Technology
Cloud computing
Ingram pledges to keep cloud momentum going
Posted: Fri, 03 Feb 2012Just days before it holds cloud education seminars for resellers Ingram Micro has vowed to keep putting muscle behind its efforts to educate partners about the hosted world.As one of...
Rise takes cloud message to the US
Posted: Thu, 02 Feb 2012Cloud services specialist Rise has pitched up in the US looking to help managed service providers on that side of the pond and aiming to widen its market reach.The channel...
PaaS market set to take off as enterprise interest grows
Posted: Wed, 01 Feb 2012Resellers able to offer platform as a service (PaaS) advice to customers look well placed to take advantage of growth in that market over the next couple of years.The forecasts...
In-depth: The virtualisation channel pitch
Posted: Fri, 27 Jan 2012Virtualisation has long been seen as a market that not only offers growth but provides resellers with a topical technology to talk to customers about. It has spread from servers...
ThinkGrid seals cloud relationship with Ingram Micro
Posted: Thu, 26 Jan 2012Cloud specialist ThinkGrid has sealed a deal with Ingram Micro enabling the distributor to offer its platform and hosted services to resellers as both look to widen and strengthen their...
In-depth: Managing the complexities of virtualisation projects
Posted: Thu, 26 Jan 2012Billy MacInnes identifies opportunities for resellers in virtualised business environments It's one of the unwritten laws of technology that whenever it promises to make something simpler to do, it invariably...
Hardware
iPad lifts Apple to PC client pinnacle, says Canalys
Posted: Tue, 31 Jan 2012Apple has soared past HP to become worldwide client PC vendor leader for the final quarter of 2011, according to the latest sector figures from Canalys. After selling 15 million...
Low consumer demand hits PC shipments
Posted: Thu, 12 Jan 2012Global PC shipments declined in the fourth quarter with mature markets continuing to show weakness and an inability to shake off the effects of the ongoing mixed economic conditions in...
Tablets grow but netbooks wane over festive period
Posted: Fri, 06 Jan 2012This winter was seen by many as a success for tablets and the latest numbers of sales coming through distribution show that sales of the popular products swelled PC unit...
In-depth: Technology to pitch in 2012
Posted: Wed, 21 Dec 2011by Billy MacInnes Last month, Gartner published its technology and trend predictions for the next few years and among the dominant trends were a greater move towards cloud computing and...
In-depth: 2011, how was it for you?
Posted: Mon, 19 Dec 2011As the curtains are pulled on another year it provides the channel with a chance to look back and take stock. In many respects 2011 was like the year before with...
Fall-out from Thai floods set to run into first quarter
Posted: Fri, 16 Dec 2011As manufacturer inventories run dry and prices start to climb further the impact of the Thailand floods on the hard disc drive market is likely to make it a difficult...
Network & Communications
DiData first to wear worldwide Cisco telepresence badge
Posted: Fri, 03 Feb 2012Network and IT services provider Dimension Data has become the first company to be awarded Cisco's TelePresence Video Master Global ATP certification. According to Cisco, the certification recognises partner understanding...
Cisco reveals details of business revamp at Cisco Live Europe
Posted: Thu, 02 Feb 2012Cisco is betting that consolidating its product lines and areas of business will help refocus the networking giant after a year of sluggish financial performance. Speaking to delegates at the...
HP looks for increased networking activity from partners
Posted: Wed, 25 Jan 2012Hewlett-Packard is looking for more resellers to sell its networking range in response to moves it has made to simplify its partner programme and extend training and support in that...
RIM on brink as CEOs step aside
Posted: Mon, 23 Jan 2012Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, joint CEOs of BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) have stepped down, to be replaced by product and sales COO Thorsten Heins.Heins, who joined RIM from...
D-Link restructure will provide resellers with more focus
Posted: Mon, 16 Jan 2012D-Link is expecting a restructure to enable it to provide resellers with greater focus and support as it seperates its wide portfolio and bolsters the business-to-business operations. The vendor has...
Axonex first to bag Cisco ISE badge in UK
Posted: Mon, 16 Jan 2012Cisco partner Axonex has become the first UK reseller to be awarded the Authorised Technology Partner (ATP) accreditation for Cisco's Identity Services Engine technology.The Gloucestershire-based firm said this would help...
Security
Better passwords could help protect against cyber crime threat
Posted: Wed, 01 Feb 2012With people more likely to fall victim to cyber crime rather than physical acts of violence or robbery the security industry is facing a need to deliver more user education.One...
Customers exposed to threats by sticking with old firewalls
Posted: Mon, 30 Jan 2012Customers are leaving themselves exposed to security threats because of a failure to update their firewalls, which are no longer able to fend off sophisticated web-based attacks.The other consequence infrastructure...
EMEA flat for Symantec
Posted: Fri, 27 Jan 2012The EMEA market produced a flat performance for Symantec as the security specialist showed it is not immune to the economic conditions that are undermining confidence across the continent.The vendor...
Security players back tougher EU data protection laws
Posted: Wed, 25 Jan 2012Security players have welcomed the moves by the EU to outline plans to strengthen data protection laws with much greater penalties than those that currently exist for those that are...
UK performs strongly as WatchGuard reports growth
Posted: Thu, 19 Jan 2012Security player WatchGuard has revealed that the UK is its best performing market outside of its native US as it cranked up orders in its fourth fiscal quarter.The privately-owned vendor...
C2000 launches McAfee partner initiative
Posted: Tue, 17 Jan 2012McAfee and Computer 2000 have launched a new initiative, SMB Connect Programme, to give resellers the opportunity to work towards McAfee's SMB specialization without making major time commitment, writes Linda Endersby. The...
Services
In-depth: Technology to pitch in 2012
Posted: Wed, 21 Dec 2011by Billy MacInnes Last month, Gartner published its technology and trend predictions for the next few years and among the dominant trends were a greater move towards cloud computing and...
Civica signs SAM pact with FAST Ltd
Posted: Thu, 08 Dec 2011Software asset management (SAM) and IT compliance specialist FAST Ltd has teamed up with IT services house Civica to offer FAST's customers access to additional expertise around licensing and ICT...
Smartphone challenge a managed services opportunity
Posted: Tue, 15 Nov 2011Resellers offering managed services are going to have to ensure they can cope with supporting a diverse number of mobile devices for the long-term. Speaking at the Kaseya managed services...
Managed service players looking to cloud future
Posted: Thu, 10 Nov 2011Resellers that have already established a strong business in the managed services market are preparing themselves for further change to their business models as the cloud becomes more widely adopted....
In-depth: Selling services for social success
Posted: Mon, 07 Nov 2011Nobody can now dispute that social networking is well-established in the workplace; at Salesforce.com's Cloudforce conference in September, a survey of 150 CEOs revealed 73% said social networks were important...
Stonesoft lifts lid on managed services programme
Posted: Mon, 07 Nov 2011Stonesoft has launched a managed security service provider (MSSP) programme for resellers targeting the SME market and those customers that are looking to outsource their data protection responsibilities. The attraction of...
Software
Ecosystems rather than solo pitching the way to the cloud
Posted: Fri, 03 Feb 2012Ecosystems of cloud providers could be one way to ensure that resellers can remain competitive and inspire customer loyalty in the face of greater user choice and flexibility.The conclusions of...
In-depth: The virtualisation channel pitch
Posted: Fri, 27 Jan 2012Virtualisation has long been seen as a market that not only offers growth but provides resellers with a topical technology to talk to customers about. It has spread from servers...
In-depth: Managing the complexities of virtualisation projects
Posted: Thu, 26 Jan 2012Billy MacInnes identifies opportunities for resellers in virtualised business environments It's one of the unwritten laws of technology that whenever it promises to make something simpler to do, it invariably...
Consumerisation and social driving software growth
Posted: Tue, 24 Jan 2012The European software industry can expect modest growth this year as consumerisation and social media force firms to open up budgets to enable secure remote working.The latest forecasts from IDC...
Open source software vendors turn eyes to channel
Posted: Thu, 19 Jan 2012Open source software vendors 10gen and Talend have both turned their attention to the channel this week, announcing their intentions to start recruiting resellers in the UK as part of...
FAST brings legal experts together to keep IP protection on agenda
Posted: Mon, 16 Jan 2012The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) is aiming to keep the pressure on the government and those influencing the intectual property protection debate through an event designed to bring together...
Storage
Storage network global certification launched
Posted: Wed, 18 Jan 2012CompTIA Storage and storage industry body SNIA have teamed up to introduce a new credential for IT professionals working in data storage, writes Linda Endersby. The partnership's aim is to help...
Dell shows off storage programme enhancements
Posted: Tue, 10 Jan 2012Dell has kicked off 2012 by using its inaugural European Storage Forum in London to announce a number of enhancements to its Storage Smart partner programme that it says will simplify...
In-depth: Technology to pitch in 2012
Posted: Wed, 21 Dec 2011by Billy MacInnes Last month, Gartner published its technology and trend predictions for the next few years and among the dominant trends were a greater move towards cloud computing and...
Storage shoots up Dell's agenda
Posted: Tue, 13 Dec 2011Dell has urged SMB resellers to beef up their storage practices as enterprise clouds and consumerisation tighten their grip on the business ICT world. Dell is currently putting the finishing...
Enterprise data exposed by low server replication rates
Posted: Tue, 13 Dec 2011Enterprises are failing to replicate enough of the mission critical server estate leaving themselves open to costly losses when they suffer outages. Despite the opportunity to use virtualisation to replicate...
Imation Mobile Security kicks off partner programme
Posted: Fri, 09 Dec 2011Imation Mobile Security has rolled out a security partner programme after bedding in the IronKey products into its portfolio encouraging resellers to get behind its range of secure portable storage...
