Computer Reseller News March 09

March 2009

Inside 





Lenovo tackles the server field P9>> Comztek stays bullish in turbulent times p17>> The server space remains vibrant p28>>

Even with its poor global performance p35>>

EDITOR’S: NOTE

Its great to be in Africa, at least at the moment

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nce again I did my rounds last month and spoke to some company executives about the somewhat damp mood that the business world seems to be in both on a global and local scale. Expecting to hear nothing but news about doom and gloom on the horizon, I was pleasantly surprised to gather from most of then the fact that at the moment, the best place to do business is in emerging markets and specifically our own. Two vendors, EMC and LG Electronics both said that they would be seeing a lot of business being done in the emerging market segment and pointed out South Africa as being one of those countries that would see significant growth in revenues. Although I am very aware that the global recession has not passed us by and even if we have not yet felt its full impact, it is great to see multinationals feeling so excited about doing business here. Some might even say that these companies are just avoiding the obvious truth, but even a local distribution company like Comztek says that it is staying bullish and will see good business coming its way provided it sticks to its principles. One feels happy to be African during times like these because for a change the continent is not being talked about in terms of famine, bad politics and disease; but for its potential as a vibrant economic landscape that will see increased technological adoption for many years to come. I take my hat off to all corporations, regardless of their discipline, who are showing the continent a lot of attention as it is no secret that it has the greatest need for technology and by advancing technologically, it will firmly take its rightful place in the global village.

Kaunda Chama – editor

Contents News & Analysis 4 – What’s News 5 – Comings and goings 6 – Demand Generator takes a look at how Microsoft’s new baby gets industry acceptance 8 – Hi Five

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9 – Lenovo tackles server field CRN Contacts: Editor:

10 – Novell trains partners

Kaunda Chama [email protected]

Associatte editor: Michelle Sturman

11 – Printacom launches new printing division 14 – Symantec lays it on the line 15 – Building blocks

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[email protected]

16 – LG sees potential in emerging markets Journalist: Dominic Khuzwayo [email protected]

Brand executive:

17 – Comztek still bullish in turbulent times. By Kaunda Chama and George Maseko 35 – Cover story: EMC sees gold in SA. By Kaunda Chama

Hellen Murahwa [email protected]

Features

Sub-editor:

25 – Database Software: With the demand for data and storage needs not slowing down any time soon, it is only natural for the database software market to be alive and kicking. By Stanley Chishala

Jenny Bastomsky [email protected]

Designer: Spencer van Graan [email protected]

Database and subscriptions: Daisy Mulenga [email protected]

copyright notice CRN Southern Africa is published monthly by Systems Publishers (Pty) Ltd. The copyright of all material in this publication is reserved by the proprietors, except where expressly stated. The publisher, however, will consider reasonable requests for the use of material by others on condition that the source and author of the report are clearly attributed. Due to the nature of the newspaper print process, Systems Publishers cannot be held responsible for colour variations in printed advertising. Printed by Ultra Litho. CRN Southern Africa is a licensee of CMP Media LLC.

Private Bag X12, Rivonia, 2128 Tel: (011) 234 7008 Fax: (011) 234 7025 Registered with the Audit Bureau of Circulation

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27 – Servers: According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market declined 14 per cent year over year to $13.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 (Q408), marking the second consecutive quarter of market decline. By Dominic Khuzwayo 30 – Storage: No matter how the ICT landscape changes or what happens in the general economic environment, much like security, the need for faster and larger capacity storage solutions always seems to be on the increase. By George Maseko

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Product and technology 38 – Creative Inspire M5300 speakers review 39 – LG KT610 review

Parting shots 40 – Snapshot: Gary Jameson: Eaton Power Quality 40 – Dilbert

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • MARCH 2009

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WHAT’S

NEWS

New notebook hard drives from WD

Lenovo steps into the server space

Drive Control Corporation (DCC) has announced the availability of the new Western Digital (WD) Scorpio Blue 2.5-inch 500GB notebook hard drives. According to DCC, the WD Scorpio Blue 500GB is the highest capacity 2.5-inch, standard form-factor (9.5mm) hard drive shipping to date, and is developed for use in OEM notebook platforms. Manivassen Naicker, Western Digital product specialist at DCC says: “The trend towards larger hard drive capacities is increasing dramatically and WD is now able to offer larger capacities to mobile workers that require additional hard-drive space for their applications, data, photos and videos.”

Lenovo has officially entered the server space with the launch of its ThinkServer range. Designed for SMBs, the ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack servers are equipped with Intel Core 2 Duo or Xeon 3000 or 3200 processors and are best suited for small offices using simple applications such as email, messaging and file storage. Additionally, ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Henry Ferreira Tower or RD20 Rack servers are equipped with Intel Xeon 3000 or 5000 processors and are ideal for medium-sized businesses that require additional capabilities such as database applications and virtualisation. Henry Ferreira, country manager, Lenovo SA comments: “Lenovo is now delivering a full suite of product offerings for SMBs from desktops, notebooks and netbooks to servers. We believe this is an opportunity for Lenovo to capture more market share in SA and to establish us in the important small business market.”

Microsoft release BizSpark Microsoft has unveiled a new initiative: BizSpark. BizSpark is set to give start-up software companies low or no-cost access to its tools and technologies, with technical and marketing support to help them develop and take their products to market. Microsoft says qualified start-ups get access to a range of Microsoft technology, such as Visual Studio Team Suite, for up to three years at negligible upfront cost. They can also access a network of organisations – start-up incubators, investors, advisers, government agencies and even potential customers – with an interest in software-fuelled innovation and entrepreneurship. To be considered, start-ups must be private companies in the business of software development and less than three years old with under US $1 million in annual revenue.

New IT67 Enterprise Rigid RFID Asset Tag ProScan Enterprise Mobility, a member of the ProScan Group, recently introduced the Intermec IT67 Enterprise Lateral Transmitting (LT) RFID Tag. According to ProScan, the Intermec IT67 enables superior multidirectional reading performance, designed specifically to support portal and forklift applications. In addition, users can now read the data from the IT67 laterally, eliminating the need to face the tag directly. This allows enterprises to streamline operations and track assets more effectively without the need for checkpoints. The IT67 is ideal for industries that track large metal containers such as the automotive, postal and waste management industries.

Faritec cuts costs Faritec has announced a decline in revenue for the six months to 31 December 2008 and a slight deterioration in gross profit margins for the same period. Faritec CEO Simon Tomlinson says revenue has declined by 18 per cent from R502 million to R414 million compared to the same period last year; earnings before interest, taxation, Simon Tomlinson depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased to a loss of R11.6 million; and gross profit margins have decreased slightly from 24 per cent to 23 per cent, mainly as a result of significant pressure on hardware margins. This has resulted in a significant decrease in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to -8,3 cents and earnings per share (EPS) to -8,3 cents. The group remains cash positive, reporting a closing balance of R42 million. The group also raised a deferred tax asset for the period of R10 million.

Car adapter for laptops in stock PartServe Channel Support, a company focused exclusively on the southern African IT services channel, has launched its universal car adapter for laptops. According to PartServe, the new adapter works on nearly all laptop brands, including Dell, HP, Sony, Acer, Compaq, NEC, Asus, IBM, Samsung, Fujitsu, Apple and Toshiba. PartServe claims this is ideal for people who spend a lot of time travelling and need to charge their laptop between appointments or who need to use a laptop after a long-distance drive and cannot risk running out of power. Lee Bowes, PartServe channel support directorm says the universal car adapter is the first automatic voltage-regulated car adapter in SA.

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Sony comes to Melrose Arch Sony Electronics South Africa will launch its fourth Sony Centre at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg on Saturday, 28 March 2009. The Melrose Arch Sony Centre is set to be yet another success story for Sony as its three contemporaries in the Menlyn Shopping Centre in Pretoria; Eastgate Shopping Centre in Johannesburg; and Gaborone in Botswana have enjoyed tremendous success. Sony says, for Blu-ray enthusiasts, one of the highlights of the Melrose Arch Sony Centre will be its comprehensive range of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray titles; enjoying prideof-place in the store with an eye-catching display and expert sales staff.

HP announces support for Windows Mobile 6.5 HP has announced plans to support the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system on future smartphone devices. According to Susan Macke, VP, Marketing, Handheld Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP Windows Mobile 6.5 on HP smartphones will offer key enhancements to business productivity, personal messaging and mobile Internet capabilities, making it even easier for mobile customers to communicate and to manage critical business and personal information. Macke says the enhanced mobile Internet experience and greater personalisation capabilities boost the opportunities for Windows-based smartphones in broader market segments. “HP continues to work towards developing smartphones that simplify the mobile experience and meet evolving customer needs. Working closely with key partners, such as Microsoft, allows for smooth integration of new technologies for the best possible customer experience,” she says.

COMINGS

COMINGS HP appoints new MEMA MD

&

HP has appointed Santiago Cortés as MD and VP, Technology Solutions Group (TSG), HP Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa (MEMA). Cortés succeeds Ken Willett, who has led HP MEMA for the past two years, and who was recently promoted to drive HP’s sales strategy and productivity in EMEA. Francesco Serafini, MD, HP EMEA says Cortés will drive the TSG business for HP’s MEMA region, which covers 71 countries, and lead the regional management team. “Cortés’ proven track record of growing HP to become one of the largest IT companies in the Iberian market, and building close relationships with many enterprise customers will help tremendously in continuing to strengthen our leadership position in these very important and high-growth markets,” Serafini says.

SAS appoints new vice president for AME region SAS has appointed Riad Gydien VP for Africa and the Middle East. Gydien was promoted to head of operations for the Africa and Middle East region late last year, in addition to his duties as the South African country manager. This promotion sees his territory expand further to include Pakistan and Turkey. Gydien will be involved with SAS’ future strategies in the region. In addition, he will be tasked with ensuring better alignment and centralisation of resources to achieve better cohesion between

HP, Sun Microsystems sign deal HP and Sun Microsystems have expanded a multi-year partnership agreement for Solaris on HP ProLiant Servers. This agreement will enable HP to distribute and provide software technical support for Sun’s Solaris10 operating system on the HP ProLiant server and blade system platforms. Additionally, under the agreement Sun Microsystems becomes a strategic HP ProLiant OS distribution partner and Solaris is now elevated to the lineup of key operating environments for the HP ProLiant platform. The new deal sets the course for the companies to work together to expand demand for both Solaris and OpenSolaris on both HP ProLiant servers and server blades into new markets. According to the two companies, by providing a single point of purchase, contact and accountability for Solaris on HP ProLiant, HP and Sun are improving the overall customer experience.

Bytes Document Solutions goes to Zim Bytes Document Solutions has appointed Document Support Centre as its exclusive distributor in Zimbabwe. Document Support Centre has

AND GOINGS:

GOINGS

offices in the region as well as the sharing of intellectual property to better serve customers.

XON appoints Deon Prinsloo XON, one of SA’s black-empowerment ICT groups, has appointed Deon Prinsloo to head its hardware division. Prinsloo says the business has an extensive service footprint with offices and personnel in all the major national and regional centres, and a centralised service and support function in Midrand, Gauteng. He adds that he aims to differentiate XON from traditional hardware resellers by offering value-added services based on XON’s national service and support infrastructure. He also intends paying more attention to the often neglected mid-market. “Hardware resellers traditionally focus their fight for market share on enterprise accounts and neglect the mid-market,” he says.

New marketing manager for Softline Softline, one of the leading providers of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions recently appointed Hazel van der Lith as group marketing manager. Van der Lith will be responsible for communications across the Softline business divisions and will deal closely with the parent company, Sage Group plc, to interpret and roll-out global strategies locally. Van der Lith’s career spans advertising, retail and corporate marketing.

recruited Xerox technical and sales staff from Harare, all of whom have received certified training from the Xerox Training Centre in Johannesburg. “For more than three decades, Xerox products and services have been delivered to educational institutions, and large commercial and financial enterprises in Zimbabwe,” says Rob Abraham, MD of Bytes Document Solutions. “During this period Zimbabwe has often experienced difficult trading conditions and foreign currency shortages. Despite this, Bytes Document Solutions has ensured that Xerox users in Zimbabwe have had access to competent technical support along with spare parts and consumables, often at its own expense,” adds Abraham.

DCC to sell HP PCs Drive Control Corporation (DCC) has announced that it has obtained the rights to distribute and sell HP’s range of desktop and notebook computers. Esna-May Hattingh, HP’s business unit manager, DCC, says this agreement gives DCC a broader range of products to take to its resellers, giving customers a more extensive offering. “Obtaining the rights to sell HP PCs and notebooks was the next logical step for DCC. We already distribute HP’s range of printers and print supplies, and have a variety of complementary product offerings that will be greatly enhanced by HP PCs and notebooks,” she says. She adds that all HP sales people have been sent on the necessary PC and notebook training courses to fully understand the products and their associated benefits.

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DEMAND

GENERATOR:

MS DYNAMICS NAV SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

MS Dynamics NAV gets thumbs up Delivering the right solutions. BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

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he recently launched Microsoft Dynamics NAV software seems to be getting early thumbs up from customers. In South Africa it was launched February this year. According to the software giants, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a comprehensive management solution that helps people work faster and smarter. Ideal for small and midsized business, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is set to give business the flexibility to adapt to new opportunities and growth. Sandie Overtveld, business and marketing group, Microsoft SA says, one of the first to deploy Microsoft Dynamics NAV in South Africa is the Department of Land Affairs. Another company that is praising the NAV is Trident SA, one of the leading designer and manufacturer of mining machinery. Trident, which employs some 300 people, has seen it processes streamlined since installing the system, and is expecting its revenues to soar. Simon Lewis, CIO, Trident, says, “The implementation has simplified our operations incredibly; it has also given us an accurate picture of our business in that we need to support critical business decision-making, and generates the kind of reports we need to now operate decisively in the global arena.” Lewis adds that simplicity is key in making ERP systems accessible to end users. In the

case of NAV, the system interfaces with other Microsoft applications, so users do not have to learn a new interface, making training a simple affair, and improvements immediate. “To this end, our staff really liked the ability to run things out of Outlook,” says Lewis. According to Lewis, NAV has helped his company anticipate its clients’ needs better, creating a more proactive environment and enhancing relationships while growing a secondary revenue stream. “Through NAV, we are able to get an overview of each customer and their purchasing history, and we can now proactively recommend complementary components to our customers.” “We have heavily extended what you can do in terms of personalisation. And you don’t have to ask your IT department to do this for you, after all these days, people often want to do things themselves.” In addition, Trident now manages to eliminate a good deal of human error in its processes. All shipping documentation and invoices – which were previously handled manually – are now generated and bar-coded by the NAV system, allowing all orders to be tracked and administered efficiently. Microsoft says companies choosing to deploy Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 will

have access to 21 roles for line of business managers upon installation, and they will be able to create and define roles specific to their business. Sales managers need regular updates on who bought what. Marketing executives want to keep track of their budgets and impact. CFOs need to see revenue, or update the payroll module when raises are given. From a business perspective, role-tailored user experience is a massive boost to users’ productivity – it gives you just what you need, just when you need it, explains Overtveld. The product will also allow users to search for information across NAV as well as other systems to which it connects. Overtveld says, “The launch of NAV 2009 is the latest thrust by Microsoft into the lucrative ERP midmarket. “With the top end of the ERP market fairly saturated right now, there’s a lot of opportunity for savvy vendors in the mid-market.” “A big trend in ERP is for companies to have fewer and fewer diverse systems running, as they look to consolidate their various business applications on one platform. That’s an area we believe South African companies will find appealing,” he adds. “Microsoft will be bullish in 2009 and if you are our competitor you better be worried,” concludes Overtveld.

HIGH FIVE: SOFTLINE SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

New marketing head for Softline Gearing for growth with new minds. BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

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n this month’s High Five section, CRN features Hazel van der Lith who was recently appointed the group Marketing manager for Softline. Softline is one of the leading providers of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions to small, medium and large sized companies. Van de Lith will be responsible for the communications across the Softline business and deals closely with the parent company, Sage Group plc, to interpret and roll out global strategies locally. CRN had a chat with van de Lith whose career spans from advertising, retail and corporate marketing.

CRN: What gives you the edge? Hazel van de Lith: I believe that I am able to bring an idea from concept to fruition, effectively and efficiently. I am highly experienced in process management and have honed my ability to align multiple resources in order to achieve the goal at hand.

CRN: What are you planning to achieve this year? HVDL: I plan to immerse myself in the business management software category and learn as much as possible about the dynamics of this highly challenging and competitive industry. I also plan to launch and roll out a global brand alignment project within our unique South African context. This project is being spearheaded globally by our parent company Sage Group plc.

CRN: How are you seeing the software market doing this year? HVDL: I believe we will see consolidation and rationalisation in the market, which is applicable to every category of business. Companies will become more discerning and cautious about their approach to business. They need to box a lot smarter. I do believe that the emerging markets face a period of higher growth than the mature markets, and will show more resilience to economic pressures.

CRN: How has the economic downturn affected the marketing field? HVDL: Budgetary pressure is top of mind. Marketers are required to achieve a lot more with the same amount of money. I believe times of pressure also provide opportunity if you buy smarter. Companies are under pressure to maintain their brands’ share of voice. This will have an effect further down the line when the economy enters a recovery phase. I am definitely going to ensure that I spend every Rand wisely and make sure that we achieve return on investment. I believe that being aggressive in tough times will pay off significantly when the economy recovers.

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“I am definitely going to ensure that I spend every Rand wisely and make sure that we achieve return on investment.” – Hazel van der Lith, Softline.

CRN: What can you promise your partners this year? HVDL: From a group point of view, I believe all the divisions of Softline are geared to work towards delivering an extraordinary customer experience. As for our partners, our intention has always been to collaborate with them to create mutually beneficial business relationships that are prosperous and sustainable.

ANALYSIS: LENOVO SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Lenovo

tackles server field SMBs show server demand. BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

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fter years of being a dominant player in the PC and notebook field, Lenovo is now officially tackling the server field with its recently launched ThinkServer line. According to Lenovo, the ThinkServers are tuned to provide an out-of-the-box solution for small and medium businesses that require robust performance and high levels of storage, but don’t have dedicated IT staff to manage a server environment. The company launched three towers and two racks x86 servers, providing a scalable offering to fit the varying needs of businesses ranging in size from one to 500 employees. The ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack servers are equipped with Intel Core 2 Duo or Xeon 3000 or 3200 processors and are best suited for small offices utilising

delivering a full suite of product offerings for small and medium businesses from desktops to notebooks to servers.” “We believe this is an opportunity for Lenovo to capture more market share in South Africa and establish Lenovo in the important small business market,” adds Ferreira. The SMB market seems to be the answer for many vendors and it looks like vendors are making servers more affordable to the SMB marketplace, smaller businesses can now afford an entry-level server. According to Greg Pothitos, servers are performing very well in the SMB space. “The technology is becoming far more affordable and people are getting more bang for their buck. Vendors however need

“Lenovo is now delivering a full suite of product offerings for small and medium businesses from desktops to notebooks to servers.” – Henry Ferreira, Lenovo.

simple applications such as email, messaging and storing files. They are also suitable for use as Web servers. Additionally, ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD20 Rack servers are equipped with Intel Xeon 3000 or 5000 processors and are ideal for medium-sized businesses that require additional capabilities such as database applications and virtualisation. Newly appointed, Henry Ferreira, country manager, Lenovo SA says, “Lenovo is now

to start communicating to the masses and place less emphasis on their large reseller programmes.” In addition, Lenovo says that ThinkServer customers can take advantage of a 90-day trial of ThinkPlus Priority Support services as they set up their servers for the first time. And the company is also extending its commitment to business partners by offering the full ThinkServer line as well as service and support through Tarsus and Pinnacle Micro.

Henry Ferreira, Lenovo Ravi Perumal general manger, Annex Distribution says, the SMB market will show greater demand for server products, as reliability and up time is key, especially with virtualisation. A medium sized company could use one server for multiple applications, thus showing a considerable cost saving and showing value in upgrading their current servers. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market declined 3.3% to US $53.3 billion, while worldwide unit shipments grew 2.0% to 8.1 million units. This is the first time the server market has exceeded 8.0 million units in a calendar year, reflecting continued demand for new physical servers even as virtualisation makes significant gains in the enterprise. With the economic still in a weak state, Ferreira admits that the IT industry is going to have a tough this year. However, Lenovo says looking at market opportunities for servers worldwide at $31 billion and $8 billion EMEA, it wants a piece of that pie.

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ANALYSIS: NOVELL SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Novell trains partners Positioning for take off.

BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

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oftware giant, Novell recently held its annual REDucation partner summit in Johannesburg. The event is aimed at bringing its partner ecosystem up to date with latest developments in Novell’s solutions sets and go-to-market strategy. According to Novell, attendance was up 58 per cent on last year and more than 20 per cent of attendees were from organisations new to the Novell partner ecosystem. Novell claimed that over 90 per cent of attendees said they learnt new information about Novell through the event and would consider new approaches to working with the company as a result of their attendance. In times when vendors need to translate their message clearly, the same message must be transferred correctly to their partners. Most partners want to know what their vendors are promising them in these crucial times. However, Novell claims it doesn’t make a living until its partners get what they want. Michelle Beetar, MD at Novell SA says Novell’s solutions are extremely well positioned in the current economic environment. “We have compelling value propositions

Michelle Beetar MD, Novell SA that we support our partners in the areas that matter most to them: ensuring profitability; making it easier to do business with Novell; investing in their growth; and enabling them for success.” When asked about what Novell is aiming to achieve this year, Beeter says: “We’re going for growth and that’s across all our solution sets.” In addition, Beeter says that Novell has the edge in identity and security management in this country and doesn’t expect that to slow

“We’re working hard to continue educating the market on what Novell has to offer, that’s our biggest challenge and opportunity.” – Michelle Beetar MD, Novell SA. that allow our partners to service our joint customers and assist in reducing the total cost of ownership of their IT environments, minimising complexity and mitigating risk.” Beeter adds that these messages resonate well in all organisations in the current economic climate. “In addition, we’ve revamped our partner programme to ensure

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down even in the current economic climate. “In the data centre solution area, the combination of Suse Linux platform, Platespin (a recent acquisition) and the very real move we are seeing to virtualised environments is generating great interest and we’re excited at the opportunities that are presenting themselves.

“Finally, our end-user computing solutions continue to grow and with the addition of teaming and conferencing to our solution offering over the past year, plus the launch of Groupwise 8, we’re generating interest both within our existing customer base and organisations who hadn’t considered Novell in this space for the past few years,” she explains. “We’re working hard to continue educating the market on what Novell has to offer, that’s our biggest challenge and opportunity,” she says. “We’re looking to grow aggressively across all our solution sets, and we’re an extremely relevant player in any organisation today. Thus, getting the message out, supporting our partners to convert the interest generated into business that helps them to grow and generate success stories that starts the whole cycle again will position us very well not only this year, but in the future.” Beetar adds that it’s all about growth – growing revenues and customers, but also growing its partner ecosystem and its relationship with those partners. “In short, we’re extremely bullish across all our solution sets, particularly knowing we have the support of a really energised partner base,” she concludes.

ANALYSIS: PRINTACOM SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Printacom launches new printing division Strengthening distribution channel. BY BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

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rintacom Technologies, a member of the MB Technologies Group, has extended its relationship with heavy-duty printing solutions manufacturer Printronix. The relationship will allow Printacom to establish a dedicated printing division focused on OKI line printers and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) barcode and label printers. The two companies have an established association based on Printronix supplying the OKI MX series of line printers, which the US vendor manufactures on an OEM basis. Printacom MD, Neil Rom says: “We have appointed Libby Ballardin as specialised printing product manager to head the new division, and will be focusing significant resources on building this division.” The extension of the deal sees Printacom adding the Printronix range of RFID bar code and label printers to its existing product offering. “We see a lot of potential in offering this kind of dedicated solution to a market that is moving towards an integrated logistics supply chain environment,” adds Rom.

Neil Rom, Printacom

“We see a lot of potential in offering this kind of dedicated solution to a market that is moving towards an integrated logistics supply chain environment.” – Neil Rom, Printacom. RFID bar-code printers not only print product and shipping bar codes onto labels, but simultaneously encode the microchip contained within the label for radio frequency tagging and tracking. In an integrated logistics supply chain, goods can be tracked from the factory floor right through to the retail till point without the need to physically read the bar code. “Thermal and bar-code printing is growing and with RFID maturing in the background, the relationship with Printacom will largely increase market coverage and therefore market share in a win-win scenario,” says Holger Steer, Printronix area sales manager: Central Europe and South Africa. He adds that the strength of Printacom’s distribution system was a big attraction in targeting the southern African market. Steer says that the structure of the

Printacom distribution network with its strong reseller base fits perfectly into the worldwide Printronix strategy. “Printacom is active well beyond the borders of SA, giving Printronix scope for future growth.” According to Rom, a unique selling point of the Printronix RFID printers is that they can operate as a standard bar-code unit, with RFID functionality available as an add-on. While Printacom will be directly managing sales, service and warranties will be handled by approved warranty centres that will also deal directly with Printronix on service issues. Rom says the Printronix label printer range is the perfect addition to Printacom’s OKI printer offering, dovetailing well to offer the market a complete printer product range from entry-level SIDM, to mono and colour-laser printers and multifunction devices as well as line printers from 500 lpm to 2000 lpm. “We are able to offer a complete solution for customers with high-volume printing requirements, and are aggressively targeting this market,” he says. “We have the experience and expertise to deliver solutions that are compatible across all platforms, including legacy systems.” The Printacom value proposition is based OKI’s recognised reliability as well as a full on-site warranty and back-up service. He adds that this drive for the line-printer business is supported by OKI, and includes a trade-in on older machines – irrespective of the brand name – when purchasing a new OKI line printer. “I think the market is desperately looking for a reputable brand that it can look forward to with strong service backup,” concludes Rom.

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ANALYSIS: SYMANTEC SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Laying it on the line Symantec to VARs: reduce number of vendors BY STEFANIE HOFFMAN

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ymantec will soon be putting the squeeze on solution providers to reduce or eliminate partnerships with competing vendors, executives at the security firm have said. The vendor’s channel team will try to convince partners that also work with other security vendors to de-emphasize or drop partnerships with those rivals and focus more on Symantec, says Randy Cochran. Symantec’s vice president of channel sales for the Americas. Cochran said he planned to encourage partners with multiple vendor relationships to re-evaluate and reduce the number of competing vendors on their line card in an effort to “drive tighter alignment” with partners dedicated to increasing business for Symantec.

maintain a full line card or challenge the company’s initiative, Cochran says,“We’ll have to evaluate if the partnership is worth having at that point. I’m not going to tell someone how to run their business.” Cochran’s assertions were met with mixed emotions from channel partners. Many partners say tough economic times ultimately would require solution providers to focus on a minimal number of vendors and hone their craft with an in-depth knowledge of that vendor’s products to stay competitive. Steven Weeks, president and CEO of Netcetera Consulting, says Symantec’s initiative reduces competition for his own business by weeding out less-dedicated partners. And going the “single vendor” route is something

“It’s all about choice. It’s not about their bottom line. It’s about our customers’ choice.” – Darrel Bowman, mynetworkcompany.com. “We’re getting to partners that have certifications and specialisations. We’re telling them to ‘Reduce your line card; you’re carrying too much,’ ” Cochran says. “ ‘When are you really going to become the trusted adviser?’ Choice becomes confusion.” So far, Symantec executives have said the move is not an official company directive. However, executives are currently discussing ways to motivate partners to consolidate their vendor partners, or maintain an exclusive partnership with Symantec. Rewards or incentives for partners who “invested in Symantec” could be in the form of more elite certifications or specialisations, Cochran says. “In tough economic times, it’s less about the breadth and more about how good you are in those spaces,” he says. “ ‘Pressure’ is not the right word,” he adds. “It’s a partnership.” For those partners that continue to

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Netcetera has been doing all along, he said. “We pick what we think is the best, learn it inside out and go with it,” Weeks says. “Our chances of closing the business are much higher.We’ve invested in that training. We just know it really well.” Other partners say the move makes sense for some small solution providers that would have a hard time keeping up with multiple vendors. “If we sold 10 different product lines, trying to stay up on all the ins and outs of those would just be overwhelming,” says Gary Cannon, president. Advanced Internet Security Symantec’s strategy has been in the works for the past six months but was not officially stated, some partners say. “We have definitely noticed it in the channel,” says David Sockol, president of Emagined Security. “There are less exceptions being made for partners. Partners are being held to the letter of the partnership law in order to make sure they meet their obliga-

Randy Cochran, Symantec tions to support Symantec.” However, he says the move would let Symantec reward highvolume solution providers like Emagined.“For an organisation that has done just about everything under the sun, it’s definitely put us in a better position to be able to compete when there are less folks out there just trying to hold the Symantec line card,” Sockol says.“Fewer individuals or organisations are trying to go after the same business. It’s forcing them to choose where the value is.” Eric Anderson, CTO of Netanium Network Security says he understood the need for Symantec to focus on the partners who “have treated them well,” but added some of the smaller VARs that based their business models around a wide array of security offerings would feel the impact most. “Multiple-vendor small VARs are probably not selling much anyway. I’m sure it will hurt them,” Anderson says. “I don’t think this initiative is unique to Symantec. I imagine that they have a large number of inactive partners.” Meanwhile, other partners say Symantec’s plan would make partners less competitive by making them reliant on one vendor and decreasing their ability to give their customers a choice. “It’s all about choice. It’s not about their bottom line. It’s about our customers’ choice,” says Darrel Bowman, CEO of mynetworkcompany.com. “They’re the Titanic. They better watch out. There’s an iceberg out there.”

ANALYSIS: INTEL SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Building Blocks I N T E L D 9 4 5 G C L F 2 M OT H E R B OA R D BY BRIAN SHEINBERG

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hen Intel introduced the Atom processor last year, the chip’s primary function was for implementation into what the company called MIDs, or Mobile Internet Devices, such as GPS navigation systems and other devices that always-connected Internet. Although not a specific target for this generation of the CPU, Intel expected some spillover into the vertical market of specific handheld productivity, and a new category of portable computers called netbooks was created. Since then, Intel has released multiple versions of the Atom, and netbooks have been one of the fastest-growing segments of computing in recent memory. Not forgetting system builders and do-it-yourself enthusiasts, the company also has produced

motherboards created around the CPU, including the recent D945GCLF2. Built with the latest Atom 330 processor and Intel’s 945GC chipset, the D945GCLF2 is a Mini-ITX form-factor motherboard designed with Internet-centric uses in mind. Similar to the 1.6GHz Atom models found in most netbooks, the Atom 330 differs primarily in that it has a 1M cache and a maximum TDP of 8 watts (vs. 512K cache and 2.5 to 4 watts). Smaller than a penny, the CPU comes already mounted on the motherboard, complete with heatsink and fan. With the intention of building a test bed to approximate the functionality of a netbook, albeit most likely the next generation, reviewers

installed the D945GCLF2 into a Mini-ITX case and added a 2-GB Kingston memory module. Although not a powerhouse, nor anticipated to be, the system surpassed our expectations in performance. The bill of materials for this system, not including OS cost, runs about $250 at retail list pricing. A system built around the D945GCLF2 isn’t likely to win any speed contests, but when you consider you can build a relatively small, capable computer for that price, it fills a niche that didn’t even exist a few years ago.

ANALYSIS: LG SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

LG sees potential in emerging markets Africa at heart of beating market downturn.

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BY CRN

STAFF REPORTER

G electronics says that massive growth in electrification in South Africa and Africa is making it a prime target for consumer electronics companies that are seeking to weather the global financial downturn. This is according to the company’s CEO Yong Nam who was speaking to LG business partners in South African recently. Nam says the increase in electrification matched a desire by people living on the continent for products that made their lives easier and connected them to the rest of the world. “South Africa was one of the earliest and remains the fastest growing market for mobile phones and technology,” he says. “This was largely because mobile phones were portable and assisted in overcoming mobility infrastructure limitations in South

The company has intensified its efforts to increase market share despite the volatile economic situation. “Every company has been affected negatively by the economic downturn,” says Nam. “LG Electronics will be intensifying its efforts to increase market share despite the economic situation.” To achieve this, LG Electronics underwent a reorganisation at the beginning of 2009 to increase its focus on business solutions. The restructure maximises the growth potential in existing businesses while at the same time allows for the development of new ones. “These changes will help LG Electronics expand its value chain from stand-alone hardware to commercial solutions, providing longer term growth potential, profitability and partnerships which will elevate the LG

“We see the global crisis as an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves – as we innovate, and strengthen customer service to build sustainability.” – Peet van Rooyen, LG Electronics SA Africa. But now South Africa’s infrastructure is catching up and more people are demanding our other consumer electronic products. This makes South Africa and Africa one of the most important territories for LG Electronics in 2009,” he explains. The vendor, one of the global leaders and technology innovators in consumer electronics sees South Africa as an important hub for its expansion into sub-Saharan Africa. “Of course South Africa and Africa is not isolated from the economic recession but this market has the biggest potential to grow,” says Nam. “In this region we aim to achieve more than 20 per cent sales growth in 2009, the Middle East and Africa region remains one of LG Electronics’ top international markets with sales of $ 3.9 billion in 2008, 22% higher than in 2007.”

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CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • MARCH 2009

Electronics brand, but not at the expense of innovation,” he explains. Nam confirms that the company would not reduce, and could even increase, its investment in R&D, marketing, branding and design. According to him, LG Electronics will continue to invest in future growth engines such as solar power, commercial air conditioners and business (B2B) solutions; all sectors LG expects will expand and become increasingly profitable once the economy is back on track. Globally, LG is targeting a reduction in expenses of 3 $1.9 billion this year. This company-wide initiative, which includes headquarters and all 82 subsidiaries around the world, also applies to manufacturing and indirect costs. LG has been working to further improve

Peet van Rooyen, LG its procurement system, which includes everything from raw materials to investment in facilities, financial services and recruitment. Its efforts to improve its cash flow have already resulted in reduced inventory, increased liquidity, optimised supply chain management and a more consolidated and efficient purchasing process overall. “These initiatives will enable LG to improve both growth and profitability over the long-term, regardless of the economic climate,” Mr Nam remarked. “Becoming a stronger global brand will be a natural outcome of this effort,” said Mr. Nam. Peet van Rooyen, Managing Director of LG Electronics South Africa, and the first non-Korean head globally of an LG Electronics subsidiary company said: “LG Electronics is set to capitalise on the South African and African market in this time of financial strain and efforts are underway to improve standards to global levels. These improvements which include the HR system, reorganisation of business portfolios, focus on customer-centric processes; mean that LGE will continue to research, develop and supply Africa with products that consumers want, backed by our brand.” “We see the global crisis as an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves – as we innovate, and strengthen customer service to build sustainability,” concluded van Rooyen.

Still bullish in turbulent times Inside Well networked >> Selling solutions that work >> The SME space looks promising >>

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

Comztek still bullish in turbulent times Focus remains on doing good business.

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BY KAUNDA CHAMA

The road ahead is far from smooth, but ICT distribution specialist Comztek remains confident that with the right processes in place and strong business strategies and ethics, companies will definitely weather the storm. The company’s MD, Paul Conradie, is cognisant of the fact that the next six to 12 month period will see credit lines being pulled and cash flow becoming a big issue, and comments that with this in mind the company does not have any “spectacular” plan in the pipeline. “Cash is becoming scarce and expensive and this makes plans like expansion quite difficult. That is why instead of expansion we will focus on continuing to do ‘good business’ both locally and regionally,” he says. However, Conradie points out that because of its market share in SA, Comztek does remain susceptible to the effects of the global financial turmoil, but adds that it will make sure that it does not cripple the local business by doing business in the rest of Africa too aggressively. The end to end communications company says that because it does not just address one market segment its actual market share is quite difficult to determine, but Conradie stresses that Comztek does not take on any product unless it can potentially dominate the market with it. “We look at our product offerings and ensure that they offer us and our resellers sustainable returns, otherwise we would rather opt to discontinue any product that does not do so,” he says. Conradie is confident that the global economic downturn will not last for the next two years, adding that when global financial lenders start lending money to emerging markets, South Africa will be one of the first recipients.

“The 2010 FIFA World Cup will also help in bettering revenues and not only for the distribution business but for the entire IT space,” he notes. Conradie goes on to say that the smaller distribution players may take some strain in the short to medium term, but the bigger players involved in project business will continue to see some reasonable returns. He adds that with the biggest challenge being the availability of cash, companies should make sure that they represent brands that have good return on investment, while at the same time maintain good infrastructure and good payment lines between them, their vendor and reseller partners. Meanwhile, Comztek continues to enjoy good business from its four business units: Consumer Electronics, Networking, Security & Storage, and Software Infrastructure that incorporate brands such as Iomega, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, 3Com, D-Link, Symantec, McAfee, Adobe, Cisco and Microsoft. Conradie states that the business unit approach was and continues to work well, as it allows the company to see how specific market segments are performing and it has also worked well in increasing the company’s overall revenues. Although only in its ninth year of operation, Comztek has managed to maintain a 50% growth in business on an annual basis. Through local partners and African partners, the company did business in 18 African countries last year and currently has branches in East Africa, Zambia and Namibia. In addition, Conradie points out that the last three years have seen the company doing a lot of good business in the African region. It has managed to grow this business by 100% year on year.

Paul Conradie

Looking at the market as a whole, he is of the opinion that although stability will soon return to the ICT space, there is still some consolidation that is going to take place for a while, and this will be both a good and a bad thing for the sector. “In the coming six months, Comztek intends to focus on customers that it views as being ‘good customers’ and service them to the best of the company’s ability. At the same time our company salutes our strategic vendors for the way they have worked with us in this very difficult economic period,” says Conradie. He adds that he feels that even multinationals have Africa’s plight at heart by the way they have recently conducted business with the likes of Comztek and that they have demonstrated a good understanding of the needs and environment of emerging markets. To Comztek’s reseller partners, Conradie says: “During a time like this, be careful how you handle your business. Don’t dent your credit worthiness because the ‘slam-back’ effect in the current environment will be much worse than it would have been had things been better.” 

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

Still well networked VoIP and Unified comms still paying off. BY KAUNDA CHAMA

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we Brandkamp, Comztek Networks business unit director, says that Comztek will continue to provide products and services that compliment solutions offered by resellers and system integrators. The success of the networking business at Comztek has been the foundation on which the distributor has built its other focus areas over time. “We carry a number of blue chip brands in our networking product portfolio, that can be used to build communication solutions for any size customer, from SoHo right through

guaranteed swap out service to their customers,” he says. In the current economic climate, Comztek’s backup stock programme is ideally positioned for resellers that want to provide the highest levels of service without the financial burden of investing in spares and setting up the infrastructure required to manage these spares. “Over the past year we have invested a lot in addressing the SMB space as it has continued to thrive. Comzteks products have received very good response from the African region and business has even grown Uwe Brandkamp

“At Comztek we have a very competent networking team of channel managers focused on their brands and support staff focused on providing support services.” – Uwe Brandkamp, Comztek to the high level enterprise backbones and even into telecommunications networks,” says Brandkamp. “At Comztek we have a very competent networking team of channel managers focused on their brands and support staff focused on providing support services.” This team plays a major role in helping its resellers and system integrator partners with solution implementation as well as support and services. It offers services such as preparation and staging of equipment, network design, proof of concept testing and onsite support. In addition to providing services to its resellers, Comztek also runs a very successful backup stock programme. “We will continue to keep spares on behalf of our reseller partners. At any time we keep in excess of R10 million rand worth of spares for our resellers, which allows them to provide a

more than 100% annually in a number of the countries we operate in,” explains Brandkamp. Comztek has had the opportunity to take advantage of the many green fields projects on the continent looking for infrastructure, as well as telecommunications operators that have needed access to its solutions. He adds very good demand from the market and project, should be, very good demand from the market nad projects that they will continue to do the same in the interim. Other focus areas for the coming 12 months, according to Brandkamp, will be network security for SME and high end customers, wireless solutions for the SoHo and domestic market and data centre solutions. No matter what technology is offered, solutions should be focused on

providing business value to the end customer. According to him, some networking vendors are beginning to broaden their product portfolios and diversifying from their traditional network infrastructure focus areas, and some working vendors that usually cater to the high end customers are also moving into the SMB space with solutions specifically designed for this market. Brandkamp’s advice to Comztek’s resellers is that with technologies such as VoIP and Unified Communications gaining in popularity, they should look to trying to replace legacy systems that are already in place, and where this is not possible, to rather develop solutions that can complement those existing systems. This, he says, provides other revenue streams through service and support business. He notes that as more applications are being put on the network, networking itself is becoming more complex and challenging. This is where Comztek’s staff can assist with technical support and services, as well as provide solid advice from a team of highly skilled and passionate people that understand networking. 

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

Selling solutions that work

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BY KAUNDA CHAMA

he Security & Storage and Software Infrastructure business units within Comztek are tracking close to target even in the current economic state, notes David Caygill, business unit director for the two business units. “We are focusing on core applications in the business computing environment where strategic mission critical projects have remained on the cards for blue chip and financial institutions. The SMB market has been less predictable but we are optimistic that this is turning around,” he says. The Security & Storage business unit houses products such as Symantec, McAfee and Marshal while the Software Infrastructure houses products such as Adobe, Attachmate and Microsoft. “Our approach outside of South Africa is to take mainstream core product brands like Symantec, Adobe and Microsoft into East and Southern Africa.

We are very excited about the opportunity these brands represent in these regions and growth thus far is very promising.” In South Africa, the Adobe business has been doing well; we have recently seen the release of CS4 and sales are picking up. Last month we held our Adobe Creative Solutions Partner event, where we recognised our top partners, and we were very encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment to the Adobe brand, he notes. The security side has been very competitive over the last year but I think that the big brands like Symantec and McAfee will continue to evolve and adapt to dominate the markets they focus on. A key driver for Symantec has been to minimise the resource impact on the host PC and the latest test results show they are achieving great results and continue to be a winning brand, says Caygill.

Time for growth K

Caygill continues: Microsoft has been very supportive in the way it has engaged us David Caygill during the current difficult economic climate and together we have looked at ways to bring additional value to our reseller partners. We have introduced business development managers to work with our SMB market resellers. Microsoft, specifically, has supported Comztek’s PlusPoints programme, and Comztek resellers are able to earn rewards based on Microsoft licensing sales. While Comztek’s vendor partners keep bringing more affordable products to market, and this is assisting the company and its reseller partners to obtain improved revenues, Caygill notes that one of the biggest challenges for resellers will be working capital management. 

BY KAUNDA CHAMA

enyan-based Matthew Rudd is responsible for looking after Comztek’s East African business and says that the strategy for the company is to build on the strong foundations laid since the company’s formation in Kenya, two years ago. Although there are clear signs of economic slowdown, he remains confident that there will be areas of growth on the eastern side of the continent, especially in countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania. “The aim in these countries will be to increase penetration while at the same time enhancing our product portfolio,” says Rudd. At the moment, he says that the biggest area of focus is on Microsoft products but

adds that Comztek will also be introducing other brands to the region, including Adobe, Symantec, Fujitsu-Siemens and 3Com. “We will increase the number of products that we offer this year. We are a comparatively small office, and can be quite proactive and adaptive. We have increased our workforce by nearly 50% in recent months and we will continue to grow in the months ahead,” he says. Rudd admits that the principal challenges faced include the perennial problem of software piracy, and the continued difficulty of having to counter a price-war in

price-sensitive markets. “We are working with two of the world’s leading software vendors to encourage compliance amongst end users, and we will continue to promote a spirit of responsible Matthew Rudd competition across all our supply channels,” he says. Comztek East Africa is clearly growing rapidly. The company anticipates 100% growth in the current financial year, and is presently on target to achieve this. Key to this success will be the ability to establish a more prominent footprint in East African countries outside Kenya. 

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

The SME space looking promising

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BY KAUNDA CHAMA

hris Davies, Comztek KZN regional director, sees a lot of potential in the small and medium enterprise space and expects this market to remain buoyant even in difficult economic conditions. Nevertheless, his company will remain cautious about how it does business and who it does business with. Comztek KZN will refrain from taking too many risks and much like the strategy of the entire Comztek group, will focus on doing good business, he says. “Chasing payments and avoiding over stocking will be areas to concentrate on, while at the same time, we will continue pushing hard on the networking and software infrastructure business,” he says. The next six months will see his region doing a lot in helping its channel partners and end-customers with solution designs and also assisting its resellers to be more cautious with the way they select which deals they take on. “Although the SME space is definitely one that will give us good returns, as well as public sector business, we are still bracing ourselves for a very tough year and limiting the risks that will be taken on the business side,” says Davies. Davies adds that the skills shortage and training still remain a cause of concern, and going forward it is one aspect of the sector that the whole industry seriously needs to look at improving. He says that one of the things the company wants to do is increase the onsite technical training assistance from its vendor partners. This is because having company personnel continually travel up to Johannes burg is proving to be quite costly. “On the sales side, we can promise our resellers leads assistance and welcome the same from our vendors. Plus, our resellers can

Chris Davies

expect business as usual this year, as we will definitely carry stock for them,” says Davies. He adds that the company is seeing a lot of opportunities popping up as the 2010 Soccer World Cup draws nearer. “Although we are planning a big sales drive as well as investing in some technical training, Comztek is also punting the fact that to stay ahead of competition, it and its partners have to think out of the box.” Meanwhile, he comments that even though on the software side, piracy remains rife, companies such as Microsoft and Adobe are doing a lot to help companies to get and remain legal. “On the networking side, although bandwidth availability and management remain challenges, IP telephony remains a viable option for many companies,” he concludes. 

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

Remaining focused Selling solutions still the answer.

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BY KAUNDA CHAMA

an Duvenage, Comztek Regional Director for Western and Eastern Cape, says that at this stage, he sees no reason for a significant change in his branch structure or strategy, as selling solutions is satisfying the company’s customers as well as paying dividends for the company. “If you look at Comztek as a whole, the company is growing substantially and our Cape business is growing to the same extent. The 24 best of breed products that are encompassed in Comztek’s four business units play a major role in this growth” he says. Duvenage adds that the company is doing comparatively well, even during a period when the world economy is slowing down, or even contracting. As a matter of fact, the Cape branch has seen some record months recently and is ahead of budgets and targets. “In the next months, we are not planning any major changes; what we will do is look at which pillars or product groupings have not been doing well over the past 12 months

in the private sector have recently gone through software updates and that hardware recycles are continuously taking place. However, even though there is potential for more networking business, the refresh cycles are slowing down in the private sector, if compared with good growth in the government sector. “We will definitely make sure that we concentrate on doing good business with our good and stable partners,” he notes. “Comztek is continuously looking at gaps in the market and ways of closing them. The first half of this year will see a lot of corporates taking care of compliance and disaster recovery needs. With networking, most of the business will probably come from the public sector, although the private sector should follow in the latter half of the

“On the networking side, companies like Cisco are always brining out strong products and now that ICT is not a nice to have and is now a need to have, the market might seem somewhat sluggish, but we see a lot of potential with new products and solutions.” – Iain Duvenage, Comztek

and look at ways we can improve sales in those technological areas,” he explains. Duvenage says that a number of companies

year. Security and storage products as well as consumer electronics goods also contribute towards our successes.”

Ian Duvenage

“We are also expecting a lot of good business to come our way as technologies such as virtualisation gain general acceptance, although the Microsoft and Novell offering in this regard is still in start-up phase”. He adds that software solutions from the likes of Adobe are doing well in the Cape region because a number of publishing, advertising and marketing media businesses are located there. “On the networking side, companies such as Cisco are always presenting new go-to-market products, and due to the fact that IT purchases are not a nice to have, but a need to have for corporates, in order to compete in their respective industry sectors, we see a lot of potential with new products and solutions.” “Essentially, as a company, looking at the next six months, we will remain optimistic, but also realistic,” concludes Duvenage. 

COMZTEK:

SPECIAL

Belief in the consumer

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BY KAUNDA CHAMA

einz Stephan, Consumer Electronics Business Unit director at Comztek, says that although the unit is one of the company's newer divisions, it has great potential because of its unique strategy in the distribution space. "Although it might be seen as still in development, from a Comztek point of view, the CE business unit was strategically assembled to incorporate more mainstream products, rather than traditional ICT products," he says. "This makes the CE unit have a slightly different market focus than other Comztek business units." Stephan adds that while the move into the CE space was motivated by the commoditisation of traditional IT products, the company does not plan to become another broad-based PC distributor but rather to complement its existing product portfolio with quality CE products. He further says that his business unit

Remaining

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continues to execute on the plans that it made last year, ie the strategic move to focus distribution efforts based on the emerging trends in the Home, SoHo, Retail, SME and Corporate markets. He comments that in the current economic climate, bigger is not always better, so Comztek will continue to focus on its current CE product offerings and will only take on new brands where it feels a vendor has a solid investment strategy. "South Africa, and Africa as a whole, has become very brand conscious and in turn Comztek has also become very critical of the vendor partners it represents," he notes. "Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, we will ensure that we give the existing brands the attention they require. We won’t look at verticals that are not economically viable," he says.Stephan says

that while the business unit has continued to expand over the past year, it has kept the same headcount, due to its focus on working Heinz Stephan better and smarter. This same strategy will be kept for the coming 12 months. The past year has seen the Comztek CE business unit doing very well with its notebook and PC sales, as well as server technology from Fujitsu Siemens. However, Stephan still stresses that the plan is not to become a broad-based PC distributor, but rather attach value to the existing partners and products that Comztek represents. He adds that there is still great potential in the computer peripherals space as well as external storage devices, which are geared to continue to do well in the next year. 

cautious

BY KAUNDA CHAMA

ark Stokes, country manager of Comztek’s Zambian operation, says that although the company has had a good first half of the financial year, from July to December last year, it remains cognisant of the impact of the global financial meltdown. He says that the main reason why a country like Zambia will feel the knock-on effect is because the country’s economy relies on base metals, and copper (main Zambian dependence) has taken a major price knock recently and there has also been a big reduction in the FDI (foreign direct investment). “The fact remains that the last 18 months have been good for Comztek in this region and I strongly feel that the next six months will still yield some good business. After this period, the country may start to feel more of the effects of the global economic

slowdown. However, we still have a lot of good business opportunities lined up,” explains Stokes. He says that on the networking infrastructure side, the company will not have any issues sustaining the current levels of business, adding that despite weak global growth, our consumer electronics business is looking to bounce back with the recent addition of two new brands, Logitech and Labtec. Stokes highlights that now that Comztek is Microsoft’s official distribution partner in Zambia, the company also sees a lot of potential in the software infrastructure business. Stokes adds that reseller partners prefer to deal with distributors that have contracts with vendors providing end-to-end solutions,

because it makes closing deals easier for them and takes away other hindrances that occur when dealing with multiple vendors or distributors. He states that the company Mark Stokes recognises the fact that there will be some consolidation in the technology arena but that profitable vendors will keep their heads above water. Meanwhile, the company is not expecting any new products to come on board and will concentrate on growing the penetration of its current product portfolio focusing on ensuring that each of the four business divisions (Networks, Security & Storage, Software Infrastructure & Consumer Electronics) remain strong and profitable whilst providing excellent value for money for our channel partners. 

DATABASE SOLUTION

SOFTWARE FEATURE

PROVIDERS

Database software A necessary part of the solution. BY STANLEY CHISHALA

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ith the demand for data and storage needs not slowing down any time soon, it is only natural for the database software market to be alive and kicking. Backing this statement, Raymond Watt, MD, REO Consulting (an EOH company), says that data is here to stay, so companies had better get workable data management strategies in place if they want to survive the current levels of complexity. He comments that one theme that is woven through all the opinions being published around database software is that great database architecture and administration skills are hard to come by. “Mix this with a CIO’s wish to find a relational database management system (RDMS) that is actually manageable and configurable without compromising features, speed, size and, of course, security, and I promise you, the database software market is not only alive and kicking, but positioning itself as the bastion of IT,” opines Watt. With the Business Intelligence (BI) market booming, managing data warehouses and huge amounts of data is creating new headaches and challenges. The great news, Watt says, is that there is a myriad of innovative database software products available to help companies in their quest to manage the terabytes of data in their organisations. These products find means of managing data volumes efficiently and cost-effectively, while adding security (which includes auditing), load balancing and uptime management. Software solutions vendors, such as Oracle and CA, continue to develop solutions that can help companies to adopt new technologies quickly while eliminating the risks associated with change by combining workload capture and replay features with performance analysers to allow them to test changes against real-life workloads and then help them fine-tune them before putting them

into production. These solutions also help to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance as well as the risk of insider threats by automating the collection and consolidation of audit data. This helps to provide secure and highly scalable audit warehouses, enabling simplified reporting, analysis, and threat detection on audit data. “Your business needs to be online 24/7. If critical applications, servers or data becomes unavailable, your entire business might be jeopardised. Lost revenue, dissatisfied customers, penalties and negative press will have a lasting effect on your reputation. This is why agile businesses want to be able to adopt new technologies quickly, whether it’s operating systems, servers or software, to help them stay ahead of the competition,” Watt comments. Jim Holland, Axiz product manager: HP ESG, says the benefits of a document retention policy are tied in with the requirements of a business. Raymond Watt, REO Consulting

“There is a myriad of innovative database software products available to help companies in their quest to manage the terabytes of data in their organisations. These products find means of managing data volumes efficiently and cost-effectively, while adding security (which includes auditing), load balancing and uptime management.” – Raymond Watt, REO Consulting According to him, beyond legal compliance, data retention helps an organisation to demonstrate good corporate governance, which is becoming increasingly important. Compliance hits at the core of data storage and pushes examination of it

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • MARCH 2009 •

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DATABASE

SOFTWARE FEATURE

SOLUTION

further into the organisation. Companies are now challenged with how to build an IT infrastructure that retains data over long periods of time, keeps it in its original format and ensures that it can easily be recovered at any time. Holland says that worldwide talk about data storage compliance and corporate governance regulations has overwhelmed organisations of all sizes and has made them more accountable for the data they collect and store. Another consideration in the scramble to comply is how to do so in an environmentallyfriendly manner. It is important to bear in mind that as the world becomes greener so will the data centre. Companies will be looking to minimise their footprint, which will probably lead to the continued increase in

PROVIDERS

important records, businesses could see reduced risk to business continuity as well as greater trust in their brand as a result of compliance. “Data retention helps to manage and reduce storage costs, ensure a consistent approach across all sites and locations, and improve operational efficiency. In today’s ever-changing business climate, organisations must ensure their data policies are in line with legal requirements,” Holland explains. Oracle, in an effort to enhance its enterprise data centre management capabilities with rich application configuration management capabilities, has announced that it will buy mValent (a leading provider of application configuration management solutions) in the first half of this year.

“Data retention helps to manage and reduce storage costs, ensure a consistent approach across all sites and locations, and improve operational efficiency. – Jim Holland, Axiz

technologies like virtualisation. Businesses will also look for applications that streamline operations for greater efficiency. “It’s not just the major regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There are thousands of regulations that affect data storage, back up and protection across a range of industries. But in spite of the many regulations, there are no mandates or guidelines that dictate implementation. I believe that the key to many compliance issues is to define a policy based on business and legal concerns, and then to implement that policy in the IT department. Without the policies, the storage people are in a vacuum. It’s not their call to determine the legality of data storage,” explains Holland. Companies, he adds, must not view legislation as something which has been created to catch them out. Revamping processes should not be done just to dodge bureaucratic bullets, but should be seen as an opportunity to create a compliance-driven IT architecture. Alongside operational efficiency, such as the systematic archiving of financial data, email and other

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“Effective application configuration management is becoming increasingly important as businesses look to improve their operating efficiencies,” says Richard Sarwal, senior VP, Oracle applications and systems management. “With the addition of mValent, Oracle expects to be able to address this need by providing customers with the ability to collect, compare and reconcile deep configuration information of complex systems. This acquisition is consistent with Oracle’s strategy of delivering cost-effective solutions for managing applications that enable customers to adopt new, innovative technology with reduced risk.” Symantec, IBM and HP have been dominating the worldwide storage services market with around 18 per cent, 11 per cent and 6 per cent in market share respectively (behind EMC, which has the lion’s share of about 28 per cent of all customers). CommVault, a much smaller and newer player, is drawing new customers away from Symantec, IBM and HP with 38 per cent year-on-year sales growth. According to TheInfoPro: Wave

Jim Holland, Axiz 10 Storage Survey (March 2008), CommVault won the largest percentage of new Fortune 1000 customers in 2007 versus Symantec, HP and IBM with 40 per cent switching to CommVault from a competing vendor. Additionally, CommVault continues to enjoy strong customer loyalty with 86 per cent of its users saying they have no plans to switch. The company claims that this trend, which is repeating itself, is a reflection of the South African market. The company says the reason for this shift is CommVault’s new approach to storage and data management; providing one product for all data management versus the multiple-point products provided by many of its competitors. It also claims its Simpana software successfully reduces the cost and complexity of data management. Essentially, data centres will always be at the centre of corporate strategies driven mostly by business intelligence strategies, customer relationship management practices and legislation. With the continuing data explosion, the only way companies can make sense of the vast amounts of data they are sitting with is by implementing effective data storage policies backed by the best database management software. Without this, companies will continue to face the same problems they have over the past five years; lack of adequate storage space and data repetition together with lack of data integrity.

SERVER SOLUTION

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Server space still looking vibrant Its up for grabs.

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BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO ccording to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market declined 14 per cent year over year to $13.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 (Q408), marking the second consecutive quarter of market decline. Additionally, worldwide server unit shipments declined 12 per cent in 4Q08 when compared with the same period a year-ago. For the full year 2008, worldwide server revenue declined 3.3 per cent to $53.3 billion, while worldwide unit shipments grew by two per cent to 8.1 million units. This is the first time the server market has exceeded eight million units in a calendar year, reflecting continued demand for new physical servers even as virtualisation makes significant gains in the enterprise. However, servers still continue to offer solution providers large service revenues and possibilities of even higher-margin deals, as both large enterprises and SMEs turn to the channel when looking for a server solution. Rory Green, HP

“Virtualisation is a driving technology behind server consolidation, but it is not the complete answer.” – Rory Green, ISS product manager, HP. State of the Market Currently, blade technology seems to be the most widespread IT trend and also the most efficient and cost-effective option on the market, not to mention vendor claims that it is the “greenest” option at the moment. IDC reported that the blade market

experienced positive growth in the quarter, the segment decelerated sharply, with factory revenue increasing 16.1 per cent year over year on shipment growth of 12.1 per cent compared to Q407. Overall, blade servers, including x86, EPIC and RISC blades accounted for $1.4 billion in the fourth

quarter, representing 10.4 per cent of quarterly server market revenue. Bevan Lock, systems and technology group manager, IBM says: “Our expectation is that we’ll continue to see growth in blade and multi-processor servers with enterprise-class management and reliability features being increasingly preferred. “From a virtualisation aspect we see the market maturing beyond the hypervisor and concentrating on vendors who offer superior management and automation. Based on the success of virtualisation in consolidating

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server workloads there is strong interest from customers in consolidating their PC client environments using the same virtualisation platforms,” Lock says. Lock adds that while blade servers are popular for virtualisation, for larger virtualisation projects there is a definite trend towards large multi-processor servers which are able to offer sufficient resources to host the maximum number of virtual machines. From an energy-efficiency CX aspect, these servers also offer the best virtual machines per watt. Rory Green, HP, ISS product manager says: “We can see some distinct design changes in the servers we are bringing to market which clearly demonstrates that virtualisation is having an impact on what our products look like.”

“Although there is a ‘white box’ or ad hoc initiative in the locally branded market space, we are still seeing a stronger lean towards branded technology platforms, which are more prolific.” – Chris Norton, VMware SA. “For example, we have launched a blade product (BL495c) which can be configured with eight network cards out of the box and still has room to grow. Memory support is being increased 2.5X what was available only a few months ago. While we are selling fewer servers, they are being populated with lots of memory, network connectivity and SAN connectivity to take full advantage of the virtualisation performance and feature sets,” says Green.

Main Drivers

Nick Keene, Citrix Systems SA

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Nick Keene, country manager, Citrix Systems SA says since the advent of the x86 server, server-based computing has replaced the local desktop as the heart of the IT infrastructure. This trend was further supported by the wide adoption of Windows and Linux as server operating systems. Even though x86 servers have significantly improved the computing experience, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome, some of these include low infrastructure use,

increased physical infrastructure costs and increasing IT management costs, he says. Keene adds that through server virtualisation, many of the traditional problems related to server-based computing have been solved, as it brought with it the ability to reduce the space and energy requirements of traditional physical servers and vastly increase server productivity.

Alternatives Christopher Coetzee, Intel server product manager, Rectron says, there will always be an entry-level server market, many companies that have between 10 and 20 users will not require a midrange or high-end server but they can still make use of virtualisation, one advantage is that virtualisation is available to each and every segment of the existing server market. “All of Intels white-box servers from entry level through midrange to high-end and enterprise allow for virtualisation are bundled with the right software like Microsoft Server 2008 with Hyper V.” Greg Pothitos HP ESS business unit manager at Tarsus says: “WMware/Hyper V is without a doubt the buzzwords in the market right now.” Pothitos adds that there is, however, still a lot of education required around these technologies. They are changing the way hardware is being sold – fewer more powerful units.

The local scene Looking at local vendors, the competition is tough, the big guys want to have the bigger chunk of the pie, but even the small guys want a significant share as well. Mandy Porter, Dell business unit manager, DCC says: “We’ve not really seen any local server manufacturers making major inroads. Also, when opting for a lesser-known brand, key issues such as support, maintenance and warranties should be considered.” Pothitos points out that the performance you get from locally branded servers is not the same as that you get from branded ones. “Performance is not everything; people buy what suits their needs.” Chris Norton, regional director, VMware SA says: “Although there is a ‘white box’ or ad hoc initiative in the locally branded market space, we are still seeing a stronger

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lean towards branded technology platforms, which are more prolific.” “Currently, Intel white-box servers use Multi-Core Xeon processors with as many as four cores per processor, the midrange to high-end platforms like Star lake, Sapello and Alcolu server boards supporting two quad core processors give the user total of eight cores of performance. Intel’s enterprise offering named the Fox Cove offers four Quad Core processors giving the user a maximum of 16 cores. Next generation one might even see eight core on a single CPU,” says Coetzee.

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He adds that virtualisation drives physical server and storage consolidation and better use of hardware assets. Virtualisation does not address database or application consolidation, although it is sometimes driven as a part of the same project. Lock points out that from a virtualisation aspect he sees the market maturing beyond the hypervisor and concentrating on vendors who offer superior management and automation. Based on the success of virtualisation in consolidating server workloads there is strong interest from customers in consolidating their PC client environments using the same virtualisation platforms.

Opportunities in the market It looks like data centre consolidation is making room for new-generation technologies in the server market. According to Norton, the value proposition is changing along with end-user requirements. As organisations face a tight year across all industries, the two options available to most businesses are either to do nothing or to consolidate their data centres to minimise financial exposure. Norton says that he sees this as a growth opportunity for copanies like VMware in support of customer initiatives. There will be revenue growth as planned refreshes take

Economic Recession Meanwhile, IDC predicts that the global economic slowdown will worsen before any improvement is seen in late 2009 or early 2010. IT customers will increasingly look for optimisation projects with strong Return on Investment (ROI) potential and to extend virtualisation, consolidation and migration programmes to lower capital and operational costs while improving efficiencies. According to Pothitos, people still need to power up their businesses and upgrading will definitely take precedence over new units He adds that the government has a huge

Bevan Lock, IBM

“Our expectation is that we’ll continue to see growth in blade and multi-processor servers with enterprise-class management and reliability features being increasingly preferred.” – Bevan Lock, IBM. place on high-end kit; however, it will be nominal resulting in a flat revenue base and a decline in unit sales. Richard Sutherland, portfolio manager dynamic infrastructures at Fujitsu Siemens Computers says: “There is continued scope for growth as companies look at deploying newer server and processor technologies which incorporate superior processing power and energy-efficient design. The increased power encourages consolidation as it allows for increased implementation of virtualisation within the overall solution.” Green says: “Virtualisation is a driving technology behind server consolidation, but is not the complete answer.”

budget to spend according to finance minister ,Trevor Manuel’s budget speech. “What I do think you will get, are better attach deals and therefore more for your money. With the changing conditions, people will be forced to reinvent themselves,” says Pothitos. Ravi Perumal GM, Annex Distribution says, the server market will show growth overall as customers still need performance from their servers. Also, with the launch of the new technologies and the price-performance ratio getting better, the need for more storage space will also help to drive transitions to new technologies.

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Strorage An ever-increasing need. BY GEORGE MASEKO

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o matter how the ICT landscape changes or what happens in the general economic environment, much like security, the need for faster and larger capacity storage solutions always seems to be on the increase. Besides the fact that a lot of companies have had to increase their storage capacities due to the need to keep information for longer brought on by new regulations and legislation, now there is a third factor, the information or data explosion. These days, both companies and individuals find themselves needing to store incremental amounts of information on a regular basis. This might be bad news on the company-expense side, but it is also a revenue opportunity for storage vendors, distributors and resellers.

“Organisations understand that storage hardware is a must, however, due to the capital outlay, it is often a grudge purchase. Fortunately, commoditisation is driving down costs and so is the emergence of more cost-effective storage applications that offer smaller margins and thus a more competitive pricing structure.” – Raul Del Fabbro, Drive Control For obvious reasons, storage will, for a long time, continue to be the largest component of hardware in the ICT environment. The good news for resellers and, especially end users, is that storage prices continue to drop on a quarterly basis. According to storage solutions vendor EMC, the top storage spending priorities are: storage consolidation/utilisation; business continuity; data de-duplication; data

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Raul Del Fabbro, Drive Control compression; disk-based back up; automated tiered storage (virtualised – dynamic data mobility); thin provisioning; efficient data centre spacing; and green computing. Considering these factors, it is clear to see that companies will have to become more adept in the way they sell their storage solutions because even though capacity needs continue to rise, there is also a need for solutions that reduce total cost of ownership and are energy efficient. According to recent research by global firms, when it comes to storage, the global IT priorities include driving down running costs, achieving higher levels of efficiency, and reducing complexity by making IT easier to use and manage by choosing a partner with fewer, more strategic suppliers.

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Compliance with regulations remains top of mind as companies prepare for a new wave of regulations and legislation as the industry drives more governance and compliance. In addition, as the industry prepares for the next generation of data centres, companies will want to create dynamic internal ICT environments that they can use more efficiently. According to Raul Del Fabbro, manager, solutions division at Drive Control Corporation (DCC), storage hardware has been under pressure in recent months, it is simply not a purchase that is easily made. “Organisations understand that storage hardware is a must, however, due to the capital outlay, it is often a grudge purchase. Fortunately, commoditisation is driving down costs and so is the emergence of more cost-effective storage applications that offer smaller margins and thus a more competitive pricing structure,” he says. Del Fabbro adds that storage software remains a profitable segment of the marketplace due to its more cost-sensitive nature. On the subject of storage opportunities created by new regulations and compliance needs, he explains: “There is no doubt South African companies are increasingly understanding the importance of storage in order to comply with regulatory guidelines. “However, we are still quite far behind our global counterparts and again, storage solutions are a grudge buy. This said, organisations understand the importance of safely storing and backing up critical information. “The good news is financial institutions that are bound to regulatory requirements are implementing the necessary hardware and software and are therefore setting an example.” Del Fabbro adds that subsidiaries of multinationals are following in the footsteps of their parent companies and implementing storage best practices and the resultant technologies such as effective archiving and back-up systems. Regarding consolidation in the storage space and how it relates to security, Mandy Porter, Dell Unit Manager at DCC says consolidation is not really as prevalent as some would expect. “The reality is the yearly and exponential

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growth of data makes it difficult to consolidate storage and moreover security in the storage space,” she notes. On the aspect of consolidation of storage management and network management software, Del Fabbro comments that it is still really early the market has not experienced a major trend yet. However, from a convergence (between network and storage management) point of view, we are beginning to see the availability of Fibre Channel over IP (FCoE) technologies from certain vendors and this will no doubt drive the consolidation aspect. Commenting on new trends in storage hardware and how they are influencing mobile storage solutions, Porter comments: “A major trend we are seeing is the increasing popularity of iSCSI as a scalable and cost-effective storage solution.”

The midrange storage space Regarding solutions offerings for growing SME and mid-market businesses, Del Fabbro says there is currently a wide range of storage offerings for the SME and mid-market available, with even lesser tiered solutions gaining some prevalence. “The market has for a considerable time understood the needs of the SME and mid-business segment and continues to address it quite effectively. Granted, there are still some expensive solutions; however, most businesses will find storage solutions that fulfil their needs in an effective and cost-sensitive manner.

Mandy Porter, DCC

“The reality is the yearly and exponential growth of data makes it difficult to consolidate storage and moreover security in the storage space,” – Mandy Porter, DCC “It is key is to understand your needs and have a partner with reputable brands/vendors. “SME and mid-market businesses are educated and often have pre-set ideas of what they want. Fortunately, most of these businesses are open to suggestions which will enable them to make the right decision for their specific environments,” he explains. With both research houses and independent analysts predicting that storage will buck the

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general drop in IT hardware spending for the foreseeable future, it is also important to note that spending will be done in a very cautious manner as budgets continue to be squeezed. With this in mind, companies will be looking for partners that will help to reduce the total cost of their ICT operations, help them manage the relentless growth of information and help them to improve the energy efficiency of their data centres.

“By offering the Cisco data centre switching solution with our server and storage solutions, customers can now more easily transition to a unified network fabric and meet their operational continuity, transport flexibility and scalability requirements. The Dell and Cisco offerings will be very exciting for our customer and partner communities.” – Kobus de Beer, Dell, South Africa

Kobus de Beer, Dell, South Africa

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Factors such as improving security/risk management of their information continue to be important, while at the same time companies are continually looking at ways of simplifying information and infrastructure management as they prepare for the next wave of technological advancements. According to storage solutions vendor EMC, distributors, resellers and end-user companies should look for a technology partner with a portfolio of comprehensive infrastructure solutions that have proven reliability and availability. Last month Cisco and Dell announced that they will collaborate to deliver nextgeneration IT solutions that help customers to simplify their data centre infrastructure by pooling storage, computing and networking infrastructure resources to more rapidly support business applications in virtual data centre environments. This collaboration will result in Dell adding Cisco’s Nexus 5020 switches that support both 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to its Dell Power Edge server and Dell EqualLogic, PowerVault and Dell/EMC storage solutions. The Cisco and Dell combined solutions

will help customers to simplify the management of their next-generation data centres with a unified networking fabric that consolidates LAN, SAN and server cluster network environments into a single high-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric that supports protocols such as fibre channel, FCoE and Internet Small Computer Storage Interface (iSCSI). “These challenging economic times highlight the importance our customers place on ensuring long-term value from their solutions, not just short-term benefits. They need maximum value for every rand they spend, and that is what Dell continues to deliver with the expanded Cisco partnership,” says Kobus de Beer, enterprise brand manager, Dell South Africa. “By offering the Cisco data centre switching solution with our server and storage solutions, customers can now more easily transition to a unified network fabric and meet their operational continuity, transport flexibility and scalability requirements. The Dell and Cisco offerings will be very exciting for our customer and partner communities.” “As part of its unified computing approach, Cisco set out to develop a unified networking fabric for the data center to help organisations simplify their cabling infrastructure, reduce the number of required adapters, lower costs, reduce power consumption and the carbon footprint within their data centre,” says Soni Jiandani, VP marketing, server access and virtualisation business at Cisco. “By combining the benefits of lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet with Dell’s PowerEdge servers and storage solutions, together we can offer a more end-to-end data centre virtualisation solution.” With all the business factors considered, on the technology side, it seems the next stage of the storage revolution will comprise the combination of Flash, FC and SATA. All of these technologies are poised to revolutionise the way storage arrays are designed and built over the next 24 months. Essentially, what companies will be looking for are solutions that give them higher performance, use less already-scarce energy and at the same time take up a smaller footprint, while remaining more reliable and lowering costs.

ANALYSIS: F1 GUEST

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from the inside Preview to ‘09 Season. BY GRAHAM DUXBURY

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ith the global economic crisis continuing unabated, the lavish new car launches so favoured by the Formula One fraternity have been shelved in favour of more modest events in keeping with the current climate. Honda’s dramatic pull-out at the end of last year set the tone for a muted preview to the 2009 F1 season. Gone were the extravagant new car launches, high priced venues and A-list guests. The fashion was simple reveals – either in the pit lane, the workshop or even in cyberspace. The first new car to be unveiled was the Ferrari F60, named in honour of this, the sixtieth Grand Prix season. Ferrari is the only team to have contested them all. In a simple ceremony, drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa as well as designer Aldo Costa and team principal Stefano Domencali took the wraps off the new challenger at Mugello. The car took to the track shortly afterwards, driven by Massa. After two laps the Brazilian said he was “happy and excited to take the Ferrari out for its first ride” and that concluded proceedings. In line with the new regulations, the F60 features a Kinetic Energy Recovery System

Graham Duxbury, Duxbury Networks team simply placed some studio images of the new TF109 on the Internet. Toyota has been stung by reports revealing that it spent over $400 million on F1 last year, with no wins to show for it. So the on-line launch was in keeping with the team’s new, publicised goal of ‘taking positive, decisive measures to reduce costs’.

“Of course, the new MP4-24 bears little resemblance to its championship-winning predecessor and featured heavily revised bodywork, in line with the new rules.” (KERS), which has been developed in conjunction with electronics supplier Magneti Marelli. The team did not confirm whether the device will be used for the first race or whether it was mechanical or electrical in concept. If Ferrari’s launch was subdued, Toyota went one better and held theirs in cyberspace just three days later. Instead of a formal launch with reporters and company officials flown in from around the world, the

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Will this new philosophy result in race wins? There was much talk about the team going ‘all out’ to beat its meagre tally of two podiums and one front row start in 2008. Chairman and team principal Tadashi Yamashina restated his target “to fight to win the first race for Toyota”. Drivers Jarno Truli and Timo Glock were upbeat and determined, as they should be. However very little technical information was forthcoming and there were no design

surprises. Also, it is believed the team will not run a KERS in the opening Grand Prix. Just 24 hours later came the much awaited McLaren Mercedes launch. Unveiled in front of the press and a select number of invited guests at the team’s headquarters in England, the event served to achieve little more than highlight Lewis Hamilton’s delight at the sight of the ‘number one’ on the nose and flanks of his car – courtesy of his world championship win last year. Of course, the new MP4-24 bears little resemblance to its championship-winning predecessor and featured heavily revised bodywork, in line with the new rules. The event didn’t throw any light on whether the McLaren KERS system was a mechanical or electrical setup, although the mention of ‘vibration’ in testing hinted at the possibility of a mechanical device. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen took the opportunity to assure everyone that his physical training programme was on track and that he will be “more prepared than ever for the new season”. Perhaps the biggest news from McLaren was that chairman and CEO Ron Dennis will be stepping down – but not retiring – to give Martin Whitmarsh a change at the helm. Previously known for lavish events featuring extravagant special effects, Renault launched its new R29 in very muted style in the pit lane at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. In addition to a rather informal press conference with team principal Flavio Briatore and drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, a technical briefing was presided over by engineers Bob Bell and Rob White. Interestingly, they revealed that Renault will be storing electrical energy in its KERS this year. A motor/generator unit will be coupled to the engine and batteries will be used as the storage medium. How much power will it deliver? They were tight lipped. But word in the paddock is around 80 hp.

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EMC sees gold in SA... Even with its poor global performance BY KAUNDA CHAMA

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hile many multinational companies have seen poor global performance impact on local operations adversely, information infrastructure solutions specialist vendor EMC anticipates high growth in SA. According to the company’s country manager Gerhard van der Merwe the company will continue to enhance it signature EMC Velocity? Partner Program for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and in turn expects high growth in SA in the next two years despite the downturn in the world economy. He says that the company has put in place cost-saving strategies for local enterprises to offer value-added, efficient solutions and services to increase its market share. >>

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>> “The strategy for EMC South Africa is the same as the global strategy. As an information infrastructure provider, EMC aims to become a virtual data centre solution specialist, achieving 100 per cent virtualisation and being recognised as the number one solutions provider in the world,” Van der Merwe says.

“In addition, an increasing number of African countries are becoming more resilient to the global economy, which has led us to open an east African hub in Kenya and a west African hub in Nigeria.” – Frederic Dussart, EMC

Gerhard van der Merwe, EMC

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At present, the company has 40 per cent market share in SA compared to 50 per cent in the US and 30 per cent globally. Van der Merwe explains that the South African operation’s focus for this year will be on the South, East and Central African (SECA) region, where it has identified opportunities in the telco, public sector, oil and gas markets. He states that all the SECA business will be done exclusively through the channel, adding that partner training in alliance with BCX, Dell, Cisco and Dimension Data has been completed. “In SA, our focus on the enterprise side of the business will be on the telco, financial services, public and industrial sectors,” Van der Merwe says. “On the corporate and commercial side of the business, the focus is on manufacturing and retail. We also aim to double our existing 25 per cent market share in the coastal regions this year.” The company is confident of delivering solutions to the market by working closely with its partners to provide end-to-end virtualisation projects encompassing hardware, software services and consulting. Van der Merwe says EMC sees major growth coming from its content management products. “There will be a big drive around security and storage products. We also intend opening a division called Resource

Management Software Group, which will combine a new product line with existing products such as Smarts, Infra and Control Centre to offer clients a value proposition to handle the growth in content in SA and Africa.” He says that of the mature and emerging regions the company focuses on, it is only expecting growth in the emerging markets, particularly in the SECA region. According to Van der Merwe, the company is growing its local staff complement significantly (from 103 to 170) and will continue to maintain direct contact with large enterprise clients and sometimes work on their projects with their tier-one partners. He adds that for smaller corporate clients, EMC will do up to 70 per cent of its business through the channel and its smaller commercial business will all be done through the indirect model. On the African front, the company has been busy cementing its presence in countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and, more recently, Angola. It has been working in these regions hand in hand with Dimension Data, Business Connexion and Dell, and sees telecommunications and financial services as sectors in which it will make the most revenue. Even with the current state of the global economy, Van der Merwe says, that there are certain initiatives in the African region that will continue to go ahead with such as ‘green computing’ and is confident that it will help partners to save money by allowing them to do smarter business. “Realistically speaking, business will never be the same as it used to be so we have to become smarter in how we do our business and sell our solutions. However, the information explosion will continue to drive the need for EMC solutions because we provide intelligent information management solutions,” he explains. He is confident that because the company provides total hardware and software solutions, and has the ability to automate certain processes it has great potential to grow in the public sector. “The majority of our business in 2009 will come from the telecoms and public sector. Other sectors will continue to invest in technology, but we think they might be

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very cautious about how they spend. For example, the retail space is questionable because certain sectors like automotive are definitely heading for a major slowdown,” he explains. Meanwhile, the company recently announced enhancements to its Velocity2 Partner Programme with a big drive to make its partners more self-sufficient through improved accreditation and certification practices. Frederic Dussart, EMC’s VP and regional country manager for Europe South, Middle East and Africa, says: “We plan on building internal and external cloud computing environments within SA’s telco, financial services and industrial sectors. We will do this by partnering with industry leaders such as Cisco, Dell and VMWare. “In addition, an increasing number of African countries are becoming more resilient to the global economy, which has led us to open an east African hub in Kenya and a west African hub in Nigeria.” Van der Merwe believes that 2009 will have a very strong virtualisation focus, saying he views server virtualisation as the most substantial shift in IT so far this decade. According to Van der Merwe, adoption is high and organisations are virtualising mission- and business-critical applications. “As a result, enterprises need to work with a partner like EMC SA to select the appropriate storage networking approach and system.” According to recent press reports, EMC will invest approximately US $1.4 billion in research and development during 2009, as a way of demonstrating its commitment to remaining one of the leading IT services and solutions providers globally. Early last month, EMC announced new partner specialities that combine hardware, software and services skills as a way of enabling partners to further differentiate their business model and bring additional value to their customers. The company did this by announcing significant enhancements to the EMC Velocity2 Partner Program with the introduction of Partner Specialities in five solution areas – consolidation, back up, archiving, security and content. This move enables Velocity2 Partners to

differentiate their business model and offer additional value to their customers by delivering complete end-to-end solutions combining hardware, software and services skills. Velocity2 Partners can become part of the Velocity2 Authorised Service Network (ASN) Program and receive advanced technical training from EMC and have access to its

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2009 and the security and content specialities will be rolled out in the first quarter of this year. Amid its partnerships and acquisitions last year, EMC also invested in Waymark ECM (a subsidiary of Waymark Infotech), a South African company with specialisation in enterprise content management solutions (ECMS).

“In the short to medium term, EMC sees more revenue coming out of the African region than SA projecting that through its channel partners, it should see South African business growing between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, while African business is projected at potential growth of 50 per cent.” – Gerhard van der Merwe, EMC

proprietary service methodologies and tools that are also used by EMC services specialists. According to EMC, this level of certification will allow partners to engage with customers on a deeper level, enabling them to deliver the highest quality customer satisfaction. Speciality certifications will be grouped around a set of products, software and services relevant to each solution area. Partners will receive an advanced set of benefits associated with their Speciality area such as performance-based rebates and demand-generation support. The Speciality logo displayed by partners will allow customers to clearly identify the best ‘go-to’ partner in their region for their selected solution requirements. “As mid-market customers become more sophisticated they are looking for a solution provider who can deliver an entire solution. The speciality areas introduced into the EMC Velocity2 Partner Program will ensure that our partners are qualified to offer a complete solution based on the customer’s needs. The additional services skills set will allow the partner to own the customer relationship from the initial sale through to implementation and ongoing support,” comments Prem Pather, channel manager EMC South Africa. The consolidation, back up, and archive specialities will be available from 1 July

With the investment, EMC established a specialised content management solutions division in SA and Africa, thereby strengthening its skills and resources to meet the content management and archiving needs of businesses throughout the region. The move is seen as testament to the fact that EMC South Africa is committed to black economic empowerment (BEE). “This important investment gave EMC an expanded and stronger channel that can help deliver ECM solutions to the South African and African markets. With Waymark, we are creating a specific competence around content management and archiving, an area of information management which is recognised as essential to almost every company,” says Van der Merwe. To further extend its local development, the company has appointed a new business development manager who will work closely with its big system integrator partners like Accenture, Deloitte and T-Systems. In the short to medium term, Van der Merwe says that EMC sees more revenue coming out of the African region than SA, projecting that through its channel partners, it should see South African business growing between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, while African business is projected at potential growth of 50 per cent.

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Highly Recommended

Reviews by: Dominic Khuzwayo

Creative Inspire M5300 speakers Talk about magic sound. The first time I heard the Creative speakers pumping was at a friend’s place, I felt jealousy spreading through me like a computer virus (how I wished the speakers were mine). I now know the speakers were from one of the world leaders in digital entertainment products for the personal computer (PC) and the Internet, Creative. And I guess Creative has a hold on magic sound in the Inspire M5300 speakers. Let me first take you back to the day the speakers were delivered. It was a Monday morning and I was greeted by a huge box on my table with a picture of stylish speakers on the outside that made me not want to waste time before opening the box. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to find that the speakers are not wireless, I guess I was deceived by the picture on the box. But that did not stop me from connecting the speakers to my iPod and playing an Anita Baker song. Since I was in the office, I couldn’t turn the volume high but the quality of the sound left my editor who is into hip hop, tapping and claiming to be an Anita fan. I tried to put some hip hop on to please him and to also check the powerful 17-watt subwoofer, but that didn’t last long as my colleagues started complaining about the noise. I then decided to take the speakers to the real test station – my place. With the stylish design and wall-mounting options, the speakers gave my room a huge facelift.

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I did not waste time, I played jazz all the way and adjusted the bass knob on the subwoofer; the room was instantly filled with great and booming bass. The wired volume control made me forget about my neighbours but to keep scrolling until some stuff fell from the computer stand. That’s when the thought of watching a movie came to me; I watched some old movie (too embarrassed to mention the name). The Inspire speakers are not a hassle to plug in; I switched easily from iPod to laptop to PC. The sound from the Inspire M5300 speaker shows that Creative doesn’t play around and knows its story very well. My advice is that if you are looking for sound to make your friends jealous, Inspire M5300 speakers are the answer. In addition to stylish design, the speakers’ 5.1 add-in or built-in sound card does its job well and the 17-watt subwoofer provides enough bass for any purpose, be it music, voice or movie playback. Gamers will also love these speakers. The 3D surround sound works very well, especially if the speakers are all well placed because this speaker set is designed for dramatic sound effects and explosive bass. These speakers also boast a stylish metallic look within a small footprint design, but they could have done without the ‘70s-looking wired remote control.

Reviews by: Stanley Chishala

Highly Recommended

LG KT610 It’s OK but… Being a fan of Symbian smartphones, I was happy to find LG’s KT610 on my desk last month but even with the great features the handset comes with, I couldn’t help noticing the size of the front screen. At first it looks like one of those early cellphones but thank goodness it opens up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and a larger screen, and looks much more like a modern-day device. Besides the front screen size, the KT610 is very well designed and feels good in your hand and is quite lightweight. The design is fashionable and will have great youth appeal. The handset is GPS-enabled with downloadable maps of 150 countries, which are easy to navigate on the 2.4inch VGA flip screen using the QWERTY keypad. Being that satellite navigation is the current killer application, it is no surprise that LG is

not missing out on this feature with its mid- to high-end handsets. If you have been experiencing problems with Windows Mobilebased handsets you’ll be happy with the ease of use that comes with Symbian OS v9.2 and S60 third edition feature pack 1. This means you are guaranteed a reasonable experience from the suite of multimedia features and applications that come with the somewhat simple-looking device. With HSDPA connectivity the phone can download at speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps and it supports full HTML browsing, just like a Web browser on a regular computer. To make sure you get the best out of the QWERTY keypad, the phone also has handy features such as push email functionality, video MMS, email and a very easy-to-use Google package. Although the platform is very stable, I found that loading some applications took longer than I am used to. Good examples are turning the phone on seemed to take a long time; deleting messages also seemed to take longer than I am used to on older model LG phones; and navigating between different screens had a bit of lag. However, I was very impressed with the connectivity speeds; even the Web browsing was very fast when accessing full HTML websites. The phone is well put together, has a solid feel and comes packed with a host of good applications, although I don’t like the fact that you have to pay for games. This is a perfect entry- to mid-level phone and is not bad value for what it offers and, if my assumption is correct, it is perfect for its target market. Not for the business user but well worth getting for ‘domestic’ users. The LG KT610 is available in South Africa from all cellphone phone networks. Recommended retail pricing is R3 999.

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PARTING: SHOTS

DILBERT

www.dilbert.com

Company: Eaton Power Quality Position: Country Manager SA Age: Late forties Best personal achivement: Moving to SA Management style: Results driven Most admired company: Any successful one Most admired executives: As above Best IT product: Blackberry or iPod Most pressing local business issues: Pushing the Eaton Brand Key to success: Never say no Favourite car: Porsche Your car: Audi Favourite authors: Clive Cuessler Where do you live: Bedfordview Birthplace: Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England Hobbies/sports: Reading Favourite periodicals: One doesn’t spring to mind Pet hates: Tardiness

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by Scott Adams