The most recent articles from CRN

Swiss LAR raids Bytes for UK push

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-10-13T17:05:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Monday 13 October 2008 at 17:05:00

Microsoft LAR heads for UK market with boosted sales staff

Swiss Microsoft large account reseller (LAR) SoftwareONE is poised to enter the UK market after wooing five sales staff from local fulfilment partner Bytes.

SoftwareONE, which also carries Adobe, Citrix, Symantec and McAfee, offers software licence procurement and software asset management services (SAM). It already has offices in nine countries.

Sales director Zak Virdi is one of five Bytes staff to make the leap across. Although his exact role is yet to be defined, SoftwareONE has tasked him with enhancing SAM practices and driving consistency across all regions.

Virdi was vague on whether his new employer would compete with Bytes, which has traditionally acted as a partner for SoftwareONE.

“SoftwareONE has European status as a Microsoft LAR and under EU law our operations can be extended into the UK,” he said. “We recently opened new offices in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, as we want to expand our footprint in all the major regions.”

Patrick Winter, chief executive of SoftwareONE, said: “We will be rolling out a UK partner model and plan to build upon it. Zak will help by driving the SAM business globally.”

Darren Spence, group marketing director of Bytes, confirmed that the five vacancies had been filled, with Bytes veteran Mandy Nicholson taking on the sales director position.

“Zak did well at Bytes and we are pleased that we will continue to benefit from his expertise,” he said.

Oracle gobbles up Primavera

Sam Trendall — 2008-10-09T11:58:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Thursday 9 October 2008 at 11:58:00

Software behemoth snaps up product portfolio management firm to form new business unit

Database colossus Oracle has bolstered its product portfolio management (PPM) offering after snapping up specialist developer Primavera Software.

Primavera produces products specialised across an array of vertical markets including the public sector, financial services and manufacturing. The company has been in business for 25 years and is headquartered in Pennsylvania with satellite offices across the US, as well as in London and Jerusalem.

The firm's 550 employees are expected to join Oracle as part of the formation of a new worldwide business unit focused on PPM. Primavera chief executive Joel Koppelman is likely to lead the unit in a new role of senior vice president and general manager. The deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, is expected to close before the end of the year.

Oracle president Charles Phillips said: "Enterprise PPM is moving to the forefront of business strategy for industries managing complex and capital intensive projects and has emerged as a global driver for value creation and business success. With 20 per cent of the world’s GDP spent annually on projects, the addition of Primavera is expected to extend Oracle’s leadership position in the enterprise application space.”

Koppelman added: “As a leader in PPM solutions with over 25 years experience helping customers succeed at managing projects, programs and portfolios, Primavera is a natural addition to accelerate Oracle’s application strategy for project-intensive industries. We are excited to join Oracle as a new global business unit where we can ensure continuity and success for our current and prospective customers and partners.”

Software licensing simplified

Matt Fisher — 2008-10-09T11:35:00.000Z

Matt Fisher, CRN, Thursday 9 October 2008 at 11:35:00

Organisations cannot afford to ignore software asset management, says Matt Fisher

It is an irony of modern business that, despite investing huge amounts of financial and human capital into IT, organisations often have less interest in effectively tracking and managing those assets than they do in maintaining the company car.

Although most IT directors would claim to know exactly how many PCs they have on their network, some two-thirds of organisations have a discrepancy of up to 30 per cent between expected and actual inventories. This lack of knowledge poses problems for IT directors. How can you accurately budget and plan if you do not know what you already have?

Effective software asset management (SAM) allows organisations to manage IT assets to support business goals, enabling companies to control costs, strengthen security and improve corporate governance. Many businesses still view SAM as confusing and time consuming. However, according to Gartner, SAM may help organisations save up to 30 per cent.

Dealing with crisis

Although chief information officers (CIOs) initially need to be aware of the whole SAM process, including deployment and patching, some aspects are quick and easy to implement. Discovery of the software installed across the network provides the foundation for everything else. You cannot figure out what you need if you do not know what you have. Licence management offers immediate RoI by reducing wastage and risk.

More importantly, the business can enjoy immediate cost savings from improved software allocation, volume licence discounts and accurate asset depreciation while eliminating risks associated with software non-compliance.

When crisis threatens, chief executives must maximise revenue while reducing outgoings and often the IT department is the first to suffer cutbacks. Unfortunately for CIOs, many suppliers and vendors are also seeking ways to minimise revenue losses. For software vendors, this means getting tougher on software licences, exercising their legal right to audit customers’ software use and deal severely with firms that breach licensing conditions.

It is crucial to ensure organisations are licensed correctly to avoid fines. While there will always be CIOs who ignore licensing laws in the hope that the savings will outweigh the risk of an audit, it is more likely that mismanagement of software is done through ignorance. SAM can help companies minimise the risks associated with under-licensing.

SAM is based on having the technology in place to understand what is happening on the network as well as adopting best practices to manage IT operations, forming the foundation for effective software licence compliance.

SAM tools make it easier for senior IT staff to record licence entitlements and compare these against actual use, giving an at-a-glance view of whether money is being wasted. It is likely that both under- and over-licensing will be found. So, while some new licences will need to be purchased, the cost of this can be offset by savings in surrendering unnecessary software.

Matt Fisher is a vice-president of marketing at FrontRange Solutions

Armstrong stretches Varicent channel

Sam Trendall — 2008-10-08T16:08:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Wednesday 8 October 2008 at 16:08:00

Sales performance management specialist recruits experienced exec to establish European channel presence

Sales performance management vendor Varicent Software has appointed former Callidus executive Andy Armstrong as international vice president and tasked him with growing the company's UK channel.

Armstrong will set about establishing Varicent's European headquarters in Reading and recruiting resellers across the UK and mainland Europe. Armstrong revealed his company would not be utilising a distribution channel and had just signed Open Symmetry as its first UK VAR.

"The most important skill sets for potential partners are around strong project management and the ability to install and implement enterprise class solutions," said Armstrong. "Expertise in vertical markets is also important. Financial services is a big opportunity for us, as well as the high tech market. "

Armstrong indicated Varicent would not discriminate on size when recruiting new partners. He said: "It is going to be a mixture of medium to large size resellers but also people who have either vertical or sales complexity experience."

Varicent's vice president of marketing Brian Hartlen welcomed Andy's appointment as good news for the company's expansion plans. "We decided earlier this year that it was time for us to take a more aggressive approach to global expansion," he said. "We wanted to recruit the best of the best, people who had experience in growing channel programmes."

BSA makes four pirates walk the plank

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-10-02T16:31:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Thursday 2 October 2008 at 16:31:00

Anti-piracy body swoops in biggest settlement of the year

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has claimed UK businesses are still ignoring software licensing laws after securing its biggest settlement this year by catching four organisations red-handed.

Despite the BSA’s ongoing awareness programme, a six-figure settlement has been agreed with a northern-based travel company after it was found using unlicensed versions of Microsoft software, specifically SQL Server and the corresponding SQL CALs, Visio, Project, Office and Windows Server.

The firm has also had to purchase legal versions of the software, resulting in further costs of more than £100,000.

The BSA also revealed that enforcement action has been taken against Durham based Philips Collection Services, a debt recovery agency, for the alleged installation of unlicensed copies of Microsoft and Adobe software on approximately 100 office computers.

After failing to respond to a software audit request, sent in June 2007, the BSA chose to take the case to court. The company faces a court hearing and if the BSA is successful will be forced to hand over requested information as well as pay settlement costs.

Financial settlements have also been agreed with developing recyclable packaging firm Procurasell and with online marketing group, Webevents Ltd. T

Najeeb Khan, vice chair of the UK Country Committee at BSA, said: “One of these cases in particular, illustrates the high consequences of running unlicensed software to cut costs – clearly a false economy.

“Not only do the settlements take significant chunks out of the companies’ profit margins, they also send negative messages to staff and customers that these firms are willing to resort to unscrupulous measures to save money.

“We hope these cases serve as an example to businesses that BSA will continue to reinforce the importance of managing their software. The IT industry takes the protection of intellectual property rights very seriously and companies that continue to neglect this area of their business need to be reminded that unlicensed software is not a viable option,” added Khan.

Ipswitch tempts partners with a need for speed

Nick Booth — 2008-09-25T11:16:00.000Z

Nick Booth, CRN, Thursday 25 September 2008 at 11:16:00

The vendor has teamed with Computerlinks to push a new product set aimed at enterprise-level customers

Connectivity vendor Ipswitch is piloting a channel programme with distributor Computerlinks to target system builders and local integrators.

The scheme will give VARs the chance to sell high-speed file transfer and connectivity software that system builders would install on servers, for businesses that rely on an online presence.

Ipswitch’s file transfer division has sold direct for 17 years and is best known for plug and play brands such as the WS_FTP.

After netting 40 million users, the company is eyeing up a new set of customers, explained UK sales director Chris Greaves. “We are moving up the value chain and offering more business-like products,” he said.

A new version of the product, MoveIT DMZ 6, will target enterprises looking to shift large amounts of data. The rationale, he explained, is to bring a secure and reliable file transfer and workflow management tool to companies that rely on the efficiency of their web operations.

“Anyone whose brand could be damaged by an online failure, or workflow bottlenecks, could use this tool,” he said.

Greaves added system builders would make good channel partners as they frequently build and supply communications servers for clients.

“Many SMEs and local authorities use local system builders to supply and integrate their IT as they are guaranteed local support,” said Greaves. “So they could be a good channel to market.”

The company has been secretive about the programme because it needs to attract the right partners that will protect the brand, he added.

“We want to make sure we get it right before we expand. We are calling this a pilot project as we want to tailor it to the feedback we get.”

After early adopters have piloted the channel programme, a major rollout is mooted for January 2009.

File transfer and work flow are two areas that businesses will be anxious to fine-tune, said Carly Loveday, product manager for ebusiness at Computerlinks. “Ipswitch’s success came through good service and support, so it will want to be careful about nurturing the right partners.”

All training will be handled by Computerlinks. “We have been with them for a decade, so know them very well,” she added.

Microsoft swoops on ITAC – again

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-09-24T09:56:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Wednesday 24 September 2008 at 09:56:00

Software giant given go-ahead to sell assets of illegal trader, two-and-a-half years after original settlement

Microsoft has achieved a second victory over defunct Manchester based sub-distributor ITAC.

Despite ITAC having to pay Microsoft £1m in damages in February 2006 for parallel importing and unlawful dealing of Microsoft software, the firm continued to trade with an unauthorised distributor in the Middle East.

Microsoft took further legal action against the sub-distributor and ITAC was again found libel for continuing to unlawfully trade.

Under the terms of the original agreement Microsoft was unable to discuss the details of the case, as the settlement included non-disclosure provisions.

However, as ITAC was in breach of the settlement by continuing to illegally trade, it has made the original non-disclosure clause invalid.

In March of this year of ITAC managing director Barry Omesuh filed for administration.

ITAC has yet to pay the £1m it agreed to pay to Microsoft in 2006 and, as a result, the court has granted Microsoft the sale of Barry Omesuh’s assets to receive the damages owed in full.

Michala Wardell, head of anti piracy at Microsoft UK, said: “Some people will probably be aware of the ITAC case, but will not know the real story behind it. Now that we are able to talk about it, it is great to see justice being done.

“As long as the likes of Omesuh and resellers such as ITAC remain in business, the profitability of honest resellers is under threat. This case against ITAC shows that Microsoft takes a zero tolerance approach to anyone who undermines the level playing field for our reseller community.”

In February 2006 ITAC and its directors countersued Microsoft for libel, claiming the vendor posted “accusations” on its web site and circulated them via a ‘media alert’ email to the UK IT trade channel.

Wardell added: “We caught ITAC trading illegally more than once which shows how determined we are to protect genuine, honest businesses from being undercut by unscrupulous traders.

“In today’s climate, we believe this is more important than ever, particularly when the culprits blatantly persist in their unlawful trading.”

Trading Standards targets piracy

Doug Woodburn — 2008-09-19T15:10:00.000Z

Doug Woodburn, CRN, Friday 19 September 2008 at 15:10:00

Trading Standards measures should see a rise in license purchases

VARs are set to reap the benefits of an imminent anti-piracy crackdown on UK firms by Trading Standards.

The government body was handed new powers to enforce copyright offences in April 2007, but only recently carried out its first joint raid with the police using these powers.

John Lovelock, chief executive of the Federation Against Software Theft (The Federation), which supplied the information that led to the raid, urged Trading Standards to step up its activities.

Lovelock said The Federation is close to unveiling a tool that will allow Trading Standards to investigate what software is installed on suspected pirates’ networks once they have entered the premises.

“We want them to exercise section 107A [of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988] further, but we need to ensure they are correctly equipped when they go in,” he said.

“If people take cognisance of what is going on they will see a rise in licence purchases,” Lovelock added.

Michala Wardell, head of anti-piracy at Microsoft, said: “Copyright infringement is something we are looking to work on with Trading Standards to create a level playing field for the channel.”

New anti-piracy powers enforced for first time

Sam Trendall — 2008-09-17T15:51:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Wednesday 17 September 2008 at 15:51:00

Trading Standards works with FAST and the Metropolitan Police to collar East End pirate

Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police have, for the first time, exercised anti-piracy powers granted last year after raiding the home of someone selling unauthorised software.

The powers, granted under section 107A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, allow inspection of any premises where illegal copyright activity is suspected of taking place. Trading Standards is also now permitted to work collaboratively with representative bodies.

Acting on behalf of one of its software vendor members, The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) supplied Trading Standards with information on the suspected pirate from Beckton, in east London. The vendor had previously contacted the individual to implore him to cease selling the flight simulation software, which had been imported from Hong Kong.

When this plea was ignored, FAST began helping to secure a warrant for Police and Trading Standards to enter the man's home. Trading Standards found evidence at the property which confirmed FAST's research and the information supplied by the vendor. The suspect was then questioned and cautioned.

A spokesperson for Trading Standards said: “The evidence brought to Trading Standards by FAST legal has proved invaluable in securing police cooperation for the raid. Critically, this is the first time for my branch in UK history that we have been able to use these new powers granted in April 2007.”

FAST chief executive John Lovelock added: “We are delighted that Trading Standards is making use of its new duties and powers granted under the implementation of 107A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This will level the playing field for the UK software industry and the creative IP sector as a whole and, I hope, lead to increased employment and revenue from this important sector as suspected IP thieves are found and shut down.

"Trading Standards may now work in cooperation with representative bodies to enforce the law on copyright offences. The law has strengthened Trading Standards’ position giving copyright offences the attention they should have received 13 years ago when it first entered into the statute book. Trading Standards can now fully operate with its hands untied and we can move forward to address something that has been ignored for far too long.”

BSA throws net over Wolverhampton pirate

Doug Woodburn — 2008-09-17T13:33:00.000Z

Doug Woodburn, CRN, Wednesday 17 September 2008 at 13:33:00

RJ Software agrees to pay damages for distributing 24 batches of Adobe, Autodesk, Correl and Quark software

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has cranked up the pressure on online software pirates after serving proceedings against a Wolverhampton-based dealer.

Richard Clark, who ran online trader RJ Software from his home, has agreed to pay damages for the distribution of 24 batches of fake Adobe, Autodesk, Corel and Quark software. The BSA’s action followed a successful series of test purchases.

The BSA’s legal action against Clark also forced the suspension of his business within two hours of being personally served with proceedings.

Clark co-ooperated fully with the investigations and told the BSA he bought the goods from a PC market in Manchester.

“I had no idea that the BSA had been monitoring my business with a view to shutting me down. I certainly won’t be selling any more counterfeit software – I was lucky to keep my house,” Clark said.

The BSA stressed the economic impact of reducing software piracy, citing IDC research that found a ten-point reduction in unlicensed software sales, which are currently running at 26 per cent, could create 13,000 new jobs.

John Wolfe, director of Internet Enforcement for the BSA, said: “[This] sends a clear signal to similar online traders, however small, that the BSA and its members will not tolerate sales of counterfeit software. Such illegal copies are damaging to both consumers and businesses. We are pleased to have brought these proceedings to a successful conclusion so swiftly.”

Becta hails Microsoft progress

Sam Trendall — 2008-09-16T14:24:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 14:24:00

Software giant to pilot new licensing scheme for schools after talks with education body prove fruitful

Government technology body Becta claims to have made "substantial progress" in talks with Microsoft over its complaint to the European Commission around interoperability and school licensing arrangements.

The software giant recently announced that it was to implement built-in support for Open Document Format (ODF) files in Office 2007. Becta has claimed it will be working closely with Microsoft to provide feedback on the developments and will then filter back guidance to the education sector.

After Becta's recent publication of its updated Harnessing Technology Strategy report, Microsoft began reviewing its school licensing arrangements. The company will now launch a pilot of a new licensing programme to all UK schools in six months' time.

The scheme will allow schools which do not use any Microsoft software and those which run open source products to avoid Microsoft licensing fees. These schools will now also be allowed to decline licensing for products such as Windows Vista, even on machines that are capable of running them. Schools can also now opt for licensing based on the amount of users, rather than the number of PCs, or a combination of both.

Stephen Crowne, chief executive of Becta said: "I welcome Microsoft's recent announcement of built-in support for ODF in Office 2007 and the very positive discussions we have had with them about their commitment to effective implementation. This will give schools and colleges additional flexibility to use a wider range of software.

"We will continue to work closely with Microsoft and the wider industry to maximise the benefit of ICT to our education institutions. I also welcome Microsoft's plans to pilot new licensing arrangements designed to give additional choice and flexibility to schools to meet the needs of their learners. These are very positive developments, responding to our concerns about the current arrangements."

Microsoft's international vice president of public sector Michel Van der Bel added: “We understand that the issue of interoperability was one of the key factors underpinning Becta’s October 2007 complaint to the Office of Fair Trading. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Becta to ensure that, in implementing built-in support for ODF in Microsoft Office 2007, we meet the needs of the education sector.

"We have been reviewing our school licensing arrangements in the light of educational policy developments and the issues that have been raised by Becta. We will introduce new licensing arrangements designed to deliver the flexibility demanded by the refreshed Harnessing Technology strategy."

Thinking beyond the box

Martin Painter — 2008-09-11T12:52:00.000Z

Martin Painter, CRN, Thursday 11 September 2008 at 12:52:00

Packaged software is seeing increasing competition from software-as-a-service, says Martin Painter

Traditional modes of selling software are becoming problematic for resellers looking to go beyond box-dropping. Channel

partners focusing on packaged, traditional ways of selling software are normally at the mercy of vendors’ product rollout

schedules, with all the uncertainty of revenue and repeat custom that it brings.

Growing diversification in industries means niche resellers are also under pressure to bridge the customisation gap for each customer. This means that the long-term benefit for resellers is limited, in part because time and money is invested inefficiently on one-off projects instead of recurring revenue.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is disrupting the old business models, as a complement to on-premises application sales. In times of financial uncertainty, customers can be nervous about signing up for expensive software implementations.

Hosted, on-demand software requires few upfront hardware costs and subscription-style pricing offers far greater flexibility, including an ability to scale the number of users up or down as required.

Unlike on-premises applications, there may be no fees when a version is upgraded and no complex deployment to worry

about because the application is hosted elsewhere. Then there are the benefits of outsourced datacentres and automatic application maintenance, saving the customer energy, space and money.

SaaS helps users access their systems anywhere and any time, in real-time. Many businesses require employees to fit the business in around family life or a day job. Many more businesses simply need to access their systems 24 hours a day.

Mid-market and enterprise businesses are also moving into new locations or adopting remote and flexible working policies. On top of that, customers are beginning to demand the kind of benefits offered by web-based applications from their existing infrastructure. By offering SaaS applications alongside traditional on-site software, customers get to choose which is best for them.

So what is in it for the channel? SaaS affords many benefits that traditional applications find hard to match. The

subscription-based model provides the vendor and reseller with a solid opportunity to earn ongoing revenue from a single sale.

Until now, the channel has relied on support and vendor upgrades for repeat revenue, but both can be risky. If upgrades damage the customisation or integration with other applications, or do not meet the customer’s needs, that ongoing revenue stream may be lost.

With SaaS there is no possibility of this upgrade hassle. Any customisation in place before an upgrade is carried forward. This can be a huge obstacle for packaged software, where a business might be forced to hire a consultant to re-customise their setup when they want to upgrade.

Development platforms built on hosted suites represent a new mode of software sales, by allowing resellers to build

highly tailored applications and then sell them multiple times to their customers.

An example of how this works is Nolan Computers. Nolan used NetSuite’s SuiteBundler SaaS customisation platform to add a fixed asset management module to the core NetSuite application.

The module was designed to enable growing businesses to maintain all aspects of their fixed assets, from depreciation to maintenance schedules and insurance.

By developing this micro-vertical application on a hosted platform, it can be rolled out any number of times to any number of customers.

While this particular example relates to back-office operations, the flexibility of SaaS means resellers can develop their own application for any specific vertical. One innovative reseller has built highly specialised seaport management functionality on top of a hosted suite, adding niche features to manage traffic.

Channel partners not only develop and re-use their own SaaS applications for increased revenues, but can use SaaS to appeal to more customers through increased knowledge and expertise.

Businesses are turning to SaaS to deliver flexible, economic and scalable solutions that help them extend into new locations. Combined with the huge development potential SaaS has to offer the channel, hosted software is increasingly appealing for resellers and end users alike.

Version One and Accurate launch university push

Sam Trendall — 2008-09-05T16:38:00.000Z

Sam Trendall, CRN, Friday 5 September 2008 at 16:38:00

Software vendors link arms to create integrated document and financial management offering for universities

Software vendor Version One has teamed up with education software specialist Accurate Solutions to offer universities an integrated document and financial management offering.

Version One's range of document management and imaging products will now be integrated into Accurate's Mercury financial management product. The aim is to allow users to authorise, deliver, retrieve and store documents from their Mercury system. Universities can also capture data automatically from any incoming documents which the two companies claim could eradicate up to four fifths of manual data entry.

Phil Akers, director of Accurate Solutions, said: “With integrated document management, Mercury users are provided with advanced functionality for the paperless management and processing of a range of documents including invoices, statements, remittances and student records. As well as cutting paper consumption and carbon emissions, thereby supporting colleges’ environmental policies, this technology also cuts costs, improves efficiency and frees up document storage space.”

Version One's general manager Lynne Munns added: "This partnership is great news for Mercury users who now have financial management and document management technology rolled into one, fully-integrated system. For the first time, users can view imaged documents directly from their finance system and can automatically deliver and authorise them without moving from their PCs.”

Centralis wins Citrix NHS deal

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-09-02T11:00:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Tuesday 2 September 2008 at 11:00:00

VAR rolls out remote access solution for The Royal Marsden Trust

VAR Centralis has implemented a Citrix remote access solution for The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

The web-based remote access system, based on a Citrix environment, enables access to vital information across existing sites and new cancer units.

The system will enable the healthcare staff at the new Sir William Rous Unit at Kingston Hospital, which is jointly run by Kingston, The Royal Marsden and Macmillan Cancer Support, to access Royal Marsden applications and outpatient information.

Designed with security layers based on levels of user access and device recognition, sensitive patient records are protected enabling the Trust to meet the security targets set by the NHS.

Additionally, clinicians can now view files such as X-rays, without traffic overburdening existing networks at The Royal Marsden and Kingston sites.

Ewen Anderson, director of Centralis, said: “The quality of patient care provided by The Royal Marsden and its partners is world-class, and it is only right that this is supported by the most effective and resilient IT systems.”

A fire at Trust’s Chelsea site in January 2008 accelerated plans for a remote access system as surgeons needed to access information from nearby hospitals.

“Although the Chelsea fire was not the trigger for implementing a remote access system, it highlighted the need for surgeons and clinicians to be able to view essential information from a variety of locations to continue to deliver the very best care to patients. In a very short space of time the system has moved from proof of concept to NHS best practice,” added Anderson.

The Trust will roll out the system with 30 users and plans for 150 live users over the next three years.

Jon Reed, director of information communication technology at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Previously, enabling healthcare professionals at new sites such as Kingston to have access to Royal Marsden applications was a time-consuming, complex and arduous process.

“By working in close partnership with Centralis, we’ve been able to create a secure remote environment that enables clinicians to have access to the applications they require, but at the same time enforce the highest level of security for confidential patient records.”

BSA hangs pirate out to dry

Kayleigh Bateman — 2008-09-01T16:30:00.000Z

Kayleigh Bateman, CRN, Monday 1 September 2008 at 16:30:00

BSA praises Trading Standards following confiscation hearing of East Midlands software pirate at Derby Crown Court

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced its support for Trading Standards in its court win against an East Midlands software pirate.

The market trader, Gary Scrimshaw, who was caught with more than 11,500 pirated DVDs and CDs, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year for breach of intellectual property.

He was also ordered to pay nearly £51,931 within the next six months, or face an additional eight months in custody, as a result of a confiscation hearing at Derby Crown Court on Friday.

A raid by the Trading Standards 2006 found a huge haul of counterfeit software, blockbuster films, chart CDs, and computer games with a street value of over £600,000.

At the time Scrimshaw pleaded guilty to 16 counts of selling illegal discs, including software from BSA members Adobe, Apple Microsoft and Symantec.

Najeeb Khan, vice chair, BSA UK member committee said: “We fully support the actions of Trading Standards in taking this to the courts. It sends a very clear message that the consequences of piracy can be severe and that serious offenders will be pursued all the way.

“Mr Scrimshaw was not only robbing creators of intellectual property of the rewards for their efforts, but also duping consumers and damaging the local and national economies. Software piracy impacts directly on the amount of money generated by tax revenues. Any money spent on Mr. Scrimshaw’s illegal goods was certainly not being fed back in to the local economy and therefore was not bringing anything back to those businesses investing in this area.”

Khan continued: “We urge consumers to purchase their goods from reputable sources, and to seek advice from the vendors themselves if in any doubt about the software authenticity.”

Research conducted by analyst IDC revealed a ten point reduction in software piracy, currently running at 27 per cent, could create more than 13,000 new jobs, £1bn in tax revenues and over £4bn in economic growth.

The trial of Scrimshaw follows ongoing investigations by Adobe and Trading Standards.