Good week/bad week
We take a look back at who has been flying high and lying low over the last week
Good week
Five-year plans
It seems that Soviet-style planning did not die with the 1980s after all as Meg Whitman laid out a five-year strategy to haul HP out of the brown stuff.
The former Republican politico admitted that fixing the ailing goliath would take the not-insubstantial period of half a decade, with HP only regaining its edge as an industry leader in its fiscal 2016. Fiscal 2013 will be all about "fix and rebuild", and HP's "recovery" will begin in 2014, before a period of "acceleration" ensues in 2015.
We only hope that Comrade Whitman doesn't suffer the same fate as so many
Soviet apparatchiks sent to the gulag for failing to hit their numbers.
RM
Comeback kid RM continues to show promising signs, having grabbed a five-year, seven-figure contract with the Department for Education.
Under the deal, RM Education will run the department's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 2015 onwards, which measures the knowledge and skills of young people in maths, reading and science.
For a company that was left reeling after the Building Schools for the Future scheme was canned, the education specialist looks to be in solid shape and making a spirited effort to get back to growth. We guess there's a lesson there for us all (geddit? Sorry).
Magirus
It looks set to be business as usual for UK staff of the Germany-headquartered distie following the completion of its sale to Avnet.
In his first press grilling following his appointment as Avnet UK and Ireland boss, Sukh Rayat told CRN there is "no rush" to integrate Magirus. He added that "a lot of activity" is being undertaken to welcome newcomers and look at ways the newly joined disties can develop joint solutions. But, for the time being, Magirus will operate more or less autonomously.
Here's to the firm maintaining its independence for a while
yet. Or, as they say in Stuttgart: "Die axt im haus erspart den zimmermann."
Bad week
Dixons
As people who remember the thrill of bringing home their first personal cassette player from their local Dixons, we were a little sad to see the retail brand fade further into obscurity last week.
It didn't matter if your latest bit of technological wizardry had already mangled your new Wonderstuff tape before you'd even got home, there were still few more exciting experiences than coming back from the shops with a shiny new gadget.
Now that Dixons.co.uk has been subsumed into Currys' site, the only place that Dixons Retail Plc's eponymous brand remains in place is in its airport-based mini tech retailers. None of which sell the latest and greatest Walkmans. And they call it progress...
Huawei and ZTE
Chinese networking firms Huawei and ZTE were dealt a body blow by the US government last week, just as they were starting to make inroads into the country with their technology.
In a move that some may feel is a little harsh, the two companies have been branded as threats to US national security. Crikey! Apparently the US government, which is known for its open and friendly way of doing business, feels the firms could start leaking crucial and sensitive information to Beijing. It has also urged US firms to use alternative suppliers wherever possible. Aside from the fact that many US businesses use Chinese firms to manufacture their equipment, we feel this is only the beginning of a tit-for-tat battle which could leave more than one side in tears.
Cloud computing
In a moment akin to when that upstart child pointed out that the emperor was in fact nude, Canalys has claimed that cloud computing is yesterday's man.
According to the analyst, the hype surrounding the fluffy version of IT provision is subsiding as people realise it's not the panacea once promised. OK, so it's good for applications that target consumers, are new, or manage traffic, "but it makes no sense to take IT that already works and move it into the cloud, just for the sake of it," chimed Canalys CEO Steve Brazier.
More predictably, the firm fingered big data, BYOD security and wireless as trends for the channel to embrace.