Good times, bad times

Who's been living the dream and who's been having a nightmare over the last fortnight

Good times

Chuck Robbins

If departing Cisco CEO John Chambers' boots were any bigger, he'd have to have them specially assembled and crane-lifted onto his feet.

This will make the task of stepping into them even more daunting for Chuck Robbins, a Cisco sales and operations man who beat off nine other candidates to land the role.
"The opportunity that lies ahead for Cisco is enormous, and the ability to lead this next chapter is deeply humbling and incredibly exhilarating," Robbins (pictured) said.

Chambers has been almost universally lauded for his leadership of Cisco for 20 years. We wish Robbins an equally successful run, although - as David Moyes will attest - following a figurehead who has enjoyed unrivalled triumph for two decades is difficult.

Mud slinging

The latest twist in the HP-Autonomy saga is bound to have perked up any onlooker who was tiring of the two-and-a-half year battle. In a recent filing, HP accused Autonomy of using certain resellers to "fabricate or accelerate what was then held out by Autonomy to be revenue and profits". Unsurprisingly, Autonomy was none too chuffed and launched a scathing counter-attack.

"HP's patchwork tale of alleged misconduct rests on a faulty foundation of false facts, unsupported inferences, and a misunderstanding and misapplication of the relevant legal and accounting standards," former Autonomy boss Mike Lynch fumed.
If software doesn't work out for Big Mike, we think a writing career might be on the cards.

Axial Systems

Hats off to Axial Systems, which recently clinched the biggest deal in its history, a multimillion-pound network monitoring contract with O2.

A dozen of the VAR's staff are already involved in rolling out kit at 15 O2 sites under the contract, which it wrested from incumbent Techtronix.

"It puts us as a frontrunner for providing these kind of services in the telecoms industry and establishes us as a managed services provider for large corporates," beamed Axial's head of managed services, Ade Omotomilola.

We imagine it was also a good week for pubs surrounding Axial's Maidenhead HQ.

Bad times

Cisco Wi-Fi

Networking giant Cisco was left a little red-faced at its partner bash in Montreal last month after it suffered problems with its, er, network...

The second that outgoing chief executive John Chambers took to the stage for his keynote, the internet crashed - presumably due to the high number of people wanting to share nuggets of his wisdom on social media - leaving many of the 2,000 delegates unable to connect to the web.

As if the irony of a networking giant being unable to run its own network were not enough, Chambers and others waxed lyrical in their speeches about how the Internet of Everything - where things such as fridges and cattle are connected - will change the world. Oops.

We wonder if they tried turning it off and on again?

Cyber-insurance

Despite its sky-rocketing popularity, cyber-insurance was panned by reseller bosses during CRN's recent Online Security Summit, with one branding it "not worth the paper it's written on".

Garry Sidaway of NTT Com Security and Marty Legg of SecureData expressed misgivings about the growth of the industry, which is now thought to be worth more than $2bn a year.

Our coverage was reproduced in a story by the Insurance Times, prompting insurer CFC Underwriting to contact us to defend itself and its peers and brand Legg and Sidaway's comments "disturbing".

We can see both viewpoints, although the prospect of getting a free Russian meercat toy when you buy an IT security solution is a little unsettling.

IT distribution

Distributors often get a rough deal in the channel and now they have to contend with another global giant trying to muscle in on their turf.

German behemoth DHL has claimed IT distribution is not fit for purpose in its current form and needs urgently addressing to ensure the supply chain is capable of satisfying global customer needs.

If only there were a firm that can deliver such a service on a worldwide basis that is interested in getting involved in the IT space. Oh, hang on...