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  • A solid way to tighten web security
    Astaro's Web Gateway takes an appliance approach to internet management, keeping out the threats
  • Axon board backs HCL bid
    The battle to acquire SAP consultancy specialist Axon looks like swinging in HCL Technologies favour at the expense of rival Infosys.
  • Veeam arrives in UK looking for distribution
    Virtualisation management specialist Veeam Software has pitched up in the UK with plans to appoint a distributor and build a channel.
  • Ballmer prepares channel for Cloud OS and online services
    The end of this month will see a series of significant announcements from Microsoft about cloud computing.
  • Blue Solutions drops certified OEM status with Microsoft
    Blue Solutions and Microsoft have changed their relationship with the distributor opting to end its authorised OEM partner status at the end of today.
  • Indian suitors court SAP specialist Axon Group
    Indian based HCL Technologies has entered the bidding war for UK-based SAP consultancy specialist Axon Group.
  • Windows 7 pre-beta developer hand-out could claw back initiative for Microsoft
    One of the reasons cited by customers unwilling to upgrade to Vista has been the expectations that Windows 7 could arrive and make the intermediate upgrade unnecessary.
  • Oracle enters hardware market with HP assistance
    Oracle’s OpenWorld event is likely to be remembered for the moment that the CEO Larry Ellison announced that the vendor was entering the hardware market.
  • Red Hat files solid results but no channel mention
    Open source player Red Hat has filed a “solid” set of second quarter financials but forgot to mention the channel, which is underpinning a significant proportion of its growth, in the UK at least.
  • Chinese Office offer should reduce Microsoft piracy
    Microsoft has cut the price of its Office products in China by 70% in a move to counteract the piracy problem in that country.
  • Parallels hands Computacenter gold to grow market
    Virtualisation specialist has appointed Computacenter as a gold partner with a brief to open up more enterprise accounts for the vendor.
  • Teksys acquires Tech MS to bolster virtualisation offering
    Microsoft LAR Teksys has acquired Technology Made Simple Ltd (Tech MS) in a move that will bolster its credentials in the virtualisation market.
  • Becta wins concessions from Microsoft but OFT complaint remains
    The relationship between Becta and Microsoft appears to be improving as the schools body gets closer to resolving the dual problems that led it to complain to the Office of Fair Trading about school licensing agreements and interoperability.
  • Virtualisation competition should increase as the market expands
    The virtualisation market should expand away from being dominated by a few players with fairly rigid pricing befitting resellers looking to get involved with the market.
  • SAP looks for greater vertical focus from resellers
    SAP is aiming to continue its channel expansion looking to recruit players that can add value to the small business arena and vertical markets.
  • Microsoft $300m campaign starts but where's Vista?
    Microsoft has started a $300m marketing campaign to stir up interest in its Vista operating system and counter some of the success its rival Apple has had in recent anti-Windows adverts.
  • Red Hat gains entry to Windows market with Qumranet buy
    Red Hat has the option to move into the Windows market after splashing out $107m for virtualisation specialists Qumranet.
  • SAP looks to extend partnerecosystem
    SAP has continued to extend its ecosystem to attract resellers selling into the small business market that are not currently signed up with the vendor.
  • Competition set to increase in Business Intelligence market
    The wave of consolidation in the business intelligence market is expected to continue as vendors vie with each other to be in a position to offer the broadest portfolio of services.
  • Ability outlines plans to make remote access channel friendly
    Ability Software, best known for its Office suite alternative, has raised a challenge to online remote access services aimed at SME customers.
  • BSA welcomes jail term for pirate
    The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has applauded the decision by Derby Crown Court to follow-up a jail term for Gary Scrimshaw for breach of intellectual property with a demand for £15,931.
  • FAST teams up with IiS to share SAM information
    In a move designed to make it easier for customers to get advice about software asset management (SAM) the Federation Against Software Theft and Investors in Software have joined forces.
  • More than a flash in the pan
    Alan Moody, UK country manager at Mamut, talks to Simon Quicke about theNordic vendor's long-term commitment to its UK division and how the channelcan help it drive growth and realise its ambitions
  • Mamut upbeat about small business growth prospects
    Small business software specialist Mamut has indicated the future is looking positive with growth opportunities in its market as it announced its second quarter results.
  • Vista starts to pick up with corporate buyers
    The long awaited embrace of Vista by the business community appears to be picking up speed with more widespread adoption of Microsoft’s most recent OS release.
  • Selling to SMBs in a downturn
    The lack of consumer confidence in banking and borrowing is bound to have a knock-on effect in the business community, particularly among SMBs, who can feel very vulnerable during times of general economic unease. So how can resellers to SMBs maintain confidence and help customers overcome concerns about IT investment when fears over borrowing are high?
  • Your info, your liability
    Don't be shy of asking tough questions of business partners who access your data
  • The word on unified communications
    Unified communication technologies offer big opportunities for resellers. Cath Everett looks at the benefits of convergence and asks how resellers should present it to customers
  • Inoapps joins Oracle Accelerate programme
    Oracle continues to expand its Accelerate programme.
  • Cloud helps to buoy the channel
    Despite the state of the economy, spirits in the channel have remained high, with hosted software showing particular growth. Halfway through the year, we look at how the market is shaping up
  • Piracy crackdown
    Prosecutions against resellers offering pirated software are on the rise. We find out how to spot a fake and what do do if you find yourself in possession
  • FAST spearheads piracy crackdown
    Amid a glut of surveys and predictions on the future of software piracy, industry bodies plan to fight the pirates
  • IT spending is still growing
    Those hoping that the IT sector will survive the economic downturn will be cheered by figures from analyst house GfK which show continued growth in IT spending.
  • Software asset management saving costs and reducing risk
    The awareness among customers over the need to take intellectual property seriously is fuelling an interest in Software Asset Management (SAM).
  • Pegasus calls for reduction in SME red tape
    Accountancy specialist Pegasus has called on the government to reduce the burden of red tape that is imposed on small businesses.
  • Vendors pressure partners to raise prices
    Raising prices would appear to be commercial suicide in the current trading climate but such is the pressure on the channel that talk among some distributors has centred on doing just that.
  • Microsoft's Barclay prepares for new challenges
    Working with the channel is always going to be a challenge when you are employed by one of the world's largest software vendors.
  • BSA settles with four companies
    The Business Software Alliance has been flexing its legal muscles after settling out of court with four companies found using unlicensed software.
  • Software profit warnings down
    Despite the credit crunch and the gloomy headlines the software sector appears to have kept the wolves at bay.
  • Eyes water at upgrading software costs
    The high cost of upgrading software on PCs and laptops at many large organisations has been revealed in research from Citrix which claims it can take nearly a year of work for a single employee at a cost of around £43,000 to perform each software upgrade.
  • VMware posts second quarter revenue
    VMware last night posted healthy results for the second quarter and painted a rosy outlook for the remainder of the year.
  • FAST spearheads piracy crackdown
    Amid a glut of survets and predictions on the future of software piracy, industry bodies plan to fight the pirates.
  • Oracle enhances BI strategy
    Oracle has made a couple of moves to enhance its business intelligence offering after releasing the next generation of its management system as well as outlining the road map of post acquisition Hyperion products.
  • FAST teams up with Trading Standards
    Building on its previous campaign to enforce intellectual property rights the Federation Against Software Theft has teamed up with Trading Standards in Cardiff to target businesses in the Welsh capital.
  • Oracle drops BEA kit
    Oracle has unveiled plans to axe BEA's WebLogic and AquaLogic products as it integrates the enterprise software vendor.
  • IBM courts ISVs to enhance infrastructure solution play
    Following two years of intense reseller recruitment in the UK, IBM is again turning its attention to independent software vendors (ISVs) in the mid-market with the aim of building bridges between different partner types.
  • Microsoft working on licence changes
    Microsoft is continuing to develop its approach to SME licensing, a development that was first revealed to be on the cards last month.
  • SAP shuffles senior management pack
    SAP changes the CEO position in EMEA and Latin America
  • Application failure a consequence of poor development
    Most users have got used to the idea that their systems will crash at some point but the levels of disruption caused by application failure is worryingly high.
  • Microsoft letter sets out XP demise dates
    Vendor writes to customers to spell out the timetable for the wind down of XP
  • Virtualisation helps credit crunchers
    The ability to consolidate and save costs attractive to SMEs
  • Hosted infrastructure takes shape
    When Hewlett-Packard unveiled its strategy around hosted services the vendor’s senior UK management painted a scene of a technology that was still in the early stages of development.
  • ERP complacency costs users
    Customer complacency around changing ERP vendors is leading to overspending and underperformance for those users that fail to consider alternatives.
  • SAP widens referral plan
    In the battle to gain market share in the mid and SME markets, the race to secure customers is leading to innovative partner programmes from the major vendors in the business intelligence market.
  • Staggered launches to become common
    The influence of the internet is changing the timetable of large software releases, forcing vendors to brief resellers at a much earlier stage.
  • Generating an attractive return
    While the margins on accounting software can be notoriously low, savvy resellers can cash in on the opportunity to offer add-on services such as e-commerce and CRM.
  • Resellers left trailing on hosted services
    Only a handful of resellers are engaged in ASP and SaaS activity in Europe.
  • Delayed Vista deployments in schools raise skills fears
    Wait-and-see policy for Vista in schools raises concerns
  • Novell rings changes
    Novell has used its annual BrainShare user conference to make a number of announcements.
  • SMEs take up SOA
    An increasing number of customers are buying into services orientated architecture (SOA).
  • Citrix channel grows
    Citrix has broadened the channel for the XenServer product it acquired with the purchase of XenSource in August last year by making it available to three more distributors. The firm is seeking to attract more resellers with a web-based programme of technical and sales training.
  • SAP to fight for SME market share
    The battle for the small market has not gone away, with SAP the latest to bolster staffing levels in a bid to keep its channel partners focused on winning market share.
  • US settlement spurs Sage rivals
    Companies offering CRM systems are aiming to cash in on recent difficulties experienced by Sage with its ACT! product in the US.
  • Apps key to HPC growth
    The increasing amount of data swilling around company servers and desktops plus demands to use it to take decisions is shifting the goal posts of the high-performance computing (HPC) market.
  • Microsoft plays catch-up with Google
    Microsoft’s move to acquire Yahoo has been seen as a straightforward attempt to catch up on ground lost to Google.
  • MySQL buy 'validates' model
    Sun’s $1bn acquisition of MySQL has been described as “validating” the open source model.
  • Open source threat as costs rise
    The open source community and vendors promoting software-as-a-service (SaaS) will present a serious threat to software giants embedded in local Government as IT managers scrutinise budgets.
  • Hidden costs of piracy
    A 10 per cent reduction in software piracy could contribute a hefty £1bn and 13,000 jobs to the UK economy.
  • Vendors invest in future
    Software vendors have launched a number of initiatives to ensure the future is bright and the channel is strong enough to take advantage.
  • Small vendors over-optimistic
    Despite a generally strong year in the IT sector last year, there were worrying signs that the software and services sector was not in a solid financial state.
  • BEA opts for two tiers
    Middleware specialist BEA Systems has opted to switch to a two-tier model in Europe, mimicking its indirect strategy in the US.
  • SaaS gains momentum
    If there were a couple of areas that dominated the software landscape last year, aside from the hype around Vista, it was software as a service (SaaS) and the chase for the SME market.
  • Microsoft adds hosted lines
    Microsoft has finished the year with some indications that the channel is going to be supported by several product launches that should push customers in the direction of hosted services and virtualisation.
  • Sun helps UK start-ups
    Sun is looking to increase its support for start-ups that will lean on its technology and take advantage of its business advice.
  • SaaS deal targets SMEs
    Broadband and services distributor DMSL has signed a deal to market a range of software as a service (SaaS) applications to SMEs through its fixITlocal network of resellers and expects to announce agreements with a number of other vendors in the near future.
  • Oracle launches eBook
    Oracle is making an eBook available to members of its partner network via its dealer portal.
  • Microsoft strikes back
    Partners are playing a pivotal role in Microsoft’s efforts to counter the shift to Linux and open source software and bring customers back into the fold because of their expertise in providing support and advice on issues such as licensing.
  • Red Hat seeks JBoss partners
    Red Hat has appointed a channel manager to build relationships with partners in the UK for JBoss middleware software, a year after it bought the company for $350m.
  • Microsoft talks up SOA moves
    Microsoft has stepped up its intention to be more closely associated with system-oriented architecture (SOA).
  • BSA stings Glasgow firm
    The first Glaswegian scalp in the month-long campaign running in the city against anti-piracy has produced another payout for the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
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    The latest IT and Channel news from Microscope.co.uk, Stay ahead with IT Channel News, hardware, software, storage, distibutor and vendor news
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