One of the legends of the IT industry, tantric guru, and the inventor of the cynical red-top tech tabloid, Mike Magee, has died at the age of 74.

Magee started his career as a printer before working for VNU Business Publications on PC Dealer and then at their IT news venture, VNU Newswire. This was where I met him; his effective method proved a handful for his editors.

His technique was simple: He would disappear for most of the day and somehow write the lead story. If needed, he could be found in one of Soho’s nearby waterholes. If you were a good editor you learnt not to interfere.

He left the Newswire and co-founded The Register, the UK’s first Internet-based IT tabloid, with John Lettice in 1994. Magee focused on computer chip reporting in the newsletter, and Lettice covered software.

“We realised the chip industry was worth about $200bn a year then, and we were down the pub one day and said, ‘Why don’t we do a newsletter because we can and this is a big, big market, and nobody else seems to be doing much about it,” Magee said.

The Register used the slogan “Biting the Hand That Feeds IT” to reflect its iconoclastic attitude, attracting a following among IT professionals and investors.

In December 2000, Magee suffered a heart attack and died on the operating table only to revive and being told that he would have to do the same operation in ten years (he didn’t). When he returned to work, he stated publicly that he disagreed with the editorial direction of The Register.

He left to found The Inquirer, which reflected the original editorial philosophy. Unlike The Register, which received a lot of investment, The Inquirer received little financing but managed to make a profit. Magee was the only full-time employee. The entire magazine was based on freelance submissions, and staff and advertising were outsourced. Many technology journalists who got their start at the INQ owe something to Mike.

In 2006, Magee met with VNU leaders over their alleged use of a web layout similar to that of The Inquirer. Later that year, Magee sold The Inquirer to VNU. He remained as editor of The Inquirer until February 2008, when he left to pursue other publishing ventures, including TechEye and ChannelEye. He joined Fudzilla as Editor-at-Large in July 2016.

In 2009 the Daily Telegraph placed Magee 35 in its list of Top 50 most influential Britons in technology.

Supermicro has introduced a plug-and-play SuperCluster tailored for the NVIDIA Omniverse platform.

This rack solution accommodates up to 256 cutting-edge NVIDIA PCIe GPUs within a scalable unit meticulously optimised for large-scale deployments. Designed to enhance performance for 3D and AI workloads, the SuperCluster streamlines the deployment of scale-out infrastructure to meet diverse workload demands.

Equipped with Supermicro NVIDIA OVX  systems, it offers enterprises a flexible, resource-optimised solution for generative AI-enhanced 3D workflows on an enterprise scale.

The primary goal is to empower high-performance, AI-driven 3D workflows at an enterprise level. By using Supermicro’s NVIDIA OVX  systems, businesses gain scalability as their workloads expand. Read more…

Start line on the highway disappearing into the distance concept for business planning, strategy and challenge or career path, opportunity and change

Reseller Bechtle reported its second-quarter 2024 results, revealing a 2.3 per cent dip in revenues to £1.4 billion.

The company attributed this decline to “adverse macroeconomic conditions.” Despite the challenging environment, Bechtle increased its business volume by one per cent, reaching £1.8 billion.

Earnings Before Tax (EBT) figures fell short of the previous year’s high benchmarks, totaling £83.8 million (compared to £93.8 million). The EBT margin also decreased from 6.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent.

Bechtle’s CEO Dr. Thomas Olemotz acknowledged the tough comparison with the strong previous year. He noted reduced demand from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the quarter, particularly in June. Read more…

Infinigate Group has today announced commendable revenue growth for the first quarter of the financial year 2024-2025, which commenced in April 2024.

The Swiss distributor recorded a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue, achieving €600 million in Q1.

The specialist in cybersecurity, cloud, and networking infrastructure experienced notable growth in Europe, with revenues in the region rising by ten per cent.

The cybersecurity division was the primary driver of this growth, with the segment soaring by 88 per cent year-on-year.

Infinigate’s networking infrastructure division saw a 12 per cent increase.

The key contributors to the cybersecurity growth were the distributor’s network security – ZTNA bolstered by SASE adoption, DSPM, EDR/MDR, and cloud security. Read more…

A few days after it announced it was buying Lacework Fortinet has snapped up data security start-up Next.

According to the company Fortinet wants to strengthen its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform.

With the integration of Next DLP, Fortinet aims to bolster its Unified SASE offering and improve its standing in the standalone enterprise data loss prevention (DLP) market.

Next DLP provides a platform designed to identify insider risks and detect data exfiltration and loss, using a software agent that minimally impacts CPU performance and worker productivity. Read more…

Turing Award laureate and AI pioneer, Yoshua Bengio, has been appointed as the scientific director of the ‘Safeguarded AI’ initiative. This project, funded by the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), aims to enhance AI safety.

Writing in its bog, ARIA said: “We’re excited to welcome Professor Yoshua Bengio as scientific director for Safeguarded AI, supporting the work led by programme director ‘davidad’ Dalrymple. Yoshua’s work on the Cautious Scientist AI research agenda, which seeks to develop efficient methods for providing high-assurance guarantees that an AI system won’t take harmful actions, aligns closely with the Safeguarded AI programme.”

The Safeguarded AI programme, set to receive £59 million in government funding over the next four years, aspires to “usher in a new era for AI safety” by establishing quantitative safety guarantees through a “gatekeeper” AI system that monitors other AI agents. Read more…

LDC has further solidified its reputation as the channel’s most prolific investor by flinging some cash at Creative ITC.

Creative ITC is renowned for its mission-critical cloud infrastructure solutions tailored to the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors.

This is LDC’s second UK channel investment this year, following its support for Scottish MSP Kick ICT in January. The midmarket private equity firm’s portfolio already includes notable IT solutions providers such as OneCom, Acora, Red Helix, and DSP.

Creative ITC, whose clientele includes industry giants like WSP, AtkinsRéalis, and Foster + Partners, experienced a 12 per cent revenue dip in 2022. This decline is attributed to a strategic pivot towards recurring, multi-year contracted revenue. The company plans to use LDC’s investment to fuel ongoing growth, penetrate new markets, and enhance product capabilities, while also exploring complementary acquisitions. Read more…

Grey box shifter Dell has embarked on a strategic reorganisation, cutting some sales positions while creating others, as it aims to streamline operations and focus on growth in the AI era.

The company says it wants to become “leaner.”

“Through a reorganisation of our go-to-market teams and an ongoing series of actions, we are becoming a leaner company. We are combining teams and prioritising where we invest across the company. We continually evolve our business, so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value and service to our customers and partners.”

The exact number of job cuts remains undisclosed. Last year, Dell reduced its workforce by 13,000 in two rounds of layoffs, bringing the total headcount down from 133,000 to approximately 120,000. Read more…

Infosys expanded its AI-focused partnership with ServiceNow to offer new end-to-end managed services for enterprises.

These services will use  the AI capabilities of ServiceNow’s Now Platform and Infosys’ Enterprise Service Management Café (ESM Café) to support business transformations.

Infosys wants to speed up ServiceNow implementations for organisations, including First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), by “almost 30 to 40 per cent” for quicker time-to-value.

Enterprises will gain access to a suite of solutions, including licenses, services, and the implementation of Infosys’ ESM Café AI-powered plug-and-play offering. Read more…

Fortinet has announced the completion of its acquisition of cloud security pioneer Lacework, a move set to significantly bolster its cybersecurity platform.

Forrester analysts estimate the acquisition to be valued between $200 million and $230 million, a fraction of the $1.8 billion in funding Lacework has raised since its inception in 2015. Once a top-valued cybersecurity unicorn, Lacework was valued at $8.3 billion in 2021.

Lacework, the third company to emerge from Sutter Hill Ventures, had faced challenges, including a 20 per cent staff reduction in May 2022, just months after a $1.3 billion funding round. At its peak, Lacework employed over 1,000 people. Read more…

Beancounters at Gartner group have delivered a thumbs down to GenAI saying that nearly one in three GenAI projects will be abandoned.

These findings were shared at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney. The research also revealed that for businesses that successfully implement GenAI projects, the return on investment (ROI) is significant: successful AI projects increase revenue by 15.8 per cent, save 15.2 per cent in costs, and boost productivity by 22.6 per cent. Read more…

IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has expanded its partnership with Vodafone Business to enhance security and resilience services for Vodafone’s financial sector customers.

Vodafone GmbH offers a range of services including mobile and fixed-line connectivity, broadband internet, and digital television, serving over 31 million customers across Germany.

This new Kyndryl collaboration is the latest development in their ongoing partnership. Kyndryl will introduce new security measures to help Vodafone customers meet regulatory compliance requirements.

The new services will include endpoint protection for servers, workstations, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), as well as vulnerability services, proxy management, and web internet protection. Read more…

Storm Technologies has laid off at least 25 employees in July, with up to 70 staff members considered for redundancy.

Former employees claim that the layoffs were driven by the company’s precarious financial situation.

Several individuals have been critical of the way the company has handled the redundancies saying that they had been given poor information

In one case an email was sent out saying that due to the number of people involved, there would be a group consultation, and we needed to think about nominating representatives.

A document was attached, explaining the process and responsibilities of an employee representative, and how to nominate one. However, the date in the email was wrong. Read more…