RedPC rallies as BSA drops suit

VAR claims training scheme will soon be moving to a wider audience

The name game: Resellers can rebrand the Home Training Initiative platform under their own name.

RedPC Services claims its Home Computing Initiative (HCI) successor scheme is finally gaining traction and is hunting for franchise partners to take the programme to a wider audience.

The VAR has claimed 75 organisations have signed up to its Home Training Initiative (HTI) since its launch two years ago. The scheme, which allows firms to offer staff IT training and the loan of a PC over a three-year period, has recently been extended to include Macs.

Martin Prescott, managing director of RedPC Services, claimed the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has now dropped legal action against the firm over suspected use of illegal software (CRN, 19 June), allowing it to resume its ambitious plans.

“In two years we have shifted 2,600 PCs through the scheme, which is not a huge number. But the unions have picked up on it, so we are being walked into companies now.”

Prescott said he was hunting for other resellers to use the HTI web platform and rebrand it for themselves. “The door is open for other providers to get a piece of the action,” he said.

The BSA confirmed that RedPC Services had provided it with further details, rendering a court hearing unnecessary.