crn editors diary

Plugging leaks

2008-10-10T09:29:17Z

Yet again there is news of more top secret public sector information being lost.
However this time the culprit is believed to be service provider EDS, and the loss of a disc containing sensitive details of around 100,000 armed forces personnel. Investigations are still underway I hasten to add.
Now while a lot of finger pointing can go on when a government department has lost data internally - this should not be happening when the information is in the hands of a so-called professional services company.
Maybe one day the public sector will start to realise the value of opting for the smaller players in the channel, rather than the giant incumbents they pick time and time again, and which often let them down time and time again.

Busy times

2008-10-06T12:15:01Z

I've been off work for a few days - meant to be a holiday - but ended up being ill for most of it with this annoying flu-like illness. I now have an even deeper voice than normal which is quite off putting for people phoning me!
However last week was certainly not a quiet one from all accounts.
I watched with great interest the so called 'rescue-package' in the US last week finally being approved.
I'm not sure how it will go down - the FTSE 100 dropped six per cent today and the gloom still seems to be hanging around.
A lot of people were annoyed because it appears that those who made the mistakes in the first place have been bailed out, but something needed to be done to stop the markets plunging further into freefall and even more jobs being lost.
As I said before I just hope the banks have learnt a valuable lesson and never, ever make the same mistakes again. And also the next time someone is struggling to pay their mortgage or business overdraft - I hope they treat them with a little more sympathy.

Solutionisation

2008-09-26T09:57:51Z

A new word was bandied around at our event this week - which made people shudder and think in equal measure.

Sukh Rayat from Avnet mentioned Solutionisation as a new buzzword for the channel - rather than talking about commoditisation, everyone should think of solutionising a situation - and using it as an opportunity.

It sounds very American - but I could actually see what he was trying to do here and it does make sense if you actually think about it. However with solution becoming an increasingly tired word, I'm not sure it will be that popular - but hats off to him for daring to say it!

RLF

2008-09-26T09:45:08Z

I was supposed to write this yesterday - but was a little sidetracked!

The CRN RLF was a real success. But you are bound to say that I hear everyone cry.

To be perfectly honest none of us at CRN were sure how getting some of the top channel heads together in one room would work. They would either clam up and not want to give away any secrets - or they would open up and make the most of the networking opportunity. Luckily they did the latter.

To also get Mike Norris from Computacenter as our keynote speaker was a real coup and his speech certainly had everyone thinking.

Judging from the feedback, everyone enjoyed the day as well and have given us plenty to build on and improve for next year.

I would like to thank all our panellists and speakers for their support and time and also everyone who attended.

We hope to see you again next year.

Pay Day

2008-09-18T11:14:43Z

I have just read some research that has claimed it will be 187 years before women are paid more than men. This is a difficult subject to talk about without sounding extreme on either side. But I don't think it is fair that men are paid more than a woman doing the same job. Surely people should be paid on merit rather than whether they are male or female? And surely it is not a case of one being paid more than another - but being paid the same for doing the same job?

Time to panic?

2008-09-17T13:10:13Z

This week has been pretty momentous in terms of the economy. First we saw the collapse of the 150-year-old institute the Lehman Brothers, which sent share prices plunging into freefall and thousands of jobs axed. Now, today, there are reports that the Halifax parent company HBOS is now in emergency talks with Lloyds TSB to avoid being the next victim.
The problem that all this has stemmed from is greed - right from the bottom of the consumer chain, right to the top of the corporate ladder.
During the boom years when house prices were soaring, people were releasing equity in their houses left, right and centre to buy expensive holidays, extensions, cars and gadgets (which they did not really need). This was done without a single thought for the future and whether house prices would one day shrink again.
Similarly banks were letting home buyers borrow up to five/six/seven, even ten times their salary to get a foot on the housing ladder or to be able to move to a bigger house.
This again was done with no regard for the future or with a thought to the dreaded 'negative equity' scenario.
I blame the financial institutions for encouraging this type of borrowing, becasue they knew that they could only make money on all the interest charges.
However now these institutions themselves are failing, because people just cannot pay the money back and the housing market is still plunging ever downwards causing a deeper financial black hole.
But it is not only those who cannot afford to pay back what they owe that are in trouble. People who have been careful and tried to save are under threat as a result as well, with the future of their pensions, investment plans and savings in turmoil.
Where it will end I don't know, but I hope that lessons are learned from this and when the economy picks up again in 2010, 2011, 2012 or whenever the predictions are, this is never allowed to happen again.

Difficult decisions

2008-09-15T10:22:23Z

I am getting a lot of emails and phone calls from companies that are miffed about not making the shortlists for the CRN Channel Awards 2008.
This is my first year of actually being involved in the judging process and I can assure every reader out there that we do not assume the task lightly.
Every entry is treated with an open mind and the judges are not influenced by who made the shortlists last year or even who won the categories.
It is purely on the quality of entry. And this year the standard was higher than ever. This I know because most of the judges have been involved in the awards for several years and can provide an accurate comparison.
There are some noticeable names missing from the shortlists and some lesser known names actually on the list. This is down to the sheer hard work put into the entries and the obvious effort that has been made to impress the judges. Successful entries were bursting with company facts, figures, testimonials and case studies. They were easy to read and well laid out - it all makes a difference.
I'm very sorry to all those that did not make it this year. I hope, as some suggest this does not cause them to lose interest or faith in the awards, but will spur them onto making even more of an effort to win in 2009.
One thing is certain. No-one is guaranteed a place in the shortlists next year either.

Big Bang

2008-09-10T11:05:31Z

Well, we are all still here then.
The doom-mongers will have to revise their forcasts for the end of the world now, after the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN failed to send the Earth to oblivion.
However some German scientist has predicted today that we are all doomed in four years' time, as the after effects of the big bang start to impact.
I'm sure more of the same will follow. If we believed everything we heard, none of us would ever leave our beds.
Personally I don't understand why these people have to do this type of stuff - why can't they just accept that we are here and that is that?
Anyway, just in case that German scientist is right - we had better make the most of the next four years - pint anyone?

Judging

2008-09-08T12:23:44Z

I cannot believe that another year has rolled around already, but tomorrow is the Channel Awards' 2008 judging day. I spent over 14 hours reading through all the entries - a very interesting exercise indeed. I'm sure there will be plenty of discussion from the judging panel over who should be on the shortlists. Some categories are going to be very close indeed. It is always a difficult job being a judge because not everybody will agree with the decisions. But this year I think there will be a few surprises along the way.

Keep smiling

2008-09-05T13:44:00Z

Everything is miserable at the moment. People. The weather. The economy. The TV. Even my cats have a sour look on their faces. Autumn is usually my favourite time of the year, but it just seems to be getting wetter each year. It doesn't help when you are walking along a soggy street and realise that your shoes are not actually waterproof. I think I may have to invest in a pair of wellies to walk to work soon. All this is not helped by the current economic climate with interest rates punishing anyone who has dared to save money and also those trying to get on the housing ladder, the pound dropping in value and doom and gloom everywhere you go. Luckily the good old British sense of humour is alive and well. Take my train company for example. This morning a proud announcement came over the tannoid "Ladies and gentleman, we are now arriving at St Pancras International TWO MINUTES EARLY." Remembering all the hours I have already wasted on the trains this year I found this highly amusing. As did quite a few other cynical travellers around me.

Technology

2008-09-05T13:40:48Z

I am always amazed when things don't go according to plan and you realise how reliant you have become on technology for your daily working life. Take web sites for example. When you have 'technical issues' the knock on effect just the slightest problem can have is pretty scary. You may have noticed CRN's site has been playing up recently -so apologies for that and thanks for bearing with us.

Another HMRC victory

2008-09-03T12:28:58Z

I received an update today about yet another mobile phone/components trader that has won its money back from HM Revenue and Customs, after a long drawn out battle over the government's extended verification anti VAT fraud process. The trader in question, who sadly cannot be named for legal reasons, has won an initial £2.7m back from the government and possible further payyments could take the sum received by the trader to over £4m. These cases are certainly becoming more frequent - does this mean HMRC is finally admitting its blanket approach to fraud - by penalising everyone in a particular sector for the actions of a few - is not working? Time will tell.
I just wish these traders would talk to me - I would love to write a full story on their case.

Mini madness

2008-09-02T09:48:24Z

Fujitsu Siemens has become the latest vendor to unveil its mini-notebook with the Mini Ui 3520. The notebook has a hard disk capacity of 60Gb and a whopping 120Gb is due out later this year. There is a definite war in the mini-notebook space happening - I would love to get my hands on one of these devices to compare it with the Asus Minibook I saw earlier this year. The only problem I have found with the Asus device is the battery life is shocking - it lasts just two hours - and that is at a push. Whether I have a faulty battery I don't know - but it is pretty frustrating. However a joint release from Simms and Powertraveller could help my plight. They are launching the powergorrilla portable charger which will provide laptop users with two to six hours of extra power and over 20 hours on various other devices.
I think I might need to invest in a bigger bag to lug all this extra stuff around.

Wii-erd behaviour

2008-08-28T15:19:10Z

I am one of a huge generation of adults to be hooked on the Wii. However it was very embarrassing recently when I had opened my new Mario Kart game and was finding it very hard to steer, when a younger cousin of mine pointed out that I was holding the controller the wrong way. No wonder I was getting increasingly confused when the car would not even go in the direction I wanted it to. I have always prided myself on being 'down with the kids', now I can be classed as one of those idiots who hasn't got a clue about technology, but pretends they do. I don't think I will ever live it down.

Somebody IS out there (I know it)

2008-08-28T15:13:18Z

I'm hoping that all you lovely CRN readers can do me a little favour. I need to get more people reacting to my editor's blog otherwise I really feel that I am talking to myself - which as everybody knows is one of the first signs of insanity. All I need you to do if you read this column at all is email me to let me know. Er, hello? can you hear me?