app store has also been doing very nicely thank you - but the company has found itself in a number of compromising positions over how it decides which apps can go into the store ...  Continue Reading

• Resellers get on Dell's KACE

  A number of resellers have signed up as Dell KACE Certified partners in the UK to expand their formal relationship with the Texan tech titan's systems management business.  Continue Reading

• Apple makes right call with delayed Japanese iPad 2 launch

  There are moments when real life is bigger than a technology launch and so perhaps it is a wise decision of Apple to delay the iPad 2 launch in Japan.  Continue Reading

• Out of tune Zune player fades out

  Can it really be true? Will the Zune really be no more? Such are the rumours that Microsoft is preparing to pull the plug on its iPod killer a mere four years and four months after its launch. And yet, it all seemed so different back then.  Continue Reading

• Chaos and opportunity - Wyse's take on the schizoid nature of cloud

  Here's David Angwin, director of marketing at Wyse, with his take on the schizoid nature of the cloud. "Organisations can typically see the benefits of cloud computing but a 100 per cent true cloud solution is still a long way away for most.  Continue Reading

• iPad is a curse for Acer and a blessing for Dell

  Acer has reason to curse the iPad. Not long ago, the Taiwanese vendor was riding the crest of the netbook wave and its notebooks were making serious inroads into the consumer market. The strength of its consumer products helped propel Acer into ...  Continue Reading

• Distie veteran French set to leave Azlan

  MicroScope understands that the hunt is on for a successor to Azlan boss Ian French, after sources claimed the distribution veteran is returning to his consultancy business, Siceo.  Continue Reading

• IBM Pulse, Las Vegas - it was literally Orbsome

  Pulse: It's not a new energy drink or a trade magazine for GPs. Well, it is a trade mag for doctors, but that's another story. Pulse is IBM's flagship service management event that asks how we can optimise the world's infrastructure and discover a ...  Continue Reading

• As PC sales decline the channel must embrace the alternative

  Those customers hoping that they can keep iPads and smart phones away from their network are going to find themselves in the minority.  Continue Reading

• Hells bells, wheels come off Dell Streak stunt

  I laughed out loud at the story about the Dell staffers arrested after a PR stunt went badly wrong.  Continue Reading

• Dell buying AMD would be the irony to end all ironies

  Dell was quizzed about its acquisition strategy on a conference call with analysts last night but nobody mentioned the white elephant in the room; the feverish industry talk that it is looking to buy AMD.  Continue Reading

• Apple moves to secure components, plots baby iPhone?

  Following last month's news that Apple was seeing constrained supplies of iPhone components, a high-profile leak to the South Korean media.  Continue Reading

• HP's video nasty

  Yet another entry in the long list of "feeble cringe worthy attempts by technology companies to look cool" category at the Grammy awards last night (13 February).  Continue Reading

• Even before the details are revealed iPad 2 is causing excitement

  Even before the product has hit the shelves, had its functions revealed by the vendor or had its channel strategy unveiled the blogosphere is already rife with talk of iPad 2.  Continue Reading

• Dell and Midwich to tie the distribution knot?

  The word on the street is that Dell is locked in negotiations with Midwich to expand distribution of its printer products beyond Micro P. The one time direct selling purist is expanding its network of wholesalers in the storage space with Magirus ...  Continue Reading

• Murphy reassures partners they have a future with HP

  Ahead of joining HP as vice president of sales, Steve Murphy has moved to assure reseller partners that they feature heavily in his plans.  Continue Reading

• Obama listens and Maude calls for cuts. Notice a difference?

  Here is an exercise in compare and contrast that shows the differences in approach between two nations both trying to do the best for their economies and their people.  Continue Reading

• Intel's Sandy Bridge in troubled waters

  Intel's problems with its latest processor - a load have been shipped with faulty chipsets - are hardly surprising. Calling something "Sandy Bridge" is asking for trouble.  Continue Reading

• As Plantronics hits 50 its story shows we all need to talk differently

  This year there seem to be a fair few anniversaries as channel players reach certain milestones in their history.  Continue Reading

• will.i.am appointment is not a sili.con

  In the latest instance in the miserable litany of tech companies trying to make themselves cool by linking themselves to figures from popular culture, Intel has appointed will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas (a popular beat combo, apparently) to the ...  Continue Reading

• Windows 7 tablets leave Microsoft breathless

  Microsoft has launched its latest salvo against Apple's iPad, extolling the virtues of Windows 7-based tablets to enterprise customers, according to some slides from a Microsoft presentation to reseller partners obtained by ZDNet.  Continue Reading

• Lenovo to take major stake in NEC PC biz?

  Resellers will be interested in the reports emerging this morning that Lenovo is considering buying a controlling stake in NEC's PC business....if they live in Japan.  Continue Reading

• Snow joke for Comet parent company

  I've no doubt that Kesa Electricals, parent of electrical retailer Comet, is correct to blame the bad weather for a 7.3% decline in UK revenue for the three months ended 18 January. We all know just how bad the snow was and the effect it had on ...  Continue Reading

• That interesting C word

  Listening this morning to Radio 4 and a couple of experts discussing what is likely to happen to the NHS today one of the contributors made the point that public sector unlike private lack competition.  Continue Reading

• Lenovo tweaks channel execs line-up to keep sales boom alive

  Lenovo always threatened to be a thorn in the side of HP and the other major PC players but finally with a string of decent results under its belt last year plus some market share gains, the Chinese giant is looking like the real deal.  Continue Reading

• Intel warns McAfee deal may not close until Q2

  Intel expects to close its acquisition of Infineon in the next couple of weeks as regulatory approval has already been secured but admitted the pending $7.68bn purchase of McAfee may take a little longer.  Continue Reading

• Orb Data to headline at Las Vegas showcase for IBM

  Here's Nigel Brown, director of Orb Data, a Triple A rated IBM partner, which has been nominated to showcase its Self Service Portal and YourTivoli.com at IBM Pulse in Las Vegas.  Continue Reading

• Realism likely to be the flavour of BETT 2011

  January is always the month when education and technology dominate at the BETT show in London providing an indication of where that particular market is going.  Continue Reading

• Well done Joe McNally

  Good to see that Joe McNally, the first employee at Compaq UK and managing director for many years, has been awarded the Commander of the Victorian Order (CVO) in recognition of his work in helping youngsters develop through the Duke of Edinburgh ...  Continue Reading

• Former gun slinger rolls into HP town

  HP's chief marketing cheese Michael Mendenhall has resigned, marking the first senior departure under the tenure of CEO Leo Apotheker, according to reports.  Continue Reading

• Things I have learnt about going abroad

  These are the things I have learnt about going on vendor events abroad. They can be fun but they can also be exhausting so take care. If going to Spain expect to party well into the early hours. Don't volunteer for any morning activities or go to ...  Continue Reading

• Gadget makers to continue with disruptive technology policy

  Microsoft, Google and all those other annoying buggers have announced they intend to keep launching a raft of FATYHTGUT products (flipping annoying things you'll have to get used to) whether you're ready for them or not.  Continue Reading

• Thinking positive

  It only took about ten minutes before it felt like the Christmas break had never happened and normal service was resumed.  Continue Reading

• Scrooge is getting his way with the decorations

  When this press release hit the inbox the temptation was to try and be funny about how firms are cutting back on Christmas decorations but the pain and shock caused by the findings are so powerful they are best left to speak for themselves.  Continue Reading

• Getting ready for the end of year rush

  In the last couple of days of the year I'm likely to be stuck on a sofa weighed down by chocolate or in some returns queue taking back faulty goods. But if I was hard working and worked in distribution or a reseller then those last two days of the ...  Continue Reading

• Don't forget the old tech that supports the new

  Standing next to another dad waiting to go into the school hall for the nativity we got into talking about what we did for a living. He revealed that he was a web and app developer "working at the sexy end of the industry".  Continue Reading

• First it was white van man. Now it's thumb drives. Who are we going to blame next?

  Frank Kenney, Ipswitch's VP of Global Strategy, says we're over reacting to the wikileaks security scares. Okay we get it.  Continue Reading

• Businesses don't know their carbon footprint from their cloud

  Here's Robert Neave, who founded a company called nlyte to inform us all about IT footprints. (nlyte - enlight. Geddit?) New research suggests that UK businesses blame consumers for Green IT ignorance.  Continue Reading

• Tight fisted councils will get a visit from three ghosts this Xmas - the ghost of reckless past....

  Scrooge-like Council CIOs will be visited by three ghosts this Xmas. Here's your typical local council IT CIO, lying in bed at night, fretting about his budget. This Xmas many tight fisted bosses could be visited by three ghosts.  Continue Reading

• What to do when your partner is a transvendor

  Does your vendor like to cheat on you or dress in reseller's clothes? Tell our problem lady, who will deal with all your relationship, commitment and margin problems. Welcome to the Channel's first problem page. In this we intend to deal with all ...  Continue Reading

• Greentech gets shaken down by the windfellas

  Here's Vito Nicastri, the alleged mob boss who ran a wind farm racket in Sicily. He sold the assets of the Minerva Messina wind farm to Danish developer Greentech Energy System. Greentech bought 85 per cent of the 48.3 Megawatt Sicily based wind ...  Continue Reading

• Chloride Trinergy - in carbon we trust

  It's only when you look at an ant under a magnifying glass that you realise how often they spontaneously burst into flames. This is the case with data centres. These huge computing factories cost the earth to maintain.  Continue Reading

• Former Bell directors team up at consultancy Demuto

  Former Bell Microproducts director Colin McGregor has joined forces with Anthony Young at channel consultancy Demuto.  Continue Reading

• HP to snub Oracle Siebel CRM and move 40k staff to Salesforce?

  HP is reportedly dumping Oracle Siebel's CRM system and penning a deal with Salesforce for 35,000 to 40,000 seats as a precursor to potentially moving wholesale to the new system.  Continue Reading

• Old technology is actually greener than today's printers

  They don't make me green anymore did anyone here have a dot matrix printer? Me too. Things were better in those days. You could send a document to the printer, and go for a cup of tea, safe in the knowledge that it would still be printing when you ...  Continue Reading

• This user will remain ignorant

  Top ten lessons on Securely Managing Email go unheeded Here's Leon Rishniw, senior vice president of engineering at Cloudmark who says it's vital that email is properly managed to protect assets and ensure employees remain productive.  Continue Reading

• Nick Glynne's sword of a thousand resellers

  The phrase "live by the sword, die by the sword" has been taken a little too literally by Nick Glynne, boss at Hudders field-based retailer Buy It Direct.  Continue Reading

• Fancy watching a Rubik Cube movie?

  Those of you who thought that Avatar was a good as cinema could get might need to rethink their ideas. A movie is being planned around the story of the Rubik Cube.  Continue Reading

• Time to share your views

  It's not every day that resellers get the opportunity to share their views of the market but MicroScope has been contacted to rally the opinions of the channel great and good for the annual ITC Channel market survey.  Continue Reading

• Cameron's plan for Silicon End at Olympic Park doomed

  Why East London Can Never Be a Silicon Valley David Cameron's attempt to emulate silicon valley in London's Olympic Park will be a disaster, says Dominic Monkhouse, MD of PEER 1 Hosting.  Continue Reading

• HDS channel guru Hughes gets his kit off for Prostate Cancer

  Channel veteran Mark Hughes is following in the footsteps of the Calendar Girls by getting his kit off for charity, to be exact a very worthy Prostate Cancer Charity that funds research and helps people affected by the illness.  Continue Reading

• Do you have to be young to riot?

  It's interesting perhaps that it takes students, who at the moment are facing hikes in their fees, to show their anger on the streets.  Continue Reading

• Bring your own is helping Apple

  One of the best things that could happen for Apple is the widespread adoption of the Bring Your Own Computer movement which is starting to have a real impact across customers. One example given to me this week will stick in the mind for a long time.  Continue Reading

• Computacenter boss to pick up Honorary Degree

  What connects a Holocaust survivor, a Member of Parliament and Mike Norris, chief executive at Computacenter? The annual graduates 'Roll of Honour' awards ceremony for the University of Hertfordshire.  Continue Reading

• IT? It's useless without proper context

  How come IT creates so many disasters? Because there's no context to it. Information and data on their own are very dangerous. Take these different examples of intelligence. What does data tell you? "It's red; it's small and it's round." And ...  Continue Reading

• Lord Sugar's Twitter meltdown

  The pressure of fame is clearly getting to Lord Sugar who was this week replaced as business tsar by former Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Young.  Continue Reading

• Tying up the HP CEO in court room time

  If you want to distract one of your arch rivals from keeping their eye on the ball there is nothing like a court case to help do that.  Continue Reading

• Micro-P tipped for Cisco SMB move

  Word on the street is that Cisco is about to expand its distribution channel with sources expecting Micro P to take on the SME and consumer product range. The distributor ran a training weekend that started on 23 October with a number of vendors ...  Continue Reading

• Ingram Micro prepares for cloud assault

  Ingram Micro has started to make preparations for a push into cloud computing with a number of senior appointments on both sides of the Atlantic. Last month, the broadliner appointed Renee Bergeron as VP managed services and cloud computing to head ...  Continue Reading

• Trying to see the point of i

  Just a quick comment on the launch by the Independent of the week day newspaper that costs 20p and is aimed at those that haven't got time to read a larger newspaper.  Continue Reading

• Have you heard the word about Hurd's latest bird?

  The story of the summer refuses to die as further allegations about Mark Hurd's sex life emerged yesterday, following reports that he had a romantic dalliance with a married vice president of sales at Sun Microsystems.  Continue Reading

• Printerland boss set to run London Marathon

  Printerland boss James Kight has enlisted the help of Sale Sharks and England rugby Star Andrew Sheridan as a personal trainer to help get him in better shape for next year's London Marathon.  Continue Reading

• Credit posterboy Pacey set to leave Avnet

  The word on the street is that Bell Microproducts long standing credit guru Eddie Pacey is set to exit the business. During 18 years at Ideal Hardware/ Bell Micro, Pacey raised the awareness and importance of credit in the channel like no-one else.  Continue Reading

• Stick to knickers and cheese rolls Sir Phil, leave IT to resellers

  The rather silly comments made by Sir Philip Green yesterday that government should be buying IT kit direct from multi-national vendors really demonstrates why he should stick to selling cut priced clothes and food.  Continue Reading

• The influence of the review shows in the share price

  As someone who has written reviews, for the Tech Trader section of MicroScope, in the past I will tread more carefully in the future about giving the thumbs up or down.  Continue Reading

• Interest rate time bomb ticking for the channel

  The level of insolvencies are finally edging up, if a near 30% rise in fatalities can be described in such modest terms, and the superficial bubble the channel has inhabited in the last eighteen months could soon be about to burst.  Continue Reading

• The Fry effect

  Whoever it was at Microsoft who popped a Windows 7 mobile in a jiffy bag and sent it to Stephen Fry deserves a promotion. It was a risky strategy because, let's be honest, Fry is seen as Mr Apple, but it paid off handsomely at the launch as the ...  Continue Reading

• The tablet bandwagon rolls on

  By the time you read this who knows Sainsbury's might have launched its own tablet PC. Sounds odd but surely nothing is strange after Next and now Dixons announced products.  Continue Reading

• There were some good things about 1986

  Having watched the England '86 series on Channel 4 it leaves me with a couple of observations. One of them is that television still has the power to shock when great scripting and acting are combined, but there is also another point to be made about...  Continue Reading

• Trustmarque gets creative following big contract losses

  Trustmarque's intention to create "mini regional frameworks" for NHS Trusts shows the requisite creativity as the public sector focused reseller holds its breath for further details of the austerity measures.  Continue Reading

• London the home to the tech start-ups

  You might remember a time when everyone wanted to find a place in the UK where it was safe to talk about it being a home to the IT industry.  Continue Reading

• Will 2e2 sell Diagonal's SAP consulting unit?

  The decision by 2e2 management to keep its SAP services business under the Diagonal brand and in a standalone unit has led to industry talk that it may be sold. This week the integration of Morse into 2e2 became clearer as did the roles that the ...  Continue Reading

• Sir Peter Rigby and the Pope

  Sir Peter Rigby may have recently signed off the acquisition of Kavanagh but he has also been busily building another empire that has not made the headlines in the channel press - he owns Coventry Airport.  Continue Reading