Author: Nick Farrell

Microsoft sorts out its supply chains

Posted on March 27, 2020 by - News

Rusty chain - Wikimedia CommonsMicrosoft’s supply chains are back on track, though the “bigger issue” is the demand for products in Western countries battling Covid-19, according to CEO Satya Nadella.

Having a chat with CNBC, the software king of the world said he was confident that product launches announced pre-outbreak would continue as planned, but said that he is concerned about demand in regions battling the virus.

Nadella said: “The supply chains are all coming back; right now that is not a real issue. I think the bigger issue is what happens in the US and Europe and other developed markets about the demand side, going forward.”

Nadella said that he feel good about where Microsoft was at the moment. 

Exclusive Networks sees another growth year

Posted on March 27, 2020 by - News

Exclusive Networks has reported a year of growth, booking revenues which were up 17 percent on the previous year.

The outfit said that made €2.4 billion for 2019 – a tenth of which come from subscription-based transactions.

Exclusive Networks EVP Worldwide Sales & Marketing Andy Travers said the enterprise market changing how it consumes technology, making it an exciting time to be creating value in the channel.

“Behind the scenes, we have been investing in our global operations capability and bolstering our leadership team, but we remain more focused than ever on doing what we do best – being customer-centric while simultaneously supporting our partners’ businesses, especially during this uncertain time.”

Telecom’s will boom after Covid-19

Posted on March 27, 2020 by - News

The telecom sector will shine in post Covid-19 era, according to the beancounters at GlobalData.

In a report, with the racy title, “Tech, Media and Telecom Trends 2020 – Updated for COVID-19 – Thematic Research”,  the analysts said that Covid-19 is by far the most significant theme to affect the technology/telecom industry in 2020.

However, its effect is going to be short-term. In the post Covid-19 era, telcos are expected to perform well as the world will be more connected and businesses better prepared for such calamities.

The report evaluated the impact of Covid-19 on 600 companies across 17 sectors in technology, media and telecoms (TMT).

Industry faces a server shortage

Posted on March 26, 2020 by - News

The COVID-19 outbreak has sparked a server supply shortage due to the shuttering of major hardware manufacturers in China.

Internet infrastructure provider Heficed has warned that the demand cannot be served by the current stock supply  has left firms without the resources to build and maintain their network infrastructure.

Inability to staff the production lines and during the lockdown has resulted in a “significant server supply shortage” in the market, Heficed said, and although many businesses have now restarted their work, they still have a long road ahead to mitigate long-term industry damage.

Vole slows Windows 10 updates

Posted on March 26, 2020 by - News

Microsoft will no longer release non-essential updates to its line of Windows operating systems during the  coronavirus outbreak.

From May 2020, businesses will only receive the most important critical security updates for a swathe of Windows systems, including the recently-published Windows 10 version 1909 through to Windows Servier 2008 SP2.

Softcat MD sold shares and retired

Posted on March 26, 2020 by - News

British reseller Softcat’s managing director, Colin Brown sold 125,000 shares for £12 each – totalling £1.5 million and then announced he was going in July.

Brown’s departure was confirmed by the London Stock Exchange-listed business along with the name of his successor, Richard Wyn Griffiths, who joined Softcat in 2002.

However, the company says there is nothing untoward in the move. CEO Graeme Watt said Brown’s decision to step down had “not been an overnight one” and that succession planning had been in the works for ages.

K3 considers closure of ‘under-performing’ third-party solutions arm

Posted on March 25, 2020 by - News

Microsoft and Sage partner   K3 is “actively reviewing” the possibility of shuttering one of its under performing third-party solutions units.

It issued the warning as it announced it would be revealing its full-year results for its year ending 30 November 2019 at a later date, following advice from the FCA and AIM.

K3 is declining to forecast business operations for the current financial year, due to the impact of COVID-19. It intends to provide a further trading update in May.

Computacenter trying to buy BT France’s domestic services business

Posted on March 25, 2020 by - News

Computacenter is negotiating to buy BT France’s domestic services business, in an acquisition that is expected to take place in the latter half of 2020.

In a London Stock Exchange filing, the UK-headquartered reseller said the acquisition will enable Computacenter to strengthen its position in the French networking market.

Computacenter CEO Mike Norris said: “The current coronavirus pandemic shows the importance of secure and reliable networks to our customers and this deal would significantly strengthen our existing French business in this growth area.

De Dobbeleer named as Cisco’s European channel queen

Posted on March 25, 2020 by - News

Cisco today announced the appointment of Elisabeth De Dobbeleer to lead its Partner Organisation for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR).

Dobbeleer moves into the role from her previous post as Cisco’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for EMEAR.

An experienced international leader, De Dobbeleer has held a variety of global and regional roles at Cisco across its Legal, Business Operations and Services teams for the past 18 years. Originally from Belgium, where she is based, she also spent eight years abroad in roles based out of APJC and the Middle East and Africa, and acts as an executive sponsor for key customers, as well as Kenya/East Africa. 

Opengear appoints Hughes for channel push

Posted on March 24, 2020 by - News

Opengear announced the appointment of Mark Hughes to the position of Channel Manager for EMEA.

Hughes will head up efforts to expand Opengear’s channel  landscape across EMEA, with the aim of recruiting five to six resellers in each of Opengear’s key country markets within the region.

This effort is designed to reinforce Opengear’s presence in EMEA and will increase its core, strategic channel community to 50, with a number of other specialist relationships across EMEA.

COVID-19 will cause long-term pain for IT services sector

Posted on March 24, 2020 by - News

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the IT services sector will be deep, immediate, and long-lasting. While there is a potential upside in most sectors, there is little optimism for IT services, according to analyst outfit GlobalData.

GlobalData published a fully revised report, ‘Tech, Media & Telecom Trends 2020’, to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on 17 separate TMT sectors.

Stuart Ravens, Chief Analyst Thematic Research at GlobalData, said: “The coronavirus will put incredible strain on the world economy, which will be effectively halted for three months or more. Many companies will not survive this initial phase. For IT services companies asking where new business will come from in 2020, the answer is painfully bleak: there will be none.”

Symantec partners looking for replacements

Posted on March 23, 2020 by - News

Symantec Partners is looking for alternatives because  its new owner Broadcom is only interested in a handful of enterprise customers, according to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz.

On an earnings call, Kurtz said that partners are flooding away from Symantec due to Broadcom’s strategy, claiming that one partner submitted a list of “several thousand” customers that it wants to migrate to a new vendor.

“As Broadcom began integrating Symantec, we saw an increase in enquiries among customers and partners. We believe these dynamics have contributed to an expansion in our pipeline, an acceleration in our overall customer adoption and increased engagement with our partner”, he said.

Hockin Arcserve’s is EMEA channel sales director

Posted on March 23, 2020 by - News

Data protection outfit Arcserve has appointed Bruce Hockin as its new EMEA Channel Sales Director.

Hockin will oversee the implementation and expansion of Arcserve’s EMEA channel growth strategy.

With more than 20 years’ experience, including senior roles at Cloud Distribution & Avnet Technology Solutions, Hockin is a well-respected channel executive with a reputation built on forging and maintaining robust partner relationships.

He said: “The IT industry in EMEA faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities ahead. Together with my team we will build on trusted, mutually beneficial relationships with our channel partners, providing them with absolutely the right support and resources to allow them to focus on their own customers, especially right now.”

Lenovo moved production outside China

Posted on March 23, 2020 by - News

Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said his outfit had moved production outside China to other areas to keep the flow of devices running after the country was crippled by the coronavirus.

In a statement Yang said that he had been amazed at the dedication his teams have shown to keeping its partners and customers informed and ensuring its operations are running as smoothly as possible.

Yang said he was not surprised, because he had seen teams pull together and deliver for customers in many difficult situations.

Wipro opens Microsoft Business Unit

Posted on March 20, 2020 by - News

IT services firm Wipro has unveiled its new Microsoft Business Unit offering to push Microsoft’s enterprise cloud services.

The Microsoft Business Unit is made up of a team of Azure consultants and specialists that will aid digital transformation through Wipro’s glorious Empire.

Customers can Wipro’s range of domain-based offerings, including Cloud Studio, for migration of different workloads on Microsoft Azure, Data and Microsoft Dynamics 365 via its as a service model.