Category: News

Fujitsu makes direct-to-channel Ju Jitsu

Posted on June 15, 2017 by - News

hqdefaultFujitsu is moving to a direct to channel move and says it is all about digital transformation.

The company claims that digital transformation will quell end users’ appetite to deal directly with big vendors.

Fujitsu’s UK product boss James Johnston has been  explaining why the vendor is shifting more business towards the channel.

He said that Fujitsu’s channel organisation is best placed to fulfil the kind of shadow IT purchases that accompany a digital transformation mindset.

Fujitsu has been making its  direct sales reps compensation scheme more channel-centric and handing over accounts from its direct team to partners.

At the same time it is moving resources from its direct to indirect teams.

The ultimate goal is to increase UK channel business from 50 to 90 percent of total sales.

Digital transformation means that more organisations are purchasing shadow IT. Business lines are investing in IT infrastructure to change their business models, he said.

The channel is better positioned to give that level of agility and to team up with software organisations.

Fujitsu’s PC business is tanking and deal with Lenovo is in the offering. But McLean seems optimistic about what is happening on his patch with more than 600 deals registered under a new distribution-led deal registration scheme launched in January, with 30 percent of those being new customers

 

Smart governments market to grow by 19.2 percent

Posted on June 15, 2017 by - News

Top-Technology-1Beancounters at Research and Markets are predicting that the smart government market size will grow from $11.73 Billion in 2017 to $ 28.24 Billion by 2022.

This is a compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.2 percent which is not to be sneezed at.

The major drivers of the market include growing data from multiple sources and increasing global demand for adoption of sophisticated and smart technologies.

Remote monitoring solutions segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to the declining cost of sensors which is boosting the deployment of smart solutions across government bodies.

The professional services segment is expected to have the largest market share during the forecast period owing to the need of technological consulting, and continuous support and maintenance activities for the deployment of smart technologies, the report said.

The cloud deployment segment is expected to grow during the forecast period owing to the increased adoption of cloud services by government agencies to achieve cost benefits, real-time access, and zero maintenance downtime.

North America is expected to witness a significant growth in the smart governments market during the forecast period due to increased penetration of smart technologies, such as big data, Internet of Things (IoT), analytics, and cloud computing. Moreover, there is an increased spending for the deployment of smart solutions across various government levels in the North American regions.

Samsung returns its IP PBX customer support back to Korea

Posted on June 14, 2017 by - News

samsung-hqIn a move designed to give better support for its UK channel, Samsung is returning its IP PBX product assistance back to Korea.

Providing support directly from the Korean HQ should make life for the firm’s UK distributors easier.

Warren Hampton, general manager of networks for Samsung UK, said that the old support model had too many steps which slowed down the high-quality support the company wanted to offer.

He said that Samsung looked at ways of streamlining its service and come up with a new initiative that delivers support direct from its Korean HQ team.

“We strongly believe this will give our UK distributors the control and autonomy needed to offer the best product support to our channel,” he added.

Recent market analysis from WinterGreen Research found that the SIP based IP PBX market was heading towards a value of $6.5 billion worldwide by 2023 and cloud based set-ups were enabling vendors to offer PBX products as part of their digital transformation sales pitch.

Chinese invest in British IP business

Posted on June 14, 2017 by - News

Beijing-cityguide-statue-xlargeChina’s Galaxy World Group  has announced a $30 million strategic investment in the British developer of intellectual property-based business, the IP Group.

The deal will be sorted out by 18 August 2017 but it will see Galaxy cooperate with the IP Group in various fields including potential co-investment in IP Group’s portfolio companies and continued exploration of further collaboration in both China and the UK.

Three other institutions are also joining this round as new investors – renowned Singaporean investment firm Temasek Holdings, British asset manager M&G and Australia’s Telstra in addition to support from IP Group’s existing shareholders.

IP Group is a listed British company that commercialises intellectual property from the world’s leading universities and research institutions.

The IP Group team has spent many years developing its approach to identifying attractive intellectual property (“IP”), nurturing and building businesses around such IP and then providing capital and support along the journey from “cradle to maturity”.

IP Group works in close cooperation with many top universities in countries including the UK, the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to IP Group’s announcement, the funds raised this time around will be used to support cooperation with elite universities around the world to commercialise outstanding intellectual property. Since its founding, IP Group has a proven track record of success with the gross internal rate of return (IRR) on its portfolio approximating 19 per cent and has created more than 2,000 new jobs.

Maodong Xu, the chairman of Galaxy Group, said: “The strategic investment into IP Group marks an important step for Galaxy to build a global entrepreneurial growth network. The cooperation with IP Group would enable us to quickly introduce cutting-edge technological projects in fields including the Internet, big data and AI from global top universities and will, in the form of co-funding, help these projects be in shape for a strong foothold in China.

In this way the world’s state-of-the-art research findings would be converted into technology products and applications so as to propel China’s industries to incorporate the Internet and smart technologies”.

Apart from its UK office, Galaxy Group has set up offices in countries including the US and Israel. The group’s global entrepreneurial growth network has already taken shape. By offering fundamental entrepreneurial services and playing the role of co-founder and industrial investor superpower, Galaxy Group’s network empowers start-ups with a highly friendly platform and helps them grow and compete in a better environment.

 

Global flow computer market to see slight growth

Posted on June 14, 2017 by - News

Forwarders-set-to-see-growthThe next five years will see the global flow computer market to grow at 5.84 percent even if the industry is suffering a bit from the move to the cloud.

For those who came in late, flow computers are used for volume, mass, and density based flow measurement according to real-time signals received by temperature transmitters, pressure transmitters, and flow meters.

With the help of these measurements, cumulative energy is calculated and used for custody transfer, proving, metering, and fiscal transfer.

According to beancounters at Research and Markets the growth is being driven by customers who need advanced and reliable flow computing.

Accurate and reliable data is the key to implement effective measures at the right time. Flow computers record the electrical signals from transmitters and flow meters, and convert them into useful volume or mass-based information that is used in custody transfer and flow measurement.

This has been pushed by companies increased integration with cloud. Technology like the industrial use of Internet of Things has changed the connectivity platform, resulting in down trend of connected devices.

However it is a matter of “the IoT taketh away but IoT giveth” as the capability of connecting real-time data from multiple devices to the end-user through the Internet is an upcoming trend. The report states that another market challenge are advanced computing devices which can do the same thing as flow computers and better.

100 Gbps is growing like crazy

Posted on June 14, 2017 by - News

network-switch-ethernetThe networking channel is finding it harder to shift 40 gbps Ethernet gear, according to beancounters at IDC.

IDC’s network tracker has revealed that 100 Gbps and software-defined kit use is increasing.

Analyst firm IDC reckons the world’s Ethernet switch market laid on 3.3 percent growth year-on-year for the first quarter of 2017, up to US$5.66 billion.

At the same time, however the world is ignoring Cisco gear it slipped by 3.7 percent year-on-year to $3.35 billion. Its Ethernet switch market share lost 3.9 percent year-on-year to 55.1 percent, with Juniper and Arista increasing their presence in the space to 4.3 percent (up from 3.2 percent in Q1 2016) and 5.1 percent (up from 3.9 percent) respectively.

Juniper also expanded its share of the service provider routing business to 15.6 percent, up year-on-year from 14.5 percent.

Huawei also took share in the router business from Cisco, growing from 18.8 percent of the market in the first quarter of 2016 to 19.8 percent in 2017.

Its slice of Ethernet switching also rose from 3.9 percent to 6.3 percent in the same period, with an aberration in Q4 2016, when big deliveries got the Chinese vendor close to 10 percent of the segment.

IDC seems to think that those who are doing well are shipping more and faster ports. Once again this is driven by the cloud and data centre markets.

The market has lost interest in 1, 10 and 40 Gbps gear which saw small slumps in sales. However 100 Gbps gear increased by 323.5 percent.

Appian gets a slice of a Swiss bank roll

Posted on June 14, 2017 by - News

CCRAB109_swiss-roll_s4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.462Appian has been selected by the Swiss Bank Vontobel, to sort out its “digital transformation strategy” across all business divisions.

Vontobel is using Appian’s low-code application platform to improve customer’s experiences and make its business methods to more efficient and agile.

Appian claims it can accelerate the development of powerful enterprise applications with virtually no coding. The platform combines process management, data management, native mobility (online and offline), collaboration, content management and other flash techniques.

The platform is being used by 1,000 of Vontobel’s 1,700 employees, across the company’s European offices, as well as in North America. Vontobel’s three main business areas – asset management, private banking and investment banking – are actively using the Appian platform.

Appian’s low-code platform will streamline Vontobel’s customer onboarding/client configuration processes, contribute to an automated risk analysis process, and manage compliance while also assessing the suitability of a product based on a specific customer investment contract/strategy. Founder and chief executive officer at Appian Matt Calkins said that Vontobel will showcasing the power of digital transformation in the banking and finance industry.

“With the Appian Platform, the company is empowering its employees to create unique enterprise applications that can improve customer experiences, streamline business processes, and increase efficiencies. Customers like Vontobel continue to validate the value our platform brings as companies transition into digital businesses.”

US outfits controls a third of European IT distribution

Posted on June 13, 2017 by - News

Beancounters at Bain and Company have discovered that US distributors Iuseurope-1024x640 control a third of IT distribution.

The study conducted on behalf of the Technology Channels Alliance (TCA), said the IT distribution was worth €69 billion 2015/2016 in the eight biggest European economies. US-based giants have a 35 percent share across these markets.

TCA chief executive Robert Norum said that the findings pour cold water on expectations given recent market consolidation and the perception that distribution is becoming a global game.

He said that 60 to 65 percent of all distribution is actually carried out by local and regional players which would concern the big three who think they have everything sewn up when the market is a lot more fragmented than most people would think.

Total European IT and CE distribution revenues across the eight markets rose two per cent to €69bn in 2015/16, with growth driven by mobility, printing, and the IT value segment, the study found.

That figure accounts for 37 percent of end-user spending of €189bn in those countries, or 42 percent when reseller margins are factored in, which would mean that over two-fifths of IT and CE revenue travels through the two-tier channel in Europe.

The percentage share of the end-user market intermediated by distributors in the UK leapt from 40 to 43 percent year-on-year last year, the research found, thanks in part to Apple’s decision to shift some sales to distribution here.

The percentage shares for Italy, Spain and Switzerland also rose, from 48 to 49 percent, 47 to 48 percent and 42 to 44 percent, respectively.

Wholesalers’ share for desktops and notebooks, for instance, rose from 57 to 59 percent and 65 to 69 percent, respectively. This was attributed partly to Lenovo, and potentially also Dell, shifting more sales to a two-tier model.

Bain said that the channels help in the new key technology drivers – cyber-security, hyperconverged infrastructure and the Internet of Things (IoT).

“Vendors need help working out how to get these products to market, and resellers need help working out how to sell them. Distribution is less of a box-shifter model and more of a value-add one.”

Distributors’ profitability, however, is on the decrease, the research found, with the average margin of a ‘traditional’ broad liner getting just one percent and the value player getting three-to-four percent.

Number of Non-EU IT professionals rising

Posted on June 13, 2017 by - News

1046922917The number of non-EU IT professionals coming to the UK to fill skills shortages has increased by more than half.

More than 36,015 non-EU IT professionals entered the UK last year, up from 23,960 in 2012.

SJD Accountancy, which obtained the data from the Home Office, warned that the UK is becoming increasingly reliant on overseas talent to bridge the skills gap, even as the country prepares to leave the EU.

This is the fifth straight year the number of work permits issued to non-EU IT professionals has risen, and represents the highest level since 2008, when 35,430 were handed out, SJD found.

The most in-demand roles include IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, web design and development specialists, according to the findings.

SJD warned that the UK will become more reliant on non-EU IT professionals unless it can boost the number of computer science and ICT apprenticeships.

Undergraduate and postgraduate computer science degree levels have fallen 14 percent to 21,250 since 2011/12 and ICT apprenticeships – although on the rise now – have also slipped 13.5 percent to 16,020 since 2011/12, the firm said.

SJD Accountancy CEO Derek Kelly said: “Despite attempts to rectify the UK’s historic underproduction of IT skills, we are more reliant on foreign talent than we were before the recession. These numbers show that the expansion of the UK tech sector is at risk if we are unable to keep up with demand for IT skills. Skill shortages can delay projects and push up costs for businesses.”

Storm boss threatened Labour-voting employees

Posted on June 13, 2017 by - News

Storm-Technologies-Watford-company-logoStorm Technologies boss John Brooker is in hot water with the press after he warned any of his staff that voted Labour that they would be made redundant first if Jeremy Corbyn won the General Election.

Brooker warned his employees in an email that job losses would be on the cards in case of a Labour victory. Post-election, one of his staff thought it was better that the world knew that was what he did.

The email said:  “If by any chance Labour win, we’ll have to re-think a few things here at the company so if you value your job and want to hold onto your hard-earned money vote Conservative. Labour voters will be made redundant first if Labour do win and things slow down.”

Brooker said that the email was “internal banter” taken out of context and in hindsight, he regretted any offence caused.

The Independent  said that the email began well enough with the hope staff had exercised their right to elect a chosen candidate or party.

But then it explicitly told them to vote Conservative if they believed in free enterprise and progression without being taxed out of the game.

“Just a heads up though, VOTE CONSERVATIVE if you believe in free enterprise and progression without being taxed out of the game.

“Theresa May is not the perfect PM but a far better option for dealing with the challenges this country faces ahead than Corbyn.

“Brexit negotations start in less than two weeks which will affect us all, Security and the ECONOMY needs a strong hand and Corbyn will be a nightmare.

“He resents those making good money, wants to hike corporation tax up by 7 per cent immediately, hike higher rate taxpayers by another five percent, bring far more people into the 40 per cent tax bracket (and there are a lot of you here at Storm) borrow billions which at some point has to be paid back and will generally send us backwards.

“If by any chance Labour win, we’ll have to re-think a few things here at the company so if you value your job and want to hold onto your hard earned money vote Conservative.

“Labour voters will be made redundant first if Labour do win and things slow down……….

“Anyway, just sharing my personal thoughts with you.

“Feel free to vote for whoever you want but I have said my piece. JB”

Storm Technologies has recently been accepted as IT suppliers of Hardware, Software and Technology Services under the new Crown Commercial Services Agreement enabling them to be a Public Services IT reseller.

Brooker insisted to The Independent: “The email was a ‘tongue in cheek’ note sent immediately after a large group of my staff and I were having a joke in the company canteen on the day of the election and was totally meant in jest.

“We have a very open culture in the office here, where people are free to express their opinions and share a joke or two. No offence was intended, nor was there any threat whatsoever levelled at staff.”

It seems that one of his staff did not see the joke.

AV market heading back to the 2000s

Posted on June 13, 2017 by - News

back-to-the-futureIn the 2000s McAfee and Symantec ruled the AV market, and now the latest figures suggest they could be back again.

Symantec and McAfee lost ground in the IT security market when they were outevolved by next-generation technology and more agile start-ups. Now the pair think they are ready to rule again.

They have a long way to climb in 2005, Symantec held the top spot with 32.2 percent of the worldwide security software market by revenue, and McAfee held 12.4 percent at No. 2, with both seeing double-digit year-over-year growth, according to Gartner. Ten years later, Symantec and McAfee still owned the top two spots in the security software, but their share of the market had dropped dramatically.

After three consecutive years of revenue decline, Symantec held 15.2 percent of the worldwide security software market in 2015, while McAfee was at 7.9 percent after a year-over-year revenue dip.

The pair carried out some major restructuring spinouts, acquisitions and senior management changes.

The security market is growing at a rapid pace, expected to hit $202.4 billion by 2021, up from $122.5 billion in 2016, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Symantec and McAfee are returning in force into the market with a platform security strategy and are targeting the core of a company’s security infrastructure.

Both claim single, integrated platform bases with their own broad set of products with those of third-party vendors. They want to drive analytics and automation, while reducing complexity.

They both have a different cunning plan as to what part of the security set-up they want to control.

McAfee is looking to drive focus on what it calls the “threat defence life cycle”, including endpoint, data centre, data protection and cloud security, as well as investments around overarching analytics and automation. The idea is to integrate with the company’s Data Exchange Layer (DXL) offering.

Symantec is looking to own more of the pieces including secure web gateways to email to data loss prevention to multifactor authentication. This will allow customers to choose a single, fully integrated platform, as well as the possibility to integrate with third-party solutions.

Software defined WAN market growing

Posted on June 13, 2017 by - News

Networking resellers are seeing a surge in sales for software defined-WANs.

Software defined networking has hit the WAN market and IDC is reporting that demand will grow over the next few years.

IDC reports a gathering momentum around SD-WAN with established vendors and a growing number of start-ups providing options.

It said that there were a growing number of service providers “jumping on the bandwagon” to take a slice of a market that it expects to grow at an average pace of 92 percent a year to hit $2.1 billion by 2021.

Jan Hein Bakkers, senior research manager at IDC said that SD-WAN had emerged as one of the hottest topics in the WAN industry.

“It will become one of the key building blocks of network evolution, driving the flexibility, manageability, scalability, and cost effectiveness that organizations require in their balancing act between rapidly growing requirements and much flatter budgets,” he added.

SD-WAN also got a mention as one of the top things to look for as a major trend from Cisco in its Visual Networking Index.

It expects SD-WAN traffic to grow at a CAGR of 44 percent increase six-fold by 2021 and represent a quarter of WAN traffic.

Internet of Fings ain’t going to be what they used to be

Posted on June 12, 2017 by - News

fings-ain-t-wot-they-used-t-be-all-star-studio-cast-recordingMarketsandMarkets analysts think that the IoT Node and Gateway Market will grow like topsy.

In its latest market research report with the punchy title “IoT Node and Gateway Market by Hardware (Processor, Connectivity IC, Sensor, Memory Device, Logic Device), by End-Use (Wearable Devices, Healthcare, Consumer Electronics, Building Automation, Industrial, Retail), and Geography – Global Forecast to 2023” MarketsandMarkets said the market will register a shipment of 17.18 Billion units by 2023.

This means that it will grow 30.9 percent between 2017 and 2023.

The market has an enormous potential of growth in various end-use applications such as retail, BFSI, and aerospace and defence, the report said.

The major factor driving the growth of the IoT node and gateway market are improved internet connectivity in technologically advanced countries and increased IP address space and better security provided by IPv6.

Emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil, the improving IT infrastructure, along with business-friendly initiatives by government organisations is driving the growth of the IoT node and gateway market.

The IoT node and gateway market for connectivity IC, by hardware, held the largest share in 2016. The increasing demand for better edge devices connectivity and significant developments in low-power connectivity technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) are the key contributing factors leading to the largest market share of connectivity ICs in 2016.

BFSI end-use application is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period.

The mass adoption of online banking, contactless payment, and mobile banking apps has increased significantly. Banks are trying to create intelligent and personalized customer cross-selling opportunities. The shipment of the BFSI end-use application in the IoT node and gateway market would largely be driven by the increasing adoption of mPOS, the report said.

In 2016, North America held the largest share of the IoT node and gateway market, in terms of volume. North America is one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of technological advancement, manufacturing operations, and infrastructure.

The wide-scale adoption of IoT technologies in several industries such as retail, automotive and transportation, and healthcare is the key factor supporting the growth of the IoT node and gateway market in this region.

UK business world not looking strong and stable

Posted on June 12, 2017 by - News

Screen shot 2012-05-24 at 7.16.48 AMThe channel is looking at a financial mess in Theresa May’s “strong and stable” UK this week.

The Office for National Statistics released inflation figures for May. This should be good news as there are signs that  inflation does not appear to be rising as highly as expected with recent PMIs pointing to falling cost pressures.

By the end of this week, we will have a much better idea. Last month, UK inflation stood at 2.7 per cent, the highest level since 2013, but it was not clear if that continued into May.

In the three months to March, UK employment grew by 122,000 on the previous three month period. Unemployment fell to just 4.6 percent, its lowest level since 1975.

But average wages without bonuses by just 2.1 percent. This means that wages will be outstripped by inflation which could hurt the UK domestic economy.

There is a possibility of an increase in UK interest rates in the next year or so seem to be diminishing now that the Conservatives did not get their majority.

Economists think UK inflation is close to peaking, the UK economy is not growing as fast as many forecasts at the end of last year, and the yield on UK government bonds has fallen, with the yield on ten-year treasuries below 1 per cent for the first time since last autumn.

British business confidence has fallen sharply since last Thursday’s inconclusive election.

The survey of nearly 700 members of the business group also exposed deep concern over the political uncertainty and its impact on Britain’s economy.

The IoD found a negative swing of 34 points in confidence in the UK economy from its last survey in May.

While 20 percent of members were optimistic about the economy over the next 12 months, some 57 percent were either quite or very pessimistic – a -37 “net confidence” score. That compares with a -3 percent score in May.

Broadridge strikes deal with Spence Johnson

Posted on June 12, 2017 by - News

1471411231Fintech outfit Broadridge Financial Solutions has announced an agreement with global institutional data and intelligence collector Spence Johnson.

The big idea is to bring together retail and institutional data, benchmarking and analytics. The joint capabilities will generate a unique global view of the global asset management market.

This strategic alliance uses Broadridge’s Global Market Intelligence and Spence Johnson’s institutional Money in Motion dataset that offers detailed analytics on institutional assets, flows and sales, tracking over $7 trillion in institutional flow.

Dan Cwenar, president of Broadridge’s data and analytics business said that: “this alliance with Spence Johnson furthers Broadridge’s commitment to helping asset managers identify growth opportunities – providing them with broad data and analytics for both retail and institutional channels globally.”

Nigel Birch, managing director, Spence Johnsons said his outfit was excited to form an alliance with Broadridge and continue our mission to put data and intelligence at the heart of successful asset management businesses.