Nearly six months after the government first published its G-Cloud strategy, with which it hopes to make savings of £200m per annum through 2015, just 19% felt the plans had been well-communicated to the public sector, and 17% said they did not fully understand the plans because they hadn’t bothered to examine them yet.

Buyers were by-and-large sceptical that the government would hit its target of 50% of new IT spending on public cloud services by 2015, with 63% giving the thumbs down. Reasons cited were a need to maintain legacy services; tie-in to existing contracts; security fears and costs, among other things.

A majority of 59% of respondents said they were undecided or did not know whether or not they would use G-Cloud to procure IT services, compared to 31% who said they definitely or probably would.

Approximately 45% felt positive about the plans, and 41% were indifferent or negative, and while respondents were generally clear on what they wanted to get out of the framework – costs, ease of procurement and more choice of services were all cited – 46% were unsure on whether the G-Cloud could actually deliver those benefits. In terms of budgetary savings, 43% could not identify the kind of savings they might make from cloud computing.

VMware’s head of public sector strategy Andy Tait said there was still a “big job” ahead in convincing senior decision makers in the public sector to move in a cloudy direction.

“There is a huge incentive for the government if they can overcome these issues; we believe the targets are a drop in the ocean compared ot the potential savings that can be achieved.

“And with budgets under so much pressure and front-line services being affected, we ding it concerning that many actually find the government’s targets to be too high,” Tait concluded.

The G-Cloud supplier framework includes a number of well-known channel players, including Rackspace, Redstone and Trustmarque.

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/cloud-computing/more-clarity-needed-around-g-cloud-urges-vmware/

The PC builder claimed this ongoing quest for operational efficiency required it to “rationalise resources and capabilities between business units.”

In an emailed statement, Dell said: “Through this process, we’ll continue to keep our teams informed and look for opportunities to grow our people.

“Dell remains committed to its successful operations in the UK [and] the UK will continue to play a pivotal role,” the company spokesperson added.

Dell declined to put a figure to the number of workers who will be shown the door.

The news comes as rival HP is also expected to make cuts in the near future, a good number of which may well come from within its PC division.

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/managing-sales-force/dell-confirms-uk-jobs-on-the-line/

Having off-loaded Comet to Opcapita for the princely sum of £2 back in February the latest trading update was a snapshot of life post that disposal. 

Having retreated back to its home turf in France the retailer found life was still a struggle with year-on-year sales down 5.9% for the 16 ended 30 April.

Operations in Italy and Spain did little to contribute in a positive way and were highlighted as some of the problems the firm faced.

“Trading conditions have been volatile and have remained weak in most of our markets, particularly in vision (TVs) and in Italy and Spain,” said chief executive Thierry Falque-Pierrotin.

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/credit-finance/post-comet-life-remains-tough-for-kesa/

As official Fusion Data installation distributors, they have teamed up to launch the Formula Fusion 2012. The season will run across the country until October.

Regional heats are already underway with dealers and data installers revving up for glory and a shot at a driving prize. Six heats will see the competitors reaching speeds of up to 80 miles an hour in karts barely an inch off the ground.

The top four drivers from each session qualify for the Grand Final Grand Prix at Whilton Mills in Northamptonshire on October 12th, when the industry’s fastest driver will be crowned.

The first heat at Thruxton in April attracted 20 customers who were eager to show off their driving skills despite some testing weather conditions. Forthcoming events include: Three Sisters at Wigan on 29 June and Teesside Karting in Middlesbrough on 20 July.

The winner will enjoy a supercar PalmerSport driving day, putting some of the fastest cars on the planet through their paces at Bedford Autodrome.

Nimans’ dealer sales director, Tom Maxwell, said: “With one extra regional qualifier and two new circuits on the calendar this year, drivers have the chance to test their driving skills on some of the most prestigious outdoor kart circuits in the UK. There’s sure to be plenty of thrills and spills!”

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/marketing/resellers-compete-for-pole-position-with-nimans/

It is thought that the bulk of the cuts will impact in three main areas, IT services, PCs (PSG) and imaging and printing (IPG), all areas where HP has struggled to remain competitive, to the extent that it merged PSG and IPG earlier this year.

According to Bloomberg, a good number of the redundancies would be made through early retirement offers, and the vendor expects to save over a billion dollars as a result. 

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/managing-sales-force/hp-on-verge-of-massive-job-cuts-say-reports/

Chris Harman, regional vice president for Mindjet, said 2011 had been an important year for the firm, “having continued to sustain multiple years of high growth, announced major product launches and affirmed our mobile offering to help companies and their teams work smarter together.

“It is testament to the dedication and expertise of our channel partners that we have been successful in doing this,” he added.

The new managers are responsible for maximising growth in their regions by supporting and developing new and existing channel partners. 

New UK channel manager Alexis Gorton joins Mindjet from managing sales operations for EMEA at Noble Security and will be responsible for driving the region to achieve its growth rate targets.

Gorton previously worked at Dell for 11 years in various roles, most recently managing hardware and software deployments into large accounts.

Said Harman: “The channel is very important to us and the addition of four new members to our channel team will ensure we continue supporting our partners in growing their own business and achieving continued success together with Mindjet in 2012.”

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/software/mindjet-makes-uk-channel-appointment/

IDS,a long-standing member of the ZyXEL Partner Program, has become a Premium Solution Partner, joining just half a dozen service providers across the UK in the highest tier of the network vendor’s partner program.

IDS managing director John Prescott said becoming a ZyXEL Premium Solution Partner validated the company’s commitment to offering a high-quality, value-for-money service.

As a Premium Solution Partner, IDS who provide business network solutions to organisations of all sizes across a range of industry sectors, can offer enhanced product knowledge and technical support for Firewall security and network switching.

“World class products and solutions such as those from ZyXEL are limited only by the calibre of the people working with them,” said Prescott. “With fully qualified ZyXEL Engineers on our team, IDS offers in-depth product knowledge and outstanding technical support, enabling the client to get the most from their investment in the technology.”

“Companies now consider firewall security as a top priority as their utilisation of internet and internet-based application grows. In becoming a ZyXEL Premium Solution Partner, IDS can design and manage a solution around their particular needs that won’t break the bank.”
 he added.

“We truly value our customers and to award IDS with Premium Solution Partner Status is testament to the strategic partner approach that gives value to both parties on existing network rollouts in the UK,” said Mark Torrans, ZyXEL’s Head of Service Provider Group UK and Ireland,

“With IDS holding such an exclusive client base, ZyXEL will always be in the background to provide support and training where it is needed and we look forward to a long term committed relationship with IDS over the coming years.”

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/network-communications/ids-named-to-zyxel-elite-partner-squad/

The programme, which will be available in the UK Germany and across EMEA, will strengthen the partnership between the two and create new opportunities for channel partners targeting the network security market. It will help Palo Alto to enhance its level of support for the resellers and optimise market reach.

“Palo Alto Networks offers best in-class next generation firewall solutions. This technology will help channel partners across EMEA drive business growth in the network security market,” said Anthony Greenhalgh, director of supplier acceleration, networking and security, Avnet Technology Solutions, EMEA.

“We are very excited about the partnership with Avnet,” said Brett Eldridge, vice president of global customer engineering and support at Palo Alto. “Avnet’s comprehensive training programme and distribution network will provide our channel partners with best-of-class support to enable them to quickly gain an in-depth understanding of our product portfolio and the network security market.”

Greenhalgh added: “The training programme will enable Palo Alto to leverage our understanding of local markets and sound technology expertise to build additional routes to partners across EMEA.”

The curriculum, aimed at security engineers, network engineers and IT support staff will weigh practical sessions and market insight to help partners incorporate Palo Alto’s technology into datacentre solutions.

Delegates will be trained how to install, configure and manage firewalls, as well as configuration steps for the security, networking, threat prevention, logging and reporting features of the Palo Alto Networks Operation System (PAN-OS).

The training programme is currently being rolled out in territories across EMEA from Avnet’s UK Resource Centre.

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/security/avnet-launches-emea-wide-training-for-palo-alto-resellers/

The EDA specialises in running events for IT buyers to discuss issues around and best practice techniques for deploying Macs, iPhones and iPads, and as a UK partner Trams will be an active participant in these programmes.

It is also planning to co-host webcasts discussing the wider implications of integrating, securing and managing personal devices, a trend that largely originated with the advent of the iPhone and iPad.

“Trams has a reputation for busienss and technical accmen that will help our European customers as they deal with mobile devices, Macs, cloud, BYOD and other challenges brought on by the consumerisation of IT,” said EDA president T Reid Lewis, who is also president of Virginia, US-based data management services specialist GroupLogic.

Added Trams business development manager Mike Saunders: “The solutions from EDA member companies make it easier for IT organisations to extend their established Windows expertise and infrastructure to manage Macs, iPhones and iPads.”

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/hardware/trams-signs-up-to-windows-interoperability-body/

Having built up a successful business supplying fixed-wireless broadband and microwave comms solutions through an informal network of resellers, across industries including wireless ISPs, heavy industry – such as offshore oil exploration – and public admin and safety, Cambium UK regional sales manager Graham Gilbert said the intent was to put a more formal stamp on proceedings.

“The objective is to ensure the Cambium branding matches customer expectations, and to make sure the technical training we deliver offers some value to a reseller as well,” Gilbert told MicroScope.

“We’re developing solutions that take effort both to learn about and deliver, and to help that we’re also launching ecosystem partnerships, which will help resellers put the glue behind these solutions,” he said.

Cambium, which grew out of Nortel technical heritage into a firm called Orthogon Systems and was acquired by Motorola in 2006, already has about 60 partners in the UK, which will all be grandfathered into the new programme. It is also on the hunt for new resellers and integrators.

“We want to position radio as an addition to solution areas; in terms of opportunity, anybody involved in VoIP, SIP carriers, our technology can help you meet quality of service obligations,” said Gilbert.

“Radio is still a cool technology because it’s rapid and temporary; take large public events with no connectivity, such as Glastonbury, where Wi-Fi networks can be put up quickly and torn down a week later.”

Article source: http://www.microscope.co.uk/technology/network-communications/motorola-spin-off-cambium-rubber-stamps-partner-programme/