Opinion

Opinion

• Eight tips to lead your prospect from discovery to purchase

  With stronger competition than ever, it can be difficult for the channel to help their teams succeed in their sales proposals – here are eight tips to help you on your way  Continue Reading

• The channel is really big business

  Channel revenues at Dell have gained the attention of quite a few industry watchers, Billy MacInnes included  Continue Reading

• What do crystals, glass and DNA have in common?

  DNA, glass and crystal have an unexpected common link – they are all innovative new ways to meet the growing demand to store vast amounts of data  Continue Reading

• What has the channel ever done for digital transformation?

  How the channel can play an important role in the drive for digital transformation  Continue Reading

• Botnets and machine learning: A story of hide and seek

  As security practitioners develop new ways to keep cyber threats at bay, so malware authors continue to update their software and evolve their techniques to take advantage of new technologies and bypass security measures. Machine learning has proved...  Continue Reading

• Drive that growth through the channel

  Avaya’s comments about increasing revenues via partners have got the thumbs-up from Billy MacInnes, who hopes it will act as an example to others  Continue Reading

• Channelling the cloud – building healthy CSP relationships

  Creating a successful relationship with cloud service providers is essential for channel partners looking to increase their cloud portfolio. iLand 's director of channel sales has five tips to make the most of the opportunity  Continue Reading

• Insight 2019 technology predictions

  Michael Guggemos, CIO of Insight, shares his thoughts about what will be the key issues for the channel in the months ahead  Continue Reading

• In order to sell RCS in the connected car, we need to get biblical

  Nick Booth wonders if the Nativity could help people understand an emerging area of technology  Continue Reading

• Tech Data’s Advanced Solutions: 2019 channel predictions

  Miriam Murphy, Senior Vice President EMEA , Advanced & Specialist Solutions at Tech Data shares some thoughts about what next year will hold  Continue Reading

• Trying to make an Android appear to be an Apple

  Just when does it help an Android app developer appear as if they are actually producing something for an Apple device? Billy MacInnes finds out  Continue Reading

• Encouraging a new breed of storage for the digital age

  Per Overgaard, Lenovo DCG Executive Director, shares his views on why the data explosion is a positive for the channel  Continue Reading

• A failure to communicate

  Billy MacInnes comments on Microsoft's recent price rises, which have not gone down well with the public sector with the channel getting some blame for not communicating the issue  Continue Reading

• Wireframer could save NHS from gung-ho developers argues Thoughtonomy

  There are many ways that hospital patients could be protected by machines, but Nick Booth warns that we have to make sure these systems don’t fall victim to developer impatience  Continue Reading

• Improving processes with the cloud

  Dominik Birgelen, CEO of oneclick, has some advice for those looking to harness the cloud to improve their operations  Continue Reading

• Combatting deal slippage in the channel

  Rene Stuiver, Finance Solutions Manager EMEA, Tech Data has some advice for those facing this channel problem  Continue Reading

• There's a cloud partner to cover every need

  The recent Cloud Industry Forum report into how customers spend their money on infrastructure caught the attention of Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• Carbon Black’s UK Threat Report is grim news for those protecting data

  Attacks are widespread and the criminals are outwitting a lot of customers, which worries Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• Enhancing the role of the channel essential for the tech industry

  Ben Boswell, Vice President for Europe at World Wide Technology (WWT), discusses how vendors and the channel need to work together to ensure outstanding outcomes for customers  Continue Reading

• A case of deja vu at VMworld

  The idea that the security market is broken is something that Billy MacInnes thinks he has heard before  Continue Reading

• The channel and secure mobile working; plenty of opportunities

  Jon Fielding, Managing Director, EMEA, Apricorn shares his views about the opportunities that are out there for those in the channel prepared to get involved with mobile security  Continue Reading

• Are the good old days coming back?

  Long lunches and conversations of substance are things that Nick Booth hopes will return  Continue Reading

• Partners the key to unlocking SME sales

  Vendors want to increase SME sales and Billy MacInnes knows that working with the channel is the only way to achieve that goal  Continue Reading

• Nuxeo aims to help companies with problems of subject access review and digital transformation

  Subject access reviews cost money and Nick Booth finds someone that not only understands how to save customers a few pennies but also how to help the channel make some  Continue Reading

• What has HP Inc got in common with Manchester City and Chelsea FC?

  Comments made by the HP boss about the context of the recent acquisition of Apogee got Billy MacInnes thinking about other operations that buy strategically to deny rivals  Continue Reading

• Does the digital services tax idea add up?

  An idea that emerged at the recent Conservative Party conference has sparked some thoughts from Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• What’s that in the cloud? Some answers to save you from GDPR

  Now that companies have got distributed databases and mobile workforces with a bring-your-own-deviousness-to-work policy, most companies have problems with GDPR. Here’s some technology options for solving them  Continue Reading

• Does the IT industry think diversity and Dyslexia Awareness is just for one week in October?

  Amazon, the Prince’s Trust and Nuance all do their bit to make the IT industry more accessible. But is there really a diversity dividend wonders Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• The need to keep women from falling out of the IT world

  The discovery that women often fall into IT is one that got the attention of Billy MacInnes who hopes that more can be convinced to stay  Continue Reading

• Could YouView save our home from surveillance marketing by the Big Browser brigade

  The IoT-connected home is becoming a location for commercial opportunities for the channel finds Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• Virtustream is about to get biblical on the channel and its Aas

  The vendor gathered the great and the good together to outline its cloud strategy and Nick Booth was in the audience  Continue Reading

• Looking overseas through Brexit tinted glasses

  The idea that UK resellers want to expand internationally caught the interest of Billy MacInnes who found that Brexit was having an impact on those dreams  Continue Reading

• MFA for the people

  Jonathan Whitley from WatchGuard Technologies explores why many resellers and SMEs have paid lip service to multi-factor authentication and what needs to change to make it a ‘no-brainer’ component of any security solution  Continue Reading

• Out with the old, in with the new

  Paul Key, global director security and compliance, Getronics, shares his thoughts about the need to keep track with changes in the market  Continue Reading

• Veritas reveals channel’s role in growth strategy

  The vendor is “on a mission” to drive channel sales in midmarket and enterprise  Continue Reading

• DataDirect Networks keeps the Tintri channel going

  Billy MacInnes is impressed with the proactive channel approach being taken by DDN  Continue Reading

• The hidden costs of doing business with vendors

  Technology is starting to shed light on more of the mechanics of how the channel works with vendors and Nick Booth finds out about one of the latest offerings  Continue Reading

• MSP Day 2018 - Only the beginning

  Jason Howells, EMEA Director, Barracuda MSP, shares his views about building on the success of the first MSP Day  Continue Reading

• Shouting over the gender gap

  Things are being done but the shouting over the gender gap is far from over says Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• AI Cops Walk the Thin Line Between Fin Tech and Fiend Tech

  Steps are being taken to ensure that AI and machine learning do not damage consumers finds Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• When it comes to privacy, technology is only part of the story

  Philippe Ortodoro, VP EMEA Channel Sales, TrustArc, explains why the coming two years are going to be a business bonanza for the channel  Continue Reading

• Your finger for your phone?

  Just how far will some people go to make sure they are not separated from their smart phones? Billy MacInnes is bemused by some research that claims to have the answer  Continue Reading

• Software defined networking, it’s a question of why rather than WAN

  SD-WAN is due to accelerate but Nick Booth wonders just quite when that is all going to happen  Continue Reading

• How the channel can play a vital role in reducing cybersecurity skills shortages

  David Ellis, Vice President, Security and Mobility Solutions - Europe, Tech Data, argues that the channel can play a role in dealing with the security skills crisis  Continue Reading

• Who wants to be number one?

  Vendors have an obsession with being number one in their market but is it really that important wonders Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• Email is the biggest threat for businesses… but the greatest opportunity for the channel

  Chris Ross, SVP sales, international, Barracuda, explains why email still remains a major target for partners  Continue Reading

• Coming back to the channel: why it’s time to rethink reselling

  Neil Robertson, CEO of Compleat Software, shares the motivation for the firm's re-engagement with the channel  Continue Reading

• You don’t need to treat clients mean to keep them keen, says WP Engine

  The technology that made WordPress so easy to use is something that has caught Nick Booth's eye  Continue Reading

• Considerations on a European channel strategy

  Brad Parks, VP of business development at Morpheus Data, shares some of the thoughts that go through then mind of a vendor looking at increasing European channel coverage  Continue Reading

• You know what’s over rated? Artificial intelligence

  AI is sprinkled into almost every sales pitch but Nick Booth finds it is losing its punch with customers  Continue Reading

• The rise of IoT

  Craig Smith, director IoT and analytics solutions and services at Tech Data, shares his thoughts about the rise of the Internet of Things  Continue Reading

• 5 growing pains MSPs need to overcome

  Gregg Lalle, vice-president of international sales and strategy at ConnectWise, explores the business challenges that confront MSPs as they endeavour to scale their businesses without compromising the customer experience  Continue Reading

• Pegasystems gives the channel the Infinity option

  The way some companies use CRM is less engaging than enraging. But Pegasystems has a suite of tools to help resellers fix that for clients  Continue Reading

• CAE and i-Storage have something to market

  A couple of British firms caught the eye of Nick Booth with both deserving recognition  Continue Reading

• Cloud appeals come rain or shine

  The recent hot weather got Billy MacInnes thinking about the benefits of paying for what you use  Continue Reading

• The tech lets you just get on with playing

  The changes in the last time Billy MacInnes saw the Rolling Stones haven't just been to the band line-up  Continue Reading

• Looking beyond MSP Day to year-round sales opportunities

  Later this month the first MSP Day will be marked but supporting and encouraging managed service providers is not a one-off exercise argues Jason Howells at Barracuda MSP  Continue Reading

• The bland leading the bland

  Maybe technology has a role to play in helping customers find out what a solution can really deliver argues Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• Are resellers ready for the race to multi-cloud?

  Multi-cloud is here to stay and could offer resellers a chance to stand out from the crowd if they can rise to the challenge  Continue Reading

• Dell builds on the incumbency programme

  The flurry of announcements coming out of the partner shindig in Las Vegas have included indications, picked up by Billy MacInnes, that the vendor is building on past work it has carried out with partners  Continue Reading

• Park Place Technologies and GuardiCore go on hunts for UK partners

  The channel is very much in demand and Nick Booth has come across a couple of firms keen to build up their reseller relationships  Continue Reading

• If you hated GDPR you may like the African Continental Free Trade Area

  For those struggling with GDPR there is a new $2.5 trillion target market that Nick Booth thinks is worth looking into  Continue Reading

• The difference between profits and revenues

  With numbers thrown around making revenue look like the main achievement Billy MacInnes turns his attention to profits  Continue Reading

• GDPR: securing data is more than just a technology fix, it’s about understanding human behaviour

  Neal Lillywhite, VP EMEA Channel at Forcepoint, argues GDPR is about people and processes as well as technology  Continue Reading

• Data: why should businesses invest in the new currency?

  Ian Belton, Sales Director Analytics EMEA, Tech Data looks at why data is so important and the reasons why money should be spent on looking after it  Continue Reading

• IT departments, LOB and more to come?

  The channel is having to get used to lines of business spending more than the traditional IT buyers but Billy MacInnes wonders if change will stop there  Continue Reading

• Giving the NHS some IT treatment

  There are plenty of things that could help the NHS save money by using IT finds Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• GDPR: Is time running out or is the clock just starting?

  Ian Kilpatrick, EVP Cyber Security for Nuvias Group, looks at whether there are still channel opportunities with GDPR.  Continue Reading

• A latte and a breach?

  Coffee shops and hotels can be places where wifi can be compromised and Billy MacInnes has been looking into the issue over a brew  Continue Reading

• Brexit Tracker helps chart the confidence

  In these uncertain days Nick Booth is interested to find a technology that can give a little bit more clarity  Continue Reading

• Zuckerberg could become a problem for Facebook

  There are echoes of Steve Jobs at Apple with Mark Zuckerberg's tenure at Facebook thinks Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• Twilio says it's time you gave your listening muscles a Flex

  Most corporations use omni-channels for talking but they’ve got too little time for listening. Nick Booth thinks there’s plenty of scope for improvement  Continue Reading

• The importance of Tech Data's relationship with Apple

  Apple is the distributor's biggest vendor partner, which got Billy Macinnes wondering why that will come as a surprise to so many of us  Continue Reading

• Stopping future “beasts from the east”grinding business to a halt

  Phil Jones, managing director of Brother UK discusses what resellers can offer their clients to cope with disruption  Continue Reading

• Dell is deadly serious about the channel

  Things have changed at the once mighty direct giant and Billy MacInnes comments on a firm now heavily targeted on the channel  Continue Reading

• Women in Tech – How long can we wait?

  Inspiring the next generation into IT is clearly important, but says Zoe Cunningham, Managing Director, Softwire, the skills gap and gender imbalance will never be addressed without some radical thinking  Continue Reading

• Who will save us from the privacy invaders?

  Soon our most intimate details - our genomes - will be on open display, as liberalisation turns our private information into a global peep show for everyone from fraudsters to pharmaceuticals warns Nick Booth  Continue Reading

• Is it worth taking out a file on WekaIO? It seems to be disrupting the data industry

  The artificial intelligence data player is on the hunt for channel partners and Nick Booth thinks the firm is worth a closer look  Continue Reading

• The rise of the millennials

  The rise of millennials will drive disruption and innovation in the channel points out Steve Bailey, commercial director of Agilitas  Continue Reading

• Setting up a business is like jumping out of a plane at 12,000 feet

  When he decided to set up his own business the IBC Group it reminded Ian Birch of the feelings he had when skydiving  Continue Reading

• Innovate or die?

  The well worn phrase has Billy MacInnes wondering if it is still as popular as it once was in the channel  Continue Reading

• New £655,000 Breast Cancer Care app inspires people on many levels

  Finding out about the latest innovation in support for cancer sufferers has inspired Nick Booth on many levels  Continue Reading

• Hugging hardware is outdated - the new trend is cuddling a cloud

  The world is changing and as Nick Booth finds out after a chat with Arcserve the days of stroking the tin is coming to an end  Continue Reading

• The price of happiness

  What happens when people are happy in their work? Or rather, what happens when too many people are too happy in their work?  Continue Reading

• There will be change but the channel is constant

  Plenty of vendors are changing their partner programmes but as Billy MacInnes looks at recent examples he concludes all are looking for a long future relationship with partners  Continue Reading

• Are Claromentis and Iconfirm putting in enough decent crosses for their strikers?

  Dealing with customer data is already a challenge and as Nick Booth finds out it is going to get even harder with GDPR coming  Continue Reading

• There is no Margin for Error in Azure it’s Strictly Bill Room

  Nick Booth finds some inspiration in what Microsoft partner Astel Systems has been doing to deliver cloud services  Continue Reading

• Why the UK’s Industrial Strategy needs the channel

  Ben Boswell, VP Europe for World Wide Technology, discusses the role of channel players in boosting innovation in the UK, particularly post-Brexit  Continue Reading

• The rise of the robots

  The robots are coming for jobs and Billy MacInnes wonders what that means for us all  Continue Reading

• Can ECS help the big banks deal with GDPR?

  GDPR is looming and ECS is doing its bit to make sure financial institutions are ready for the data regulations  Continue Reading

• Continuing in the face of disaster

  Paul Blore, managing director at Netmetix, cloud network specialists, writes about the importance of business continuity and how businesses can best implement it  Continue Reading

• Four tips for successful digital transformation

  Nicola Downing, CFO, Ricoh Europe, has some advice for those looking to help customers carry out a successful digital transformation project  Continue Reading

• In praise of the power of partnerships

  Some of the most famous partnerships have changed the world, just look at Lennon and McCartney, and the same can be true in the tech world Billy MacInnes discovers  Continue Reading

• Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

  Those classic lines might be coming true in a way that the author never originally intended notes Billy MacInnes  Continue Reading

• What happened to the HP machine?

  Anyone remember the HP announcement about 'the machine'? Billy MacInnes does and he wonders just what has happened to the grand project  Continue Reading

• Stay flexible – how to benefit from the rise of the softphone

  Softphones are popular, when the channel can get customers to adopt them, and Paul Clarke, channel manager, 3CX, has some advice on how to improve the odds of that happening  Continue Reading

• Blame for NHS's £12 billion IT disaster identified

  No evidence of corruption has been found in the NHS IT cock up that has cost the UK taxpayer £12.8 billion.  Continue Reading

• Is your business prepared for the zombie apocalypse?

  The BBC is today reporting that Leicester City Council has been forced to admit it is unprepared for an attack by hordes of flesh-eating zombies following a Freedom of Information request.  Continue Reading

• Government has a role to play in fighting piracy

  There will have been few eyebrows raised at the announcement that the UK software piracy figures have stayed the same at 27% with a quarter of the country using unlicensed products.  Continue Reading

• "We're not a broadliner anymore," says C2000 boss. So what are you?

  Computer 2000 is not a generalist distributor. Has everybody got that? You at the back, did you hear it?  Continue Reading