Views from the Channel
The backdoor threat to UK plc
As the debate over NSA spyware continues, Origin Storage's Andy Cordial asks whether customers will continue to have faith in encryption software
Making money from the cloud
Mimecast's channel boss Nessa Lynchehaun advises resellers to deepen customer relationships if they want to cash in on the C word
Windows 8: A reseller's view
TSG's Steve Cox is taking a wait-and-see approach with Microsoft's new OS
Meg Whitman's channel charm offensive
HP's new boss made all the right noises at HP GPC - but are words enough, asks CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Why I hate the Internet of Things with a passion!
Foursys managing director James Miller asks whether the world really needs touch-screen, internet-enabled fridge freezers
Do customers still value vendor agnosticism?
Is it time for 'vendor-agnostic' VARs to get off the fence, asks Doug Woodburn
All roads not 'taken' in the technology distribution industry's European evolution
Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) chief Tim Curran looks at the road ahead for the industry
Jobs - well done
CRN's senior reporter Sam Trendall celebrates the wit and wisdom of Apple's departing CEO
Grit and gravel
Gruff train driver perks up CRN news editor Doug Woodburn's morning
Are the data breach headlines failing to yield sales?
Q1 data suggests end users aren't overly worried by the spate of high-profile hacks, says CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Dell concedes rival bids may be better
Two rival bids for control of the IT company are said to be better than the one proffered by founder and CEO Michael Dell and, ironically, could result in the ouster of the founder from management writes Larry Walsh
Who will be the industry's next 2e2?
CRN's Doug Woodburn asks which part of the market might spawn the next big bankruptcy
Comrade Meg strikes again
CRN managing editor Doug Woodburn on the rumours that Meg Whitman has sent HP big hitters Donatelli and Bradley to the gulag
Could Microsoft do with more warmth and less hot air on XP?
CRN's Sam Trendall asks if Microsoft's sombre XP migration campaign should take some lessons in persuasion from Aesop's fables
Channel suffering a squeezed middle
Mark Herbert of intY claims cloud could spell the end of the line for mid-sized resellers' gravy train
Time for UC to get its act together
A lack of interoperability is holding back market growth and causing headaches for SIs, argues CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
You don't realise what you have until it's gone
Richard Eglon, CRN Sales & Marketing Awards judge and marketing director at Agilitas, shares his views on the importance of entering
Time for Morris and Ledger to cash in?
It's been four-and-a-half years since VADition was founded. CRN News Editor Doug Woodburn ponders the fast-growing distributor's position
Not so smart
In his second blog posting for CRN, Fortinet's Paul Judd warns over the UK's growing bring-your-own-device culture
The effect of rising fuel prices
The chancellor may have tried to ease the pain, but fuel costs could still hit resllers in the pocket, says Phil Jones
Twitter's death knell
CRN's Doug Woodburn's entry into the Twittersphere shows it has gone mass market
The 2e2 fallout: No winners, only losers, in this end game
CRN's Sam Trendall examines the last days of 2e2 and looks at how its demise will impact everyone involved
3 ain't a magic number
CRN reporter Caroline Donnelly lets rip about her network provider's take on good customer service
VADition sale bang on cue
Neil Ledger and Ian Morris succumb to five-year itch again, writes CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Selling without saying
This week's guest blogger, Barrie Desmond from VADition, wants the channel to stop waffling on about the cloud
End of an era?
Strategic partnerships, rather than acquisitions, could now be the order of the day for VARs, writes Doug Woodburn
Apple looks to corner tablet market
Timing of new iPad launch is designed to take the oxygen out of the room before Microsoft gets to market, according to Larry Walsh
Valuing diversity
Arrow ECS' Denise Bryant looks at the positive effect of gender equality for today's sales professionals
Just call on me when you need a hand
The channel could learn from Bill Withers when it comes to customer retention, argues Jay Reilly of Soundbite Communications
Returning to your roots
Why reselling hardware can actually help drive services, by CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Channel stuffing is not evil
Widget founder Mark Needham puts the defence in the wake of the HP-Autonomy fall-out
Softcat's a channel success story, but where next?
Would IPO be right long-term option for VAR as it nears £500m sales barrier, asks CRN's Doug Woodburn?
Cisco and Las Vegas; Confused? You will be...
The networking giant is like its partner conference host city in its intent to disorient, claims Sam Trendall
Why I'll never be a CEO
CRN journo Sam Trendall has a message of thanks and praise for the channel execs who can't help but work harder than he does
Security's taxing times
Guest blogger Fortinet's Paul Judd on why network latency is like going through security at the aiport
Cut the cybercrime FUD
Putting a value on the cost of cybercrime could be dangerous for the industry, argues Webroot's George Anderson
Computer 2000 rebrand no laughing matter
CRN managing editor Doug Woodburn asks why it took Tech Data so long to can C2K name and roll its brand to the UK
Peter Rowell
Industry bids farewell to a true gentleman
Deal registration, or no deal registration?
With deal registration programmes apparently being abused more than ever, CRN's Doug Woodburn asks whether it's time to ditch one of the staples of the vendor partner programme
Back to the future for Dell?
Dell's proposed takeover of EMC has a Groundhog Day feel to it but partners could stand to benefit in long run, says CRN's Doug Woodburn
Behind the social media facade
Widget chairman Mark Needham asks whether social media is a real reflection of what people are thinking
Cisco's big challenge: The software switch
Channelnomics founder Larry Walsh warns that despite recent strong Q4 results for Cisco, it is not a time for celebration
Channel's Infor a treat
The growing band of enterprise vendors embracing indirect augurs well for the channel, says CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Vote channel
CRN's senior reporter, Sam Trendall, salutes the political ambitions of an array of industry figures
Simplify and Comply
Guest blogger Paul Judd from Fortinet says it's time to take away the pain
Sociable selling
Widget founder Mark Needham argues most distributors are only just waking up to the potential of social media pages
Cisco Cius death versus the trusted advisor concept
2112 Group chief executive Lawrence Walsh on why the channel stands to lose out the most when vendors pull their products
Reseller sent to the Gulag
CRN news editor Doug Woodburn on the dangers of speaking out
Cisco in partner summit Wi-Fi #FAIL
Cisco's rhetoric about getting the world connected wasn't matched by the Wi-Fi at its partner summit in Montreal, as CRN's Hannah Breeze found to her cost
Cloud lockdown
Fortinet's Paul Judd dispenses his final pearl of wisdom as CRN's guest blogger
Microsoft is big winner in tablet legal wars
Channelnomics founder Larry Walsh examines how Microsoft could gain the advantage as Apple and Samsung cross swords
It's about to kick off in voice-land
Mark Herbert from intY is waiting for cloud to drive convergence in the comms space
The hidden cost of service
This week's guest blogger, Phil Jones from Brother, asks if resellers spend too much on service delivery
Data sovereignty: the channel's last refuge?
intY's Mark Herbert claims channel players marginalised by the cloud could find solace in data sovereignty
Pockets of growth
Resellers have to home in on corners of cash-rich customers, says Brother's Phil Jones
Acting big in a competitive world
Smaller VARs should home in on key markets, argues Melvyn Wray from Allied Telesis
Hybrid horror
Exclusive Networks' Barrie Desmond on why vendors who play hokey cokey with the channel are dancing with the devil
Clamour for cloud, but lack of buy-in for mobile payments
Neil Logan, CTO of Amor Group, compares the reality with the hype levels for some of 2011's biggest trends
'We're all finding our niche'
CRN's Doug Woodburn reflects on how far the channel - led by bellwethers Computacenter and SCC - has come from its box-shifting salad days
Dell - we've come a long way in four years
Michael Dell was keen to talk up the vendor's channel progress when he caught up with CRN's Doug Woodburn
Is the channel now a means to an end?
Logicalis' Chris Gabriel begins a week in the blogging hotseat with a look at a year of huge change for the channel
Why Apple wants bigger bite of channel
Latest distribution sell-through figures indicate a softening in Apple's stance towards the channel, says CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
G-Cloud will boost public sector services
Guy Hodges, public sector sales director at integrator SCC says the benefits should not be ignored
Why the Cisco Partner Summit is like The Truman Show
With programmes and products on the backburner this year, our man in Boston Sam Trendall asks if the networking giant has reached a major crossroads
Expectation economy
Resellers need to make sure they aren't left behind by customers' changing habits and expectations, says Brother's Phil Jones
What do NHS reforms mean for electronic patient records?
Melvyn Wray from Allied Telesis looks at how skilled channel partners could help improve the nation's health
One man's cloud...
Chris Gabriel of Logicalis argues that ISVs should see the cloud as a Channel-as-a-Service
Analysing Acer's astounding admission
New broom J. T. Wang is keen to send out right message to financial community, writes CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
SPONSORED BLOG - ESET and channel support
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Can Samsung channel success?
As the Korean titan makes a major channel land-grab, CRN's Sam Trendall looks at how it may stack up against incumbent enterprise giants
Amazon EC2 outages - lessons not learned
Really Simple Systems' John Paterson stresses firms should never have one single point of failure
The medium is not the message - technology's difficult relationship with teaching
CRN content editor Sam Trendall argues that the IT sector needs to recast the role that technology plays in the classroom
Welcome to CRN's latest blog
This is YOUR chance to take over a CRN blog spot for a week and share your thoughts
No longer a grey area
What does Cisco's apparent grey crackdown mean for traders of second-hand and surplus kit, asks Doug Woodburn
Telemarketing is so 2005!
So where should the channel go next, asks CRS' Andrew Cross
How can we shrink the skills gap by 2020?
Ahead of CRN's 'The European Channel in 2020' event next month, Richard Eglon, marketing director at Agilitas, mulls over how businesses can tackle the problem from within
VARnishing the channel message - what resellers can learn from Ronseal
CRN's Sam Trendall examines whether the channel's most beloved buzzwords are doing more harm than good
ANS unveils Infrastucture Angels
‘Miss Cisco', ‘Miss VMware' and ‘Miss NetApp' make debut in viral video from Mancunian VAR
Pan-European power
SDG, Exclusive Networks and Altimate are fighting Euro distributors' corner, writes CRN news editor Doug Woodburn
Does 2e2's demise signal the death of buy-and-build?
Thoughts are with staff but lessons can be drawn from collapse of giant integrator, says CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Google Pixel signals a shift in PC market
Larry Walsh asks how much longer the channel will sell PCs
Exploding the value-added myth
The term value-added is often bandied about this industry, but APSL's head of channel Rob Wiles argues that it is dangerous to use it so generically
HP's Chromebook gambit suffers minor setbacks
HP and Google have had the wind knocked out of their sails with their Chromebook vs Microsoft challenge. But how long for?
Three ways to avoid the HDD price hike
Rupert Collier from DataCore Software advises resellers on how their customers can protect against hard drive shortages
Mine for opportunity
The perils of user-owned technology in the enterprise presents challenges and opportunities. Are you ready, asks VADition's Barrie Desmond?
EMC channel push to equal Dell hell?
Will Dell be the biggest loser as EMC replicates its move to embrace the channel, asks CRN deputy editor Doug Woodburn
Cloud: Just pie in the sky?
CRN news editor Doug Woodburn investigates
Don't hide in the long grass
Barrie Desmond of VADition claims resellers cannot tread water, even in tough economic times
Turns out Apple may need resellers after all
Apple should perhaps consider building a Stronger B2B channel to stimulate growth in the absence of a runaway bestseller, writes Larry Walsh
More clichés than a Michael Bay film as HP, Lenovo and Insight rebrand
HP, Lenovo and Insight turned the corporate doublespeak-ometer up to 11 as they attempted to explain thinking behind new logos, writes Doug Woodburn
Departing CEO has done Dixons a service
Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived
All that glitters ain't Gold
Exclusive Networks' Barrie Desmond says some vendors are missing the point when it comes to partner programmes
Talking about a revolution?
Fortinet's Paul Judd airs his beef on the firewall industry as he takes over CRN's guest blog for the week.
VARmaggedon? Not on my watch
CRN managing editor Doug Woodburn is shocked to hear of a new expression doing the rounds in the channel
Are our acronyms a business anachronism?
Chris Gabriel of Logicalis to focus on business issues and speak in plain English
