Device makers embracing software over hardware

Posted on December 14, 2017 by - News

Software-and-Application-SecurityA report from digital security outfit Gemalto has found that the device manufacturing industry is embracing software over hardware as its primary business model.

The change highlights how crucial software is becoming to device manufacturers, in improving business performance and growing revenue. And, as end-users begin to demand more options and control of their devices and data, entire industries are being forced to change their business models and strategies to cater to their customers.

According to Gemalto’s ‘How Software is Powering the Hardware Renaissance‘ report, the majority (84 percent) of organisations in the sector are changing how they operate. More than 37 percent have already made a full shift to a software-centric business model, one that places software at the core of how a company delivers value and generates revenue.

The research also found that 94 percent of respondents have increased their investment in software development in the last five years. Germany is leading the charge. All German organisations questioned have boosted their software-based services over this time; with France second (98 percent) and the US (93 percent) in third.

Hardware technology companies are already reaping substantial benefits – of those that have changed their models, the average increase in revenue has been 11 percent. They expect further growth in the next five years, with the revenue from software projected to rise from 15-18 percent.

As well as revenue growth, businesses that have moved to software-based selling have seen other benefits. Over eight in 10 have driven diversity in hardware with software features (86 percent), implemented remote feature upgrades (84 percent) and improved customer experience (84 percent). Businesses also report having a more flexible strategy that allows them to adapt to market change (79 percent), better control copy protection (76 percent) and being more competitive (73 percent).

These changes are also having a positive impact on employees. The majority of businesses have retrained their employees (64 percent) and hired new ones (58 percent), with 61 percent also revealing they have or intend to reshuffle employees into different roles.

With businesses starting to see the potential of the IoT, software-based business models are generating commercial benefits. Around nine in 10 respondents believe IoT is driving growth in the industry and that IoT itself is a chance to change their company’s business model (85percent). Enabling automated upgrades (61percent), remote support (57 percent), collecting usage analytics (54 percent) and gathering increased and higher quality customer insights (53 percent) are the main benefits businesses see IoT enabling.

Changing from hardware to a software-based selling model isn’t without challenges. When it comes to practicalities, almost all organisations (96 percent) that have changed, or are changing, have experienced some difficulties in making the transition work.

Looking at the challenges faced in more detail, half of the respondents reported that they needed to hire staff with different skills. Around one in three said solutions evolved organically without a central strategy (36 percent) and managed new sales and operational methodologies with old legacy processes (34 percent), caused challenges in the transition.

Gemalto Senior Vice President, Software Monetisation Shlomo Weiss said: “The results of this survey validate what we see on a daily basis with our customers as we help them make this transition. Companies who adopt software-based revenue models will reap three main benefits: long-term relationships with their customers, predictable revenue streams and a clear competitive advantage. From gaining insight into product usage, to pay-per-use payment structures and on to new market penetration – all the companies we surveyed identified a real need to transform how they do business.”

Cisco boss talks about how he changed the world

Posted on December 14, 2017 by - News

cisco-ceo-john-chambers-my-dyslexia-is-a-weakness-and-a-strengthCisco’s former CEO John Chambers told the assembled throngs at  the 2017 annual shareholders meeting conference,  that his outfit changed the way the world worked.

Chambers, who was CEO between 1995 and 2015, announced last September that he would also step down from the chairmanship.

Chambers said the world had a perception that Cisco was merely a “router company” but it really was aiming big.

“When we outlined a vision, almost 27 years ago, we said this company can change the way the world literally works, lives, learns and plays”,  said Chambers.

“We had the courage to say that we can change the world and do it to the benefit of creating unprecedented opportunities for our shareholders, our customers, our employees and our partners. And we had the opportunity to really also establish a culture which is probably what I am most proud of.”

Chambers then congratulated current CEO Chuck Robbins on the smoothness of the transition into his leadership.

“This is often a transition that does not go well, especially in high tech,” he said. “I want to thank the board. It has been a joy. And very often people don’t realise a great company or leaders, everybody likes to write about the successes, but it’s really how you handle your challenges and your setbacks that determine if you’ve got a great company or not.”

Looking towards the future, Chambers said Cisco is going to be a company which leads in digitisation and will “once again continue to change the world.

“This company has the courage to dream big dreams like no one else, set audacious goals of being one or two in everything we do, build a team that is diverse and challenges each other and [is] not always in agreement, but once we decide to move, we move as one organisation,” said Chambers.

“Cisco will always be in my heart… I will move on to my next chapter in my life, which will be around start-ups and really generating jobs throughout the world,” he added.

 

Logicalis enters Cisco Gold

Posted on December 14, 2017 by - News

maxresdefaultLogicalis has become Cisco’s sixth Global Gold partner.

Cisco added the Global Gold tier to the top of its partner programme in May, allowing partners with certifications in different regions to access the same benefits across all their regions.

Each partner needs a total of 12 accreditations across Cisco’s global territories, and has to hit services and renewal targets.

Mark Rogers, CEO at Logicalis, said: “We are really happy to see that our investments in our team skills, our solid business processes and our truly integrated operations around the globe are now recognised.

“Most important is that our clients can be further assured of Logicalis’ unparalleled expertise and unwavering commitment to keep continuously reinvesting in the technologies and services that support their business.”

Logicalis joins the five firms that were announced as Global Gold partners in May: BT, Dimension Data, Ericsson, IBM and Orange Business Services.

Terrified customers spending on protection

Posted on December 14, 2017 by - News

krayPunters are terrified of cyber attacks and are spending cash to make sure they are not the latest victim according to the most recent survey by the research analysts at Canalys.

Canalys has been asking around and added up some numbers and decided that the worldwide security market grew by nine percent in the third quarter.

Content security enjoyed the fastest growth, up by 13 percent  year-on-year, with network security (eight percent) and security management (five percent) seeing rises in the third quarter.

Canalys research analyst Claudio Stahnke said that high-profile ransomware attacks and increasingly sophisticated phishing techniques had proved the need for businesses to reinforce their IT security to safeguard data assets and ensure continuity of operation.

The top five security vendors have commanded a third of all customer spend, with Cisco grabbing the most with nine percent. They were followed by Symantec, Check Point, IBM and McAfee.

“Cisco grew seven percent year on year, thanks to its strong channel partner focus and a broad product portfolio boosted by acquisitions”,  said Stahnke.

The prospects for the fourth quarter and next year are also looking positive as the pressure on protecting data increases against a backdrop of the introduction in May of the GDPR regulations.

“In 2018, as hackers intensify the use of AI, attacks will become more sophisticated. This will increase demand for comprehensive security solutions, favouring those vendors with broad product portfolios”, said Stahnke.

Next year should be good for the security channel.

“Security threats have never had more public awareness than they do currently. 2017 saw major events such as Wannacry galvanise the public’s attention and affect organisations all around the world. In 2018, security breaches will continue to hit the headlines and influence businesses into reviewing their data protection. And of course GDPR will be a major factor in promoting sales of security solutions”, said Ian Kilpatrick, EVP Cyber Security for Nuvias Group.

“The reality is that security will continue to be a high growth area for the channel. In a market which is already overcrowded with solutions, 2018 will bring great opportunities for resellers to build on their position as trusted advisors and guide clients through what may seem like a worrying and confusing scenario”, he added.

Dell EMC numbers rise thanks to servers

Posted on December 12, 2017 by - News

dellchannDell EMC saw its revenue jump 21 percent in the third quarter thanks to double-digit growth in the server department.

For the three months ending 3 November, Dell’s revenue increased to $19.6 million while operating losses narrowed 65 percent to $533 million.

Dell EMC saw revenue jump 26 percent to $5.9 billion. The revenue was split evenly between the two segments, with servers and networking jumping 32 percent and storage up 19 percent.

Dell chief financial officer Tom Sweet said: “In the third fiscal quarter, we delivered solid performance across the business.

“Moving forward, we’ll maintain our focus on profitable growth, generating strong cashflow and delivering a comprehensive and seamless solutions portfolio, incorporating the capabilities of all the companies under Dell Technologies.”

Dell’s client solutions division, which encompasses PCs and notebooks, saw growth of eight percent to $9.2 billion.

VMware revenue saw its revenue up 52 percent to just under $2 billion.

Entatech will pay out trade creditors

Posted on December 12, 2017 by - News

3bcd5c6Entatech Trade Creditors  are likely to get back 35 and 45 pence on the pound, according to the final administration report from KPMG.

Entatech went under in May owing £9.7 million to unsecured creditors, including £7 million  to trade creditors.

The firm’s administrators had previously reported that these creditors could expect to see a return of around two thirds, but in the final report, posted on Companies House, KPMG has revised this figure to 35 to 45 pence, “based on current estimates”. Entatech has now been moved into voluntary liquidation.

Much of it depends on the sale of Entatech’s Telford property which is expected to be worth about £2 million.

Microsoft is the largest trade creditor, with the vendor being owed just over £1. 2million.

Two of Entatech’s three secured creditors have been paid in full, while the third is expected to be paid in full once the property has been sold.

Preferential creditors are expected to be paid in full.

GNR acquired Entatech’s stock, contracts, domain names, intellectual property and goodwill for £300,001 on 12 May. Further payment was slated to be due depending on GNR’s sale of stock, with an additional £231,850 now set to be added to the initial fee.

Curry’s offers same day delivery

Posted on December 12, 2017 by - News

Currys-PC-World-2-in-1-in-640x427Currys PC World has partnered with delivery brand On the dot to launch a new same day delivery service across the UK.

The deal should help Currys take on Amazon whose same day delivery has been a bit of a killer.

Customers opting for same-day deliveries will be able to select a two-hour delivery timeslot of their choice that day, between 12pm-10pm. Same-day timeslots will automatically be displayed upon checkout to eligible customers: those placing an order for a small item before 4 pm. The new service, which runs seven days a week and costs customers £9.95, is available to shoppers within a 10-mile radius of one of 242 Currys PC World stores across the UK.

The new delivery offering from Currys PC World and On the dot complements a range of fulfilment options already available to its customers, such as standard and next day delivery.

During the week leading up to Black Friday, 32-inch TVs and cordless vacuum cleaners were amongst the most popular products purchased from Currys PC World with same-day delivery, and customers were favouring the 6pm-8pm delivery timeslot.

Stuart Ramage, eCommerce Director at Currys PC World, commented: “At Currys PC World, we pride ourselves on helping our customers get it right when it comes to purchasing electrical items and home appliances. From small screen televisions to microwave ovens, it’s important we get their purchase to them wherever they want it, when they want it. We’re excited to be partnering with On the dot to introduce same-day delivery, meaning our customers now have a suite of delivery options available to them, both online and in-store.”

Patrick Gallagher, CEO of On the dot – part of the CitySprint Group – said: “We are delighted that Currys PC World has chosen to work with On the dot for its new delivery offering. We know that consumers today expect to shop on their terms and it is retailers like Currys PC World who have put convenient delivery at the top of their agenda, that will succeed in retaining and attracting new customers.’’

Developed in 2015, On the dot is an innovative new technology platform, created specifically to help retailers offer highly convenient deliveries at prices comparable to next day delivery. On the dot is part of the CitySprint Group – the largest privately-owned same day courier fleet in the UK, with a regional network of 41 service centres. On the dot’s open API means it can be easily integrated into retailers’ existing checkouts and EPOS, both online and in-store and all deliveries are GPS tracked in real time, with SMS and email notifications.

Cloud cost models are inaccurate

Posted on December 11, 2017 by - News

Darts-missCloud cost models tend to be based on “inaccurate assumptions,” leading customers to see less savings than expected, according to a new report

Analytics platform provider TSO Logic has added up some numbers and penned a report with the catchy title of “Economics of Cloud Migration”. It thinks that user assumptions include believing a cloud provider’s hardware is similar to hardware being deployed on premises. The report hints that public cloud platforms may be newer with better price and/or performance.

The report says that there are too many assumptions around hardware pricing leading to customers saving less than expected or, sometimes, finding out that moving to the cloud is actually more expensive.

“Customers assume that hardware pricing is basically the same for on-premise and cloud platforms when in reality public cloud providers benefit from massive economies of scale and often create custom hardware and software configurations”, the report says.

The report adds that customers tend to think their current on-premises resources are balanced and that their datacentres are using power efficiently, when this may not be the case.

According to the vendor, the biggest oversight, however, is customers’ use of “incomplete ‘direct match’ methodologies when projecting cloud costs”.

“Baked into many cost models is the assumption that current on-premise resources are sized appropriately and that cloud instances should be provisioned exactly as they are provisioned on-premise. Most on-premise workloads – more than 80 percent – are currently overprovisioned.”

The vendor encourages a “right-sized match” approach where provisioning is conducted using historical utilisation patterns and only for cloud resources that workloads require. It claims that through this approach, customers see an annual savings of at least 30 percent with the cloud.

TSO Logic CEO Aaron Rallo, said: “Organisations have tried to manually map their current environments to cloud, yet accelerated change and the sheer number of cloud compute options makes that impossible now.

“Once you factor in modern compute capabilities, new service offerings and underused resources, organisations can slash their estimated cloud bill by… 36 percent, empowering them to focus on their core business with faster go-to-market execution and improved customer experience.”

 

Cloud access security brokers could be the latest thing

Posted on December 11, 2017 by - News

Cloud TV-videomind-ooyala_1Analyst outfit Gartner claims that more than half of large enterprises will be using a cloud access security broker (CASB) by 2020.

The analyst is predicting a sixfold increase over the next two years, because big business want to protect their burgeoning cloud infrastructures.

Only 10 percent of large enterprises are employing the products of a CASB vendor right now. But the CASB market itself has seen mass consolidation over recent years – with Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Symantec and Palo Alto Networks all acquiring CASB vendors to enter the space.

Gartner puts as the CASB market leader as Sky High Networks, which was recently acquired by McAfee.

It provides a gateway between an organisation’s on-premise infrastructure and a cloud provider’s infrastructure.

Gartner said the demand for CASB products will stem from a “need to secure the significantly increased adoption of cloud services and access to them from users both within and outside the traditional enterprise perimeter”.

 

 

Computec shuts as customers fume

Posted on December 11, 2017 by - News

29StoreIsSclosedCoventry-based Computec Trading has shut its doors and its customers are complaining that they have not received their orders.

Customers of the components reseller, which trades as Eclipse Computers, have taken been moaning on the review website Trusted Pilot that they have not received their orders and the company is saying nothing.

Eclipse’s website has been down since Wednesday and the offices are shut down and there had been rumours that it was in financial strife

An insolvency firm is supposed to have been taking on the case but so far no-one has claimed that they are taking on the case.

Eclipse specialised in PC components and peripheral devices, targeting the gaming market.

he Eclipse website went down on Wednesday and since then there has been no communication from the firm.

Computec Trading is listed as having two directors on Companies House, one of whom resigned at the end of October.

Both directors are listed owning a company called Eclipse Computer Supplies Limited, which went bust in 2013 owing money to a number of trade suppliers including Entatech, VIP, Beta Distribution and CMS Distribution.

 

Cybersecurity spend to increase

Posted on December 8, 2017 by - News

securityTarot readers working for analyst outfit Gartner claim that spending on cybersecurity will jump eight percent next year because of the spike in global breaches this year.

The analyst claims spending in 2018 will top $96 billion as end users protect themselves against threats, having seen the impact of WannaCry and NotPetya this year.

Gartner research director Ruggero Contu said a large portion of security spending is driven by an organisation’s reaction towards security breaches as more high-profile cyberattacks and data breaches affect organisations worldwide.

“Cyber attacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya, and most recently the Equifax breach, have a direct effect on security spend because these types of attacks last up to three years”, he said.

Gartner forecasts that services will make up over half of all security spending, at $57.7 billion. Services will also see greatest growth, at 8.8 percent.

The analyst claimed that regulatory compliance and data privacy have been “stimulating” security spending, citing GDPR and the US’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as key factors.

One of the key drivers driving services spending is a global skill shortage which has forced organisations to turn to cybersecurity consultancies.

“Skill sets are scarce and remain at a premium and top organisations to seek external help from security consultants, managed security service providers and outsourcers,” he added.

“In 2018, spending on security outsourcing services will total $18.5 billion which is an 11 percent increase from 2017.

“The IT outsourcing segment is the second-largest security spending segment after consulting.”

 

Juniper warns that networks are too complicated

Posted on December 8, 2017 by - News

63078f1c3ddb730c43c45986518654a0Juniper Networks’ CEO Rami Rahim has warned that networks have become too complex, and firms are ill prepared for IoT and 5G which will make matters worse.

He told the assorted throngs at Juniper Networks’ annual EMEA shin-dig in London that Networks have become too complex, fragile and difficult to manage… this could be this industry’s biggest challenge so far.

“Our driving strategy is what we call the pursuit of simplicity, because what I see as the main challenge of today is managing complexity,” he said.

He claimed his outfit’s Juniper’s PTX series core routers and packet transport routers were a solution to increasing complexity.

“We knew that there needed to be a more effective, and cost-effective, approach to deploying networks, and we invented this new concept of a lean core network with a product called the PTX which has been growing incredibly well for us. In fact, this year for the first time ever we have achieved number one market share in North America in core routing and that’s primarily because of this product line”, he said.

Rahim added that IoT and 5G were the two tech trends that will exacerbate the problems of excessive complexity and “fundamentally change network architectures”.

“This concept that we know today of the cloud being a central datacentre that is delivering services to the masses will reach a breaking point due to IoT and 5G”, Rahim said.

“If you think of the billions of devices that are going to be connected to this global network, the time between sensing the data from sensors – that are typically going to be video cameras – then collecting, acting, processing and then feeding back the intelligence into the network, that process is going to need to get tighter”, he said.

Goodnight Vienna as Kaspersky shuts Washington

Posted on December 8, 2017 by - News

white-houseKaspersky has shut its Washington office after the US government ordered all departments to remove the vendor’s software from its systems.

In September the US Department of Homeland Security gave government organisations 90 days to remove all traces of Kaspersky, citing “ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence”.

Kaspersky vice president Anton Shingarev is said to have confirmed the news in an interview in Moscow.

Shingarev slammed the US’s stance on cybersecurity compared with European governments.

“What I like about Europe is that their regulators are fact-driven”, he said, before accusing the US of making decisions based on “speculations”.

We guess he was not talking about the UK where the  UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) advised that a government organisation should not use a Russian-based cybersecurity company if it is processing “secret” information.  It stopped short of advising all organisations to ditch Kaspersky completely.

In fact the NCSC said that it did not want people doing things like ripping out Kaspersky software at large, as it makes little sense.

The NCSC also said that it was working with Kaspersky to discuss whether a framework could be developed that will provide assurances of Kaspersky’s integrity to UK organisations.

In fact, the NCSC was talking about central government, which has a “relatively small” number of systems running Kaspersky.

Eugene Kaspersky slammed the media coverage following the NCSC’s advice, writing on Twitter that Kasperksy’s presence in the UK was not at risk.

On Twitter, he said: “Let me stress: there is no ban for KL (Kaspersky Lab) products in the UK.”

 

Cloud Distribution gets two new vendors

Posted on December 7, 2017 by - News

two-clouds-1385018843_27_contentfullwidthCloud Distribution has signed up two new vendors and created a new data centre infrastructure team.

The firm has signed distribution agreements with data virtualisation vendor Actifio and flash memory outfit Accelstor.

Cloud previously operated a centralised team of sales, marketing and technical staff across its IT areas, but has split its teams into security, networking and data centre areas.

The move has come about because the outfit has been seeing more opportunities coming from its datacentre business due to business moves to the cloud.

The new team will pull together products from its data centre portfolio to put together go-to-market strategies for Cloud’s reseller partners.

Actifio is seen to be ahead of the others in the backup and disaster-recovery space.

Cloud also becomes Accelstor’s first distributor in the UK, with the Taiwanese flash vendor looking to disrupt a market that has seen several new players and vendor consolidation recently.

 

Maintel explains its poor 2017 showing

Posted on December 7, 2017 by - News

ultimate-guilty-dogs-compilation-350x197Systems integrator and managed services provider Maintel has given three reasons why it has had to revise its profit expectations.

It has just released a trading update stating that it had expected to recover the reduction in gross margin in the first half of this financial year, but “it is now evident that this will not happen”, and then outlined three reasons for the revision.

The first centred on the acquisition of Azzurri Communications in May 2016. This deal arrived with two large legacy contracts that were due to wind down over the trading period up to the end of first-half 2018.
“Both of these contracts generated higher gross margins than the group’s average contracts”, said the firm.

“Both contracts have migrated away more quickly than expected and, as a result, less revenue than originally anticipated will be generated from these customers throughout the second half of full-year 2017 and the first half of 2018.”

The second reason was that managed services and technology performance has “been adversely impacted” by delays to customer installations following the Avaya Chapter 11 process.

“The impact has been greater than expected due to prolonged delays in the resolution of the process.

The bankruptcy court approved Avaya’s reorganisation on 28 November, enabling Avaya to exit Chapter 11 by the end of 2017.

“Regarding Avaya, the group is pleased to report that ordering activity started to recover in November which will positively impact Q1 2018”, Maintel said.

The third reason concerned the integration of Intrinsic Technology, which is “going well”, with all of the Intrinsic systems migrated onto one system on 1 December.

“The revenue contribution is in line with our expectations at the time of the acquisition although the gross margins achieved have been lower than anticipated,” the firm stated.

Maintel now forecasts that it will have adjusted EBITDA in the range of £12.5 to £13 million. That still represents a 12 to 18 percent increase on the £11 million adjusted profit before tax posted last year after the acquisition of Azzurri Communications pushed revenue up 114 percent to £108 million.

Analysts are expected a full-year dividend to grow 10 percent year on year in line with existing guidance.