IT in Context: March 2011 Archives

Citrix responds to European Commissioner's calls for cloud regulation

By Nick Booth on March 25, 2011 3:13 PM | No Comments

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European commissioner Neelie Kroes spoke out this week on interoperability and standards at the heart of the cloud computing agenda.

Good grief. Is the european commissioner moving in on The Cloud? Surely, that's like being handed The Black Spot by Long John Silver. Is Could Computing doomed?

Hopefully not. Kroes was making it known that the EC understands that cloud computing is fair, open and competitive and allow users to change their cloud provider as fast and easily as changing an ISP or mobile-phone provider.

Just letting us know she's here. A bit like those people in meetings who have to re-iterate what someone just said, otherwise they wouldn't show up on the minutes.

Damian Saunders, director, data centre and cloud group at Citrix, was sufficiently moved to write to us, giving his reaction. Here's how he thinks enterprises can satisfy these requirements without sacrificing or abandoning their existing cloud architectures.

Enterprises want the economics and elasticity of cloud computing, but are understandably reluctant to completely abandon their own data centres, or lock themselves into particular cloud architectures, writes Saunders. The perception is that, once your environment has been embedded into a service provider's data centre (a hybrid cloud), it becomes impossible to switch to another service provider in the future without starting over.

The answer is cloud-bridging. A cloud bridge makes hosted applications appear as though they are running within a single, continuous enterprise network and allows administrators and management to interoperate with the application as if it resides within the enterprise network. Applications no longer have to be re-architected or carved out from the existing data centre environment in order to function properly.

The bridge is critical to building a cloud-extended data centre whilst avoiding the many pitfalls that await a major cloud initiative. Migrated applications can seamlessly use common application services hosted in the enterprise data centre and reconfiguration or rewiring of the enterprise network is eliminated as a requirement. This simplifies on-boarding but also provides the all-important exit strategy should the customer choose to switch service provider.

Samuel Ko on the questions you should ask before implementing cloud computing

By Nick Booth on March 25, 2011 12:06 PM | No Comments

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Samuel Ko, MD of CDNetworks (CDNW), maker of the Web Performance Suite, says cloud vendors are often so pleased with themselves for building an infrastructure that they forget the hard bit, integrating it with the customer's needs.

The cloud will only work if all the employees, supply chain partners and customers can use an IT system characterised by ease and speed.

So, the issues for companies in for companies markets such as Retail, Travel & Tourism, Media, Entertainment and Gaming is this: does anyone understand the potential impact of the proposed Cloud on end-users and customers?

Can you guarantee that the desktop 'experience' will be as good - if not better - than it has been?

Or will users suffer the frustration of application quality degradation?

Do you have any idea why application quality may be impaired?

What measures can you take to prevent this?

Have you identified any gaps in your proposed cloud strategy? How will you provide the additional support?

Sometimes the cloud isn't capable of supporting grown up dynamic applications. The technologies designed to improve Internet performance - such as caching, content delivery, and intelligent routing - do not adequately address the performance requirements of dynamic, web-based applications because much of the content is non-cacheable. This raises further questions:

Do you understand the practical implications? What will actually happen if you get the end-user bit wrong?

You may find it takes up to thirty seconds for a single application page or query result to load on an end user's screen, sluggish performance makes your key applications almost unusable or that your clunky website crashes whenever it's under pressure.

What will be the potential knock-on effect on worker and supply chain productivity or sales and customer satisfaction?

What will be the ultimate impact on the business?

Will the loss of reputation, potential reduction in sales revenue and customer satisfaction and retention, not to mention the money/time that will have to be spent on remedial action, all outweigh all the expected benefits of implementing cloud?

Is there anything organisations can do to ensure that they get it right first time? That's a tough one, but you could try reading a White Paper on DWA

Wearecloud looks for UK installation partners for its BIME cloud service

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 10:06 AM | 1 Comment

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Here's something different for the channel to gets its teeth into:

Bime is an easy yet powerful service to connect and analyze data in any organisation - so its makers claim.

According to the people at WeAreCloud (the company behind the service) it delivers a simple-to-use intuitive way to create stunning visualizations and dashboards with a few clicks of your mouse.

Version 2 has just been launched, which they promise is a huge improvement on the last version.

Who needs it?

Anyone who needs to analyse and publish data. You know the types: web analysts, data analysts, top management, data publishers and consultants.

As often happens, it could find an unexpected secondary market among SMBs, departments within large organizations, middle management, students, business analysts.

Why do they need it?

It helps with the planning process, giving people a visualisation of where their IT is, which helps them get a clearer idea of what to do next.

This organisations make more rational and targeted decisions. Which is where the real value is. It also 'keeps you ahead of the competition' - although some might argue that's a massively over-rated attribute.

For example, analysis of sales data might show hidden links within your customer base and so reveal how to better retain old customers and attract new ones.

Let's say you're running a small to medium sized brothel in the Earls Court area. Analysis of your income might suggest that many of your best customers seem to be IT salesmen. By using this information, you can tailor your business to work around all the big IT exhibitions running at Earls Court and Olympia.

Bime acts to increase profits, make better use of your assets and helps you make informed strategic decisions.

This is particularly important in a recession when organizations need to minimize outgoings and risk. It also enables them to plan savings in an informed and effective way.

"Our target markets need tools like Bime to bring visibility into the organization and help link different aspects together. Without Bime, organizations run the risk of overlooking vital information fundamental to their survival in today's difficult economy," says a spokeswoman for Wearecloud.

SMBs often cannot justify the large CapEx of traditional BI, do not have the IT resources to run an on-premise database and server system and are not sure that they have the breadth or depth of data to warrant such a system. Often their needs change far faster than software can be developed and installed. The SaaS version of Bime solves these problems.

What does it do that nothing else does?

The USP of Bime is that it is the only high performing and powerful SaaS BI tool on the market that runs in a web browser and that allows you to work in-memory or to use the power of databases, with such an exclusive set of online and on-premise connectors, including Google Analytics.

How does it work?

Bime allows you to connect to your existing data and interrogate it. It categorizes your data automatically, allowing you to load the whole range of information into a pivot table to be available for 'queries'. You create your query by dragging and dropping the relevant data onto the frame, which starts as a simple grid. Once you are happy that you have included the basic information wanted, you can change the visualisation to see, rather than read, your results. You can then add elements to fine-tune the results visually (using size or color, for example) to a degree that a column of numbers cannot express.

How companies should prepare for cloud computing

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 9:54 AM | No Comments

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Unshackling the desktop should be the first step to cloud computing, says David Angwin, Wyse Technology's marketing director.

Desktop virtualisation provides a bridge to a 'true-cloud' world - but it's still 5-10 years away.

By breaking the 1:1 relationship between IT user and client hardware, you will build flexibility into both IT infrastructure and business processes in preparation for the cloud.

Given how cloud computing is evolving, demanding a desktop that will give you 5-10 years service life is critical and use your Windows 7 desktop refresh to fund initial moves.

Three classic mistakes made by cloud computer users

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 9:47 AM | 1 Comment

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Mac Scott, a director at Xantus Consulting advises FTSE100 companies and large government departments about cloud computing. He's identified three classic traps organisations fall into.

Seeing security through rose tinted glasses

We are starting to see a generation of companies being set up by people used to social media and living and working in the cloud, writes Scott.

Their perception of cloud, particularly regarding security and backup, is somewhat rose-tinted. They think that because it worked for them automatically on Twitter and Facebook it should work for company applications.

There may be lessons to be learnt here. There is no-one more evangelical about backup than someone who's just lost a week's work because they didn't backup their PC or laptop! I'm sure we'll see the same sort of thing in the cloud.

Limiting entrepreneurial approaches to IT

For new or small companies whose business proposition is technology-based, the cloud will make it more difficult to differentiate. Small businesses are going to have to be more astute because it's hard to offer a 'sexy' or 'unique' CRM system or other piece of technology if everyone is using the same cloud platform.

The cloud is potentially going to limit entrepreneurial approaches to IT and customer-facing applications.

Password and login overload

There is the challenge of integrating elements of your cloud IT and internal systems. How many partners will you need to wrap all that together?

How many passwords and user logons do you have to remember as you jump from one application to another? There is technology to answer that, but most of the big providers such as Google and Microsoft have a vested interest in maintaining their own authentication systems, so it's unlikely they'll agree to share a single logon-user approach any time soon.

And finally, a prediction for 2011

Storage and back-up are my "long odds" bet for major growth during 2011. SMEs and road warriors are starting to expect "access all areas" type functionality for key business data; checking sales figures from their home PC, updating them via tablet/laptop and reviewing them later on their smart phones.

The main issues for larger IS organisations will be data security and portability (across cloud providers). If storage doesn't take off next year these are likely to be the main blockers.

Cloud computing may not save you money - but here's why it's still worth it

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 9:30 AM | No Comments

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The cloud won't necessarily save you money, warns Ewen Anderson, managing director at consultancy Centralis whose partners include luminaries such as App DNA, AppSense, Citrix, Microsoft, VMware and Liquidware Labs.

Things we probably don't know about cloud computing

It is unlikely to save money on whatever your company is doing now, writes Anderson. It is not a simple business case, there are a lot of different factors to consider.

What questions should we ask about ourselves in preparation for cloud computing

To actually put everything into the cloud is way beyond what most organisations are willing to consider or prepared to deliver. So the question is: what do you move into the cloud and how are you going to manage an environment that is delivered 90 per cent from the data centre and 10 per cent from the cloud?

Why am I thinking about moving into the cloud at all? Do these needs lend themselves more to a private/public/hybrid cloud set up?

What are the security implications of cloud services?

When applications and data is split between two separate physical locations there is a real issue around how the integrity of data and performance of systems is likely to be impacted. The chief concern comes around where data in the cloud is stored. Many organisations, particularly financial services organisations, have very strict compliance regulations about where data is stored and who has access to it, and this comes down to which country your data is stored in.

So concerns are on two levels - firstly what is the degree of interaction between your data and systems and where are those systems and data so you know where and how that data is being stored.

A private cloud is your own provisioned data centre so this is the most secure option if you can afford it.

Freeloader - the solar charger for the iPod

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 8:55 AM | No Comments

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Freeloader says its new solar charger is an 'attractive and practical charging solution' for all gadget and travel shoppers.

Is it? I've used solar chargers before, and they were more trouble than they were worth.

I'm all for being green, but I would never have got a return on my fifty quid investment, so I gave it away to my lefty brother for his birthday. The box was still in good condition, so he didn't notice.

That was a few years ago. It's quite possible that technology has matured now.

The new FreeLoader Classic from Solar Technology International collects 25 per cent more power through its solar panels, the maker claims. It charges all mobile gadgets and it now only costs £39.99. Will you ever get that investment back though?

For additional reseller revenue opportunities, the Freeloader Classic has a number of accessories such as a Super Charger and an AA battery charger. Solar Technology makes a complete range of Solar Chargers to suit a multitude of power requirements, all of which have been recently upgraded to include new electronics and more powerful solar panels.

Solar Technology International Tweet them on @SolarTechInt

Here's the techie bit

150mA premium quality crystalline solar cells
1200mAh environmentally friendly Li-ion battery.
Charge Freeloader Classic using its solar panels in 8 hours or via a PC in 3 hours
Supplied with a master cable and nine adaptors to fit the following:
Mini USB - Motorola, Blackberry, Smartphone, iMate etc
Micro USB - Motorola, Blackberry, Nokia etc - the new "standard phone adaptor"
4mm straight jack - PSP, TomTom, EBook etc
Nokia 3.5mm straight jack
Nokia 2mm straight jack
Sony Ericsson - wide adaptor
Samsung - G600 series adaptor
LG - Chocolate, Prada etc
DS - DS Lite
USB socket in built to allow connection from devices with their own USB charge cable - e.g. Apple products.
Aluminium body
Supplied with detailed user manual

Size - 123x62x17mm
Weight - 124g

Outlimits DSS - The Mobile for Extreme Use

By Nick Booth on March 24, 2011 8:00 AM | No Comments

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The Outlimits DSS is quite an eye catching handset. It's a rugged handset, designed for people with an outdoor lifestyle.

Bright orange, with rubber shock absorbers and keypads, it'll probably withstand anything.

There's no camera and the operating system is a bit limited. The phone directory is a bit of a challenge. Still, if you're looking for a basic phone which won't get destroyed when you fall on it, or waterlogged after it's been in your pocket during a rain storm, this could be the phone for you.

It's a bit fiddly using the texting service, because you can't always identify the text you want to read from the list it presents you.

But there are some great features. It cuts out all the background noise, so when you're standing on a windy beach, your voice isn't drowned out by the wind and water. If you do get into trouble, there's a big red SOS button, which you can set up to call the emergency servics automatically if you're in a dangerous place.

The dual Sim slots mean you can have two SIM cards. Great for those of you who can separate work and home life. It raises your odds of getting a good reception when you have access to two networks too. Plus, when you're abroad, you can put in a local SIM card, while leaving your home network online just in case of emergencies.

Recommended retail price is £189.99. Available to the trade at £119.

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

By Nick Booth on March 23, 2011 3:08 PM | No Comments

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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 involved?

Which one of the four people, pictured, is an engineer? (Hint: it's not who you think)

Answers in the comments section below, please. There are no prizes, unfortunately.

Three things you probably didn't know about cloud computing

By Nick Booth on March 23, 2011 11:30 AM | No Comments

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Craig Wellman, director of business development, Azzurri Communications names the Three Things We Probably Don't Know About Cloud Computing:

Large firms have the most to lose from cloud computing. They benefit from utility-based pricing (moving away from the traditional software maintenance agreements), but it's when they consider running 'businesses critical' applications like their call centre or their CRM system in the cloud that danger lurks.

If firms don't ensure their own corporate networks have the right levels of bandwidth, flexibility, latency and security then they will at best never see the benefits, and at worst, open up their business to significant operational risk. The cloud is a virtual world, but for enterprises to make the most of the opportunities from cloud computing real foundations need to be in place.

Moving critical business applications to the cloud without a strong and flexible network in place is like building a house with no foundations.

Salesforce.com says it will beckon you into the cloud and mentor you

By Nick Booth on March 22, 2011 12:43 PM | No Comments

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Here's Eric Stahl, senior director of product marketing at Salesforce.com, on how his company will mentor you into the cloud with its channel strategy.

Cloud computing is an exciting opportunity for resellers to grow their businesses around the future of technology.

Salesforce.com is providing the first path for resell partners around the globe to capitalise on it. All vendors have an 'innovative channel programme' but Stahl points out that Saleforce can offer a proven and trusted cloud platform, Force.com.

"On this foundation partners can easily develop and deliver Cloud 2 business applications with instant social, mobile and open capabilities," he says.

The program is growing rapidly, reports Stahl, with 300 new partners joining in the last year alone, including CloudApps, Imobilien and Sabre Technologies. Another difference is that, on a global basis, salesforce.com also has regional strategic partners who resell Salesforce CRM.

"Our mantra is that the company does not succeed unless its partner ecosystem of thousands succeeds," says Stahl.

Is Seagate about to launch a hair dressing service - in the cloud?

By Nick Booth on March 22, 2011 11:03 AM | No Comments

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Seagate has sent this picture and a sparsely worded invitation to an event.

What can it all mean?

Is Seagate about to launch a hairdressing service? Will it, like everything else these days, run 'in the cloud'?

Watch this space.

Cloud services must be buyable, pliable and reliable, says Extreme Networks

By Nick Booth on March 22, 2011 10:47 AM | No Comments

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Unless you monitor cloud services you will never deliver the service levels customer want. And their SLAs will be very demanding. So Extreme Networks has partnered with Nimsoft to provide the sort of detailed inspection needed for fine tuning cloud services.

Equipment vendor Extreme Networks and cloud performance manager Nimsoft are colluding to give cloud service providers better management of their resources.

It could make all the difference between profit and loss, as service level agreements prove to be the deal breakers in the new cloud services market.

Managed hosting and cloud service providers desperately lack a decent monitoring service, and this could fill the gap.

Extreme Networks is using its automated open network design, based on its ExtremeXOS operating system, to integrate with Nimsoft Monitoring Solution (NMS).

The fusion of these two systems will, they claim, offer real-time visibility of the network to its customers with NMS dashboards and reports.

"Customers want hosts that are cost effective, adaptable, and rock solid," said Gary Read, Nimsoft CEO.

In other words, buyable, pliable and reliabl

AMEX's corporate social responsibility message really is pulling up trees

By Nick Booth on March 22, 2011 9:00 AM | No Comments

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An unsolicited letter arrives in the post. As usual it's stuffed full of leaflets I never asked for, urging me to apply for the British Airways American Express card.

I can't think of two organisations I need less at the moment.

At the back of this packet of junk there's a sanctimonious message:

"Recycle - the possibilities are endless."

Even better, resist the urge to print tons of junk mail!

Don't you love customer relationship marketing? They cut down trees, so they can lecture you about the environment.

Still, mustn't grumble. One man's junk mail is another man's corporate social responsibility campaign.

The Wyse Guy lectures - how your mobile can do everything you'd expect from a desktop machine

By Nick Booth on March 21, 2011 11:06 AM | 2 Comments

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David Angwin - cloud worker and Director of Marketing for Wyse Technology, explains how you can use your mobile as your business computer

People think using the cloud is OK for desktop users but not practical for mobile. But business computing is increasingly about mobility.

Breaking the chain

This applies both to the business, and the business user. Businesses can work in new ways that are more efficient less costly. Home working and hot desking mean you need fewer buildings, for example. But the IT user has to like it or adoption wont happen. So let's look at what it's like to work this way.

Being a cloud-worker

At Wyse, my Windows desktop is in the 3rd party cloud that the company uses for most of its IT. It's in Slough but the location doesn't matter, because whenever I want to use Word or read a spreadsheet, I can do this with whatever device comes to hand.

It's there for me, whether I'm in a café squinting at my blackberry or at home gazing at my Mac.

And yes, it even works on your mobile phone.

Wyse has translated the keyboard and mouse method of input into a system that works with your mobile, based on Touch.

The Wyse PocketCloud - which is free on the AppStore and Android market - gives you a detailed Office 2010 user interface that lets you work with speed and accuracy.

The bigger the screen the better, so I use an iPad, but it works well on iPhone or Android phone too. Paying for the premium version gets you local functionality to make things easier. For example use iOS to remotely navigate the directory structure on your virtual desktop or real PC - once you have found the file you are looking for, double-click it and the Windows app launches.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is 3G enough?

Yes, though if you are in an area with poor reception performance certainly suffers in just the same way as web browsing slows to a crawl. With good reception even graphics heavy applications such as PowerPoint work OK so even when I'm giving customer presentations I travel with an iPad and VGA adaptor rather than a laptop of any description.

Mobile thin clients

These come into their own when you want a proper keyboard and mouse/trackpad. A mobile thin client is effectively a diskless laptop. A local OS such as embedded Windows runs clients for remote desktop connections, a local browser, and handles local hardware such as WiFi, 3G card, webcam and USB devices.

Why have a smartphone or tablet then run Windows on it?

It's not why you bought it, and the apps aren't cool. I couldn't agree more!

I believe the future will be an app-store world - maybe iOS and ChromeOS - maybe something else. But how long will it be before that is reality as, today, most business IT still lives in a Windows world. But this shouldn't stop you taking advantage of the latest and best mobile apps. Just use your mobile device to run Windows apps as and when needed.

But don't I need offline Windows?

Do you? Do you really? When was the last time you worked truly offline in a Windows app - and could you have done it another way?

I'm writing this at 35,000 feet heading for Dubai using a notes app on my iPad. When I land I'll upload direct from the app to Dropbox. Then when I login to my virtual desktop later it will be waiting for me. Not a PC in sight.

HDS: cloud computing won't deliver without SIs

By Nick Booth on March 21, 2011 10:00 AM | No Comments

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We asked Francois Zimmermann, CTO at Hitachi Data Systems UK, to explain the role of the channel in the cloud.... He's made a better stab of it than most...

A systems integrator could simplify the process of installing new systems and make them cheaper to run. So VARs do have a role, as long as they don't just rely on reselling.

In the near future companies will want to cover themselves by using both private and public clouds. If you specialise in seamlessly integrating these two services, you will always be in demand. Nobody will want to buy the parts from you; they want the labour. The labour being the integration work that's needed. And that only you can do.

Vendors are trying to sell a 'one size fits all' experience but their customers don't want this. They want systems that are built for their specific needs. If you can work with the leading vendors and craft together the best of VMware, Microsoft, Cisco and SAP, then you will have a compelling offering that companies urgently need.

You'll need specialist vertical market knowledge in order to make these cloud hybrids work. So the cloud channel will be divided into sectors, depending on whether they know the machinations of, say, telecoms, healthcare, the public sector or finance.

In other words, you need to know your client's business and how to shape the cloud to fit their needs. Until the day dawns that all the vendors can sell off the shelf clouds, that instantly solve any organisational problem - be it in farming or pharmaceuticals - then third party integrators will be needed. Indispensible, in fact.

Want to become an HDS Channel partner?

How press releases get bonged off - PR

By Nick Booth on March 16, 2011 5:58 AM | No Comments

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An email arrives in our in-box, explaining why and how [name withheld] is helping the channel make the transition from selling hardware and software to selling services.

But, they're made one cardinal mistake. They've sent a five megabyte picture file, which will take forever to load onto the system. To make matters worse, they've labelled it 'Andrew'. So once the picture is on the server and we have to mark it up, we'll have no idea who the man is or which company he works for now.

We can't use the picture now.

STRIKE ONE!

Andrew begins to outline his channel plans. But he's said nothing tangible. Oh, hang on, what's this phrase? "We're seeing some excellent traction in the cloud"

STRIKE TWO!

"Our partners need something truly unique in the marketplace."

There are no degrees of uniqueness. It's either unique or it isn't. Marketplace? Don't you mean market?

STRIKE THREE!

That's it, we're not going to write about this company, or its plans for a cloud computing channel.

We could have been your customer, but you couldn't be bothered to find out how we work.

YOU'RE OUT!

IT investment whether forecast - cloudy with a chance of pain

By Nick Booth on March 14, 2011 4:50 PM | No Comments

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John Appleby, CEO of cloud consultancy Saaspoint, the cloud opportunities are there for the taking

In a sense, we are the channel! Saaspoint operates as a centre of excellence for developing AppExchange and Force.com applications.

We use our skills and experience to develop and enhance the offerings of companies like Amazon Web Services, salesforce and Google.

For the channel, the opportunities are there for the taking, I believe.

We're just catching up with the US market in terms of cloud, but now the level of CIO interest in the UK indicates that 'Cloud Computing' has come of age, so that's a huge sales opportunity.

This is a marked difference to previous years when cloud and SaaS opportunities arose from specific applications, usually led by a senior 'user' executive. CIOs are now looking at the Cloud as a means to innovate within highly constrained budgets.

There is particular focus on innovation through the collaborative nature of Cloud. Again this is a huge opportunity for the channel, as the market is starting to mature now.

So get working with the likes of Google Docs and social networking sites like Viadeo and GoSocial.

Channel could make its fortune reselling the cloud, says Alvea

By Nick Booth on March 14, 2011 12:13 PM | No Comments

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Distributor Computerlinks says its Alvea cloud and managed services can be rebranded by resellers and sold as part of their own portfolio. Here David Ellis, its director of new technology and services, argues the case for white labelling the cloud.

"For the channel, the cloud means change and change means opportunity. An opportunity to provide advice and professional services to existing clients on how they can maximise their existing investment within a new IT landscape.

An opportunity to reach out to new clients with the latest cloud-based technology solutions. But to make the most of the opportunity, resellers need skills and experience along with a sound cloud-based infrastructure.

Some will have already invested in this and developed their own managed or cloud-based services. Most, however, won't have been able or indeed wouldn't want to risk making the investment themselves and will rely on working with a third party.

Computerlinks is a distributor with its roots firmly in IT security and network infrastructure - two of the foundation stones for cloud computing. We too, saw the opportunity for the channel and responded by working with our technology and reseller partners to develop and deliver Alvea Services - an aggregated portfolio of managed IT security and cloud-based computing services.

With no legal costs, upfront or ongoing investment needed but the prospect of increased service margins and customer retention the cloud has to be an opportunity not to be missed for the channel."

Say it ain't so Joe! Calyx CTO says cloud computing is nothing more than a marketing campaign -

By Nick Booth on March 14, 2011 11:45 AM | No Comments

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Joe Mayhew CTO at medium sized managed service provider Calyx Group, says the cloud is an artificial construct. I think.

What will Cloud Computing mean for the IT channel, Joe?

The Cloud is nothing more than a marketing creation. VARs, marketing companies and the rest of the channel are creating mystery and magic around something that has been around for some time in one guise or another. The mystery appears to be fuelled by a lack of knowledge and understanding about what it really is which offers a great opportunity to capitalise on this and is why some VARs and channel organisations keep the reality very close to their chest.

The principles and business benefits of what the Cloud concept can offer, certainly to the SME market, are vast. The Cloud provides an organisation with both a capability and an ability to focus on what they are good at, conducting their core business without having to worrying about their IT infrastructure. As time goes by, treating all IT as another utility will be the norm; it should be available at any time, any place and almost invisible, as it is currently with any other utility which we take for granted and expect to always be 'on tap' such as electricity or water.

At Calyx we try to simplify the message to our customers who ask about our "Cloud" strategy, what they can put into the "Cloud", how secure it is, how reliable it is, etc. We have a more open approach with our customers, and address concerns about reliability and security as well as the fundamental question - applicability (Cloud isn't right for everyone or every business).

Cloud has a silver lining for the reseller, hints Clodagh Murphy at Eclipse

By Nick Booth on March 14, 2011 10:24 AM | No Comments

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Here's Clodagh Murphy, director of Eclipse Internet, answering your questions about the impact of the cloudburst that will soon engulf us all

What will Cloud Computing mean for the IT channel?

Cloud Computing can have a significant impact on the cost of running IT, as long as it is implemented well. Offering a greater range of solutions, as well as increased resilience and reliability, the total cost of ownership can be significantly reduced. Not only that, SMEs can also access technology that they may not have been able to afford.

Explain briefly the Eclipse Internet interest in reseller channels?

The reseller channel is a large part of our plans for the coming year. Over the last year, we have refocused the Eclipse team and the channel sits at the heart of the Eclipse strategy going forward.

Describe the Eclipse Internet channel strategy in 50 to 100 words?

We are investing heavily in propositions, portals and teams to ensure that we deliver the Eclipse experience to the channel. The team is in place and the feedback from our current partners is fantastic. Over the coming months, Eclipse will launch a new Portal and a new set of 'wires only' broadband propositions, which are tailored to the channel. These have been developed from direct feedback from our channel customers. Our aim is to shift our performance in the next 12 months - we know we will only achieve this by really delivering what the channel wants and needs.

The reseller channel could be in big trouble when the IT industry clouds over

By Nick Booth on March 14, 2011 9:06 AM | No Comments

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Really Simple Systems (I like this company already, just by the sound of its name) doesn't deal with the channel. So it can afford to be brutally honest. The verdict of John Paterson (pictured) Really Simple Systems' CEO, could make uncomfortable reading for CRM resellers.

"Cloud products are simple, easy to install and configure. There is no consulting fee, training requirement or support contract. Where is the margin for a VAR selling a cheap product on a monthly subscription, with no requirement for added value services?

There is no future for CRM VARs based on today's business model.

But there are other options.

While technical skills are no longer required by SMEs investing in subscription-based CRM systems, business skills can be invaluable.

VARS can change focus and use existing skills to advise people how to use the CRM product, from improving the sales process to measuring responses and improving mailshots."

John Paterson, CEO, Really Simple Systems

Styling tips for cool summer data centres

By Nick Booth on March 12, 2011 9:12 AM | 1 Comment

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It's going to be a barbeque summer. What better way to spend those sweltering summer afternoons than cooling off in a modish data centre?

Here we review the new must have design trends for the new season.

The popularity of clean lines achieved with sleek wide white slab doors, as featured on this new Data Centre range (shown here, new for summer 2011), is showing no sign of slowing, as this key data centre trend finds new ways to stay ahead in the fashion stakes.

Simple yet impactful styling touches and a bit of colour can turn plain white server racks into a design statement and make it extremely en-vogue for 2011.

Wide drawer base units

Not only practical, wide drawer base units deliver a designer look, enhanced by sleek curved stainless steel handles.

Statement worktops

The 30mm thin profile of the granite grey worktop is a current trend, rather than chunkier worktops from a couple of years ago. The overhang provides a handy bar height seating area for casual writing and is a key new styling feature for kitchens.

Sapphire blue glass splashback teamed with oak flooring creates a calming effect

Inject colour into a white data centre with coloured glass splashbacks. Sapphire blue creates a calming effect when teamed with this light oak wood effect flooring.

Mood lighting - a vital ingredient in data centre design

The room is flooded with natural light from the large roof lights but plinth lights provide additional softer lighting - ideal mood lighting for entertaining.

What's cooking in the hot aisle - dual ovens & island hobs

The two main appliances that are in high demand right now are the induction cooler, frequently being designed into a central island unit rather than along wall worktops; and additional UPS alongside conventional generators to provide ample cooking facilities. This trend is being driven by the competitive pricing on appliances, making multiple power options a reality not just a nice to have.

A Hot And Cold Practical Solution

Vertical rack servers are a good space saving solution in the data centre.

DHL needs to sharpen up its act, if this email is anything to go by

By Nick Booth on March 11, 2011 6:00 PM | No Comments

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Here's an email that just came from DHL apparently. If this is a level of their professionalism, they should be a bit worried.

Dear customer!

The parcel was send your home address.

And it will arrice within 7 bussness day.

More information and the tracking number

are attached in document below.

Thank you.

2011 DHL International GmbH. All rights reserverd.

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

By Nick Booth on March 11, 2011 2:52 PM | No Comments

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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.

"Desktop virtualisation with private clouds is a first step in the right direction, making IT delivery much more flexible by breaking the 1:1 link between the user and their PC.

"This helps address the immediate IT priorities (such as Windows 7 migration).

"The channel has a big opportunity here, from consulting on a rapidly changing technology arena, building private cloud infrastructure, through to delivering desktop as a service."

Read David Angwin's blog A View from The Cloud

Rescuers still hopeful of reaching buried story caught in a perfect corporate jargon storm

By Nick Booth on March 11, 2011 12:05 PM | No Comments

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Six days after being submerged under a downpour of corporate jargon, rescuers still haven't given up hope of rescuing a vaguely interesting story.

The story, about a new IT product that could make a variety of British industries more productive and profitable, was last seen as it left the Thames-side offices of Cyberim in Weybridge.

Though the expedition was warned of the dangers of guiding a story without an experienced pilot, the engineers responsible for the craft said they were confident it had legs.

Last night, rescuers were hoping that this false confidence had not proved fatal.

By Friday, the story had gone missing shortly after it passed through a channel that is notorious for destroying any craft that passes through it. Veterans say the conditions in which CybeRim found itself had all the elements of a perfect storm of nonsense.

"There was a marketing director, a channel salesman, a product marketing manager and a corporate governance lawyer," said one experienced helmsman. Any one of these elements can prove fatal, if allowed to interfere with productivity. Working collaboratively, they could destroy anything in their path.

But to make matters worse, all of them had a bit of time on their hands and wanted to make their mark on the story.

"I've been launching stories for 20 years, man and boy, and I've never seen a more perfect environment for creating froth and nonsense," said one rescuer.

The amount of hot air, flotsam and jetsam that was generated by these elements would have been enough to turn over a craft ten times the size of Cyberim, say mariners.

But some rescuers are refusing to give up. "There's a story about virtualisation and possibly storage in their somewhere," said one investigator, "if we can find that, we can probably uncover some possible benefits and we might find the occupants of the story still alive."

Will the Cloud create a suffocating atmosphere for resellers?

By Nick Booth on March 10, 2011 10:26 AM | No Comments

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In the age of IT as a utility, is the box standard reseller doomed? This is one of many questions that Cloud Computing raises for the IT reseller.

What should they do? Get out and start retraining as estate agents or drug dealers? Move up the value chain? Shifts paradigms? Hang on, what on earth is a paradigm anyway?

We are going to put these questions to a series of channel gurus.

The first is David Galton-Fenzi, group sales and marketing director at distributor Zycko.

"Distributors should not fear the cloud," says Galton-Fenzi, "they should welcome it as a further opportunity to reinforce value and create new business opportunities for vendors, resellers and the rest of the channel."

While other parties may feel uneasy about this boxless entity, he says, we know it will mean more than just license distribution; cloud vendors won't have the resources to supply, educate, support or train thousands of MSPs and resellers. "So equivalent services offered by value-added distributors will remain critical to the supply chain," he concludes.

Did Mr David Galton-Fenzi answer all the questions?

Which resellers are set to lose out? Which are best placed to survive?

Exactly what new business opportunities will be created?

Why the Cloud is smoking Part 1

By Nick Booth on March 9, 2011 7:40 AM | No Comments

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As part of an investigation into Cloud Computing, your correspondent found himself in a prison, composed entirely of fags.

It's National No-Smoking Day, apparently. People like your columnist are being targeted in a government funded clamp down. Yesterday this column found itself confined to a prison made of fags at Waterloo Station. It's all designed teach us a lesson.

Why? What are we doing wrong?

Aren't clouds supposed to be de rigeur these days? Marlboro Light man's clouds tick all the fashionable boxes. They're private - we always go outside. They're collaborative - complete strangers are invited into our cloud, if they're the right sort. And by necessity people in the smoking cloud do all their thinking outside the box.

Yes, this type of cloud is to die for.

By comparison, our opponents' technology is pretty ropey.

One gadget they tried on me gave a zero reading for carbon monoxide. (Result!)

Another said I have the lungs of a man fifteen years my junior. Get in!

Truly, the cloud is smokin'!

To test your lungs, get down to Waterloo Station concourse today

IBM Pulse, Las Vegas - it was literally Orbsome

By Nick Booth on March 4, 2011 3:44 PM | No Comments

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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 more holistic approach to IT automation. What's not to get excited about?

Pulse in Las Vegas ended on Wednesday and since then I've been drinking... in the atmosphere of hope.

I've lost my notes now, but I remember being fascinated by IBM Tivoli experts Doug McClure and enterprise asset management guru Rob Bloom

Unfortunately, while talking to them, I had too much to drink, ended up going outside for a cigarette and, when I came back to the bar, they'd gone!

Still, they'd given us all an appetite for learning. So we headed off to see another headline act, IBM premier business partner Orb Data.

Orb's theme, rather fitting for these times in which we find ourselves in reduced circumstances, is doing more with less.

Orb says IBM customers can use Tivoli Monitoring without breaking the bank and do it faster and smarter through its self service portal.

Simon Barnes, Orb's director of managed services, told IT In Context that IBM's innovation is changing the economics of IT. "Cloud computing, workload systems like Watson, and data federation are all driving us forward."

Deloitte's fantastic new crisis management application - a phone!

By Nick Booth on March 4, 2011 1:37 PM | No Comments

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Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has developed a new system to help businesses handle disasters and crises. It's called Bamboo. It's a Smartphone.

So where there's a crisis, you whip out your 'phone' and get help.

Good grief! Whatever will they think of next?

Stop the IT revolution! I'm getting giddy!

2Ergo puts you in touch with Sir Philip Green at the Retail Week show

By Nick Booth on March 4, 2011 10:02 AM | No Comments

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The one on the right is Sir Philip Green, CEO of Arcadia Group. The one on the left is his wife, who lives in Monaco and is exempt from paying taxes in the UK. You'd have thought he wouldn't begrudge paying taxes in the country that made him so rich, wouldn't you?

Delegates at the Retail Week Conference can use a mobile platform to speak to delegates such as Digby Jones. And BHS boss Philip Green.

For publishers, conference and event professionals the system, supplied by mobile marketing experts 2Ergo, exemplifies how mobile can add value to an event. This is turn will attract delegates and improve margins.

At the Retail Week event, for example, you can put questions to the celebrity guests.

Why are you so wonderful Sir Philip? That would be a typical Retail Week question, when I was there.

Or, you might like to ask the BHS boss this: Why do you avoid paying your tax in this country? Aren't you rich enough? Are you happy to profit from us but avoid your duty?

Delegates can ask Green why he avoids paying tax, using a mobile website (mSite), which also contains maps, Twitter feeds, timetables and updates.

Hooray for 2Ergo, for giving us this chance to catch up with Sir Philip Green and showing what we think of him.

Blimey Russia's got 4G! Is Britain in the slow lane while Yota's data network is Putin on the Bitz?

By Nick Booth on March 3, 2011 2:10 PM | No Comments

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Russian mobile broadband company Yota has clinched a deal with the country's main network operators that makes it the 4G network provider for the Russian telecoms market.

It will roll-out an LTE network to cover 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens by 2014.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin witnessed the signing of this landmark agreement by the heads of the leading Russian telecoms operators at Yota's Moscow office.

The agreement will see the country's major network operators - Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Rostelekom - working with Yota to offer 4G services over its network.

The deal provides each of the participants with an option to buy shares in Yota in 2014.

Yota says this is the way forward for telecoms - build one open infrastructure which can be offered to competing service providers.

World's least appetising headline event

By Nick Booth on March 3, 2011 2:00 PM | No Comments

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Anyone up for this?

Webcast: How to Enrich SCCM while Creating HR-Geo Mashups

Can anyone explain what it means?

Ten things we hate about trade shows - even Infosec

By Nick Booth on March 2, 2011 11:58 AM | 2 Comments

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I missed CeBIT this year because I couldn't quite get my hair how I like it. So I cancelled the flight. And you know what, I don't think I missed anything. Why? Here's then reasons why you should never go to a trade show:

1. There's always some bird called Charlotte waiting to ambush you at the press office. If you agree to go and talk to her boring client, she will never return the favour.

2. Every stand has the same stuff. There's only so many boiled sweets or stress balls one can take home and feed to one's puppy

3. Every stand is made of aluminium and has razor sharp corners. If you catch your shoes on them, they get sliced to pieces.

4. Technology exhibitors only ever talk at you. They don't listen. You're more likely to have a fruitful conversation with an automated system.

5. You always meet someone in the pub afterwards who actually has an interesting story. But by then you're too drunk and demoralised to remember the details.

I can't be bothered with the other five things. Let's call it a day and go home.

Whoa, hang on, what's this? A company called EventGenie says its can take the pain out of IT exhibitions like Cebit, Infosec and Embedded World. (If they can make Embedded World fun, they can do anything)

OK, then, EventGenie, how are you going to make Infosuck any less than a hideous ordeal?

Boffins shift IT dimensions with photonic quantum computing

By Nick Booth on March 1, 2011 3:00 PM | No Comments

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This is a representation of a circuit for quantum information processing that makes use of multiport MMI devices. These circuits will be more compact and robust to fabrication tolerances compared to the current 2x2 ports devices.

Boffins at the University of Bristol have made a massive technology breakthrough, by creating compact circuits that could be used to build photonic quantum computers.

The massive advance in computational power could be the catalyst for fundamental changes in society. Experts speculate that it could put time travel, a cure for cancer and an explanation of The Big Society all within reach.

Tremendous advances have been made, said a spokesman for the University of Bristol, but there is still a long way to go.

Building a quantum computer will require a large number of interconnected components - gates - which work in a similar way to the microprocessors in current personal computers. Currently, most quantum gates are large structures and the bulky nature of these devices prevents scalability to the large and complex circuits required for practical applications.

Recently, the researchers from the University of Bristol's Centre for Quantum Photonics showed, in several important breakthroughs, that quantum information can be manipulated with integrated photonic circuits. Such circuits are compact (enabling scalability) and stable (with low noise) and could lead in the near future to mass production of chips for quantum computers.

Along with Dr Terry Rudolph at Imperial College, London the team discovered a new class of integrated divides that could slash the number of components needed to build future quantum circuits.

These devices, based on optical multimode interference (MMIs) have been widely employed in classical optics as they are compact and very robust to fabrication tolerances. "While building a complex quantum network requires a large number of basic components, MMIs can often enable the implementation with much fewer resources," said Alberto Peruzzo, PhD student working on the experiment.

Until now it was unclear how these devices would work in the quantum regime. Bristol researchers say they have proved that MMIs can perform quantum interference at the high fidelity required.

Scientists will now be able to implement more compact photonics circuits for quantum computing. MMIs can generate large entangled states, at the heart of the exponential speedup promised by quantum computing.

"Applications will range from new circuits for quantum computation to ultra precise measurement and secure quantum communication," said Professor Jeremy O'Brien, director of the Centre for Quantum Photonics.

The team now plans to build new sophisticated circuits for quantum computation and quantum metrology using MMI devices.

Coming to a cinema near you - high definition pictures from the SAS Group

By Nick Booth on March 1, 2011 8:56 AM | No Comments

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High definition movies are coming to your local Odeon, thanks to SAS Group

In a world, where PC has gone mad. In a time, in the not too distant future. In a place, where pop corn costs a fortune.

Only one thing can save us.

High Definition. At the Odeon Leicester Square and all over the country. Soon.

Odeon Cinemas has bought a digital content network from BT. It will be installed and configured by SAS Group, so its cinemas can store and manage 8000 films at any one time.

Telecoms experts the SAS Group will work with BT to deliver a digital content network for Odeon Cinemas across the UK.

The new network will connect 104 locations in the UK and will be supported through a managed services agreement between BT and the SAS Group.

Last year 2010, Odeon announced plans to roll out a digital HD system to all of its screens across the UK. The new technology, says Odeon Cinemas, allows it to provide its widest choice of films yet.

SAS Group designed the communications platform capable of handling large digital data packets and has pledged to support of the new infrastructure. As an existing BT customer, Odeon had asked the company for advice on creating a digital content distribution network.

"We wanted to work with a supplier for whom network provision was their core competency," said Deborah Willacy, infrastructure and support manager for Odeon Cinemas. "BT was already supplying a number of services to us so it seemed a natural fit."

The infrastructure was built using an amalgam of two BT services: BT Net and ADSL Business Broadband.

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