Government Bows to Lobby Over Contracts

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR VARS, SYSTEM BUILDERS AND CONVERGED RESELLERS

www.Ccrn.vnunet.com 4 April 2005 Matching fingerprints Creaven trial Some 80 companies have created Government bows to the Fingerprint Sharing Alliance in the is ready to roll fight against internet crime ...... 4 Sara Yirrell A taste of the high life Midwich has struck deals with Pioneer The court case for company lobby over contracts and Samsung as it prepares for an director Dylan Creaven, who has early entry into HDTV ...... 15 been charged with alleged VAT Door is opened for negotiation of liability in public-sector projects Contract sports fraud, is due to start tomorrow. Suppliers are at loggerheads with the The former director of com- Mark Ballard government over rewritten contracts ponents distributor Silicon Tech- that shift the burden of failure ...... 18 nologies Europe was arrested for Public-sector channel players The Hurd mentality an alleged ‘missing trader’ VAT received a morale boost last week Are HP days here again? Yes, if its new fraud, initially estimated at £162m as the government softened up chief exec continues to support the but now believed to be in the over contracts that suppliers channel, says Sara Driscoll ...... 23 region of £313m. believe could force them to carry Sight and sound His trial, at Blackfriar’s Crown a disproportionate share of Who’s hitting the highs in audiovisual? Court in London, is expected to responsibility for IT failures. Don’t miss our vital in-depth guide to last until the end of July. Suppliers have been cam- this flourishing market ...... 25 Creaven was arrested in 2002 paigning against a greater burden Meet the voice precedents after an operation codenamed of risk placed upon them by new Whatever comms development rings Chipstick, run by Customs and contracts for government IT proj- door is open. I think that’s rea- competition could force suppliers your bell, you’ll find it at this year’s Excise, the Criminal Assets Bur- ects. They have warned that the sonably promising news.” and channel players to absorb the Comms Channel Expo show ...... 36 eau, Irish Police and Irish new terms, introduced by the Roger Bickerstaff, an IT con- costs themselves. Revenue Officers of Customs En- Office of Government Commerce tracts lawyer at Bird & Bird, wel- Steve Derbyshire, managing forcement. He was remanded in (OGC) last November, will force comed the change of heart. “It director of VAR Telamon, said custody at HMP Wandsworth, up the cost of government IT indicates there’s scope for dia- the government still needs to www.crn.vnunet.com/voiceanddata but released on bail on the condi- (CRN, October 2004). logue between the OGC and the open up the contracts to a wider Fat boy goes slim tion that he reported daily to Tr ade association Intellect IT industry, otherwise there range of VARs. Cisco has plugged its wireless Belgravia Police Station until the raised nine points of concern in could be a stand-off,” he said. “The only way to get involved LAN gap with the acquisition of trial begins (CRN, 12 January 2004). a letter to the OGC in September. John Sheppard, LogicaCMG is to partner with larger firms and Airespace, and switched to a thin He stands charged with con- But in November, the contracts director of public-sector business, often that doesn’t work out to the wireless architecture ...... 41 spiracy to cheat the Revenue were introduced despite opposi- said the increased risk that would smaller firm’s advantage,” he said. under Section 1 (1) of the Criminal tion to all but minor complaints. be taken on by suppliers could “I would like to see the gov- Law Act 1977, and money laun- However, last week Intellect increase their costs by between ernment open up the list a little www.crn.vnunet.com/systembuilder dering offences under Section 93 chairman Jonathan Higgins told five and 15 per cent, depending on more, but there is the problem of C (1) (B) of the Criminal Justice CRN: “The OGC has now said, the project. regulating additional suppliers.” White-out for Dell Dell has formally withdrawn from the Act 1988. ‘Pick out three major areas of the “Those costs will inevitably be [email protected] white-box market in the US, claiming [email protected] » nine points you made in your let- passed on to the public sector,” See Analysis, page 18 the decision is based on feedback C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1157331 C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160689 ter and we’ll discuss them.’ So the he said. But he conceded that from the channel ...... 43 Unified Networks regroups in wake of administration Sara Yirrell primary assets were debts owed price”, to try to gain some divi- “I’m sure there are some pretty www.crnservices.co.uk to it. To protect these debts and dend for creditors. miffed companies out there.” A phoenix has risen from the the workforce, we decided to sell Distribution is understood to Tony Bailey, UK and Ireland ashes of networking VAR Unified shares in a subsidiary company have taken a hit from the admin- channel manager at Nortel, said Networks days after it entered known as Unified Networks istration. Clarity, Northamber the vendor was working hard to administration. Services Limited (UNSL) to and Azlan told CRN they were ensure a smooth transition. “We Just before Easter the Berk- the existing management, which unaffected. are working with Unified to shire-based firm, which dealt means it has the right to trade Simon Hill, UK managing ensure customers still receive the mainly with Nortel, went into under the name.” director at Azlan, said: “This service they expect from Nortel.” administration, appointing BDO All staff have been transferred sort of thing always happens No one at UNSL or distribu- Stoy Hayward as administrator. to the new firm under Transfer when coming out of a recession- tor Westcon, which is believed Andrew Beckingham, business of Undertakings Protection of ary period, when companies to be a supplier, was available restructuring partner at BDO, Employment (TuPE) rules. over-trade on the back of increas- for comment at the time of told CRN: “The firm had two Beckingham said he will be ing market demand.” going to press. sides to its business: equipment looking to realise assets, including Simon Welch, marketing direc- [email protected] installation and maintenance. Its stocks, “for the best possible tor at distributor Clarity, added: C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1156031 UK Weekly Edition £2.60

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Contact the Interface IBM Sales Team on 0871 230 0136 or e-mail [email protected] LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 news www.Ccrn.vnunet.com 3 IT programme contents Syscap exploits HCI News Page 1 looks good for Fingerpint alliance to nail virus attacks 4 Kagoor leads Juniper into VoIP 4 reseller health BMC pockets OpenNetwork 4 Hurd keeps spin-offs in mind 5 James Sherwood potential of SMEs IBM’s own software to target spammers 5 Oracle overpowers Oblix 5 The government has renamed the Firm offers VARs web tools to capitalise on Home Computing Initiative EquIP lands nCircle contract 6 £6.2bn National Programme for Northamber broadens scope of Madge deal 6 IT (NPfIT) following its restruc- Sara Yirrell John Laity, director of market- Asus web site puts reseller tools online 6 Still ATI after all these years 8 ture to give GPs access to a wider Syscap and Sage ing at HCI-approved provider variety of computer systems. This VA Rs are missing out on a Syscap has been awarded a renewed OneCall Technologies, agreed is a move that could see channel crucial part of the market by not three-year contract to manage there was a good opportunity in Security Blue Coat bundle Ironed out 11 players win more contracts. targeting SMEs with the govern- SageFinance, the scheme which the market. Sphinx set to distribute Sidewinder range 11 The programme will now be ment’s lucrative Home Compu- allows firms to finance their “The SME market is the UK’s known as Connecting for Health, ting Initiative (HCI). accounting software purchases. biggest business base. I am in Storage despite the fact that a US health The HCI, under which com- Under the terms of the deal, favour of as many providers as HP works for VARs 12 IT research foundation already panies can offer employees a tax- Syscap will provide a complete possible making HCI available Insight gets in right Mindjet 12 finance service to Sage customers. has the same name. free loan for a PC, has so far through the web,” he said. “It is TotalStorage for HyperIP 12 An NPfIT representative said: been aimed mainly at enterprises, Syscap sales director Philip White critical that there is choice in the “The Department of Health and said Adrian Standing, recently said: “In the next three years we will market, and I think the smaller Audiovisual build on our success of delivering a NPfIT lawyers have looked into appointed business development firms will become the bread and Midwich adds more definition 15 this issue and advised that there director at leasing firm Syscap. viable software acquisition model for butter of the IT industry.” Trident shows vision with passenger entertainment 15 are no trademark or copyright To this end, Syscap has Sage customers.” Pete Mistry, technical sales issues concerned with using the launched its HCI-In-A-Box consultant at VAR Eclipse Group Reviews same name in the UK.” scheme which offers resellers an Solutions, also welcomed the Canon Digital Ixus i5 17 Under the reorganisation, a online sales tool to push the ini- day’s accreditation course, after Syscap initiative. “We have Sitecom Copy Box 17 supplier’s products will be tiative to the largely untapped which they will be given the always put a lot of effort into Paragon Partition Manager 6 17 offered to practices nationwide, SME market. online tools to offer their own large enterprise customers, but I Zonealarm Security Suite 5.5 17 provided it has signed a distribu- “There is a marketing oppor- HCI scheme. don’t think the industry concen- tion deal with one of four region- tunity for resellers and distribu- Syscap is not the first compa- trates enough on SMEs,” he said. Analysis al local service providers (LSPs), tors to offer HCI to smaller ny to highlight the importance “Obviously there is not as New model confrontations 19 such as Computer Sciences firms,” said Standing. “VARs can of SMEs. Last year, Microsoft and much big revenue with SMEs, Corporation (CSC) in the North provide the installation, distribu- Evesham formed an alliance but you often become a trusted Research and analysis West and West Midlands. tors can supply the hardware and with the British Chambers of advisor, which can create other Rules and regulations 22 John Hutton, minister for the we supply the financing.” Commerce (BCC) to encourage opportunities.” Department of Health, said: “The To register for the scheme, HCI take-up among BCC mem- [email protected] Editorial National Programme for IT has VARs must complete a single bers (CRN, 26 September). C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1158347 Hurd joins HP pack 23 achieved an enormous amount in Microsoft really gets into the Groove 23 the two years it has been running – procuring and developing ad- Special report vanced information systems.” FSC rethinks VAR accreditation Entering an exciting AV era 27 Although detailed agreements We can learn from education 27 with LSPs have yet to be reached, Sara Driscoll funding programme called Sound vision 28 practices are expected to be able Tactical Growth Funds (TGF) to choose from a variety of sys- Under a revamped channel pro- where we will invest on merit. Credit and finance A second chance to credit some trust 34 tem suppliers, including EMIS gramme launched today, Fujitsu We are not cutting funding. In and iSOFT. Siemens Computers (FSC) VARs fact, we are putting more money The IT system must also be will have to be reaccredited, but into the channel and just chang- Feature Talk this way 36 able to integrate with the NPfIT’s could secure additional funding ing the mechanism.” data centre to assist with nation- through a new rebate scheme. Tony Davis, managing director Voice and data wide medical services, such as The vendor has been running at Elcom IT, said he agreed with Cisco thins out to beef up its WLAN offering 41 GP-to-GP data transfer. its two-tiered Elite programme the move. “Resellers will find that Another Avaya executive makes exit 41 Andrew Spence, applications for four years, according to Ian the funds will come back to those Big-name firms in OEM deals 41 director at CSC, said the NPfIT’s Snadden, director of channel who deserve it,” he said. new design could have indirect sales at FSC. He said all VARs “In a way, this is similar to System builder benefits for the channel. will have to get reaccredited to fit what a lot of other vendors are White-boxed out of the ring 43 “Many GPs are responsible for into one of three new levels: doing – cutting back MDF to Sales figures leave room for growth 43 their own server maintenance Approved, Authorised or Premier. focus on specific activities with and we want to ask vendors how “This is not about purging our specific VARs.” best to move that role over to a channel, it is reassessing VARs – Ian Snadden, FSC Dan May, operations director Quick Finder 46 managed service, so there will be we haven’t reaccredited anyone at VAR Ramsac, said: “It’s been a channel opportunities,” Spence since the programme began,” said “With QFF, we will agree targets while since we have seen any Out of the question said. Snadden. The vendor is looking with the VAR and give rebates MDF because times have been Richard Bradley at Computer Associates 49 “Previously the NPfIT was a to recruit about 130 additional whenever they accomplish them.” tough in the industry, so this Crossword 49 free-for-all, with any provider VARs to bring its total to 600. However, the Elite programme could be a sign of greater buoy- Editorial index 49 able to sell any part of a system to Snadden said the vendor has will also see MDF funds being ancy. If it is controlled in this any part of the NHS. Now GPs also introduced Quarterly Focus cut, Snadden admitted. “A lot of way, it will be used more legiti- Diary will be much better connected.” Funds (QFF), its first real rebate VARs have told us that MDF mately and be beneficial to both Dave 50 [email protected] scheme. “A feature of the margin funds are distributed in the vendor and reseller.” Calendar 50 Channel Comms Expo details 50 C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162121 model is rebates, and we have wrong way. So we have launched [email protected] www.crn.vnunet.com/comment/1161299 never really had these,” he said. a more targeted and specific C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160486

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com news 4 April 2005 shortcuts BMC pockets Systemax makes restatement PC builder Systemax has Fingerprint alliance OpenNetwork announced that its results for the year ended 31 December 2004 James Sherwood and restated results for the year ended 31 December 2003, and first to nail virus attacks BMC Software has continued three quarters of 2004, will now be its acquisition spree with an $18m released on or before 15 April Group develops information-sharing scheme to wipe out online threat take-over of web access manage- 2005. Initially the firm said its ment firm OpenNetwork. restated results would be released James Sherwood end-users with faster and more In the past three years, the on 30 March (CRN, 21 March). FSA members effective responses to attacks. vendor has bought Marimba, C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160856 Th e fight against cyber-crime include: A recent report from Sym- Magic and, most recently, identity received a boost last week, with antec revealed that 54 per cent of management start-up Calendra Intel shows off Truland chips 80 firms banding together to cre- Asia Netcom malicious code samples such as for $33m. It has said its latest Intel has unveiled the Truland ate the Fingerprint Sharing BT spyware, discovered in the past acquisition will help strengthen platform of Xeon chips designed Alliance (FSA) as part of a cam- Broadwing six months, were written by its foothold in the identity man- for multiprocessor servers and the paign to clean up the internet. Cisco Systems criminals to extort money and agement space. accompanying E8500 chipset. The FSA will attempt to mit- Earthlink steal identities. Gary Leibowitz, BMC vice- The technology is designed for igate internet attacks, such as Energis However, Rachel Power, an president of EMEA channel servers using four or more Xeons denial of service and worm out- Internet2 analyst at Canalys, said network alliances, claimed that about 65 with 64bit memory extensions. The breaks, by plotting its digital fin- ITC^DeltaCom attacks might not be the only per cent of BMC’s identity man- servers are not yet available for gerprints and sharing the infor- MCI problem for the FSA. agement product sales are routed combination 32/64bit processors. mation in real-time. Merit Network “Getting 80 vendors to agree through the channel. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162213 Arbor Networks will spear- NTT Communications on information sharing is a chal- “This acquisition is timely and head the group, which includes University of Pennsylvania lenge in any partnership. Rules of will enable us to play more heav- WD-40 eases backup times Cisco, BT and MCI, by providing The Planet engagement must first be created, ily in the identity management The manufacturer of WD-40 has members with an enhanced ver- Rackspace but developing a threat finger- space. This is a red-hot and claimed to have slashed the time of sion of its Peakflow SP techno- Utah Educational Networks print is in users’ interests as secu- growing sector,” he said. its full backups by a third, after logy, allowing them to instantly Verizon Dominicana rity threats are always evolving,” BMC announced recently that installing BakBone’s NetVault from share attack information across WilTel Communications she said. it was amalgamating its channel Veritas Backup Exec. The firm uses different network boundaries. XO Communications “Most channel partners will programmes into one, to be called NetVault for data backup and Rob Pollard, Arbor vice-presi- need to add value around servic- the BMC Partner Network. recovery in its San Diego HQ. dent EMEA and APAC, said: es because security updates are “The OpenNetwork channel C www.crn.vnunet.com/products/ “The FSA is looking to clean up network providers. Resellers and quickly becoming live down- wasn’t very strong before but software/1129121 the internet because attacks of system integrators can offer a raft loads. But they can still add value the BMC one is, so it can grow 15GB traversing networks, for of solutions to fit alongside and and earn margin from security and reach more markets,” Leib- Everdream has the Midas touch example, can cause serious col- help the end-user to understand in other ways.” owitz said. Automotive service firm Midas lateral damage. attacks more fully.” [email protected] He added that OpenNetwork International has outsourced its PC “We will focus on discovering It is also hoped the FSA will C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162139 developers, salespeople and con- servicing to managed services firm the source of malicious attacks on help network operators provide www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161371 sultants will be kept on board, Everdream. The firm will manage but said isolated redundancies web-based asset management, virus were not out of the question. protection, software distribution, As a direct result of the patch management and remote Kagoor leads Juniper into VoIP OpenNetwork acquisition, BMC control for 600 Midas employees. said its identity management C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/601855 James Sherwood “The impact on the channel suite now has additional func- will be minimal but positive,” he tionality to include access man- Retail bank system is Nice work The rivalry between Juniper said. “Kagoor’s product is not agement, web single sign-on and Nice Systems has collaborated with Networks and Cisco could sub- suitable for sale by lots of identity federation services. Cisco to develop the ‘bank branch side, following Juniper’s $67.5m VARs, but there is the potential Bob Worner, chief executive of of the future’. The framework is part acquisition of Kagoor Networks to extend out to more UK chan- OpenNetwork, said: “Our cus- of a shared vision to introduce IP last week and its expansion into nel partners.” tomers will benefit from this networks into banks, to shorten the Voice over IP (VoIP) carrier Kurt Lyall, an analyst at First move, as we combine the queues, reduce costs, enhance space, according to the vendor. Partner, said many carriers are strengths of our product offerings security and improve customer Kagoor manufactures session now adopting VoIP. with BMC’s identity management satisfaction. It is designed for three border control technology that “Most of the carriers are suite, and grow together.” key areas of retail banking – security, monitors and ensures the quality upgrading to IP-based networks [email protected] marketing and operations. and security of VoIP calls between and going though a natural C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160841 C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161729 different carriers and networks. It refresh of their infrastructures to www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160499 is expected to become essential Richard Brandon, Juniper take advantage of the lower costs kit as increasing numbers of tele- associated with VoIP,” he said. BMC’s acquisitions on the web coms companies route voice calls where Cisco is not heavily fo- However, Lyall said Juniper’s over IP-based networks. cused. This will now be our acquisition is unlikely to set the ● OpenNetwork in March www.crn.C.vnunet.com Richard Brandon, vice-presi- sweet spot,” he said. carrier space on fire. “An acquisi- 2005 for $18m Phishers are moving away from big dent of marketing at Juniper Juniper announced plans in tion such as this is likely to sway ● Calendra in January 2005 banking institutions and aiming at EMEA, told CRN its latest acqui- December to use the channel only a limited number of carriers for $33m smaller targets, according to the sition will help it develop a new as its primary assault weapon because they have their preferred ● Marimba in July 2004 for $240m Anti-Phishing Working Group market focus and reduce the against Cisco’s dominance of the partners and don’t like to take ● Magic Solutions in February (APWG). Read about the APWG’s product overlap with Cisco. enterprise space (CRN, 6 risks in switching,” he said. 2004 for $47m latest phishing survey by going to: “This acquisition takes us into December 2004). Brandon said [email protected] ● IT Masters in March 2003 www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162221 the telecommunications voice the move could create opportu- C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159886 for $42m networks space, which is one nities for its channel partners. www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1156709

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 news www.Ccrn.vnunet.com 5 shortcuts Hurd keeps spin-offs in mind Don’t come to Comdex Comdex, once one of the largest high-tech trade shows in the world, New HP chief executive says he will take time before considering strategic changes has been cancelled for a second year. In 2004 it was cancelled for Tom Sanders and Sara Driscoll and that HP needs to focus on revolves around improving the the first time in 25 years, despite the operations and cost cutting. profitability of the company, at efforts of its owner, MediaLive Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) new Sam Bhavnani, senior analyst which point cutting off pieces of International, to run the show in its chief executive Mark Hurd has with Current Analysis, said that HP may not necessarily be the traditional home of Las Vegas. asked for time to learn about the by putting the option of spinning best solution. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1156210 company, but has not ruled out off parts of the company on the Channel partners received the spinning off any divisions. table, Hurd has broken with past news with caution. “He will Hello Tosh, got a good charger Hurd, who was appointed last statements by HP’s board. want to make his mark, but lets Toshiba has developed a new form week, is formerly the chief exec- “When Fiorina was ousted by just hope he listens to partners of Lithium-ion battery that can utive of NCR. In his first analyst the board, they said that whoev- before he changes anything in charge up to 80 per cent capacity meeting, Hurd claimed that HP is er they brought in was going to Europe,” said Sue Richards, man- in less than a minute. The battery fortunate to be suffering mostly execute on her vision. There is aging director of HP VAR EBM. uses specially engineered particles from internal problems. not as much confidence that the “HP has made real efforts to to that store vast amounts of lithium “The great thing about inter- strategy they have in place today sort their channel out, we’re get- ions. This allows a full recharge to nal problems is that they are very is the right strategy,” he said. ting regular visits now and it real- be achieved in less than 10 minutes. easy to deal with, provided the Spin-offs have been suggested Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard ly wouldn’t help if they sudden- C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162222 leadership does its job,” he said. by analysts who think some units ly started changing things all over Hurd maintained that it is too would perform better outside HP. ware, services and possibly con- again.” End of bidding war on MCI early to talk about any changes in Gartner said it expects HP to sumer electronics. [email protected] Verizon Communications has strategy, such as spinning off the form four or five business units Hurd said that the question of » See Editorial, page 23. announced that it will acquire MCI printing or computer divisions, for PCs, printers, enterprise hard- spinning off parts of the business C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162206 for $5.3bn, made up of $4.8bn in equity and $488m in cash. The transaction will end the bidding war between Verizon and Qwest IBM’s own software Communications International for MCI, formerly WorldCom. to target spammers C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161233 Antivirus Achilles heel Sara Yirrell But Shaune Parsons, managing Symantec has published a report director of VAR Computer World about two software flaws in its IBM has taken its first steps into Wa les, said IBM should focus on antivirus product that could crash the anti-spam market by devel- its core products rather than computers. One flaw caused oping standalone software. develop standalone products. Norton AntiVirus 2004 and 2005 The product, dubbed Fair- “IBM has some superb securi- to freeze when scanning a particular UCE (Fair use of Unsolicited ty technology related to specific file type for viruses. This would Commercial Email), uses built-in hardware and products, particu- ultimately cause the system to identity management capabilities larly its ThinkVantage Technology, hang and require a reboot. at the network level. According which includes its Embedded C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162245 Get your monitor running: Trident Microsystems has won a lucrative contract to supply to IBM the software is able to Security Subsystem technology entertainment systems for in-taxi entertainment firm Cabvision see page 15 establish the legitimacy of an that is used by the CIA. email message by linking it back “But when it comes to main- to its origin. FairUCE also blocks stream security products such as condensed Oracle overpowers Oblix and eliminates spam from spam- anti-spam, there are plenty of mers that assume false identities. players out there already,” he said. Laura Hailstone may be from Oracle or from other Nick Coleman, head of securi- Clive Longbottom, service companies.” ty services at IBM, said the soft- director at Quocirca, welcomed Oracle has opened its wallet Bill Wohl, vice president of ware adds another layer to Big the product. “Lotus is a platform again and acquired identity-based product solutions public relations Blue’s security strategy. that has been neglected by IBM in security vendor Oblix. The terms at Oracle rival SAP, said: “Oracle “We’ve been developing secu- terms of anti-spam – it was a cost- of the deal were undisclosed. is putting in a lot of effort and rity solutions for years, in terms ly exercise and involved getting Oblix makes identity software expense to catch up with SAP. of hardware, software and servic- mail redirected from another that allows web access control, But will it ultimately be success- es, and this is another product we environment. However, if you including Single Sign On and ful? This is something we’ll have have brought to the market. wanted anti-spam services in a user provisioning. to consider in three to four years. “Spam accounts for 70–90 per Microsoft environment it was free “Oracle has had identity man- “Oracle is now in the process cent of all email on the network of charge,” he said. agement primarily focused on of integrating four different com- and we recognise that this is a sig- Andrew Clarke, vice-president CRN has always been first with the Oracle products,” said Thomas panies. Supporting the customers nificant cost to business,” he said. EMEA of rival security vendor news that matters in the channel and Kurian, Oracle’s senior vice pres- of all these different firms will be Coleman said IBM has adopt- CyberGuard, also welcomed will continue to stay ahead of the ident of server technologies. a big challenge,” he said. ed a ‘multi-layered approach’ to IBM’s technology. “It is excellent game by offering subscribers an exclusive preview of the stories that “We now move beyond Oracle The deal comes after Oracle’s security and intends to continue news that IBM is raising the pro- will be published in Monday’s print environments [with a solution] $670m acquisition of retail spe- with security as a focus in the file of security issues in the wider and digital edition, on a Friday. for heterogeneous, enterprise- cialist Retek, which it beat SAP future. commercial market. Its approach To stay ahead of the pack, register wide deployments for packaged to, and its £10.3bn buy-out of rival “We are working closely with of defence-in-depth is the right for the Condensed HTML applications from Oracle and out- PeopleSoft late last year. a number of partners and have approach,” he said. newsletter by clicking on side Oracle-databases, application [email protected] opened it up to the developer [email protected] C www.crnservices.co.uk servers and other systems that C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162094 community,” he said. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162018

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 6 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com news 4 April 2005 shortcuts Telindus looks to Laurel EquIP lands nCircle contract Pan-European integrator Telindus and networking vendor Laurel Networks have partnered to Vendor selects single UK distributor to increase its presence in enterprise security market develop a solution for ntl, which Sara Yirrell revenue, compared which we will expand will enable the communications Security facts with some vanilla dis- as and when the mar- group to provide an Ethernet and Vulnerability management ven- ● In 2003, digital attacks caused tributors where our ket dictates,” he said. IP VPN service to its UK business dor nCircle has appointed equIP more than $42bn in damages product is just one out Fullbrook added customers. The partners have as its sole UK distributor to boost worldwide, according to IDC. of hundreds.” that the potential mar- claimed the network will allow ntl its enterprise market share. ● More than 150,000 network Pinot-Noack said ketplace for nCircle’s to link disparate office locations of The agreement will see equIP security incidents occurred in 2003 nCircle had screened products is “huge”. all sizes over a single advanced distribute nCircle’s IP360 Vulner- alone. And according to CERT (the “a large number” of He said: “Most broadband network. ability Management System Coordination Centre at Carnegie UK distributors, but enterprises go out and C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1133746 through its network of resellers. Mellon University), that number has equIP had come “top get their networks IP360 allows large enterprises to doubled every year since 2000. of the list” because of scanned every now Averatec debuts 3300 range measure, manage and reduce net- ● Of senior technology executives its competence in and again. But this is Laptop manufacturer Averatec has work security risk. polled in a recent Price Waterhouse handling enterprise Mark Fullbrook, equIP not providing them launched its 3300 notebook series Reiner Pinot-Noack, vice-pres- study, more than 67 per cent admit customers and its with any idea of in the UK. The Thin&Light 3300 ident EMEA of nCircle, said the their organisations have experienced a broad reseller network. what’s happening to their net- series is equipped with an Intel partnership with equIP will help security breach in the past 12 months. Mark Fullbrook, product sales work on a regular basis. Many are Pentium M715 processor running it increase its business, not only manager at equIP, said the dis- looking for a product such as at 1.6GHz, a 60GB hard disk and in enterprise accounts, but also in tributor is keen to recruit more nCircle’s that allows them to do 512MB working memory. It also local branches of multinational so many vanilla distributors as nCircle partners. this. At the same time, a lot of includes integrated 54Mbit wireless organisations and the upper tier there are in other countries. This “We already have two or three resellers have a hole in their port- LAN and three USB 2.0 ports The of the mid-market. is beneficial to companies such partners, and are looking to add folio for this type of product.” vendor recently signed a distribution “The UK has a strong special- as nCircle because we will form a couple more. We are looking [email protected] deal with Ingram Micro (CRN, isation in security; there are not a significant part of equIP’s for a focused group of resellers, C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161896 28 February). C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161560 Sony pins down RSA licences Northamber broadens Asus web site puts RSA Security has announced that it has licensed its BSAFE Secure Sockets Layer and public key scope of Madge deal reseller tools online infrastructure (PKI) products to Sony Computer Entertainment. James Sherwood James Sherwood Under the terms of the deal, RSA Number of wireless hotspot What the site offers will provide a secure interactive Madge is hoping to attack the locations by country Computer components giant ● Access to up-to-date company environment for software title wireless market by extending 25,000 Asus is attempting to improve information, such as developments, developers, and for publishers its distribution agreement with communication with its resellers product information and creating games for its new Northamber to include its wire- by launching a web site to accom- promotional campaigns. PlayStation Portable (PSP) less security and management 20,000 pany its channel programme. ● Access to downloadable Asus hand-held console. products. The site, built into the vendor’s marketing materials, such as C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161409 Previously Northamber had a Advantage reseller programme, advertisements and catalogues. 15,000 deal to carry Madge’s token ring provides up-to-date information, ● FAQs to help resellers answer Devoteam joins BPM fold products, but the latest agreement downloadable marketing materi- end-user queries. Business Process Management will give the distributor access to 10,000 als, and a FAQ section to help ● The opportunity to participate in (BPM) software vendor its entire product range. resellers answer end-user queries. local promotional events. CommerceQuest has added Julian Pickens, product mar- “We realise the importance of ● Selected resellers will be listed IT consultancy group Devoteam keting manager at Madge, said the 5,000 direct communication with our in the ‘where to buy’ section. UK to its CommerceQuest partner new terms will help the vendor channel partners,” said Allen Yen, ● The opportunity to be selected programme. As part of the for the Asus Centre Advanced increase its market share and 0 UK managing director of Asus. agreement, Devoteam will add reseller programme. capitalise on the growing wireless US UK Italy “We designed our programme to ance Spain ustria Fr Japan A the CommerceQuest BPM suite LAN (WLAN) market. Germany help strengthen the professional- Switzerland to its solutions portfolio. “Northamber will be extend- JiWire ism of the successful resellers that

C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/601214 ing its relationship with us into Source: share our ambition for growth.” distribute most of the vendor’s the security and management A selected number of resellers products, including mother- Microsoft partners CapGemini wireless networking space. The manager at Northamber, said the will also be listed as recommend- boards and graphics cards. Microsoft has announced an alliance channel needs educating about market is only just beginning to ed partners. They could then be The web site will help Asus with CapGemini to drive the the topic, and Northamber will wake up to wireless networking. chosen to join its more elite grow its market through the adoption of Microsoft business play a big role in this,” he said. “End-users are starting to rea- Advanced partner programme, channel, according to John Os- applications by UK customers. The Northamber will remain Mad- lise the implications of WLANs giving them Asus Centre status. borne, general manager of the partnership will focus on Microsoft’s ge’s sole UK broadline distributor. as they grow and become more “The Asus partner pro- components division at C2000. Business Solutions CRM and Pickens added that the deal is also popular,” he said. gramme commits investment, “These are the right tools for Business Solutions Axapta products. an attempt to grow Madge’s “As the market grows and facilities and time to our part- Asus and the site will help it The firms have claimed the alliance reseller base. educates itself about wireless ners,” Yen claimed. develop its business. Resellers will allow quicker and more “We want Northamber to con- networking, it will give channel Asus created a number of will find these tools beneficial, cost-effective deployment of vert some of its resellers over to partners the ability to deliver channel agreements last year and it will help to develop the applications, allowing more wireless networks, as well as more of these solutions.” with UK broadline distributors, market,” he said. customers to benefit. bring new channel partners on [email protected] including the UK arm of Tech [email protected] C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1155191 board,” he said. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160156 Data, Computer 2000 (CRN, 20 C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161099 David Hennell, commercial www.crn.vnunet.com/news/89254 December). The deal saw C2000 www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160164

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There a good opportunity for us.” technology in the Ipswitch Security appliance vendors Iron- is hardly any technology overlap, “We are the largest Blue Coat Collaboration Suite, its messaging Port and Blue Coat have teamed but a lot of synergy between our distributor in the UK, and it’s product. It is tailored to SMEs and up to offer resellers a hardware products.” good to go back to their resellers includes secure instant messaging bundle that promises up to 10 per Peachey added that the firms with something new. At the same and server-based shared cent extra margin. share a lot of customers and time it allows us to expand our calendaring capabilities. The two firms will be work- resellers, and the bundle promo- IronPort partner base.” C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159075 ing with distributor InTechnology tion, scheduled to last until at He added: “If you look at to push the bundle into the mar- least July, makes perfect sense. To growth areas for us, web and CyberGuarding against attack ket. It will consist of IronPort’s C- qualify for the extra margin, VARs email security are very strong.” Security vendor CyberGuard series range of email appliances: must prove they have sold the Nigel Hawthorn, marketing and storage vendor Network the C60, C30 and C10, and Blue two firms’ products to the same director Europe at Blue Coat, said: Appliance have announced that Coat’s Proxy range of appliances: customer at the same time. “We have seen a lot of VARs sell- their joint Internet Access and the 400-series, 800-series and “We are aiming in particular ing both devices. We wanted to Security solution protects against 8000-series. for the mid-market; that is our make it easier for partners to the Exploit-Byte Verify attack Matt Peachey, regional director sweet spot with this bundle. recognise that IronPort and Blue – the first of its kind to actually northern Europe at IronPort, Those firms are serious about Coat are working together. cross web browsers. said: “One of the things we iden- protecting employees from threats “We found the products to be C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161566 tified early on was the common- and making sure information a fortuitous fit and it is already alities between IronPort and Blue doesn’t float out of their net- providing a good choice of part- Fortinet gets certified Coat. Both of us had appliance- works,” Peachey said. nership.” Unified Threat Management based technology, but IronPort Tim Ager, vendor sales direc- [email protected] vendor Fortinet has revealed that Matt Peachey, IronPort handles the email and SMTP side tor at InTechnology, said: “We are C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160873 its FortiGate anti-virus Firewalls and FortiOS firmware has received certification for Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 Sphinx set to distribute Sidewinder range Augmented. The firm claimed the certification assures customers in Sara Yirrell told CRN that an expanded range ment of Sphinx will help Secure distributor is working closely and out of the government sector demands a distributor. Computing drive new applica- with Secure Computing to set out that its FortiGate systems conform Security appliance vendor “Our Sidewinder G2 security tions through the channel, partic- the accreditation programme and to IT security standards sanctioned Secure Computing has made its appliance has been around for ularly around UTM. ensure that resellers are trained to by the International Standards first distribution move by signing many years, but it has mainly Mark Hatton, managing direc- the appropriate level, Hatton Organisation. an agreement with Sphinx. been aimed at the enterprise mar- tor of Sphinx, said the product said. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1158792 The deal will see Sphinx ketplace,” he said. “However, this makes both technological and He added that the distributor recruit resellers across the UK year we have extended the range commercial sense. “We didn’t will be looking for an additional Bot-infested Britain and Europe to sell Secure’s and launched new models that have an appliance level firewall in 10 to 15 resellers to join Secure The UK has the highest percentage Sidewinder G2 Unified Threat allow us to address the mid-mar- our portfolio or anything in the Computing’s existing partners. of worldwide bot-infected computers, Management (UTM) appliance. It ket and SME sectors. That is UTM space, so it made sense “Secure Computing already according to Symantec’s latest features hardware, software and what fuelled the need to get the from the technology aspect and has seven partners in the UK, but Internet Security Threat Report. The networking technologies that right distributor in place. Sphinx in terms of commercial gain,” he is looking for more to focus on UK has 25.2 per cent of all bots perform multiple security func- has the right depth and breadth explained. different sectors, including mid- (software programmes that are tions including a firewall, intru- for taking the product to market, Hatton added that the Side- market, enterprise and some ver- installed covertly on computers sion prevention and anti-virus. and it is an ideal partner for us,” winder appliance offers resellers ticals,” he said. allowing unauthorised access). Jamie Pearce, UK channel he said. a “significant” services opportu- [email protected] C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160392 manager at Secure Computing, Pearce added that the appoint- nity, both pre- and post- sale. The C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1158534

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 12 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com storage 4 April 2005 HP Works for VARs Vendor claims resellers will benefit as it updates storage offering James Sherwood development kit to make it easier for ISVs to integrate and store Hewlett-Packard (HP) has pro- application data on the appliance. mised its channel partners con- All updates are based around tinued services revenue through HP’s Information Lifecycle Man- the expansion of its Storage agement (ILM) strategy. Smith Works products division. added that the set will appeal to HP has updated its Reference users across the board. Information Manager (RIM) and “RIM and RISS are designed Reference Information Storage around ILM. There are lots of System (RISS) products, which services involved and resellers can Before: customers buying EMC products are designed to run together. use them to develop a complete Front-end application RIM is solution,” he said. designed for email archive and Abdul Terry, head of marketing After: customers buying EMC products from you now includes support for Lotus at VAR Equanet, said: “This gives Notes and Domino, while the David Smith, HP resellers the chance to engage with storage capacity of RISS has been the customer more, and opportu- doubled from 400Gb to 850Gb, been put in place, and that pres- nities will come from that. with its base price also cut by ents a good opportunity for the “The expansion of RISS’s stor- about 50 per cent. reseller,” said David Smith, HP’s age capacity will be a good door “These products have a lot of enterprise storage manager. opener, although their user num- services based around them. The HP has also signed eight new bers are decreasing.” end-user cannot deploy them un- ISVs to its RISS partner pro- [email protected] til data policies and practices have gramme and rolled out a software C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161713 shortcuts Insight gets in right Mindjet Room for storage members James Sherwood Newport added that Mindjet The Storage Networking Industry plans to unveil changes to its UK Association (SNIA) Europe now has Information virtualisation ven- partner programme in the com- over 100 organisations, consultants dor Mindjet, has expanded its UK ing weeks. Mindjet currently has and end-user members, it has channel with the addition of re- about 20 resellers and works with claimed. SNIA recently added six seller Insight. distributors ISPD and Sigma. new members, including Overland Mindjet’s flagship software The vendor also has a direct Storage, and said its European product, MindManager, enables access model whereby orders of success underlines the crucial end-users to capture, organise less than 10 units can be bought role the storage industry plays in and share unstructured informa- directly on its web site. today’s business environment. tion, such as brainstorming ideas. Simon Rutt, marketing direc- C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160868 Dustin Newport, managing tor at Insight, said: “Our alliance director of Mindjet UK, said the with Mindjet will deliver specif- Gateways to cost cutting addition of Insight will help it to ic visualisation tools that enable ONStor has published a white reach new markets. our customers to see and manage paper called ‘Ten Ways to Cut “This helps to service our need complex information and ideas.” Storage Costs with NAS Gateways.’ [email protected] Your customers see EMC advertising to give customers more avenues of in Computer Weekly and other In the report, the vendor’s vice- fulfilment, thanks to an expand- C www.crn.vnunet.com/products/software industry publications. president of marketing, Jon Toor, ing product base,” he said. /1153821 describes how NAS Gateways are EMC HELPS YOU MAKE MORE MONEY FASTER. Customers who need becoming an ideal consolidation practical storage products and solutions at economical prices are finding that solution, thanks in part to rising EMC continues to exceed their expectations. Which is why we need you to be server maintenance costs. To talStorage for HyperIP an EMC value-added reseller: to help us design and implement C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161973 James Sherwood This demonstrates to customers solutions that make the most of the market shift toward EMC’s that our solutions work with portfolio. And the award-winning EMC Velocity2 Partner Program CommVault conquers Galaxy Data transport vendor NetEx IBM,” said Robert MacIntyre, gives you advertising, training, lead generation, tech support, Unified data management vendor has bolstered its HyperIP appli- vice-president of business devel- fulfillment, and more for a distinct selling advantage. Storage CommVault has revealed that its ance by achieving TotalStorage opment at NetEx. made simple. It’s the idea behind selling more. To find out how Galaxy Backup and Recovery Proven status with IBM’s storage IBM said it introduced the to take part, visit www.emc.co.uk/velocity or call 0800 376 9144. software is qualified with the products. TotalStorage Proven programme EMC2, EMC, and where information lives are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation. Cisco Network-Accelerated The appliance provides appli- to help end-users identify which © 2005 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Serverless Backup, SCSI-2 cation acceleration for storage storage solutions are proven to Extended Copy feature. This networking applications using work well together. EMC FORUM - Return on Information qualification validates that TCP transport services. Big Blue Kevin Drew, managing director CommVault software meets the confirmed compatibility with its of VAR Triangle, said: “This will Wednesday 4th May, London test criteria for interoperability products after tests under its make a proposition appealing, but Register at www.emc.co.uk/emcforum with the Cisco standards-based TotalStorage Proven programme. being cheaper would be better Extended Copy technique. “We passed testing by validat- than TotalStorage proven status.” C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159410 ing iSCSI and NAS connectivity [email protected] and functionality with HyperIP. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162115

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¤ 0870 401 0033 0870 602 0990 0121 766 2545 0870 1660160 01344 861861 01628 677 927 01189 126084 www.computer2000.co.uk www.ccd.co.uk www.etc-dist.co.uk www.ingrammicro.co.uk www.i-change.co.uk www.metrologie.co.uk www.westcoast.co.uk TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 audiovisual www. Ccrn.vnunet.com 15 shortcuts Midwich adds more definition Fujitsu’s one-second scan Fujitsu has launched the fi-60F A6 document scanner, designed for Spotting potential demand for HDTV, distributor strikes deals with Pioneer and Samsung small documents, such as passports and driving licences. The fi-60F can Laura Hailstone HDTV has already taken off in tion (EICTA) has now intro- scan a document in gray-scale in Japan and the US. UK TV pic- duced an HD-ready label that one second, and produce colour Audiovisual (AV) distributor tures are made up of 625 lines and manufacturers can put on their images in under two seconds. Midwich is keen to exploit about 700 pixels. By contrast, equipment. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160656 the high-definition television HDTV offers up to 1,080 active Baugh’s advice to resellers is to (HDTV) market and has set the lines, with each line made up of “get a heads up and start learning Mumbling into police web cam ball rolling with two new distri- 1,920 pixels. The result is a pic- about the technology now”. BT has provided an interactive kiosk bution deals with Pioneer and ture that can be up to six times David Mercer, principal ana- for Mumbles police station in South Samsung. as sharp as standard TV, accord- lyst at Strategy Analytics, said: Wales, providing an around-the- “Pioneer’s range of home- ing to manufacturers. “HDTV doesn’t mean much to clock service. Users can speak with entertainment products are HD- Ian Baugh, product manager of consumers yet. Sky is promising an officer via a web cam, email their ready as standard. It will give Midwich’s home entertainment HDTV broadcasts from next year local force and retrieve information resellers an opportunity to capi- division, said: “The average which will help push it. By the from the force’s web site. talise on the anticipated demand member of the public won’t yet end of the year we should see C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/50729 for HDTV,” said Darren Lewitt, be aware of what HDTV is, but most HD products sporting the Midwich’s divisional director. those into their home-entertain- ECITA label.” Imago promotion taking off “Midwich will also become ment systems will be clued up. Ian Baugh, Midwich He added: “VARs need to train Imago is running a promotion in the primary distributor of Sam- “When Sky brings its box out their staff to understand HDTV conjunction with The AirMiles Travel sung’s home-entertainment prod- it will bring HD to the masses. It of HD. Many flat-panels have technology. They should also Company to offer resellers various ucts, which include plasma, LCD, wants to get set-top HD boxes in already been sold as HD but are persuade suppliers to adopt the travel savings. VARs will earn rear-pro and conventional CRT place for the 2006 World Cup. not actually able to display HD.” ECITA label on their products.” AirMiles whenever they buy specific TVs, home-cinema and audio The biggest problem is there have The European IT and con- [email protected] products from Imago. offerings.” been several different definitions sumer electronics trade associa- C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161900 C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159896 TerraTec’s Cinergy on show TerraTec Electronic said it will be Trident shows vision with passenger entertainment showcasing its new Cinergy 400 USB at the Computer Trade Show at Laura Hailstone equipment in the UK. Cabvision The in-cab screens will go live the NEC in Birmingham on 12-13 approached us and asked us to this month. MEI Digital is April. Terratec will also display its Distributor and manufacturer design a complete system for responsible for the production solutions for video-grabbing cards Trident Microsystems has won a them. Cabvision had trialled and management of the content and sound cards for laptops and £2m contract to supply 1,000 en- another system, but it didn’t meet shown on the Cabvision net- PCs. tertainment systems for in-taxi the firm’s needs. Initially it asked work. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161568 entertainment firm Cabvision. us to produce 100 units, but this MEI has also provided the spe- The in-cab TV system in- has been increased to 1,000.” cialist suite of software needed to Christie fully in the picture volves a digitally driven 12.1in Nigel West, Cabvision direc- drive the system and manage con- Audiovisual vendor Christie has LCD screen situated between two tor, said: “Trident was chosen for tent distribution. launched a total in-theatre digital fold-down seats in the rear of the Trident’s in-taxi entertainment system its ability to provide the best “There are 21,000 black cabs in content display solution, with taxi. It is powered by a custom possible solution for customers’ London. Cabvision has said it its CP2000X 2K digital cinema Low Voltage Differential Signal- the cab and runs for the duration needs. Its extensive expertise aims to get the system installed in projector and the Cine-IPM 2K, ling interface board and inverter of the journey. across a range of products, its 6,000 of them. Eventually it plans a 10-bit image processor that produced by Trident. The sys- Wa rren Kressinger-Dunn, di- commitment to service and to target black cabs in other UK converts analog or digital signals tem, which is linked into the fare rector of design at Trident, said: dedicated project management cities,” Kressinger-Dunn said. for use with Christie’s 2K Digital meter system, starts up automat- “We are the largest distributor made it the ideal partner for this [email protected] Cinema projectors. ically when the passenger enters and manufacturer of this type of project.” C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/12266

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E E D D D D E distance of 3cm from your subject. A manual E called USB on-the-go (OTG). This allows one of T T T T S S E mode provides access to white balance, E two linked devices to mimic a host PC; the other exposure and ISO speed settings. one does not need to support the technology. Unfortunately, there’s no optical zoom on Details Copy Box goes one further by allowing users to Specifications: 5megapixels • 6.5x digital zoom • 39mm focal Details the i5, which will disappoint if you’re looking length (35mm film equivalent) • auto, on, off, slow-sync, red-eye copy files between USB devices when neither Specifications: Three AAA batteries • USB1.1 & 2 • Cameras and to move beyond basic pointing and shooting. reduction flash modes • 1.5in LCD • 32MB SD card • 100g • 90.3 x supports OTG. Both have to be addressable as USB drives need their own power source • Fat16, Fat12 and Fat32 Image quality was good but many of the test 18.5 x 47mm (w x d x h) • USB • Pictbridge compliant. USB drives, however. drive formats supported. Pros: Compact; range of photo settings. shots suffered from red-eye – use the reduction The transfer rate between USB2 devices was Pros: Does the job, once you figure out how to use it. Cons: No optical zoom. option when shooting indoors. just under 6Mbps in tests. But there is no listing Cons: Misleading, barely readable instructions. Verdict: If the i5 featured an optical zoom, it would be a seriously Verdict: Basic but useful. Practice a few times before doing it for real. A USB cable connects the camera to a PC, desirable camera. screen, so users have to trust the status lights. but it’s Pictbridge compliant too, so it can connect Nor is there a Move option, which cuts the risk Originally published in Personal Computer World straight to a printer, bypassing a PC altogether. Originally published in Personal Computer World of losing files, but this also means users have to This camera is a neat machine with good delete manually to clear a source device. Performance ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Features ★★★★★ battery life, but the lack of optical zoom could Features ★★★★★Customers can only copy a subset of files if their Value for money ★★★★★ disappoint the more serious photographer. Value for money ★★★★★ source device lets them create a directory. Overall ★★★★★ Emilie Martin Overall ★★★★★ Clive Akass

Find products and check availability through all major UK distributors at the CRN virtual warehouse: www.crnservices.co.uk SOFTWARE: Paragon Partition Manager 6 SOFTWARE: Zonealarm Security Suite 5.5 A useful tool that is incredibly easy to use Key updates and spam filtering make this a serious contender

ESTED TE ESTED TE ow that hard disks are available in such D T STE t its heart is the latest edition of the D T STE TE D TE D S ★ EUR TE S ★ EUR TE E N OP S E N OP S T A E T T A E T D E A E D E A E large capacities, splitting them up into E P N D Zonealarm Pro firewall, updated with new E P N D T O T O N ★ T A ★ T S S R E R E E E S S T U E T U E T T E U E U D E D E

D D smaller, more manageable partitions makes E R network detection and program access control E R ★ ★

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has all you need to split up your disks. Windows XP Service Pack 2 Security Centre. T

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The package starts with the main screen Computer Associates’ Etrust virus scanning E showing your drive setup, and the dialogue engine provides frequent updates to ensure windows are clear with sensible defaults. Details users should never fall prey to a virus or worm. The CD itself is bootable and, should your Specifications: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP • Linux The inbuilt category-based web content Details Master Boot Record accidentally become partitions can be edited using the bootable CD • 486 processor or filtering hasn’t changed much since the previous Specifications: Windows 98SE or greater • Pentium II processor or corrupted, there’s a file manager that can be higher • 16MB Ram • 12MB hard disk space. release and all users of the computer are greater • 128MB of Ram • 50MB of hard disk space. used to copy information off an otherwise Pros: Bootable CD with file manager; easy to use. subject to the same content restrictions. Pros: Spam filtering; excellent all-round internet security. Cons: Limited wizards. Cons: Settings not linked to user accounts; price increase . inaccessible partition. Verdict: This is a useful tool for managing and maintaining hard disk Important information such as passwords and Verdict: The addition of spam filtering makes for a more rounded A Professional version of Partition Manager partitions. PIN numbers can be prevented from leaving product but there are still improvements that we’d like to see. is available, offering the bonus of working your computer without your express permission. with dynamic disks in Windows 2000 and Originally published in Personal Computer World The biggest drawback of version 5 was the Originally published in Personal Computer World later, and the option to schedule tasks such as Performance ★★★★★lack of spam blocking technology. This glaring Performance ★★★★★ defragmentation. Both versions also include an Features ★★★★★ omission has been rectified with the integration Features ★★★★★ ISO writer for creating CDs from disc images. Value for money ★★★★★of Mailfrontier’s Desktop mail filtering product. Value for money ★★★★★ Tim Smith Overall ★★★★★Andy Gibbons Overall ★★★★★

Expected business benefits of using external IT providers (%)

(Access to) specialist/expert support

Improved service levels of IT

Lower costs of IT

Predict costs more easily/control costs Public sector Private sector (Enable company to) concerntrate on core business

To spread the cost of planned IT investment

Faster implementation/usage (get IT projects going more quickly)

Free up IT staff for other projects/reduce IT staff headcount

More reliable IT

Better strategy for IT

Better management information

(Expertise in) business process re-engineering (BPR)

0102030405060 Simon Procter Benchmark research Source: Illustrator:

T suppliers have been mustering their sector procurement, introduced model cerns, while fretting behind closed doors which Intellect introduced at the end of forces for a confrontation with the terms and conditions designed to make it about how they could shoulder the addi- 2003. The Code is a different document to government that could see them lock easier to draw up contracts with suppliers tional costs associated with carrying more the proposed best practice guide to con- horns every time they negotiate a con- (CRN 25 October 2004). risk in government IT projects. tracts. The Code is a non-contractual com- tract. Ironically, the spat has come The falling-out has been primarily over Nick Kalisperas, the public sector rep- mitment by industry to ingratiate itself about after the Office of Government the allocation of risk in IT projects, much resentative at Intellect, insisted he wanted with government and prove it’s doing its ICommerce (OGC), which controls public more of which could be heaped on sup- to avoid a confrontation with government, bit to avoid further IT disasters. pliers than they think is reasonable. while sketching out a strategy for his mem- Ccondensed Intellect, the IT trade association, react- bers to do just that. No accord on Code ed by laying plans for its own model Yet Kalisperas and the suppliers he rep- It is no surprise that few suppliers both- » The OGC and suppliers are very nervous about Ts&Cs, a best practice guide to contract- resents are walking a tightrope. On the one ered to sign up to the Code because, in the new contracts the OGC has designed. ing. Suppliers would be able to use the guide hand they have to keep the government hindsight, it looked embarrassingly trac- » Suppliers believe that greater risk is put onto them, to square up to any public sector paymas- happy because it is a buyer’s market and table. The first commitment of the Code and so trade body Intellect has tried to step in. ter who comes to the negotiating table the public sector has the fattest wallet. On dreamed of a relationship “founded on » However, Intellect has been seen to compromise clutching the OGC’s dreaded model terms. the other, industry feels the government mutual trust and openness”. on many issues, and suppliers have questioned has not reciprocated its efforts to form a This ideal was sullied last autumn Intellect’s Best Practice guide. Suppliers on a tightrope more harmonious partnership. when the OGC ignored Intellect’s main » More and more support however has been The idea behind the best practice is a safe- Suppliers’ frustration at the one-sided concerns about the new model contract generated towards Intellect as insurers, ty factor for suppliers, resellers and inte- nature of their relationship with the pub- terms. After they were introduced in academics and consultants support the grators. If a public sector manager should lic sector was first provoked by what they November, John Kenyon, deputy director organisation. approach a supplier and say: “this thumb considered to be lacklustre government of contract innovation at the OGC, and the » The OGC has tried to build bridges by promising screw clause is the starting point of any support for the Code of Best Practice, man who put the contracts together, insist- to open up for small public sector contracts for contract negotiation with the govern- SME, VARs and suppliers through a web portal. ment”, an anxious supplier can demon- » Of late the OGC has made some point to change strate that best practice says otherwise. The first commitment of the Code dreamed of a the contract terms, and this may bring more However, industry’s reaction to the suppliers to sign up to it. contracts has appeared weak. Suppliers relationship “founded on mutual trust and openness”. have been tight-lipped about their con-

53% At the same time that Intellect was try- areas of disagreement and act on them ing to formulate a response to OGC’s new accordingly,” he said. model terms and their transfer of risk onto This sounds like far too reasonable a suppliers, it was reasserting its adherence view for a trade association to be express- Private sector Ye s to commitment seven of its Code of Best ing in regard to one of the most crucial No Practice: “We will consult with the disagreements it has ever had to deal with. Customer to identify risk areas... and will Yet the OGC has given ground by offering 68% be prepared to challenge the Customer’s to reconsider Intellect’s complaints about assessment of these issues if necessary (for the model contracts, albeit three months example if we are being invited to accept after their objections were disregarded. 32% responsibility for a risk that we believe The OGC has not given a reason for its

Benchmark research would be better owned by the Customer).” sudden willingness to compromise its The OGC model contracts left no room model contract terms, being unavailable to Nick Kalisperas, Intellect Source: for such a challenge. And it looked like comment. Presentations had been made to there was not a lot suppliers could do the OGC, before it introduced the terms, ed they allocated risk equally between con- tionship with “nit-picking” over terms and about it, apart from bring their own model that argued they should be watered down. tracting parties (CRN 13 December 2004). suppliers having to “play the variations terms into contract negotiations. As the They were not, but Intellect continued its At the time Kenyon said: “Intellect had of the contract game” to recover the costs OGC’s terms were intended as a starting campaign and may have scored a victory. some late concerns and we took on board they accrue from the added risk. point for negotiations, industry hoped it If the OGC does back down, Intellect some of its views.” His views are echoed repeatedly, which could argue the case of best practice to get may vindicate its kid-glove approach to He said the OGC agreed with Intellect makes a mockery of Intellect’s Code of offending terms watered down. government relations. The Code of Best on broad principles, but had not reached Best Practice compromise and raises ques- Practice, instead of looking like a heavy accord on every detail. “There are one or tions about its softly-softly approach to Excess risk compromise, will become a dignified man- two minor points where we had a slight government liaison. The trouble with a best practice guide, to ifesto for government IT. Perhaps then difference of view,” he said. In January Intellect announced that its contracting, however, is that there is also more suppliers will see the Code that way Best Practice Code had “gained teeth” thr- a trend for private sector contracts to be and sign up to it. Penalty clauses ough a broadening of the voluntary com- more onerous on suppliers. If Intellect’s C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160689 Nevertheless, debate is raging over the effi- mitments of signatories to do their best not best practice contract terms were as suc- www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160531 cacy of the government’s scheme. Ever- to mess up their public sector IT imple- cessful as its Code of Best Practice, it could yone wants to avoid further repetition of mentations. soon become established best practice for Contacts the high-profile disasters that have embar- Meanwhile, the OGC had grown real customers to pass the buck to suppliers. rassed government and industry alike. Yet teeth – contractual clauses – that would But, in Intellect’s defence, a groundswell OGC (0845) 000 4999 it is hard to find independent observers to achieve the same ends with the threat of of support has built behind its campaign. http://www.OGC.gov.uk/ back Kenyon’s claims. heavy penalties, such as those just imposed Lawyers, insurers and consultants have ex- INTELLECT (020) 7331 2000 Dr Chris Sauer, a fellow of Templeton on BT for missing implementation dead- pressed concern over the amount of risk the http://www.intellectuk.org/ College, Oxford, said the OGC’s onerous lines in its work on the National model contracts could lump on suppliers. SBS (020) 7215 5000 terms could create an “adversarial” rela- Programme for IT (NPfIT). Hiscox, Britain’s largest IT insurer, has http://www.sbs.gov.uk/ started its own quiet campaign, warning suppliers that it may not be able to pro- “There are 9.6 million contracts available each year. vide insurance under the new terms. That could be a crack in the dam, as the new con- Smaller firms are quite capable of fulfilling them.” For Green Pages go to CRN’s online directory tracts stipulate that suppliers must arrange www.crnservices.co.uk insurance cover for their government work.

A SERIES OF 5 N0 1 A SERIES OF 5 N0 2 A SERIES OF 5 N0 3 THE FAMILY THE FAMILY THE FAMILY

Mr Congestion Miss E-mail Moore Mr Hacker the father-in-law the sister-in-law the brother-in-law Your very own bandwidth bandit A vamp, a tramp, a user and abuser The over-friendly, in-your-office guy Okay, he looks like your fun-loving rich The email’s down again - any surprise? He’s jolly, he’s round, he tells bad jokes. uncle from Aussie. Yea, and his string of Meet your sister-in-law from hell. This Mr Hacker thinks he’s the fun guy from bits on the side – his dolly-birds - make un-sweet honey has got some nerve. Like afar. You know, that geek you met on good eye-candy. But this unlovable rogue sitting there, filing her talons, nattering on holiday and you sort of, kind of, let him packs a real punch around the office the phone and sending emails all at once. know where your computer was. And now network. In fact there’s nothing he likes Oh sure, she can spell cat but it’s cat for you’re back in the office he’s still intruding. more than jamming the lines. Everywhere catastrophe. Get a job in a circus girl! You Yea, and that other thing - how come he you look his larger than life persona is know, what she doesn’t understand is that knows more about you than you ever told stopping you get on with things. If he was email is a work thing and boy-friends are him? Because beneath that ruddy grin of a blocked drain, you’d call Dynorod to get a sort of out of work thing. If only she’d his that haunts your holiday memories is rid of the blockage. But who do you call got that energy for your business you’d security alert red to anything you treat to get rid of this bandwidth bandit? be playing golf in Marbella forever. But private or personal. Thing is, you just don’t Somebody’s got to tell Mr Congestion he you’re not. You’re stuck wondering why want him around but he just won’t go just isn’t funny. nothing gets done instead. away.

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A SERIES OF 5 N0 4 A SERIES OF 5 N0 5 Five Problems THE FAMILY THE FAMILY - One Solution The Mother-in-law Mr Virus Hackers, congestion, viruses, internet and e-mail The original “just discovered the Uncle Fester abuse. With all of the problems that you and your internet” predator Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no business network face today, you've probably “Hi diddly-dee, it’s a surfing life for me”. more… purchased a number of different software Oh, you can hear her coming - the mother of all Internet users! And the wife of Mr Dapper? No. Slimy? Yes. Mr Virus is the packages and appliances to protect your data. most unwanted little character this side Congestion. The fact that she’s only just Prodigy is the first Internet Security Management found out about the internet – and the fact of your keyboard insert button. If you don’t that you probably showed her the ropes - watch it, he’ll worm his way into anywhere. device to combine the fundamental elements of makes for unwanted cardio-vascular Remember you got that email about his your security policy into a single device, offering activity. She brings a new meaning to girlfriend, Melissa? That’s the work of your network a high level of security and “always on” internet. Ask yourself “how Mr Virus. This irritating sleaze bag likes does Mr Congestion get away with his bits- borrowing your files and folders too. Only, guarantees you peace of mind. on the side?” Now ask yourself “how many unlike Miss Good-body, your ever efficient bytes on the side has she had?”. But you’re secretary who returns everything to not a marriage counsellor, you’re an office its right place, he removes everything manager. You don’t want to get them permanently. He’s the ultimate pain in the together – you want to get them out! proverbial – know what I mean?!

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ER 0208 296 7005 . OPEN PSL 0871 230 4670 TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 22 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com research and analysis 4 April 2005

How important are the following drivers for ensuring good Rules and regulations governance in your organisation (%)? Protect brand name

Increased customer It’s time for resellers to look at how they can help businesses comply confidence Increase employee with corporate governance requirements, says Bob Tarzey productivity Avoiding bad publicity

Competitive advantage ou’re likely to have ware has been available for many Regulatory compliance noticed two things years and can be used to control becoming more pre- what is generated by employees, Improved IT efficiency valent in recent years. ensuring they stay focused on Protect share price First, the number of business-oriented communica- Avoiding litigation regulations being tions. Many organisations are bandiedY about by governments already doing this, although effec- Avoiding fines and industry bodies, and second, tiveness can always be improved. 0102030405060708090100 the number of IT vendors which However, filtering software is Very Important Important Medium importance Low importance Unimportant Quocirca claim that without their product, not designed to make the subtle

your customers will fall foul of decisions about which emails Source: these regulations. should be kept to protect the As a reseller, you do not want business against future threats, What percentage of person-to-person communications do you to ignore all this; there may well and human intervention is im- estimate to be done via email (%)? be a genuine opportunity to help practical because of the high vol- your customers protect them- umes. The only way to be sure is selves and make an honest euro to store all email that does not get or two at the same time. But you stopped by filters. However, you Internal don’t want your customers to ac- do not need to keep it forever. cuse you of scaremongering. Solve the email problem and Good email archiving enables A good starting point is to you start to solve the storage rules to be put in place that reflect have an idea of what it is that problem, and better enable the requirements of the regula- concerns the businesses you are good corporate governance. tors, the wishes of the business selling to. Many of the suppliers and plain common sense. For you deal with will be based in the example, by default, all email External US, and their messaging will have with some regulation, but equal- should be kept for three years, been developed over there, where ly it may be needed to solve a unless it is sent by an employee things are rather different. contractual dispute with a sup- of the legal department when it There is a genuine worry in plier, prove a disciplinary case should be kept for seven years. the US about government regula- against an employee, or protect All emails containing large attach- 0102030405060708090100 tions, such as those imposed by against libel in the media, all of ments ending in .pdf or .ppt could 90% or more 70 to 89% 50 to 69% 30 to 49% the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These which can be detrimental to a be deleted after three months. Quocirca regulations are not irrelevant in company’s brand name, customer Good archiving means rules 10 to 29% Less than 10% Don't know Europe, but for many businesses confidence, employee productivi- can be put in place and adjusted Source: they are not the highest priority. ty and other measures. through time to reflect the requir- In fact, regulatory compliance This is all well and good, but ements of new regulations and Have email communications ever been important in any of the is low down on the list for Eur- to achieve good corporate gover- changing business practices. following situations (%)? opean organisations when it comes nance it is necessary to store The danger posed by email to Cause of to good corporate governance. ever-increasing amounts of data. businesses should not be under- contractual dispute On this side of the Atlantic, While the density of storage estimated. While a weighty report managers are worried about pro- media is increasing, the capacity is likely to have undergone inten- Disciplinary action tecting their brand name, main- is being outstripped by demand. sive internal review, it’s lucky if an against an employee taining customer confidence, One type of data is growing email gets the once-over from a increasing employee productivity more than anything else: email. spell checker. HR complaint by employee and avoiding bad publicity – all This now accounts for more than There are real issue for resellers of which are equally affected by half of internal and external com- to address for their customers and To defend business in a dispute poor corporate governance. munications, and some organisa- pragmatic solutions to be found.

From an IT perspective, good tions say it represents most of the Quocirca’s Email and Corporate Cause of litigation corporate governance really comes data they store. Governance report is available free against your business down to two things: keeping doc- Solve the email problem and to CRN readers at www.quocirca. Cause of litigation uments and records of communi- you start to help solve the storage com/report _email_corpgov.htm. by your business cations that need to be kept, and problem, and better enable good 0102030405060708090100 being able to retrieve required corporate governance. Bob Tarzey is service director at Quocirca. Very important Important Medium importance information when it comes to the The first step is to decrease the Quocirca crunch. The retrieval of data might amount of email that is being wwwquocirca.com Low importance Unimportant be required to prove compliance stored. Good email filtering soft- (01753) 855 794 Source:

For the latest white papers, research reports and case studies from the industry’s most respected analysts visit www.crnservices.co.uk

“Given it [the net] was he best idea, product or programme opportunity to market Groove’s collaborative designed for the whole doesn’t always win in this business. product offerings as the next wave. And Ozzie TProducts that have access to a well- can command an audience that listens. community, it has done defined channel have a much higher like- Instead, the company thought little about well to reach millions. lihood of success than those that don’t. channels and lots about product develop- If you want to reach the Microsoft’s acquisition of Groove Net- ment. Groove never figured out that it need- whole population, you works is an example of a company that has ed to spend as much effort building a viable figured this out, buying a company that did- channel as it did developing its product. have to make sure it can n’t have a clue how to build a channel. Success-hungry startups should look at scale up.” Groove had a “field of dreams” approach Groove’s failure as an example of how impor- Brian Carpenter, new chair of to building a channel. From where I sit, it tant it is to build a strong channel. never made the effort to bring on the talent should prove to be good for its product. Once Microsoft, on the other hand, has always The Internet Engineering Task and do the hard work needed to build a sales it’s integrated into the Microsoft product set, had a laser focus on channels. It has always Force, whose next big channel. Instead, it thought its collaborative Groove’s software will be successful because put exceptionally bright executives in top challenge is overseeing IPv6, software was so good that resellers would of the access to Microsoft’s channel. channel positions. the next generation standard beat a path to its door. As a result, the com- Groove is a case study in what not to do as Groove’s product has a high likelihood of pany was getting no traction in the market a startup with a solid, evolutionary product. success thanks to Microsoft’s channel and for information transfer and and had to make a deal. Need I say it again? It was a company that had everything marketing engine. It’s the same product, of routing across the web. Great product innovation – something Groove going for it and blew it. Every startup would course but it now has a different emphasis has – doesn’t make a successful company. kill to have a founder with the rock-star sta- on what’s important to make it successful. » “We have some misgivings While it’s too bad for Groove, Ray Ozzie’s tus that Ray Ozzie has in this business. As Robert Faletra is president of the CMP channel decision to sell the company to Microsoft the creator of Lotus Notes, Ozzie had an group. about the chosen name, as ©2005 CMP we fear it may cause confusion for consumers, Editor Sara Driscoll 9513, consulting editor To by Wolpe 9132, features editor Ben Tudor 9509, deputy news but we will adopt the editor Sara Yirrell 9421, senior reporter Laura Hailstone 9516, reporter James Sherwood 9517, art editor CD Saunders 9511, production editor Anna Ball 9510. Channel sales hotline 9739. Sales manager Mark Subscriptions Commission’s name.” to subscribe to CRN visit Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s Burton 9351, client manager Alan Butler 9623, sales executives Phil Sumner 9295, Rebecca Hill 9106, Alex www.vnuservices.co.uk/crn Jeffries 9739. Production director Joanne Hurst, production manager Rachel Hutchings 9166, production ©2005 CMP denotes copyright CMP. All rights reserved top lawyer in Europe, on the controller Maria Pelton 9523. Commercial marketing manager webcasting Lisa Glover 9405, marketing Circulation (BPA audited) naming of Windows XP Home Marieke Visser 9306. Publishing director John Barnes, associate publisher Robin Booth, publishing Edition N after last year’s anti- 12,500 administrator Catrina Attard, managing director Brin Bucknor, chief executive BP Europe Ruud Bakker. Average net circulation per issue trust fine. Dial (020) 7316 followed by the extension number or 9000 for the switchboard. January-June 2004: 10,883 To tal net circulation 31 May 2004: 12,500 CRN is printed and bound by St Ives Roche Ltd. ISSN 1744-3156.

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TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 audiovisual www.Ccrn.vnunet.com 27 Entering an exciting AV era

he market for audiovisual (AV) products is an exciting one The potential for training revenue at the moment. Hardware margins in the sector may slip over Ttime, but there are plenty of other ways to add value, and new is also good: being able to operate technologies are constantly breaking through. something doesn’t necessarily mean But perhaps the most important reason for taking note of AV is that it provides a good point of entry. you can use it well. AV resellers are staking claims with interactive whiteboards, plasma screens and projectors. They may even be staking those claims in your customers’ offices, classrooms and boardrooms at has hit near commodity status, it’s likely this very moment. that another area will have become ready The likes of whiteboards and projectors are relatively easy to for exploitation. sell. AV resellers say that if you can understand how to operate or Although it is a few years down the install a PC, you can certainly get the hang of AV. It may be line, videoconferencing (VC) is likely to be the next step for AV worth taking a look at this market – not least as a foot in the and networking resellers. At present, VC is tricky to install and door for new prospects. baffling to operate. The time when any of us can set up and tear The potential for training revenue is also good: being able to down video calls from our own desks is probably a lot further operate something doesn’t necessarily mean you can use it well. away than the vendors would have you believe. But if AV doesn’t The caveat is that as this market becomes more popular, it will present an opportunity for your business today, bear in mind it also become more crowded and margins will be squeezed. may well affect your business tomorrow if you ignore it. On the plus side, though, by the time one part of the market » Ben Tudor, features editor.

O FFICIAL S P ONSOR A NDY R UMP We can learn from education udiovisual (AV) products that cover a wide range of collaborative and display solutions, are, and will continue The demand for interactive Ato be, an exciting opportunity for IT resellers. Historically in the IT market, PCs, printers and scanners became whiteboards in education continues commoditised relatively quickly. This product lifecycle meant that to be buoyant and has opened up the channel had to adapt continually to maintain profitability. Resellers have done so by expanding their portfolio of expertise opportunities for other AV products. and spectrum of products. At a time when margins in the IT market are at best flat, or at worst declining, the opportunities for resellers selling AV solutions education and industry, and creates an are significant. Both the volume growth rate and reseller margins excellent opportunity for those resellers available on AV products far exceed those of many IT products. able to ensure good quality products with AV products are weathering the margin storm. Where IT continued support. products may traditionally have been plug-and-play, AV products Success in the education market has led to opportunities in the have specific application requirements. The fact that installation, public sector and the corporate market, where these products are training and support are key factors that influence the successful now desirable and affordable. implementation of many AV solutions ensures that the high Steljes continues to invest in supporting the end-user experience product margins are supported by further business potential from in the corporate, public-sector and education markets, thereby support services. developing the market for their resellers. The company has also One area that has been hugely successful for many AV vendors, recruited experts to help maximise opportunities in these markets. including Smart Technologies, which are handled solely by Steljes Steljes’s Business Development Consultants have been talking to in the UK, is the education market. Although this success has end-users to establish a better understanding of their requirements. been supported over the last couple of years by government In turn, this has created a platform for the portfolio of products investment it was driven initially by distributors and resellers that that Steljes can offer to its resellers. Steljes uses this knowledge to understood the application and best practices for the technology help IT resellers. The value-added support includes the promoting in day-to-day use in the classroom. of solutions and giving VARs the appropriate training and support The demand for interactive whiteboards in education continues to tackle the market themselves confidently. to be buoyant, and has opened up opportunities for other AV AV is a relatively new market to the IT reseller. It is a market products and peripherals. Reports such as the Becta Review 2005 that is still growing and is margin rich. This is a marketplace (www.becta.org.uk/research), released last month, confirm there is perfectly suited to the skills of the IT reseller with the contacts evidence that specific support and advice improves the ability and skills to optimise sales. of institutions to implement ICT. This applies equally in both » Andy Rump is channel manager IT at Steljes Group.

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 28 www.Ccrn. vnunet.com audiovisual 4 April 2005 SOUND VISION

The audiovisual market is continuing to thrive. Paul Bray looks at the areas where it is showing business benefits and promising further growth.

he audiovisual (AV) market is primaries have at least some IWBs and booming, and with good reason. projectors, according to the British Today’s AV devices are cheaper, Educational Communications and Tech- better and easier to use than their nology Agency (Becta). And they work. predecessors, and the technolo- Last year’s report from Ofsted, the schools gies continue to improve. inspectorate, said; “Teachers [are] using Schools,T businesses and the public sector the power and versatility [of IWBs] to face numerous challenges – from engaging produce some excellent lessons.” and retaining pupils’ interest to improving Yet the market is far from saturated. performance and sharing expertise – which Becta says the mean number of IWBs per AV is well equipped to meet. And the school is just two for primaries and 7.5 for upgrading of network infrastructures has secondaries. DTC estimates that, of around created enough technical capability and 600,000 potential locations in schools, only spare bandwidth that these traditional bar- 160,000 (27 per cent) have yet been riers to AV are no longer a constraint. equipped, and believes primary schools The most successful market for AV at will be major buyers this year. The com- the moment is primary and secondary mon pattern, say resellers, is for schools to schools. Thanks to big government grants, buy a few units, try them out, then come sales of that classic classroom duo, projec- back for more when funds allow. tors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs), Selling AV to education is like pushing have exploded. According to research firm at an open door, according to Andy Decision Tree Consulting (DTC), the UK Duckworth, managing director of special- is the world’s largest market for IWBs, ist VAR CDEC. “Most teachers have seen with predicted sales for 2005 of nearly that this is the way the tide is flowing, and 100,000, 95 per cent of them to education. the only ‘hard sell’ required is to beat the Projector sales in 2005 will exceed 320,000, competition,” he says. said DTC, nearly half to education. But it does require experience and Almost all secondary schools and most commitment. Duckworth and several of his colleagues are former teachers. He says: Ccondensed “Most of the people here know the market very well.” CDEC used to cover » The market for AV is booming as kit becomes south-east England, but now focuses on easier to use, network bandwidth increases south-east London. “We’ve become very and customers face new challenges. focused and very local, which is vital for » Primary and secondary schools are the key providing support. If a projector goes markets for AV at the moment, although the down, we’ve got to be there within 24 education market is hardly saturated. hours,” Duckworth says. » Total education margins, estimate some industry CDEC is a preferred supplier to the players, are only 10 per cent, but education London Borough of Bromley, a big benefit authorities tend to be prompt and reliable payers. since Bromley schools can go straight to » On the other hand, IP TV margins are much CDEC without obtaining quotes from higher, at between 20 and 70 per cent for other suppliers. The VAR is also one of a some installations. score of resellers to be authorised by Becta, » Sales pitches to public-sector customers have to another big plus, Duckworth adds. be benefits-led. Competition is hotting up as the education honeypot attracts more bees. But

resellers without education experience says. The solution is a security bracket that should be prepared for a culture shock, should take an hour to remove. according to Colin Messenger, senior busi- Data projection systems (projectors and ness consultant at DTC. “Education is a IWBs) offer a major window of opportu- different kind of sale, and the budgets nity, but it may not be open for long. DTC work differently, too,” he says. Resellers predicts that, by 2007, 77 per cent of class- must convince not only the teacher who rooms will have interactive AV devices will use the AV system, but also the head, installed. Although there will be a market who holds the purse strings, and the gov- for spare parts such as projector bulbs, and ernors, who authorise the expenditure. for new sales as old and heavily-used pro- “You’re not going to make a high mar- jectors are replaced by newer, brighter gin, but at least it’s guaranteed. Schools models, the market will be much reduced. don’t go bust and education authorities Prices are falling, too, with a projector, are usually pretty prompt payers,” IWB and installation costing an average of Messenger adds. £2,000 this year, compared with £2,400 last Duckworth claims total margins, year, according to DTC. including value-add, are only around 10 Other AV technologies may help plug per cent, so resellers need to sell in vol- the gap. Touch-sensitive interactive panels ume. On the plus side, however, repeat could replace or supplement IWBs and business is abundant and CDEC spends projectors. Electronic ‘voting’ systems nothing on marketing, relying on reputa- allow teachers to set instant tests, for tion and word of mouth. example to see how much a class has Most schools buy AV as a complete remembered from the previous lesson solution, including installation, training (although Duckworth thinks voting sys- and support, which helps drag margins up tems are still a bit of a gimmick). Digital to respectable levels. Using AV kits is easy, presenters, such as an overhead projector so training focuses on maximising the edu- with a powerful magnifier, are good for cational benefit. “If you can drive a com- displaying specimens in science lessons. puter you can use AV,” says account man- “The software provided with IWBs is ager at Promethean reseller KBR, Peter also proving to be critical. Although mar- Coulthard. “The hard bit is finding and gins aren’t particularly high, it’s an impor- sharing the experience that teachers need.” tant differentiator,” says Alex Goudge, So KBR works extensively with teachers marketing manager at IWB and projector to find out what makes them tick. vendor Hitachi. “A partnership between Security offers a new opportunity for Hitachi and Cambridge University Press value-add, according to Andy Rump, will give resellers the option of offering ince Fraser

V channel manager at AV distributor Steljes. curriculum products with the boards.” “One reseller told me that projectors are

Source: being stolen to order from schools,” he Continued on page 30 »

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 30 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com audiovisual 4 April 2005 and integration are just as important in the » Continued from page 29 Seven pillars of wisdom (common mistakes) corporate and public sectors as in education, and margins are better, according to Videoconferencing (VC) is a rather dif- ● Do it properly. “I’ve seen an awful lot of bad installations,” says Andy Duckworth. Stacey Cady, director of Sica Solutions: 10 ferent sale from data projection. But pro- ● Don’t box-shift. “Sell training and services, otherwise the customer won’t be happy with the to 12 per cent on hardware, and 50 per cent ponents say the technology is becoming product and you won’t get repeat business,” says Steve Dracup. plus on services for some clients. easier to install and use, and offers more ● Specialise on a product set. “Many people take too broad an approach,” according to Andy The public sector’s use of AV is in many potential sales to universities and colleges, Rump . ways similar to that of big companies, which buy less data projection kit. Vendors ● Ensure the prospect is genuine. “You can’t sell AV on the phone, so it has to be worth the although to date sales have been small, at such as Polycom claim their new IP-based sales person’s while to attend,” says Stacey Cady. least in data projection (less than two per VC systems are easier to use and require ● Don’t compete on price. “It’s not necessarily a price-driven market,” says Peter Coulthard. cent of UK projector sales, according to less additional infrastructure than conven- ● Be committed. “If you’re not wholehearted, things will go wrong,” says Ian Vickerage. DTC). The NHS is keen on training and tional systems, while new compression ● Avoid complacency. “Be prepared to adapt as the market evolves,” says Con Mallon. distance learning. The emergency services standards such as H.264 are improving pic- and the Ministry of Defence are also show- ture quality and cutting bandwidth. ing interest, for example, in command- VC and video streaming are ideal for and-control applications using large plas- higher education institutions to share ma displays to show the location of resources and facilitate distance learning, hazards and available resources during an says Ian Vickerage, managing director of incident. This is more viable now that digital video distributor Imago. He says prices have fallen and reliability and qual- margins are higher, and it is “a more per- ity have improved, according to Rump. manent, long-term business than white- Because public money is involved, sales boards and projectors”. pitches to the public sector must show be Although IP TV is rather specialised, benefit-led. Cady says: “They won’t buy on margins are even higher, says Colin spec, so you have to look at best-value.” Farquhar, managing director of IP TV ven- High-level contacts are also important. “In dor Exterity – 20 per cent on sale and at the fire service, for example, decisions are least 50 per cent on installation for a small made at chief and deputy chief level, so project, 25 per cent and 70 per cent respec- that’s where we go in,” he adds. tively on a large installation. Even if a reseller conducts a successful As the education market becomes more trial with a public-sector body, it may have crowded, so opportunities are opening up to enter a competitive tender with other in business and the public sector. The cor- suppliers, warns Barrie Guy, retail solu- porate market has been slower to embrace tions manager at NEC Display Solutions. AV than education. But ultimately it could “Here you face the age old question of outstrip it in both equipment sales and what value you add, and you need to be services, especially as young people who prepared from day one,” Guy says. It is have experienced the benefits of AV in advice which all AV resellers should fol- education grow up and join the workforce. low, whatever sector they are targeting. “We’ve seen that the corporate market C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162106 is a real growth area, especially in IWBs,” www.crn.vnunet.com/specials/1161825 says a representative for reseller PC World Business. “There are more boardrooms Contacts than classrooms in the UK, and IWBs can save businesses considerable time and CDEC (01689) 885 380 money. We’ve seen that early adopters www.cdec.co.uk now depend on AV solutions, and become DTC (01438) 316 240 regular purchasers of AV.” www.dtc-worldwide.com According to Rump, AV allows IT EXTERITY (01383) 427 620 resellers to expand their portfolio with www.exterity.co.uk customers that are already becoming sated HITACHI (020) 7038 1030 with IT equipment. “It’s not a cold call but www.hitachisoft-uk.com a warm call. We know you’ve got this IT IMAGO (01635) 294 300 equipment, but how can you get better use www.imagomicro.co.uk from it?” Rump says. INFOCUS (00 31 20) 579 2000 Many corporate applications of AV ter sales presentations and customer com- people have never seen these products, so www.infocus.com involve training, in both professional train- munications. VC can cut travel time and you can’t sell them from a data sheet. They ITM (01494) 549 582 ing companies and companies which train costs, and improved communications can have to be demonstrated, so resellers need www.itm-group.co.uk staff in-house. Other major applications reduce product development cycles. to invest in demo equipment,” he says. KBR (0191) 492 1492 include meetings and presentations (in “It’s all about efficiency and time-sav- According to Coulthard: “If you try a www.kbr.co.uk person and remotely), conference venues, ing,” Rump says. “Organisations are really hard sell, either it won’t work or you won’t NEC (020) 7202 6300 corporate reception areas, point-of-sale, changing the way they structure and oper- get repeat business. I don’t ‘sell’ to the cus- www.nec-mitsubishi.com trading floors, and travelling sales people ate meetings.” To illustrate the possible tomer, I talk to them. Then we take some PROMETHEAN (01254) 676 921 equipped with the new breed of low-cost, savings, Rump cites a company which had equipment and demonstrate it, then leave www.prometheanworld.com/distribution high-performance portable projectors. 27 flipcharts in its boardroom. These were it with the customer for a week’s trial.” SICA (01793 )329 940 Reseller Sica Solutions uses training to on full view, and so not secure. They were Even existing kit is not always a bar to www.sicasolutions.co.uk interest companies in AV. Once they also expensive, and all of the data had to further sales. Con Mallon, regional direc- STELJES (08000) 151603 become familiar with the technology in the be copied and re-interpreted before it tor of projector vendor InFocus, says: “Our www.steljes.co.uk training room, it often cascades through- could be distributed or re-used. None of research suggests that 30 per cent of pro- out the organisation. this would apply to an AV system. jectors are over three years old. The tech- The business benefits of AV can include The main issue resellers must overcome nology has moved on so fast that we see more effective teaching, learning and train- is customers’ unfamiliarity, according to a big opportunity for replacement and ing, improved communication and sharing Steve Dracup, managing director of IWB reinstallation.” (CRN, 29 March) For Green Pages go to CRN’s online directory of ideas in meetings and briefings, and bet- and panel vendor Promethean. “A lot of Added value services such as training www.crnservices.co.uk

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Steljes Limited is the sole UK distributor for SMART Technologies. TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 32 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com audiovisual 4 April 2005

Sanyo streaking ahead Projectors market share (%)

There are plenty of players in the projector market, according to analyst Dell iSuppli, although six firms take around half the market share. Sanyo leads at Epson present, partly because of its strong presence in the education market. Many Hitachi HP players tend to sell across vertical sectors rather than being strong in just one InFocus specific market. JVC Liesegang Mitsubishi NEC Optoma Panasonic Philips Plus Sanyo Sharp SIM2 seleco Sony Toshiba Viewsonic Others

036912 15 iSuppli Source:

Product life is a roller coaster Unit shipments of projectors by quarter in 2005

Sales peaks and troughs in the AV market are the same as in many IT sectors. The peak in the first quarter is due to increased spending before the year end. 1Q 2005 The second quarter is a little slower, although iSuppli displays research director, Andrew Murray, said that consumer buying spiked during this period last year, pushed by the European football championships in Portugal. The third 2Q 2005 quarter shows a ramp up to bigger sales in the fourth quarter. The last three months of the year typically see a very high number of consumer sales due to the run up to Christmas.

3Q 2005

4Q 2005

020,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 iSuppli Number of units sold Source:

Smaller means bigger Expected sales of projectors to 2008 Projectors are becoming smaller and more personalised, said iSuppli’s

Murray. This is helping vendors break into the consumer market, with some 2004 manufacturers coming out with increasingly compact, portable projectors. According to Murray, there is plenty of growth left in most segments of the market. Although growth from 2004 to 2005 is expected to be steady, the 2005 increase in growth will accelerate up to 2008.

2006

2007

2008

0100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 iSuppli Source:

For the latest white papers, research reports and case studies from the industry’s most respected analysts visit www.crnservices.co.uk

Steljes, the sole UK SMART distributor, has introduced the Customers will take comfort from the knowledge that every SMART Steljes Reseller Accreditation Programme, product they buy comes from a reseller with thorough knowledge of designed to support qualifying SMART resellers and… all products and services, who is competent to install a single board or a complete system, and is able to advise and instruct on the latest • to safeguard and improve the end user experience; software and principles of use. • to reward reseller value adding efforts, and • to encourage reseller and customer commitment to the brand. SMART Technologies, already the leading, long established UK interactive whiteboard brand, is set to grow stronger. To find Apply now; qualifying resellers will acquire valuable benefits… out how to become a Steljes Accredited Reseller, call or visit • the credibility associated to the SMART™ Technologies brand; www.steljes.co.uk to view the Programme in detail. • access to technology and training, to keep them at the leading edge; • access to regular customer and market surveys and reports; • marketing support – collateral, leads and funding.

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TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 34 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com credit and finance 4 April 2005

A second chance to For instant credit reports www.crnservices.co.uk I2 LTD OFFSHORE LOGISTICS LTD credit some trust The subject ’s accounting reference date has The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the changed from 31/01 to 31/12. 02490533 Companies Act 1985 on 25 March. SC119575

The slate is clean, but can a failed director be trusted to HARRIER ZEUROS LTD QUANTUM TECHNICAL SERVICES LTD The subject’s accounting reference date has The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the trade on open credit terms? Eddie Pacey finds out changed from 31/12 to 10/03. 02144162 Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03416932 INTUITIVE SYSTEMS LTD hould the director of a previously sonal liabilities to the bank, settling direc- The subject’s accounting reference date has LGC NO 8 LTD failed business be given the chance to tors’ loans into the business, buying more changed from 12/12 to 30/09. 01822003 The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the Shave another go? kit on credit which won’t be paid for, reduc- Companies Act 1985 15 March. 03478250 There are those die-hards that will ing inventory to nil or moving it to a safe MINILAND TECH LTD forever say no, and an abundance of oth- house. Manipulating the sale of assets at a Public record info: a county court judgment was DUBERY BAINES TECHNOLOGY LTD ers that demand MOT checks and the silly price to ‘newco’ is the final triumph. registered on 14 March against the subject for The subject. was dissolved under section 652 of the £452. 03151404 Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03211210 introduction of schooling for failed busi- Many failed businesses fall into this cat- nessmen. It is likely that these two groups egory but thankfully, serial failures across VEKTOR LTD CYBERDYNE COMPUTER lament the introduction of the Enterprise multiple business ventures remain exclusive. Public record info: a county court judgment was SERVICES LTD Act of 2002, a law designed to It could be argued that any registered on 16 March against the subject for The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the encourage the entrepreneur- failure is the responsibility of £467. 02363761 Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03215203 ial spirit and permit lesser directors, but this is an unrea- periods in Bankruptcy. sonable stance. Loss of a major CENTERPRISE INTERNATIONAL LTD RANGE SOFTWARE LTD A better question to ask client, a bad debt, a shift in Public record info: a county court judgment was The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the is whether a failed director product portfolio, market registered on 16 March against the subject for Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03278569 should be trusted to trade on competition, declining gross £1,224. 01738519 open credit terms in their new margin and poor management MILLENNIUM COMPUTERS LTD business. can be excused, if the explana- TECHNOLOGY MADE EASY LTD The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the Business needs to be able to tion and background to failure Public record info: a county court judgment was Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03300652 trade on credit terms. Trade is plausible and understood. registered on 16 March against the subject for credit funding is probably at The key element is judging £53,431. 04209962 PROLEPSIS LTD least two and a half times as whether a director has recog- The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the large as the funding provided nised the failures and weak- COMTEC 2000 Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 03075780 by banks and financial institu- nesses of the bankrupt busi- Public record info: a county court judgment was tions. Unlike the latter two, most trade cred- ness and has taken steps to ensure a similar registered ion March 4, 2005 against the subject ADVANCED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY (UK) it is unsecured and generally interest free. situation does not arise in their new ven- for £3,674. GR272263 LIMITED There’s no better way to borrow! ture or if it does, it is acted upon and cor- The subject company’s accounting reference date KUDOS COMPUTER SUPPLIES LTD has changed from 30/09 to 30/06. 01750478 But herein lies the dilemma. If, as a rected in good time. This is by no means Public record info: a county court ludgment trade supplier, you lost a lot of money an easy assessment to make and much will wasregistered on 15 March againstthe subject for SKILLMARQUE LTD when the last business went down, you’re depend on how well you have known the £12,233. 03784405 The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the unlikely to want to open up the coffers director and their previous business. Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 02895494 again. If you feel the previous business One should not look for repentance but RED DIRECT (UK) LTD floundered too quickly, was poorly man- an understanding of failure and character. The Companies House document dated 15 March FAILSAFE COMPUTING LTD aged or deliberately ‘manipulated’ before Directors must accept that limited liability published the following public record information The subject was dissolved under section 652 of the failure, your shutters will go up and stay is not a licence to ignore fundamental busi- against the subject: the appointment of liquidator Companies Act 1985 on 15 March. 02933726 up. ‘Manipulated’ means knowing in ness principles and relationships. for voluntary winding-up. 03678391 advance the business is floundering, doing » Eddie Pacey is director of credit services at Bell Information supplied by nothing about it, reducing one’s own per- Microproducts Europe.

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esellers who attend this year’s The Reseller Forum within the Educa- combined Comms Channel tion Zone is perhaps the first place to look Expo and Technology Retail if you are keen to get an independent view Show (CTS) event at the NEC of current market developments. The pre- next week will be going to find sentations cover subjects from strategic new products and solutions, marketing to the state of today’s mobile forgeR new business relationships and pick sector, and some broader trends and busi- up on old ones. But this event, now the ness strategies as well. major UK trade show of the year, also Keith Humphreys, managing consultant presents a good opportunity to learn about at specialist networking industry research new technologies and markets, and to firm euroLAN, will be giving a presenta- keep your finger well and truly on the tion entitled ‘How to avoid the squeeze: pulse of these fast-moving segments of the balancing value and volume’. Humphreys industry. says that he will be sending out a warning CRN is running and supporting a num- to resellers. ber of events designed to help delegates “As products move through their cycles keep up to date with the latest trends and from value to volume, there is a danger developments. Two on-the-record panel that the partner gets caught in the squeeze sessions will be hosted by CRN (see box, position in the middle. In the early part of page 37), and interested resellers who are the life cycle products are high value times attending the show are welcome to come low volume, which is OK. At the com- along and put their own questions to the modity part of the life cycle products are assembled panel of experts. low value times high volume – that’s still A number of other seminars and pre- OK, but requires an altogether different sentations also form part of the three events business model. In the middle is a no man’s that will be taking place over two days. land where a lot of VARs find themselves.” Resellers wanting to stay abreast of the cur- Humphreys will provide examples of rent directions in the market would do well how resellers can make sure they do not to take in some of these talks. fall into this gap. He’ll also be looking at some of the other current pressures on Ccondensed VARs. Humphreys believes that most resellers’ business models are still too gen- » Reseller Forum will focus on changing reseller eral and that this will have to change if the models and developments in the mobile market. channel is to avoid a spate of failures. » Focus is on 64-bit, 3D graphics and mobile in the “Many are trying to be all things to all Market Information Centre. people and failing. The key is to establish » CRN special panel debates on VoIP and SME where you are as a channel player and do routes to market give you a chance to put your what you do well,” he said. questions to the experts, on the record. If you are seeking out the best poten- » The Comms Education Zone will cover the tial partners in the mobile market, then it potential for IP connectivity business, QoS could well be worth attending the presen- and voice recording. tation that Rachel Lashford, one of the bright crop of analysts from channel-spe-

Resellers Forum at 11.45 on 13 April The SME buyers dilemma – which route will they take? What route are SME buyers most likely to take in the future? Will they continue to work with the traditional reseller? Will they turn to retail, to mail order or the web, or go direct in ever-increasing numbers? We hear from some of the individuals that have vested interests. Leading figures from resellers, as well as major distributors and vendors, will be sitting on this panel.

*Anyone attending the shows will be welcome to sit in on these panel discussions and put their own questions to our panelists.

cialist research firm Canalys, will be giv- will be discussing how the quality of busi- ing at the show. ness relationships can be managed more Lashford will be looking at the mobile effectively. This will be aimed at everyone device market and the trend for more in the channel, from vendors right through mobiles to have dual functionality. She will to resellers. be giving details about who is currently Taking an even broader and long-term winning the battle for market share and perspective, Simon Orme, managing part- looking ahead to predict which vendors ner at Simon Orme and Associates, is are best placed to exploit growth in this going to be talking about the strategy of vital part of the market. Lashford will also buying your way to success – and why you look at key areas of opportunity for should be cautious if this is your chosen resellers. route. Several of the presentations in the “Acquisition can be an important part Reseller Forum this year will focus on dif- of the growth strategy, but it has to be ferent aspects of managing business, and in approached with care”, says Orme. “Due particular on sales development, marketing diligence will focus upon the financial and customer retention. aspects of the acquisition, but too often the Peter Wright, managing director of cultural elements are given less attention Wright Associates, a leading marketing than they deserve.” consultancy, will be talking about how dif- There is no question that the cultural ferent tools and methodologies can be used fit has all too often been underestimated in to give your business a competitive advan- mergers and acquisitions in the IT indus- tage. And Ian Henley, chairman of the try in recent times. Orme, who has been Contact to ContRact consultancy, will be both a buyer and a seller of businesses, will there to talk about how resellers and chan- also address the need for good manage- nel businesses of all kinds can survive in ment expertise and practice in acquisitive today’s tough markets. companies. “Once the IT industry was an incredi- For resellers who want to keep their fin- ble money making machine”, says Henley. gers on the pulse, a visit to the Market “But now it is slowly emerging from a Information Centre should be time well- traumatic recession and we can’t expect a spent. Here, Dave Everett, European prod- return to the ‘happy days’ because in the uct and platform manager at AMD, will be future there will be no free lunch.” In his presenting his views on the importance of presentation, Henley will suggest ways in 64-bit computing, and John Osbourne, which to manage change in a maturing general manager of PC components at market and address some of the practical Computer 2000, will be looking at the measures that can be taken to improve wider opportunities that are being offered business performance. by mobile computing. John Niland, managing director of “We think there are more opportunities Success 121, will be taking a more direct emerging in the mobile market – develop- approach in his presentations and talking ments in technology and connectivity are up the merits of ‘systematic referral mar- driving the buying decision where the keting’ – a way of finding new customers. combination of an attractive specification “Searching for clients is a drain on the and price will be more important than the diary and on motivation”, says Niland. name on the box,” says Osborne. “But if you could permanently escape from “We’ll be talking about how resellers the prospecting treadmill by finding better and systems builders can make the most ways to capture the attention of ideal of those opportunities and how we are go- clients, what difference would that make?” ing to help them.” In his presentation Niland will be out- Richard Huddy, head of European lining how to take a different approach to development relations at Centerprise, will

Simon Procter finding new business prospects. look at the future of 3D graphics. All three Tarek Sherazee, director of specialist » Source: channel consultancy VIA International, Continued on page 38

C » news » security » storage » audiovisual » reviews » analysis » credit and finance » research and analysis » editorial » comment » feature » voice and data » system builder » green pages » out of the question » diary TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 38 www.Ccrn.vnunet.com feature 4 April 2005 will also be a different programme on » Continued from page 37 each day and the focus will be very much “There are a lot of misconceptions within the channel on on convergence. Day one kicks off with of these presentations can be witnessed what VoIP can offer on legacy and soft-switching telephony.” Oak Telecom asking ‘Is convergence real- on both days of the show. ly happening?’ This will be followed by You will have to be there on Tuesday a look at QoS on DSL-based VPNs, pre- morning, though, to hear Simon Darby, Wednesday’s programme will see pre- Europe solutions marketing manager, Neal sented by Tiscali. Windows XP marketing manager at sentations along similar lines from names Tilley, will be arguing that by signing up Later there will be a talk by Broadband Microsoft, talk about ‘The future landscape such as Alcatel, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and with dedicated broadband telephony pro- Telephony on coping with the transition of consumer digital enjoyment’, and to Mitel, as well as VoIPStore and distributor viders, resellers could be missing a trick to VoIP, and Kay Tobin, commercial direc- hear Tom Wagland, quality assurance Westcon. In addition, Teleware Hosted and losing out on substantial revenue from tor at Tri-Line Network Telephony, will be manager at Ricoh, ask ‘Is environmental Services will be talking about the oppor- service management contracts. Alcatel is giving a presentation that is intriguingly management a waste of time?’ tunities for on-demand communications championing the use of in-house or host- entitled ‘Breaking all the rules’. On Wednesday morning in the Market and launching its reseller programme. Full ed broadband IP telephony to increase Don’t expect too many rules to be shat- Information Centre there will be a pres- details of the programmes are available on margins and give customers choice and tered – but do expect some pragmatic and entation by Stephen Blomfield, business the relevant web sites – see box below for flexibility. The vendor is also launching useful information to be imparted – on manager at reseller Enlight, on building a details. some new channel schemes at the show. Wednesday, when you can hear speakers foundation for systems integration. Another In his presentation, Alcatel’s Northern In the Comms Education Zone there from Cable & Wireless and Titan Tech- speaker will be Josef Zacharias, UK direc- nology talk about how to best exploit con- tor of firewall specialist Kerio Technologies, vergence opportunities in the Convergence who will talk about ‘no-lose’ partnerships Welcome to the Education Zone Theatre. between vendors and resellers. Easynet will be focusing in on MPLS The programmes in the Convergence The education programme is completely free for visitors and offers a unique opportunity to enhance networks and Veritape director of sales and Solutions Theatre will be very different on your time at the show. Within the zone you’ll find different sections focusing on different areas of the marketing, Cameron Ross, will present his each of the days. Among the highlights will market. For full details of the programme in each section, please visit the web sites listed at the views on the increasing potential for be Tuesday’s presentations from Swyx and bottom of this box. resellers to make sales of recording equip- from AYC Telecom, as well as a talk from ment. Finally, Stephen Alexander, vice Aastra Telecom on IP telephony. Paul Reseller Forum: This is the place to hear independent views about commercial strategies from president of strategic solutions at on-line Taylor, sales and marketing director at leading independent consultants to help you enter new markets and sell new products. comms trading marketplace Arbinet, will Swyx, says that he plans to demonstrate to Presentations include those by channel researchers euroLAN and Canalys. be talking about how you can manage sup- resellers how they can make money from pliers more effectively. selling convergence software and SIP Strategic marketing – Wright Associates Wherever you choose to spend your devices right away. Thriving and surviving in maturing IT markets – Contact to Contract time, you should find something that will “There are a lot of misconceptions How to avoid the squeeze: balancing value and volume – euroLAN help you understand where we are in the within the channel on what VoIP can offer Managing relationship quality – VIA International market today and what the future holds. on legacy and soft-switching telephony Smart mobile devices for the business market – Canalys Hopefully, along the way, you’ll also pick products, and over the impact that SIP will up a few tips on how to maximise your have on the market. We’ll be covering all Comms Solutions Theatre: Here you will be able to see presentations from major vendors on the sales in what will undoubtedly remain one these topics at the show,” he said. Aastra latest communication technologies and solutions, and how they can help your customer’s business. of the most vibrant areas of the market for will be looking specifically at “native IP” Presentations taking place here will include: many years to come. and asking whether this is indeed the way C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161904 forward. Is convergence really happening? – Oak Telecom www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161378 Generating new revenue streams from convergence – Broadband Telephony Increasing the value of your call recording sales – Veritape Contacts Managing voice suppliers – how do you perform? – Arbinet EUROLAN 01202 670170 www.eurolanresearch.co.uk Convergence Solutions Theatre: In this area the focus will be firmly on the rapidly developing CANALYS 01189 450173 market for VoIP solutions. All the presentations will be aimed at resellers and on helping you to www.canalys.com build margins in this key area of the market. Presentations taking place here will include: SUCCESS 121 0845 644 3407 www.success121.com IP Telephony: the future is now –Swyx Solutions AYC T ELECOM 01252 618100 Native-IP is the future – Aastra Telecom www.ayc-telecom.com VoIP for the SME – VoIPStore TISCALI 0808 118 5000 Delivering business communications on demand – TeleWare Hosted Services www.tiscali.co.uk

To get full details of the event programmes and a list of exhibitors visit the following sites: www.ctshow.co.uk www.technologyretailer.co.uk For Green Pages go to CRN’s online directory www.comms-channel.co.uk www.crnservices.co.uk

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www.Ccrn.vnunet.com/voiceanddata shortcuts Big-name firms Cisco thins out to beef Security guards the inGate in OEM deals Distributor Vcomm has signed an agreement to sell Swedish vendor Ben Tudor inGate’s SIParator security product. The product is designed to get Nortel and Alcatel have signed up its WLAN offering around problems with firewalls OEM agreemets with Aruba and automatically blocking all SIP traffic, Tr apeze, bitter rivals of Airespace, Acquisition of Airespace sees firm switch to thin wireless architecture as well as offering standalone following Cisco’s acquisition of security for SIP applications. the firm. Jennifer Hagendorf Follett C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160715 Aruba and Trapeze, who have Wi-Fi wireless switch market, March 2004 signed with Alcatel and Nortel Cisco has completed its acquisi- Mobile market mayhem? respectively, have competed in tion of Airespace, adding wireless Voice over IP (VoIP) may allow recent weeks to announce deals LAN (WLAN) switching to its Symbol 48% mobile virtual network operators, and programmes – the latest portfolio. VoIP service providers and fixed-line being parallel launches of licens- The acquisition, which was an- HP 2% operators to compete with mobile Extreme 7% ing deals for other Access Point nounced in January, plugs a hole operators, according to research Airespace 31% (AP) makers. in Cisco’s WLAN portfolio. The Aruba 12% carried out by consultancy Analysys. “Nortel has invested in move also means Cisco’s com- The firm has said the fact that VoIP

ynergy Research ynergy could be carried by WLAN, wireless Tr apeze. It’s a similarly structured petitors – Alcatel and Nortel S deal to the one we have with Networks – must sign new OEM broadband, Bluetooth and 3G

3Com,” said Michael Coci, Tra- and joint-development partner- Source: could allow new competitors peze’s director of product mar- ships with WLAN vendors. Both into the mobile voice market. keting and business development. vendors previously partnered become part of Cisco’s Structured the centrally managed solution C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162080 “Eighty per cent of Airespace’s with Airespace. Nortel has now Wireless-Aware Network (SWAN) offered by ‘thin’, stripped-down sales came from Nortel, as I un- plumped for Trapeze, and Alcatel portfolio, and its team joins the APs paired with WLAN switch- Vision gets Peribit of the action derstand it,” he claimed. has selected Aruba (see left). Wireless Networking Business es, Cisco said. WAN optimisation vendor Peribit Nortel will jointly develop Cisco is planning to offer a full Unit under vice-presidents Brett Cisco has been the most vocal has signed a global distribution products with Trapeze, and will WLAN portfolio to support its Galloway and David Leonard. proponent of fat wireless archi- agreement with Vision Solutions, also sell its products on an OEM existing wireless products, as well According to industry obser- tecture, but has seemingly rev- a specialist in providing high basis. as the Airespace portfolio, inte- vers, Cisco’s acquisition of Aire- ersed course with its purchase of availability for IBM eServers. Vision “A product set will be available grating Airespace’s technology space signals the end of the ‘fat Airespace, which makes WLAN will sell Peribit products directly and in May,” said Shirley O’Sullivan, with its own, according to Alex versus thin’ WLAN architecture switches and thin APs. through its resellers worldwide. security and WLAN leader for Thurber, director of security and debate. “The Cisco/Airespace deal C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159216 Nortel EMEA. wireless for worldwide channels The firm’s apparent backing of really killed that whole argu- Aruba has cemented a similar at Cisco. the WLAN switch model also ment,” said Aaron Vance, senior Email easier for execs deal with Alcatel. The French “We have more intelligent APs solidifies its position as the dom- analyst at Synergy Research Two-thirds of executives now prefer telco will develop products for [Access Points] at the low end, inant wireless architecture. Group. “Cisco was the main pro- email for business communications, the firm and resell Aruba devices where they don’t need to be man- WLAN platforms based on ponent [of fat APs] and one of over and above desk and mobile

under its Omni brand. aged, and at the high end we’ll stand-alone intelligent, or ‘fat’, the last soldiers standing.” ©2005 CMP phones, which are preferred by only [email protected] have managed offerings,” he said. access points are now relegated [email protected] 16 per cent of respondents to a C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1159226 With the completion of the ac- only to small deployments where C www.crn.vnunet.com/features/1161572 survey conducted by the Economist www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161385 quisition, Airespace’s products there are too few APs to justify www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1161729 Intelligence Unit. The survey also found that the higher a person ascends a company hierarchy, the more phone numbers they tend to have, including desk, mobile, PDA, Another Avaya executive makes exit pager and home-office numbers. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160951 Ben Tudor months. He was preceded by UK operation, Paul Louden, as a consultant at euroLAN, said that and Ireland vice-president Clive replacement for Pitt. Buddie Cer- Avaya has made a number of Mail mischief boosts spam Avaya’s UK and Ireland head Sawkins, and SMB channel sales onie, former head of 3Com’s UK changes recently. Research from Radicati Group has sales director, Enzo Viscito, has chief Richard Pitt, who left to join operations, took the reins from “Avaya didn’t break out the suggested that bad email behaviour left the firm. The vendor would Cisco and voice application spe- Sawkins as vice-president of UK, SMBS business from the rest of its is driving spam, and that end-users not comment on the news, but a cialist IDL Mettoni respectively in Eire and southern Africa, after a sales during the last financials,” need more education. The research, representative for the firm said the past five months. stint as vice-president of channel Humphreys said. “It also seems to sponsored by email security vendor that Viscito had left by mutual However, the traffic has not all sales EMEA at the vendor. Jeremy be bringing the management of Mirapoint, showed 31 per cent of agreement after a ‘grown-up’ con- been one way; the company also Keefe, a veteran of reseller Logic- the two businesses – SMBS and respondents clicked on embedded versation. A replacement has yet signed three senior executives at alis, has also joined the firm, han- ECG – closer together.” links, and more than 10 per cent had to be appointed. the start of the year (CRN, 31 Jan- dling some of its large direct [email protected] bought products advertised in spam. C Viscito is one of several staff to uary), including the creator of accounts in Europe. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160887 www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162117 leave the UK operation in recent Orange UK’s business channel Keith Humphreys, managing www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1160871

www.Ccrn.vnunet.com/systembuilder White-boxed out of the ring ADVERTISEMENT Martin Lynch according to feedback from analysts and the channel. Despite launching in 2002, Dell has axed its troubled white-box Dell’s drive to recruit partners was still efforts in the US, killing off any plans the having problems in 2003 because many felt PC giant had of entering the European sys- that Dell systems offered too little margin. tem builder market. Others in the channel did not trust Dell, The company announced recently that fearing it would try to steal their cus- it was exiting the unbranded PC market tomers. after just over two years and would cease “We have not been super-impressed selling its Pentium and Celeron-based with what we’ve seen. I’d still put it in the together we deliver offerings, the 510D and 610D, to channel experiment phase,” said Michael Dell, Dell partners. The company admitted that it chief executive, in early 2003. stopped selling the systems in January, but Many European system builders will be it has only just announced a formal end breathing a sigh of relief, as Dell is already to the programme. making life very hard for smaller players Despite the retreat, Dell maintains that with some very aggressive price cuts. its decision has been based on channel “Dell tried to take on the white box feedback and not a failure to make it work. manufacturers and it put its hands up and “This doesn’t signal any diminishment admitted it can’t do it,” said Les Billing, of the [SolutionProvider Direct] pro- managing director of Microtronica. gramme,” Dell claimed in a statement. “That says it can only compete in the “This was based on the fact that solu- Michael Dell, Dell branded world. I think it’s good news [for tion providers prefer Dell-branded prod- system builders here] that Dell has given uct. Nothing else is changing. We are in an attempt to compete with smaller up. I don’t think it was going to spend a Radeon® X850 Pro Video Card focusing on the products they are most system builders, selling unbranded Dell lot of time on the white-box sector though, • Memory: 256MB interested in, which is Dell-branded and systems through US resellers and system as it ran against its own direct strategy.” • Bus Type: PCI Express x 16 third-party products.” builders. However, the scheme has been [email protected] • Chipset: ATI Radeon® X850 Pro Dell entered the sector in August 2002 dogged by problems since the start, C www.crn.vnunet.com/features/1160399 • Max Res: 2048 x 1536 • IO Support: SVGA, S-Video, DVI-I

VIP Order Code: 2299 Sales figures leave room for growth £219.63 Martin Lynch Worldwide PC shipments and growth (units million), 2002-2006 (%) Global PC sales will be weaker this year than in 2004, and European sales are expected to tumble from 10 per cent in 13.6 Consumer 13.5 2003 2004 to low single digits in 2005. 8.8< 2004 Despite a strong fourth quarter and 8.7 2005* Radeon® X800XL Video Card healthy 2004 overall, analyst IDC is 2006* • Memory: 256MB GDDR3 blaming a cautious US market and a 11.2 * Forecast data • Bus Type: PCI Express x 16 delayed recovery in the Japanese market Commercial 15.9 10.2 • Chipset: ATI Radeon® X800XL for the revised figures. Its prediction for 8.6 • Max Res: 2048 x 1536 growth in total worldwide PC shipments • Output: S-Video (VIVO) / Dual DVI-I for 2005 has dropped from 10.1 per cent to 12 VIP Order Code: 7735 9.7 per cent. There will be 195.4 million To ta l 15 £186.71 9.7<9.7%< shipments in 2005 with the total shipment 8.6 value growing by 5.3 per cent to $209bn. The good news, according to IDC, is 051015 20 IDC

that demand will shift into later years with Source: growth forecast to remain over eight per cent until 2009. in portables and emerging markets.” Recent figures from Context, which “Despite fears of slowing growth, par- IDC said that notebooks are fuelling tracks sales through the channel in eight ticularly in the US consumer segment, the growth in western Europe, with rates of of Europe’s leading countries, found that PC market was fairly robust in the fourth more than 20 per cent predicted in 2005. sales of notebooks almost equalled desk- quarter of 2004, with strong demand in the “People are more interested now in top sales in January 2005. The analyst firm consumer and business segments,” said notebooks than they are in desktops but I claimed that if current trends continue, Loren Loverde, director of IDC’s Wo rldwide feel desktop sales [for us] will still out- notebook sales will eclipse those of desk- Quarterly PC Tracker. weigh notebooks for the next couple of tops this year (CRN, 29 March). www.vip-computers.co.uk “While growth in 2005 will be slower years,” said Marc Engall, sales manager [email protected] Sales: 08701 648 501 than in 2004, we expect continued strength EMEA at PC builder Elonex. C www.crn.vnunet.com/news/1162114 Copyright © 2005 VIP Computer Centre Ltd.

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Contact: Rebecca Hill Tel: (020) 7316 9106 Email: [email protected] Database contact: John Leonard (020) 7316 9776 Email: [email protected] TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 quick finder www.C.services.co.uk 47 Interface Solutions International Ltd N Southern Components Ltd

(0871) 230 0130 Northamber Plc (020) 8879 5990 http://www.interfacesolutions.co.uk http://www.southerncomponents.co.uk ASUS, Canon, Di-Fusion, Epson, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, (020) 8296 7000 AMD, Abit, Acer, Connect 3D, Creative, Integral, Intel, Isine, Kyocera Mita, Planex, Relisys, Repairs, Ronin, Samsung, http://www.northamber.com MSI, Sata, Seagate, Xpro, world Top Spectra Star, Sun Microsystems, Tally Genicom, Zebra 3Com, 3M, AMD, ATI, Acer, Adobe, Allied Data, Autodesk, Avaya, BTC, Borland, Brother, CNet, CTX, Certance, Computer Sphinx K Associates, Corel, D-Link, Dfi, Dynamode, Electronic Arts, Equinox, Freecom, Fuji, Fujitsu, GSEC, Genius, HP, I-data, IBM, (0870) 850 7007 KMS Components Ltd Intel, Intempo, Iomega, Kingston, Konica-Minolta, Kyocera Mita, http://www.sphinx.co.uk LG, Leadtek, Lexmark, Linksys, MGE, Macromedia, Madge, Aventail, Enterasys, Equiinet, Exinda, Gupta, Juniper Networks, (029) 20 713713 Matrox, Microsoft, Minolta QMS, Mri, Nero, Netgear, Network Multi-Tech, NetIQ, Oracle, Perle Systems, RSA, Radware, http://www.kmscomponents.com Associates, Nikon, Novell, Nvidia, OKI, Olympus, Perspective Rainfinity, Red-M, SCO, Swivel, Trend Micro Solutions, Philips, Pioneer, Roxio, SMC, SMC Networks, Sage, L Scansoft, Seagate, Sitecom, Smartdisk, Sony, SuSE, Symantec, Steljes Group Terratec, US Robotics, Veritas, Viewsonic, Watchguard, Xiod, Livingston UK Ltd ZyXEL (0800) 0151 603 http://www.steljes.co.uk (020) 8943 5151 Norwood Adam Distribution BenQ, Epson, HP, Infocus, NEC, Panasonic, SMART http://www.livingston.co.uk Technologies,Samsung,Scion,Toshiba Adaptec, EMC, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, (01342) 870170 IBM, Kyocera Mita, NCD, Network Appliance, Sun http://www.norwood-adam.com T Microsystems Airespace, Alcatel, BT, CTWare, Efficient, F5, Fortinet, Foundry, Hitachi Capital, I-Sentral (includes Nokia Checkpoint and Tekdata Distribution Ltd M Cisco Pix), Imperadata, Kooku, Peribit, Proteus CTI, Pursuit CRM, Quescom, RAD, Siemens, Strix, Symmetricom, Thomson (01782) 665500 Maintel http://www.tekdata.co.uk NV3 Active Net Steward, BOSCom, Cherry, Cherry Biometrics, (0870) 500 2244 Eicon Shiva, N2H2, Panasonic, Precise Biometrics, Siemens, broadband first http://www.maintel.co.uk (01932) 333888 SonicWALL, TEAC, Xyloc Avaya, Cisco, Ericsson, HP, Mitel, Nortel, Panasonic, Samsung, http://www.nv3.net pain free internet access Siemens, Tenovis, Toshiba Alcatel, Panasonic The Crane Telecommunications Group Ltd White Label Broadband Partners Maverick Presentation Products O (01444) 230004 http://www.cranetel.co.uk FREE Migrations! 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(01483) 227600 R http://www.wickhill.com Mitek Computer Components Ltd Allot, Barracuda, Check Point, Innominate, Netilla, Puresight, Risc Technology Radware, TEM, Vasco, Watchguard (01782) 566600 http://www.mitekcomp.co.uk (0845) 644 2564 Widget UK AOpen, AMD, ALPS, ATI, BenQ, Cooler Master, DFI, D-Link, http://www.risc-technology.co.uk Epson, FSP, Genius, Hansol, Hiper Performance, Hitachi, HP, Barracuda, Blue Coat, Cyber-Ark, ForeScout, Identrica,Netilla, 0870 755 3300 Intel, Iiyama, Liebert, Maxtor, MRI, Mirror, Microsoft, NEC, Secure Computing http://www.widget.co.uk Nicole, Nvidia, Optronix, Seagate, Sony, TDK Ambicom, Dataviz, Etymotic Headphones, Iris, PalmOne, Route Rocom 66, Tom Tom, ViaMichelin Morexplus Technologies (01937) 847777 X (0870) 0271 388 http://www.rocom.co.uk http://www.morex.co.uk XMA (Computer Products) Ltd Abit, ADSL, AMD, AOpen, ASUS, ATi, Cooler Master, S Creative, D-Link, Epson, Fujitsu, Genius, Gigabyte, Iiyama, Intel, (0115) 846 4000 Iomega, Jetway, Kingston, Leadtek, LG, Lite-On, Maxtor, Softek http://www.xma.co.uk Memory, Microsoft, Mitsumi, NEC, Norton, Pioneer, Plextor, Power DVD, PQi, Shuttle, Sony, Toshiba, Visionplus, Yusmart (01534) 811182 http://www.softek.co.uk Disclaimer: The information in Green Pages is sourced from MTV Telecom chipSign, e:scan, eTrust, Forescout, Identix, NetIQ, SonicWALL, Computing Suppliers, the comprehensive online directory of UK IT Sophos, Webroot manufacturers, suppliers and service providers, which comprises (01784) 740000 10,000 companies ranging from associations to VARs, and was accurate http://www.mtvtelecom.co.uk at the time of going to press. For more information go to Alcatel, Avaya, CTI, Calista, MTS, Oak, Panasonic, Siemens, Swan crnservices.co.uk.

Contact: Rebecca Hill Tel: (020) 7316 9106 Email: [email protected] Database contact: John Leonard (020) 7316 9776 Email: [email protected] TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! 4 April 2005 out of the question www.crnC.vnunet.com 49

Companies Airespace...... 37 Alcatel...... 41 Living on the edge Arbor Networks ...... 4 Aruba...... 41 Asus ...... 6 ATI ...... 8 Avaratec...... 6 Goan trance music fan Richard Bradley, channel sales director, UK & Ireland at Computer Avaya...... 41 Azlan ...... 1 Associates, finds golf frustrating but enjoys team building on the narrow ridges of Mont Blanc BakBone...... 4 Blue Coat ...... 11 BMC Software ...... 4 BT...... 15 Computer Reseller News: What’s the most memorable Complete this sentence: “At the Cabvision ...... 15 Describe your job. sporting occasion you have Channel Awards, I...” CDEC...... 28 seen? RB: ...was much less pi**ed than Christie...... 15 Cisco...... 4, 41 Richard Bradley: I look after all of RB: The Palio in Sienna: bare-back those around me. Clarity ...... 1 CA’s routes to market ranging from horse racing medieval-style in the CMS Peripherals...... 8 CommerceQuest...... 6 worldwide system integrators, to the town’s central square. What factors do you think gave Computer 2000...... 6 large distribution companies, you the success you have had? CyberGuard...... 5, 11 Dell...... 43 retailers, resellers and OEMs. What was the most exciting RB: Factor 18 at the start of the EBM...... 5 holiday you ever went on? holiday working down to factor eight. Eclipse Group ...... 3 ECS ...... 8 What was your first job? RB: An Apple team-building Elcom IT...... 3 RB: Working for Our Price records exercise. We climbed Mont Blanc What’s the worst web site Elonex ...... 43 on Tottenham Court Road. with expert help from Chris you have seen? equIP ...... 6 Exterity...... 28 Bonnington and local mountain RB: www.bodhranbrothers.com. I Fortinet...... 11 How much did it pay? guides. The final ascent is a narrow discovered this when I googled the Fujitsu Siemens Computers...... 3 Fujitsu ...... 15 RB: I can’t quite remember how ridge with sheer drops into either words goat and cousin. Don’t ask. Hewlett-Packard...... 5, 23 much I got paid. It was just enough to France, Italy or Switzerland. We It’s a US folk band who claim that they Hitachi ...... 28 IBM...... 5, 41 cover my rent and feed myself, but the were tied together and taught to were “abandoned as babies and Imago...... 15, 28 staff discount on music was great. I’ve just returned from jump in the opposite direction if raised by wild Irish goats, the Bodhran InFocus ...... 28 a team member were to fall. Brothers maintain their family history InGate...... 41 India where I bought InTechnology...... 11 How did you get into IT? Thankfully I never implemented the through songs, stories, and the close Intel...... 4 RB: At university I did some Goan trance music which manoeuvre. comfort brought about by beating on Intellect...... 18 Ipswitch...... 11 computer-based research into DNA I’m listening to a lot. their deceased siblings’ skins”. Eh? IronPort...... 11 sequencing on an Apple II computer. What is your favourite CD? ITM...... 28 Juniper Networks...... 4 This along with a little programming RB: David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane and Would you rather have a country KBR ...... 28 experience got me my first job at “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” Do Scissor Sisters. I’ve just returned house or a city penthouse? Laurel Networks...... 6 Madge...... 6 Apple in 1983, where I stayed happily you agree? from India where I bought Goan RB: I’ve chosen both. MEI Digital...... 15 for 13 years. RB: Definitely. I found it an incredibly trance music which I’m listening Microsoft...... 6, 23 Microtronica...... 43 frustrating experience. And the to a lot. Which is the better book: Catch Midas International ...... 4 Do you have any IT qualifications adage that a lot of business is carried 22 or Pride and Prejudice? Midwich...... 15 or any unusual qualifications? out on the golf course is utter tripe! Who has been the best James RB: Catch 22. I like the classics, but Mirapoint ...... 41 nCircle...... 6 RB: I have done some assembler Bond? Who should be the next? Dickens over the Brontes or Austen. NCR...... 5, 23 level programming courses way Which is the most dynamic and RB: Sean Connery, of course. NEC ...... 28 Network Appliance ...... 11 back when, but I have no specific inspiring vendor? And Ricky Gervais should be the Is IT well taught in schools? Nice Systems ...... 4 qualifications. RB: Apple, for design and innovation. next. RB: No. It bores the kids rigid. Nortel ...... 1, 41 Northamber...... 6 OpenNetwork ...... 4 Oracle ...... 5 Crossword Peribit...... 41 Across Down Pioneer ...... 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 Promethean ...... 28 2 Program designed for a specific function (7) 1 Make a screen less bright (3) Ramsac...... 3 7 Microsoft’s means of Web file sharing 2 Computer operators (5) 7 8 9 RSA Security ...... 6 (acr) (4) 3 Group of national standard setters (inits) (3) Sage...... 3 8 Concludes a program (4) 4 ___ slot, connection (init) (3) 10 11 12 13 Samsung...... 15 10 Resistance unit (3) 5 Frequent option prompt (3/2) Sanyo...... 32 11 Mail messages encased in angle brackets (7) 6 ___ Lovelace, Babbage’s programmer (3) SAP...... 5 SBS...... 18 13 Human/machine financial resources 7 Silicon ___, integrated circuit (4) Secure Computing...... 11 (acr) (3) 9 ___ effect, change of state caused by a sub- 14 15 16 17 18 Sica ...... 28 14 Makes a file accessible (5) routine (4) Silicon Technologies Europe ...... 3 16 ___ join, database management 12 Discrete activity within a computer 19 20 Smart Technologies...... 27 operator (5) system (11) Sony Computer Entertainment...... 6 Sphinx...... 11 19 Hires a computer system (5) 14 Not connected to a network (7) 21 22 Steljes Group...... 27, 28 21 Video performance measure (acr) (3) 15 Leading decision support tool from Symantec ...... 5 22 ASCII character 4 (abbrev) (3) Hyperion (7) 23 Syscap...... 3 23 ___ rate, speed of information 17 ___ sensor, temperature detector (7) Systemax...... 4 Tech Data ...... 6 exchange (3, 8) 18 Moves a graphic in one plane (7) 24 25 24 Compaq’s high-performance disk interface 19 Classifies (5) Telindus...... 6 TerraTec Electronic...... 15 (acr) (3) 20 Computer multi-user overseer (acr) (5) 26 Toshiba ...... 5 25 Mouse’s foot-wiper? (3) 28 Stored graphic file (4) Trapeze...... 41 26 Install a system (3, 2) 29 Colour tints (5) 27 28 29 30 31 Trident Microsystems...... 15 27 Remove from a drive (5) 30 Tries out a new system (5) Unified Networks...... 1 30 Chats on the Internet (5) 31 Make type spacing more balanced (4) Vcomm ...... 41 Verizon Communications...... 5 32 High ___, good screen quality (abbr) (3) 33 ___ Mac, error indication (3) Westcon...... 1 34 Net ___, Internet filters (7) 35 Neither...___, logic expression (3) 32 33 34 35 36 37 37 Independent variable, in short (3) 36 Type of disk-drive interface (acr) (3) 38 Computer ___, electronic fun (4) 37 UNIX system version for IBM PCs (acr) (3) 38 39 39 ___ space, one quarter of a font size (4) 40 Client-responsive computers (7) 40 For Green Pages go to CRN’s online directory www.crnservices.co.uk Crossword supplied by BEAP For solution see www.crn.vnunet.com

29 Tuesday Lucy Lawless’s birthday 17-20 April 29-30 April Tr ev has just been telling me about two blokes from Malawi who were arrested after claiming the Event: Siebel User Week Event: Symbian Exposium 03 country’s president was afraid of ghosts. He really does read the most bizarre web sites, but is always Venue: Barcelona Venue: Excel Centre, London good for a bit of gossip. Trev said the pair were arrested under a new charge of causing ridicule, for www.siebeluserweek.com/europe www.symbian.com/exposium saying the president had to move out of his mansion because it was haunted. Always wanting to act the hard man, Trev said he’d never be scared of a few ghosts, which may be true, but I bet he’d 20-21 April 28 June run a mile if he caught sight of Her Indoors first thing in the morning. Event: The Wireless LAN Event Event: PCA Golf Day

Anniversary Venue: Olympia, London Venue: Cambridge www.wlanevent.com [email protected] 30 Wednesday Celine Dion’s birthday 25-26 April A minimal attendance fee may apply. Some of my customers up north have really been taking the Mick this week. They keep placing massive Event: Gartner Outsourcing and Dates were correct at time of going to orders and then trying to name their own price to pay for the goods. I only caved in once because some IT Services Summit 2005 press and may be subject to change. bloke actually inflated the amount he had to pay, which was nice. Apparently this was because a supermarket in Yorkshire allowed people to guess their own shopping bills when a thunderstorm caused a power cut, and the management wanted to keep customers happy rather than making them wait. I don’t know about a power cut, but the next one who tries it on will just be cut off. Comms Channel Expo details For the eighth consecutive year, the NEC, Birmingham, will be hosting 31 Thursday Christopher Walken’s birthday the Comms Channel Expo and the Her Indoors always says doing the weekly food shop with Dave Jnr in tow is difficult, so Computer Trade Show (CTS) from yesterday I told her to stop moaning. After the steam had stopped coming out of her ears 12-13 April 2005. she announced it’s now up to me to get the shopping. So I’m going to a supermarket that’s Comms Channel Expo, supported CRN will host two panel debates installed DVD and CD players on trolleys to keep kids amused. I know Dave Jnr is a bit by CRN and sponsored by Oak at the show. ‘Voice over IP on the web big for the trolley, but I told him it’s either that or spend two hours locked inside a hot car Telecom and Westcon, features an – a pipe dream or the next big wave?’ with no open windows. He gave in. exhibition of about 60 suppliers. Also is scheduled for 12.45 in the Comms April supported by CRN and sponsored by Solutions Theatre on 12 April, while VIP Computer Centre and eSys ‘The SME buyer dilemma – where 1 Friday Toshiro Mifune’s birthday Distribution UK, CTS will include an can you get the best deal?’, will be exhibition of about 150 leading taking place at 11.45 on 13 April in the A Chinese internet firm has sent new sales staff out begging on the street as part of their training, suppliers. Reseller Forum. saying it will teach them to be thick-skinned and less self-conscious. I quite like the sound of this Both events play host to a free Two new events are running this and am thinking of sending Shirl out to Dagenham High Street this afternoon – she dresses like a comprehensive educational year: Office Technology Expo and the streetwalker most of the time anyway. And I won’t let her back in until she’s earned enough to buy programme, which is split between Technology Retailer Show. Visitor me a pint in the Dog & Duck. four theatres: badges will entitle delegates to • The Comms Solutions Theatre. attend all four shows. The Reseller Forum. Visit www.comms-channel.co.uk Dave now has his own weblog. Catch up on his views or send him some juicy gossip at: • • The Market Information Centre. or www.ctshow.co.uk for more http://crn.vnunet.com/davethedealer • The Convergence Solutions information or to pre-register, or call Theatre. (01635) 588 867.

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