Category: News

Dell EMC will be 60 percent indirect channel

Posted on October 6, 2017 by - News

michael-dell-2After making a name for itself with his direct channel, Michael Dell is going to be flogging more than 60 percent of its overall revenues through the channel in a few years

Dell EMC chief commercial officer Marius Haas told a keynote Q&A session at EMEA Canalys Channel Forum that Dell’s indirect business will become its main source of revenue in the next few years.

Michael Dell has previously said that the firm’s channel business was worth $35 billion, but Haas said that leading up to 2020, indirect sales are expected to exceed 60 percent of the firm’s overall revenues.

“When we first looked at the numbers, we said roughly in the $35bn range… we don’t have a target to say ‘this route to market is this percentage of our business or our goal. I think we will be close to 55 to 60 percent of our revenue flowing through [the channel].”

Haas conceded that faults in Dell’s deal registration process have caused some frustration among partners.

Dell had 160,000 deals registered last quarter around the globe and not all of them went flawlessly, so there are a couple of areas where its partners indicated that it needs to improve, he said.

Global ERP market set for boom

Posted on October 5, 2017 by - News, Products

funny-cat-running-21-desktop-wallpaper-352x260Beancounters at Allied Market Research are predicting that it will be a boom time for the global ERP software market.

It has just released a study which shows the ERP market will reach at $41.69 billion by 2020 registering a CAGR of 7.2 percent.

The market owes it massive spurt in revenue to sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing services, BFSI, aerospace and defence, and telecom. The report gives a comprehensive analysis key market segments, top winning segments, lucrative investment pockets.

The medical centre and healthcare spend massive sums of money on critical medicines and machines to ensure a patient gets the best care. To track their supply chain management of thousands of medicines can be a nightmare. Many hospitals are still stuck on to outdated methods.

One of the outfits hoping to make a bob or two is Oracle which is building a new system to track supply chain management that will let  customers create an “intelligent customer-centric approach”, whatever that marketing doo doo means.

Oracle brought about new cloud applications such as Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Cloud, Oracle Customer Care Experience Cloud (CX) Suite, Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud, And Oracle Human Capital Management(HCM) Cloud. The SCM cloud offers end-to-end visibility, insights, operation planning, demand management, supply planning and collaboration, and a host of other services that are comprehensive yet upgraded to hasten complex processes.

Retail and manufacturing sectors also need to look at resolving complex manually-daunting processes. Retail and manufacturers deal with bulk orders daily, sometimes individually or in collaboration.

Microsoft will shun the Surface

Posted on October 5, 2017 by - News

78e36c498415cefec2abe253e3990285Canalys CEO Steve Brazier is predicting that Microsoft will drop its Surface business by the end of 2019.

Talking to the assembled throngs at the EMEA Canalys Channels Forum event in Venice, Brazier said Vole is undergoing a “capital expenditure challenge” under CEO Satya Nadella and the Surface project will pay the price.

Brazier said that Nadella was a software and cloud guy who has already allowed Microsoft’s mobile phone business to decline. The Surface’s performance was choppy – it has had good quarters and bad quarters but overall it is not making money.

He thinks it made no sense for Microsoft to be in this business and when the capital expenditure challenge that Satya Nadella has a lot of cost cutting to do, and Surface will be the first target.

Product sales fell for Microsoft in Q2 by 1.5 percent to £9.7 billion while Surface sales dipped two per cent having previously plummeted by 26 percent in the previous quarter.

The general feeling is that Vole is making a lot of money on the cloud and enterprise and on Windows, losing cash on devices and I see no reason why they would want to continue with the Surface.

Brazier also predicted that this quarter will prove the highest growth quarter for the western European tech industry for 10 years.

The CEO forecasted that 50 percent of cloud sales will go through two-tier distribution by the end of 2019 and also claimed that channel partners will grow by five per cent per annum over the next three years. Lastly, hardware sales will account for at least 50 per cent of revenues for at least 90 percent of partners by 2020, according to Brazier.

“Hardware is not dead. Hardware will be half of your revenues through to 2020. Do not listen to your investors telling you to get out of hardware and into services. There is no evidence to support that at all”, he said.

HPE’s Nimble InfoSight predictive analytics nearly baked

Posted on October 5, 2017 by - News

Detail-from-Baking-oven-and-kneading-trough.-From-Charles-TIllustrations-of-useful-arts-manufactures-and-trades.-London-Society-for-Promoting-Christian-Knowledge-1858.Hewlett Packard Enterprise President Antonio Neri has told the world+dog that it is ready to ship its Nimble InfoSight predictive analytics offering on its high-end 3Par storage line.

It should be ready for partners within 90 days and give bring the cloud-based predictive analytics platform to 3Par. HPE is hoping that the move, which comes just months after closing the Nimble acquisition will shake up the storage market.

It will be the first time a major storage vendor will be able to predict storage failures and “proactively resolve them” across an end-to-end portfolio that spans the market from small/medium businesses to the enterprise.

InfoSight was the “crown jewels” of HPE’s $1 billion acquisition of Nimble, Neri said. The AI power of the platform provides HPE and its partners with a big competitive advantage against any and all competitors.

He added that it was proof HPE was delivering its strategy to make hybrid IT simple.

“The first thing partners are going to see is a consistent experience across Nimble and 3Par with AI, predictive analytics, and predictive maintenance across the entire storage footprint – all attached to our HPE Pointnext”, Neri said.

Computacenter has a management reshuffle

Posted on October 4, 2017 by - News

PokerGameComputacenter has appointed a new UK managing director as the outfit reshuffles its management deck.

Neil Hall, previously director of business enablement and contractual services, has taken on the UK role with Kevin James becoming chief commercial officer.

Andy Stafford has also re-joined Computacenter as chief operating officer. Stafford previously had been the company’s IT director in the late nineties.

Stafford worked at Deloitte and Virgin, before working at Accenture for a decade and then moving to Unisys.

Hall, who takes the UK managing director role, joined Computacenter in 2001 and held a number of roles before becoming group director of business enablement and contractual services in 2015.

James is now chief commercial officer. He  joined Computacenter in 1990 before leaving in 1999 and re-joining in 2005. He took on the UK managing director role in 2015.

Enterprise Software spending on the way up

Posted on October 4, 2017 by - News

shut-up-and-take-my-moneyEnterprise software will lead an upturn in IT spending next year, according to bean counters at Gartner Group.

The outfit has added up some numbers and divided them by its shoe size and worked out that  global IT spending will rise as the dollar weakens and total spending will rise by 3.3 per cent this year to $3.5 trillion, before jumping a further 4.3 percent in 2018 to hit $3.7 trillion.

The devices segment will exhibit growth for the first time in two years, with a rise of 5.3 percent in 2017 and five per cent in 2018, Gartner said.

Enterprise software will grow 8.5 this year and 9.4 percent next year.

Total device spending will reach $697 billion in 2018, with enterprise software spending of $387 billion next year.

IT services will grow fast, Gartner predicts, with spending forecast to grow by four percent this year and 5.3 percent in 2018, to reach $980 billion.

Datacentre systems will see a more modest growth, of 1.7 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018, to reach $176 billion.

Communications services will only grow by 0.9 percent in 2017 and 2.2 percent next year to reach $2.2 trillion, Gartner thinks.

 

Innov8 buys Viking Management

Posted on October 4, 2017 by - News

Finding-Nemo-Shark-Wallpaper-HDStockport-based reseller Innov8 Technology has written a cheque for  Viking Management Systems in a bid to expand into the North-east.

York-based Viking is a Sage, Microsoft and Sophos partner, will continue to operate under its own name, but its shareholders and executives have retired.

Carl Maher, commercial director at Innov8, said that Viking had an exceptional reputation in the Sage ecosystem and there are many things the two outfits have in common.

“We are delighted to bring Viking into the Innov8 Technology Group and proud to say that both businesses have been operating as normal, delivering the same exceptional level of service to our customers.

“We are excited about the future of Innov8 as we continue plans to expand across the UK.”

Innov8 claims to be one of the top three Sage 200 business partners in the UK.

Paul Barnett, outgoing managing director at Viking, said: “We have always respected Innov8 and believe we share a similar set of values.”

 

Optoma grows into new HQ

Posted on October 3, 2017 by - News

904optoma.1Optoma has opened a new European headquarters in Hemel Hempstead

Attended by the UK’s secretary of state for Work and Pensions David Gauke MP, the Hemel Hempstead HQ was officially opened on September 29.

Optoma EMEA has grown market share and outgrown its Watford premises.  It moved to the new site on September 8 and employs around 140 staff and is looking to recruit more in the coming year.

Now with almost 14 percent market share, Optoma is one of the top three projector brands across the EMEA region. In the last two decades the company has introduced numerous pioneering products, including the DVD all-in-one projector in 2005 (DV10) and a Pico projector, PK101, which won Time Magazine’s product of the year in 2008. Optoma has expanded its business into audio with the acquisition of the acclaimed Californian consumer audio company, NuForce, in 2014.

EMEA managing director Thierry Millet said that the move to the new HQ will allow the company to continue to develop new ‘future-focussed’ products. “We have always prided ourselves on our ability to develop products that are future-focused. For 20 years, we’ve been listening to our customers and creating the solutions they need,  said Millet. “These purpose-built facilities reflect our confidence in the future. With our core values of reliability, innovation and customer focus, we will maintain this momentum to offer even better products and solutions into the next two decades.”

 

Microsoft needed to search for its soul

Posted on October 3, 2017 by - News

dsc_0002Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has written a book about how he had to “rediscover Microsoft’s soul” when he took the top job in 2014.

The book with the racy title Hit Refresh depicts Nadella as an Indian boy rising through the hierarchy at Microsoft to the chief executive spot.

At a launch event in London, Nadella said that he had to re-establish the purpose and goal of the vendor and take it beyond its PC roots.

“When I joined Microsoft in 1992 we used to talk about getting a PC in every home and in every desk as our mission. It was tangible, clear, succinct and in some sense very empowering because it was clear what the company was for and what we were trying to get done.

“Even by the late nineties, at least in the developed world, we had more or less achieved that, and after that it was a bit unclear – what is our purpose?

“So that was what I thought was important to start asking in 2014, it’s quite an existential question, why does Microsoft exist?”

Nadella said that, on this existential journey, he went right back to the first product Microsoft created – interpreters for the Altair 8800 – and formed a culture within the company that would lead to its focus not just being on technology.

“Those are the two things I’ve focused most on”, he said. “The sense of purpose and mission, and the culture. Those are the two bookends.

“Of course you have to get a lot of things in the middle right – your products, your technology, your business strategy… but what is ignored is what are the necessary conditions for you to get those things right? I believe it’s that sense of purpose and culture.”

Apparently Nadella after questing for the soul of Microsoft, vanquishing a few dragons, rescuing a few products from trolls, reshaped the company’s mission statement to focus more on people. It now reads: “At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.”

Apparently these sorts of mission statement’s pass for a soul.

Nadella said that, “moving forward”, Microsoft has given itself three pillars with which to achieve this mission – AI, mixed reality and quantum computing.

Oracle’s Hurd predicts huge cyber-attacks

Posted on October 3, 2017 by - News

oracleOracle CEO Mark Hurd told the assembled throngs at OpenWorld that is becoming an essential resource for customers looking to cut costs and reduce risk.

He warned that the business community hasn’t seen a truly shocking cyberattack just yet. But it certainly will.

“I’m telling you, the next event might be bigger than you think”,  he said. “This thing is going to get more serious, not less serious.”

Oracle wants companies to offload software administration duties onto its cloud.

That’s a facet of a multitude of new products, from an autonomous database to a blockchain service to upgrades across dozens of Software-as-a-Service applications.

Hurd said need cloud providers to cut their IT budgets and take the operational load off their staff, especially when it comes to security problems.

While digital transformation is expected, IT budgets are not increasing, and almost every security upgrade motivated by a high-profile intrusion cuts into the customer’s innovation spend, Hurd said.

 

Bytes buys Phoenix

Posted on October 2, 2017 by - News

Fawkes_WB_F2_FawkesMeetingHarryPotter_Still_100615_LandBytes has acquired York-based Phoenix Software in a bid to get better UK coverage.

Phoenix, which has an annual turnover in the region of £130 million will give it a large slice of action in the North of England as well as ramping up its own revenues to around the £400 million, which is not to be sneezed at.

Neil Murphy, Group MD, Bytes UK said: “The acquisition comes at an opportune time for Bytes UK as it looks to expand much further into the public sector, from where Phoenix derives a significant percentage of its revenue.

“This now makes Bytes UK Microsoft’s largest UK partner, whilst also opening the door to relationships with other global vendors such as EMC and Dell and deepening relationships with VMWare, Checkpoint, Citrix, Mimecast and Sophos to name a few.”

Phoenix Software managing director Sam Mudd,, said that the combination of the two firms would benefit both its staff and customers.

“This is extremely positive news and our announcement has come at the right time for our company and staff, in terms of navigating the fast-changing world of IT in which we operate and the channel consolidation that is taking place. We see plenty of synergies and are excited about working with new complementary offerings, and taking our joint businesses forward with ambitious growth plans across all our vertical sectors”, he said.

Healthcare will be a key market for AI

Posted on October 2, 2017 by - News

Medieval-Doctors-Dissection-of-a-CadaverAllied Market Research claims that healthcare will be a key market for AI resellers.

In a report with a catchy title “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023″Allied Market Research claims that the the global AI in Healthcare market was valued at $1,441 million in 2016. It is projected to reach $22,790 million by 2023.

This is a CAGR growth of 48 percent from 2017 to 2023. The hardware AI for segment is anticipated to grow at the highest rate from 2017 to 2023.

AI involves the science and engineering of intelligent computer programs. It uses various computer functions such reasoning, learning and problem solving based on human intelligence. AI systems can be used in various disciplines such as biology, computer science, mathematics, linguistics, psychology, and engineering to build an intelligent system. Some of the different applications that incorporate the AI systems in healthcare fields are medication management, treatment plans, and drug discovery.

The report said that the global AI in Healthcare market is driven by the ability of the tech to improve “patient outcomes”, an increase in need for coordination between healthcare workforce and patients, the rise in adoption of “precision medicine”, and remarkable growth in venture capital investments. In addition, the significant use of big data in the healthcare sector is expected to fuel market growth. However, lack of standard regulations and guidelines and reluctance among healthcare professionals to adopt AI-based technologies are expected to impede the market growth. The possibility of using AI-based tools for elderly care and untapped potential of emerging markets, such as China and India, are expected to provide various opportunities for the market.

The deep learning segment accounted for the highest share in 2016 and is expected to dominate the market from 2017 to 2023, owing to increase in use of signal reduction, data mining, and image recognition. The natural language processing segment witnessed the highest growth rate in 2016, the report said.

Presently, the healthcare provider segment dominates and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 46.9 percent during the forecast period. Increase in usage & application of AI systems is expected to improve patient outcomes and maintain electronic health records (EHR) & patient records to boost the market growth, it concluded.

High end PCs are money spinners

Posted on October 2, 2017 by - News

3943695341_b497afcbcc_bWhile the rest of the PC market is pretty much pants, the high-end and gamer desktop PC area is doing well for channel partners, according to a study from TECHnalysis

TECHnalysis principal analyst Bob O’Donnell said the high end of the desktop market where enthusiasts like to build their own systems and where businesses will buy custom-built white box systems from companies like Falcon Northwest are doing well.

Gamers and enthusiasts will build their own systems with components – including CPUs from Intel and AMD – bought through the channel, O’Donnell said. Some organisations looking for customised and specialised white box systems also will turn to the channel.

Others will look to their local computer stores for desktops, he said.

“They’re not running out to buy an HP at Best Buy”, O’Donnell said. “They go to the local guy… Small businesses want to work with their local PC partners.”

Those local companies can help organisations optimise the systems for their businesses, from choosing the right CPU and motherboard to configuring the memory, he said.

A reinvigorated AMD emerging as a rival to Intel – which has dominated the PC chip market for years – and the channel has a lot to choose from, O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell added that for the channel, this competition and the innovation that will result will prove beneficial.

“Anything that can spark interest in high-performance desktops and gives [users] the ability to upgrade…gets people fired up and going”, he said.

Dell EMC will offer Azure Stack

Posted on September 29, 2017 by - News

IMG_1049Dell EMC has signed an agreement with Microsoft to provide w Azure Stack through its channel partners.

Dell EMC was announced as one of three hardware vendors launching the Azure Stack, alongside HPE e and Lenovo. Cisco has since been added. The Azure Stack is an extension of Microsoft Azure, bringing the cloud capabilities to on-premise environments. The solution started shipping earlier this month.

Dell EMC also announced a range of services and updates around backup, data protection and hyperconverged infrastructure management.

“Dell EMC values the strong collaboration we have had with Microsoft for more than 30 years, which has resulted in world-class, innovative solutions delivered to customers worldwide”,  said Armughan Ahmad, senior VP at Dell EMC. No surprises there, then.

“The innovations we’re announcing today are evidence of how our work with Microsoft has truly changed how our customers conduct their day-to-day activities, enabling them to gain greater value from their IT infrastructures and, more importantly, develop and deliver services to help achieve their ultimate business goals.”

Eamon Moore, managing director at Dell EMC and Microsoft partner EMIT, said the partnership means partners can offer a solution to customers no matter how they want their infrastructure to look.

“A lot of customers will have been very pro Microsoft and pro Azure but might not have been able to adapt for certain reasons”, he said. “Now companies that partner with both [Dell EMC and Microsoft] can give a solution no matter what the requirements are.

“If you look at the future of cloud, we’re seeing, for various reasons, that customers might need to go with a hybrid approach, so it fits perfectly into that. We all see that hybrid is the future, so this will give all the advantages and solutions available on Azure in a hybrid platform.

“It’s almost the missing piece to now give an overall solution to customers and not be hindered by certain assets [that need to remain on-premise] that you might have been hindered by in the past.”

Sword buys Microsoft Gold Partner Minttulip.

Posted on September 29, 2017 by - News

damoclesSword IT Solutions has written a cheque for the Amersham-based Microsoft Gold Partner Minttulip.

The deal sees Sword bolster its capabilities around Microsoft’s workplace offerings, as it looks to expand the business through both organic growth and acquisitions over the coming years.

Dave Bruce, CEO of Sword IT Solutions, said: “This acquisition sees the coming together of two teams with a clear focus on helping businesses unlock their competitive advantage via deployment of Microsoft technologies to enable the modern digital workplace.

“We will build on their excellent relationship with Microsoft and bring our joint offering to both established Sword clients and to the diverse range of Minttulip customers.

“From a strategic standpoint, we aim to significantly increase the size of our business in the coming years and we’re sure this will prove to be a significant step on that journey. Our management team sees a real opportunity to bring our proven track record for delivering growth to a relatively young yet thriving, modern and exciting business.”

The acquisition adds to Sword’s existing bases in London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, where it employees a total of around 200 staff.