computer reseller news sa feb 2008

8/14/2019 Computer Reseller News SA Feb 2008

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Febru ary 2008

Oracle st eps up onAccelerate programme

p16> >Red Hat restructureschannel programme

p21> >Lenovo takes consumer

range to anoth er levelp22> >

M emo ry Feat ure:Pushing it t o t he m ax

p30> >

Oracle st eps up onAccelerate programme

p16> >Red Hat restructureschannel programme

p21> >Lenovo takes consumer

range to anoth er levelp22> >

Memory Feature:Pushing it t o t he m axp30> >

Inside This IssueInside This Issue

ReassertingPartner

Focus

ReassertingPartner

FocusNovell SA is expanding sales of itssof t w are t o SM Es, and it says it w illw ork directly w ith solution providersp12>>

Novell SA is expanding sales of itssof t w are to SMEs, and it says it w illw ork directly w ith solution providersp12>>


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I s there an IT spending slowdown? In my editors note last month, inwhich I welcomed 2008, I hinted at the looming IT spending slowdownin both the channel and consumer space. I asked whether signs ofimprovement were on the horizon given the high rate at which local ITreseller companies have been closing shop since the slowdown started inJuly 2007.

And while the decision by the South African Reserve Bank not to raisethe repro rate was welcomed by many, the effect of high interest rates onconsumers is becoming evident.

This, coupled with the energy crisis, has added to the South African

economys woes. So what does 2008 hold for the local IT channel?That there is a slowdown is backed by my recent snap survey conduct-

ed with a few distributors who, in fact, not only confirmed but indicatedthat the rate at which IT reseller companies are closing down is indicativeof the tough trading environment being experienced not only in the ITindustry but other sectors as well.

Distributors that have been affected say resellers are not only reducing their monthly orders but are alsodefaulting on their payments despite the credit terms they enjoy with the various distributors having been extendedto, in some cases, up to 90 days.

If Q2 does not show any signs of improvement, analysts say overall economic growth for the country will slumpfrom the targeted six per cent to somewhere around three per cent. This will be a severe blow to the gains thecountry has made since democratising in 1994 as the economy has grown ever since.

Key to attaining this growth has been solid consumer spending and high commodity prices, which haveaccounted for a growth rate of more than four per cent in each of the past four years.

It must be said, though, that there are lessons to be learnt from all involved in the channel business, especiallysolution providers.

Clearly, those partners that have embraced offering services on top of the solutions they sell are in a betterposition to survive than resellers that just sell products.

That said, resellers will have to consolidate their businesses and specialise.Solution provider partners that have experienced years of growing profits in spite of shrinking margins on

hardware and software are those that not only embrace solutions selling but are also maximising theirservices revenue.

Enjoy the read and let me know how your solution provider business is being affected by the IT spendingslowdown. I can be reached at [email protected]

EDITORS: NOTE

IT spending slowdown

Manda Banda publisher


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CRN Contacts:Publisher:Manda [email protected]

Online editor:Kaunda [email protected]

Journalists:Port ia [email protected]

Brand executive:Nirosh [email protected]

Sub-editor:

Jenny Bastomsky [email protected]

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Database and subscriptions:Daisy [email protected]

copyright noticeCRN South ern Africa isp ublished month ly by

SystemsPublishers(Pty) Ltd. The copyright of allmaterial in thisp ublication is reserved by the proprietors,except where expressly stated. The publisher, however,

will consider reasonable requests for the use of materialby otherson condition that t he source and author

of the report are clearly attributed. Due to the natureof t he newspaper print process, SystemsPublishers

cannot be held responsible for colour variationsin printed advertising. Printed by Ultra Litho.

CRN Southern Afr ica is a licensee of CMPMedia LLC.

Private Bag X12, Rivonia, 2128Tel: (011) 234 7 008Fax: (011) 234 7025Registered with the AuditBureau of Circulation

News&4 Comin gs and Going s

6 Whats new/ D Moves

7 Hi Five: FrontRange toembarkonBy Dudu Shaba 8 Demand Generator: KSS overhaulsMBy Dudu Shaba 12 Cover story: Reasserting Partner FocusInwhatisseenaswarevendor,NoSMEs,anditsays

By Manda Banda

16 Oracle steps up on Accelerate Prog ram m eDatabasevendoapplicationsaleBy Manda Banda and Rick Whiting,

CMP

20 The HD oppor t unit y fo r part nersNewtechnologicommunicatedtBy Kaunda Chama 21 Red Hat rest ructu res channel p rogram m eOpensource(Linrestructuringits

By Kaunda Chama

22 Lenovo t akes consumer r ange t o anot her levelLenovohastouteandsaysthecomgoodprofits.By Dudu Shaba

Feature24 Net w orkin g: Increasing value and gro w t hFindouthowthebusinesstoincreBy Dudu Shaba 30 Notebo ok: The fu t ure is mobi leThelocalnotebodesktopPCmarkmobile technolodesks.By Dudu Shaba 36 Mem ory: Pushing it t o t he maxAsthesystembumovetowardsevcomponentsthatBy Stanley Chishala 40 Snapshot: Gary Broomberg,MicroStrategy40 Dilbert

Contents

12

16

Cover: Michelle Beetar, Novell SA

Scans in thi s publicati on have been reproducedon the EPSON PERFECTiON 2450 photo

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WHATS NEWS

COMINGS

& GOI

NGS

David Drumm ond t o leaveAcer SADavid Drummond, country manager at Acer SAwill be moving to take on a new role as MD of thevendors UK operation .

The changes which are effective from 1 April 2008,will seeDrummond who has been at the helm of the vendors SA sub-sidiary for five years take up the position of MD, Acer UK.

Succeeding Drummond in the capacity as country manager,Acer Africa is Graham Braum, a nine-year veteran of Acer whohas been commercial manager at the company for the past year.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living in SA andin working across the whole Middle East, Turkey,and Africaregion, he says.Im looking forward to driving the Acer brandin the UK.

Novell SA app oint s new count rymanagerNovell SA has appointed Michelle Beetar as coun-try manager. Beetar assumed her position on 2January 2008 and takes over the reigns from

Stafford Masie, who resigned in August 2007.Desan Naidoo, whohas been acting as country manager for the past few months, willcontinue at the company in the role of sales director.

Beetar joins Novell from Oracle SA where she was industrydirector of financial services and was also formerly CEO of MWeb CommerceZone.

EM C SA has new headGerhard van der Merwe has taken over the posi-tion of country manager at storage vendor EMCSA following the retirement of Frank Touwen inDecember 2007. Van der Merwe has over 15 years

experience with EMC, most of which was in various sales man-agement positions.Van der Merwe says he is honoured to takeover this position from Touwen. He adds that as EMC has movedfrom being a hardware-focused vendor to a complete informa-tion-management company, and that his focus will be to drivethis strategy into the marketplace.

Joshua Mot juw adi heads MicrosoftPub lic Sect or div isionMicrosoft SA has appointed Joshua Motjuwadi asits new Public Sector director as it looks to growits presence across Government this year.

Motjuwadi, the former managing executive for IT Services atTelkom, replaces Ashley de Klerk, who left Microsoft late lastyear. Motjuwadi has 29 yearsexperience in the ICT field, includ-ing stints in retail, consulting and financial services.

Microsoft SA MD Pfungwa Serima says Motjuwadis appoint-ment underlines Microsofts commitment to working withGovernment across key initiatives like improving service delivery,

skills development and broadening digital inclusion.

Pinnacle Micro buys Tri Cont inent alIn a multi-million rand deal, ICT distributor PinnacleMicro has purchased the South African operationsof Tri Continental Distribution, one of IBMs andLenovos biggest distributors in the region.

The announcement, which gives Pinnacle Microaccess to IBMs and Lenovos products, cements thecompanys role as one of the preferred distributorsto tier-one ICT companies in SA.

Arnold Fourie, CEO of Pinnacle Micro, says thedistribution deal with Lenovo/IBM which becameeffective on 1 December 2007 is a major distributionannouncement for Pinnacle Micro, definitely one ofthe most important in the past few years .

SAP w rap s upBusiness Objectspurchase, unveils

joint productsDeclaring its US$6.8 billionacquisition of businessintelligence softwarevendor Business Objects as

complete, SAP has wasted no time in leveragingits expanded software portfolio by debutingnine products that combine technology fromboth companies.

SAP has acquired 87 per cent of BusinessObjects shares and has begun int egratingvarious elements of the two companies, SAP CEOHenning Kagermann says. Business Objects willbecome a critical element of SAPs business userapplications product line.

Oracle contin ues midd lew are marketgains wit h BEA buyou t

A persistent Oracle is coughing up nearly US$2billion more than its initial offer to acquire BEASystems, nearly three months after it beganpursuing the middleware vendor. Oracle hasannounced that BEA had agreed to be bought forUS$19.375 per share or approximately US$8.5 billion.

Oracle initially bid US$17 per share or US$6.6billion when it first offered to buy BEA on 12 October2007. As recently as mid-December Oracle executivessaid BEAs directors were still resisting Oraclesoffers. At some point Oracle decided to sweeten the

pot and the two companies reached a deal.

4 CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA FEBRUARY 20 08


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Distribution Move

Di st r i b u t i o n M o v esDCC gets Bravia distr ibut orshipSout h Afr ican d istrib utor Drive Contr ol Corporation(DCC) has been appoint ed th e off icial distribut or f orSony SAs range of Bravia LCD high-definition TVs (HDTV)

and HD-ready TVs.With t he appoint ment of Drive Contr ol, Sony furt herstrengthens and extends the brands local adoption asthe distributor features a 6000-strong reseller base witha national footprint . Our channel part ners can now readily off er the Braviaseries to their corporate clients. This is an importantbenefit as in the past the products were only availablefrom pr ofessional, high-end visual supp liers, explainsBruce Byrne, visual comm unicatio ns specialist at DriveContr ol Corporation.

Ph o e n i x s i g n s w i t h PC To o l sPhoenix Software, a local software re-publishing house,has signed an agr eement w it h PC Tools giving it righ ts todistrib ut e the PC Tools produ ct range th roug hout SA.

PC Tools is one of th e global leaders in innovat ive sof t -ware products designed to protect the privacy and secu-rity of Windows users.PC Tool s publi shes soft ware and provid es technicalresources for securing, pr otecting and m aintaining t heWindows operating system. Its products are available inover 196 countries.The company also offers its products and customer ser-vice in multiple languages.

D CC t o d i s t r i b u t e Vi e w So n i cViewSonic Corporation, a provider of visual display prod-ucts, has appointed Drive Control Corporation (DCC) asits official distribution partner. Our newly established local of fices w ill strengthen ou rpresence in SA and Africa and is further reinforced bypartnering w ith leading hardw are distrib uto rs such asDCC. DCC w ill allow us to deliver ViewSonic products toa wider share of the IT reseller, corporate and retail mar-ket, says Brendon Land, count ry manager of ViewSonic

South Africa.

WHATS NEWS

COMINGS

& GOI

NGS

EM C SA CEO, Touw en r et ir esEMC has announced that Frank Touwen, itscountry manager had retired after over fiveyears as CEO of EMC SA.

Touwen, who has been instrumental inbuilding EMC SA into a dominant provider

of computer storage and information infrastructure solu-tions, says he will be available to colleagues and clients toassist with any business issues.

M icrosof t COO t o t ake up n ewchallengeHeather Third, COO at Microsoft SA,will bemoving on to take up a new and exciting role asMicrosofts special projects director for Africa.

As special projects director for Africa,Heather will be responsible for directing a number of keystrategic projects across the continent. These efforts will begeared toward helping people bridge the digital divide and togrowing the local software economies across the continent.

Steve Nossel quits IntelAfter nearly 10 years at Intel Corporation, having served asthe GM for sub-Saharan Africa and more recently as theEnterprise and World Ahead business manager for MiddleEast Turkey and Africa, Steve Nossel will be leaving the chipmaker at the end of February 2008. It is still unclear what

new projects Nossel will take up but he has stated that he willtake a short break.

Sun M icro t o bu y M ySQLSun Microsystems has revealed that it will buy opensource developer MySQL AB for about US$1 billion,allowing it to expand into an estimated US$15 billiondatabase market.

Sun also reported preliminary results for its fiscalsecond quarter, saying it expected higher revenueand profit compared with the year-earlier period.

Sun says it will pay about US$800 million in cashin exchange for all of MySQL stock and assumeabout US$200 million in options as part of the deal.

The company says MySQLs open source databaseis widely used across operating systems, hardwarevendors and applications, and is expected to opennew markets for Suns systems, middleware andother technologies.

Apples Jobs debut s world sthinnest lapto pSteve Jobs unveiled the worlds thinnestnotebook, aptly dubbed the MacBook Air, at his keynoteaddress at this years Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

The MacBook Air weighs a mere 3 lbs and is0.76 inches at it widest, tapering down in a wedgeto an unimaginable 0.16 inches. The MacBook Airhas a full-size back-lit keyboard, a back-lit LED13.3-inch monitor and a sizeable track-pad thatallows for gesture control of functions in the samemanner as the iPod Touch and iPhone. The MacBookAir will retail for US$1 799, fitting it in betweenApples MacBook and MacBook Pro lines.



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HIGH FIVE: FRONTRANGESOLUTION PROVIDERS

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA FEBRUARY 200 8 7

FrontRange to embarkon robust marketing

B Y D UDU S HABA

Strengthen its position in the channel.

F rontRange Solutions, a developer and vendor of software products inSA, is looking to new and existing channel partners across SA to joinit in its drive to capture the growing opportunities for its productsnot only in the SME sector, but also in larger enterprises.Paul Bornhutter, product general manager for Africa at FrontRangesays that developing and launching more products to meet theneeds of the channel is one of its main priorities for 2008.

CRN spoke to Bornhutter to find out more about how the compa-ny positions itself in the channel.CRN: Can you tell us more about FrontRange Solutions?PB: FrontRange Solutions is a developer and vendor of softwareproducts. The company has a strong South African heritage.Founded in 1989 under the banner of Ixchange, the company has

focused on developing software and services that allow organisationsto deliver extraordinary customer relationship service. Since its incep-tion, the company has focused on solutions tailored specifically forthe mid-market. Today, it is the undisputed leader with more thanone million users around the world and a blue-chip client list.A leader in consolidated sales and service solution suites, FrontRangeestablished its reputation with the award-winning GoldMine familyof business relationship solutions for complete service management,including Help Desk, Knowledge Management, Asset Managementand Service Level Management.CRN: Where are your offices based and who are your partners?PB: FrontRange Solutions has its local office in Dunkeld,Johannesburg. The companys global head office is in San Franciscoin the US. The company was acquired by a US private equity firm in2006 and delisted from the JSE. Our partners are Click IT, Videl,Future Trends, I-Intelligence, IT Technologies and EagleTech.

CRN: What are the companys resolutions for 2008?PB: Even in tough times, FrontRange has maintained a strong

research and developmentcapability. This capability to

develop and launch ourown products continuesin 2008 with a number ofproduct launches focusedon meeting every cus-tomers needs as theycontinue to evolve.There will be a numberof activities throughoutthe year. FrontRangewill launch it s GoldmineEnterprise Edition,GoldMine Mobile,Enteo offering andHEAT Mobile.FrontRange is also looking to strengthen its Voice Self-Service go-to-market strategy during 2008.CRN: What are the companys initial marketing strategies?PB: We will continue to focus on two key areas. First, FrontRangehas a large installed base in SA and we plan to further develop usergroups, product briefings and upgrade marketing activities for exist-ing customers.Second, our product range has developed to the extent that it isincreasingly being used in divisions or operating units of larger enter-prises. So, we will continue to speak to this audience through events,briefings and launches.Unusually for a company of Front Ranges size, our customers aretypically very open to speaking about their experiences with our solu-tions. We have a large and growing catalogue of customer successstories and we will continue adding to this.CRN: What are the major challenges that the company faced in2007 and how does it aim to overcome them?PB: We reached a point with our GoldMine products where weneeded to engage more partners across the entire country. This wasa major challenge in 2007 and we have now employed a GoldMinechannel account manager to grow the partner business.Overall, the channel remains key to our ability to continue the

growth of recent years and we envisage engaging further partners inthe main centres of SA.

Our focus this year is mainly on embarking on

various activities and campaigns to introduce

customers to our latest products. Paul

Bornhutter, FronRange Solutions.


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SD, a subsidiary of the global, research-based pharmaceutical company in the USA,

has chosen KSS, a converged network inte-grator focusing on integrated data, andvoice and video solutions, to implementand upgrade its network to meet its inter-national standards and also to provide thecompany with a more robust architecture.

Arnold Botha, IT operations manager atMSD says the company discovers, develops,manufactures and markets vaccines and

medicines to address unmet medical needs.According to him, at the companys

South African operations in Midrand,Gauteng, five buildings, including the mar-keting and sales department, finance, ICTtraining arm with an auditorium, the facto-ry and a warehouse needed to be intercon-nected. To meet this requirement, he saysexisting equipment had to be upgraded.

Botha explains that MSD required acomplete overhaul of its network.

DEMAND GENERATOR : KSSSOLUTION PROVIDERS

B Y D UDU S HABA

M

KSS overhauls MSD

Arnold Botha, KSS

Pharmaceuticals networkImplementation optimises production.


> p10


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Our infrastructure was not meetingour requirements as the cabling was out-dated and almost 10 years old. It wasbecoming increasingly unreliable withcertain segments experiencing regulardown time. This became problematic forthe company and, coupled with theinternational requirement to standardiseequipment, propelled us to upgrade ournetwork, including the cabling, he says.

Botha goes on to say that the oldnetwork infrastructure impacted thecompanys operations in all areas as accessto information was slow and unreliable.

In todays competit ive environment, it isimportant to ensure the ICT infrastructuresupports the operation, ensuring productionis not hindered and all associated areas ofthe business function smoothly.

Our network included a mixture ofdifferent vendors products, making itdifficult for our international ICT team toprovide us with support. Our internationaloffice manages our network and monitorsthe bandwidth remotely, further driving therequirement for the upgrade, says Botha.

The company sent its specifications toselected resellers and system integrators,allowing them to bid for the business. KSSwas finally chosen.

KSS provided MSD with the specifiedproducts, assisted with their imple-mentation and upgraded the network tomeet international standards with a morerobust architecture.

We had previously worked with KSS andknew their high service levels and excellentcapabilities with regard to networking.The company also provided us with the

best pricing, making it the natural choice,he says.

Corne Sassenberg, senior accountmanager at MSD says that KSS wascommissioned to install 23 Nortel switchesand Lancast fibre modules, Cisco fibre mod-ules and Nortel fibre modules. In addition,they had to replace the older CAT 5 cablingthat catered for a 100 megabit networkwith cabling that caters for gigabit speeds.

The implementation was handled inphases with each building configuredindividually. Network implementations needto be handled quickly and efficiently andthis was achieved through pre-configuringand testing of the solution at our t estingcentre in Midrand prior to implementation.

This allowed us to minimise implementationtime signif icantly, he explains

According to Botha, the implementationwas not entirely without challenges.

We had an unannounced visit f rom ouroverseas auditors, forcing us to delay theimplementation plans until they hadcompleted their audit. In addition, due tothe specification of standards changing atoverseas level, firmware on some of theproducts had to be upgraded.

On the whole, we were very impressedwith KSS service and level of professionalism.The company is based close to our officesand its staff is available to us within 10 to15 minutes if we require assistance withmaintenance and support issues, he says.

Botha adds that MSD has benefitedsignificantly from the upgrade andthat the network now supports itsbusiness-critical information and systems,ensuring production runs smoothly andis optimised.

We have also seen a difference withour backup procedures. Our overnightbackups lessen the load on the networkduring working hours and now take sixhours rather than 10. In addition, oursupport staff only requires one set of skillssince they no longer have to support amultitude of technologies and brands. Theupgrade of our network was successful andwe are fully realising the benefits in termsof greater productivity and efficiency,Botha concludes.

Do you have demand generator stories

to share with us? Please e-mail Dudu Shaba at [email protected]


DEMAND GENERATOR : KSSSOLUTION PROVIDERS

We have seen a dif ference with our backup procedures.

Our overnight backups lessen the load on the network

during working hours andnow take six hours rather than 10.

The upgrade of our network was successful and we are fully

realising the benefits in terms of greater productivity and

efficiency. Arno ld Bot ha, M SD.

>> p8


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n what is seen as its boldest channel moveto date, Linux and infrastructure softwarevendor, Novell SA, is making a push toexpand sales of its software and otherproducts to small businesses, and it says itwill work directly with solution providers to

do it.

The move comes at a time when thevendor has embarked on a global channelreassertion effort following negativeindustry perception based on competitordisinformation. In fact, industry pundits sayone of the biggest challenges Novell faces

is overcoming these negative perceptionsand proving it is a channel-centric vendor.

Michelle Beetar, Novell SAs new countrymanager says by focusing on weavingpartners into every aspect of the business,Novell can begin to realise its vision to be apreferred channel partner for as manycompanies as it can.

Beetar says along with this focus onpartnering with solution providers, thecompany has had to move from a directapproach, which characterised its businessin the past, to an indirect model thatembraces and puts partners at the core ofit business in all four business focus areas,namely Open Systems, Workgroup, Identityand Security Management and SystemsResource Management .

She says making Novell partners moreprofitable is the first and most importantpoint to stress. It is the most importantthing t hat we can do, she says. Secondly,helping partners invest in the growth oftheir Novell business and increase demandthrough sales support and pipeline buildingbolsters trust and provides marginprotection, she adds.

The third focus area concerns theenablement and facilitation of partnersuccess. We need to give them the salesand technical training so they can besuccessful as independent sales agents forNovell, she says.

The fourth, and widest ranging part ofthe strategy, is to create a fully partner-centric company.

Beetar says the changes have also been

at global level in which case the parentcompany rolled out some of the initiatives


COVER STORY : NOVELLSOLUTION PROVIDERS

Michelle Beetar, Novell SA

Reasserting partner focusB Y M ANDA B ANDA

Novell gets serious with channel.

I

Making Novell partners more prof itable is the first and most

important point to stress. It is the important thing that we can do.

Michelle Beetar, Novell SA


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before filtering them to subsidiarieselsewhere on the globe.

Internal restructureAlthough the global restructure of thecompany kick started about 18 months agowith the North America region rolling outsome of the channel strategies first, SAsimplementation of the new initiatives startedin November 2007.

Beetar says from a Novell SA perspective,the company has had to restructure its salesarm internally from a generalist approach toan organ that encourages internal salespeople to specialise in the four businessfocus areas. We had to restructure because

the generalist approach didnt yield anydepth for the sales team, she notes. Whatthis change means is that internal salesexecutives will now be trained on the samelevel as their counterparts at solutionprovider companies.

She says by doing this, Novell is ensuringthat it not only develops a competent salesteam in-house and at reseller level, but alsoensures that account management isequally elevated as you have people whounderstand each other better in terms oftheir specialisation.

Cobus Burgers, CEO, NetCB Solutions, aNovell systems integration partner, concursand says the recent changes announced byNovell SA have resulted in far betterrelationships between Novell and its existingchannel partners. Certainly, from our side,we have seen them engaging with us morefrequently to ensure execution of properlyplanned strategies, he says. An immediateexample in this regard is its direct supportof our Connected over Horizons RoadShow 2008. We now have far more Novellstaff that engage with us across its fourbusiness units than at any other time.

Beetar says building a successful channelhas been particularly challenging forNovell, and she admits the company nowneeds to focus on enabling partners andshowing it is committed to thinking aboutpartners first. It is important to be able togo back to existing partners, new partnersand those who have left us, and to be veryclear that were here to help grow theirbusinesses, she says.

Part of that is about creating ongoingdialogue with partners, and Novell is

preparing to expand communication bycultivating active feedback and offeringservices like 24x7 technical support anddedicated Web portals to channel partners.

I have not been country manager for along time, but the feed back I am gettingfrom the partners that I have met isencouraging, she says. We need to keepthis momentum going to ensure that weare executing and delivering on thefeedback in line with the companys broaderchannel programme.

SpecialisationsIn a time where economic issues are agrowing concern for SMEs and IT spending

issues loom in SA just how will Novellreassure its partners it will be able to growtheir businesses. Desan Naidoo, sales directorat Novell SA, says margin protection and

investment in demand-generation activitiesin the local channel will keep Novellspartners in a strong position. Theres atremendous amount of field support inhelping to build their pipeline, he says.Our intention is not just to be as good asour competitors, but to be the best at whatwe do with our committed channel partnerswho invest in our technology and solutions.

Naidoo says while margin protection isparamount to Novells channel business, heemphasises that partners that specialise andget their staff certif ied will enjoy highermargin protection from the company thanthose that dont specialise. What we arecommunicating to our partners is that theydont have to be generalists, he says.Partners are free to pick all the four areasof specialisation or can choose any twospecialisation areas they believe willhave a direct bearing on growing theirNovell business.

Naidoo says because the sales cycle forNovell solutions is a long one, the company

had to highlight the importance of speciali-sation and certification. This is not anout-of-the-box product hence partnersought to have some consulting skills on board.

Vanessa Munnik-Wallace, networksspecialist at Business Connexion (BCX), aNovell SA solution provider partner, says theannouncement that Novell is reasserting itschannel efforts is long overdue. Munnik-Wallace says partners, new and old, areseeing that Novell is not only committingitself to channel growth but, most impor-tantly, is getting brand awareness out intothe open for all in the local channel to see.

NetCBs Burgers agrees and points outthat his companys relationship with Novell

started in 2003 and the majority of itsbusiness is systems integration for which itmostly uses Novells technology as well asother open source solutions, with technology

that NetCB builds in-house. We have seenour business grow in excess of 150 per centyear on year, he says. Novell gives us thatcompetitive edge to provide businesssolutions that are quite unique and standabove the rest most of the time.

He adds that although Novell is some-times a hard sell, as it comes up against thelikes of Microsoft. We are seeing thischange over time and can only hope that inthe long run there will also be changes inthe negative perceptions about the company,he says.

Channel programmeAccording to Novell, the new initiatives,rolled out around the globe, include thecreation of a team of partner executivesthat will be assigned to work with topsolutions providers in Novells PartnerNetprogramme. Those staffers, analogues tothe client executives who manage Novells

top direct customer accounts, will workwith a small portfolio of partners on building

Negative industry percept ions based on competit or

disinformation is one of the biggest challenges Novell faces

in the local channel. Cob us Burg ers, Net CB Solu t ion s


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the channel partners business, with theircompensation directly tied to the success ofthe partners they guide.

The vendor has also raised the thresholdfor the accounts it will serve directly,potentially opening more mid-market dealsfor channel partners. A direct relationshipwith Novell now requires at least US $1million in spending, twice the previousminimum, according to the company.

Matthew Lee, Novell SA channel managersays the revised channel programmerewards those partners that havespecialised and certified themselves. Leesays the company offers three partner tiers,namely Silver, Gold and Platinum. We have

put in stringent requirements for our Goldand Platinum partners as they dont have toonly be sales and technically competent buthave to maintain a certain level of correctlyskilled individuals.

He also adds that in addition to meetingthese certification requirements, Gold andPlatinum partners also stand to benefit

from high margins and thats wheremargin protection for their investment inNovell kicks in. We will be increasingour training and visibility in the salesarena, he says.

BCXs Munnik-Wallace says BCX hasbeen a Novell partner for two years and inthat time there has been intense internaland external marketing around Novellssolutions. She adds that as a result of thiseffort, BCX is reaping the benefits of itsrelationship with Novell. The partnershiphas been a mutually beneficial one for bothparties, she says.

Munnik-Wallace says she would like tosee Novell increase its training init iatives,social responsibility programmes andgeneral channel brand-awarenesscampaigns. Certainly, as a Novell partner,we would like to see more from the vendor

in terms of segmented, intensive and

aggressive marketing and brand awarenesschannel campaigns, she says. In addit ion,Munnik-Wallace says Novell should recruitand grow the correct and strategicallyselected partners. Growing its channelinitiatives in the market and focusing onthe correct channels should be high onNovells agenda. Novell has achieved somuch in the all the business areas it focuseson, yet is reluctant to announce such gainsand we would like to see that changegoing forward, she says.

ChallengesMunnik-Wallace says Novell has toovercome some challenges as it grows its

channel business.For starters, Munnik-Wallace says Novell

must overcome the bad perception it has inthe local solution provider channel. Inaddition to the negative channel percep-tions, Munnik-Wallace singles out a lack ofNovell skills and available certif ied trainers,and the fact that Novell solution sets

dont have corresponding courses in SA,are some of the urgent issues the vendorneeds to address.

NetCBs Burgers concurs and points outthat negative industry perceptions based oncompetitor disinformation is one of thebiggest challenges Novell faces in the localchannel. He says despite the fact thatNovell gets great scores from industryanalysts and walks away with manyindustry awards year after year, there arestill many that do not go and find out thefacts about Novell. This has to changesignificantly, he says.

Burgers says when partnering withNovell, partners ought to be told upfrontthat they have to invest in their staff. Youcannot just sign-up and start sellingwithout ensuring that you certify your stafffrom sales right through to technical skills

to be able to achieve results, he says. I

see many Novell partners come and go,and as soon as they realise that it will needsome dedicated commitment before theyshow results, they disappear from the scenevery quickly.

He adds that NetCB Solutions has devel-oped into one of Novells top partners inAfrica. As a Novell Platinum Partner withtwo specialisations, a Gold Training Partnerand a Ready Technology Partner, NetCB hasinvested in staff training locally andabroad, he says.

Beetar says her team is working aroundthe clock to ensure partner confidence isrestored not just by way of speaking but bydeed. We are not just giving lip service toour partners but assisting them to growtheir business with us, she says.

Burgers says Novell must continue with itsnew approach and sustain this momentum. It will not help to kick this off and then afew months down the line lose all theenthusiasm, he observes. We also have toaccept that Novell cannot do this alone,which is also one of the reasons that NetCBhas managed to build strong relationshipswith other channel partners to tackle largeprojects and to ensure that we have fasterskills development in the country.

As a Novell partner, we would like to see more from the vendor

in terms of a segmented, int ensive and aggressive marketing

and brand awareness channel campaign. Vanessa Munnik-Wallace, BCX

Cobus Burgers, NetCB Solutions


17/44


18/44

racle has enlisted 26 distributors and morethan 250 new resellers for the VADRemarketer programme it inaugurated sixmonths ago in an effort to expand sales of

its database and middleware products toSME customers.

The VAD Remarketer programme allows

resellers to buy Oracle software throughparticipating distributors without having acontractual relationship with Oracle. Theautomated 1-Click Ordering system allows

distributors and resellers to easily placesmall-volume orders for Oracle products fordelivery to customers either electronically oron CDs. The two programs include theStandard Edition and Standard Edition Oneversions of Oracles database and applica-tion software, and its business intelligencepackage.

At the same time, Oracle has alsostepped on the gas with its Accelerate ini-tiative to boost application sales to smalland mid-size businesses.

Later this year, Oracle will be ramping upits efforts with the Accelerate initiative andwill add a solution-partner loyalty pro-gramme to it, offering high-performingchannel partners incentives such as train-ing, promotion funds, and sales and mar-keting resources.

Locally, momentum for Oracle Acceleratecontinues after the release of 49 newOracle Accelerate partner solutions in thepast five months, bringing the total num-ber to 90. The vendor says partners aredelivering Oracle Accelerate solutions across16 industries and 41 industry sub-segmentsto mid-size businesses in 17 countries.

Oracle Accelerat eIke Ngwena, Oracle SA channel directorsays the main motivation behind the OracleAccelerate push is to get a formal engage-ment model with partners that serve theSME space.

Ngwena says the main aim of theAccelerate programme is to increase part-ner profitability, decrease the sales cycle

and increase domain knowledge onOracles applications business within the


ANALYSIS: ORACLESOLUTION PROVIDERS

Oracle steps upon AccelerateB Y M ANDA B ANDA AND R ICK W HITING

O

Ike Ngwena, Oracle SA

The Oracle Accelerate solut ions address the need among mid-size

organisations for low-cost, preconfigured applications that are quick

to deploy and easy to maintain. Ike Ngw ena, Oracle SA

Vendor boosts application sales in SME space.


19/44


20/44

solution provider channel.He adds that the Oracle Accelerate solu-

tions address the need among mid-sizeorganisations for low-cost, preconfiguredapplications that are quick to deploy andeasy to maintain. Ngwena says OracleAccelerate solutions are delivered by part-ners who demonstrate a proven history ofserving a customers specific industry andgeography. In terms of the way theAccelerate programme has been designed,Oracle reviews each Accelerate solutionbefore accepting it into the programme,he says. This gives customers confidencethat the solutions will be easy to implement

and provide a proven methodology andupgrade path.

With Oracle Accelerate, we believe the

business opportunities are infinite. We haveleveraged the Oracle E-Business Suite andOracles JD Edwards EnterpriseOne todesign 15 industry-focused applicationbundles across three industries and fivecountries that will substantially increase thereach and competitive strength of our busi-ness, says Sriram Papani, senior VP andGlobal Head, Enterprise Application Practiceat Satyam Computer Services, an OracleAccelerate partner. The support , tools andcollateral that Oracle provides mean we cancontinue to launch new solutions torespond to customer demand for rapid andaffordable application deployments.

The vendor says because most large

companies have installed ERP and CRMapplications from Oracle, SAP or anothervendor, the SME market holds the mostpromise for application sales growth.Finding the right formula for tackling theSME market has proved tricky, althoughtwo-thirds of Oracles application cus-tomers are SMEs, defined by the vendor ascompanies with annual sales of US$500million or less.

Accelerate is Oracles latest effort, replac-ing the E-Business Suite Special Edition it hadbeen selling for companies with 50 or fewerusers. Its competing with the Business Oneand All-in-One application sets that its rival

SAPmarkets to SMEs and MicrosoftsDynamics line of ERPand CRM applications.

Under Accelerate, channel partners can

pick application modules from OraclesE-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoftsand Siebels product lines, and bundlethem into solutions for SME customerswithin some 70 vertical markets. To speedup deployment of these applications, theAccelerate programme also offers OracleBusiness Accelerators, including rapid pro-totyping tools and process-workflow links,also tailored for vertical industries. Theyallow the Accelerate applications to beinstalled in days compared to weeks ormonths for enterprise-class applications,says Tony Kender, senior VP of Oraclesglobal SME business unit that oversees theAccelerate effort in North America.

Partner t hum bs-upSo far, the Accelerate initiative is getting athumbs-up from solution providers.

Matt Lesseuer, VP of Sales at Terillium, asolution provider partner on the OracleAccelerate programme, says the initiativecreates new opportunities for it to deliverenterprise-level capabilit ies to mid-sizecompanies that are under-resourced andstrained by minimal budgets.

With Oracle Accelerate, we cancomplete implementations faster, cheaperand more effectively while offeringour customers industry-relevant functionalitythat maps to their unique business

processes. The preconfigured applicationbundles that are part of Oracle Acceleratealso mean that customers face minimalbusiness disruptions during the deploymentso that they can continue to focus on theircore business.

To participate in Accelerate, resellersmust demonstrate their ability to deliversolutions to customers in specificindustries and geographies, and providedocumented evidence and methodologythat their products and procedures offerease of use. Oracle is currently developingperformance metrics for solution providerpartners for the loyalty programme anddefining the appropriate benefits for eachlevel of achievement.

According to the database vendor, theloyalty programme is expected to launchsometime in Oracles next fiscal year, whichbegins on 1 June 2008.

The Accelerate programme alreadyprovides channel partners withmarketing campaign assistance, referralfees and inclusion in the Acceleratesection of the Oracle PartnerNetworkSolutions Catalogue.


ANALYSIS: ORACLESOLUTION PROVIDERS

With Oracle Accelerate, we believe the business opport unit ies are

infinite. Sri ram Papan i, Sat yam


21/44


22/44

ith unified communications maintaining itsposition as one of the major technologicalbreakthroughs of our time, it is only naturalthat videoconferencing is becoming a morecommon mode of communication.

At the same time, new technologies likehigh definition (HD) are broadening therange of information communicatedthrough video conferencing to create a

valuable communication tool.However, Dan Engel, regional sales

manager at Polycom, believes that choosingan appropriate HD vendor is vitally impor-tant to maintaining high levels of productquality and customer satisfaction.

According to him, the important criteri-on to look for with regard to HD solutionsis compatibility with other technologiesbeing used while retaining the highest

grades of resolution available. It is alsoimportant that the HD solutions to bedeployed are able to take advantage offuture improvements or standards.

His message to the channel is that it isnecessary to find a partner that is willing tospend time learning and understanding cus-tomer needs, and is able to provide reliable,high-quality products at affordable prices.

Engel comments that the past 12months have seen HD become a buzz anda lot of hardware vendors have taken fulladvantage of this, adding that even PDAshave better resolutions that common inter-mediate frame (CIF) screens.

He adds that the arrival of HD hasbrought about a jump in quality andconsumer expectations.

HD is nine times bigger than SIF(720p),and is especially suited to telemedicinewhere high-definition images are needed formore accurate diagnosis, comments Engel.

He notes that although full HD(1080p) is a relatively huge image, in ayears time a lot of corporate networksaround the world will provide the band-width and hardware for it.

Engel also says that for the EMEAmarket, bandwidth remains a majorissue because for effective videoconfer-encing using a 720p quality image, theminimum requirement is a 1MGsymmetric link.

Polycoms local distributor, CatheaCommunications Solut ions, suppliesvideoconferencing solutions rangingfrom entry-level 480p to full HD confer-encing units.

What distributors and resellers need to

bear in mind when dealing in this space isthat end-users are not just looking for end

points, they need a total solution.A disti or reseller needs to have ele-

ments (infrastructure and systems), that areall HD enabled to meet the needs of theend-user. This is the reason Polycom sup-plies end-points, screens, bridges as well asrecording systems.

This makes it an expert distributor in thewhole solution, rather than a certain ele-

ment of it, he explains.For the reseller wanting to get into this

space, Polycom has a certification pro-gramme as well as demo facilities throughits local distributor. At Polycom we stronglybelieve that the channel is a very importantlink between the vendor and the end-user,he notes.

In addition, Polycom has a local ware-house which takes care of the companyssupplies, swap outs and the stocking ofdemo equipment.

We will stick with CatheaCommunications Systems as the sole dis-tributor because currently the South Africanmarket is not big enough for a multiple dis-tribution model, Engel says.

He adds that what is important toPolycom is maintaining decent revenues forits channel partners and at the same timeensuring that they are able to give end-users quality service.

Engel says that besides selling solutionsthrough its partners, it also uses its ownsolutions for communications as well aspartner training. We use the webminorfacility for knowledge transfer and do ourtraining via the web for all our partnersacross the globe, he says.

He explains that in the past, the solutionwas only used to transfer product knowledge,but its success has led to Polycom now usingit for specialised training purposes as well asfor giving its partners product roadmaps.

Simply selling a company an HD codecis not enough, channel players need tostart offering full solutions for them to

enjoy the benefits of the technology,he concludes.


ANALYSIS: HDSOLUTION PROVIDERS

Dan Engel, Polycom

The HD opportunities for partnersB Y K AUNDA C HAMA

Its all in the right choice.

We use the webminor f acility for knowledge transfer and do

our training via the web for all our partners across the globe,

Dan Engel, Polycom

W


23/44

ANALYSIS: RED HATSOLUTION PROVIDERS

ast year open source (Linux) solution vendorRed Hat appointed a new channel directorfor the EMEA region and this year the com-pany has announced that it is restructuring

its channel programme.David Postel, Red Hats MEA channel

manager says in the interim, the companyhas overhauled its partner portal which hasnow been rebranded Partner Centre.

The Partner Centre is open to any compa-ny that wants to resell Red Hat open sourcesoftware and registration is free, he says.

After the initial registration the respectivecompany becomes what Red Hat terms aReady Partner. A Ready Partner is entitledto the vendors marketing, sales and tech-nical information, to make its sales process-es more streamlined and efficient.

In addition, the Ready Partner is alsogiven access to Red Hats Sales College, anonline initiative that was originally designedas the companys in-house sales tool, but isnow available to all its partners.

Companies can also decide to furthertheir specialisation as Linux resellers. Oncethey do this they are eligible to become RedHat Advanced Business Partners.

A Red Hat Advanced Business Partnerneeds to have at least two Red Hat-certifiedengineers and two Red Hat-certifiedsales executives.

Meanwhile, when the company acquiredJ-Boss, it also established an opportunity fora middleware channel. In most countriesJ-Boss is a licence-free solution.

To add to its renewed commitment tochannel business, Red Hat is hosting its firstpartner summit in Spain this year; this will betargeted at its distributors, resellers, systemintegrators as well as its training partners.

Due to the nature of the summit, all the

partners that attend will be issued withsales certification in Red Hat.

Asked why Red Hat has chosen toenhance its commitment to the indirectsales model, Postel explains: We recentlyrealised that the channel is a critical factor

in our strategy to get and stay ahead of thecompetition. There is only so much that oursales force can achieve, a good channelstrategy gives us much more scalability.

He adds that working with the channelgives Red Hat a bigger sales as well astechnical team.

In markets such as SA and the rest ofthe southern African region, the channel iseven more important because our companydoes not have an actual physical presenceand we rely on the likes of Obsidian,explains Postel.

He says that Red Hats new partner strat-egy has more benefits to offer channel part-ners and is essentially aimed at improvingexisting relationships as well as attractingnew ones.

Postel declines to get into specificsregarding improved earnings but revealsthat the company expects an improvementin revenue of 40 per cent year on year.

Our advantage at this time is that Linuxis becoming more mainstream and a lot ofgovernments, including the South Africanone, are also embracing the open sourceoperating system, he says.

An advantage for partners is also thatthey can become more service orientedbecause of the subscription model withwhich Linux is sold, they are able to makemoney from providing services and supportas opposed to only selling products.

The stability of the Linux operating sys-tem has also contributed to the success ofRed Hat because companies are able tooffer guaranteed service level agreements

as long as the end customer maintains anactive subscription, he explains.

Linux subscript ions are still renewableannually. They are sold on a single licenceper machine basis, depending on the ser-vices required and affected by virtualisation.

The $349 licence is limited to a serverwith two CPUs and enjoys basic support,while the $2 499 licence is for advancedplatforms with unlimited CPU allowanceand enjoys premium support and comeswith the vendors Cluster and Storagesoftware suites.

Although the company makes somesubstantial income from service andsupport, a large amount of it through partners,Red Hat says that it makes up to 80 percent of its income from subscriptions.

Our partners make some good marginson subscriptions but they will make moremoney from providing service and support,both through consulting and onsitesupport, he says.

Red Hat Linux is currently distributedthough the Linux Warehouse; the companysadvanced business partners are Aptronix,Globieform and Obsidian, with TSi Systemsas the J-Boss system integrator

and Obsidian, Sybase and Torque IT as itstraining partners.


Red Hat restructureschannel programmeB Y K AUNDA C HAMA

Vendor stresses partner importance.

L

David Postel, RedHat


24/44


25/44


26/44

he network is the most cost-effective plat-form companies can use to integrate com-plex interactions for increased value andgrowth. It is no longer just the plumbing ora bandwidth enabler. Instead, it is emergingas a secure platform for delivering the cus-tomised experiences that consumers expect,whether it is delivering new services as a car-rier, boosting productivity for businesses ofany size or consumers looking for real-time,personalised entertainment and services.

For organisations to realise the full bene-

fit of their networks, Raymond Janse vanRensburg, senior systems engineer manag-er, Cisco, says they need to move awayfrom the siloed approach of creating stand-alone applications which support individualfunctions. He adds that the modern busi-ness has to respond to a world where infor-mation just-in-time must change to infor-mation in real-time.

More important than speed is that theright information is delivered to the right per-son at the right time. This can only beachieved by building intelligence deep intothe corporate network infrastructure. Whilemany networks are primarily focused ontransporting data from A to B, an intelligentnetwork focuses on making that data sup-port critical business processes by intelligentlyidentifying the right applications, services anddata that need to be connected, he says.

At hom eHome networking is definitely gainingpopularity, this is according to PierreHoltzhausen, networking specialist,

Drive Control Corporation. He says this isdriven by the availability of multimedia overthe Web.

We are seeing an uptake in multimediadevices that feature network hard driveswith video and audio output. Consumerscan plug the drive into their sound/videosystem and watch movies that arestreamed from the Internet or stored ontheir hard drive.

This is encouraging the adoption ofsmall networks in home environments byusers who want to ensure that more thanone user is able to access content, sharephotos and have access to the Internet at atime, he says.

Security too is driving the uptake of thehome network. For example, IP camerascan be installed for security purposes. Theseare triggered by events and the imagesare stored on a hard drive, he adds.

Weve seen massive sales of ADSLrouters and with the current version ofWindows plus the prevalence of theInternet, most home users have become

B Y D UDU S HABA

NETWORKING FEATURESOLUTION PROVIDERS

T

Networking changes the way we live, play and do business.

Networkingincreases growth and value

Raymond Janse van Rensburg, Cisco

The modern business has to respond to a world where

information just-in-time must change to information in real-time.

Raymond Janse van Rensburg, Cisco.


27/44


aware of networking within their homes,says Neil Watson, MD, Digital Planet.

Whats hot?According to Holtzhausen, convergence hasturned out to be a buzz word in the net-working arena.

Convergence is the current and nextbig thing in networking. Adoption isincreasing in SA and is driving technologiesthat prioritise video or voice over data,minimising latency.

This is further compelling vendors ofhardware devices, such as routers andswitches, to incorporate additional intelli-gence such as Quality of Service (QoS) as

well as the introduction of bandwidth opti-misation and bandwidth control products,he says.

According to Watson, wireless network-ing remains the main growth area. Almostevery laptop has a wireless network cardand as people have become more connect-ed, the demand for wireless networking hasexploded. Almost every coffee shop seemsto have a wireless hotspot, he comments.

Andy Robb, chief technology officer,

Duxbury Networking, says in networking,there are two burning issues securityand virtualisation.

With the increasing amounts ofmalware in circulation today, the securityof the network and its ability to protectitself through sophisticated countermeasures is vital.

The three most important security consid-erations are unauthorised access to the net-work, interception of internal transmissionsby outside parties and compromised data

due to the interference of external agents,he explains.

Virtualisation is a significant steptowards reducing the amount of hardwareon the network and the management over-heads and costs required to support thedevices.

The benefits of virtualisation include flexi-bility in terms of network design and expan-sion, and an ability to further automate thenetworking environment, he says.

SM Es in t he spaceUwe Brandkamp, Networks Business Unitdirector at Comztek, says that SMEs shouldlook for networking devices that are cost-

effective, easy to install and configure, andthat will also provide only the functionalityneeded by them. In addition, he says thiswill ensure they do not to pay for unneces-sary functionality and still be able to addresstheir business needs.

Holtzhausen adds that they also need tounderstand the type of traffic and its move-ment to establish whether an upgrade togigabit is necessary.

A managed solution is necessary to

obtain this view, allowing businesses tomeasure their traffic and understand itsflow, he comments.

According to Robb, SoHo users are nowalso demanding SME-class infrastructures,while enterprise customers are looking forcarrier-class functionality without anincrease in price.

In the home, the major driver of changehas been the widespread adoption of PCslinked to entertainment systems.

In the enterprise the network is evolving

to accommodate and strengthen supportfor new and more sophisticated businessprocess rules.

These include on-demand integration ofmultiple applications as well as the aggre-gation of on-demand and internal servicesto deliver new capabilities and increasebusiness value.

Wireless LANOrganisations face many challenges whenchoosing a wireless LAN setup. LornaHardie, business uinit manager, ProCurveNetworking by HP says that many corpo-rates are reluctant to entrust their sensitiveinformation to WLANS, mainly because ofconcerns surrounding the security of theirdata protection, user authentication andunauthorised intrusions.

Added to this is the often contradictoryinformation about the rapidly developingWLAN market, which is flooded by productsand differing WLAN technologies, alongwith architecture such as fat and thin accesspoints. Another area of concern is navigat-ing the confusing marketplace of numerousvendors, many of whom are not supportedby trusted brands, offering warranties andfull back-up services, she remarks.

Convergence is the current and next big t hing in networking.

Adoption is increasing in SA and is driving technologies that priori-

t ise video or voice over data, minimising latency. Pierre

Holtzhausen, Drive Control Corporation.

> p36

Pierre Holtzhausen, DCC Corporation


28/44

outh Africas current (no pun intended!)electricity crisis is actually a powerfulbusiness opportunity because its forcingorganisations to look for ways to reducetheir electricity usage not just for the sakeof the economy but, in very practical terms,to minimise their dependence on anextremely erratic supply of electricity.

In other words, if you can help organisationsreduce their business risk by reducingtheir power requirements, then you cansignificantly increase your own revenuestreams. You would have an irresistiblevalue proposition.

And, you would have the additionalsatisfaction of knowing that simply bygrowing your own business yourecontributing directly to the overall health ofthe planet. That doesnt happen too often.

Where, though, are you going to f indthe kind of products that really do make anenvironmental difference considering thatIT equipment, consumer electronics, andtelephony consume power at the rate of atleast 250 TeraWatt hours (TWhr) per yearworldwide? Thats the equivalent of over

180 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) or35 million cars or US $20 billion per

year. About half is accounted for by ITequipment - PCs, displays, printers, servers,and networks.

In other words, youre working in anenergy intensive industry and, whilemost of the vendors are working onenvironmentally-friendly strategies, thereare not yet a lot of products around thatcan drop energy usage by more than a fewpercentage points.

3Com, the global networking vendor,has a new generation of switches that offera power saving of up to 78% over theirpredecessors while actually increasing anorganisations network functionality.

Thats a significant saving when youconsider that, today, just over 1% of thetotal consumption of commercial buildingelectricity results from the use of networkingequipment, says Tracy Lawler, 3Com SAdistribution and channel manager.

Thats because the trend towardsconverging previously separate data, voice,and security networks with computers,phones, and other applications runningover a single protocol and from a singleplatform places increasing demands on anetwork. Traffic becomes more complexand diverse, so network performance mustimprove. That creates a need for bettersecurity and network control and itbecomes increasingly critical for thenetwork to remain highly available and

resilient. All of which takes its toll onelectricity consumption.


S

3Com is commit ted t o individual designs with lower pow er

requirements as well as the eventual reduction of all power needed

to run 3Com Secure Converged Networks.

Sell the environment its profitable and the

right thing to do


29/44


As a network provider, weve taken veryseriously our responsibility for reducingpower consumption via the network andhave taken steps at all levels of the networkto make that happen.

For starters, 3Com focused on switches,which are the main driver for networkingpower. Since 2005, it has modified all itsmanaged stackable switching products reducing their power consumption by asmuch as 78%. This lessens the heat

generated by the system, and in turn, thecooling in wiring closets and data centersneeded to control the heat.

The savings created in this way directlyoffset electricity operating costs. As thecharts below indicate, a move to theseswitches in a typical network 100 Ethernetswitches (approximately 2,000 networkednodes) that are never turned off at night orput into sleep mode - would not onlyproduce a staggering 89.2W savings perswitch, but also enhance functionality andthroughput performance. The savings alonewould correspond to all of the following:

G 77,890 kWh the equivalent of lighting62 homes for a year

G 78% or US $5,530 per year on electricitycosts

G Reduction, by 56 tons, of CO2 enteringthe atmosphere

G Removal of 10 cars for a year fromroadways

G Planting 15 acres of trees.

3Com has also migrated its productdesigns to the latest 90nm (nanonmetre)silicon processor technology to provide themost advanced functionality withoutincreasing power usage. Innovations inreducing leakage current enable theseprocessors to support a 35% increase inspeed count er-balanced by a 60% reductionin active power needs.

A network is a continuum, Lawler says.So you have to make every single componentof it play a positive environmental role.

Which is why, for instance, wevedesigned more efficient power supplies. An

average computer wastes approximately30-40% of the electrical power it consumes.Much of this energy is simply converted intoheat, requiring larger fans to cool thesystem. 3Com switches use power supplieswith greater than 80% efficiency under fullload, and they also support DC connectionsto dedicated power racks.

Also, many of our systems are designedto detect when the fans need to run atlower speeds, eliminating the use of powerfor unnecessary cooling. Weve alsoengineered fanless products.

And, weve made a difference to Powerover Ethernet (PoE) functionality by allowingcustomers to set maximum power outputbased on what is connected to a port.We also provide intuitive management ofthe total power budget so that no poweris wasted.

In other words, 3Com is committed toindividual designs with lower powerrequirements as well as the eventual

reduction of all power needed to run 3ComSecure Converged Networks.

3Com spearheads some of the industrysefforts in this direction, including the newEnergy Efficient Ethernet standard. Inaddition, it is championing multi-vendoroperability as the best path for organisationsto access their networks full power efficiency,cost-effectiveness and flexibility. And, bytightly integrating applications and serviceswithin the network infrastructure, 3ComOSN enables unparalleled flexibility,visibility and control of network trafficand application performance as well as theoptimum use of network power.

Tracy Lawler, 3Com


30/44

Hardie, believes that most corporatesare not well informed about their WLANset-ups. WLANs have, for the most part,not operated in union with wired networks,and corporates have been left to their owndevices as they often purchase a WLAN anda wired LAN as two separate tracks, eventhough they can and should work intandem with each other.

With the continuing trend towardsmobile workforces, she says that anincreasing number of organisations arebeginning to rely on their WLANs eventhough they have wired LANs, and arestarting to be more particular about security,

ease of deployment, session persistence,quality of service and, most importantly,ease of management.

She says that one of the solutions tothese challenges would be a product thatoffers a comprehensive family of wirelessofferings, with solutions for both stand-alone and coordinated access points under

a framework that is designed to best meetnetwork infrastructure needs today and inthe future. Hardie says that these willpush intelligence to the edge of the net-work, where users connect.

Todays organisations need anapproach to network infrastructure thatcan significantly boost their ability to com-pete effectively in the face of rapid change.These networks need to be adaptive tousers, applications and organisations, forti-fying security, increasing productivity andreducing complexity across the organisa-tion, says Hardie.

Of the two technologies, WiFi and

WiMax, Robb says that WiMax has beenthe slower in terms of adoption.

WiFi is increasingly being adopted toimprove the interoperability of wireless net-works, particularly those based on the latest802.11n standard. For example, the latestADSL modems are WiFi based.

Common applications for WiFi include

Internet and VoIP phone access gaming,and network connectivity for consumerelectronics such as TV sets, DVD playersand digital cameras, he says.

WiFi is ubiquitous. Everyone and theirmom has some sort of WiFi device. WiMaxis still new, not well understood and notbig in the market yet, Watson comments.

Skills set neededRobb says that training is key to unlockingthe potential of solution providers and theirability to provide appropriate networkingsolutions. More significantly, certificationon specific products and components isnecessary for a complete understanding ofnew and emerging technologies, he says.

Rather than focusing on the skills toimplement networking solutions,

Holtzhausen believes that it is best for solu-tion providers to look toward a more con-

sultative approach whereby an analysis ofthe network is conducted.

The results must be reviewed and asolution/design based on this.Understanding the network is more of animperative than simply implementing aproduct, he says.

Market leadersAccording to Robb, Netgear, a companythat has focused on technologicallyadvanced, branded networking productssince 1996, is a market leader in the provi-sion of innovative networking solutions forsmall businesses and homes.

Its product portfolio consists of a widerange of networking products essential tothe development of a secure wireless homeor home office network.

According to Brandkamp the marketleaders would be the non-traditional net-work vendors that include companies suchas Linksys, D-Link, Netgear and Belkin.

In the digital home the equipmentneeds to be simple to install and configureto enable home users to do this by them-selves, he comments.

Looking aheadRobb says that the future of networkingwill be characterised by increasing sophisti-cation based on technologies such as virtu-alisation which will enhance efficiencies,drive down costs and support broad-basedsecurity initiatives.

He adds that virtualisation will alsofuel developments in multi-tenanting,which is defined as the support by softwareon-demand applications of large numbersof organisations all sharing the samesoftware infrastructure.

Future networks will also supportgreater use of shared services, reuse ofservices, improved security through thesegmentation of processes and data usedby these services as well as more powerfulmanagement and monitoring of services,he predicts.

All devices will be connected all thetime. Everything from your TV, to yournotebook, to your iPod will always haveaccess to Internet resources and everywhere

you roam there will be access via thesedevices, he concludes.


Todays organisations need an approach t o t heir netw ork

infrastructure that can significantly boost their ability t o compete

effectively in the face of rapid change. Lorna Hardie, ProCurve

Netw orking by HP.


>> p33

Lorna Hardie, ProCurve Networkingby HP


31/44


32/44

he local notebook segment is expected tooutpace the growth of the desktop marketin 2008 as users continue to be drawn to

mobility, as this technology enables them tobe more productive away from their desks.

Thats according to Graham Braum,commercial manager at Acer SA.

He says that improvements in batterylife as well as a proliferation of mobilenetworks, including cellular, wireless broad-band and Wi-Fi have made it easy for note-book end-users to be productive whereverthey are.

Consumers and professional users fromsmall and large businesses alike areattracted to the benefits of mobile accessto the Internet, email and corporateapplications from nearly anywhere in theworld, he says.

The notebook segment has performedwell against the backdrop of a relatively flatcomputer market in SA. Weve seen note-book unit shipments rise, thanks to aggressiveretail promotions and a fall in prices due toa stronger rand, he adds.

Nadia Hufkie, PSG product managerDesktop and iPAQs at HP, says thatconsumers are looking for stylishnotebooks that blend with their otherconsumer electronics.

There is a major emphasis on multimediafunctionality as consumers want to be able

to watch movies, listen to music and playgames on their mobile device, she says.

Neil Watson, MD, Digital Planet, areseller company, is also of the view thatthe impact of notebooks on modern livinghas been immense.

The level of connectivity through thecombination of Wi-fi and notebooks hasskyrocketed to the point where people canfinally work from anywhere. Whetheryoure in your hotel room in Mauritius or atthe airport in Frankfurt, you are alwaysconnected, he comments.

Notebook t rendsAccording to Watson, the entry-level note-books are flying out the door as peoplewho used to buy PCs are being priced intothe market with some really cost-effectiveofferings from the top brands.

Features such as face and fingerprintrecognition are being thrown into the mixto try to differentiate the notebooks. Designand brand will become even more importantand it will be vital to look after aesthetics asmuch as technical specifications.

PC sales on our retail sites have beendropping for years. In the next couple ofyears, we think PCs will become irrelevant

for us, comments Watson.While it is clear that thin, lightweight


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The demand for mobile comput ing will increase and play a vital

role during 2010 as the need for connectivity and staying in touch

with information and people will become even more important at

an event such as the FIFA World Cup. Nad ia Huf ki e, HP.

Notebooks balance peoples lives.Future is mobile

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solutions will dominate the broad con-sumer notebook market, Gary Naidoo,deputy MD at Sahara.says that serviceproviders and resellers will also not miss theopportunity to introduce a number of otherkey features that impact user experience.

Clearly, the increase in speed, develop-ment in terms of size, clarity and resolutionof monitors as well as increased capacity ofhard disk drives, are all contributing to theoverall functionality and use of the product.The notebook now appeals to mobile work-ers, gamers, students and others.

Factors like extended battery life, DVDwriters and rewriters, additional ports, 3G

and processing power are all taken intoconsideration, he says.

Naidoo adds that buying trends, espe-cially among first-time investors, is to go forhigher capacity specification notebooks thatfacilitate high-volume data storage and

multimedia applications.He goes on to say that more emphasis

will be placed on processor speeds, andthat major international technology vendorcompanies will maintain their efforts toestablish and further entrench the move tomulti-core computer processing.

There is likely to be more prominenceplaced on connectivity and influentialtechnologies such as VoIP, HSDPA, and asurge in practical aspects and convenienceof products in this space, such as portability,weight and design. The focus will be onwireless applications, access to wirelesstechnology and security, he comments.

According to Dirk Booysen, Toshibaproduct manager, Drive ControlCorporation, notebook manufacturerswill focus on providing high-definitiontechnology as part of their offering.

In addition, he says that the 3G phenome-non is driving notebook manufacturerstoaccommodate internal 3G SIM cards, making

it easier and more convenient to connect.This means there is no external plug in.

For example, Toshibas R500 11K Portegemodel will include this feature.

Furthermore, built-in microphones andwebcams are becoming increasingly popu-lar for VoIP. Improved viewing is alsoachieved with enhanced technology. Forexample, Toshibas notebooks now featureToshiba TruBrite, which delivers a crystal-clear display. This also gives consumersusing their notebooks for entertainment anenhanced DVD movie-viewing experience,he explains.

Braum says that next-generation opticaldisc formats such as HD DVD and Blu-Raywill become more common in notebooks,

offering a massive jump in optical discstorage space.

LCD screens with higher definitionformats will also start to appear in note-books. Graphics cards with 512MB ofdedicated GDDR3 VRAM will also becomemore readily available, he adds.

Whats newLenovo has introduced a trio of its IdeaPadnotebooks, the IdeaPad Y510,Y710and U110.

According to Rashid Wally, CountryGeneral Manager, Lenovo, SA, the Y510 isavailable now, with the Y710 and U110models following later in the year.

These notebooks, powered by IntelCentrino processor technology, combinecutting-edge and easy-to-use technologiessuch as facial recognition, Dolby HomeTheatre surround sound and dedicatedgaming cont rols, he says.

He goes on to explain that thesenotebooks have frameless screens,touch-sensitive control surfaces and otherunique textures.

Our ThinkPad notebooks are well-known around the world as the bestengineered computers for business, quality,reliability and thoughtful design. Werenow bringing Lenovos expertise in designand engineering to consumers with ourIdea-branded PCs. We are confident we willgrow our consumer business by blendinginnovative technologies like facialrecognition with stylish designs to enhancethe way people use technology in their

personal lives, says Wally.According to Wally, these new PCs will be


Buying t rends, especially among f irst-t ime investors, is to go for

higher capacity specification notebooks that facilitate high-volume

data storage and multimedia applications. Gary Naidoo, Sahara.


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offered in many countries, including SA, theUS, France, Russia, India, Australia, HongKong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand,China, the Philippines and Singapore.

MarginsAccording to Booysen, notebooks generallyattract very low profit margins. He believesthat bundling is the only means for distrib-utors and resellers to increase their margins.

For example, a notebook could be bun-dled with a camera or printer and consum-ables. This allows distributors and resellersalike to increase their margins. he remarks.

Watson concurs. Notebooks themselveshave very thin margins. The only way tomake good percentage margin is to bundle

them with other higher margin productssuch as cases and soft ware, he says.

Braums recommendation to resellers isthat try to enjoy better margins by sellinghigher-end products offering new technolo-

gies such as Blu-Ray/HD-DVD and by offer-ing solutions that bundle software and con-nectivity with hardware.

Int el and AMD pro cessorsWhile it is in the interest of notebook ven-dors to incorporate the latest processortechnology in their products. Booysen saysthat vendors are striving to work closelywith processor manufacturers to ensurethat end-users have the latest technologyavailable to them.

Processor manufacturers phase out cer-tain processor technologies which forcesnotebook vendors to look towards thenewer models and technologies.

However, consumers do get confusedwith new processor models. For example,emphasis is now being placed on energyefficiency which might compromise perfor-mance but extends the life of the note-books battery. This needs to be communi-cated by notebook sales people, he says.Market Gurus

On our sites, we believe that HP, Acer,

Toshiba and Lenovo are leading the way says Watson.

According to Braum, Acer is the secondlargest notebook vendor in SA and in theworld.

The notebook segment has performedwell against the backdrop of a relatively flatcomputer market in SA. Weve seen note-book unit shipments rise, thanks to aggres-sive retail promotions and a fall in pricesdue to a stronger rand, he says.

As per the preliminary IDC Q3 2007data, HP is number 1with 32.4 per centmarket share, Acer number 2 with 19.7per cent, Sahara number 3 with 10.6 percent and Dell number 4 with 9.3 per cent,he comments.

Antic ipat ionWhen looking at global trends, Hufkie saysthat mobility will continue to grow, sheadds that t he introduction of new wirelesstrends like WiMax, confirm her statement.

The demand for mobile computing willincrease and play a vital role during 2010as the need for connectivity and staying intouch with information and people willbecome even more important at an eventsuch as the FIFA World Cup, she says.

According to Naidoo, the anticipatedrelease of Microsofts SP1 during the firstquarter of 2008 is likely to push up note-book sales.

Consumers should also anticipategreater impact of aspects such as greencomputing, sleek and sophisticated design

and mult imedia solutions, he says.


Improvements in battery life as well as a proliferation of mobile

networks, including cellular, wireless broadband and Wi-Fi networks

have made it easy for notebook end-users to be productive

wherever they are. Graham Braum, Acer.


Graham Braum, Acer.


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s the system builder channel and gamingsector continue to champion the movetowards ever increasing memory andprocessor speeds, selecting componentsthat suit ones needs has become achallenge. Industry experts expect the

continued decline in memory and CPUprices to encourage consumers to adoptand use the latest memory chipsets.

This, coupled with Microsofts newoperating system Windows Vista, whichis a memory intense OS, has again high-lighted the opportunities that lie in thememory market.

The memory and processor market

continues to be aggressive in terms of pricingand the technology that is being developed.

Ultimately, the overall winner is theend-user as they benefit from the widerchoice of offerings that are relatively cheaper.

Whats hot?Kobus de Beer, category lead at Axiz, saysthat as developers continue trying to outdoeach other, the end-user will emerge theultimate winner gett ing the latest tech-nology offerings for less.

De Beer says the latest 45nm processorfrom Intel is one of the in things. Thedistance between their tran-resistors

End-users poised to gain from memory and processor advancements.Pushingit to the

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is now that much closer (45nm asopposed to 65nm), and they also havebetween 6MB on Core 2 Duo and 12MB onCore 2 Quad of level 2 cache up on the4MB and 8MB available previously, he says.

He says that another thing systembuilders and developers need to look outfor is Intels new dual-core Celeron. Itsideally priced for the entry- level market. Ianticipate its going to compete quiteaggressively with t he previous single-coreCelerons really boosting the market in thisregard, he says.

Colin Erasmus, Windows Client BusinessGroup Lead at Microsoft SA, concurs andsays certain applications for both thedesktop and the server, such as Virtual PCand Server 2008 HyperVisor, takeadvantage of enhanced processortechnology like dual- and quad-coreprocessor architecture. Erasmus says Inteland AMD now also include virtualisationtechnology in their chips, which addressesvirtualisation more efficiently on thedesktop. From a memory perspective,DDR2 667MHz 128x8 DRAM ICs are at areal low, giving customers the ability toensure their PC has really large DRAMcapacity at time of purchase, he says.This dramatically increases PC performanceto ensure the user has a free flowing,flawless experience with Microsoft Vista.

Main board manufacturers continue todrive GPU to Northbridge controllerwhich continues to lower the cost ofmain boards.

He says vendors like Intel alsonow dynamically addressing theshare memory between PC andthe onboard GPU, making morememory available to applica-tions when needed and thenbeing able to switch to more

memory available for GPUapplications when needed.

Early ado pt ersGamers are always the first adopters ofnew technology theyre the users whoget the new processors first, and pushthem to the maximum. Theyll continuedriving the processor market well into thefuture; something all end-users ultimatelybenefit from. Gamers and power users arethe real benchmark for processor vendorswhen it comes to gauging if their producthas satisfied performance demands.

De Beer says the past 12 months havebeen tough for resellers in the localchannel. This, he says, is mainly due to theprocessor changes seen during this time impacting directly on distributors as well.

When new platforms launch with higherfrontside bus speeds or different architec-tures, new chipset motherboards might berequired to run the processors, he says.This is frustrating, especially if systembuilders have standardised on a particularmotherboard.

De Beer explains that Axiz has tried itsbest to accommodate the rapid change inthe past 12 months to assist resellers toplan ahead. My advice to resellers is tokeep in close touch with distributors toensure they get accurate information torelay to t heir customers, he says.

Erasmus agrees and says SA presentssystem builders with great opportunitiesacross the board, starting with low-costPC opportunities, by making use oftechnologies such as Windows Vista StarterEdition and Office Prepaid. He adds that atthe top end of the market (development ofnew processor and memory technologies),Microsoft recently introduced Vista ServicePack 1 (SP1), that supports new types oftechnologies. SP1 helps application andgame developers to make more completeuse of the latest improvements in graphicshardware by adding support Direct3D 10.1,which extends the Direct3D API to supportnew hardware features another exampleof software developments to support someof the latest technology trends, he says.Technology such as Media C

computer reseller news sa feb 2008

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