RIM in Crisis Corel’s comeback Shared Services Worry layoffs & leadership issues First look into its partner portal How it will impact Ottawa VARs
Analysis: Human Capital: Reasons why you shouldn’t poach from a rival
Canada’swww Channel.computer Voice fo r IT sdealerne i nc e 1 9 8 5 wsVolume .com27, Issue 6 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com HP Splits Canadian solution providers react to the computing giant’s plan to spin off PSG and kill off tablet/webOS
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©2011 McAfee, Inc. All rights reserved. www.mcafee.com/safe AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 contents Volume 27, I ss u e 6 editorial Editor Paolo Del Nibletto Canadian competitiveness in the IT Assistant Editor Jeff Jedras NEWS: market would be greatly enhanced Staff Writer harmeet Singh VMware has a new hybrid cloud Contributing Editors brian Jackson vision but its channel strategy still with more female IT professionals Howard Solomon and sales consultants. Dave Webb needs some tweaking 10 Contributing Writers nestor Arellano As a community CDN, with Kathleen Lau Rafael Ruffolo founding sponsor Ingram Micro Project Specialist penny Gianniotis ANALYSIS: Canada hosted women entre- CREATIVE SERVICES Human capital How are Canadian preneurs in the solution provider Creative Director Jeff Coles solution providers and distributors channel at the Boulevard Club in Photo Gallery: sales dealing with this problem? 12 Toronto to recognize their contri- VP Sales & Marketing david Spindler bution to the high tech industry in Publisher, CDN and WOMEN IN THE Custom Publishing Canada. and Director of MARKETS: CHANNEL Find out who the 25 honourees Strategic Accounts brad McBride Are PCs dead? Not if you ask these from the IT channel are 20 Account Executive desere Ross top vendors 25 LUNCHEON (416) 290-0240 x 174 Account Manager Atif Malik (416) 290-0240 x 125 CIRCULATION REVIEWS: Circulation Manager cheryl Patfield More HP hardware Circulation Director doni White HP Elitebook, Acer tablet and Belkin New Subscriptions routers are test driven 30 coming up next issue: [email protected]
CDN’s annual Emerging Technologies ® Report. Find out what technology products EDITORIAL: and services are going to be hot for 2012 and Corporate What happens to HP and Apple? Chairman Michael R. Atkins how you can take advantage of them for your Reasons behind Steve Jobs resigna- business. Also, the results of the State of the President tion and HP shelving hardware 16 & Group Publisher fawn Annan Canadian SMB survey will be released. Editor-in-Chief shane Schick Controller Rob Novorolsky CLOSE UP: IT World Canada is an affiliate of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s largest publisher of computer-related information and the leading global provider of information services on Microsoft channel chief Jon Roskill information technology. IDG publishes over 300 computer publications in 85 countries. after one year on the job rethinks Ninety million people read one or more IDG publications each month. company’s go to market plans 34 @CompDealerNews Computer Dealer Computer Dealer News (CDN) Computer Dealer News is published 12 times per year by IT World Canada Inc., a unit of News the Laurentian Media Group, Michael R. Atkins, Chairman, 55 Town Centre Court, Suite 302, Scarborough, Ontario M1P 4X4 Telephone: (416) 290-0240 Fax: (416) 290-0238. Publishers of CIO Canada, Network World Canada, ComputerWorld Canada and Direction Informatique. One year subscription rates: Canada $80, US$115 (U.S.) and foreign $150 (US). Address subscription to Computer Dealer News Circulation Department, 55 Town Centre Court, Suite 302, Scarborough, Ontario M1P 4X4. When notifying us of a change of the Channel quadrant Channel Commitment Market Leaders address, please include address label to assure continuity of service. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in whole without the This edition of the channel Cisco VMware consent of the copyright owner. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Requests for missing issues are not accepted after three months quadrant sees HP shelving its from date of publication. tablet/webOS and looking to split Page 15 Page 10 Date of publication, August/September 2011. up with PSG, positioning it in the Printed in Canada. scaling back quadrant. Its ability GST Registration # R122605769 ISSN: 1184-2369 CPF Registration Number #R10790 to drive channel business is now in question. Similar status with RIM, Canadian Postmaster, send form 33-86-186 to Apple Microsoft Circulation Dept., 55 Town Centre Court, Suite 302, as the Waterloo, Ont. firm recently Scarborough, cut 2,000 jobs. Cisco is back Ontario M1P 4X4 Page 17 Page 34 with better financials that put the Publications Mail Agreement No 40063800. networking pioneer high in the CPF Registration Number 10790. Return undeliverable HP Canadian addresses to Circulation Department, 302-55 channel commitment quadrant. Town Centre Court, Scarborough, Ont. M1P 2X4 Microsoft continues to stay near Corel the middle. VMware, buoyed by a Page 4 Circulation audited by new cloud vision, continues to be Page 14 CMC A a market leader, but still has a lot AUDITED
of work in driving channel sales. Business Channel Drive to Ability Corel maybe coming back, but RIM they are mere market challeng- We acknowledge the financial support of the Govern- Page 6 ment of Canada, through the Canadian Periodical Fund ers. Apple drops a few notches as (CPF) for our publishing activities. Steve Jobs resigns. Scaling back Market Challengers computerdealernews.com August/September 2011 3 news analysis & insight HP dumps webOS, puts PSG on the block While the personal systems group has always been its own business within HP, dumping webOS is taking the channel by surprise
said in hindsight it makes sense Winnipeg-based HP partner Epic manager, central and western by jeff jedras for HP to decide the competitive Information Solutions, agreed region with Metafore. “Typically, [email protected] PC business with its single-digit PSG has always been a little bit all the reasons that led customers margins doesn’t fit well with the on its own within HP but, as a to select HP PSG offerings will The news Hewlett-Packard Co. rest of its high-margin software partner that moves a lot of HP continue to apply for the foresee- will explore either a sale or spi- and services business. PCs, he liked having it all under able future.” noff of its personal systems group “It makes IBM’s move of five the same umbrella. The more surprising move to (PSG) is being taken in stride years ago look incredibly astute, “I’ve enjoyed having … one some is the decision to drop hard- by the channel, but the decision and I’m not sure HP will be as manufacturer to go to for soup ware plans for webOS and put the to dump the webOS tablets and fortunate (making a profit on the and nuts, and it would be disap- future of the software itself into smartphones just a year after the sale),” said Reid. pointing to see it spun off or limbo. Alexander said he’s disap- US$1.2 billion acquisition of Palm However, whether the unit is acquired,” said Reid. “If they pointed, because he saw a lot of Inc., is raising some eyebrows. spun off or sold to a competitor spun PSG off and completely promise around webOS enabling The obvious model to look like Lenovo or Acer, Reid said a new platform of devices. to is when IBM Corp. sold its while the market has taken a hit “It’s a shame,” said Alexan- PC business to Chinese vendor from the rise of the tablet, PCs ’ve enjoyed having … one der. “It seemed they had all Lenovo to focus on its higher will remain an important part of Imanufacturer to go to for the building-blocks of a good margin services business. James the commercial business for the soup and nuts, and it would strategy across a variety of form Alexander, senior vice-president channel. be disappointing to see it factors.” with London, Ont.-based Info- In the short term, Info-Tech’s spun off or acquired. Epic’s Reid said he was also Tech Research Group, called Alexander said it’s disappointing – David Reid, Epic Information Solutions quite excited about the TouchPad HP’s decision to move out of the for partners because they’d come product and webOS, calling HP’s low-margin PC business a “pretty to rely on HP as a one-stop shop decision to kill it a “real shocker” courageous move” reminiscent across a broad portfolio of hard- to Epic. He speculates HP could of when Intel’s Andy Grove and ware, software and services. But separated it we would be ana- have had legal concerns around Gordon Moore dumped the looking back to IBM/Lenovo, lyzing our options in terms of the product, and may have de- RAM memory business when while it took a couple of years preferred vendors for desktops cided just to cut its losses. they realized they couldn’t make for Lenovo to get its act together, and laptops.” money at it anymore. today Lenovo has a simple and In the interim though, Reid “With the whole bring your successful business model. said it’s business as usual and cli- own device trend, the PC is “And within HP, PSG operated ents shouldn’t have any concerns Caught on tape: going the way of the consumer as a distinct business unit from around what will happen. It’s the and it’s the consumer companies the enterprise division, under the same story for Metafore, another that make millions of devices a same umbrella partner program major HP reseller in Canada. year that have the distribution but with different incentives and “Metafore remains commit- and manufacturing resources to components for different groups,” ted to its strategic partnership exploit that,” said Alexander. said Alexander. “Partners have with HP and will continue to While he said he was as had to deal with the complexity recommend HP PSG offerings in shocked by the news as everyone of three different programs within situations where they best meet else, Rick Reid, president of one vendor anyway.” customers’ needs,” said David Paolo Del Nibletto and Jeff Jedras discuss the distributor Tech Data Canada, David Reid, president of Toms, vice-president and general channel implications myi.tw/afN
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Attention SMB VARs Exclusive Savings for SMB Nation Community Partners Learn more at www.dandh.ca/smbnation And More! YOUR LEADING TECHNOLOGY DISTRIBUTOR 800.340.1008 www.dandh.ca/cdn Atlanta, GA I Chicago, IL I Fresno, CA I Harrisburg, PA I Ontario, Canada news analysis & insight RIM in crisis The embattled Canadian tech giant provides details on its “cost optimization program” as it struggles with competition from Apple and Android
cuts are “focused on eliminating prise especially, but the market for a final attempt at consumer by jeff jedras redundancies and reallocating has just continued to evolve and relevance. [email protected] resources to focus on areas that mature beyond the core value “We’ll see if they can reinvent offer the highest growth op- proposition the BlackBerry was themselves one more time but portunities and alignment with invented for.” there’s not much rope left in that The axe dropped at Research RIM’s strategic objectives. The It goes back to RIM’s original space, and there’s not a strong in Motion Ltd. last month as the workforce reduction is believed value proposition: a secure, pull from consumers,” said embattled Waterloo, Ont.-based to be a prudent and necessary enterprise-focused messaging de- Arnold. smart phone manufacturer an- step for the long term success of vice without “distractions” such In addition to the reductions, nounced plans to lay off 2,000 the company and it follows an as games or a camera. RIM has RIM also announced a shuffle of employees globally across all extended period of rapid growth been challenged,markets said Arnold, its executive ranks. Announcing functions and also announced within the company whereby the by the growth of the consumer his retirement is COO Don Mor- the retirement of a member of smart phone market and the rison, a 10-year veteran of the its senior leadership team, COO fact consumers are increasingly company. Morrison had been on Don Morrison. think, if they’d had their driving the buying decision, even temporary medical leave. A vet- Costs of the layoff, which will Idruthers, they wouldn’t in the enterprise market, and are eran of AT&T and Bell Canada, reduce RIM’s overall workforce have touched that market. demanding those distractions. he joined RIM in 2000 to build to 17,000, were not included in – Jon Arnold, Market analyst “The cuts are reflecting the fact its international operations. RIM’s second quarter outlook that, whether they like it or not, Morrison’s departure triggered and will be communicated when they’ve had to compete as a con- a number of executive changes. the company releases its Q2 workforce had nearly quadrupled sumer brand. I think, if they’d Thorston Heins takes on the results in mid-September. in the last five years alone.” had their druthers, they wouldn’t expanded role of COO, product RIM has been struggling to While details of the cuts have have touched that market,” said and sales and Jim Rowan will contain costs and hold market yet to be released, Jon Arnold, Arnold. take on the expanded role of share in the increasingly compet- analyst and principal with J “RIM is coming up against the COO, operations. Several other itive smart phone space, where Arnold & Associates in Toronto, reality it won’t make it as a big- executives will also take on more competition from Apple’s iPhone said he wouldn’t be surprised time consumer brand. It’s just responsibility. and handsets based on Google’s to see them focused on RIM’s too difficult.” The changes won’t impact the Android operating system has consumer business. While retreating from the con- roles of RIM co-CEOs Mike challenged RIM’s one-time “Everyone can see RIM is sumer market entirely would be a Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, dominance. The cuts amount to backed into a corner in a way,” bold (and unlikely) move, Arnold whom some critics have called a 10 per cent reduction in RIM’s said Arnold. “They’ve created a said he expects RIM will tem- on to step back from day-to-day workforce. technology that pretty much in- porarily retreat on the consumer management of the company as In a statement, RIM said the vented the market for the enter- side and attempt to reinvent itself part of any restructuring.
Caught on tape:
Canadian carriers and through solution The Waterloo, Ontario-based mobility New BlackBerry 7 providers. pioneer is hoping the new smartphones The flagships are the new Bold 9900 will give it a sales boost as it struggles smartphones and 9930, which are slimmer and to reorganize and compete with Apple lighter than the previous generation iPhones and the Android marketplace, Research in Motion took the wraps off its and now boast a touchscreen, while and will attract upgraders who may newest handsets recently, launching new keeping the traditional BlackBerry be tempted to wait for new handheld Bold, Torch and Curve models featuring hard QWERTY keyboard and trackpad. devices featuring the highly anticipated CDN takes a look at RIM’s new Blackberry the company’s latest operating system, There’s also a new Torch, the 9810, smartphones RIM QNX OS, expected some time next BlackBerry 7. with slide-out hard keyboard and larger year. RIM launched a total of eight new touchscreen. now the Torch 9850/9860, with a Take a closer look at the new BlackBer- smartphones, which are available from And the touchscreen-only Storm is larger display. ries in this CDN video: myi.tw/afQ
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Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. imageFORMULA is a trademark of Canon Inc. © 2010 Canon Canada Inc. news analysis & insight The channel and Shared Services Canada: Evolve or perish The federal government is developing a shared services model for IT services, and those partners that don’t evolve will be left behind
with shared services so far, so initiatives fail because it’s such workers from project executives by jeff jedras there will still be some point a political beast, our traditional to project administrators. [email protected] departmental opportunities for government VARs have become “It will really narrow the com- partners, but by and large the really complacent,” said Bizeau. petition and I think the industry The federal government’s era of simply watching Merx for “There’s no other market as has been aware that this was announcement in early Au- RFPs may be ending. underserved in the IT channel as coming for quite some time; I gust that it will create a shared If partners aren’t ready for the the government of Canada.” don’t think it’s a surprise,” said services bureau and consolidate new reality, they have only them- For those partners that can Anglea O’Leary, Nisha’s presi- IT procurement and services dent. “If companies have taken a government-wide will have proactive approach and aligned wide-reaching implications for or expanded their portfolio of channel partners that have built products and services to respond their businesses around selling to to the Shared Services Canada the feds. mandate, there shouldn’t be a After several false starts around problem. They’re the customer, IT procurement and service they’ll define their requirements delivery reform, the government and either you change with them announced plans to save between or you’ll find the doors closed.” $100 and $200 million annually, It will be hard for smaller firms a cut of between five and 10 per to compete on the scale neces- cent of IT spending, by creating sary, she said, and they may need Shared Services Canada within to partner with larger players. Public Works and Government “We’ve expanded our offer- Services. E-mail networks will ings and we have some excellent be consolidated, data centres re- strategic partners we’ve been do- duced and department networks ing business with for quite some streamlined. Many savings will time,” said O’Leary. “Working come from reducing redundancy selves to blame, said Kelly Bi- change, Bizeau said opportunity together with them and continu- and duplication; for example, zeau, president of MarketWorks, will remain. But they’ll need ing to monitor the heartbeat of pockets of Lotus Notes and a channel-focused public sector to be proactive, working with Shared Services Canada, we’ll be Novell Groupwise users remain development firm in Ottawa. The departments to help define their able to respond quickly to their in government. government needs to get better needs and shape contracts rather requirements.” “The operation of mul- value for its IT dollar, and she than bidding reactively. With While the future is still a little tiple e-mail systems across the said shared services is a direct deal sizes likely to grow, smaller murky and the government’s IT government also means that result of channel inefficiencies. partners will need to add scale to spend is likely to shrink, they’ll departments are negotiating and “I have no doubt smaller remain in the game. remain a large purchaser of IT maintaining separate licenses, partners will be impacted, and “There’s still an opportunity products and services and the and have their own technical that’s what happens when you if they’re willing to navigate the channel will adjust, said Rick support teams in place,” the don’t listen to your customers,” new terrain,” said Bizeau. “It Reid, president of Tech Data government said in a release. said Bizeau. won’t be as easy as it has been Canada. “This duplication is very costly, The problem, said Bizeau, is in the past, but nothing good is “There will still be a require- and unnecessary.” that many public sector-focused ever easy.” ment to procure and supply Details are still emerging on resellers haven’t made the One partner that saw the products and services, and there how procurement and service transition from box-pushing and shared services train coming and will still be a role for VARs and delivery will be impacted by the contract-chasing to becoming a has already jumped on board is distributors in that community,” reforms, but it seems likely deals trusted advisor and working with Ottawa’s Nisha Technologies. said Reid. “We’re resilient; we’ve will be bigger and government customers to add value around The PC reseller has been busy ex- been through these situations will look to be more strategic in services. panding its software and services in the past and we continue to its use of IT. Some 44 govern- “We live in a very reactive in- offerings, adding capabilities thrive. Smart resellers will con- ment departments and agencies dustry, and because government around virtualization and secu- tinue to grow and find new ways out of over 120 are on board has historically had so many rity, as well as offering contract to supply product.”
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Art: MOT11006A_001E4m1_SWOP3.tif (CMYK; 468 ppi; Up to Date), MOT- Motorola RedWht-4C.ai (Up to Date), MOT11006A_003B_SWOP3.eps (CMYK; 799 ppi; Up to Date) news analysis & insight VMware introduces its Caught on tape: Women of the IT channel hybrid cloud vision Luncheon at Toronto’s Boulevard Club Virtualization vendor promises to make significant channel changes to help partners explore this market opportunity
VMware also Eschenbach told partners that by jeff jedras announced from day one, it knew virtualiza- [email protected] Global Con- tion had to be not just channel- nect, which supported, but channel-led, and LAS VEGAS – Making clear that it will allow it doesn’t plan to waver from Carmela Orlando from Insight Canada won’t be able to realize its vision multination- that philosophy. But recognizing talks about encouraging women to take of the enterprise hybrid cloud als to access its channel approach was too the plunge into tech and IT jobs. alone, virtualization vendor VM- Scott Aronson of cloud re- fragmented, he decided a few myi.tw/af3 ware Inc. announced a number of VMware sources across months ago to bring all channel offerings to help service providers geographies assets together in one group. After extend hybrid cloud capabilities from different service providers an extensive search he selected a to enterprise customers at its and control it seamlessly from VMware veteran, Scott Aronson, VMworld user conference. their original control panel, all to take on the newly-created role Centred around VMware’s while still dealing with only their of senior vice-president of global vCloud infrastructure and VM- own service provider. channels and alliances. Aronson ware’s service provider program, “It’s analogous to global made his first public address to the announcements are designed roaming in the carrier market,” partners at VMworld. to allow VMware virtualization said Andrews. “It’s the same He told partners a transition is Gen INC host Genevieve L’Esperance customers to expand the func- user experience, no matter who taking place as IT systems move said targeting girls as young as eight is tionality of their data centres serves it in the background.” In into the cloud, and the channel crucial to boost the amount of women with compatible cloud offering, an update to vCloud Connector, must lead the way. It won’t be an in tech. said Joe Andrews, director of the vendor’s free hybrid cloud easy road, but he said the transi- myi.tw/af4 cloud services with VMware. management tool that allows for tion is happening and the value is “We believe strongly the cloud data transfer between public and being recognized. is transforming business as well private clouds, version 1.5 features Still, he recognized VMware as IT, and all these announce- a new architecture for faster needs to do more to support ments help deliver business transfers, automatic resumption partners in that challenge. One value,” said Andrews. in case of network difficulties, and is to help partners differentiate The hybrid cloud model is what access via a Web browser. more in the market, and another the market is looking for right “We’ve had strong adoption is to make it easier for partners now said Warren Shiau, director from large enterprise customers to partner with other partners of research for Leger Market that want the ability to manage, than can bring complementary Nisha Technologies head Angela O’Leary Research in Toronto. view and transfer workloads skills to a deal. discusses the importance of a building a “Key product and service between cloud and on-premise, “We also need to reduce the op- community of males and females to sup- introductions that reduce ramp and this gives them a single pane erational burden that is VMware port efforts for more women in IT. time to hybrid cloud and extend of glass,” said Andrews. today”, said Aronson. Quoting myi.tw/af4 functionality are really what A new offering is the vcloud. renewals business is more than people need,” said Shiau. vmware.com gateway, an online painful, and that takes away time For more on Women of the IT channel Andrews said VMware has portal where customers can find you could be spending in front turn to page 20. defined the vCloud data centre, vCloud service providers and of customers. That’s an easy fix. which is being delivered by lead- take them for a test drive. Another fix on the reform list is ing service providers including the contract soup VMware makes Dell, which joined vCloud as a Channel chief makes promises partners wade through; Aronson service provider Aug. 29. Inten- Promising an end to the siloed promises it will be streamlined. For more videos on the sifying Dell’s rivalry with IBM approach the virtualization Also marked for investment is and HP in the cloud consulting vendor has taken to its channel partner education. channel, visit the CDN and delivery space, Dell will ecosystem, VMware also intro- “We recognize there’s an op- video library at: let customers rent public cloud duced its new worldwide channel portunity cost, but we’re invest- compute and storage capacity conference and promised the ing heavily in competency areas myi.tw/afA and offer consulting services to company will get easier for part- to help you be more successful companies looking to build their ners to work with. and create ancillary revenue op- own private and hybrid clouds. VMware co-president Carl portunities,” he said.
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HUMAN CAPITAL Why not to poach in the channel While IT employment didn’t suffer as hard as other industries during the recent downturn, there are still problematic cases of turnover, including high-profile exits from major executives. Human resources experts reveal to CDN how to avoid having your employees leave- and why avoiding poaching from your competi- tion is best for everyone in the channel
According to Robert Half understanding amongst us in the the “poaching” will be more by harmeet singh Technology’s 2011 technology industry.” about the individual rather than [email protected] salary guide for North America, “I think it starts at the top,” what they’re selling, he said. 40 per cent of employees are in- Bruno said. “There’s just a If a company recruits a sales Coming out of the economic clined to look for new opportu- general understanding and agree- rep from a competitor, it might downturn—or perhaps entering nities as the economy improves. ment that it’s not healthy (and) it place them in a different position a new one—employment trends “I would say the most turnover doesn’t make good sense for any where their sales skills will be and the labour market are a is at the mid-level,” said Travis of us.” useful, but the product line isn’t major topic of interest. In IT, the O’Rourke, division manager for There are often unwritten rules relevant. Further, sales roles news is typically good—the sec- Hays Specialist Recruitment’s in the IT sector, along with the often have non-compete clauses tor has fared better in terms of IT hiring. banking industry, that companies where for six to 12 months follow- unemployment rates than other But, following the recession, won’t hire from a competitor. “It ing a departure from a company, industries and it seems to be a there wasn’t as much turnover as becomes counterproductive to a sales rep may not even be able continually growing field. Bruno expected. “At Tech Data recruit from another company,” to work in the same kind of role But within the channel, there Canada, we didn’t really experi- O’Rourke said. “It costs you at a competitor. are anecdotal cases of turnover ence that,” she said. Notion- more in the end.” “Sales roles are always very, in sales and even “poaching” of ally, though, there was turnover “It’s not a practice of ours to very valuable,” he said. “Com- talent by competing companies. within IT, not limited to sales, target anyone who works at a puters get old and things become “Turnover is never really a she said. “Certainly from the competitor organization,” said obsolete,” O’Rourke said. “Com- benefit,” said Megan Slabinski, media reports we heard of activ- Cindy Harvey, human resources panies have to upgrade, so sales district president of Robert Half ity,” she said. manager at Softchoice Canada, is crucial.” Technology, who oversees tech based in Toronto. But, the com- But in sales, “it might be easier recruitment for western Canada. The unwritten rules pany doesn’t limit itself either. to take someone from outside the For solution providers, turnover There are instances of poaching “We do engage with anybody industry rather than inheriting could mean missed deadlines or turnover heard of anecdot- who comes to us looking for a another company’s philosophy,” on major projects and in sales, ally within the channel, but that new career opportunity.” Slabinski said. “If somebody’s contracts lost— which is why might not be the best practice. If Tech Data has a candidate going to leave their company, retaining your best people is key. “It’s not a huge benefit to get from a competitor interested in why wouldn’t they leave yours?” them from a competitor,” joining the team, she said she she added. Turnover in distribution O’Rourke said. suggests they tell their company Employees don’t necessar- “I would say that during the true “On very rare occasions, it that they’re considering leaving. ily leave on bad terms for a recessionary period, we definitely happens in Tech Data,” that “We do ask that employees who competitor, though. Sometimes, saw less turnover,” said Ste- an employee is targeted by a are thinking of doing this come they move on to vendors or other fanie Bruno, director of human competitor, Bruno said. But forward and feel comfortable consulting companies. In 2010, resources at Tech Data Canada. the distributor is careful not to doing that,” Bruno said. the channel saw two high-profile “In general, I think employees poach from its direct competi- “You lose minimum of a month examples with Ingram Micro’s who had secure jobs tended to tors, she said, which is generally when hiring a new employee,” Justin Crotty leaving for NetEn- ride out the economic storm with accepted in the industry. “Target- O’Rourke added. “It makes rich Inc., an IT services company their employers.” This isn’t really ing each other’s resources is not much more sense to give salary and Tech Data Canada losing a trend issue, though, so it’s dif- really a good practice for us,” raises internally than replacing Ray Gonsalves to VMware Inc. ficult to track, Bruno said. she said. “We operate with that them.” If it does happen, then “That’s more frequent than
12 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com going to a direct competitor,” in Canada were temporary work- those new leave a company, it’s important Bruno said. “And it happens, be- ers, according to a November employees’ to ask why and find out what cause the relationships between 2010 report by Statistics Canada. “core founda- has changed for that person, the vendors and our employees is Of those, 52 per cent—or one tional pieces,” Slabinski said. “Maybe they’re very strong.” million workers— were contract and grow not educated about opportuni- workers. them, she ties within the organization,” Attraction and retention “Right now, we’re seeing the said. When she said. Changing the way your organiza- lowest level of turnover since Stefanie Bruno of Tech it comes to Beyond that, there may be tion hires can also be beneficial I’ve been here,” said Harvey, Data Canada attracting skills gaps for employees who and curb turnover rates. Starting who has worked with Softchoice and retaining want to move up, say from a in 2009, companies have moved for five years. She attributes that employees, though, the methods help desk position into network- toward a “right-sizing” model, partially to the company getting transcend age. “Anyone regard- ing. “If they’re a valued tenured according to O’Rourke. When more specific about the profile less of their age…has to be able employee, perhaps you invest in hiring for IT, companies need of the person it wants to hire, to enjoy working,” Harvey said. them,” Slabinski said. “People people who fit all the require- she said. “Internally or external- Increasingly, companies are need to feel that their company ments, not just 70 per cent of ly, being able to work as part of also moving toward the Facebook is invested in their future. Exit them, he said. a broader team is critical,” Har- and Google model, O’Rourke interviews are always a great way “Hiring managers are still very vey said. Its recruiting team also pointed out, where employ- to see how people were treated particular on what they’re look- works to find complementary ees might have perks such as and why they’re leaving,” Slabin- ing for,” Slabinski said. “People skill sets to technical expertise. casual dress codes or company ski said. that have been laid off may still For the more technical jobs, barbecues. “We get applications And, you should just make the be struggling because they have such as solutions architect posi- from people who ask for that and best of it, Bruno said. “The IT general skills.” tions, Softchoice uses its rela- will work for less money. I can community is really a very small Indeed, certifications and spe- tionship with LinkedIn, she said. definitely say that organizations one. I always say that as much cializations in IT typically leads For up-and-coming sales people, that have environments like that as it’s really important to get a to more employment and more Softchoice recruits off university have far less turnover.” new hire going and on-boarded money. A business mindset is campuses as well as through really effectively, upon exiting an also becoming crucial in IT hir- specialty job posting sites such as The exit strategy organization, the same should be ing, according to Robert Half ’s TalentEgg.com, dedicated to new Still, employees leaving is some- true,” she said. 2011 technology salary guide. graduate opportunities. times unavoidable. “Companies “They can push business our Project-based (or “temp”) That demographic fits into the definitely need to recognize that way potentially, depending on hiring is also becoming more company’s overall “work hard, their most valuable employees the role,” she said. “They can common, Slabinski said. In play hard” culture, she said. It are getting other offers,” Slabin- still be very good ambassadors 2009, one in eight paid workers also allows Softchoice to take ski said. When employees do for your organization.” news analysis & insight Corel on the comeback trail The one time biggest software company in Canada looks to the channel to grow
might ask? want it as most of Corel Partners solution providers. by paolo del nibletto Well, accord- portal was built by channel “Lifeboat is a great partner [email protected] ing to Thorn- feedback. for us. We already had a good ton, all these “It’s important for partners to relationship with them because The last time Corel made sig- trade shows have choices and they should of WinZip (WinZip was acquired nificant news was in 2003, when are important represent products they believe by Corel in 2006). Channel part- private equity firm Vector Capi- events and are in. Corel has long established ners wanted something that was tal acquired the one-time biggest Kevin Thornton to drive very strate- channel relationships and we complimentary and we saw some Corel’s channel business software company in Canada for gic to Corel. engage directly with partners. synergies with Lifeboat and its just over a buck a share. Then the “This is the We have sales reps meeting parent company Wayside and de- company, who made CorelDraw audience we are trying to reach. constantly with larger partners cided to expand the partnership one of the must-have products For example, Corel Painter is a and with that we created a strong for Paint Shop Pro, Video Studio in graphics, voluntarily delisted strong product in the comic book base of value added resellers to and other products,” he said. itself from Nasdaq and the TSX. industry,” he said. mom & pop integrators who put Besides Lifeboat, Corel also From that point in time the Corel will also take part in bundles together for customers,” has a relationship with pure-play company went into a kind of VidCon and and a number of Thornton said. retail distributor Navarre of Min- business hibernation. It shuffled government events. The new portal utilizes a neapolis, Minn. Thornton added CEOs before former Symantec All these shows will be featured one-to-many approach with the that Corel’s Large Account Re- senior executive Kris Hagerman on the company’s new channel intent to help channel partners sellers will get a better licensing took over in 2008. It tried to get partner portal. “We have links to with tools and services they need offer from Lifeboat. back on the stock market only to let partners know which shows we when working on deals in the Corel has also expanded be taken private again. are attending and then they will education space or for a video its product portfolio into the Product wise, Corel, which be able to talk with our product studio solution. Thornton said computer aided design market once battled Microsoft in the specialists to create that strong the portal also gives the channel in an attempt to compete with office productivity market, hasn’t relationship,” Thornton added. an opportunity to engage with AutoDesk, the makers of Auto- made too many splashes. Called Corel Partners, this account managers. “We want this CAD. Thornton said that Corel Recently the company broke new online portal will offer the portal to be nimble, relevant and CAD is available in multiple out of its shell and presented its channel around the clock access responsive so they have the tools languages and will have a hybrid full line-up of digital media and to current company product in- and ammo to be successful in sku for PCs and Macs. graphics software products at one formation, marketing collateral, reselling our products,” he said. The product is priced at $500 of the must attend trade shows sales tools, campaign informa- The company also made a and will be positioned as an in the high tech calendar year; tion, box shots, promotions, and significant step in increasing its alternative to AutoCAD. Thorn- Computex in Taipei. Corel’s training services. Powered by channel presence by partnering ton’s strategy with Corel CAD is senior vice-president of sales RelayWare, Corel Partners portal with a specialty distributor in the that it has better value proposi- and marketing for the Americas, is fully secure and will also have virtualization market Lifeboat tion than AutoCAD as Auto- Kevin Thornton, told CDN that not for resale order forms, video Distribution. All of Corel’s CAD LT is more than $1,000 and the company will also have a tutorials, and sales webinars. products are still available at In- only available on the PC. “The huge presence at the Comic-Con One thing the portal will not gram Micro Canada and Synnex Mac is an important platform in International show. Why would have is a lead generation engine. Canada, but will now be on Life- design and with our hybrid sku a technology vendor take part in Thornton said that might come boat’s line card. Lifeboat sports a we believe it will be a growing a comic book convention, you in the future if channel partners channel network of about 5,500 market for us,” he said.
It’s not who you know. Cisco pumps $455 million into Ontario R&D CEO John Chambers and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello sign a memorandum of understanding for a five-year deal. The province will add $25 million to Cisco’s $455 million investment in Ontario research facilities
The R&D investment will focus said, crediting Cisco Canada “It’s so hard getting money out by dave webb on core routing, collaboration, president Nitin Kawale. of our government,” Pupatello [email protected] data centre virtualization, cloud Kawale said Cisco invests about said. computing and video. $65 million a year in R&D in Chambers and Kawale both The Province of Ontario and “If you’re looking in IT for the Ontario. He said the company gave a nod to the engineering tal- networking giant Cisco Systems centre of the universe … this, my has 1,700 partner companies with ent in Ontario. “We will look to Inc. signed a memorandum of hire recent engineering graduates understanding, announcing a to help drive the next generation combined investment of almost of Internet and networking tech- a half-billion dollars in research nologies,” Kawale said. and development facilities. The “massive” investment will create 300 jobs in Ottawa and Toronto, said Sandra Pupatello Extra in a press conference at Cisco’s Canadian headquarters. Cisco will spend $455 million over the Cisco Canada makes next five years, while the prov- ince will chip in an additional a switch in channel $25 million. Cisco CEO John Cham- leadership bers called the agreement “a foundation for what we will do Canadian channel chief Donna together.” It’s one of only “four Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale along with Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello and company CEO John Wittmann will be leaving Cisco Canada or five” such agreements Cisco Chambers sign a five-year deal that will see Ontario add $25 million to Cisco’s $455 million investment and will join Keith Goodwin’s Global has signed with governments in Partner Organization in San Jose, Calif. his 15 years at the helm of the friends, is it,” Pupatello said. more than 8,000 employees. Replacing her as Canadian channel chief company, he added. Chambers said Cisco looks for “John, I am happy to tell you is Mike Ansley. “Canada’s been very good to specific conditions for invest- that our business is strong and Wittmann’s new role is leader of Cisco,” said Chambers, naming ment: a skilled workforce with growing in Canada,” he told Worldwide Partner Led Named. She it the company’s third-largest a solid education base; solid Chambers. will be responsible for Cisco’s efforts to market. He called Ontario “an infrastructure; and entrepreneur- “You can raise your first quar- accelerate sales to mid-sized customers amazing location in the world in ial spirit in both business and ter forecast, then,” Chambers through channel partners. Wittmann will terms of your IT workforce.” government. shot back. report to Andrew Sage, vice-president The memorandum of under- “We don’t move without Pupatello also had praise for of Worldwide Partner-Led. She became standing outlines an agreement strong, supportive government,” Kawale, crediting him with lead- Cisco Canada channel chief in 2009. between the province and Cisco with an understanding there’s ing a team in Ontario (“Well, all As for Ansley, he was previously in to collaborate on projects in the “skin in the game on both sides,” over Canada, but we’re the crown the role of vice president of solutions areas of health, energy, smart Chambers said. jewel,” she joked) that’s forged a sales for Cisco Canada. Ansley actually communities, education and Strong local leadership within close relationship with the provin- rejoined Cisco Canada last year. He first economic cluster development. the company is also a factor, he cial government. worked at Cisco Canada in 1996.
866-506-4547 It’s who WE know. www.infocanada.ca With details on more than 1.5 million businesses, InfoCanada can help you find great prospects.
83CDN editorial opinions on the channel The re-imagining of CDN
news. I did a little bit of research on this and luncheon (page 20). CDN does a lot of video the editor’s note it was the Dallas Morning News that changed production on its Web site www.computer- Paolo Del nibletto its editorial direction to post breaking news dealernews.com. Some of those videos will [email protected] online first. The story of Oklahoma City be featured in the magazine (page 10). We did bomber Timothy McVeigh confessing that he this for many reasons but the primary one is A new magazine design for Cana- bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma that we want to have better synergies with the da’s top IT channel publication City was published on its Web site ahead of magazine on CDN online. I believe they can its late evening addition newspaper. That complement each other. CDN’s reviews page was 1997, and since that day, journalists have has been bolstered (page 30). The Markets What has happened to Computer Dealer been breaking news online because it’s faster section (24), similar to the News section, will News? It’s hard not to notice the change. than print, TV or even radio broadcasts. So- be more in-depth with graphs and charts. We were a full tabloid size publication for cial media tools, such as Twitter, have added Case study has been renamed Deals (page 26) more than 25 years. What you hold in your to this established trend. because our readers are deal makers and they hands right now is a re-imagining of CDN. This re-imagining of CDN will be more would like to be informed about how deals We hope you like it and I welcome your visually appealing to the readership. This is are constructed and we shall try to deliver feedback on it. There is more to this change one area where online hasn’t been able to that to you. than just size. The previous content was a supersede print. In the new edition of CDN Again, I really hope you enjoy CDN in mixture of news stories, features, case stud- I hope you notice the Channel Quadrant magazine form. This transformation has ies, profiles, reviews and interviews. The (page 3), where in each issue we’ll show how been a long process internally. It’s your turn new CDN will still have that but the news vendors are doing in the channel. It’s a quick now. I have always talked about the channel section will be more news analysis. So what snapshot of where things stand. We are also community in Canada helping one another. does that mean? It means our reporters will developing a page for business models that I need your help now. Please send me your be exploring a story more in-depth than we will graphically show how solution providers comments, concerns and feedback. I wel- have ever done before. can make money with a variety of IT solu- come it and will try to incorporate your ideas The publishers of CDN, and myself too, had tions. We shall feature more photo spreads in the new magazine. to face reality in that the Web is where the from events. In this issue, you’ll see the shots Email me any time at paolo@itworld- vast majority of people go to for breaking from the first ever Women in the IT channel canada.com.
Hewlett-Packard, Mark Hurd and the butterfly effect
last month, with webOS shuttered and the harassment policy but he did violate HP’s venerable personal systems group (PSG) set standards of business conduct. indirect insights to be either spun-off or sold-off. And I had Hurd joins Oracle, former SAP AG executive jeff jedras to wonder: would this hurricane be swirl- Léo Apotheker takes his place at HP with a [email protected] ing through HP now if marketing consultant promised new focus on services and, a year Jodie Fisher had never been hired by the later, the hurricane hits. Goodbye webOS, Would HP have dumped webOS and company for contract work? and (maybe) see you later, PSG. If Fisher had put PSG on the block if Jodie Fisher When I attended HP’s partner conference in never been hired on that contract, where might had never come to work at HP? April of 2010, Mark Hurd was firmly in charge we be today? We can only speculate, of course. as CEO and he had a clear vision: differentiate But Hurd would probably still be CEO, and by offering every piece of the IT value-chain it’s hard to see him doing a complete 180 Part of chaos theory, the butterfly effect -- from the data centre to the endpoint – and degree turn in strategy in just one year. suggests a small change at one place in a add value around services. He saw massive On the smallest of events history can turn, nonlinear system can result in large differ- untapped potential for PSG. And it was dur- and now HP partners are waiting for clarity ences at a later state (thank you Wikipedia). ing that conference that HP announced it was as rivals such as Dell and Acer prepare to go The common example: a butterfly flaps its buying Palm, and it’s highly-touted webOS, poaching. wings in Japan, and a hurricane develops for US$1.2 billion to form the foundation of its I’m not sure, though ,that even chaos theory in the United States. Put another way: the mobility and tablet strategy. can explain why you’d announce that you smallest of events can have large and unin- But then, four months later, Hurd resigned may sell off an asset and tell the world you’ve tended consequences. from HP following an investigation into lost interest in it without a plan or a buyer I thought of the butterfly effect (also a claims that he sexually harassed a former in place. Kind of makes it hard to get full regrettable Ashton Kutcher movie) as a hur- contractor to the company: Fisher. It was value. But for some things, science still has ricane began to swirl around Hewlett-Packard determined he didn’t violate HP’s sexual no answers.
16 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com Jobs’ comeback is the stuff of legends
big news surrounded a US$150 million “cash what they want. Steve Jobs waited for no one. marginalia infusion” from Microsoft. But in many ways Choose a market and stick to it: Apple shane schick that keynote was the beginnings of a strategy could have kept its toe in the enterprise, but [email protected] that many resellers would be wise to adopt. Jobs announced a concentrated focus on Some of the core elements include: consumers rather than business. This meant Only sell what sells: Apple’s product list Apple no longer had to convince CIOs that After a resignation of Steve Jobs’ stature, used to be a confusing labyrinth of desktops, users would love their products. Now besot- the accomplishments of a CEO become notebooks and printers. That year in Boston, ted consumers are making that case to CIOs the stuff of legend, and their challenges can Jobs announced that its portfolio would be on Apple’s behalf. Not all channel players sometimes be forgotten. But there was a time, pared down into four quadrants based on the can become retailers, but they may not always less than 20 years ago, when Apple was like kind of user, and much of the chaff eliminat- need to go after the same decision-maker. a lot of VARs today: mired in organizational ed. Instead of losing breadth, Apple’s remain- Say it like you mean it: Much has been complexity, under-competing and scrambling ing lineup became easier to identify. How made of Jobs’ onstage charisma, but it boils for revenue. well do most reseller’s customers understand down to this: When he introduced a new Today, Apple’s comeback story seems as their core offerings? product, he always positioned it as redefin- distant as the idea of the old “Mac faithful” Lead, rather than follow customer demand: ing its category, his customer base, or both. who bought and cherished Apple products no No one was begging Apple to get into the How often does the average VAR manage to matter how out of step they were with exist- music business. After the failed Newton, no convey that sense of passionate belief in the ing pricing and standards. As news of Job’s one was betting on Apple to create a handheld transformative power of IT? departure spread rapidly through the industry in the form of a phone. Tablets had been tried Over the next few months everyone is going and social media, I kept thinking back to my and abandoned by customers long before the to be talking about what will happen to Ap- very first out-of-town assignment for CDN: iPad. The Apple run by Steve Jobs set trends ple now that Jobs is gone. A real measure of covering MacWorld ‘97 in Boston, where rather than followed them, by imagining the leadership, however, is not just their impact everything started to turn around. information consumption patterns of the on the company they ran but the industry in Jobs, who had recently returned to the com- coolest users imaginable. No wonder we all which they worked. The question is not how pany after dabbling with NeXT, was his usual buy Apple’s products in order to be like them. well did Apple absorb his lessons, but how commanding self onstage, and at the time the A lot of VARs wait for customers to tell them well did everyone else?
TWITTERSPHERE
The news of Steve Jobs’ resigna- Steve Jobs is the greatest leader Tweet 1: Steve Jobs is a real tion set off a wave of online conversation, our industry has ever known. It’s life Willie Wonka: mysterious, The Resignation and the largest single topic of that conver- the end of an era. beloved. He should put 5 golden sation concerns Tim Cook, the Apple COO Marc Benioff tickets in iPads, do a factory tour, winner of Steve Jobs Jobs recommends as his replacement. CEO gets Apple. Jobs will remain Apple chairman. Salesforce.com Out of more than 700,000 posts, Twitter@Benioff Tweet 2: Libya, earthquake, Steve Jobs tweets, comments and updates resigns, hurricane. Somewhere, Kim Kar- monitored on Aug. 25, the day of Jobs If you’re paparazzi hunting down dashian is on beach chair screaming “This announcement, 9.3 per cent of them Steve Jobs for a glimpse into his was supposed to be MYYY week!” (64,900) discussed Cook. Cook was the illness, you are disgusting. Let Jason Gay subject of almost twice the social com- the man have the dignity he deserves. Sport Columnist ments as the second-most popular topic, Alyssa Milano Wall Street Journal Jobs’ resignation letter. Actress Twitter@jasonWSJ It’s not terribly surprising that Cook (Who’s The Boss, Commando and is top of mind; he may be the answer to Charmed) Steve Jobs is one of California’s the question of whether or not Apple can Twitter@Alyssa_Milano greatest innovators. Very few thrive without Jobs’ product vision and achieved his impact over the last charisma. Steve Jobs has been on my mind 50 years and probably the next 100 years. CDN unearthed a few tweets of praise, a lot this wknd getwellsteve.com Arnold Schwarzenegger worry, and humour from leading high tech Action Film Star executives, celebrities and one reporter Padmasree Warrior 5 time Mr. Universe who managed to use Jobs resigna- CTO 7 time Mr. Olympia tion to take a jab at reality TV star Kim Cisco Systems The 38th Governor of California Kardashian. Twitter@Padmasree Twitter@Schwarzenegger
computerdealernews.com August/September 2011 17 feature report smb
SMB markets are in flux of 2008, which indicates at least a growing ness for that matter) is tied to indicators such byVawn Himmelsbach stability in the market. as consumer confidence. for Computer Dealer News “The continued health of the SMB market “And we’ve seen it fluctuating over the past in Canada will be determined by how long year,” said Tony Olvet, group vice-president MBs who survived the recession are global economic uncertainty remains,” said of research for IDC Canada. “This has impli- now wondering if we’re headed for Edwards. “The longer it lasts, the more it eats cations especially for SMBs selling products Sanother dip into recession territory, into consumer confidence, thereby negatively and services to consumers. The higher Cana- or how viable their business will be over the impacting the ability of all SMBs to sell their dian dollar can punish export-oriented firms, next few years. But the Canadian market is, products and services, and by extension so those SMBs counting on foreign markets generally speaking, fairly healthy, with plenty impacting their ICT budgets.” need to improve productivity to stay competi- of growth opportunities — both for SMBs to Canadian businesses also lag behind their tive.” So a key message for IT vendors, he improve their productivity, and for resellers comparable global counterparts in productiv- said, is to show how IT investments directly to help them get there. ity, which impacts their ability to compete improve productivity. In Canada, the SMB market overall is internationally — which is why productivity IDC’s Canadian Small and Medium-Sized healthy, since the economic uncertainty is still the No. 1 area of improvement for the Business IT 2011-2015 Forecast Summary pre- hanging over the world has had a greater SMB sector in Canada, said Edwards. dicts that for small businesses (from one to direct impact on the U.S. and Europe, said According to IDC Canada, SMBs with 99 employees), IT spending will grow by 1.7 Paul Edwards, director of research for Info- fewer than 500 employees will spend approxi- per cent (CAGR) over the next five years. For Tech Research Group. “That being said, mately $10 billion on IT in 2011, account- medium business (from 100 to 499 employ- Canadian SMBs in specific industries — no- ing for 27 per cent of total IT spending in ees), it will grow by 3.7 per cent. tably the manufacturing and resource sectors Canada (not including telecommunication Just as much as the recession caused small — have been negatively impacted by the high services spending). business owners to shut doors, it also caused Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency.” While the health of SMBs depends on new ones to open, said Michelle Warren, According to Industry Canada, Canadian the industry they play in and the economic president of MW Research & Consulting. business bankruptcies have been on the conditions of their market and suppliers, the “The Canadian SMB market is always strong decline since the fallout from the recession overall picture for SMBs (and general busi- — albeit challenging. Purchasers tend to
18 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com opt for larger companies, thinking that they tweeting 140 characters, 99-cent commerce benefits in a cost-effective manner that won’t will be around a bit longer than the smaller is becoming big business, said John Reid, hurt the SMB’s pocketbook. ones, but they are usually surprised by the president and CEO of CATAAlliance. And resilience and creativity of Canadian entre- you don’t have to be a big business to design Challenges and opportunities for the channel preneurs,” she said. a 99-cent app. “Those are some of the ways One of the biggest challenges for the channel [SMBs] have to reorient their thinking.” will be evolving its offers to align with new IT opportunities One growing trend that CATA sees is in the delivery models, such as SaaS and IaaS, According to IDC Canada, the top spend- area of smart vehicles, which is due to the said Olvet, as well as continuing to move ing categories for SMBs right now include transformation of the industrial economy upstream in delivering value while remaining networking hardware (an area of high priority through the use of technology, “so the area cost-competitive as larger-scale volume chan- spending across all SMBs); outsourcing and of auto design or design engineering is very nel partners encroach. operational services (more likely seen in much a growing market,” said Reid. That’s In terms of a cloud-based channel, however, medium businesses where economies of scale part of the green revolution, he said, where it’s still early days and it’s taking on different can be achieved); application development we’re pushed not only to reduce carbon emis- shapes. “I expect there to be new relation- and deployment software (pockets of strong sions, but we’re also affected by the politics ships formed between large service providers growth where “big data” exists); and data and VARs. But not all traditional resellers warehousing (where analysis and integration will survive in the new cloud world. Store- are required). Cloud services can overlay or here are already channel players in front dealers and retailers may also have play a role in each of these areas. Tthe U.S. that are basing their busi- new life if they can cost-effectively serve the “Mobility is of course another important ness solely on cloud-based solutions. ‘prosumer’ inside businesses to deal with the trend in business, not just phones and devices – Paul Edwards,Market Analyst, IDC Canada support issues related to BYOD,” said Olvet. but also mobile device management software He advises the channel to watch for oppor- and services,” said Olvet. tunities in machine-to-machine (M2M) tech- There are a number of key areas where nology and services in specific industries such SMBs will be steering their attention over the of oil, and there’s an overall realization that as utilities, transportation and healthcare. next year, said Edwards, including business we must shift. “All of those technologies The channel comprises, by and large, intelligence, mobile applications, SaaS and are moving down in price and representing SMBs, so they face many of the same types of IaaS, as well as desktop virtualization. significant market segments.” challenges as their customers. However, the SMBs are becoming much more savvy channel is also a unique group of SMBs that around understanding the potential of tech- Challenges for SMBs is experiencing other market challenges to nology in helping their businesses perform Improving productivity is always a challenge business models and future success, he said. better, said Edwards. But the key to making for SMBs and is the No. 1 driver for tech- And the biggest challenge is the cloud. “It’s sense of business data is deploying software nology adoption, he said. The state of the a foregone conclusion that the delivery of that allows for standard and on-the-fly analy- economy will also continue to be a challenge. IT or business functionality via the Web is sis, whether it’s provided in reporting tools or “But I think most SMBs find it challenging to here to stay, and that it’s both a driver and simply for quick data access. find a balance in their businesses, regardless inhibitor for the channel,” said Edwards. Understanding the dirty details of the of market dynamics, where business goals On the one hand it offers the opportunity to business is important in decision-making, he and imperatives can be supported by technol- benefit from recurring revenue, but has the said, but there is a wide selection of BI, from ogy, and where growth or at least long-term challenge of being significantly different than the very simple to the most complex, and the sustainability is a byproduct,” he said. on-premise, revenue and profit, so integrat- SMB market should look to source BI that Access to growth capital is fundamental, ing it into a legacy partner business creates fits the best price and functionality metrics. said Reid, as is having access to talent that barriers — not to mention the fact that it has This may even include upgraded versions of understands some of these new modalities the potential of reducing SMB on-premise Excel for some base-level capabilities. of doing business — that represents a cost infrastructure and software spend, thereby Another big trend is applications for mobile and in some cases can be a scarce resource. reducing the channel’s core business. devices. “SMBs are generally good adopt- There’s also a need for leadership in that “There are already channel players in the ers of consumer technology, either by force business owners have to know how to build U.S. that are basing their businesses solely on as younger employees bring in their own flexible business models — maybe teaming up cloud-based solutions, so I would expect the devices, or because the highest-level executive with a multinational or understanding how same to happen in Canada,” said Edwards. wants to have the same mobile functionality to set up a distribution network. If you take “But for the most part I see many channel at the office as at home,” said Edwards. a misstep in legal or privacy, you can find partners creating separate groups that sup- Mobile device success is related to the apps yourself out of business pretty quickly. port the sale of cloud.” As customers begin that run on them, and since mobile devices The biggest challenge for SMBs moving for- to adopt cloud-based solutions they won’t be will be ubiquitous across many SMBs, there ward, said Warren, will be staying alive and jettisoning their entire on-premise solutions, will be a need for applications that meet busi- finding funding. Cash requirements are chal- which provides opportunity for these partners ness requirements, which will differ across lenging to manage, and moving forward into to ensure the smooth integration of both. industries. “Of course this opens up the need new opportunities without daily cash flow for mobile device management capabilities, can hinder and close a business. Challenges but that’s maybe a topic that will gain ground such as “data management” sound expen- in SMBs next year,” said Edwards. sive to an SMB owner, she said, so channel coming soon next issue Just as we’ve become accustomed to partners must be able to communicate the Look for the results of an IT World Canada State of the SMB survey computerdealernews.com August/September 2011 19 photo gallery 2011 women in the it channel
Solution Providers Recognition Luncheon www.computerdealernews.com
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20 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com PHOTOS: 1 Twenty-five honourees get their day 2 Lora Gernon of Profit Consulting3 More than 60 executives attending event 4 Panelists FOUNDING SPONSOR Gernon, Rose MacKinnon & Catherine O’Donnell 5 HP’s O’Donnell 6 Gartner’s TiffaniB ova 7 Gernon with Bova 8 Ingram’s Mark Snider 9 8D’s Isabelle Bettez, Integra’s Nagwa Koressa & Ingram’s Jennifer Johnson 10 GWA’s Gail Wilson 11 Honourees meet 12 Great networking 13 O’Donnell makes a point 14 Bova holds court 15 IT World’s Shane Schick interviews Bova 16 CDN’s Paolo Del Nibletto presents Bova with Toronto Maple Leaf jersey 17 Ingram Micro Canada crew 18 Dessert on the patio CDN 19 Teenage geek goddess Genevieve L’Esperance
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18 19 computerdealernews.com August/September 2011 21 photo gallery 2011 women in the it channel
Zoreena company has been a perennial Ltd. She began her career in the Abas CDN Top 100 solution provider Naomi Ashlee IT industry in 1984 as an execu- Zoreena Abas with two store fronts in Edmon- Carmichael tive assistant to the president and is the gen- ton and Calgary. Naomi Ashlee owner of Intelligent Microsys- eral manager Carmichael is tems, formerly Entre Computer of Duologik Isabelle the president Center. Solutions of Bettez of OnDeck Richmond Hill, Isabelle Bettez Systems of Susie Ont., but she made a name for is president Courtenay, B.C. Carmichael Ibbotson herself as president of Albert and CEO of became known in the IT industry Susie Ibbotson White Technologies, a perennial 8D Technolo- as the first ever West coast- is the director CDN Top 100 Solution Provider gies. Under based president of VentureTech of marketing before it was sold in 2007. her leadership, Network (VTN), Ingram Micro’s & channel the company has experienced partner community. management Enza tremendous growth while per- for solution Alexander fecting its Machine-to-Machine Johanna provider Non-Linear Creations. Enza Alex- (M2M) / Point-of-Sale technolo- Delroy Ibbotson is well known in the ander is the gy that ranks among the world’s Johanna Delroy IT industry for launching the vice-president most advanced for wireless, real- is the national first professional association of of business time electronic payment. director of Canadian CIOs, CIO Executive development marketing at Council, in partnership with OnX Enter- Coreen Compugen, a CIO Canada magazine, is one prise Solutions Bouchard national solution provider and of the founders of the Toronto Ltd.. In her five years at OnX, Coreen perennial CDN top five company SharePoint User Group, and Alexander built a world-class Bouchard is in the IT channel. While at Com- most recently helped launch the operation that has grown by more the CEO of pugen, Delroy has been instru- Toronto SharePoint Business than 300 per cent. Ottawa-based mental in driving organizational User Group. PureLogic change leading to increased sales Melissa IT. Prior to and opportunities in numerous Yasmin Alvares starting up PureLogic IT, roles within the company. Jivraj Melissa Bouchard worked for Novatech Yasmin Jivraj Alvares is the and TeraMach. Earlier this year, Loretta is the president sustainabil- Bouchard was a recipient of Golby and co-owner ity programs the prestigious Forty Under 40 Loretta Golby of Acrodex, manager for Award. is the president an informa- Softchoice. She of Edmonton- tion technol- is responsible Karen based Allegro ogy company founded in 1984. for managing corporate-wide Brodie Associates. She was recently awarded an initiatives aimed at reducing the Karen Brodie Golby is an honourary bachelor of technol- impact of company’s operations is the presi- experienced senior technical/ ogy degree from the Northern on the environment. dent of Brodie project manager with more than Alberta Institute of Technology Computes. 30 years experience in the cor- (NAIT) and was the co-founder Marjorie “Kitty” Under Karen’s porate computing environment, of CIPS Women in Technology Atkinson direction, specializing in collaborative tech- Conference. Marjorie Brodie is a recognized CRM nology using the Internet, Lotus Atkinson, leader in industry and has won Domino and Java technologies. Darlene nicknamed Microsoft Impact and CDN Kelly Kitty, is the Channel Elite Awards. JoeAnne Darlene Kelly vice-president Hardy is the COO of operations Siobhan JoeAnne Hardy of TeraMach, for Tenet Computer Group. She Byron is the president a CDN Top has been with the company for Siobhan of WBM Office 100 Solution more than 25 years and started as Byron is the Systems. Hardy Provider. a receptionist. president also became Kelly has recently been selected of Forsythe co-president of as a Fellow of the Society of Isabel Technology the Ingram Micro VentureTech Management Accountants of Bernete Canada and Network Advisory Council. Canada. This national award Isabel Bernete vice-president of managed ser- recognizes her contribution to is the chief vices Forsythe Technology. Cheryl the territory of management executive di- She is responsible for develop- Hicks accounting, the profession, and rector and co- ing and implementing Forsythe’s Cheryl Hicks the community. Kelly joined owner of PC corporate strategy in the new is the president TeraMach in 1999 and has Corp Group, managed services line of busi- of Technol- overseen the sales, professional a solution provider for govern- ness. Byron has worked for MTS ogy Solutions services and overall corporate ment, education and SMB. The Allstream. International strategy for the company.
22 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com Nagwa Elisabeth Koressa Vanderveldt Nagwa Koressa Elisabeth- is the president Vanderveldt is and owner of the vice-presi- Integra Net- dent of business works, a system development integrator for Montreal- focusing on data centre technolo- based solution provider Cona- gies with emphasis on virtualiza- mex International. Vanderveldt tion solutions in Ottawa. Integra also served as the global chair Congratulations to all Networks is known as one of the for Women in Leadership & leading virtual infrastructure Technology (WIL&T), a division solution providers in Canada. of the International Association the women recently Her company celebrated its 25th of Microsoft Certified Partners anniversary in 2009. (IAMCP). Vanderveldt was the first and only female internation- recognized at the first Wendy al board member of IAMCP. Lucas Wendy Lucas Nicole Women in the IT Channel is area vice- Wengle president of Nicole Wengle Canada for is the vice- luncheon. Dimension president of Data, a multi- Canadian sales billion dollar global IT solutions at Softchoice and services provider. In 2007 Corp. After Lucas spearheaded Dimension studying business commerce at Acknowledged for their Data’s launch into the Canadian Laurier University, she went on marketplace. to co-op terms at Microsoft and dedication, contribution and IBM. Angela O’Leary Gail hard work, these women Angela Wilson O’Leary is the Gail Wilson is continue to demonstrate that president of the president Nisha Tech- of GWA Busi- nologies Inc. ness Solutions our industry provides She has been of Markham, instrumental Ont. An challenging and fulfilling in growing Nisha Technologies industry leader, Wilson has been into one of the leading vendors on the cutting edge of technol- career opportunities. to the Government of Canada. ogy for 28 years. Wilson is now in O’Leary has more than a decade demand as an expert consulting of business development experi- on the selection, development ence. and implementation of complex business systems. She also taught Carmela college and has written courses Orlando for both the college as well as Carmela private industry. Orlando is the senior vice Mary Ann president and Yule www.ingrammicro.ca General Man- Mary Ann Yule ager of Insight is the vice- Canada. Her primary respon- president and sibilities are to oversee Insight general man- Canada’s overall operations, ager for CDW develop sales growth strate- Canada. She is gies, manage profit and loss and responsible for driving business enhance client, teammate and growth and national brand recog- vendor relationships. Prior to nition for CDW Canada through Insight she worked for Merisel/ the development and execution of Synnex Canada. strategic business initiatives. computerdealernews.com August/September 2011 23 markets opportunities for solution providers
nice thing about it.” Cimetrix has been selling 3D printers for about 11 years and has more than 500 customers. It generates revenue from consumables and services as- sociated with its install base and Janeteas said he experiences year over year growth of between 30 and 40 per cent. “There is however another major market for us, which is the educational market- place,” Stanley added. “They (schools) don’t necessarily want an inexpensive product,” Janeteas said. Rather, they want a system in place for their students to capi- talize on industry-standard technology. HP has been selling its Designjet 3D printers in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Spain since May 2010. The printers are manufactured by Stratasys, but branded under HP. HP is currently test- ing the market for 3D printers in Europe with between five and 10 partners in each of the countries, according to company spokesperson Jill Peters. It developed its channel there from former Stratasys partners and HP partners who wanted to tryout the market, accord- ing to Peters. The five countries were cho- sen in part because partners there had the necessary services skill-set to help deliver the technology. The company is actively recruiting more partners within Europe What 3D printing means as well, but Peters made it clear that HP is not looking to get into the hobbyist or consumer market. for “traditional” resellers Selling 3D printing “Awareness certainly is changing,” Janeteas While hype around the technology has been increasing over the last year, said. “We’re still far from it being in a market where you may be familiar with 3D printing still might not be the right market for traditional VARs traditional paper printers.” 3D printing, though, is vastly different from reselling tra- ditional printers, where it’s more of a ful- printing in medicine. Eventually, he argued, fillment market, he said. “That industry is by harmeet singh people will be able to print spare parts for very much a pull type of industry,” he said, [email protected] their household items. Right now, the general where customers know what they need. idea is for businesses to have prototypes and “There’s just no way that someone’s going In the past year, 3D printing has been gain- models built more quickly and with less cost. to go to a Future Shop or a Best Buy and ing more attention in the IT industry. In May buy one of these,” he said. The capabilities 2010, Hewlett-Packard Co. began shipping its Who buys it? would simply be too limited, so the extra Designjet 3D printers in Europe. Then Cisco The demand for 3D printers is greater than cost is worth it to businesses and educa- Systems Inc.’s customer conference in Las what one might imagine, but it’s still a niche tional institutions looking to capitalize on Vegas this July, the company’s chief futurist market that demands high expertise from the technology. “For someone just to say Dave Evans also touted 3D printing as one its resellers. Stratasys Inc. is one company ‘I’m going to start selling this stuff,’ you’re of the upcoming significant technologies of that sells 3D printers through the channel, going to hit a wall.” the next 10 years. Whether it will become a with products ranging from $14,000 to half “A lot of (partners) think they’re going significant part of the channel among tradi- a million dollars. “It has become more and to get in on it,” he said. The traditional tional resellers is still up for discussion. more affordable,” said Mary Stanley, product VAR market won’t do as well, he argued. Users typically create their 3D models using manager for Stratasys’ Dimension 3D print- “They’re struggling to get a product that’s computer-aided design (CAD) software then ers. “The vision would be that theoretically, affordable and reliable to the market,” he use 3D printers, or additive manufacturing, you could have one in your own home.” said. Naturally, though, the quality has to to physically “print” the products. The tech- Currently there is a demand from a con- remain. “Just because it’s less expensive, it nology is mainly aimed at industries that use sumer hobbyist market along with various doesn’t mean more people are going to buy models and prototyping, such as architecture, industries. “It’s very diverse,” said James it or that it will increase sales. You have to but some industry professionals, including Janeteas, president of Cimetrix Solutions, actively find customers. You have to knock Cisco’s Evans, have hinted at potential for 3D a Dimension printer reseller. “That’s the on doors.”
24 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com Canadian PC market grows in Q2 as U.S. retreats IDC Canada reports Canada’s PC market was back in the black in Q2, after a retreat in Q1
“We’re still seeing huge gains on the con- pricing. An interesting trend is emerging in by jeff jedras sumer side,” said Tim Brunt, senior analyst the numbers though, with portables overtak- [email protected] for personal computing with IDC Canada. ing desktops in the commercial space for the “It’s amazing our consumer numbers con- first time. tinue to lead the charge “If you go back two years it was 38.8 per Canada’s PC market recorded modest While the consumer market continues to be cent for portables and now it’s 51 per cent, so growth in the second quarter of 2011 ac- the engine driving the PC market, the com- that’s pretty significant,” said Brunt. cording to IDC Canada, but it’s a positive mercial market is also showing signs of life On the vendor leaderboard, HP hung onto turnaround from negative growth in Q1 and top spot with 24.2 per cent of the market, outpaced the global growth rate, also provid- ahead of Acer at 18.2 per cent. Dell, Apple ing a sharp contrast to the continued decline f you go back two years it was 38.8 per and Lenovo round-out the top five. However, in the US. Icent for portables and now it’s 51 per in the portables segment Acer nudged past IDC Canada’s PC shipment numbers for cent, so that’s pretty significant. HP for first, 22.9 per cent to 21.7 per cent. Canada show 3.4 per cent growth year over – Tim Brunt, Market Analyst, IDC Canada year, with shipments of 1,534,171 units. That’s better than the global growth rate of 1.9 per cent. In the U.S., shipments were down 4.9 Q2 CANADIAN PC MARKET SHARE BY VENDOR per cent. with growth of 6.6 per cent. Large enterprises Breaking the numbers down, portables once led the way with 22.1 per cent growth, but HP: 24.2% again led the way with 10.6 per cent growth, continued weakness in public sector sales ACER: 18.2% DELL: 17.7% accounting for 1,010,482 of the units shipped. tempered the gains. APPLE: 9.4% Volatility continued on the desktop side, “In government and education we’ll see LENOVO: 9% with an eight per cent decline, year over year. continued weakness,” said Brunt. “The only OTHERS: 21% Within the portables space, the once-hot thing holding those numbers together now is Source: IDC Canada mini-notebook continued to decline, down health care spending, but actual government 35.9 per cent. The Windows-based tablet numbers continue to decline.” market is beginning to take off though, with Pent-up hardware refresh demand and the nascent category recording 328 per cent Windows 7 migration continue to drive growth. commercial numbers, said Brunt, as is lower
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Constructing profits As more solution providers are looking to tap into the SMB market, selling software that’s very specific to a verti- cal could be the way to go
is hugely important. “I get one big cheque the cost for implementing Sage’s solution by harmeet singh and I have to distribute it out to sub-trades would be about $25,000, according to Baker. [email protected] and people who work for me,” he said, so ac- But, with the product, you’re essentially counting is actually a major role for him. replacing a person you would have had to hire, he said. Software designed Integrating with industry software The training typically isn’t too challenging specifically for special- Sage’s Timberline product also links to Au- for the staff, since they already input data ized verticals could be an toCAD Revit, design software that Donovan into a spreadsheet anyway, Baker said. Sage’s excellent way to dive into the said is widely used in his line of work. When program just streamlines that process. large, but often untapped using it to design a 3D wall, for example, The whole process of switching over usually SMB market. Sage North all the individual elements-drywall, paint, takes about three months, Baker said. After America is one company insulation-must be broken down for costing that, it typically takes a company three to six offering software designed for specific small purposes, Donovan said. months to get comfortable with the software businesses, including the non-profit and Before, he would have had to put all the and understand the value of their investment, healthcare industries. Its accounting software individual elements into a spreadsheet he said. “Change is tough,” he said, but the developed for small construction companies for accounting, which was separate from investment is worth it. has seen success in Canada. the project management side. With Sage’s program, the individual elements are now in- Sage partnerships From Simply Accounting to simpler accounting putted directly into the accounting software, “We are always looking for companies that Tercera Construction, a small business based so determining costs for an estimate is now are interested in ‘verticalizing’ their busi- in Vancouver with six staff, switched over to much faster, he said. ness,” Stejskal said. “Typically, we are look- Sage Timberline Office, an accounting pro- “They like the configurability of the job cost ing for companies that have a familiarity with gram designed specifically for construction system,” Stejskal said. With general software, the construction market,” for this particular companies by Sage North America. it’s more difficult to break down costs and program. Before switching to Sage Timberline, Ter- discover where your money is going. Both Sage resellers need to know why it’s valu- cera was using Simply Accounting, another Donovan and Stejskal agree- whether you’re able rather than just knowing the product, Sage product also aimed at small businesses, building a home or a 10-storey building, it he said. “We don’t just add business partners but on a more general level. There are several helps to break down the project. “[SMBs] do that really are not into the market.” software programs out there for the SMB need technology that will streamline their Serving local customers is also critical market, such Intuit’s QuickBooks line, but businesses,” Stejskal said. when reselling this kind of software, Stejskal using a program designed specifically for said. “We can do true product training over his line of work was a major benefit to the Selling to the market the Internet, but there’s that local touch that business, said Dennis Donovan, Tercera’s Sage now has more than 700 customers using many of our customers do appreciate,” Ste- president. “It’s a really powerful tool for us,” Sage Timberline Office in Canada. jskal said. “Through that local support, we he said. “Most of the clients haven’t gone through can put a consultant in that office who really “The construction industry does have a transition like this in many years,” said understand their industry and particular unique requirements,” said Dennis Stejskal, Patrick Baker, president of Constructive needs.” vice president of product management for Solutions for Business Inc., a Sage reseller construction real estate solutions at Sage. in Vancouver. His company would go in and “It gives us the ability to sell very focused try to understand the construction busi- FastFacts CONSTRUCTIVE SOLUTIONS into the product market,” he added. “By ness’ internal structure and apply that to HEADQUARTERS: Vancouver, BC writing software specifically to the need of the software. “My company is responsible EMPLOYEES: 14 the vertical, you’re just going to better serve for getting you up and live on the software,” EXPERTISE: Sage Timberline software the market.” Baker said. for construction and real estate “Cash flow is huge in our business,” For a company about Tercera’s size, which industries Donovan said, and billing people correctly does about $30 million of business per year,
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US104020100183_2-1_CA_412x276+5_RD_28L.indd 2 26.08.11 12:00 review new products in the channel HP EliteBook 8460p Reviews by Jeff Jedras A new entry in Hewlett- cheap: plastic chassis, give in Packard’s EliteBook line of the lid, and so on. This one feels commercial-class notebooks, solid. And with an Intel Core i5 the 14” HP EliteBook 8460p is processor, 4GB of RAM and a a little on the weighty side at 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6470M 5.4 lbs but makes up for it with graphics card it has all the solid, durable construction. I power a commercial user needs, like light notebooks, as I have with security features such as fa- desktop PCs at home and work cial recognition and fingerprint and so tend to use notebooks scanning. primarily when travelling. But I also dislike notebooks that feel Price: $1,229.00
the settings provided on a slip of Belkin paper. After popping in the CD, I was connected in two minutes, with another five to update the firmware. A few issues. I wasn’t N750DB able to connect my tablet with Acer Iconia A500 I always seem to end up with the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button; somewhat finicky wireless rout- had to enter the password manu- After playing with an Apple peripherals. And I love that I ers, and while it’s been quite ally. And after a few days I ran iPad and a Motorola Xoom, I can cheaply add storage in the good overall Belkin’s N750DB into some DNS problems on my decided to pick-up Acer’s Iconia MicroSD slot to supply the (DB for dual band) hasn’t been desktop that took some sleuthing A500 as my personal tablet and, internal 32MB. I wanted a tablet completely hassle-free. Set-up was to fix. Otherwise, I’ve been happy a few months in, no real regrets for light Web surfing and media easy; it came with the LAN and with the connectivity speed and so far. First of all, I wanted a consumption while travelling, power cables already plugged into range. Other features include two 10” tablet – 7” is just too small and it has fit the bill with ample the router for one less step. Three USB ports for media sharing and – and the A500 does this in battery life (about two movies’ graphical instructions on the box wireless printing. sleek brushed-metal design. It worth). I do have a few issues; I guided me the rest of the way, and also runs Android Honeycomb, wish it was easier to convert and security was already enabled with Price: $129.99 another must-have for me. The load media, and a WiFi toggle A500 also adds several nice would be nice. But all in all, it’s features I wasn’t insisting on, a great iPad alternative. such as HDMI out and a full- sized USB port for connecting Price: $469.99
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US104020100183_1-1_CA_206x276+5_RD_28L.indd 1 26.08.11 12:00 special feature security Was this the e-mail that took down RSA?
A spear phishing e-mail that has surfaced in a security database looks like it may have been the one to hit RSA by Robert McMillan
“I forward this file to you for review. database for the RSA attack file ever since “It was a difficult one to find,” Hirvonen Please open and view it.” RSA acknowledged that it had been compro- said. “We had to work really hard to find it.” As a ploy to get a hapless EMC recruiter to mised. The hackers had sent two different With his new tool, Hirvonen quickly discov- open up a booby trapped Excel file, it may phishing e-mails to small groups of company ered a Microsoft Outlook .msg file. When he not be the most sophisticated piece of work. employees over a two day period, but nobody opened it up, he knew he was onto something. But researchers at F-Secure believe that it outside of RSA and its parent company EMC Inside was a message that had been spoofed to was enough to break into one of the most knew the full contents of those messages. look like it had come from recruiting website respected computer security companies on the It wasn’t even clear if they were included in Beyond.com. “I forward this file to you for planet, and a first step in a complex attack that VirusTotal’s data. review. Please open and view it,” the message ultimately threatened the security of major RSA has released some details about the at- read. The subject: “2011 Recruitment plan.” U.S. defense contractors including Lockheed tack, but Hirvonen’s find is a first look at just The attachment: an Excel spreadsheet entitled Martin, L-3, and Northrop Grumman. what it took to get an EMC employee to open “2011 Recruitment plan.xls” The e-mail was sent on March 3 and that dangerous attachment. Looking closer, Hirvonen found that the uploaded to VirusTotal a free service used to “The e-mail was crafted well enough to file seemed to match RSA’s description in scan suspicious messages, on March 19, two trick one of the employees to retrieve it from possible every way. The Excel file contained days after RSA went public with the news their Junk mail folder, and open the attached the same Flash attack code; It used the same that it had been hacked in one of the worst Excel file,” wrote RSA Head of New Tech- remote control software, called Poison Ivy, security breaches ever. nologies Uri Rivner in the April 1 blog post- and it tried to connect to the same Internet Researchers at F-Secure, the firm that dis- ing that laid out most of what RSA has said address as RSA’s attacker. covered the message, believed that it was very publicly about the e-mail. “It was a spread- likely it led to the RSA compromise. If true, sheet titled “2011 Recruitment plan.xls.” The response the finding sheds light on the kind of trickery, Hirvonen didn’t know for sure he’d find The e-mail was sent to EMC staff, apparently called social engineering by security pros, it the e-mail in VirusTotal, but he thought that in the human resources department look- takes to break into a major security company. there was a chance that someone at RSA ing like it came from webmaster@beyond. F-Secure antimalware analyst Timo had uploaded to see what it was. Searching com, a generic address from a site that listed Hirvonen discovered the e-mail message for the 2011 Recruitment Plan spreadsheet EMC jobs in the past. But that was a spoof, buried in the millions of submissions stored yielded nothing, however. Hirvonen said. In reality the e-mail wasn’t sent in this crowd-sourced database of malicious But this month Hirvonen finished up a data from the Beyond.com servers. F-Secure be- or potentially malicious files. VirusTotal lets analysis tool that allowed him to find his lieves it’s one of the two spearphishing e-mails. computer users upload a suspicious file, say needle in the VirusTotal haystack. His tech- When reached, RSA was reluctant to say an Excel spreadsheet that might be infected, nique: he scoured the data for flash objects anything. RSA wouldn’t say if there were any and have it scanned by over 40 of the world’s -- software written to run in Adobe’s Flash differences between Hirvonen’s e-mail and top antivirus companies. In return for the Player -- that looked like they may have been the one that compromised the company. The free scan, the AV vendors get to examine the used in the RSA attack. RSA had previously company wouldn’t confirm that it was the one files, making the service a great way of learn- said that the hackers used software that took that got the attackers in, either. “Can we vali- ing about malicious software after the fact. advantage of a bug in Adobe Flash and of- date that this is the actual e-mail?” said RSA Hirvonen had been searching VirusTotal’s fered some technical details on the attack. spokeswoman Helen Stefan. “No.”
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32 August/September 2011 computerdealernews.com Presented by:
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The declaration of Roskill Microsoft’s worldwide channel chief Jon Roskill talks about his first year on the job, channel capacity gaps in Canada and how the cloud improved licensing
things Roskill ever said to me was job, I was deep with the cloud sell tomorrow and I am proud by paolo del nibletto that he ‘wasn’t Allison Watson’ strategy because 42 per cent of of that. [email protected] nor would he try to be. Microsoft business is in the U.S. A year after Microsoft made its and that helped. But now, I said CDN: What about the SMB solution two biggest announcements with ‘let’s look and see if it makes providers? How will the new incentives Los Angeles – After a full year its “All-in cloud” strategy and sense (to streamline licensing announced at the Worldwide Partner as the Microsoft worldwide chan- Windows Phone 7 this time if for with the cloud).’ So this year, it’s Conference impact them? nel chief Jon Roskill wanted to execution of those strategies and about landing everything. know how he performed. So dur- others. J.R.: VARs were lucky if they ing a briefing with the Canadian Roskill talked about that along CDN: Microsoft’s new pay for perfor- got eight points in an open deal. channel media he asked “How with new channel compensation mance channel approach has received Well, they would feel good about am I doing?” plans, incentives and gaps in the a lot of praise from small to mid size it, I should have said. I think Since I don’t sign his cheques, I Canadian market. partners. They said it’s a fairer system, with these incentives in some wasn’t sure what he was looking The following is an edited but the LARs are impacted by it. What way it’s good that Microsoft is for. Executives at Microsoft have transcript. are you doing for the large account setting the price. Now they have told CDN that Roskill is one of reseller community? to deal on a different dimension. the best operations people in the CDN: Microsoft licensing is extremely They have to get anchored on company and his appointment, complex. Has going all in on the cloud J.R.: The ESA program for LARs, the annuity benefits. It is going which was literally days before the changed that in any way? at its core, is still the richest to be tough and if you look at last Worldwide Partner Confer- program we have. It is an incred- the other end it helps you. It ence in Washington, D.C., was Jon Roskill: Microsoft licensing ible program with over a billion may take three years to build it a certainly a surprise on many has always been difficult because dollars. On the surface, we have out, but you will be in a good levels. But after a week at the of its complexity and its struc- 374 LARs in the world. That’s a space. As an example, let’s look conference where the software ture, and we pushed hard to get concentrated amount of money. at the recent economic down- giant was more interesting talking it to be more consistent across The evolution of the LAR in this turn we went through. Microsoft to partners about execution rather product teams. We now have program is that they can still did better than most because than big picture announcements I partner of record fees with our make money; more than every be- we had three year agreements in looks like Roskill is the right man 12 per cent upfront and six per fore. If you look at the ones that place, while others went out of for this job at this time. cent re-occuring compensation are nimble and thoughtful, they business. Roskill replaced the almost leg- plan. In the three years we have are excited about the corporate endary figure of Allison Watson, been talking about the cloud, it space. They can go up to 12 points who ran Microsoft’s channel for has help us unravel the com- on deals, which is rich margin on eight years. One of the smartest plexity we have built within our some of those corporate enter- Caught on tape: licensing. The cloud was a way prise agreements. to get a fresh start. This is going What we did with the cloud is JON ROSKILL BioBox to help the channel. This fiscal crafty in how we take the cloud JOB: Senior VP Worldwide Partners year is about execution and the licensing structure and put it ALMA MATER: Boston University one thing my team said to me as into the licensing structure. This PAST LIFE: Marketing manager for DEC I took this job was ‘what’s your is good for the channel and we LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Born in England strategy?’ I said we don’t need could have done massive retrain- FAVOURITE LEISURE TIME ACTIVITY: Skiing any more strategy. Before I took ing. LARs have ton of employees FRATERNITY: Eta Kappa Nu society this job I had read everything and and their ramp up cost would Paolo Del Nibletto interviews Jon Roskill in LA. reviewed it all. In my previous be a lot, but with this, they can Check it out at myi.tw/afK
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