Future of the channel
Industry fears mount over ICT GCSE slump
Posted: Tue, 24 Aug 2010Following last week's A-level results, this morning's GCSE results confirmed industry fears that the UK is not producing the new IT talent needed in the channel, writes Jenny Williams. Industry...Read More »
Fears UK will fall behind as pupils shun uninspiring ICT and Computing courses
Posted: Thu, 05 Aug 2010By Billy MacInnes Many of the pioneers of the IT industry and channel did not have an IT qualification and it's beginning to look as if the same will be...Read More »
Bridging the skills gap
Posted: Mon, 07 Jun 2010A sustained economic recovery might be on the horizon but persistent doubt about the immediate future has precipitated a crunch in the skills market as personnel in senior management positions...Read More »
Considerations for building a successful cloud offering
Posted: Mon, 24 May 2010Mark Williams, managing director at Pensar, pinpoints the areas resellers should focus on when building cloud servicesThere is no doubting that cloud computing is an impassioned topic within the channel....Read More »
New employment law affecting businesses in the channel
Posted: Mon, 10 May 2010In recent years, the government has tried to make it easier for everyone to see the legislative changes that are coming by using a common commencement date system, writes Adam...Read More »
Five minute interview: Julian Buck, Version One
Posted: Fri, 23 Apr 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Julian Buck, general manager of document management and imaging software at Version OneWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?The best: "You...Read More »
Five minute interview: David Cuss, Quest Software
Posted: Fri, 23 Apr 2010MicroScope puts its questions to David Cuss, partner sales manager at Quest SoftwareWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?The best piece of advice I received was...Read More »
Capturing opportunities in education
Posted: Wed, 21 Apr 2010Ian Curtis, head of UK and Ireland for interactive learning technology provider Promethean, looks at how resellers can ensure they are best placed to capitalise on demand for educational technologyThe...Read More »
In depth: Getting ahead in the cloud
Posted: Wed, 21 Apr 2010The channel must adapt to meet the demands of cloud computing and embrace the commercial opportunities it presents, writes Billy MacInnesWhen Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer gets up in front of...Read More »
Five minute interview: Nick Claxson, Comtec Enterprises
Posted: Mon, 12 Apr 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Nick Claxson, managing director of Comtec EnterprisesWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? Best: My dad saying "cash is king".Worst: My...Read More »
Buoyant first quarter builds channel optimism
Posted: Fri, 09 Apr 2010Opinion is divided over whether or not the recession is over, but the outlook for 2010 is positive overall, writes Steve MoyesThe first quarter of 2010 has come to a...Read More »
Five minute interview: Martine Dodwell-Bennett, Steljes
Posted: Thu, 08 Apr 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Martine Dodwell-Bennett, group sales and business development director at SteljesWhat is the best advice you have received and from whom?"You should only ever hire the...Read More »
Editor's comment: Consolidation makes it a memorable Monday
Posted: Mon, 29 Mar 2010When people come to look back over this year they will remember this week not just for being the one before Easter but also as the moment when consolidation really...Read More »
Five minute interview: Duane Jackson, KashFlow Software
Posted: Mon, 15 Mar 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Duane Jackson, CEO of London-based KashFlow SoftwareWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Best: "Never assume." From various people. Worst: "Interest rates...Read More »
Five minute interview: Jirina Yates, Avaya EMEA
Posted: Wed, 10 Mar 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Jirina Yates, director of field marketing at Avaya EMEAWhat is the best advice you have received and from whom?Treat people the way you wish to...Read More »
Windows 7 is good for business
Posted: Mon, 15 Feb 2010Overcoming application compatibility issues with Windows 7 will create opportunities for the channel, says John TateThe opportunities for Windows 7 are being widely discussed in the IT channel. After the...Read More »
Analysis: Is China losing its allure?
Posted: Mon, 15 Feb 2010By Simon QuickeIf you were to take a guess at some of the major news themes of the forthcoming year, China might well sneak into the top five.An interesting article...Read More »
Five minute interview: Gary Newbold, Extreme Networks
Posted: Fri, 12 Feb 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Gary Newbold, regional director for the UK and Ireland at Extreme NetworksWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?"Never ever give up",...Read More »
In-depth: A game-changing year
Posted: Thu, 11 Feb 2010The last year of the 'noughties' was a big one for the technology sector, and many of the developments will have repercussions throughout this year and beyond. David Binning reportsWe...Read More »
Prepare for a year of consolidation
Posted: Thu, 11 Feb 2010One of the safest bets that can be made this year is that there will be further consolidation in the market and perhaps a few surprises in terms of buyers...Read More »
Five minute interview: Cliff Fox, SICL
Posted: Tue, 09 Feb 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Cliff Fox, managing director at systems integrator SICLWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Best advice: "Look right, look left, look right...Read More »
Five minute interview: David Blackman, Acronis
Posted: Mon, 08 Feb 2010MicroScope puts its questions to David Blackman, general manager, northern Europe, at AcronisWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Best: you will never go wrong taking a...Read More »
Microscope Media Centre
Posted: Tue, 02 Feb 2010MicroScope.co.uk Media Information MicroScope is the longest established weekly newspaper for computer manufacturers, distributors and resellers who need to maintain a competitive edge in the channel. Hard-hitting opinionated editorial covers...Read More »
Five minute interview: Simon Rixon, BT Engage IT
Posted: Mon, 01 Feb 2010What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?The best advice I have received are the values my parents instilled in me. The worst was my school career...Read More »
Five minute interview: Simon Shorthose, Readsoft UK
Posted: Fri, 08 Jan 2010MicroScope puts its questions to Simon Shorthose, managing director at ReadSoft UKWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Someone once told me, "Everybody has to sell themselves."...Read More »
In depth: Review of 2009 – Reasons to be cheerful?
Posted: Thu, 17 Dec 2009This year will go down as one of recession and credit crunch. The banks collapsed and for many in January it seemed like the world was about to end. It...Read More »
Five minute interview: Nick Wiley, Invomo
Posted: Mon, 14 Dec 2009MicroScope puts its questions to Invomo CEO Nick WileyWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?The best advice I ever heard was from Albert C. Black Jr.,...Read More »
Five minute interview: John Campbell, QlikTech UK
Posted: Mon, 07 Dec 2009MicroScope puts its questions to John Campbell, alliance director at QlikTech UKWhat is the best book you have ever read?Anything by my favourite author, Frederick Forsyth. I’ve read all his...Read More »
Analysis: Can SAP rise to the SaaS challenge?
Posted: Thu, 26 Nov 2009SAP reported poor third quarter results last month as attendees of its TechEd summit in Vienna saw a company at pains to show how it plans to reinvent itself and...Read More »
Five minute interview: Ian Cummins, Network Instruments
Posted: Tue, 10 Nov 2009MicroScope puts its questions to Ian Cummins, vice-president of Network Instruments EMEAWhat is the best book you have ever read?J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It’s so good we even...Read More »
Five minute interview: David Spate, Overland Storage
Posted: Thu, 05 Nov 2009MicroScope puts its questions to David Spate, sales and marketing director, EMEA Disk Solutions, at Overland Storage (EMEA)What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?The best advice...Read More »
Five minute interview: Adam Spurr, Outsourcery
Posted: Mon, 26 Oct 2009MicroScope puts its questions to Adam Spurr, sales director at OutsourceryWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?You reap what you sow. My dad told me that...Read More »
Channel Summit: Approaching the cloud with caution and confidence
Posted: Tue, 20 Oct 2009In the second part of the MicroScope Channel Summit we asked a panel representing all tiers of the channel what impact they expect from the computing cloud.The panel:> Mark Nutt,...Read More »
Five minute interview: Craig Whitney, Axway
Posted: Tue, 20 Oct 2009MicroScope puts its questions to Craig Whitney, vice-president and managing director of AxwayWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? Always have a ‘plan B’ – from...Read More »
In-depth: Tap into Middle East tech boom
Posted: Tue, 29 Sep 2009At a time when European markets have reached saturation and organisations in the developed economies are cutting back on IT expenditure, the Middle East offers sellers and resellers a rapidly...Read More »
Five minute interview: Lee Finck, PGP Corporation
Posted: Tue, 22 Sep 2009MicroScope puts its questions to Lee Finck, senior director of worldwide sales at PGP Corporation.What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Best: "Beware the fury of a...Read More »
In depth: Tips for starting your own business
Posted: Mon, 07 Sep 2009There are three relatively easy ways to money: win it, marry it, or steal it. The passage of time should have taught you that there is almost no chance of...Read More »
Have staff cuts gone too far?
Posted: Thu, 03 Sep 2009There are growing concerns from IT recruiters that cutbacks have gone too deep.In the last six months thousands of people have lost their jobs and the channel and general IT...Read More »
In depth: Tips for cutting costs and improving efficiency
Posted: Fri, 31 Jul 2009The recession is hitting the third-party distribution channel as hard as everyone else – a situation not helped by the apparent raft of merger and acquisition activity among the vendor...Read More »
Choose life, choose efficient IT, choose ecostructure
Posted: Wed, 17 Jun 2009When Bob Dylan screeched that the times were “a changing” back in the 1960s, he prophetically foresaw that the waters of socio-political change were rising fast and that if we...Read More »
CBI upbeat about recovery but calls for more credit
Posted: Mon, 15 Jun 2009A consensus is building that the recession is going to be less severe than had been feared and as a result hundreds of thousands of jobs could be saved.The latest...Read More »
Interview: Sir Peter Rigby finds fortune favours the brave
Posted: Thu, 11 Jun 2009As is the case with most successful entrepreneurs, it is possible to look at the winner of this year’s MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence lifetime achievement award, Sir Peter Rigby,...Read More »
Consultancy skills can clinch a sale
Posted: Fri, 22 May 2009Resellers offering a complete service will be better placed to win sales in recession and beyond In today’s economic climate, most companies will tell you that customers are hesitant...Read More »
Reseller opportunities in virtualisation
Posted: Tue, 19 May 2009It seems as though you cannot go to an industry conference or open up a trade publication these days without hearing the V-word - virtualisation. The stars have definitely aligned...Read More »
Tories to scrutinise IT spending as part of thrift economy
Posted: Mon, 27 Apr 2009Tory leader David Cameron has put IT savings at the heart of his attempts, if elected, to reduce government debt levels as part of his focus on "thrift".Some of the...Read More »
Analysis: Channel homes in on changing needs
Posted: Fri, 27 Mar 2009As the recession bites there are several market areas and approaches that have the potential to benefit from the widespread customer desire to save money without compromising performance or efficiency.They...Read More »
HP talks up need for upturn investment
Posted: Tue, 10 Mar 2009Hewlett-Packard has used a customer event promoting improvements in its product line as a call to users to invest in technology.Armed with research it has just completed the vendor found...Read More »
Labour pushes Sir Alan Sugar as next London mayor
Posted: Fri, 27 Feb 2009Viglen owner and star of the BBC series The Apprentice Sir Alan Sugar is being hailed as the only man that can de-throne Boris Johnson as Mayor of London...Read More »
Planning to be back on track by 2012
Posted: Fri, 20 Feb 2009The year 2012 might not just be memorable because of the Olympics coming to the capital; by then the economy could be back in full swing.That was one version of...Read More »
Mobile data demands to soar
Posted: Mon, 16 Feb 2009Mobile internet usage is set to soar dramatically in spite of the severe recession, according to new research carried out on behalf of voice, video and data services specialist...Read More »
A hard sell in tough times
Posted: Thu, 12 Feb 2009Reading the business section (and often the front page) of a newspaper has become something of a penance of late and, unlike the religious variety, which is reputed to be...Read More »
Putting a brave face on Britain’s economic freeze
Posted: Thu, 12 Feb 2009We have all grown accustomed over the last few months to gloomy economic conditions (isn’t it depressing how every day seems to bring even worse news than the day before?)...Read More »
Resellers encouraged to keep sight of green message
Posted: Thu, 22 Jan 2009One of the potential victims of the downturn is the green message. The idea of spending money to save the planet will not seal many deals in the current climate.It...Read More »
Planning for tough times ahead
Posted: Thu, 15 Jan 2009What’s the difference between a recession and a depression? For some people, I bet there’s no difference at all. If you end up losing your job or business, your house...Read More »
Will government’s £20bn be enough?
Posted: Thu, 15 Jan 2009One of the features of this global downturn has been the focus on credit, with the lack of it driving many SMEs to the brink. Even as people are losing...Read More »
Comment: Making unified communications work
Posted: Tue, 13 Jan 2009Unified communications (UC) is a growing consideration for enterprises. One of the main drivers behind this growth is a desire for improved employee productivity through more effective collaboration. This can...Read More »
Opportunities in new security agenda
Posted: Tue, 13 Jan 2009If there is a theme in the security world, apart from helping customers combat day-to-day threats, it is about making the transition towards a situation where protection is twinned with...Read More »
Audio-visual market remaining optimistic
Posted: Mon, 12 Jan 2009Whisper it, but the audio-visual market seems a safe place to be. Compared with other technology markets dependent on tightening corporate budgets, the AV market, with its traditional roots in...Read More »
Will 2009 be the year of the netbook?
Posted: Mon, 12 Jan 2009During 2007 notebooks outperformed desktops for the first time in sales, and the future of the laptop looked bright. But 2008 brought a new trendsetter with the arrival of the...Read More »
Networking: what does 2009 hold?
Posted: Mon, 12 Jan 2009The networking world finds itself in the position of being at the bleeding edge of an industry that prides itself on cutting through to the next way to speed up...Read More »
SaaS, netbooks and smartphones bright spots for 2009
Posted: Fri, 09 Jan 2009At this time each year I am often asked about my predictions for the coming 12 months. While the current economic crisis makes this forecasting exercise more difficult this time...Read More »
Green IT and infrastructure projects victims of downturn
Posted: Fri, 09 Jan 2009If there is one question dominating channel minds it is what the year ahead holds.Most agree that 2009 is going to be tough and that thinking beyond the end of...Read More »
Brother director lobbies Cameron with channel concerns
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2009In between trying to grab the headlines for his pension and savings plans Conservative leader David Cameron found time to pop up to Manchester and face some questions...Read More »
CMI issues gloomy forecast for ‘09
Posted: Tue, 16 Dec 2008The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has compounded fears for businesses in the IT sector after publishing research today that showed managers and business leaders were very nervous about the...Read More »
Recession will change IT services agendas
Posted: Thu, 11 Dec 2008Researchers at global IT advisory consultancy Ovum have been discussing their impressions of the coming 12 months in the IT services business, and as expected the recession is looming...Read More »
Rate of business failures could support 2009 recovery predictions
Posted: Wed, 10 Dec 2008Those working with small businesses are starting to believe that perhaps the worst is over with the expression “light at the end of the tunnel” being aired.Dennis Scott, commercial director...Read More »
Proving that the grass is greener
Posted: Fri, 31 Oct 2008In business, we are always listening to customers and trying to understand what they want. The ability to be ‘green’ has quickly emerged as one of the major challenges facing...Read More »
Crisis no 'dot com bust' says Gartner
Posted: Tue, 14 Oct 2008Speaking at this week’s Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in the US, analysts have said that although the economic crisis is going to impact IT budgets next year, the scale of the...Read More »
IT executives call for leadership in the face of meltdown
Posted: Mon, 13 Oct 2008Executives in the IT sector are calling for calm in the face of a growing sense of alarm and panic in the business community.According to a survey from the Chartered...Read More »
Ballmer upbeat about IT industry prospects
Posted: Fri, 26 Sep 2008Those in the channel looking for some good cheer will have been cheered by comments made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about the state of the economy. In...Read More »
More than a flash in the pan
Posted: Fri, 29 Aug 2008When the announcement came over the wires that Norwegian business software specialist Mamut was the buyer of the UK operations of MYOB, the name might have been unfamiliar to a...Read More »
Atos Origin brings Olympic IT circus to London
Posted: Fri, 22 Aug 2008As the Beijing Olympic Games enter their last two days and Team GB looks set to return with its largest medal haul for a century, the IOC’s IT services...Read More »
The man who reinvented the channel
Posted: Tue, 05 Aug 2008When Jos Brenkel shared his thoughts about the channel in his role as head of the European channel for Hewlett-Packard, resellers sat up and took notice. They paid attention not only...Read More »
Up service to keep web ball rolling
Posted: Fri, 01 Aug 2008There is a post-war generation that tends to believe that it saw more technological advancement than any other, but in terms of speed it is last decade that has produced...Read More »
Microsoft's Barclay prepares for new challenges
Posted: Mon, 28 Jul 2008Working with the channel is always going to be a challenge when you are employed by one of the world's largest software vendors. It becomes even trickier when the message...Read More »
Replicate data to protect servers
Posted: Mon, 28 Jul 2008Many organisations are adopting virtualisation in their data centres to better use hardware, reduce power consumption and simplify management. The reliability of the infrastructure is critically important but what is the...Read More »
Ease targets, vendors urged
Posted: Mon, 28 Jul 2008The channel has called for vendors to start factoring the economic slowdown into their sales forecasts, as sales are on average five to 10 per cent below expectations, according to...Read More »
Government needs to focus on more than energy
Posted: Tue, 22 Jul 2008Following the announcement by the government that it plans to be carbon neutral in terms of its ICT in four years others in the industry have called for a wider...Read More »
Calls for more sustainable IT
Posted: Fri, 18 Jul 2008The channel has a long history of inventing and then widely adopting buzzwords and the latest “sustainability” is tapping into not just questions of efficiency and cost but also the...Read More »
Move to ICT services aids sustainability
Posted: Wed, 09 Apr 2008A move away from products to services in information and communication technology (ICT) could have a positive effect on sustainable development, according to a survey by Forum for the Future. The...Read More »
De-duplication can boost performance
Posted: Fri, 04 Apr 2008De-duplication in itself is easy to understand – optimised storage capacity usage by eliminating duplicated data. However the devil is in understanding the different technologies, techniques and implementations in the...Read More »
A leap in mobile computing
Posted: Fri, 04 Apr 2008There were two landmark announcements in our corner of the tech world recently that have the potential to change the definition of mobile computing. The first came from Intel and focused...Read More »
Simplifying security for a greener network
Posted: Thu, 03 Apr 2008When IT managers consider consolidating their organisation’s IT hardware, the primary motivation often concerns freeing up data centre space or reducing management overheads. However, reducing the amount of hardware used...Read More »
UK should look east to build confidence
Posted: Thu, 03 Apr 2008With the financial markets getting jittery again, there are no immediate signs that things will settle down, and to some extent, the US is to blame. The Federal Reserve is showing...Read More »
Delivering power where it matters
Posted: Thu, 03 Apr 2008One of the subjects in the channel that has become a daily discussion point in the past year is power. Everyone wants to know how much power they are consuming,...Read More »
Data leakage to set conference agenda
Posted: Thu, 03 Apr 2008As the great and the good meet in Olympia later this month to show off their wares and discuss the direction of the industry there are going to be a...Read More »
Me and my digital shadow
Posted: Wed, 02 Apr 2008EMC and IDC got a lot of publicity a couple of weeks ago when they released research suggesting that the digital universe was 10 per cent bigger last year than...Read More »
Is vendor marketing ready for evolution?
Posted: Wed, 02 Apr 2008The question of how best to support the channel with marketing has always been a thorny one. Part of the problem has been the difficulty in producing effective materials for...Read More »
Spending curb could push hosted services
Posted: Wed, 02 Apr 2008Ahead of the inaugural EMEA Enterprise Networking and Communications Summit, to be hosted by Gartner in London towards the end of April, analysts have been mulling over the state of...Read More »
Forum questions SME statistics
Posted: Mon, 28 Jan 2008by Billy MacInnesThe UK’s much-vaunted credentials as an entreprenuerial economy have come under fire from research that claims the growth prospects for small businesses are diminishing and that estimates on...Read More »
How resellers see the future
Posted: Mon, 22 Oct 2007Everyone in the channel has an idea of how they think the market is going to go in the next few years. Some are downbeat — based on the grim...Read More »
Resellers' guide to surviving the downturn
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970MicroScope got together with the great and the good to ask the simple, yet often elusive question: “Which technologies and services should the savvy reseller be avoiding as we...Read More »
How ISVs can survive the recession
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970Many independent software vendors (ISVs) have been feeling the pressure recently, trapped between procrastination over resellers’ and customers’ buying decisions and tightening margins. Cost savings, combined with administrative overheads and...Read More »
The mythology of employment law
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970July 28 2008 When Alan Sugar quizzed a potential winner of The Apprentice about the arrangements she was making for her childcare there was uproar. Some people thought what he had...Read More »
Five minute interview: Robert Furnivall, SAP UK
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970MicroScope puts its questions to Robert Furnivall, head of channel, SAP UKWhat is the worst advice you have received and from whom?“You can carry on playing the rest of the...Read More »
Rebuilding UK econonomy on the IT sector
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970The current recession has caused the greatest damage to the UK economy for over 100 years, writes Stephen Kelly, CEO of Micro Focus. The industries on which we had relied...Read More »
Roundtable: The channel's role in security
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970Security remains a thriving market and businesses of all sizes face a variety of threats daily. But for SMEs, a security breach can be devastating and the channel has adopted...Read More »
Five minute interview: John Cruickshank, Hughes Europe
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970MicroScope puts its questions to John Cruickshank, sales director, Hughes EuropeWhat is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom? Best: From my earliest mentor in sales – whatever...Read More »
Five minute interview: David Akka, Magic Software Enterprises (UK)
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970What is the best/worst advice you have received and from whom?Best advice: “If you treat your subordinates as privates (rank) they will perform as privates; if you treat your subordinates...Read More »
Profile: Andrew Binding, Magirus - Forward thinker
Posted: Thu, 01 Jan 1970Andrew Binding, vice-president of Northern Europe at Magirus, tells Simon Quicke how the distributor has changed directionIt is a scene from a Hollywood film or the opening chapter of a...Read More »