Tag: unison

HP’s channel vision hits Catalan capital

HPWhereas it used to be that every conference & exhibition for North America had to be held in Lost Vagueness [Las Vegas], these days every European major event worth its salt has to be held in Barcelona. So this ChannelEye hack found himself in the Catalan capital listening to HP wax lyrical about the importance of the channel for its future business. And given that today sees the start of its ETSS (ExpertOne Technology & Solutions Summit) conference, there were some heavy duty HP personnel in attendance. They’re all keen to stress how the channel can not only grow HP’s own revenues but its own revenues as well in the process.

One of the key speakers at the Press event was Alessandra Brambilla, HP’s vp for EMEA Enterprise Group channels, she was keen to explain the benefits of HP Unison.

What came across very clearly from all of the presentations was HP’s firm belief that the IT landscape has changed beyound recognition.

We are now in an era of ‘SmartIT’. But no cause for panic because the four key customer demands with SmartIT are built on modules which the channel already knows throughly, namely: – Client/Server; Legacy systems; and Pcs.

Today, however, clients are asking for solutions based on mobility; social networking; cloud storage; and Big Data. But not to worry because HP is keen to share its knowledge with its channel partners.

In fact, it will achieve this objective by sharing the same kind of training it gives its own internal pre-sales workforce with employees of selected partners.

But HP promises more. Brambilla listed the key engagement points with Unison today: –

  • Partner portal
  • Ease of use and quick access to customized information
  • Faster, more competitive quotes
  • The right support to empower partners to win more deals
  • Demand generation
  • Automated and personalised co-marketing asset
  • Market development funds (MDF)

Thhis will apparently lead to an Increase in marketing ROI with a simpler, more-efficient MDF process. Ok?

One thing was blantantly obvious – behind the hype and marketing speak, HP is keen not to lose the advantage it presently enjoys thanks to a broad channel partnership programme. SmartIT or no SmartIT.

HP_barceloan

Left to right: – Matt Latter, Logicalls; Alesandra Brambilla; Andres Miramontes Miras, Taisa Syvalue

 

Unemployment rose during November 2012 to January

Jobcentre-plus-During the months of November 2012 to January 2013, unemployment rose, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has said.

In its latest repor,t the organisation said the figures shot up by 7,000 to 2.52 million, compared to the previous three months.

The North East of England fared the worst with a top unemployment rate of 9.8 percent, while the East and South East of England saw the lowest figures with 6.6 percent.

Last month the organisation found that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 1,500 to 1.54 million.

The number of unemployed women increased by 5000, while youths also suffered. Figures stood at 993000 unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds in the latest quarter, up by 48000 from the three months to October.

The ONS also revealed that average earnings for those in employment increased by 1.2 percent in the year to January.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the latest figures showed that the government had “failed every single one of these [unemployed] people and it has failed our country.”

He said instead of the bedroom tax or cutting child benefit, the government could dramatically reduce the welfare bill by getting people back to work.

“The Government should use today’s Budget to take bold action to fuel growth. Taxing banking bonuses could provide vital funds to stop the jobs carnage in the public sector and provide the jobs and growth our economy so desperately needs,” he added.