Computer Reseller News Nov 08

November 2008

www.crn.co.za

Inside 

Tandberg opens office in SA P10>>



HP cuts costs p22>>



Will Microsoft Online Store Affect Distributors? P37 >>

Vendor helps resellers build robust revenue streams >>p18

PUBLISHER’S: NOTE

What a month! N

ovember has been quite an eventful month to say the least. It almost feels as if it was a year squeezed into 30 days. On the CRN side, we had a few internal changes that we have now gotten used to and like the saying goes: it is now business as usual. On a global scale, the economic downturn was cause for more than just concern, but also for confusion. Watching the local currency taking a nosedive had the channel doing more readjustments than a crooked accountant. After talking to a number of heads of companies in the space last month, I realised that the idea of business as usual will have to become business unusual for quite a while because a turn around is expected to take a minimum of 24 months. However, even at a time like this, there is a lot of business being done as companies strive to make the best of a bad situation.

I cannot speak about November 2008 without mentioning Barack Obama, the first ever black president of the United States of America. I am not only proud of Obama because, like him, I am a black man, but also because he is the first president I know of that maximised the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to win an election. It might be a long shot, but I believe that the fact that he has said on numerous occasions that ICT is an undeniable asset in an effective campaign, especially one that targets the large youth component, will bring back some confidence in the ICT space. So, if ICT can help win a very strongly contested election, I am sure it can also work wonders for business. In addition to this, one hopes that the policies that the Obama administration puts in place will speed up the recovery of the US economy and that they will soon have a ripple effect on the economies of developing nations. In the mean time, I guess we will have to work with the saying: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

Kaunda Chama – editor

Contents News & Analysis 4 – What’s News 6 – Comings and goings 10 – Hi Five 12 – Demand Generator takes a look at how Akura integrated Preserv8TM

06

16 – SAP world tour reaches SA. By Dudu Shaba CRN Contacts: Editor: Kaunda Chama

18 – Cover story: Mimecast helps resellers build robust revenue streams. By Kaunda Chama 21 – SITA launches NOC. By Dudu Shaba

[email protected]

22 – HP enhances virtual environments. By Dominic Khuzwayo Journalists:

Features

Portia Shaba

23 – Anti-Spam: In today’s rapidly developing malicious environment, the one fifth of the globe’s population that is connected to the Internet has to cope with approximately 2 000 new and mutated viruses a day, almost 50 000 phishing attempts a month and more than one million hijacked computers that spread bots, rootkits, Trojans and other malware during one year. By Dudu Shaba

[email protected]

Dominic Khuzwayo [email protected]

Brand executive: Hellen Murahwa [email protected]

Sub-editor: Jenny Bastomsky [email protected]

Designer: Spencer van Graan

10

27 – Memory: With DDR3 technology prices expected to drop, DDR is still the way to go as it is not proprietary and leads on price/performance and performance/power ratios. By Dudu Shaba

16

30 – POS: When you decide to implement a point-of-sale (POS) solution, you have essentially decided to change the way you do business. By Dudu Shaba 34 – Servers: One of the major driving forces for growth in server sales is the need for more storage. In the past, servers had only a limited expansion for internal drives, which forced companies to upgrade more frequently due to the insufficient internal capacity of the servers. By Dudu Shaba

[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

2 •

37 – Will Microsoft Online Store affect distribution? Microsoft recently started selling some of its products to US customers through an online storefront for the first time in its history. While most channel partners don’t see this as a threat to their businesses, some speculate that distributors might view things differently. By Kevin McLaughlin

18

Product and Technology 38 – Logitech V 550 Nano cordless laser mouse 39 – Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus

Parting shots 40 – Snapshot: Deyan Stojcevski, Bytes Document Solutions 40 – Dilbert

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

39

WHAT’S

NEWS

Spectrum brings Buffalo to market South African distributor Spectrum Multimedia launches the Buffalo LinkTheatre HD Nfiniti wireless media player. The device streams multimedia content from any network or connected DLNA, NAS, PC, USB device directly to a TV. The LinkTheatre is also suitable for high-definition video camera users and those wanting to watch HD films or view high-resolution photos. Music and media files can be streamed through the device from a number of sources, including a Buffalo LinkStation Live and TeraStation Live storage devices. An intuitive TV-based interface lets consumers easily browse media content on the connected devices through a remote control. Users may also open network shares directly from the device to facilitate easy file sharing.

Lexmark’s launches new professional AIO Lexmark International has introduced a new addition to its Professional Series of inkjet all-in-ones (AIOs). The launch of the Lexmark X7675 is in response to an increasing need for small offices and home offices (SOHOs) to “cut the cord” and implement Wi-Fi networks to improve productivity. Paul A Rooke, Lexmark Executive Vice President and President of its Consumer Printer Division, says that professionals are seeking versatile, wireless AIO printers to help them multi task. “Our ongoing segment research reveals that SOHO professionals are embracing wireless networks to improve efficiency and productivity, while reducing operational costs,” he adds.

New Dell Vostro range

Seagate takes a byte of the Apple

This month sees Dell unveil a new range including a Vostro laptop and two desktops. The new Vostro laptop is designed specifically for small businesses, governments and educational institutions and is available through authorised channel partners as well as directly from Dell. Ben McDonald, Client Product Brand Manager, Dell SA says: “Within the world’s emerging economies millions of new businesses are demanding the right kind of technology. Today we answer their needs by introducing new products to complement our existing Vostro product line.”

Ingram Micro announces the local availability of Seagate’s new range of Mac compatible FreeAgent drives. Tyrone Gruner, Seagate Product Manager, Ingram Micro, says that the drives are preformatted for the Mac environment and ready for use with Time Machine, Apple’s built-in backup solution for Leopard. “With the growing presence Apple has in the PC space worldwide, Seagate has seen a great opportunity for growth and so extended the FreeAgent brand into the Mac environment. By all indications Seagate’s decision has struck a chord with the Apple community,” he says.

Behold My Passport drive Drive Control Corporation (DCC) announced availability of Western Digital’s My Passport Essential 500GB external drive. It comes in three colours Real Red, Intense Blue and Midnight Black, and the drive has either 160GB, 250GB or 320GB capacity. The device easily fits in the palm of your hand and is perfect for those who need mobile storage on the go. The drive is USB powered through the USB cable and no external power supply is required. The WD Sync and encryption software offered with My Passport makes it easy to transfer files and securely stores thousands of songs, videos and photos.

Motorola boost enterprise mobility Motorola‘s Enterprise Mobility business recently launched two new mobility devices – the CA50 and MC75. Motorola say that the new products represent the union of technologies and devices that deliver a complete package specially designed for demanding mobility applications. The new CA50 is intended for ‘indoor’ use, while the rugged MC75 is ideal for field work, incorporating a range of features that includes GPS. Mark Kelly, Country Manager Motorola SA says: “This device illustrates Motorola’s efforts to fuse legacy scanning technologies with new voice and wireless capabilities, to make all employees connected using the latest technology to better serve their customers and patients.”

Esquire launches new printer Specialist IT distributor Esquire Technologies, has announced a new 24-needle, high speed dot matrix printer from the Seiko range. Mohomed Cassim, Sales and Marketing Director, Esquire says: “The BP9000Plus offers proficiency, speed and professionalism. “The widespread adoption of these printers has led to significant increases in efficiency and accuracy, Mohomed Cassim but high quality printing is also essential in areas like governmental institutions, offices and banks,” he says. According to Cassim the operation of the printer is very simple because of the twolevel menu system, which displays selections on a 16-digit LCD panel. The menu is available in five languages.

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CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

Microsoft unleashes LifeCams Microsoft unveils two new webcams, the LifeCam Show and LifeCam VX-5500. According to Ralf Groene, Industrial Design Manager, Microsoft, the LifeCam Show is ultra sleek and one of the thinnest webcams on the market. While the LifeCam VX-5500 takes a more sassy approach with switchable faceplates in three colours in an innovative, collapsible design. “Our design team has been working hard to ensure that we could fit best-in-class webcam technology into such a tiny footprint. We also designed these LifeCams to attach to any type of PC with ease because we know that consumers move between notebooks and desktops and back again, and they want a webcam that can move with them,” says Groene.

WHAT’S

NEWS

COMINGS SAP appoints John Papandrea

&

SAP AG has appointed John Papandrea Senior Vice President of the Healthcare industry business unit. Papandrea joins SAP from Deloitte Consulting where he advised large healthcare organisations on information technology strategy, the effective use of technology and technology innovation. Previously Papandrea John Papandrea worked with Capgemini and Ernst & Young advising clients on the value of information technology in healthcare, particularly in the clinical arena. Bob Stutz, Head of Industries Solutions and Corporate Officer for SAP says: “Mr Papandrea will be a tremendous asset to SAP and will add value to our customers in the healthcare sector.”

HP software boss takes reigns Steen Lomholt-Thomsen is the new Vice President and General Manager of HP Software for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Lomholt-Thomsen is tasked with maximising HP Software’s profit

Motorola completes AirDefense acquisition Motorola has acquired AirDefense, a leading wireless LAN (WLAN) security provider. The definitive agreement to acquire privately-held AirDefense to make a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola integrated into Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business. Kathy Paladino, President of Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Business, says that the acquisition of AirDefense was the logical next step to a very successful three-year OEM partnership. “Together with AirDefense, Motorola will secure enterprise networks with a common platform solution providing superior indoor and outdoor wireless protection for users operating in a variety of settings including corporate headquarters, manufacturing and distribution plants and remote branch offices,” she says.

Panda Internet security on market SMC Networks, global providers of LAN hardware and broadband connectivity devices, announce the availability of the Panda Internet Security bundle. The bundle includes a Wireless N Router and a Wireless N USB 2.0 Adapter and the device is

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CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

Paul Luff

GOINGS

Steen Lomholt-Thomsen

and revenue growth in the EMEA region; as well as extending its market leadership; driving effective go-to-market activities; and delivering superior customer service. He will also oversee sales of HP’s Business Technology Optimisation (BTO) software, Information Management software, Business Intelligence solutions and Media solutions. Lomholt-Thomsen joins HP from IBM where he spent the past 10 years in the software division.

New LG MD LG Electronics SA has appointed the first nonKorean MD of an LG subsidiary in the world. Peet van Rooyen succeeds ST Tae and his appointment is inline with LG’s global strategy for local leadership with relevant market knowledge in regions. Peet van Rooyen According to van Rooyen there are opportunities for growth in exports into sub-Saharan Africa while the retail market is under pressure globally and on a local level.

designed to offer small offices and home users high-speed wireless connectivity to withstand high demand on bandwidth-thirsty applications. Paul Luff, Country Manager, SMC Networks SA says: “We are very pleased to bring this latest offering which stems from a close, industrydriven alliance between SMC Networks and Panda Security.”

Duxbury boasts local HP Procurve Masters Duxbury Networking is the only distributor in South Africa to boast three technical engineers in its team that have achieved HP ProCurve Master Accredited Systems Engineer (MASE) status. Armand Steffens, Andre Kannemeyer and Martin Mohr join an exclusive world-wide club of specialists. They are able to design, implement Graham Duxbury and support HP ProCurve solutions for complex, heterogeneous, enterprise environments, which include voice and multimedia applications. Graham Duxbury, Duxbury Networking CEO, says: “ProCurve integration certifications follow the successful outcome of comprehensive, hands-on examinations. Our team’s success clearly demonstrates the high skills levels inherent in the Duxbury Networking organisation.”

ANALYSIS: DISTRIBUTION

MOVES

SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

HP to buy lefthand HP has signed an agreement to acquire LeftHand Networks, providers of storage virtualisation and iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions for $360 million. With the addition of LeftHand Networks, HP will add midrange offerings to its suite of iSCSI solutions. “The acquisition of LeftHand Networks significantly expands our storage portfolio, enabling HP to deliver customers an expanded suite of storage functionality,” says Dave Roberson, senior vice president and general manager, StorageWorks Division, HP.

Comztek awarded SA Microsoft’s rights

and any corporate environment that requires security delivering the convenience and quality that digital image, storage and retrieval offers,” says, Jacques van Zijl Overland Storage product specialist, DCC.

Altitude Software partners with Ocular Technologies

Technology distributor Comztek has been awarded the Microsoft distribution rights. The deal allows Comztek to distribute finished goods in Southern African countries Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia. David Caygill, Software Infrastructure Director, Comztek, says that the South African distribution rights remain unaffected and that the Comztek’s Microsoft distribution rights for finished goods and OEM in East Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Rwanda, have been renewed. Caygill says that Microsoft’s aim to successfully promote its products into the rest of Africa dovetails with Comztek’s strategy to build on its current African footprint.

Global independent contact centre solutions vendor, Altitude Software has partnered with Ocular Technologies. This partnership will see both companies provide the growing South African BPO industry with customer interaction management software solutions. According to Pommie Lutchman, Ocular managing director, this will expand the company’s customer interaction management solutions and enable it to cater sufficiently for contact centres of all sizes. “We are confident that this partnership will contribute to both Ocular and Altitude gaining new successes in this market.” Shlomo Harari, Altitude Software president – APAC says: “Ocular Technologies is a prominent player in the contact centre space and we are thrilled about working with its team of contact centre experts.”

DiData buys SRC stake

Fortinet partners with DiData

Dimension Data, has acquired 51 % stake in Sistemas Redes e Communicações (SRC), an Angolan based IT solutions company. The acquisition marks the launch of Dimension Data Angola with its offices based in Luanda. Bruno De Carvalho, MD, Dimension Data Angola says, “Dimension Data has an established track record of delivering worldclass technology services and solutions that enable Africans to do great things.” “By combining this with SRC’s strong client base and local knowledge and skills, Dimension Data Angola is able to provide more comprehensive services and solutions ideally tailored to the local, Angolan market,” adds De Carvalho.

Fortinet, a provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions, has signed a global agreement with Dimension Data. The agreement will allow Dimension Data to integrate, install and provide consultancy services for Fortinet’s network security solutions to enterprises worldwide. The new partnership is set to combine an innovative and proven security platform with Dimension Data’s robust and trusted integration capabilities, which will decrease clients’ time- and cost-to-market in creating secure infrastructures. This agreement with Dimension Data, operating in 47 countries across five continents, marks Fortinet’s deepest and broadest global systems integrator partnership.

HGH Business Consultancy taps SA

Tarsus signs Linksys

HGH Business Consultancy, a software developer and service provider in the Netherlands has appointed Ability Solutions as its official South African representative for its enterprise rental application DynaRent. Developed by HGH, DynaRent is a vertical industry application that manages the rental life cycle of capital equipment. “DynaRent handles the full life cycle involved in renting capital equipment,” says John Olsson, sales and marketing director, Ability Solutions. “Integrating it with AX means the rental agreement can be tracked from first enquiry to completion with data automatically updated and linked to each client’s historical accounts and customer profiles,” adds Olsson.

Tarsus Technologies has announced the extension of its distribution agreement with Cisco to encompass Linksys. Risna Steenkamp, Cisco business development manager, Tarsus says that the company is particularly intrigued by its new access to the Linksys Small Business Pro range as a strategic fit exists between the products in this range and the needs of Tarsus’ SMB resellers. “We originally took the Cisco brand into the Tarsus stable with the intention of growing its presence in the small- and mediumsized business sector,” Steenkamp explains. “We now have access to a really compelling range of products to service that market with,” she adds.

McAfee partners with CommVault Overland Storage partners with Mobotix Overland Storage has announced a global partnership with Mobotix Vision Systems, one of the leaders in high-resolution IP network cameras. This partnership will allow both companies to deliver video surveillance and archiving solutions for the under 100-camera system market. Local distributor of Overland Storage solutions, Drive Control Corporation (DCC), will offer this bundled solution including Overland’s Snap Server network attached storage (NAS) appliance family with Mobotix’s line of high-resolution digital, network-based video security solutions to its resellers. “This makes it ideal for markets such as entertainment (casinos)

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CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

McAfee, Inc. and CommVault has announced a strategic partnership to deliver an integrated data and security management solution. The partnership will provide customers worldwide with easy access to jointly integrated data and security management technology solutions from both McAfee and CommVault. “In coming together, CommVault and McAfee can provide customers with award-winning data protection capabilities that work hand in hand with industry-leading security applications for a complete, more easily deployable and cost effective data and security management solution,” says Lauren Whitehouse, analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group.

DEMAND SOLUTION

GENERATOR:AKURA

PROVIDERS

Akura integrates Preserv8TM Optimising e-mail communication BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

A

kura Manufacturing Engineering Company, a manufacturer of specialised machinery based in Paarl Valley in the Western Cape, has integrated Preserv8TM an email archiving software system and also offers services for the Microsoft globally certified solution. Akura was established in 1970 and builds and supplies specialised machinery and operates sales and service branches on the East Rand, Gauteng and in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. The company employs 75 staff that design and supply equipment to blue chip clients in the paper, plastic, recycling, waste management and mining sectors. However Akura recently faced problems that included inadequate archiving and downtime resulting in frustration with email

‘freeware’ components that cannot be classified as best of breed or enterprise strength. “The commoditised solutions are a composite of disparate systems strung together with an overlaid interface to expedite the vendor time to market. We believe that, based on software product lifecycles, this approach sacrifices quality and reduces longevity. “In comparison Preserv8 is the only system designed and built from the ground up as a true UEM platform, using best-of-breed Microsoft technologies that carry the requisite global support and are proven to include the enterprise environment,” says du Toit. Preserve8 is available to the local market and is developed by Integr8 IS, a Microsoft Gold Partner and providers of Software plus Services to the global market.

“Preserv8 is only product to carry the Microsoft S+S ISV certification, and is delivered via high capacity carrier grade architecture in multiple top tier secure data centres around the globe.” – Deon Robertson, Integr8 IS.

communications, so the company decided to search for a new solution. “We thoroughly investigated the various offerings in the market and found that most products masquerading as Unified Email Management (UEM) platforms were either built on open source technologies or were simply commoditised solutions,” says Anton du Toit, General Manager, Akura Engineering. “We strongly believe that for a solution to be effective, efficient, robust and scalable, it needs to compact and simple in design. Simplicity without the loss of functionality remains the hallmark of a well thought out solution,” adds du Toit. According to Du Toit the open source offerings appear to contain large portions of

Deon Robertson, CEO, Integr8 IS says that this solution meets all the necessary criteria as laid down by Akura Engineering and they can now fully manage their entire email function via the unified messaging platform. “Our clients are in the market for a solution that does not represent a myriad of architectures and is engineered from the bottom up. Preserv8 is only product to carry the Microsoft S+S ISV certification and is delivered through high capacity carrier grade architecture in multiple top tier secure data centres across the globe,” says Robertson Robertson adds that this solution provides an innovative dimension to unified email management and gives companies optimised services.

Deon Robertson, Integr8 IS “Preserv8 resides on tier one internet backbone in secure data centres around the globe, and protects, captures, sanitises, brands and archives all your inbound and outbound email while in transit,” he says. “We are pleased to have in place an extremely solid partnership with Akura Engineering that are widely respected and acknowledged for their technical capability and acumen, as well as their ability to leverage off the most robust, reliable and proven systems,” says Robertson. In addition Robertson says that Integr8 IS has a solid pipeline of potential customers in SA and the UK (the Nordicks countries) and they are currently investigating additional ‘cloud computing’ offerings. If you have any demand generator stories to share with us please email Dominic at [email protected].

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008 •

9

HIGH FIVE: TANDBERG SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

TANDBERG opens office in SA BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

T

ANDBERG, one of the leading global providers of telepresence, high–definition videoconferencing and mobile video products and services has recently opened an office in South Africa. The Norwegian-based TANDBERG previously operated locally but only offering technical support. According to Bryan Thompson, TANDBERG area manager, Sub-Sahara South Africa, the company’s focus is on providing videoconferencing solutions anywhere, anytime and any place. This enables users to participate in video communications in the office, home, hotel room, airport or in the boardroom, any time, he says. TANDBERG was recently awarded the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership Award. The award recognizes TANDBERG’s leadership position in both the global video conferencing market and the global video conferencing infrastructure systems market. In this month High Five we take a closer look at TANDBERG’s expansion ‘territory’. CRN: Why are you opening an office in SA? BT: Previously it was only a support office. Now it will incorporate sales, marketing and management. TANDBERG has identified South Africa and Africa as a large potential market. CRN: How will your customers benefit from the new office? BT: There will be a full TANDBERG presence in SA with the entire infrastructure as well. There is a full range of product that will be launched over the next few months. CRN: What do you want to achieve in SA? BT: TANDBERG currently has over 50 local customers, many blue chip. The aim is to grow the customer base in SA and across Africa. CRN: How is Tandberg doing in SA? BT: Over 50 customers. The sites are stable, customers happy.

Bryan Thompson, TANDBERG

CRN: What challenges are facing in videoconferencing industry in SA? BT: Previously low bandwidth. That challenge is diminishing. Flexibility as well – previously VC was only available boardroom-to-boardroom. With TANDBERG it is possible to communicate via video from a boardroom to a branch office PC, home user and even to a user sitting at a coffee shop or airport via their notebook. Comms can now also be to a cellphone or even from a digital camera to a boardroom showing the progress on a construction site.

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ANALYSIS: SAP WORLD TOUR SOLUTION

SAP

PROVIDERS

world tour reaches SA

Circulating to lift the morale of SMEs. BY DUDU SHABA

S

AP has embarked on its world tour aimed at changing approaches, sharing experiences and introducing new products to its small and medium enterprise partners. Hans-Peter Klaey, president, SME and corporate officer, SAP AG, said at the SAP World Tour held at the Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg is its 30th stop this year. He highlighted that other countries, including Russia, China and Brazil were also visited.

“The days of commodity solutions are over, our current focus is on meeting requirements by client and country, and to develop additional solutions specific to our customers. Africa is ready for growth and profitability,” – Pfungwa Serima, SAP, Africa

Pfungwa Serima, SAP, Africa

16 •

In his address at Gallagher Estate, Klaey pointed out that SMEs are the driving force of the economy, although it will still take time for them to be credited for their contribution. “SMEs are the backbone of the economy and employment, the secret that I will reveal today is that we have 51 000 SME customers globally, we also continue to gain 30 new customers per working day. This shows that SAP is investing in its customers to ensure growth in the SME world. “In saying that, SAP will continue to provide best-in-class solutions to its partners in SA as well as create a vibrant ecosystem that also creates employment,” he commented. Although SMEs on the African continent are still faced with challenges in terms of running their businesses effectively, Pfungwa Serima, MD, SAP, Africa said that SAP has a defined way of going to market country by country and that it will continue to share best practices. “The days of commodity solutions are over, our current focus is on meeting requirements by client and country, and to develop additional solutions specific to our customers. Africa is ready for growth and profitability,” he said.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

Reward program introduced for SAP ecosystem SAP announced the successful roll-out of the SAP Referral Program to its ecosystem in SA at the world tour. Hildburg Hofer, SME channel director, SAP, explained that the SAP Referral Program is designed as a unified, consistent referral program that will reward referrals from both SAP partners and non-partners in the small business and midsize companies market segment. She said the role of the program is to enable SAP to identify potential users of its software solutions by offering transparent and timely rewards to an expanded set of participants, including members of the SAP ecosystem and other constituencies, for leveraging their business relationships to refer prospects to SAP. According to her, the new sales program is ideally suited to value-added resellers (VARs), solution resellers and independent software vendors (ISVs) who may or may not currently be authorised SAP channel partners as well as alliance partners, technology and business consultants, accountancy practices and ecosystems of companies working with SAP. For these companies the program can be the first step in a long-term partnership with SAP. She added that the SAP Referral Program was launched globally in April this year and has been adopted by several key markets. So far the program has been very successful, with more than 922 companies worldwide in the IT and SAP environment having signed up to participate in it. “SAP’s idea to leverage the ecosystem for a co-innovative business approach proves that the company understands the dynamics of buying behaviour in SA. Also, the easy access to the program makes participation even more beneficial to us,” she said. Further explaining the procedure, Hofer said that Referral members are rewarded when a deal is closed; in general, five per cent of the deal’s net software licence value

ANALYSIS: SAP WORLD TOUR SOLUTION

is paid as a closing reward. “The program is easily accessible and only requires a onetime online registration. Once registered, members can securely enter the program through a dedicated referral member portal where they can quickly access program information, register opportunities and access regular status updates on the referred lead. The SAP Referral Program portal provides exclusive sales material on the complete portfolio of SAP solutions for small business and midsize companies, along with opportunity qualification tools and e-learning sessions. A clear set of eligibility rules form the basis of the SAP Referral Program in order to ensure transparency and compliance with legal requirements and business ethics,” she said.

SAP Extended Business Program Another program introduced to SMEs was the SAP Extended Business Program that supports the role of organisations in promoting and implementing SAP solutions in partnership with channel partners who are authorised value-added resellers. Paul Vermaak, head, SAP Business One, SAP, said under the Extended Business Program, organisations can be granted the appropriate access to SAP systems, resources and training to support their business relationship with their VARs. To become members of the program, Vermaak explains that organisations must meet requirements such as the following: SAP and VAR Sponsorship – local SAP channel and one value–added reseller must formally recommend the program member Signed Collaboration agreement – each applicant must sign the SAP Extended Business program collaboration agreement. Business Cooperation agreement between VAR and Program member – in addition to a signed collaboration agreement you must provide written confirmation of existing cooperation between your organisation and SAP. Program membership – to become a member of the program, your organisation must have selected employees complete the required Web-based qualification test. Business Plan – your organisation should establish a business plan with your VAR partner that outlines specific goals, including revenue and staffing plans. Membership – selected members from your organisation need to complete the required

training and respective qualification tests successfully within three months of the date your organisation signs the collaboration agreement. Your organisation will be given limited access to the SAP Channel Partner Portal site only to be able to complete the required training Web-based qualification tests. “This has given us a good opportunity to interact with our end-users and SAP is growing its business by one customer everyday,” Vermaak said.

Success story David Borchart, SAP sales and consulting, BPS, a company providing a SAP All-In-One Solution for the engineering and construction industry, said the company’s attendance at the world tour has assisted it to get free advertising. “We are working directly with SAP and this is a good platform for us to grow and to help people understand what our company offers,” he said.

Partnership Michelle Beetar, MD, Novell, a vendor that is doing joint work with SAP in terms of addressing the needs of SMEs, said SMEs are still faced with a lot of challenges and their long-term relationship with SAP will lower the barriers. “SMEs understand what they need in their businesses and the most important thing they are looking for is support. Cash flow is also not easy for them to manage, but, as Novell, we believe that bringing our brands together addresses the biggest challenges faced by SMEs today,” she said. “Our customers as well as SAP’s partners have also started working together and this is really for the benefit of the customers,” she added.

Go for Growth Recently, SAP held a Go for Growth competition at the Johannesburg Securities Exchange aimed at encouraging customers to use SAP software to further grow their businesses. Serima said that SMEs want to ensure that their businesses are run effectively and one of the aims of this competition is to encourage businesses to use SAP solutions for their best advantage. “The competition is about SAP taking an interest in the growth of businesses that we run and encouraging them to be better run,”

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he said. Two SMEs, NutriLida Healthcare and Pilot Crushtec, won listings on the JSE’s AltX Exchange in the 2008 Go4Growth competition. Seven additional companies, LPM Reinforcing, Electrosense, Forge Business Online, (TBC), Renasa Insurance Company Limited, Bloodhound Technologies, Fraxion and Umlimi Holdings, have won millions of rands worth of SAP business software, potential venture capital funding from Hasso Plattner Ventures and business advisory assistance from Deloitte advisory services. Global SAP SME president and CEO, Hans-Peter Klaey said SMEs are the growth engines of the economy. “The Go4Growth competition is the only one of its kind worldwide. It’s an innovative way to build optimism and energy in a very exciting market,” he said. The two AltX winning companies were judged the most growth-oriented SMEs from a shortlist of 10 finalists, selected from a total of 320 entries in the Go4Growth competition. Wessel van der Merwe, JSE-approved executive of Vunani Corporate Finance, an active designated adviser to a number of AltX-listed companies, says the top five companies were all strong contenders in the competition and suitable for listing. “We selected two companies we felt were most likely to sustain their growth and benefit from a listing,” he said. Derek Kudsee, SAP SME Director, Africa, said LPM Reinforcing, ElectroSense and Forge Business Online won SAP’s Business One software aimed specifically at small businesses and Renasa Insurance Company Limited won SAP’s Business All-in-One software for medium-sized businesses. “Deciding on both small and medium-sized enterprises as the winners in the competition allowed SAP to offer software to more than one category of winner. “These companies will hopefully benefit from the competition in terms of value and growth, which is after all what Go4Growth is all about,” said Kudsee. Klaey said the response to the SAP world tour was very good and SAP has succeeded in strengthening its relationship with SMEs. “SAP is looking forward to another world tour next year and we want to continue creating synergies between SAP and its partners,” he concluded.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008 •

17

MIMECAST: COVER STORY SOLUTION

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Mimeca While other vendors are withdrawing renewal business from the channel, Mimecast has made it clear that channel partnerships will be maximised in this new model and remunerated over the customer lifetime.

Garth Wittles, Mimecast South Africa

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CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

COVER SOLUTION

STORY:

MIMECAST

PROVIDERS

ast to the rescue Vendor helps resellers build robust revenue streams. BY KAUNDA CHAMA

S

oftware as a service (SaaS) company Mimecast South Africa, together with its sister operations in North America, Europe, and more recently the Middle East, continues to enjoy 400 per cent business growth year on year and has decided to pass on some of its good fortune to its partners. The company says it understands that a huge part of its success is due to its channel and has decided to launch a channel programme to enhance its partners’ experience when doing business with it. The programme is currently being launched in the UK and will have a gradual national launch locally very soon. The programme is centred on Mimecast’s SaaS email management service and is designed to build new business revenue and attract new partners for its offering. Garth Wittles, managing director, Mimecast South Africa explains that the company was formed in 2003 and opened operations locally a year later motivated by the fact that its CTO and CIO are both from SA. “Mimecast was born out of the realisation that companies were struggling with their e-mail systems and a good number of them considered outsourcing their management as a viable option because it was the only way they could get around the technical challenges of keeping them running around the clock,” he says. Wittles mentions that to him SaaS is more like the second generation of Application Service Provision (ASP). Although the ASP model did not prove too successful, he is confident that the market has matured enough for the SaaS model to succeed. Meanwhile, the programme has been launched just as Gartner predicts that email will lead the charge into mainstream adoption of cloud computing and that the percentage of commercial mailboxes using a

cloud-provisioned model will grow from one per cent in 2007 to 20 per cent by 2012. “Gartner predicts that by 2010 up to 40 per cent of IT services will be acquired as a service. This market has been moving very quickly in recent years and because it has matured at a fast pace, people are no longer questioning its viability,” explains Wittles.

“Without a doubt, cloud-based services are going to become a common option for customers given the current economic climate. We have seen a rapid uptake by customers opting for Mimecast’s innovative SaaS email management offering because it delivers more value for less and they can quickly connect their existing in-house email systems to the online service.” Mimecast’s email management service connects a customer’s existing email system to in-the-cloud email security, continuity and archiving for an annual fee. The company claims that its service has the potential to reduce costs by as much as 75 per cent and offers a bottomless email inbox for up to 10 years, always-on-outlook continuity, plus protection from email-borne viruses, malware and spam. “The advantage of our solution is that it is not designed to replace the likes of the Exchange environment, it is a perfect complement for a company that works in an Exchange environment and gives a company round the clock availability,” he says. According to Richard Mowbray, Channel and Alliances manager at Mimecast South Africa, SaaS has often alienated the channel as it is used to a traditional software business model reliant on upfront transaction revenue.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008 •

19

MIMECAST: COVER

STORY

SOLUTION

He says that Mimecast’s software as a service is an annual subscription where both the partner and Mimecast are intrinsically bound to the customer for the lifetime of the email archive. “As more people work from home and on weekends, e-mail continuity becomes more of a must have and our solution even provides security from malware and other issues as well as data leaks,” says Wittles. “Bottomless email” is another addition to the Mimecast offering as it helps companies

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programme; with this programme, if Mimecast closes a direct deal, it will place the amount of money it would have paid to the reseller into a dividend account, then at the end of a financial year, the money sitting in that account will be shared among the resellers according to their contribution to the business in the respective period. Partners that join the programme and are Microsoft certified will get a free Mimecast account because it plugs seamlessly into any Microsoft solution.

“We have spent a good number of years on key reference accounts and we feel than now is the right time for such an initiative. We have key references in every vertical; at the moment we see the biggest potential for sales in the medium-sized business space.” that need to store large amounts of corporate data for legislative and corporate governance reasons. In addition to this, the solution has an E-Discovery high performance search tool. It also includes corporate identity management capability. The company’s partner programme has two tiers, the first being the business partner and the second the certified partner, both of which are based on annuity margins. The business partner will engage with Mimecast and its customers and will simply act as a reseller of the company’s service. The certified partner will have a more proactive role in that it will be a strategic business partner to both Mimecast and the end customer; it will have a more proactive sales team and will also have certain targets to meet. Both partner tiers will have access to a number of tools that will help smooth their business practices; the first is presentation interactive marketing tools (PIMS), which enable resellers to send marketing information to potential customers. In addition, Mimecast will provide resellers with a portal that can be used for both marketing and order placements. Mimecast has also set up a dividend

20 •

“I strongly believe that revenue opportunities for our partners will be almost instantaneous and, in addition, a typical mimecast customer stays for no less than five years, and all of them have between 50 and 100 users. With this in mind, I think there is potential for immediate profit generation,” says Wittles. Meanwhile, the company currently has 16 reseller partners and, through the programme, is expecting to attract many more in SA and the rest of the continent. “We do no have a specific number that we are expecting to get but with over 4 000 or so Microsoft certified resellers, there is huge potential for business in the region. We see even SA as being virtually untapped,” he says. He adds that Mimecast intends making it as easy as possible for resellers to fully understand and resell its solution. It will provide them with free training, onsite or over the Internet, and they are free to repeat the training as many times as they wish. “We believe that investing in our partners will be mutually beneficial,” he notes. When asked why his company chose to launch the programme now, Wittles says: “We have spent a good number of years on key reference accounts and we feel than now

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

is the right time for such an initiative. We have key references in every vertical; at the moment we see the biggest potential for sales in the medium-sized business space. The benefit for our resellers is also that the sales cycle for our solution is very short and a sale can be concluded within 24 hours.” He comments that where most technology companies are seeing gloomy days ahead because of the global economic downturn, the state of the markets has actually created great scope for businesses such as Mimecast because its solution goes a long way in helping businesses save time and money by going the SaaS route. Commenting specifically on why SaaS is the next big opportunity for the channel, Mowbray explains that partners are by design involved in the company’s SaaS platform and throughout the customer lifecycle, not just the initial transaction. “As a SaaS provider, we are looking for a lifetime relationship with the customer and partner. For example, partners are part of the on-boarding process of connecting their customer’s in-house email system to our cloud-based service,” he says. While other vendors are withdrawing renewal business from the channel, Mimecast has made it clear that channel partnerships will be maximised in this new model and remunerated over the customer lifetime. Mowbray adds: “There are unique levels of protection on renewals; quite simply, any non-incumbent partner trying to poach renewals will have their margin reduced dramatically. Our primary goal is to work with partners to grow the market.” Long-time channel partner Think IT Solutions director Louis Botha comments: “Without a doubt, cloud-based services are going to become a common option for customers given the current economic climate. We have seen a rapid uptake by customers opting for Mimecast’s innovative SaaS email management offering because it delivers more value for less and they can quickly connect their existing in-house email systems to the online service.” With SaaS receiving so much hype, this will be a space well worth watching, now and in the next three to five-years.

ANALYSIS: SITA SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

SITA

launches new Network Operations Centre Implementing innovative IT solutions that compare with international trends. BY DUDU SHABA

T

he State Information Technology Agency (SITA) launched its Network Operations Centre (NOC) last month, aimed at enabling converged communications to minimise network and security-related network downtime as well as protecting SITA customers’ data traffic from manipulation. According to Femke Pienaar, acting CEO, SITA, the NOC is proof of SITA’s commitment to using its ICT expertise as a strategic resource to improve government’s service delivery and to meet the challenges faced by a developmental state. He says the investment in the centre is set at R55 million of which R40 million was spent on the network management software, adding that the additional R15 million was used to establish the actual centre, which also incorporates a Security Operation Centre (SOC). “In the SITA journey and evolution to improve service delivery we recently established the world-class Next Generation Network (NGN) carrier infrastructure which replaced the outdated Government Common Core Network (GCCN). This NGN network offers one of the most advanced multi-function suites with network services that include different classes of VPNs, Voice over IP (VoIP) services and video streaming,” he says. Pienaar explains that the primary function of the operations centre is to support the newly established NGN and the products and solutions SITA sells such as VPN services, VoIP and other network products and solutions. He further states that the NOC will support Converged Communications (CONCOM) services and products and is driven by a deep-seated belief in consistently improving SITA’s service delivery and products.

“The primary focus of the NOC is on proactive monitoring, speedy incident resolution, SLA management, capacity management, change management and configuration management to ensure improved service delivery to clients. Through the NOC, SITA will have a onestop view of the entire NGN. This will ensure better management and improved control of the facilities that house the NGN and switching centres countrywide. Access to these cen-

in social services on social services payout day. This would have an extremely negative impact on citizens. The situation would be exacerbated in areas where limited communication infrastructure is available to report the incident to SITA immediately. The establishment of the NOC will result in automatic detection of such a failure without the client having to report it. The NOC is built on sound processes and procedures and has been automated as far as possible

“The primary goal of the Network Operations Centre is the business assurance for SITA and its clients, and also to enable business processes and prevent disruptions.” – Femke Pienaar- SITA.

tres, for example, will only be obtained through the NOC which will monitor and control them,” he comments. Pienaar highlights that the biggest challenge for SITA was the lack of a comprehensive management service which emphasised proactive data monitoring. He explains that all security- or WAN-related incidents were handled separately and the previous system was largely reactive. Also, provincial government departments have different capacities and their ability to detect problems with the network differs. With the NOC in operation, he says that all networks will be monitored centrally and clients will be alerted pro-actively. “A hypothetical example is that a site could be down due to a data line failure

Pienaar also highlighted that the primary goal of the NOC is business assurance for SITA and its clients and also to enable business processes and prevent disruptions. “Our research has shown that this goal cannot be achieved with network and security operations working in silos. Therefore SITA’s unified NOC and Security Operations Centre will determine the root cause of an incident. It is also flexible enough to reclassify the problem and resolve it by applying the necessary security, system and network skills,” he comments. “We believe that the NOC is further evidence of SITA’s drive to find innovative IT solutions that compare with international trends and developments,” he concludes.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008 •

21

ANALYSIS: IBM SOLUTION

HP

PROVIDERS

cuts costs

Enhancing virtual environments. BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

I

T giant HP recently launched a breakthrough networking, storage and server technology that reduces costs, the HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module. It is also set to increase bandwidth flexibility and improve overall performance of virtual server environments. The HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module, a direct connect storage bundle for HP BladeSystem, and the HP ProLiant DL385 G5p server are among HP’s offerings that are helping customers to deploy their virtualised infrastructures efficiently. While a growing number of companies

55 per cent on network equipment costs. In addition, Virtual Connect Flex-10 can save 240 watts of power per HP BladeSystem enclosure – or 3 150 kilowatt hours per year – compared to existing networking technologies. Rory Green, ISS product manager, HP TSG SA says, “These technologies break down the barriers of virtualised networks, giving customers the greatest return on their investments. “Customers looking to eliminate the common obstacles of networking costs and bandwidth flexibility should look no further than HP.”

“These technologies break down the barriers of virtualised networks, giving customers the greatest return on their investments.” – Rory Green, HP TSG SA. deploy server virtualisation to gain operational savings from their technology infrastructures, the cost of networking virtual servers continues to climb. For example, a typical server that hosts virtual machines requires six network connections. To reap the benefits of their virtualised environment, companies are finding it necessary to invest in additional networking equipment, including network expansion cards, switches and cables. As an example, customers must purchase expensive network switches in either one Gb or 10Gb increments to meet the increased bandwidth required for additional virtual server workloads. HP’s new Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module is one of the industry’s first interconnect technologies that can allocate the bandwidth of a 10Gb Ethernet network port across four network interface card (NIC) connections. This increase in bandwidth flexibility eliminates the need for additional network hardware. As a result, customers deploying virtual machines and using Virtual Connect Flex-10 can realise savings of up to

22 •

Industry-leading cost benefits and four-toone network consolidation HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 distributes the capacity of a 10Gb Ethernet port into four connections enabling customers to assign different bandwidth requirements to each connection. Optimising bandwidth based on application workload requirements enables customers to leverage their 10Gb investments across multiple connections, and support virtual machine environments and other network intensive applications. This reduces overall network costs and power usage by provisioning network bandwidth more efficiently. The recently announced HP ProLiant BL495c virtualisation blade includes built-in Virtual Connect Flex-10 functionality that enables it to support up to 24 NIC connections. With increased network bandwidth and memory capacity, the BL495c can accommodate more virtual servers than other competitive blade server offerings on the market. Existing HP ProLiant c-Class blade customers can upgrade to Virtual Connect Flex-10 with the new HP NC532m Flex-10 expansion card.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

Simple, cost-effective storage expansion for HP BladeSystem customers HP’s new direct connect storage bundle for HP BladeSystem includes two HP StorageWorks 3Gb serial attached SCSI (SAS) BL switches and an MSA2000sa storage array. Traditionally, BladeSystem server administrators have had limited direct-attach or shared storage options and have had to rely on personnel with specialised knowledge to build a storage area network (SAN) based solution. This new low-cost, reliable storage option allows server administrators to deploy scalable shared SAS storage without the costs and complexity SANs require. By simply purchasing additional MSA2000sa arrays, customers can deploy up to 192 terabytes of external shared storage directly connected to an HP BladeSystem enclosure. The combination of the HP ProLiant BL495c virtualisation blade server, Virtual Connect Flex-10 modules and the shared SAS storage bundle reduces the cost per virtual machine by more than 50 per cent when compared to competitive solutions. HP has enhanced its Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel module to allocate storage resources on a per virtual machine basis. This further simplifies storage and virtualisation deployments for fibre channel storage customers. Customers can assign up to 128 separate SAN volumes per server blade for greater performance and flexibility. Innovative server design removes bottlenecks to virtual server performance The new HP ProLiant DL385 G5p is a rack-based server optimised for virtualisation. It offers up to 6 terabytes of internal storage as well as double the memory and 67-per cent improvement in energy efficiency when compared to previous generations. Based on the new AMD Opteron 2300 Series Quad-Core processor, the DL385 G5p improves application performance and expands support.

ANTI-SPAM / ANTI VIRUS SOLUTION

PROVIDERS

Viruses, Piracy and Malware top the list The reason behind is revolved around profit and financial gain. BY DUDU SHABA

I

n today’s rapidly developing malicious environment, the one fifth of the globe’s population that is connected to the Internet has to cope with approximately 2 000 new and mutated viruses a day, almost 50 000 phishing attempts a month and more than one million hijacked computers that spread bots, rootkits, Trojans and other malware during one year. This is according to Sally Strugnell, sales manager, Holton and Associates, she says the reason behind most e-crime-related activities in 2008 revolve around profit, mainly financial. “To ensure considerable gains, cybercriminals need a way to compromise a large number of systems to deploy as many bots as possible as well as adware and spyware with little or no cost at all. The most difficult problem is not the malware’s and spam’s dissemination, but the system’s infiltration and exposure to other threats. “This explains both the automation of spreading processes as well as e-threats’ heavy mass production in past months. If we glance at the current spam waves and classify them with regard to their impact, we can determine at least two types of targets, the computers and the users,” she explains. “The spam messages that focus on attacking the computers are characterised by the fact that they carry an adware, malware or in most cases a Trojan. The attackers use various motivational pitches to achieve their purpose, from pornographic content, various advertising offers, details regarding nonexistent accounts and e-cards to breaking news headlines. “The unsolicited messages which address the user belong to different categories depending on their final purpose such as

“Many users who are getting addicted to these types of applications, such as Facebook, lower their suspicions with regard to possible malware infections and phishing attacks as they feel comfortable in a familiar environment.” – Riaan Otto, 10Net selling medicines, replica watches, software, diplomas, requiring accounts details to empty online banking accounts or to get access to gaming accounts or appealing to the undying wish of getting rich quickly through Nigerian scams, gambling or lottery tickets,” Strugnell adds.

Latest attacks According to Strugnell, BitDefender’s latest E-Threat Chart reveals that in September, the first 10 positions were occupied by Trojans, rogue, adware and spyware. “It seems that Web-based e-threats are the new mass mailers in terms of prevalence and the infection strategies that are used,” she comments. Haydn Pinnel, MD, Gallium, an EOH company and certified HP platinum partner, says that unlike certain worms and viruses that exploit network security weaknesses, Web application attacks go after flaws in the application itself. He comments that organisations must adopt a

Riaan Otto, 10Net

ANTI-SPAM / ANTI VIRUS SOLUTION

proactive approach in protecting their critical Web applications and understand how important application security is in the software development cycle. Pinnell says that one way to achieve sustainable Web application security is to incorporate application vulnerability testing into each phase of an application’s lifecycle, from development to quality assurance to deployment and continually during operation. “Since all Web applications need to meet

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cooperate to curb spam and phishing attacks with international legislation enforced to control the attacks and clamp down on the criminals.” However, action must also be taken to start closing down botnets. This is the most urgent issue since 65 per cent of spam is sent from botnets that spammers rent to use, according to research by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center in the US.

“The reason behind most e-crime-related activities in 2008 revolves around profit, mainly financial.” – Sally Strugnell, Holton and Associates. functional and performance standards to be of business value, it makes good sense to incorporate security and application vulnerability testing as part of existing function and performance testing. Unless you test for security at every phase of each application’s lifecycle, your data is probably vulnerable,” he says. Riaan Otto, GM, 10Net believes that the current trend of emerging Web 2.0 applications is continuing and will be increasingly used to deliver malware to collect personal details for financial gain. “Many users who are getting addicted to these types of applications, such as Facebook, lower their suspicions with regard to possible malware infections and phishing attacks as they feel comfortable in a familiar environment. Web-based software services, like Google Apps, are becoming common targets and are attacked on a regular basis. More targeted spam and phishing attacks are emerging that target specific personnel in organisations to gain access to IP or commercial espionage data,” he remarks. Otto goes on to say that spammers are unfortunately a problem that won’t simply go away as they generate huge revenues from their operations. “There will be advances in blocking spam in the future, but there will also be advances in spamming technology. “The international community will have to

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Instant messaging is also being targeted by spammers and VXers to infiltrate users’ computers as its use has increased dramatically. “Spam over Internet telephony (SPIT) is also becoming a real nuisance; voicemail boxes can be a potential denial-of-service hazard as disk space and networks are filled with thousands of calls from malicious callers who have automated callouts,” he comments.

main concerns of computer users: When respondents were asked about their biggest PC security concerns, the Global Security Survey findings indicated the following: Viruses>>>>>>>>>>>>>36% Privacy>>>>>>>>>>>>>20% Malware>>>>>>>>>>>>15% Hackers>>>>>>>>>>>> 11% Cyber-criminals>>>>>>>>>8% Phishing attacks>>>>>>>>>4% Have no concerns>>>>>>>>2% Other>>>>>>>>>>>>>>4% Also, the survey found that in comparison to last year, respondents are apprehensive about the state of security especially with regard to online banking, shopping, Web search and personal e-mail. “The survey findings highlight an interesting connection between how much people understand about IT security and their concern for the security of their PCs,” says Bogdan Dumitru, BitDefender CTO. “With more understanding about the state of IT security, the less worried users are about their PC and the more faith they have in their security solution. BitDefender strives to provide users with solutions offering complete protection for their PCs,” he says.

IT security concerns

What’s hot in the security software and hardware space?

According to the BitDefender Global Security Survey 2008, 68 per cent of respondents are more knowledgeable about IT security than last year, only 8 per cent say they are less knowledgeable and 24 per cent are about the same. The report also states that this increase in knowledge may also play a part in how much computer users plan on investing this year, as 46 per cent plan to increase their IT security spending. The BitDefender survey also found that the less knowledgeable are more concerned about IT security and consider their security solutions to be less effective. On the other hand, the results also show that the more knowledgeable the user, the less concerned they are about IT security and these respondents found their security solutions more effective than last year. BitDefender also reveals the following

Andrea van der Westhuizen, McAfee product manager at Workgroup says Anti-Theft can safeguard users against identity and PC thieves, hackers and others by enabling them to lock their important files, such as bank statements, tax returns, business documents and even photos in a digital vault. “Consumers and small business owners have more digital information on their PCs than ever before. McAfee research shows that nine out of ten consumers now keep personal information such as wills, financial documents, identity numbers and passwords on their PCs, and more than 50 per cent would not want other people to see certain documents and files. “With two million laptops stolen every year and someone’s identity stolen every two seconds, consumers and small businesses can now protect their sensitive information,”

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

ANTI-SPAM / ANTI VIRUS SOLUTION

he says. Van der Westhuizen says McAfee Anti-Theft was designed to enable consumers and small businesses to use the product regardless of what security software they already have installed. “McAfee has combined ease of use with data and information security to make it simple for everyone in the family or small business to secure personal and sensitive information quickly,” he says. “Modifying malware to evade detection is easy when dealing with an antivirus product that relies exclusively on signatures. There have been a great deal of cases where malware creators used automated tools to alter the code responsible for the virus’ signature. Bagle, Peed or Zbot are a few examples where the malware or one of its components suffered frequent alterations that allowed the Trojan or virus to dodge signature-based products. “As a countermeasure, security companies introduced heuristics and behaviour-based technologies that made malware writers’ job more difficult. Thus, a new or mutated breed of malware can be detected and annihilated based on architectural or behavioural pattern rather than using a list of known e-threats. This led to a drastic decrease in the time lapse between the launching of malware and the issuing of an antimalware signature update, also known as window of exposure. BitDefender’s B-HAVE heuristics, for instance, detect 63 per cent of e-threats without needing a signature,” Strugnell says. Pinnell says the HP Application Security Centre delivers exceptional benefits in supporting the entire Web application lifecycle from development to ongoing operations management and auditing. According to him, such security products identify vulnerabilities early in the software lifecycle and help prevent new vulnerabilities from being introduced throughout the life of the application. The software includes advanced compliance reporting and testing tools which support major laws, regulations and best practices. “While traditional application security scanners do well to find vulnerabilities in some of the more mature Web technologies they lack the intelligence required to scan emerging Web 2.0 technologies. The HP

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Application Security Centre software offers highly advanced common components and assessment technology which gets to the core of service-to-customer applications, quality performance and security,” Pinnell says. He goes on to say that the assessment technology includes pre-built security policies for more than 20 laws, regulations and best practices and checks for vulnerabilities like log injection, cross-site request forgery, session strength, secure socket layer certificate issues, spam gateway detection and brute force authentication attacks. “Companies invest significantly in developing high-performance Web applications which enable their customers to do business whenever and wherever they choose. While convenient, this 24/7 access has a critical drawback – it’s inherently insecure and easily compromised. The only way to win the war against attacks is to build safe and sustainable applications from the start,” Pinnell says.

Security training and certification Through its powerful regional customer support network, Strugnell says BitDefender responds to various training needs from its customers and is always available to offer assistance. “In addition, through its network of technology partners, the cost-effective BitDefender scanning engines are easily integrated and deployed over numerous plat-

In addition to that, Pinnell mentions that the BitDefender distributor in the local market, Holton & Associates, is continuously focusing on channel distribution through training and special offers. “Recurrently Holton & Associates are offering cross-grade pricing with the BitDefender solutions and offers for licensing on a determined period,” he explains.

Predictions Otto predicts that there will be more complex blended attacks using e-mail, websites, instant messaging and call centres to fool users into revealing personal information or to install compromising software on their computers. “Because the main reason behind e-threats is profit,” says Strugnell. There will probably be a proliferation of malware seeking to exploit systems’ vulnerabilities in terms of data protection. She says predicts that Trojans, downloaders, key loggers as well as other types of spyware are most likely to dominate the threat landscape in the months to come. “In terms of spam and phishing, in the current context of the world economic crisis, we expect to see a migration from targeting customers of large banks towards those working with smaller financial institutions as well as increased targeting of users of e-commerce sites. Social networking

“It seems that Web-based e-threats are the new mass mailers in terms of prevalence and the infection strategies that are used.” – Sally Strugnell, Holton and Associates.

forms and applications. Our experienced Development and Integration team can assist and advise an organisation during the implementation process by offering: minimal effort/resources for the integration through API, detailed documentation of the API and source code exemplification, the highest level of technical expertise and assistance, disinfection modules as well as an extensive archive support,” he says.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • NOVEMBER 2008

websites will also probably be heavily exploited as reputation theft or attack becomes a significant trend. As for the other types of spam, we believe that in the near future we will see an increase in number, and variation in structure and approach of all types of spam: selling medicines, replica watches, diplomas, dating, software and many more,” Strugnell concludes.

MEMORY SOLUTION

FEATURE

PROVIDERS

AMD and Intel

leading in processor space Introducing advanced processors that boost performance. BY DUDU SHABA

W

ith DDR3 technology prices expected to drop, DDR is still the way to go as it is not proprietary and leads on price/performance and performance/power ratios. The fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM), a proprietary memory technology, is still too expensive, generates too much heat and we expect it to remain this way due to its inherent architecture design. On the graphics side, GDDR is pushing the envelope in terms of processing and speed. This is according to Imi Mosaheb, AMD country general manager, South Africa. Mosaheb says AMD has launched 45nm in the server space and will soon be doing the same in client products. “AMD still leads in the processor space with the integrated memory controller and Direct Connect Architecture that allows us to have a single-die, multi-core processor for servers, desktops and notebooks,” he comments. He adds that virtualisation is driving high memory density “DIMM support with our integrated memory controller. AMD also leads in this segment in Rapid Virtual Indexing due to its integrated memory controller,” he says. Meanwhile, Intel has announced that it has introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel Core i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximise data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 per cent without increasing power consumption. Broadly heralded by the computing indus-

Imi Mosaheb, AMD

“AMD still leads in the processor space with the integrated memory controller and Direct Connect Architecture that allows us to have a single-die, multi-core processor for servers, desktops and notebooks.” – Imi Mosaheb, AMD.

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try as a technical marvel, Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, says the Intel Core i7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006 benchmark test that measures the

performance of a processor. He says this is the first time any single processor has exceeded a score of 100 points. “Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on earth to the most demanding users on earth, the ones who are using their

“Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on earth to the most demanding users on earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music. When you couple what is Intel’s biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like Intel’s solidstate drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow.” – Patrick Gelsinger, Intel.

PCs for video, gaming and music. When you couple what is Intel’s biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like its solid-state drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow,” he comments. The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel “Extreme” platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bytes in and out of the processor with Intel Quickpath Technology. Designed with Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology, the processor also allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at the same time. As a result, the Core i7 quadcore processor delivers eight-threaded performance. Gelsinger goes on to say that the Intel Core i7 processor also offers unrivalled performance for immersive 3-D games, over 40 per cent faster than previous Intel high-performance processors on both the 3DMark Vantage CPU physics and AI tests, popular industry computer benchmarks that measure gaming performance. “The Extreme Edition uses eight threads to run games with advanced artificial intelligence and physics to make games act and feel real,” he says. He adds that the Intel Core i7 processors and Intel X58 Express Chipset-based Intel Desktop Board DX58SO Extreme Series are

MEMORY SOLUTION

for sale immediately from several computer manufacturers online and in retail stores, and as a boxed retail product via channel online sales. “We launched Phenom X3 and Phenom X4 processors during 2008 and we recently announced a new line of faster Phenom II processors which will be launched in early 2009,” says Mosaheb.

Windows Vista and Office 2007 Mosaheb comments that processor and memory sales have improved as a result of the release of Windows Vista and Office 2007. “As these applications have a higher demand for computational performance, it has driven replacement cycles and improved overall sales. The fact that AMD64 technology was used to develop the core kernel of this operating system means that if end-users want to truly experience the performance of Vista, AMD64 processors are the best fit,” he remarks.

Latest technology offering in the client and server space According to Mosaheb, these are the latest technology offerings in the client and server space from AMD In the notebook space, AMD’s Turion 64 Ultra processors deliver a balanced notebook platform that achieves superior 3D performance and HD image quality with increased energy efficiency. In the notebook space, AMD’s Geode processors provide high-performance, low-power systems for x86 embedded applications. AMD is also introducing its first low-power sub 10W 64-bit Sempron mobile processor in Netbooks this month.November or December? On the desktop front, AMD has announced it will launch Phenom II in early 2009. In the server and workstation space, AMD’s Quad-Core Opteron processor was announced in November 2008. It delivers sweeping virtualisation performance leadership, with an increase of up to 40 per cent in performance and live migration capability. It also features enhanced 45nm design and is the industry’s most stable x86 server platform.

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New processor technologies Mosaheb states that AMD is refining its roadmap to take better advantage of prevailing notebook market trends, allowing the company to penetrate more of the mobile PC market.

“Our 2011 client roadmap now features the first Bulldozer and Bobcat core-based platforms. Ontario is a dual core APU based on our low power Bobcat core and is targeted at the ultraportable and mini notebook categories. Orochi is an eight-core solution for enthusiast desktop users based on our Bulldozer core,” – Imi Mosaheb, AMD. “We are adjusting our initial Fusion platform towards the growing market opportunity for high-performance mobility. The 2009 AMD client platform roadmap is powered by significant enhancements to our 45nm generation of products and our focus on designing balanced platforms optimised for popular usage scenarios,” he says. “The 2010 platform known as Shrike and accompanying processor Swift are no longer in AMD’s plans. Instead, we are accelerating the introduction of quad-core mobile processors into the mainstream notebook market beginning in 2010, as well as the introduction of DDR3 memory platform capabilities into the mainstream and ultra-portable notebooks during the same timeframe. Additionally, AMD is planning to expand its planned BGA offerings as a result of the recent product development efficiency and execution,” he adds.

2011 plans Moving into 2011, Mosaheb says AMD plans to offer its first Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) processor, code-named Llano, targeted at mainstream notebooks and desktops. “Our 2011 client roadmap now features the first Bulldozer and Bobcat core-based platforms. Ontario is a dual core APU based on our low power Bobcat core and is targeted at the ultraportable and mini notebook categories. Orochi is an eight-core solution for enthusiast desktop users based on our Bulldozer core,” he concludes.

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POS an essential process Changing the way you do business. BY DUDU SHABA

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hen you decide to implement a point-of-sale (POS) solution, you have essentially decided to change the way you do business. This is according to Ashley Ellington, MD, Softline Enterprise, he says that POS is not simply another piece of hardware or software, and it is not a system but a process. “This process affects your transaction flow, record keeping, employee management, ordering and receiving, and accounting, in other words, every aspect of your business. So make sure you partner with the right vendor, especially when it comes to mission-critical back up,” he says. Ellington says that retailers cannot live without their POS, so if it goes down they need to ensure that their vendor will provide the necessary assistance.

“There is little doubt that SA’s leading retailers will adopt RFID technology, many of them are looking at it but at this stage price is still a consideration.” – Mark Kelly, MD, Motorola, SA “A serious vendor who understands the retailer’s business should offer serious support, especially when it comes to back up and redundancy. The simplest interruption in communications can cause a domino effect and bring your entire POS system to a standstill. Without access to the necessary data, you lose profits and customers lose patience. Your vendor is critical to the successful implementation of a POS system, so choose your partner with great care,” says Ellington.

Motorola Mark Kelly, MD, Motorola, SA, says that Motorola provides a range of retail solutions designed to transform the consumer

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experience, improve sales associate productivity and maximise supply chain efficiency. He points out that sales tools that combine scanning, signature capture, payment devices, mobile computers, customer kiosk, customer self-scanning and wireless infrastructure enable sales associates to manage on the go instead of from behind a desk. “They can provide customers with ondemand access to product information as they shop. In addition, they can track inventory so shrinkage is reduced and enable checkout lanes to move quickly and efficiently. Sometimes, the only interaction shoppers have with your organisation is at the POS. Motorola’s POS solutions combine scanning, signature capture and payment device technology, mobile computers and wireless infrastructure with partner applications to help ensure high standards of customer service,” he says.

Effective management Keith Fenner, VP, Strategic Sales, Softline Accpac, says that inventory management, timeliness of information and providing superior customer service are among the top challenges in retail today. He says that inventory is a retailer’s most expensive asset, and the goal is to turn it over as often as possible. However, he says that retailers operating without integrated front-of-store and back-office systems cannot achieve visibility into their inventory in real time and will find it challenging to manage it efficiently and effectively. Related to inventory management, is reporting. “Many retailers lack the tools and integrated systems to access accurate metrics quickly, such as the average number of items per ticket and average revenue per transaction. “Timeliness of information is another big issue. How quickly a retailer receives infor-

POS SOLUTION

mation determines how soon it can react. Having access to real-time retail information allows managers to make informed decisions that can affect the success of store operations. Greater integration from the front of store to the back office brings benefits to the customer, a large part of the “customer experience” is simply having the right inventory in stock,” he explains. “Understanding and streamlining of POS data improves your internal business efficiencies. Companies can now access a single, integrated area of information and time is freed to actually analyse data rather than spend days gathering data and pulling together the same reports over and over. In addition, it makes companies smarter about their business. An integrated solution provides them with faster, more accurate access to information,” Fenner says. He adds that companies striving to improve their retailer relationships and internal business efficiencies are quickly seeing the benefit and realising the strategic value POS data has in improving the bottom line. “There has been a definite mind shift as more and more retailers understand the value of providing POS data to their vendors. In the past, they didn’t want to share this information. However, the more manufacturers and distributors know about their product movement, their customers’ actions, the effectiveness of promotions and overall sales, the more value they can bring to the retailers,” he says. As many POS systems are still standalone, Fenner says there is currently a strong focus on integration as well as offline and online systems, along with complete management of stock in multiple branches. “Vendors, such as Softline Accpac, have extended ERP to the till, enabling the retailer to operate the way it wants to in terms of promotions and discounts that typically fall outside of ERP. They are also providing full integration to CRM for loyalty and permission-based e-marketing,” he comments. Fenner says that managing information effectively is becoming a key factor and technology the major differentiator, which is why integrating back-end and front-end operations is the key to a successful business model. “While it was once considered a luxury, the ability to evaluate POS data is vital in today’s business environment. In the past, many com-

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Ashley Ellington, Softline Enterprise

“Retailers cannot live without their POS, so if it goes down they need to ensure that their vendor will provide the necessary assistance.” – Ashley Ellington, MD, Softline Enterprise.

panies used their shipment or order information to identify how products were selling, but today it critical to know when products are selling, which products are selling and where they are selling,” he says.

RFID Jane Thomson, MD, Softworx, says that companies waiting to plan strategically for Radio

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Frequency Identification (RFID) may think they will capitalise on others’ research, but could instead find themselves struggling through hurried implementations at top rate because of time constraints and aggressive competition. She says that much of this predicted growth has been allocated to the retail sector, where RFID tags are replacing bar codes. Thomson explains that RFID technology is based on a simple concept. “RFID chips are radio devices that emit a unique ID when scanned at close range; these chips are inserted into tags that can be attached to almost anything. The appropriate scanner then reads large numbers of these tags simultaneously. Shopping becomes quicker and easier as entire trolleys can be scanned at once instead of individually scanning each product, bringing a reduction in costs for the retailer and increasing convenience for the consumer,” she says.

“Since RFID will have a great impact on the processes and IT systems of companies, it is necessary that they prepare themselves. Educating retailers about the benefits and potential of the technology is also important as well as ironing out issues like standardisation.”

There certainly are pros and cons at this stage of the game though. Thomson outlines some of these: RFID pros: No line-of-sight scanning. Reduction in labour. Enhanced visibility. Improved inventory management. RFID cons: A costly solution which lacks standardisation. A small number of suppliers are currently developing end-to-end solutions. Adverse deployment issues. Privacy concerns. 



level tracking which should revolutionise SCM practices, introducing another level of efficiencies never seen before. Through RFID technology companies can improve efficiency and visibility, cut costs, better use their assets, produce higher quality goods, reduce shrinkage or counterfeiting and increase sales by reducing out-of-stocks,” she says. Thomson adds that RFID’s shortcomings are steadily being resolved as the industry’s vendors join together to make the technology more attractive. She says that costs are gradually coming down as the technology matures and frequency conflicts are also becoming less of an issue as vendors and government agencies work together to smooth out global differences. “Although item-level use is currently expensive, the tagging of returnable transport items, like pallets and crates, is now economically viable. Widespread use of RFID thus only awaits the emergence of common standards and readability,” she says. “Since RFID will have a great impact on the processes and IT systems of companies, it is necessary that they prepare themselves. Educating retailers about the benefits and potential of the technology is also important as well as ironing out issues like standardisation.” Mark Kelly, MD, Motorola, SA, says that while there is little doubt that SA’s leading retailers will adopt RFID technology, many of them are looking at it but at this stage price is still a consideration. “UHF frequencies were approved only in July this year for SA, and it is still too early to see any adoption in the retail market. Also, there are still challenges around the costs of the tags and complexity of the technology,” he says.













“Irrespective of these factors, the ultimate aim of RFID in supply chain management (SCM) is to see the establishment of item-

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Opportunities As POS gets to the next level, Kelly, says that the shopping experience, sales associate VOIP communication devices for in-store and store to store communications, micro information kiosks for customerfacing applications for price look ups, product information and in store helpdesks, portable personal shopping for selfscanning, self-checkout and gift registry will result in solution providers offering a more complete solution.

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Demand for more storage driver for server sales Latest processors also driving interest. BY DUDU SHABA

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ne of the major forces behind the demand for drives for servers is the need for more storage. In the past, servers had only a limited expansion capacity for internal drives, which forced companies to upgrade more frequently. Newer applications use a lot more space and generate larger documents, according to Kobus Kitshoff, channel manager at Comztek. He says the continuous demand for better GUI has resulted in servers with more processing power and memory. “Typically, exchange server growth doubles each year as a result of increases in use of e-mail and e-commerce,” he says. Greg Pothitos, GM, HP ESG, Tarsus Technologies says despite the serious economic slowdown SA is presently facing, the higher performing hardware technologies and dramatic price drops are generating a great deal of excitement. “It now makes more sense for an SME to invest in a fully fledged server rather than repurposing a high-end desktop for servercentric tasks,” he says. He adds that hardware developments such as Intel’s six-core Nehalem-based processor are also driving interest. “For starters, these processors are far more power efficient than their predecessors,” he says. “With electricity costs rising, companies realise there’s more to choosing a server technology than its upfront acquisition cost and accompanying performance. Furthermore, with virtualisation becoming such a hot-button for SMEs and larger customers alike, the demand for more processor cores is definitely on the increase.

“Exchange server growth doubles each year as a result of increases in use of e-mail and e-commerce.” – Kobus Kitshoff, Comztek

Kobus Kitshoff, Comztek

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The six-core Nehalem (or i7 processor) range delivers on this need for more cores and power efficiency,” he says. Another interesting trend Pothitos sees is the amount of pressure that international server brands are placing on the local whitebox server market. “The local OEMs are finding it impossible to compete with the economies of scale that the internal brands have managed to create for themselves over the past couple of years. “Customers are increasingly drawn towards the reliability that an international brand alludes to, the superior build quality that internationally branded servers tend to boast and, of course, the better pricing they offer. And I don’t see this changing in the near future, the local OEMs are in for a rough ride,” he says.

“We have chosen these processors since they perform well while using little energy. We’ll have no trouble switching to the new server generation. Energy intake as well as cooling requirements will remain more or less the same,” – Imi Mosaheb, AMD South Africa

Another trend Pothitos sees in the local server market is increasing interest in 64-bit technologies, since more and more software is moving across to this realm of computing.

SMEs Like all businesses, Kitshoff says that SMEs require Exchange, SQL and financial packages to operate efficiently. However, because they don’t have the financial muscle of their larger counterparts they require solutions that are more conservatively priced. “The proliferation of solutions such as Windows Small Business Server, which offer a very good ROI, have made it possible for SMEs to have the business packages they need. Hardware manufacturers have designed midrange servers to handle more disk capacity, bigger tape drives, and more powerful processors and memory expansion, making server solutions more accessible to SMEs,” he says. Kitshoff adds that a typical SME needs

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everything centralised and redundant. “Most SMEs do not have in-house IT departments or the capacity for full-time support. This means they require a good performance server that can handle all their applications and backup requirements. Windows Small Business Server is still one of the best solutions to meet these special needs, equipping SMEs with Exchange, SQL and financial management packages,” he comments.

What’s new AMD has announced the availability of its 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor, delivering up to 35 per cent more performance and up to 35 per cent decrease in power consumption at idle. With IT decisionmakers looking to do more with less, Imi Mosaheb, general country manager, AMD South Africa, says the newest Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor can help drive data centre efficiencies and reduce complexities with innovations that offer superior virtualisation performance and increased performance-per-watt. “Global OEMs are expected to offer enterprise and SME customers more than 27 systems between launch and the end of the year, based on the 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor, formerly codenamed Shanghai,” he says. “Flawless execution in bringing the 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor to market early results in a new performance leader for x86 servers. In concert with its OEM and solution provider partners, AMD is addressing the need for enterprises to focus on their bottom line while giving them the innovations they need to build for the future. This enhanced AMD Opteron processor represents the most dramatic performance and performance-per-watt increases for AMD customers since the introduction of the world’s first x86 dualcore processors by AMD nearly four years ago. Simply put, the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor is the right technology at the right time,” says Mosaheb. He goes on to say that Europe’s second largest Web host has successfully deployed highly efficient AMD Opteron processors in virtual and dedicated servers. “We have chosen these processors since they perform well while using little energy.

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Greg Pothitos, Tarsus Technologies

“Today it makes more sense for an SME to invest in a fully fledged server rather than repurposing a high-end desktop for server-centric tasks.” – Greg Pothitos, Tarsus Technologies We’ll have no trouble switching to the new server generation. Energy intake as well as cooling requirements will remain more or less the same,” says Mosaheb.

AMD and ATI “The scepticism that surrounded AMD’s acquisition of ATI two years ago is starting to subside,” says Tyrone Gruner, AMD and ATI product manager at Ingram Micro, SA. With the release of new products that truly begin to leverage intellectual property he says that the ‘new AMD’ is shaping up to be a very strong competitor to Intel on the platforms front. “The net effect of these new product

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releases is that market sentiment has made a 180-degree turn. “We’re finding customers are becoming more accepting of AMD platforms and that they’re discovering the backwards compatibility, power consciousness and price performance as compelling reasons to investigate them as an alternative,” he says. Gruner says although the coming together of AMD and ATI has delivered technologies like Crossfire and its ability for systems with more than one ATI graphics card to be bound together to create a single, more powerful graphics engine, the company’s future plans make these advances look tame. “It’s only taken two years for AMD and ATI to build a set of technologies that allow a vast array of customers –from price-conscious home users to power-obsessed gamers – to get want they want from generic ‘computing building blocks,” Gruner says. “With more time, it’s clear that the combination of AMD’s platform and processor knowledge together with ATI’s graphics know-how will produce an even more dynamite set of solutions,” he adds. Gruner says that there are two technological reasons why the coming together of ATI and AMD is good news for the market. “Firstly, the graphics performance of a system is heavily dependent on the speed of the graphics processing unit it has at its disposal and by pairing up with a processor giant, such as AMD, the benefits are obvious,” he says. Secondly, Gruner says the isolated parts of a computer system are becoming far less important in the greater scheme of things. “How efficiently those parts interact with each other makes a huge difference, both to the performance of the system and its ability to conserve power. “By bringing together the three most important aspects of a computer system, i.e. its platform architecture, its processor and its graphics subsystem, AMD will cover all bases and in doing so, strongly position itself to overtake Intel in the overall performance and power consumption stakes,” Gruner adds. “I believe that once AMD takes the number one position, it will only increase its lead. The next couple of years are undoubtedly going to be interesting to observe,” he concludes.

ANALYSIS: MICROSOFT SOLUTION

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Will Microsoft Online store affect distribution? BY KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN, CHANNELWEB

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icrosoft recently started selling some of its products to US customers through an online storefront for the first time in its history. While most channel partners don’t see this as a threat to their businesses, some speculate that distributors might view things differently. The Microsoft Store lets customers buy and download products via Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) and also get direct shipments. Microsoft says the store will help customers save on shipping costs and alleviate their fears of not having the software on physical media to reinstall at a later time. Partners can now buy all server and related licences from Microsoft directly for customers that have an existing licence and need to move to another SKU, says Mark Crall, president of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a Microsoft partner. Crall doesn’t think Microsoft’s goal is to cut out distributors or partners, and says the Microsoft Store makes sense if it can simplify the process of choosing and acquiring the right licences for customers, and deliver them at a lower cost. “When Microsoft can provide the valueadded service that a distributor – or even a partner – uses to justify their margins, then why wouldn’t they?” Crall asks. Chris Rue, CEO of Black Warrior Technology, a Northport, Ala-based solution provider and Microsoft partner, says any conflict will likely be confined to the big-box retail channel and office supply stores. “All the stuff available from the Microsoft Store right now is the same stuff you see in the aisles of those types of stores,” Rue says. However, Rue says there are “deep-ranging effects” associated with the Microsoft Store, which could potentially reach down to distributor level. “I’m not sure this is the type of news anyone selling Microsoft products in any quantity wants to see in the current

economy,” he says. Representatives from distributors D&H and Tech Data couldn’t be reached for comment. Windows Server 2008 and System Center Essentials are the only products currently listed in the Business section of Microsoft’s Online Store, but on the purchasing options Web page for Small Business Server, Microsoft indicates that Small Business Server will be available for online purchase sometime in the future. If the Microsoft Store is successful, “there’s

solution provider ITSynergy. “I have no doubt that companies like us add value to the transaction by helping the customer to navigate that maze.” But despite Microsoft’s channel-friendly track record, some partners see the Microsoft Store as a definitive step on Microsoft’s part toward establishing a more direct relationship with consumers. “Do you think that bankruptcy of Circuit City and CompUSA had anything to do with the idea that Microsoft needs to go at it alone to reach the end customer?” wrote

“Going down this path, as companies like Dell and Symantec have recently proven, is a potentially slippery slope that can cause an irreversible backlash from channel partners.” – Mark Crall, Charlotte Tech Care Team

really no reason for Microsoft not to start offering the higher end products,” Rue says. Some VARs see the Microsoft store as welcome relief from licensing complexity woes. Jim Liska, sales manager at Orlantech, an Orlando, Florida-based solution provider and Microsoft Gold partner, says the Microsoft Store will help him save time by eliminating the need to navigate Microsoft’s Byzantine licensing programs. “After a decade of selling Microsoft products, I still have trouble with licensing issues, and my customers would prefer to leave that to someone else,” Liska says. “The number of different choices customers have when shopping for software is mind-boggling,” agrees Michael Cocanower, president of Phoenix-based

Vlad Mazek, a Microsoft Exchange MVP and CEO of Own Web Now, an Orlando, Florida-based solution provider, in a recent blog post. “Microsoft has effectively shot the middleman that stood in the way of its direct relationship with the user – if you are that middleman, your days are unfortunately numbered,” Mazek wrote. If Microsoft does attempt to fill the shoes of its channel partners, the company had better include potential collateral damage in its ROI calculations, according to Crall. “Going down this path, as companies like Dell and Symantec have recently proven, is a potentially slippery slope that can cause an irreversible backlash from channel partners,” Crall says.

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Highly Recommended

Reviews by: Stanley Chishala

Pre-Fi made simple Some real plug and play.

As the number of iPods increases, so does the number of speaker options available for the mobile digital music players. Some speaker options tend to be a little complicated as if the designers forgot the concept of plug and play, but speakers such as Logitech’s Pure-Fi Express Plus live up to that concept. Even with the simplicity with which it was designed, the speakers offer omnidirectional acoustics. It is so portable that it can be taken almost anywhere even on a summer holiday or can simply be put on a nightstand. This device is simple to use, because it only has speaker functionality, a clock and a very basic remote control that controls the decked device be it an iPod or iPhone (play, stop, forward, back and volume). The wireless remote control has a range of up to 10 metres and lets users instantly adjust volume, play, pause, fast forward, rewind, as well as offering Shuffle and Repeat buttons. At first I was deceived by the size and almost forgot about

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Logitech’s reputation and track record when it comes to sound, but after the quick set up I quickly remembered why I like the brand so much. The Pure-Fi Express Plus omnidirectional speaker delivers great sound that can fill a reasonably sized room and is compatible with all iPods as well as the first-generation iPhone and new 3G iPhones. The Pure-Fi Express Plus’ omnidirectional acoustics is a technology that was previously only found in expensive home-theatre systems. Omnidirectional acoustics transmit sound evenly in all directions. This speaker dock is perfect for music lovers who charge and listen to their iPod or iPhone when they are at home, at work, or even in their backyards. The Pure-Fi Express Plus allows users to enjoy rich, articulate sound and minimal distortion indoors or outdoors. For ease of use, the Pure-Fi Express Plus can run on AC or battery power and includes an integrated handle, making it easy for users to shift their listening from room to room.

Reviews by: Stanley Chishala

Highly Recommended

Click, click, click The mouse just keeps getting better. Many people argue that a mouse is a mouse and everything that can be done to make them better has been done, but products like the Logitech V550 Nano cordless laser mouse are proof that the device is still evolving. To tell the truth, at times I am forced to agree with the sceptics, but when using this little device I realised that it was very simple in nature, but the design and the way it fitted in my hand was great. Despite the great design and feel, the V550 Nano cordless laser mouse features a clip-and-go dock that allows the user to carry it around while it’s clipped to the top of a notebook. To date, this is the best answer for people who prefer a mouse to a touchpad but find it cumbersome to carry the mouse with them while they are on the move. This is a perfect notebook accessory for those who have become accustomed to moving from room to room or between offices, as they no longer have to handle clutter. The V550 Nano also features a Plug-and-Forget Nano receiver, which is a welcome change from conventional receivers because it is so small that once it is plugged into a computer, it stays nearly flush against the side of the computer (protruding just 8 mm), so it does not have to be unplugged when the computer is stowed.

On the battery-life side, the V550 mouse offers up to 18 months of battery life and is the only Logitech cordless laser mouse currently offering this extended level of use. To save even more power, the Nano automatically turns off when it is docked or when the receiver is stored inside it. Additional features include its scroll wheel which can spin freely to let users move quickly through long documents and Web pages; by pressing down on the wheel, one can also switch to click-to-click scrolling mode and scroll precisely through lists, slides or photos. In addition, the button directly below the scroll wheel allows users to switch between applications after installing software available at no additional charge from www.logitech.com/downloads. Because most people use their notebooks in relatively busy wireless environments, Logitech’s 2.4 GHz wireless technology provides a powerful, reliable signal that effectively eliminates delays and dropouts. The 2.4 GHz wireless technology dramatically reduces interference. The V550 Nano is offered in two colours – grey with silver accents and silver with cool-blue accents. In terms of ease of use and convenience, the V550 nano is one of the best options on the market at the moment.

PARTING: SHOTS

DILBERT

www.dilbert.com

S n a pshot

by Scott Adams

Lance Fanaroff

Company: Integr8 Group Position: CEO Age: 38 Best personal achivement: Building the Integr8 Group Management style: Lead from the front Most admired company: Integr8 IT, of course Most admired executives: Warren Buffet Best IT product: Dstv PVR Decoder Most pressing local business issues: Interest Rates, Exchange Rates. And of course the growing ‘local skills’ shortage. Key to success: Visioning success, continuous belief that nothing is impossible and never accept failure. Favourite car: Don’t have one Your car: C240 Merc Favourite authors: Jeffrey Archer Where do you live: Cape Town Birthplace: Johannesburg Hobbies/sports: Gym and poker Favourite periodicals: Sunday Times Pet hates: Negativity and pessimism

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