Economy ArchiveManaging In A Hurricane
As the credit crisis continues, and governments and banks struggle to contain the damage, the channel, as always, finds its own ways to adjust. In this week's CRN, Robert DeMarzo looks at how vendors and distributors are trying to inject liquidity into the system: "The debt levels of the major distributors have fallen to new lows, which should enable them to fund VAR projects or help VARs through this crisis... While Robert Faletra looks at a key opportunity for solution providers to take to their customers: "Developing the expertise to audit a customer's energy consumption and make recommendations that cut costs--and sometimes not even require investment beyond your service fees--is a winning formula. In some cases, customers can significantly cut cooling costs in the data room by doing simple things.... In other cases, it's virtualization or other moves that require infrastructure spend. " And don't miss this week's cover story: The New Face Of Cybercrime. UPDATE: Craig Zarley talks to execs at Tech Data and Ingram Micro about financing: Distributors to VARs: Don't Worry About Credit Lines.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:40 AM, October 14, 2008 Taking In The Big Picture
The economy - down, up, down, down, down. You know. To make sense of these things, I turn to my college buddy Barry Ritholtz, whose The Big Picture blog was anticipating trouble in the financial markets more than an year ago. This morning, he posts a lengthy entry spelling out where we are: "In recent years, banks ran into three kinds of trouble: They made loans to people who failed to repay them; they did not keep adequate capital on reserve; they compounded their problems by borrowing money from each other to buy back all of those loans after they had been repackaged as fancy securities... On the plus side, oil's way down, and Ritholtz assures, "I would imagine we are closer to the bottom than to the top."
Two more interesting comparison charts: This bear market vs. the dot-com bust; and John McCain's daily Gallup tracking polls vs. the S&P 500.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:13 AM, October 10, 2008 A Word From Woz
In an industry full of adreneline-charged characters with outsized egos, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak stands out as a nice guy who's finished first. ChannelWeb recently spoke to "Woz" about the economy, green computing, great gadgets, and getting online around the world: "I travel a lot and I love to get data from my computer through my cell phone. But that's hard here. I was just in Eastern Europe. They've got 7 MB [per second] over 3G. People are buying their Internet for home and they're using cellular, not broadband."
Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:03 PM, October 9, 2008 Chaos Is Good (Except When It Isn't)
Keep your head in the game when others are panicking, and something good is bound to happen. Solution providers interviewed for VARBusiness's report, How To Sell IT In Tough Times say they're still seeing strong customer demand and looking to grow their businesses: "Some VARs say a sagging economic climate can actually spur IT sales, especially if you can prove a quick return on investment or increase operational efficiencies for customers." Don't miss 10 Ways To Survive And Thrive In A Downturn. So what could go wrong? One possible monkey wrench would be if customers were willing to buy, but unable to obtain the necessary credit. As banks fail and get swallowed up, It's a real concern: "Romi Randhawa, president and CEO of HPM Networks, a solution provider in Fremont, Calif., said he expects lending institutions to tighten up their lending practices in the wake of the financial debacle, especially to those VARs that sell a lot of hardware... Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:37 PM, September 29, 2008 Weathering The Financial Storm
Economic turmoils come and go. This one, though, may be here for awhile. Some perspectives: How did we get here? At Forbes, Barry Ritholtz puts the blame on Alan Greenspan and a culture of over de-regulation: "Too many people forgot that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Reasonable capital requirements? Who needs 'em! Leverage limitations? Forget it! Enforcement of lending standards? Not here in America! And all these misguided attempts at allowing the markets to police themselves have come home to roost. The clean-up for this is going to be expensive. We still have no idea how many trillions--yes, that's trillions with a "T"--this is going to cost." While Larry Kudlow credits Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for restoring some sanity: "Last March, acting in conjunction with Fed head Ben Bernanke, Paulson safeguarded the banking system and the whole global financial structure by backstopping a JPMorgan-Chase deal to acquire the ailing Bear Stearns with $29 billion of loan guarantees. The action succeeded in stabilizing markets, but it put U.S. taxpayers on the hook big-time. Closer to home, Dell sees global IT demand "softening", while HP plans a massive layoff. But at bMighty, Fred Paul is looking at the glass as slightly full: "Historically, smaller companies are the first to take advantage when the economy begins to recover, and that's likely to be the case again. But trying to time the recovery and jump in at the last minute is a fool's game. If you want to be there for the upswing, you have to weather the troubles." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:26 AM, September 16, 2008 Dell Buys Dell, Big Time
Give Michael Dell credit for putting his money where his mouth is: "Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc., bought about $100 million of the computer maker's stock last week, his second such buying spree in the past three months." Emphasis mine. He'd made a similar buy back in July. Dell shares dropped on August 29, following a weak earnings report, and Dell pounced. It's nice when you can do that. He may be optimistic on the prospects for the new Mini 9, or on Dell's cost-cutting plans, or their evolving channel strategy. But if I were Mark Hurd, I'd definitely be curious... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:44 AM, September 9, 2008 The Word From RetailVision
This week, at our RetailVision show in San Diego, retailers and vendors gathered with Everything Channel editors to assess the state of the end-user technology market. Among the highlights: RetailVision opened with a look at the dynamics of the consumer electronics marketplace. The Consumer Electronics Association's Tim Herbert told attendees that the retail market is more diverse than ever: "We see more manufacturers selling directly to the consumer and we see retailers with their own private label goods selling to the consumers." Vendors showed off an array of cool new products, while retailers we spoke to predicted a good final quarter to cap off a challenging year: "Retailers at RetailVision 2008 in San Diego are looking to the ever-powerful fourth quarter to break the economic slide. While some say they are approaching the fourth -- which is typically a retail boom because of holiday spending -- with "cautious optimism," others immediately draw a line in the sand, predicting one of the strongest fourth quarters in years." Finally, the event featured our first ever Fast Growth Retailer awards, with special honors going to Micro Center, our Retailer of the Year, and Nokia, our Retail Vendor Of the Year. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:32 AM, August 28, 2008 Everything Channel's 2008 IT Spending Survey
"As solution providers look to bring newer and more complex technologies, such as VoIP, to customers, they'll be encouraged to hear that the No. 1 factor that end users look for in a solution provider is exceptional technical support to help ensure that a new system or application runs correctly." Overall, smaller customers are most optimistic about IT spending over the next year, but all sizes of businesses anticipate ongoing IT investments. For a more detailed breakdown of the survey results, don't miss our IT Spending Survey slide show Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:23 PM, May 27, 2008 Mergers On Tap: HP Bids For EDS
Well, this is big news: "Hewlett-Packard late Monday confirmed reports that it is in talks to acquire systems integrator giant EDS in a bid to boost its fortunes in the global services arena. At 'The Pervasive Datacenter', Gordon Haff compares the move to HP's unsuccessful bid for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in 2000, and sees "the ghost of Carly": "Something that's really striking is just how closely HP has maintained the course that [former CEO Carly Fiorina] laid out... While at Nicholas Carr's blog, the author sees parallels with Oracle's software acquisitions: "Oracle has enjoyed considerable success by rolling up the software side of the the now-mature client-server model of corporate computing. With its $13.9 billion acquisition of outsourcing giant EDS, Hewlett-Packard is playing the same game on the services side." Carr also points to analyst Om Malik's blog, which claims the deal is "About The Clouds, Baby!": "Typically, such a major deal means two things: Either the buyer has some issues with his current business, or he wants to make a big bet on the future. In case of HP CEO Mark Hurd, it might be a bit of both. There is only so much market share HP can carve out when it comes to printers and computers. More importantly, HP seems to be realizing that the future is about on-demand infrastructure. EDS brings to the table about 100 data centers around the planet." Not to rain on the parade, but at All Things Digital, John Paczkowski forsees integration and cultural issues: "When the dust has settled around the merger, HP will be the second-largest provider of consulting and outsourcing services, behind IBM. But it will take some doing to get there. 'It’s a very significant combination,' said Ben Pring, a research vice president in the IT Practices Group at Gartner. '[But] people who are skeptical of big integrations will have a field day around this. It’s putting together two large businesses with two different heritages. It’s going to be a big culture clash.'" More to come... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:48 AM, May 13, 2008 The IT Primary
Word is, there's a presidential election coming up in November! And among the many issues on the next president's desk will be those regarding technology policy, including infrastructure security, high-tech visas, net neutrality, and more. We take a look at the campaign proposals of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama regarding high technology, then talks to a number of industry luminaries, including Cisco's John Chambers, Websense's Dave Roberts, Six Apart's Anil Dash, Sanford University's Lawrence Lessig, Fake Steve Jobs, and more, about what tech policy issues they see as most critical for the next president to address. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:48 AM, April 24, 2008 Four Things VARs Can Learn From GameStop
Having spent $65 at GameStop last weekend on Easter presents for my kids, I can vouch for the company's appeal. What I hadn't realized was just how big GameStop is: 4,000 locations, including the local shopping center near my home--not the place you'd expect to find high-margin technology. Ed Moltzen has been paying attention as well, and has four key takeaways from the company's earnings conference call that VARs should keep in mind, including: "Platform diversity counts. GameStop is making bets on multiple hardware platforms, and the combination is leading to a big payoff. Your customers may be more careful shoppers than some of GameStop's, but it never hurts to bring the latest solutions right to where they live. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:05 PM, March 28, 2008 A 'Golden Age' For VARs
Some bold predictions from Robert Faletra: "We just may be entering the beginning of the golden age for solution providers... We have passed beyond the age of speeds and feeds and are moving into the beginning stages of the customization period of the technology sales market." Takeaway? Get smart about marketing what it is you do best. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:51 AM, March 26, 2008 Fortune's 50 Years Of Market Swings
A terrific dynamic graphic at Fortune of the ups and downs of the stock market, through recessions and recoveries, and 11 presidents. Two quick takeaways: Hat Tip: The Big Picture Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:24 PM, February 22, 2008 Recession? Quit Worrying. Take Action
The signs of a tech slowdown are everywhere: VARs are 'bracing for a spending lull'; IT pros are worried about their prospects; even the stock market bulls are ducking for cover. But chaotic conditions can offer opportunity for the observant and adaptible--and nobody does that better than solution providers. Continue reading "Recession? Quit Worrying. Take Action" Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:52 PM, February 14, 2008 Yahoo: It's An Offer We Can Refuse
Yahoo says, "No thank you," Microsoft says, "We'll see about that." Some perspectives on the potential deal-of-the-year: Continue reading "Yahoo: It's An Offer We Can Refuse" Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:04 PM, February 12, 2008 Bush Budget Big On IT Security, E-Government, Electronic Health
At this point, we still don't know much more about the federal cyber security plans, but with this week's release of President Bush's proposed federal budget for fiscal 2009, many other details came into focus. Information Week has the highlights: "President Bush's $3.1 trillion federal budget proposed for fiscal 2009 includes $71.1 billion for government IT initiatives. Meanwhile, Washington Technology reports that some e-government cost-saving initiatives are already paying off: "The Office of Management and Budget also for the first time is providing Congress with cost savings of more than $508 million from the 25 e-government and nine Lines of Business initiatives for 2007." HealthCare IT News is covering the budget plans for electronic health records: "President Bush announced his fiscal year 2009 spending proposal today, calling for $66 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a $6 million increase over last year's request. The president's budget report said the increase in spending for ONC would be used to support the administration's policy to advance electronic health records by 2014 for all Americans." Not all IT proposals are eyeing increases, though. T.H.E. Journal, focused on primary and secondary-level education technologists, reports: "The Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT) was listed among the programs recommended for zero funding. EETT is part of Title II D of the No Child Left Behind Act, designed to support the deployment and integration of educational technology into classroom instruction." All numbers are subject to change as the process unfolds, of course. Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:00 PM, February 5, 2008 Some Perspectives On Microsoft/Yahoo
CRN: Microsoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo "While an acquisition of Yahoo would immediately strengthen Microsoft's competitive position against Google, the buyout attempt may not be without peril. Microsoft has often been a magnet for scrutiny by anti-trust regulators." Continue reading "Some Perspectives On Microsoft/Yahoo" Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:54 PM, February 1, 2008 Which Way For The Markets?
Over the weekend, this was the second-hand advice I recieved from a Wall Street insider: "Sell your stocks, buy gold, and bury it in your backyard." For today, at least, that won't be necessary, but we're likely in for some exciting times in the markets. Barry Ritholtz (who has anticipated today's 'whackage' for a while) is unhappy with the Fed; Larry Kudlow says "The Fed Got It Right". Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:43 AM, January 22, 2008 Recession? No Thanks, We've Already Got One...
At The Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz looks on Merrill Lynch's analysis that a recession may now be "inevitable", along with some Washington reaction. Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:38 AM, January 8, 2008 Google's Dark Cloud
Michael Malone (who wrote one our Top Channel Books of 2007), is dour on the outlook for the tech industry in 2008, predicting hard times for Apple, Sun, AMD and even HP. But he reserves his darkest cloud for Google: "I've followed Google closely almost since day one and right now, every alarm is going off in this reporter's brain. If you were to come up with the most dangerous possible mix of competitive, cultural and structural threats for Google to face, that's where I think the company is at right now." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:17 AM, January 4, 2008 Sell Your Business, Or Buy One...
ChannelWeb has launched a new partnership aimed at assisting you in your most strategic decision-making -- buying or selling an IT services company. The M&A Forum, one of ChannelWeb's earliest partners, has once again joined with us to help current and prospective business owners find and evaluate business opportunities. The Forum also hosts a series of events designed to bring buyers and seller of IT firms together. Take advantage of some of the channel's most experienced M&A experts in making your most critical moves. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:19 PM, January 3, 2008 More Top Tens
Looks forward and backward: Top 10 Best-Performing VARBusiness 500 Stocks Of 2007 Top 10 Worst-Performing VARBusiness 500 Stocks Of 2007
Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:59 PM, December 27, 2007 Outsourcing, American Style, Due For A Rebound
Last month we looked at one report that foreign outsourcing has peaked. Now, Craig Zarley looks at seven reasons American outsourcing may be due for a rebound, including: "Companies want ROI, not simply low price. There is no substitute for a local solution provider that understands your business and can design services that match your needs. That's one reason Waltham, Mass.-based NWN wrestled away a managed services deal at Welch's in nearby Concord from an Indian outsourcer. The toughest language to learn is the language of business. Face to face contact on a regular basis is the best way to pick up the lingo." It's worth noting that the falling dollar makes it more likely other countries will find the U.S. an appealing outsourcing destination. Funny how things come around... Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:43 PM, December 14, 2007 State of the Market 2008
Our sweeping State of the Market report is online now. We spoke with hundreds of small, mid-sized and large VAR company executives about their business and technology plans for the coming year. In our lead feature, Jeanette Boyne says VARs are right to be optimistic about 2008, as channel sales continue to outgrow direct technology sales, and because solution providers are well equipped to serve the fastest growing customer segment, the small and mid-sized business market: "Solution providers that saw a net gain of customers in 2007 were the rule rather than the exception: 53 percent increased their customer base while only 11 percent suffered a net loss of customers. The size of the overall channel customer base grew 10.4 percent in 2007." Other features look at how solution providers expect to grow; at how savvy VARs focus on profitability; and at how Software-as-a-Service is changing the game for software VARs. View the top-line data in our slide show and then dive into our complete results database. You'll also find a friendly User Guide to locate the most important survey findings for your needs. UPDATE: Robert DeMarzo sounds a warning note: "VARs have always been a great barometer of the U.S. IT economy and a leading indicator of a coming boom or bust. While we don't have comparative numbers on those three questions, the fact that four of every 10 VARs are concerned about a recession is alarming. It also shows that VARs are reading between the lines when it comes to vendor financial performance, grasping the fact that a weak U.S. dollar is contributing more to IT growth than many people realize." Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:22 PM, December 12, 2007 Readers Weigh In On CompUSA
In the wake of the news that Comp USA would be closing its stores and selling off its assets a number of readers have already offered their insights in the forum: "There are many options to replace this retailer, from the Best Buys of the world through the many hard working, highly knowledgeable local VARs." -- Ni Hao
Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:32 AM, December 10, 2007 Make The High Margin Deals
Robert Faletra says this is the time for solution providers to be hunting out 2008 opportunities: "This is exactly the time of year when getting to the right individual can mean finding real opportunities for growth. Those responsible for driving revenue inside the customer set are looking at next year's targets and wondering how they can get there. Hint: This generally isn't the IT department."
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:20 AM, November 26, 2007 VARs Eye Decent IT Spending In '08
Jennifer Bosavage reports that solution providers are 'cautiously optimistic' on IT spending in the coming year, and surveys of end user organizations tend to justify their attitude: "In Mather's view, [Trevor Mather, CEO of ThoughtWorks] there is a large backlog of IT projects that just now are getting pushed to the fore... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:47 AM, November 19, 2007 2008's Hot Technologies For VARs
Earlier this week, we discussed some of the initial findings of our 2008 State of the Market Report--specifically, that seventy percent of VARs expect sales to grow next year. Now, Robert DeMarzo takes a look at which technologies will fuel that growth: "A big percentage of VAR's sales come from products or services that were not part of their offering just two years ago. And if you want to get inside their heads today, VARs are studying the following technologies to help grow their businesses in the coming year: blade servers and storage on the hardware side; virtualization and Web services on the software side; and business continuity and voice networking on the infrastructure side." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:19 AM, November 9, 2007 VARs' Glasses Are 70% Full
Seven out of ten VARs expect their businesses to grow by 5% or more in the next year, according to our upcoming State of the Market report: "Twenty-seven percent of the VARs surveyed expect their business to grow by 15 percent or more in the next 12 months and an additional 43 percent forecast growth of between 5 percent and 14 percent." What could go wrong? Business pullbacks or a decline in the dollar were most often cited by the more than 700 VARs we spoke with. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:22 AM, November 6, 2007 Our New Financial Center
Today, we've launched our new ChannelWeb Financial Center, packed with economic data and tools. You'll find stock quotes, market summaries, and interest rate reports, along with currency and commodities quotes, financial calculators, and even a CEO Wealthmeter. Powered by our partners at Financial Content, you can even set up portfolios and track market performance over time. Links to stock quotes are already showing up in our articles, we'll soon feature a market update box on many of our pages, and we'll be rolling in more features throughout the fall. Check it out! Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:33 PM, November 2, 2007 Tipping The Scales On Net Neutrality
Veteran tech journalist Michael Malone had been apathetic on the Network Neutrality issue (I can appreciate that), but recently, he's had reason to make up his mind: "I decided to sit back and let events take their course — figuring that one side or the other would show their hand, make their move, tip the scales, and expose the dark side of their position. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:47 PM, October 26, 2007 Apple's Excellent Week
The rabbits just keep jumping out of Steve Job's hat: with hot products and strong earnings released yesterday, and a much-anticipated OS upgrade arriving later this week [Slide Show], even Microsoft is beefing up its Mac staff. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:43 AM, October 23, 2007 Watching The Customers: The InformationWeek 500
Our colleagues over at Information Week have published their annual InformationWeek 500, documenting the technology practices and trends of the top IT consumers in the world. With breakdowns of over 20 specific vertical industries, it's worth your time to see what your customers, and potential customers, are planning for the future. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:14 AM, September 27, 2007 As Boomer Bureaucrats Retire, VARs Wait In The Wings
BusinessWeek looks at Washington's Brain Drain: "The federal Office of Personnel Management expects 2009 will be the peak year for boomer retirements, when more than 61,000 workers will leave their jobs... Few expect the government to fill all the slots itself, however. And waiting in the wings are contractors like Accenture, BearingPoint, and Computer Sciences. They're angling to take over swaths of the bureaucracy and further accelerate the outsourcing of the government. "
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:35 AM, September 21, 2007 HP Faces Rising Costs, Hot Competition
Ed Moltzen takes apart HP's latest 10-Q filing and finds some real concerns over at the channel's hottest vendor: "In a brutally competitive market, it may be difficult for HP to see continued declines in R & D spending. And it may also be difficult for HP to continue showing profitability improvements from the ongoing restructuring enacted after Mark Hurd became CEO." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:27 AM, September 10, 2007 Blowing In The Subprime Wind
Craig Zarley pulls a classic out of the Bob Dylan songbook, to sum up his feelings about the "MBA wizards" responsible for the current Subprime Storm: "Lately I can't seem to keep the Bob Dylan song "Idiot Wind" out of my head. It's because the subprime mortgage debacle reminds me of how stupid brilliant people can be.... More cartoon perspective via The Big Picture. Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:09 PM, September 5, 2007 Gambling A Bad Bet In Second Life
Is this week's ban on gambling in Second Life a harbinger of doom for the virtual world, or a necessary step in it's growth? At InformationWeek, Mitch Wagner puts the move into perspective: "The gambling decision is the latest in a series of steps Linden Lab has taken to crack down on adult entertainment in Second Life, driven, at least in part, by the law in the nations in which it operates." He also talks to a casino owner burned by the decision, who claimed, "This will be the start of the end for Second Life." At the Virtually Blind blog, covering virtual world legal issues, intellectual property attorney Benjamin Duranske says the move was badly needed: "Now the grid is a more certain place. That’s good for business, good for citizens, and overall, good for the future of Second Life." At Forbes.com, David Ewalt sees the move as evidence that there's just not much to really do in Second Life, particularly for the companies that have made big investments there: "Now that all of Second Life's overly credulous, jump-on-the-bandwagon corporate sponsors are finally wising up to the virtual world's uselessness, they're running out of ways to make money." Though most of his commentors seem to disagree... Finally, it's probably just a coincidence, but this week also brings news of another organization planning their move to Second Life. The Jesuits, the Catholic religious order long known for bringing the Word to dangerous places, are on their way. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:42 AM, July 27, 2007 Can Google Survive Its Staff?
Google has assembled one of the most talented teams of engineers ever put together, given them the time and resources to pursue their ideas, taught them entrepreneurship, and made them wealthy. What happens next? Over at PBS.org, Robert Cringely has a fascinating post on how Google is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. "With hundreds -- and soon thousands -- of Google employees vested and solvent, we'll shortly see a dribble, then a river, then a flood of former Google employees with time, money, and experience, and some of them will have the drive to realize the dreams of those thousands of ideas that were rejected by their former company." Among the post's comments, readers raise a number of objections to Cringely's scenario, including intellectual property issues, and Google's ability to buy any successful companies that former employees launch. But whether it benefits them directly or not, Google is clearly incubating the next generation of technology start-ups. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:44 AM, May 29, 2007 Second Life: It's Nice To Visit...
No successful technology company would operate today without investing serious resources into its internet presence. Will that be soon be true of Second Life, the 'virtual world' featured in both CRN and VARBusiness coverage this week? Continue reading "Second Life: It's Nice To Visit..." Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:29 PM, May 2, 2007 Friday The 13th Linkfest
Unlucky: I'm stunned at the news I'll have to go on without my morning commute companion, Don Imus--for awhile, at least. Continue reading "Friday The 13th Linkfest" Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:49 PM, April 13, 2007 Around The World Linkfest
We bid a fond farewell to Q1, with links from Eastern Europe to Antarctica, for your weekend enjoyment. Heather Clancy asks if companies must simply give in and let their employees participate in the Web 2.0 world of collaborative content and social networking. Yes, they must: "Clearswift's agenda in presenting this research is to open the eyes of businesses to the potential security risks this access poses. Those risks are twofold: inappropriate disclosure of corporate information and exposure to worms, viruses and social-engineering scams. Heather also spoke to vendors and solution providers doing business in Eastern Europe to assess the state of trans-oceanic business: "For Level Platforms, the [XChange Eastern Europe] experience encouraged the company to hire a person solely dedicated to international channel and business development." At The Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz breaks down this weeks's (twice revised) GDP numbers to evaluate the strength of the economy. Sorry to be a downer, but he doesn't love it: "The overall trend of GDP, corporate profits, durable goods and CapEX spending is downward... I don't see how these issues get any better any time soon." Earlier this week, I discussed the cost of interruptions in the workplace. At 43Folders, the guru of "Getting Things Done," David Allen, talks about handling interruptions and how to turn them to your advantage. (Hat Tip: LifeHacker) Meanwhile, at Network Computing, wireless expert Peter Rysavy suggests disconnecting from time to time, to regain your peace of mind: "I've turned off automatic delivery of e-mail to my inbox. Now I find that I can concentrate on work I'm doing, such as writing columns in intense and highly productive sessions." Right here at ChannelWeb, our research report links from the past year got a bit scrambled when we rearranged the sites earlier this month. They're now unscattered now on our Research Reports page. How much of business success is pure happenstance? Well, a bunch. But you can act in ways that enhance your chances of getting lucky, according to the folks at Adaptive Path. Looking to get away from it all? Simon Coggins, who wrote the amazing 75 Degrees South blog during his first stint at a research base in Antartica, is at it again, blogging for the British Antarctic Survey group at the Halley VI station in Antarctica. Don't miss the webcam. And finally, I wasn't familiar with the Pa^2 Patois blog, but anyone who picks up on my cleverness is okay with me! Have a good weekend! Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:49 PM, March 30, 2007 Q1 Stock Moves For Tech Leaders
Ed Moltzen sizes up the stock performance of nine tech leaders in Q1. What jumped out at me was Ed's take on Sun: "Think IBM 10 years ago." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:48 AM, March 29, 2007 Seeing The Future In Channel Demographics
Robert Faletra's column from earlier this month is worth revisiting, as it lays out a number of significant channel trends we'll keep an eye on this year: vendor consolidation (of course); private equity assembling services businesess out of smaller solution providers; VAR owners heading for retirement and looking to cash out; and vendors embracing "partner enablement" and recruiting the next generation of partners: "Big doesn't always mean good. Just think of all the multibillion-dollar channel players we had in the 1990s that are all gone now... Informed solution providers, and smart vendors, stand the best chance of coming out on top. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:06 PM, March 28, 2007 VARBusiness 500 See Smooth Sailing
Every three months, VARBusiness surveys it's VARBusiness 500 companies, public and private, to evaluate how business is faring for the largest solution providers. Since it's such a good day to evaluate the state of the economy, it's fitting that Lawrence Walsh has that data right now: "According to the latest VARBusiness 500 Quarterly survey, the biggest solution providers in the channel overwhelmingly said their top-line revenue and profits were either in line or ahead of expectations. While their outlook for the first quarter of 2007 was more tempered, 47 percent forecast their revenues ahead of the last quarter of 2006 and 24 percent said they would be flat." Most interesting: nearly 84% of respondents anticipate more hiring in Q1. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:04 AM, February 28, 2007 The Stock Slide: By Time, By Region
Over at the Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz has a good overview of yesterday's worldwide stock sell-off: "Note that Japan opened down 700 points on 2.28.07. Did it take them 24 hours to figure out what happened in China, or might it have been intervening events?" Barry's been sceptical of the overall market for some time. But so far, futures in the US look up this morning. We'll see. Posted by Joe Caponi at 06:52 AM, February 28, 2007 Dell's NASDAQ Blues
Announcements that a company has received a 'delisting notice' from the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ are fairly common--and rarely amount to any serious trouble. Overdue paperwork gets filed, and life goes on. For Dell, though, the clock is ticking, and things look far from routine. Ed Moltzen reports: "Dell doesn't think it can make the deadline. In a press release last month, Dell wrote, "The company is working diligently to file the delinquent reports with the SEC as soon as possible, but does not expect that it will be able to do so by March 14." In which case it's the Security and Exchange Commission's call. But former Dell CEO Kevin Rollins will probably be okay. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:40 PM, February 21, 2007 Vista, Other IT Spending Stays Cool
We've already seen some evidence that the Vista upgrade boom remains far off. More comes in from Heather Clancy's report on the Cowen and Co. Technology Focus: "Spending intention scores decreased in 21 of its 23 project categories by early 2006, including some innovation hotspots like VoIP, PDAs and handhelds, and WLANs. Hardware categories were almost entirely responsible for the decline, while spending intentions for software was more stable." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:13 AM, February 7, 2007 Reaching Overseas For Customers and Solutions
CRN examines the ongoing expansion of solution provider business overseas: "In growing numbers, domestic solution providers are discovering that their technical and business acumen translates well into foreign markets and are rapidly moving to establish global footprints." But if you can't find customers overseas, you can still take advantage of money-saving opportunities. Steven Burke on outsourcing: "More and more solution providers are expanding their reach beyond this country's borders. The labor advantages that come with this decision are providing them with huge competitive advantages...VARs everywhere have to decide whether they want to eat or be eaten." And chilling as that thought is for an American tech professional, maybe the rising tide really is lifting all boats: IT Job Market Best In Five Years, Survey Finds. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:23 AM, December 12, 2006 Five Answers From Dell's (Delayed) Earnings
Last week, Ed Moltzen posed five questions he wanted answered in Dell's earnings report. Now we've got the report, and Ed examines the results: "Many investors are primarily focused on whether or not Dell has improved its product and profitability margins. But there are several other questions that Dell may or may not answer this week where the answers could have both long- and short-term implications for the company, if not its stock price." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:12 AM, November 22, 2006 Eye on Dell
Over on The Chart, Ed Moltzen has been keeping an eye on Dell, including it's plans for Vista and Linux support (or lack thereof), as well as some analyst upgrades on Dell stock. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:31 AM, November 2, 2006 Sun's Schwartz Sees 'Global Build-Out'
At an event this week in New York, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz was upbeat about the global economy and his company's prospects in the coming year. " Schwartz said Sun is poised to benefit from positive technology trends and recover from the dot.com bust. Sun recently passed Dell to rank third for server market share, according to Gartner. Sun was among the most injured IT companies during the bust, suffering a dramatic drop in shares from about $64 in 2000 to less than $5 last week." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:44 AM, September 14, 2006 HP's Board Scandal
No one comes off well, according to Robert Faletra, who says we've still got a long way to go in reforming corporate governance: "The practice of posing as someone else (otherwise known as pretexting) to obtain that individual's private phone records is flat-out morally wrong, if not illegal... [but] it seems to me that when you sign up for the lucrative monetary package that comes along with a seat on the board of the largest high-tech company in the world, it comes along with an obligation to be trusted." With HP chair Patricia Dunn stepping aside, and now board member George Keyworth resigning, it does make you wonder why, over and over, smart people go do the wrong things. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:14 PM, September 12, 2006 Big VARs Remain Upbeat
As a whole, the top solution providers in North America turned in solid second-quarter results and are happy with growth prospects going forward, according to the VARBusiness 500 quarterly survey: "Among the respondents, 30 percent said second-quarter server-platform sales were ahead of expectations; 34 percent said those sales were in line with expectations; 66 percent saw storage management either ahead of expectations or in line with them. As for the third quarter, 76 percent of VARBusiness 500 company respondents foresee that server-platform sales will be ahead of expectations or in line with them, and 75 percent foresee the same for storage management." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:15 AM, August 8, 2006 Economic Storm Clouds
CRN talks to economist A. Gary Shilling about upcoming consumer and business spending pullbacks and the risk for the technology industry: "I don't see any reason that American business is going to suddenly lose the kind of discipline that was really borne out of some tough times in the early part of this decade that gave them the zeal to be cautious. And if the economy is going to be back in the soup later this year or early next year, I would think there would be renewed enthusiasm to be parsimonious in technology spending." Shilling concludes by expressing his belief that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates to forestall inflation - that the Fed has learned that 'overtightening', even to the point of recession, is always better than 'undertightening." Over at the Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz has been saying this for a while. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:57 AM, July 27, 2006 Ready For A Recession?
Okay, it may not happen. But it might. With rising energy prices, interest rates and inflation, businesses are watching their dollars closely--and the channel will be affected. Are your best case/worst case plans in order? CRN looks at the possibilities in their cover story Are You Recession-Proof?: "The last recession, in 2001-02, was accompanied by a 20 percent—or $93 billion—plunge in business spending for computer equipment and software. At that time, many solution providers were caught flat-footed and struggled to adjust to the rapidly worsening sales climate. Others couldn't adapt and simply went out of business. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:17 AM, July 18, 2006 State Of The Market At Midyear
VARBusiness has just released the results of its State of the Market Midyear Report -- a survey of almost 400 solution providers to assess the state of business this year, compared to the expectations recorded last winter in the State of the Market 2006 report. Continue reading "State Of The Market At Midyear" Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:39 PM, July 11, 2006 Eyes On The Market
After taking a beating over the last week, stocks seem to be taking a breather today. Barry Ritholtz says we haven't seen the worst of it yet Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:14 AM, May 18, 2006 |
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