Author: Andrea Petrou

SME supply chain initiative welcomed by disties

Posted on April 25, 2013 by - News

Hands across the waterDisties have cautiously welcomed plans for big retailers to allow SMEs into their supply chains.

The plans, which are being spear-headed by Business In The Community (BITC), wants companies across the UK to commit to making their contracting processes and procedures more amenable to smaller companies.

According to the charity, 99 percent of businesses are SMEs.  It said that since 2008, nine out of ten unemployed people who have found work in the private sector have been employed by SMEs, pointing out that in the current economic climate, successful partnerships between large and small businesses have never been more important.

BITC now wants signatories to the ‘access pledge’ promise to make their business, fair and simple, transparent, on a level playing field, and open, for all suppliers.

It already has committed Goldman Sachs to making its contracts more accessible by  reducing the costs to SMEs of bidding by paying for the majority of vendor screening activity itself.

Asda, which is focusing on boosting the ethnic diversity of its supply chain, and Santander, which has made all non-disclosure agreements valid for 12 months for any deal they bid for, are among the other companies cited by BITC.

Disties have welcomed the moves but have also been sceptical.

“It’s a good idea and it’s pleasing to see that big companies are taking part of these initiatives,” one told ChannelEye.

“However, whether it’ll actually be taken up properly and after the press has died down, remains to be seen. Somehow I don’t think we’ll see much publicity,” he added.

Another shared a similar outlook.

“Making transparency in the supply chain can only be a good thing. However, big brands are all over this trying to show they are making a difference.

“The problem here is that smaller businesses trying to make a change could be swamped and therefore competition is already stifled,” he added.

Bird Flu may well disrupt the supply chain

Posted on April 25, 2013 by - News

Ostrich_male_RWDThe bird flu epidemic could have a knock on effect on the supply chain if rates of infection continue to rise, disties have said.

The warnings come as China has confirmed 108 cases of what the World Health Organisation describes as the “most lethal” viruses seen so far since March 31.

The H7N9 strain of the virus has also caused 22 deaths.

Yesterday, Taiwan also reported it had seen its first case of the virus in a man who had recently returned from working in eastern China where most cases have been reported.

And as things continue to get messy for the medical world it seems business could also be affected.

“Bird Flu is one of the most feared diseases of this century,” one distie told ChannelEye.

“While we’re currently chugging along there is a big risk of disruption if the disease continues to spread,” he added.

Others shared his sentiments. “There’s not really been much change at the moment in terms of the bird flu outbreak. But we’ve seen slower sales and delayed shipments in the past when there was problems with things like SARs,” another added.

Another told ChannelEye: “It depends how mad the world goes. If we start having to quarantine things then supply of products will be severely altered. But let’s see how far this scare mongering goes.”

Ingram Micro exec named most powerful influential women

Posted on April 19, 2013 by - News

IMIngram Micro has announced that one of its staff members has been named as one of the “Most Powerful & Influential Women” by the California Diversity Council (CADC).

Robyn Tingley, vice president, Human Resources for Ingram Micro North America and Latin America, has been awarded the title and will also be speaking on a panel at the conference titled “Gaining the Trust and Credibility You Deserve.”

Ingram Micro is of course thrilled at the publicity and bigged up Robyn by claiming she has been a  significant contributor on a wide range of inclusion and diversity issues including minority recruiting, veteran hiring and developing a workplace that is educated and aware of all aspects of diversity and inclusion.

The awards were presented in conjunction with the 4th Annual California Diversity & Leadership Conference, held April 18-19, 2013, at the Hilton Concord in Concord, California.

Tingley is a certified Global Human Resources professional who has worked internationally in the fields of human resources, communications, corporate social responsibility, public policy and journalism. Prior to her current position, Tingley was previously vice president of Human Resources and Communications for Ingram Micro Europe based in Brussels, Belgium.

She has been with Ingram Micro for five years. Prior to joining Ingram Micro, she was vice president of Communications and Public Affairs for Bell Aliant, a Canadian-based leader in telecommunications.

Google rakes in the cash for first quarter

Posted on April 19, 2013 by - News

google-ICGoogle made more than a few dollars in its latest quarter, raking in a cool $14 billion in revenue.

The company, which described the figures as a “strong start to 2013,” reported consolidated revenues of $13.97 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, an increase of 31 percent compared to the first quarter of 2012.

GAAP operating income in the first quarter of 2013 was $3.48 billion, accounting for 25 percent of revenues. This was in comparison to $3.39 billion, or 32 percent of revenues, in the first quarter of 2012.

Non-GAAP operating income in the first quarter of 2013 was $4.22 billion, or 30 percent of revenues. This compared to non-GAAP operating income of $3.94 billion, or 37 percent of revenues, in the first quarter of 2012.

GAAP net income including net income from discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2013 was $3.35 billion, compared to $2.89 billion in the first quarter of 2012.

Non-GAAP net income in the first quarter of 2013 was $3.90 billion, compared to $3.33 billion in the first quarter of 2012.

Again it was Google’s ad business that generated the most profit with revenues hitting
$12.95 billion, or 93 percent of consolidated revenues, in the first quarter of 2013, representing a 22 percent increase over first quarter 2012 revenues of $10.65 billion.

Google-owned sites generated revenues of $8.64 billion, or 67 percent of total Google revenues, in the first quarter of 2013 – an 18 percent increase over the same period last year.

And its partner sites also raked in the cash generating revenues of $3.26 billion, or 25 percent of total Google revenues, in the first quarter of 2013. .

In the UK, Google revenues amounted to $1.39 billion, representing 11 percent of revenues.

Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $2.96 billion in the first quarter of 2013, compared to $2.51 billion in the first quarter of 2012.

However the company lost out on some dough over in its flagging Motorola mobile sector with a decline of 27 percent in the first quarter of 2013.

IBM goes on axe rampage in France

Posted on April 19, 2013 by - News

ibm-officeIBM is said to be wielding the axe amongst its employees in France.

According to Reuters, the company, which reported a five percent decline in revenue to $23.4 billion for the first quarter of 2013, has said it will be trying to make up gaps through  $1 billion of accounting charges this year.

It also wants to ensure its profits are boosted by 2015, despite the critical global economic crisis.

Part of this saving will have a knock on effect on its workforce, with three trade union reps over in France claiming that the company plans to axe  up to 1,400 jobs in the country over the next two years.

IBM has yet to confirm that its heads in the US have okayed the pink slip practice, but the union reps have said the deed had already been communicated.

Pierry Poquet, secretary general of the UNSA union told Reuters that IBM head honchos were set to present the plan to cut between 1,200 and 1,400 staff in a meeting was planned for April 25.

The CFE-CGC union’s representative, Evelyne Heurtaux, backed up her pal saying she had also been told that there was a around 1,300 jobs slated for the next two years.

Ingram Micro names new finance VP

Posted on April 18, 2013 by - Moving People

IMIngram Micro has appointed Gina Mastantuono as executive vice president of finance.

Mastantuono will now be responsible for the company’s financial planning, analysis, controllership, SEC reporting, treasury and tax and will report directly to Bill Humes , chief operating and financial officer at Ingram Micro.

Prior to joining Ingram Micro, Mastantuono was at Revlon for six years, serving most recently as senior vice president, chief accounting officer, controller and international chief financial officer.

Before Revlon, she held various finance executive roles, including four years with InterActive and four years with Triarc Companies,

She is also a Certified Public Accountant and has 21 years of finance experience.

Mastantuono attended the State University of New York, where she earned a bachelor’s of science degree in accounting and business administration.

Gartner weans firms off Windows XP

Posted on April 18, 2013 by - News

framedwindowsDespite Windows XP and Office 2003 support ending in April 8 2014, more than 15 percent of midsize and large businesses are still, and will continue using the OS Gartner has said.

The company has decided to help heal the IT world and put together some recommendations on how companies can wean themselves off the OS as well as the risks associated with sticking to them.

Michael Silver and Steve Kleynhans, vice presidents in Gartner’s client computing team pointed out that not having support means that organisations’ PCs could be vulnerable to attack.

New vulnerabilities are always being found, and new vulnerabilities that are found in more current products could affect Windows XP and Office 2003, the duo said.

They warned that any unpatched device could be vulnerable to attack, even a private network  that has no internet access. They explained that this was because another device, even one running a supported product, could be infected with malware outside the private network and bring it onto the private network, infecting other devices.

Many applications will no longer be supported while running on Windows XP, which the pair said meant organisations could be on their own to resolve issues and problems leading to system downtime.

Organisations that are not almost or completely finished migrating off Windows XP and/or Office 2003 should reassess their position by reviewing their project plans and ensuring that they are on target to meet the deadline, Gartner said.

It said companies that were afraid they were unlikely to complete their migration projects by April 2014 should prioritise their applications and users so they could reduce the risks by addressing critical resources first.

Conducting several analyses on their application portfolios to help safeguard the company after XP support ends, and in preparation for Windows 7 or 8 migrations would also help businesses.

EE pledges jobs, sustainability

Posted on April 18, 2013 by - News

eeCarrier EE has published its first Responsibility Report, and we’re sure the PR cogs were working overtime to get it word perfect.

Within its musings, the company claims it has identified twelve areas that need improving, including reducing its environmental impact, keeping children safe and building further sustainability in its supply chain.

It also promised that by 2015 it will improve the digital skills of 1 million people, as well as recruit 500 apprentices into its business

The company has said it will be launching an EE graduate scheme and has committed to
supporting Plotr, the government-supported careers portal which is set to launch this year.

EE said its HR team will begin an initiative in schools, supporting 10 week-long work experience placements at its Bristol office for students from local secondary schools.

The pledges come as a new survey found that a quarter of Brits can’t be bothered to report broadband issues. According to comparison website Recombu.com/digital, of the 1447 people it asked  74 percent blamed slow internet issues on ‘heavy traffic’ and fail to report slow connectivity to their internet service provider.

Just over a third said they only reported a problem when ‘connectivity stopped entirely’, while 11 percent stated that they ‘never’ reported issues.

TalkTalk faces “doublespeak” wrath of ASA

Posted on April 17, 2013 by - News

PhoneTalkTalk has faced the simpering wrath of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The telecoms company has been told off after it promised customers a “free” YouView box alongside a TV and phone package on a TV ad.

A direct mailing advert also had the same promise.

The complainant challenged whether the claims that the YouView box was “free” in the ads because there was a £50 installation fee.

TalkTalk said its offer of a YouView set top box was a conditional purchase offer in accordance with the CAP Guidance on the use of “free”. It explained that the price of itsPlus telecoms package was established in the marketplace prior to the addition of the free set top box.

At the time the YouView box was introduced, it said it did not increase the price of the paid-for items, for example the Plus telecoms package.

TalkTalk also tried to cover its tracks explaining that that installation of the YouView box had to be undertaken by an engineer so as to ensure proper activation of the TV service. It said The engineer installation charge had not been inflated to recover the cost of the free YouView box and pointed out that both ads made clear that there was a £50 installation charge with the free YouView box.

The ASA said it understood that the £50 engineer installation fee was payable by all consumers who opted to take the YouView box and that the YouView box and the £50 fee were inextricably linked.

However, it pointed out that when a consumer unbundled the YouView box from the telecoms subscription, they effectively paid £50 less, which was the cost of the installation fee.

Because the fee was payable to TalkTalk and not a third party, all consumers who took up the claimed “free” offer were charged £50 more than those who did not.

The watchdog said it therefore considered that because the YouView box and the £50 fee were inextricably linked, the claims that the box was “free” were misleading.

It ordered that the claims should not appear again in their current form and told TalkTalk to take care in future when describing an item as “free”, in the future.

Brother UK gets new MD

Posted on April 17, 2013 by - Moving People

Phil Jones with PrinterPhil Jones has been named as the managing director of Brother UK.

The announcement follows Mr Jones’ promotion in March 2012 to deputy MD, a role that saw him take responsibility for the company’s 180-strong workforce and £100 million of sales.

Jones has worked his way up through the company, originally joining as a fax machine salesman in 1995,  later becoming sales & marketing director.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Jones said he was “thrilled” to be given the responsibility to lead Brother in the UK as MD.

“Having joined the business back in the early 1990s with little leadership or business management experience, my journey really underlines Brother’s commitment to investing in people and backing talent – a culture that I’m determined to continue building during my tenure,” he added.

Mr Jones, 45, lives in Warrington with his wife and two teenage children. He is a regular speaker and blogger on leadership, innovation and personal growth and a keen road cyclist, it is claimed.

Tesco profits flag

Posted on April 17, 2013 by - News

tescoTesco is facing the same fate as many other businesses, reporting the first annual profit loss in nearly 20 years.

The supermarket giant said pre-tax profits were down 51 percent to £1.96 billion, while post-tax profits including the cost of its £1.2 billion US exit were £120 million, marking a decrease of 95.7 percent.

The company confirmed that it would be backing out of the US after its investment in 190 Fresh and Easy stores failed to make it a profit.

In Blighty the company has also announced a property write down of £804 million. This was as a result of a review by the company, which uncovered more than 100 sites, scooped up five years ago for potential stores, now lying dormant.

In a blog post, head honcho Philip Clarke said: “Much of this property was bought more than five years ago, some more than 10 years ago.

“That is before the 2008 financial crisis, before the iPhone, social media, tablet computers, before we knew how profoundly technology would change both how we and our customers live and shop.

“Technology has changed much that we all took for granted and it is still changing. The last five years have shown that change in retail can be disruptive and come in sharp steps, not a steady trend. We must anticipate change and act decisively so we looked hard at the land we own and conclude that although we have a strong and attractive network of stores, we will never develop some of this land, mostly the very large mixed-use developments.”

The past three months have also not been favourable to the company, with Tesco claiming its sales, not including petrol, only rose by 0.5 percent. This was a decrease from the growth the company faced in six weeks to 5 January when the company marked a 1.8 percent rise as a result of Christmas shopping.

Measles hits distribution channel

Posted on April 17, 2013 by - News

fgwAs the measles crisis reaches dangerously high levels, a GP has spoken about under the table payments and the rush to get hold of single vaccines. Meanwhile, First Great Western is offering MMR injections to people under 25.

The now retired medical professional  also pointed out that research has both suffered and improved as a result as it is now far more regulated, while the “scare-mongering” has created a huge UK risk.

His comments come as Wales is currently experiencing an epidemic of measles. Last week the cases had risen by 73 to 693 in the Swansea area with professionals warning that the outbreak wouldn’t reach its peak for another four weeks.

The country is now furiously racing around trying to get as many teens vaccinated as possible.
First Great Western has also waded into the crisis, with reliable sources claiming the train company would be offering the vaccine to anyone under 25.

The government, which has been blamed for the outbreak, is now targeting schools and offering immunisations to 10 to 17 year olds – the age group likely to have missed out on being given the jab as a result of research released in the 1990s.

The study, carried out by now discredited Dr Andrew Wakefield’, linked the MMR jab to autism. However, after the initial hype died down, the Government, which initially backed these findings, and scientists, insisted that MMR was safe.

By this point the damage had already been done.

“The world went mad when the research about the vaccine came out all those years ago and the number of those choosing to get their children vaccinated fell rapidly,” the retired GP told ChannelEye.

“We went from packed waiting rooms to days when no one would show up, despite our reassurances that it was safe.

“Mums were running around trying to get the single inoculations, with some going as far as France to pick them up and paying GPs, maybe under the table, over here to administer them.
However, the children who didn’t have the jab are now suffering, as is a nation, which is now experiencing this outbreak.

The medical world, which has for so long backed research, is of course now more cautious about releasing research, which could have a knock on effect. Does it stifle innovation? Yes I suppose it does.

“On the flip side, it also shows research has to be carried out far more intensively before it potentially destroys communities.

“It was all scaremongering but people jumped on the bandwagon and that was that.”

However, one mum isn’t so sure, claiming her child “has never been the same” since the MMR jab.

“I don’t really talk about it because it upsets me, but he was never the same after that jab,” she said.

However, as many professionals have pointed out, the signs for autism do usually come out at around 12-18 months, the same time that the jab is traditionally given.

Sophos axes jobs

Posted on April 16, 2013 by - News

axeSophos is rumoured to be grinding the axe for another round of job cuts.

According to The Next Web around 150 people will be handed their pink slips as the company moves to restructure and focus on its highest growing and strategic business arms.

Although Sophos would not confirm the number, it hinted that the rumours were more than a whisper with a spokesman telling the Next Web that it was in discussion with those affected employees. It said some could also be given a lifeline and shifted into other roles.

“While it is difficult to make any reductions in our team, we are confident these actions will help to drive our long-term success, and allow us to drive greater value for our customers and partners,” Sophos said in an earlier statement.

It follows a similar round of job cuts in September last year, when 35 employees were expected to lose their jobs.

The axe grinding comes as Sophos announced job cuts earlier this year.

SMEs at centre of cyber attacks

Posted on April 16, 2013 by - News

SymantecheadquartersTargeted security attacks rose by 42 percent in 2012, with cybercriminals targeting SMEs, Symantec has found.

In its Internet Security Threat Report the company said these threats were designed to
steal intellectual property, and were increasingly hitting the manufacturing sector as well as small businesses, which were the target of 31 percent of these attacks.

Small businesses are apparently attractive targets themselves and a way in to ultimately reach larger companies via “watering hole” techniques, Symantec said, citing a threefold rise in the number of attacks on these size businesses compared to 2011.

It said that while small businesses  could feel they were immune to targeted attacks, cybercriminals were enticed by these organisations’ bank account information, customer data and intellectual property. Attackers hone in on small businesses that may often lack adequate security practices and infrastructure, the company said.

Web-based attacks increased by 30 percent in 2012, which Symantec said originated from the compromised websites of small businesses.

It pointed out that these websites were used in massive cyber-attacks as well as “watering hole” attacks. In a watering hole attack, the attacker compromises a website, such as a blog or small business website, which is known to be frequently visited by the victim of interest. When the victim later visits the compromised website, a targeted attack payload is silently installed on their computer.

Shifting from governments, manufacturing  moved to the top of the list of industries targeted for attacks in 2012. Symantec said this was because cybercriminals were attacking the supply chain as a result of finding contractors and subcontractors susceptible to attacks and often in possession of valuable intellectual property.

Often by going after manufacturing companies in the supply chain, attackers gain access to sensitive information of a larger company, the company pointed out.

On the consumer front mobiles seemed to be the worst hit, with malware increasing by 58 percent. Around a third of all mobile threats attempted to steal information, such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

Apple’s iOS had the most documented vulnerabilities, it only had one threat discovered during the same period and Android, by contrast, had fewer vulnerabilities but more threats than any other mobile operating system.

Webwise 61 percent of malicious websites were found to be legitimate websites that had been compromised and infected with malicious code. Business, technology and shopping websites were among the top five types of websites hosting infections.

A growing source of infections on websites was malvertisements – when criminals buy advertising space on legitimate websites and use it to hide their attack code.

Gartner consults crystal ball about cloud

Posted on April 16, 2013 by - News

crystalAround 10 percent of IT security enterprise products will be delivered through the cloud by 2015, Gartner has said.

Gazing into its crystal ball, the analyst house has also said that these services will also drive changes in the market landscape, particularly around a number of key security technology areas, such as secure email and secure Web gateways, remote vulnerability assessment, and Identity and Access Management (IAM).

It said as a result it expected the cloud-based security services market to reach $4.2 billion by 2016.

Eric Ahlm, research director at Gartner said demand remained high from buyers looking to cloud-based security services to address a lack of staff or skills, reduce costs, or comply with security regulations quickly.

He said the shift in buying behaviour from the more traditional on-premises equipment toward cloud-based delivery models offered “good opportunities for technology and service providers with cloud delivery capabilities.”

He warned that those without such capabilities needed to act quickly to adapt to this “competitive threat.”

Gartner referenced a security survey from January which  it said showed high demand from security buyers for cloud-based security service offerings. Security buyers from the US and Europe, representing a cross section of industries and company sizes, stated that they planned to increase the consumption of several common cloud services during the next 12 months.

The highest-consumed cloud-based security service is email security services, with 74 percent of respondents rating this as the top service.

Furthermore, 27 percent of the respondents indicated they were considering deploying tokenisation as a cloud service, while another area cited for growth was security information and event management (SIEM) as a service.

Gartner is now advising value-added resellers (VARs) to supplement product implementations with cloud-based alternatives that offer large customers reduced operational cost and thereby increase the likelihood of customer retention in this market segment. VARs that fail to offer cloud-based alternatives might experience a decline in implementation revenue from customers seeking cloud-based solutions in certain market segments.
Around 10 percent of IT security enterprise products will be delivered through the cloud by 2015, Gartner has said.

Rubbing its crystal ball the analyst house has also said that these services will also drive changes in the market landscape, particularly around a number of key security technology areas, such as secure email and secure Web gateways, remote vulnerability assessment, and Identity and Access Management (IAM).

It said as a result it expected the cloud-based security services market to reach $4.2 billion by 2016.

Eric Ahlm, research director at Gartner said demand remained high from buyers looking to cloud-based security services to address a lack of staff or skills, reduce costs, or comply with security regulations quickly.

He said the shift in buying behaviour from the more traditional on-premises equipment toward cloud-based delivery models offered “good opportunities for technology and service providers with cloud delivery capabilities.”

He warned that those without such capabilities needed to act quickly to adapt to this “competitive threat.”

Gartner referenced a security survey from January which  it said showed high demand from security buyers for cloud-based security service offerings. Security buyers from the US and Europe, representing a cross section of industries and company sizes, stated that they planned to increase the consumption of several common cloud services during the next 12 months.

The highest-consumed cloud-based security service is email security services, with 74 percent of respondents rating this as the top service.

Furthermore, 27 percent of the respondents indicated they were considering deploying tokenisation as a cloud service, while another area cited for growth was security information and event management (SIEM) as a service.

Gartner is now advising value-added resellers (VARs) to supplement product implementations with cloud-based alternatives that offer large customers reduced operational cost and thereby increase the likelihood of customer retention in this market segment. VARs that fail to offer cloud-based alternatives might experience a decline in implementation revenue from customers seeking cloud-based solutions in certain market segments.