IT Reseller May'11

IT RESELLER

The magazine for resellers, distributors, system integrators and OEMs MAY 2011

Cloud computing special report

ADC: Delivering the complete package Print: The power of mobile printing in the warehouse and beyond Document management: Finding and storing documents with one click of a button MAY 2011

Network technology: Manageability and efficiency For the latest news and to subscribe to the IT Reseller weekly newsletter visit

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

Clear view of the Cloud his edition of IT Reseller features a tenpage special feature on Cloud computing.

The Cloud is certainly one of the current most hotly discussed technology topics; with champions and sceptics blogging, tweeting and emailing with near religious fervour. But pros and cons aside, the big question is: will it really be largely embraced by manufacturers, logistics professionals, retailers, local and central government, the health sector etc. – thus securing a host of resultant long-term business opportunities for the channel? Well, if recent research

by Pearlfinders is anything to go by the answer is certainly in the affirmative camp.

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According to Pearlfinders, Q1 2011 saw a massive leap in the popularity of Cloud computing.

Of 212 executives interviewed

by Pearlfinders in 2011 with a requirement for external support, 42.0 per cent expressed an interest in Cloud solutions. This has increased from 12.2 per cent in Q4 2010.

According to Pearlfinders, the Industry/Manufacturing sector had the greatest number of Cloud computing opportunities in Q1 (17.2 per cent of projects). Here, executives are beginning to consider the potential for Cloud-hosted ERP and business intelligence (BI) applications. The second most popular industry was the Public Sector, followed by Professional/Business Services.

expenditure, improved financial control and rapid deployment. But with regard to companies with financial directors and chief financial officers that are still reticent to take the plunge into the Cloud, Real Asset Management comments that it is perhaps understandable that many FDs or CFOs may be more reticent to rush headlong into the Cloud with a businesscritical application such as the core financial software. However, the company points out that there are other aspects of the financial portfolio that provide a strong opportunity for testing the viability of the hosted model.

Karen Conneely, group commercial manager at Real Asset Management, has commented that those companies that opt for a hosted Fixed Asset Register can rapidly discover the benefits of the Cloud and prove the long-term viability of the hosted model for the entire software portfolio. Although some reservations remain, an ever increasing level of acceptance and confidence in all things Cloud-related seems to suggest that the momentum is hardly about to run out of steam now.

So, many companies would now appear to recognise benefits such as lower capital

Ed Holden Editor »

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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Editor: Ed Holden Contributors:

MAY 2011 —

CONTENTS

Colin Booth, ScanSource Europe Bob Rossman, Agentrics Mark Beauchamp, Citizen Systems Europe

6 Special Cloud Computing Report

Naveen Louis, Diskeeper Corporation Europe 16 Automatic Data Capture/Point of Sale

Publisher: David Lee Art Direction: Ian Curtis - First Sight Graphics Production: Carolyn Pither Circulation: Sarah Schofield IT Manager: Peter West Accounts: Katherine Saward Published by: Interactive Business Communications Ltd, Latimer House, 189 High Street, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 5DA, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1707 664200 Fax: +44 (0) 1707 664800 Email (publishing): info@ibcpub.com Email (editorial): editor@ibcpub.com Printed by: The Magazine Printing Company No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. No liability is accepted for any action arising from the contents of this publication; readers are advised to check any manufacturer’s or supplier’s claims for products. The publisher does not endorse opinions expressed in any article by an outside contributor. While every care is taken over photographs and illustrations, which are returned when requested,no liability can be assumes by the publisher for the loss of such material ISSN: 1369 - 88 4

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

Unitech’s HT660e for greater mobility and productivity ScanSource: Delivering the complete package Durabook launches the U12C rugged convertible notebook Varlink expands capacity and resources further DOTel launches DOTH-300 lightweight and rugged mobile computer Overcoming the complexities of supply chain collaboration with Agentrics Ingram Micro EMEA Telecom Division adds BlackBerry Mobile Voice System to BlackBerry offering Honeywell broadens mobile computing portfolio with Microsoft Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 operating system Nine out of ten businesses look to mobility to drive productivity and cost savings Avnet Technology Solutions: Leveraging the power of the web Hampshire Police deploys 170 Panasonic Toughbooks in patrol and specialist vehicles Blackroc Distribution and Impinj Workshop focuses on RFID opportunities for the channel Psion remains pick of the crop for UK fruit farm

38 Printing & Labelling Citizen Systems Europe: Counting the environmental costs of e-waste Datamax O’Neil: The power of mobile printing in the warehouse and beyond Zebra Technologies establishes new EMEA channel marketing team to support global ISV initiative Channel push continues for Sato

44 Document Management – Data Storage

Konica Minolta's Bizhub Press C8000 receives highest product rating from BERTL Abbyy releases FlexiCapture 10 software system for enterprise data and document capture Diskeeper Corporation Europe: Have you been told ‘you don’t need to defragment’?

Version One toasts Green IT Awards success for second year running DocuWare Smart Connect – finding and storing documents with one click of a button 48 Networking – Security – UPS – Storage Eaton 5PX UPS provides manageability, efficiency and energy metering capabilities Riello UPS brand will consolidate entire Riello Elettronica UPS portfolio

Docu Documents D uments ts on Demand Demand De d +44 (0)1932 (0)193 32 268434 2684 434 www.DocuWare.com www.DocuW w.D Waare.co om

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Cloud computing

White paper

Making money from the Cloud – an ICT reseller’s guide Organisations are increasingly becoming aware of technical, commercial and economic benefits of hosting their data and applications in the Cloud. But how do ICT resellers take advantage of this emerging demand? The following article, based on a Risc Group white paper, discusses the commercial benefits of traditional ICT resellers offering Cloud services.

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ccording to recent research carried out by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), Cloud computing could represent a total market value of €763 billion to the five leading European nations. This trend is, in part, driven by a commercial need to reserve capital expenditure traditionally associated with IT infrastructure and application investment; as operational experience is a current preferred route to buying required software and infrastructure.

Additionally, organisations are increasingly becoming aware of the operational benefits that Cloud computing can offer; such as increased security, availability and access.

Increasing growth and value Cloud services offer a unique opportunity for traditional ICT resellers to enter highgrowth, high-margin business. Business benefits include low sales barriers, recurring revenues and low churn customers. Traditional ICT resellers are already experiencing the significant benefits of adding Cloud services to their

“

current portfolio. These benefits include: • • • •

Recurring revenue based on secure and sometimes lengthy contracts.

Increased customer loyalty by offering business-critical infrastructure services.

Easy to deploy through instant provisioning tools.

Increase in customer size and sectors by offering enhanced security and remote worker access.

This white paper has been written for ICT reseller owners to discuss the benefits of offering Cloud services as an extension to traditional IT, data and voice services.

There has been considerable research into the emergence of Cloud services conducted by leading industry analysts; including Gartner, Forrester and Aberdeen Group. Many of the topics discussed in this paper are based on the research that can be found by these commentators. Cloud services are commonly divided into two key categories: Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Gartner predicts that 80 per cent of the

Evidence suggests that the demand for Cloud services will increase throughout 2011-2012 in the UK marketplace. All sectors and organisations look set to take advantage of the commercial and operational benefits that Cloud services have to offer.”

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Gartner predicts a 26 per cent growth in SaaS demand by 2012 compared with much smaller growth in the software licensing industry as a whole.

Fortune 1000 enterprises will pay for SaaS by 2012, while 30 per cent of them will pay for PaaS. The predicted growth of Cloud services is allowing traditional IT, data and voice resellers to offer increased services to their customer base through partnerships with Cloud services providers such as Risc Group.

Overview of Cloud services Platform as a Service: Sometimes called Infrastructure is a Service, Platform as a Service provides organisations with the ability to outsource traditional server hardware into secure and environmentally controlled data centres. The benefits of utilising Platform as a Service include 100

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White paper

per cent scalability, access & security guarantees and availability guarantees.

Additionally, by outsourcing an infrastructure, organisations enjoy the ability to remotely monitor usage and set up significant disaster recovery plans that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.

Software as a Service: In addition to outsourcing their infrastructures, many organisations are seeking to outsource the availability and management of their software applications, known as Software as a Service, or SaaS. The benefits of utilising SaaS include: pay-as-you-use licensing, real-time version upgrades and remote support from application VARs. Additionally, outsourcing software licensing enables organisations to scale licensing in line with user numbers and avoid the upfront capital costs of buying individual licences as most SaaS providers charge a monthly fee, typically based on a contract term.

Greater security: By outsourcing and IT infrastructure and related software applications to an ISO-accredited data centre, smaller organisations enjoy significant benefits of increased security and availability. Many providers offer Service Level Agreements that guarantee availability and security. For many smaller organisations this level of security would be cost-prohibitive if deployed and managed on premise.

Remote worker access: Many organisations choose to outsource their IT infrastructure and related software applications based on the demands of a remote or out-of-office workforce who still require access to the organisation’s infrastructure and applications.

Cloud computing

payments. These regular payments help ICT resellers with cash flow and can give a more predictable forecast of business income for up to 12 months ahead.

Reduced cost of sale: Sales teams offering Cloud services typically enjoy a reduced sales cycle compared with offering traditional infrastructure and software services. Cloud services have significantly less barriers to sales closure due to the following points: Fewer barriers to closing a sale: Cloud services are typically offered on a permonth-per-user basis. This reduces any large upfront investment that sometimes stalls traditional IT services from closing.

No set-up costs: Cloud services can typically be automatically provisioned.

Why do organisations want Cloud services?

Quality of service: Many PaaS providers can offer service levels that internal IT resources would struggle to compete with.

Many data centre environments have dual power and backup assurances to enable their customers to enjoy 24/7/365 availability.

‘Cloud service’ or ‘Cloud computing’ offers significant benefits to organisations. These benefits include:

What are the business benefits of offering Cloud services as an ICT reseller?

Increased business value: Many ICT resellers experience increased business value by offering Cloud services. The reasons for this can include:

Economies of scale: The ability to grow and manage IT infrastructure and related software applications without the upfront capital expenditure normally associated with running an IT environment.

Recurring revenue: By offering Cloud services ICT resellers can enjoy regular monthly income from a contracted customer, typically based on 12 monthly

Longer contract terms: Cloud services typically represent business-critical applications and environments; therefore it is not unusual for customers to extend contract periods beyond 12 months if they experience good levels of service.

Cloud services offer a unique opportunity for traditional ICT resellers to enter high-growth, high-margin business.

OPex not CAPex: Cloud services are typically charged as an operational cost rather than a capital expense, making it easier for prospective customers to build a business case for its deployment.

Increased demand for business services: Many ICT resellers experience additional income by offering associated professional support services such as training and configuration.

Increased status: By offering Cloud services many ICT resellers experience an increase in perception by their customer base. Many ICT reseller customers speak of a deeper trust being forged by outsourcing traditional IT services to a third party.

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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Cloud computing

What can an ICT reseller expect to earn by offering Cloud services?

Many ICT resellers enjoy significant margins compared to offering traditional vendor-based IT, data, hardware and voice services. To give an example Risc Group has taken an average sale opportunity based on 40 users to illustrate the profits that can be achieved:

Cloud back-up services?

Number of users: 40.

Monthly profit: £860.

Typical contract value: £10,340.

Cloud exchange services?

Number of mailboxes: 40.

Monthly profit: £180.

Typical contract value: £2160.

Cloud security services?

Number refuses: 40.

Monthly profit: £180.

Typical contract value: £2160.

Increasing demand Evidence suggests that the demand for Cloud services will increase throughout

White paper

2011-2012 in the UK marketplace. All sectors and organisations look set to take advantage of the commercial and operational benefits that Cloud services have to offer. Early Cloud services providers look set to benefit most from emerging market as customer loyalty appears to be a key benefit of Cloud services; making the chance of obtaining commitment from new customers already inside a contract hard. There are significant commercial benefits for ICT resellers with an existing customer base to ‘cross-sell’ Cloud services with minimal marketing and sales investment.

Remaining barriers?

In terms of remaining concerns related to the Cloud model, Risc Group still sees some barriers from VAR customers. “These barriers typically relate to concerns around security, access and data compliance,” explained Andrew Gibbens, sales director at Risc Group. “Many of these concerns relate to regulated industries, such as financial service and organisations managing public and financial data. It is our belief that for the vast majority of customers, the public Cloud offers greater

security, access, control and scale compared to on premise solutions.

However we would always recommend dedicated environments (or private Cloud hosting) where an organisation needs to offer guarantees to their data owners. But this approach can be significantly higher than the economies of scale that the public Cloud can bring. We would always recommend that VARs ask where data is stored and undertake their own due diligence on a data centre’s ISO and security accreditation.

Will the Cloud will become an increasing threat to the onpremise model?

Gartner predicts a 26 per cent growth in SaaS demand by 2012 compared with much smaller growth in the software licensing industry as a whole. But it is not just software licensing that’s driving Cloud demand, believes Gibbens. “At Risc Group our VAR network mainly serves SMB audiences and we’re seeing an increasing demand as the need to upgrade or replace internal storage and application servers takes hold,” he said. “The benefits for an SMB to offer an accredited and fully supported IT infrastructure that is 100 per cent scalable is starting to be understood by business owners. Additionally, the economy is driving the need for many organisations to reserve capital. So the idea of IT as an operational cost has great appeal for CFOs who seem to be driving IT decisions more and more these days. This said, we still see a need for a hybrid environment within some organisations where the return of investment for a dedicated hosting environment cannot be justified as significant internal infrastructure investment has already been made.”

Gibbens concluded: “Cloud computing represents a cultural shift in the VAR network, and whilst many of our partners still see significant growth from providing traditional on premise services, demand is growing as the benefits are acknowledged at a business level.”

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Interview

Cloud computing

Building the best IT Reseller spoke with Aad Dekkers, chief marketing officer at MTI, about Cloud computing, the benefits of the hybrid model and how reputable Cloud infrastructure consultancies and integrators can help ensure end users enjoy the very best total solution.

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s the Cloud computing debate rolls on, MTI’s Aad Dekkers is keen to turn the spotlight on the hybrid model, where an organisation combines the resources of both its private and public Cloud infrastructures. Using this model, a company needs to decide where it stores certain types of data and where it processes this data – either in the public or private Cloud. Some commentators also bring up the issue of security as being a key driver in determining where data is stored. However, Dekkers doesn’t consider this to be a core concern. “It's more of a trust issue in terms of whether data should be kept in-house or stored externally,” he said. “It’s just a matter of confidence and a matter of getting over certain perceived drawbacks. You could say it’s a bit like keeping your money in a certain bank – you need to be able to trust that bank and know it’s safe.”

Dekkers added that end users’ desire to secure the best possible solution from their Cloud/on-premise mix opens up an opportunity for Cloud infrastructure consultancy and integrator companies such as MTI to help users to build what could be referred to as a virtual private Cloud. “Many users have been using virtual private networks for quite some time, and essentially the virtual private Cloud is an addition to this where users have on-site and off-site resources controlled by themselves,” he said. “This is what service providers need to work with to make sure that it’s clear who is responsible for what, and who does what. In many cases it is good to have companies like MTI sitting in

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Aad Dekkers: “Many users have been using virtual private networks for quite some time, and essentially the virtual private Cloud is an addition to this where users have on-site and off-site resources controlled by themselves.”

the middle in order to ensure everything runs smoothly; so this is where we position ourselves.”

Application services Historically, systems integrators and consultants have relied on on-premise implementations and customisation of applications. However, Dekkers considers that if these organisations remain purely focused on supplying and distributing products they will be on a hiding to nothing. “Users are increasingly considering what they should keep inside the organisation and what should be stored in the Cloud,” he said. However, Dekkers adds that many established companies will have legacy systems that, in many cases, have been in use for many years. He maintains that a growing number of these companies want to determine which of their applications can be efficiently replaced by applications services. “We’ll probably see the Cloud increasingly having an influence within the organisation, where the internal IT team will become the service provider inside the organisation, complemented with resources that are more cost-effective and flexible than the ones that are being used inside the organisation,” he remarked.

Progressive journey So Dekkers believes we are seeing a progressive journey to the Cloud, and

moreover a journey to the hybrid Cloud where end-users, service providers and systems integrators will increasingly need to work together. “Companies like MTI can be the partner that brings the best parties together,” he said. “There are a number of important perspectives to consider – including security, unified communications, hosting, application service provisioning and Cloud infrastructure building.

Therefore, companies should seek the assistance of an organisation that can be the broker in bringing all these elements together in order to produce an effective total solution for the end customer.”

MTI AT A GLANCE MTI Europe is a specialist Cloud infrastructure consultancy and integrator. MTI Europe has a background of more than 20 years’ experience as a technology innovator, providing customers with strategic consultancy, technical expertise and a single point of contact that can eliminate complexities while delivering operational efficiencies. MTI is also a qualified member of the Vblock partner ecosystem for VCE, the Virtual Computing Environment Company. MTI Europe utilises its three inter-connected solution centres in France, Germany and the UK to demonstrate complete proof-of-concept for its Vblock customer Cloud solutions.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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Cloud computing

Research

The IT channel is convinced of the Cloud opportunity Cloud services are seen to be important – and increasingly so – to the majority of the UK IT channel today, according to the latest research conducted by the Cloud Industry Forum…

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he research, conducted in January and February this year, found that 73 per cent believed end users were now ready to embrace Cloud services even though they were fairly evenly split on whether the current market messaging was over-hyped. In a further statement of confidence, 83 per cent of the participants rated Cloud services as either equal to or better than on-premise solution (46 per cent specifically cited ‘better than’ on premise).

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… the findings of this research indicate that the IT channel is in fact evolving and embracing the Cloud opportunity as a key part of its value proposition, intending to bring real value to its customer base in turn.”

– Andy Burton, the Cloud Industry Forum.

Some 63 per cent are already active in the sale and/or support of Cloud services (comprising a mix of SaaS, IaaS and PaaS solutions). On average 18 per cent of 2010 revenues for the IT channel were purported to have been generated from Cloud-based services, and this figure is expected to increase to an average projected figure of 32.87 per cent by 2014.

Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum, stated: “There has been a noticeable increase in speculation over the future of the IT channel as a direct result of end user adoption of Cloud computing in recent months. However, the findings of this research indicate that the IT channel is in fact evolving and embracing the Cloud opportunity as a key part of its value proposition, intending to bring real value to its customer base in turn.”

Three quarters (76 per cent) of IT channel partners selling Cloud services also provide proactive

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advice and guidance on how to implement them within their wider IT capabilities and 48 per cent of them prefer to sell Cloud services over on-premise and a further 40 per cent had no preference between the two models.

However, amid all the positive feedback from the research, inconsistencies arose between the priorities of what end users were seeking in terms of Cloud services and the maturity of what is being offered through the channel. In addition, there was a tendency in IT channel organisations who are not participating in Cloud services today to over-emphasise perceived issues that prevent adoption (such as is the cloud secure, or, does the Cloud minimise the customer’s ability to maintain control) compared to the actual feedback received from end users who saw these as questions to be answered and not fundamental barriers. Other Key findings include: • Of those offering Cloud services 14 per cent purely resell third-party branded services, while 22 per cent solely deliver their own solution/s. The majority (64 per cent) offer end users a mix of both models.

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Research

Cloud computing

premise sale. The answer could lie (in the shorter term) in the development of white label self-service from the channel for Cloud solutions, with more complex applications such as business intelligence, remaining on premise.”

Ian McEwan, VP EMEA, FrontRange stated: "The research highlights how a three-way relationship between customers, channel partners and vendors needs to evolve. I understand the IT channel's desire to get involved in Cloud solutions, and there is a strong market opportunity for them, but it also requires a change in mindset to accommodate the different type of solution and the customer expectations."

Companies in the IT channel are realising there is a place for them in the value chain of providing Cloud solutions.

•

•

•

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Of those offering Cloud services, 39 per cent operate their own data centre, 33 per cent manage their own infrastructure but using a co-location data centre partner, 11 per cent OEM a service from a third-party white label provider and 17 per cent resell services on behalf of other providers.

For those organisations not yet offering Cloud services, 51 per cent intend to but are not ready, 19 per cent do not believe they have the skills to sell or manage cloud services and 30 per cent do not ever intend to offer them as they do not believe the market is tangible yet.

Some 14 per cent of those companies not offering Cloud services believe them to be a threat to their business whereas the majority (86 per cent) do not.

Where partners see Cloud as a competitive threat, 36 per cent believe Cloud competes with their primary offering, 27 per cent believe the Cloud diminishes their relationship with their customers and 18 per cent do not believe there is a viable business model.

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Alex Hilton, sales director at Rise, stated: “There is an apparent disconnect between the end user and the IT channel providing

Ian Moyse, EMEA channel director of Webroot, added: “What stands out clearly from this research is that the IT channel is realising there is a place for them in the value chain of providing Cloud solutions.

What is also clear is that there is an opportunity for the IT channel to provide

“

There is an apparent disconnect between the end user and the IT channel providing Cloud services. The channel should consider what solutions are required by their customers and how to overcome concerns of a service-led sale over an on-premise sale.”

– Alex Hilton, Rise.

Cloud services. The channel should consider what solutions are required by their customers and how to overcome concerns of a service-led sale over an on-

sound guidance, support and services to their customers, establishing an effective balance between on-premise and Cloudbased services.”

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLING In January and February 2011, Vanson Bourne conducted research on behalf of the Cloud Industry Forum to determine Cloud adoption attitudes and trends both among end users and the IT channel. The research polled 200 respondents from the UK IT channel covering a broad cross-section of business models and is spilt between IT consultancies making up 24 per cent; managed service providers at 22 per cent; systems integrators at 13 per cent; specialist resellers at 10 per cent; technical VARs at 10 per cent, IT outsourcers at 10 per cent, distributors and large resellers comprising 7 per cent and finally, IT retailers on 5 per cent. Overall, 24 of the participants defined themselves as transactional vendors, the remaining 176 as more technical focused organisations.

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IT services

Survey

The state of play at Q1 Pearlfinders IT spoke to over 3500 UK-based IT decision-makers across all industries to uncover new business opportunities across a range of IT disciplines…

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he Pearlfinders Index collects and analyses data from these interviews, allowing the company to monitor key characteristics of the IT industry.

What follows are the results from Q1 2011 presented in comparison with results from last year. The Index includes detailed commentary on trends and patterns across the complete spectrum of IT services. The analysis looks at the following services categories: Cloud computing; Virtualisation; and unified communications & collaboration.

Sector heat Pearlfinders tracked the level of plannedfor corporate activity in Q1 2011, to determine which sectors are most likely to hire IT support. This is a reliable method for deciding where to focus new business resources. The indicators we use include news of company growth, hiring of new staff and corporate transactions.

The Industry/Manufacturing sector was the most prominent area of IT investment in Q1 2011, up 6.5 per cent on the same period last year. This reflects recent statistics from the ONS's ‘Index of Production’, which indicate the sector is up 2.4 per cent on the same period in 2010. Retail and Prof/Business Services remain good areas to be targeting, Anthony Cooper: “CIO's have accepted that Cloud has the potential to deliver cost efficiencies to organisations across all industry sectors as well as across companies of all sizes.”

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although their development is flat when compared to last year.

Most likely to engage technology support (%) Q1 2011: 1. Industry/manufacturing 16.4 2. Retail 10.9 3. Professional/business services 10.2 4. Public sector 8.7 5. Financial services 8.3 Q1 2010: 1. Industry/manufacturing 9.9 2. Retail 11.5 3. Professional/business services 11.5 4. Public sector 9.9 5. Financial services 9.0

Technology sought Some 212 decision-makers specified an immediate requirement for a technology solution in Q1. Cloud computing's popularity exploded in Q1 (its prevalence more than tripled compared to Q1 2010), overtaking virtualisation to become the most popular service category. While Cloud-based services are now perceived to offer a secure, cost-effective alternative to locally hosted solutions, concerns remain over the shift in working practices required to make the most of such set-ups.

Most desired technology solution (%) Q1 2011: 1. Cloud computing 42.0 2. Virtualisation 20.3 3. Unified comms/collaboration 20.3 Q1 2010: 1. Cloud computing 12.2 2. Virtualisation 38.8 3. Unified comms/collaboration 31.7

Pearlfinders also tracked the skill-sets prospective suppliers would need to demonstrate to be eligible for these opportunities. Compared to 2010, IT decision-makers are most interested in those with software, hardware, managed services and telecommunications expertise, rather than those who specialise in network infrastructure maintenance.

Expertise most desired of suppliers (%) Q1 2011: 1. Software 58.5 2. Hardware 38.4 3. Managed services 35.7 4. Telecoms 23.4 5. Networking/infrastructure 17.8 Q1 2010: 1. Software 40.1 2. Hardware 35.2 3. Managed services 35.4 4. Telecoms 12.2 5. Networking/infrastructure 36.8

The business driver Compared to Q1 2010, this quarter has seen a total collapse in the number of decision-makers investing in IT projects for reasons of cost cutting. Paradoxically, fragile economic confidence in February and March 2011 has also seen a drop in the number of executives spending to drive business growth when compared to January, although this is still up when compared to the same period in 2010.

Sustainability and efficiency drives remain good reasons to be pitching IT solutions to your prospects.

Business driver (%) Q1 2011: 1. Supporting growth 27.1 2. Efficiency 15.4

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IT services

Survey

3. Green IT 14.4 4. Cost-cutting 2.3 Q1 2010: 1. Supporting growth 15.6 2. Efficiency 13.7 3. Green IT 16.3 4. Cost-cutting 8.2

Fertile regions Pearlfinders gathered data on companies' IT interest for different areas of the UK. Business driver (%) Q1 2011: 1. South East 41.0 2. Midlands 13.5 3. North West 12.1 4. North East 11.1 5.Scotland 6.7

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The Industry/Manufacturing sector had the greatest number of Cloud computing opportunities in Q1 (17.2 per cent of projects). Here, executives are beginning to consider the potential for Cloud-hosted ERP and business intelligence (BI) applications.”

Q1 2011 Highlights: Cloud computing •

Q1 2011 saw a massive leap in the popularity of Cloud computing as an IT service category. Of the 212 executives interviewed in 2011 with a requirement for external support, 42.0 per cent expressed an interest in Cloud solutions. This has increased from 12.2 per cent in Q4 2010.

•

Acceptance of Cloud computing as a viable, secure alternative to locally-hosted services is being driven, in part, by the Coalition Government's decision to push forward with the G-Cloud project. This effort to share services across Whitehall departments, led by the Cabinet Office, is part of an ambition to slash £3.5 billion from the public sector's IT bill by 2013.

•

Security concerns have lessened compared to last quarter. Now, the barriers to Cloud computing adoption relate to the practicalities of its use; ensuring sufficient bandwidth in remote locations, and making sure working practices shift to ensure ROI from the investment.

Sector heat

Q1 2010: 1. South East 33.5 2. Midlands 9.9 3. North West 17.2 4. North East 15.3 5.Scotland 5.2

Prospecting preferences • Pearlfinders gathered data for where IT decision-makers specified how they wanted suppliers to engage with them from a new business perspective. This quarter has seen an increase in the proportion of execs requesting in-depth written prospecting communications from suppliers via email and/or post, and a slight fall in those stating a preference for telephone-based introductions.

through external hosting of applications.

Demand for Cloud computing in both the Industry/Manufacturing and the professional/business services sector rebounded from a slow Q4. In the latter, accountancies, law firms and recruiters sought to boost remote workers' efficiency

The Industry/Manufacturing sector had the greatest number of Cloud computing opportunities in Q1 (17.2 per cent of projects).

Here, executives are beginning to consider the potential for Cloud-hosted ERP and business intelligence (BI) applications. The second most popular industry was the public sector, followed by Professional/Business Services. The public sector's adoption of Cloud computing is being driven by the GCloud project, which was recently given the go-ahead by the Coalition Government. When it comes to the reason why executives are investing in Cloud computing in these sectors, one theme was the potential for Cloud-based

Prospecting Preferences (%) Q1 2011: 1. Email 46.5 2. Phone 46.3 3. Post 31.1 4. Networking 4.5 Q1 2010: 1. Email 35.6 2. Phone 47.4 3. Post 13.0 4. Networking 1.4

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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IT services

applications to allow access from anywhere in the world. In the Professional/Business Services sector, accountancies, law firms and recruitment consultancies are considering Cloud computing solutions to deliver access to mission-critical applications on the move.

Sectors with most Cloud computing opportunities (%) Q1 2011: Industry/manufacturing 17.2 Public sector 14.9 Professional/business services 13.8 Q4 2010: Industry/manufacturing 7.7 Public sector 7.7 Professional/business services 7.7

Survey

study to investigate the ‘cultural shifts’ that using Cloud-based tools can lead to.

The issue of bandwidth is another key concern. This quarter saw a number of companies – particularly those with a presence in remote locations – expressing concern that their incumbent connectivity solutions would lead to poor user experience of Cloud-hosted programs. One exec spoke about the possibility of re-routing connections to data centres in the US and Germany through a Telecity facility in London, although there were worries over cost here.

Pearlfinders’ managing director, Anthony Cooper, commented: “Cloud computing has

“

There's no point sugar-coating it, most VARs will find this period to be extremely stressful and it may be the end for those who keep following the same, tired business model.”

– Anthony Cooper, Pearlfinders.

Shifting working practices to suit Cloud-based delivery It is now generally accepted that Cloud computing has the potential to deliver cost efficiencies to organisations across all industry sectors. This quarter we've seen executives concern themselves less with the perceived security threats associated with Cloud computing, although some reservations remain here. One notable trend this quarter has been the challenges decision-makers feel exist when it comes to changing existing working practices to suit Cloud-based services. At LV=, for example, the group infrastructure & service delivery manager talked about the undertaking of a feasibility

already been named top inquiry topic in 2010, which suggests the global Cloud computing market could reach US$150 billion by 2014.

It's a growing market and any VAR who chooses to ignore and hope it goes away is frankly naïve and missing a huge opportunity.

There is still a lot of debate going on about whether or not it's actually anything ‘new’ but the initial security-related objections are becoming less of a focus. CIO's have accepted that Cloud has the potential to deliver cost efficiencies to organisations across all industry sectors as well as across companies of all sizes. This is where the opportunity lies for resellers to capitalise on this shift in demand by evolving their own product portfolio, and positioning themselves as a service-focused consultative partner.”

Cooper continued: “We've been told by a number of clients that they're already seeing ROI having evolved their service offering in this way, mainly by putting together dedicated cloud sales and support teams.

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In the last quarter of 2010, the market saw the number of virtualisation projects at SMEs increase to represent 38.8 per cent of all work, suggesting virtual technologies are becoming standard fare for any company's IT infrastructure, regardless of size.

This doesn't mean VAR's should abandon existing specialisms, least of all around virtualisation. The two technologies go handin-hand with each other, and at enterprise level it's pointless investing in private clouds if you haven't already got a virtualised server environment. Establishing your credentials as a flexible, agile and innovative partner, makes cross-selling cloud and virtualisation solutions more attractive and let's face it, more credible.

There's no point sugar-coating it, most VARs will find this period to be extremely stressful and it may be the end for those who keep following the same, tired business model. But this is an opportunity to demonstrate you can take the pain and risk out of what is likely to become inevitable for most companies.”

Q1 2011 Highlights: Virtualisation •

Virtualisation was no longer the most popular distinct IT category for investment in Q1 2011. Of those 212 execs that specified an immediate technology requirement, virtualisation work made up 20.3 per cent of these. This is down from 38.3 per cent in Q4 2010.

•

Desktop virtualisation remained the primary focus with 51.6 per cent of execs planning to invest, marginally greater than the numbers planning server virtualisation work.

•

Some 44 per cent of decision-makers planning a virtualisation project were doing so to facilitate growth at their organisation. This overtook cost cutting

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and green IT as the primary reason for virtualising.

Sector heat The Industry/Manufacturing sector had the greatest number of virtualisation opportunities in Q1 (22.4 per cent of projects). The retail sector saw the greatest increase in virtualisation projects (+2.7 per cent) – disaster recovery was a factor here following the havoc wreaked by the weather over Christmas.

Sectors with most virtualisation opportunities (%) Q1: Industry/manufacturing 22.4 Professional/business services 11.1 Retail 8.9 Q4: Industry/manufacturing 20.5 Professional/business services 10.2 Retail 6.2

standard fare for any company's IT infrastructure, regardless of size. In Q1 2011 however, uptake of virtualisation projects at SMEs dropped back to 27.3 per cent, showing that it is enterprise businesses that are continuing to drive the strength of this technology service category.

Q1 2011 Highlights: Unified communications & collaboration •

Of those decision-makers with an immediate requirement for external support, Unified communications projects make up a smaller percentage of work than they did last quarter (down 11.4 per cent). Like virtualisation the technology is being 'diluted' in the marketplace by the popularity of Cloud computing solutions.

•

That said, the demand for UC is on-going, driven by the emergence of second generation products and services, which have assuaged fears about technological maturity and reliability.

•

UC investment is now more of a business decision than a technological one; companies are deciding on it in collaboration with finance and operations departments. For suppliers, the argument to win is simple – do the solutions you're pitching improve your prospects' margins?

Scalable, virtual infrastructures to drive business growth Over the past year, decision-makers have given reasons such as cost cutting and green IT considerations as the main drivers behind virtualisation projects. For the first time, in 2011 the greatest number of decision-makers are using virtualisation projects to facilitate expansion (24 per cent) – there is now a consistent viewpoint that a virtual infrastructure provides a scalable platform for company growth. Companies within the industry/manufacturing, retail and leisure sectors were those most likely to expand either through office moves, mergers/acquisitions or increasing the size of their user-base in Q1.

Virtualisation for all?

Decision-makers were split almost 50/50 between those planning to adopt VDIs and those looking to roll out server virtualisation.

As we've seen previously, those choosing to go down the thin client route had, by and large, already invested in server virtualisation.

In the last quarter of 2010, the market saw the number of virtualisation projects at SMEs increase to represent 38.8 per cent of all work, suggesting virtual technologies are becoming

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Sector heat The Public Sector had the greatest number of UC opportunities in Q1 (14 per cent of projects) although this was down 7.9 per cent on Q4 2010. This was followed by the Retail and Industry/Manufacturing sectors (both 11.6 per cent). Retail has posted the greatest increase when compared to Q4 2010 (+7.5 per cent). Within the public sector, it was educational and healthcare organisations that were driving investment. For example, the head of IT at the Glasgow School of Art highlighted an interest in the presence features of second generation Cisco UC solutions.

Sectors with most UC opportunities (%) Q1:

IT services

Public sector 14.0 Retail 11.6 Industry/manufacturing 11.6 Q4: Public sector 21.9 Retail 3.1 Industry/manufacturing 6.3

Second-generation UC The prevalence of so-called 'second generation' UC technologies has been notable in Q1 2011. Vendors have responded to businesses – particularly SMEs – that are reluctant to invest large sums of money in allencompassing solutions by encouraging partners to develop applications that allow for the federation of existing applications, such as Outlook, Skype, Yahoo! and MSN Messenger.

Early 2011 saw a slew of decision-makers

Q1 2011 saw a massive leap in the popularity of Cloud computing as an IT service category. express an interest in the use of videoconferencing as the technology freed itself from its reputation for being patchy, unreliable and not a viable substitute for faceto-face meetings. FMCG manufacturer PZ Cussons identified improving videoconferencing facilities as being a primary goal this year, as did engineering giant Aker Solutions and security services firm G4S. For suppliers, the objections you have to overcome are now less about the technologies powering UC, and more about whether or not there's a business case to be investing in them. There were fewer instances of decision-makers citing problems with the quality of VoIP technology, but one thing remains constant – you have to prove the potential for your prospects to generate ROI from a UC investment.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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PRODUCT NEWS

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OPINION

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Delivering the

complete package Colin Booth, director of Professional Services Europe, ScanSource Europe, outlines the role a value-added distributor is providing in pre-shipment product configuration which provides resellers with real savings.

hen a reseller receives an order for hardware – be it barcode scanners, EPOS systems, handheld terminals – there are a number of requirements that their customer may have which go beyond the simple purchase of the hardware. Meeting customer’s needs can certainly become problematic, costly and time consuming. Especially when you consider that those requests differ with every order from every customer. What resellers need is a place to go to take care of one-time pre-sales service requirements efficiently in terms of time, cost and utilises services that preconfigures hardware.

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For this reason, at ScanSource Europe we have seen an ever-growing trend of resellers demanding pre-sales configuration services. So much so that we have recently upgraded our current Configuration Services and transferred it to a purpose-built Configuration Centre.

This will allow us to handle pre-sales configuration projects of any size.

Configuration Services includes a wide range of tasks. Whether it is physical product customisation, such as preloading of operating systems or applications, bundling of equipment, charging batteries or even product dispatch customisation – simple additions of reseller marketing material – ScanSource will take care of it all. This frees up resellers’ internal technical

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resources so they can work on tasks, like installing hardware that requires their specialised knowledge. It also enables resellers to take on larger projects than their existing resources may otherwise allow; ultimately helping them to manage peaks and troughs in their business.

Focusing on the core business Technical resources are extremely valuable to resellers so what the Configuration Centre does is it allows companies to deploy those resources to more business-critical areas. Now that we have a larger, purpose-built configuration environment we can make it even easier for resellers to do business by taking on their timeconsuming, repetitive tasks so they don’t have to, and allowing them to focus on their core business, increase profitability and, crucially, meeting the customer’s demands.

The time and cost saving are not only limited to the allocation of resellers’ internal staff. The pre-shipping

Colin Booth: ScanSource Europe – continually aiming to be as flexible as possible.

by an engineer. Time is saved by avoiding having to ship the goods via the reseller and therefore also shipping costs are reduced. In an industry where we talk so much about value adds it is essential that we can provide resellers with real concrete savings.

“

… all technical and physical product configuration work, for both business units, is taken care of by qualified engineers and all work is performed following recognised industry standards.”

configuration of hardware at the warehouse allows a reseller to opt for direct shipment to their customer, safe in the knowledge that the products will be ready for use, or ready for installation

At ScanSource Europe we continually aim to be as flexible as possible to supply resellers with not just hardware, but full wrap-around solutions, covering

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All taken care of The concept is the same for each of the business units. On a more aesthetic level for communications products resellers can request that their customer’s logo already appears on a handset for example, while on a technical level, our qualified engineers

We also work closely with all our vendors from every part of the business to provide resellers with a stable and reliable service. By doing this, it means all warranties and service and maintenance contracts can be updated and resellers avoid issues relating to the customisation at a later stage should something go wrong with the hardware.

OPINION

will configure units and pre-install IP addresses as requested. In fact, all technical and physical product configuration work, for both business units, is taken care of by qualified engineers and all work is performed following recognised industry standards. forms part of ScanSource Europe’s Professional Services, which offers a series of pre- and post-sales services, including radio frequency site surveys, installation and commissioning, staging and rolls out, systems integration and indeed maintenance and service contracts. And as such, represents for resellers a one-stop-shop for all their service needs.

On a final note, Configuration Services

ScanSource Europe

unveils new web portal canSource Europe has unveiled its new web portal, ScanSource City, a virtual city showcasing the distributor’s value-added services using an interactive, dynamic and modern approach. Accessible at www.scansource.eu/city, the portal is an engaging way for resellers to learn about the services that add value to their businesses and help make the distribution channel more efficient.

S

Each building in ScanSource City designates an available service; for example a school represents ScanSource’s channel education

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initiatives, while a construction site gives details on the distributor’s Professional Services offering. By clicking on the building, users get the information they need about the service.

"We’ve put the information on our value adds all in one place," said Xavier Cartiaux, president of ScanSource Europe. "These are crucial to the way we do business. Our value adds help resellers boost their business, increase margins, and diversify their own offering.

We provide the broadest value added offering in the industry and give our customers access to leading vendors, a huge product inventory, and services and

tool that make resellers more successful.”

Cartiaux continued: "For our best-ofbreed vendor partners, ScanSource City enables them to learn more about our commitment to growing the channel, creating new business opportunities and raising awareness of their brands and products. We work hard to highlight our unique selling points in the channel and ScanSource City is an innovative and stylish way of doing this."

COMPANY NEWS

as many aspects of the purchasing and supply process as possible and providing resellers with peace of mind.

The Configuration Centre ticks this box as well. Deliveries can be made to multiple countries and configuration can be performed on any product that we sell. Configuration Services is a part of our business that is becoming well established for auto ID, POS and barcoding products, and we are now extending this to our Communications business as well.

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The services illustrated on ScanSource City are available to resellers from both the communications and barcode businesses.

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PRODUCT NEWS

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Durabook launches the U12C rugged convertible notebook maintenance bays, courier vehicles, warehouses – and any other environments that can leverage major advantages from the use of modern mobile computer systems and technology.

Staying operational longer Because any malfunctions or inefficiencies can quickly erode profits and impact scheduling. Durabook laptops with integrated mobile technology are designed to stay operational longer, ensuring less downtime and fewer repairs. Durabook reports that these advantages result in a lower total cost of ownership and a greater ROI.

urabook has launched the U12C, a versatile convertible notebook with a 12-inch LCD screen.

Rugged and lightweight, the U12C has passed MIL-STD 810G for drop, vibration and shock and is designed with innovative features and flexibilities for a wide-range of applications and work environments; such as government, field service, utility, emergency, police, transportation and logistics.

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In the case of the logistics market alone, it is said to be suitable for use at airports, rail yards, truck cabs,

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Durabook’s U12C is a versatile convertible notebook with a 12-inch LCD screen. Rugged and lightweight, the U12C has passed MIL-STD 810G for drop, vibration and shock.

In addition, the aluminum- magnesium alloy case is said to be able to resist vibration or shock on the road or field, while the built-in GPS feature enables drivers to precisely pin-point delivery locations. Additionally, the wireless WAN device keeps the connection with the company’s network all the way, and the touch panel and sunlight readable display enables users to undertake work more easily and check information in any light conditions.

“

U12C is designed with special features such as One-Click Stealth Mode that immediately disables all emitting light and sounds. This feature is designed for the mission-critical applications such as covert operations – including stakeouts.”

Durabook comments that mobile workers no longer need to worry about roughing the edges of their computer, or suffering the inconvenience of a failing computer due to vibration and shock. The U12C also features an integrated ergonomic handle, making it easily and conveniently transportable ‘on the go’.

Suitable for mission-critical applications U12C is designed with special features such as One-Click Stealth Mode that immediately disables all emitting light and sounds. This feature is designed for the mission-critical applications such as covert operations – including stakeouts. Modular I/O ports allow user to change different I/Os for varies applications in just a few seconds.

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Varlink expands capacity and resources further The spring of 2011 saw a number of significant developments take place at Varlink, the York based specialist distributor of Mobile Computing & Data Capture products… o accommodate the additional people and warehousing requirements that had been caused by sales growth of over 30 per cent in the previous 6 months, the company has moved into a second unit on the Osbaldwick Industrial Estate.

“Our fast-growing sales of Posiflex EPoS terminals, and Orient and Bixolon transaction printers, required us to increase the size of our bulk purchases to keep pace with the needs of our customers,” explained Bill Gordon, director with operations responsibility. ”The physical bulk of these consignments meant that we needed extra warehouse capacity. We managed to secure our target building, which provides not only warehousing capacity, but also the space to locate our finance and purchasing teams, together with our technical support and product configuration group. The office

Image courtesy of Robert Nemeti of Nemetiphotos.com,on behalf of York Evening Press.

T

Mike Pullon: “We are now well positioned to continue the growth in sales of our established brands and to create and develop business for the recent additions to our brand range.”

space that was freed up in our established building has been redeveloped to house additional sales and marketing personnel. It also gives us extra space to store our higher stock levels of mobile computers.”

Strengthened offering Varlink CEO Mike Pullon takes up the story: “Since we established Varlink we have worked hard to shape our business to anticipate and meet the

needs of our customers. We have spent quite some time evaluating the range of products provided by the manufacturers we represent, and identifying opportunities to strengthen our offering, and therefore that of our customers, by adding additional brands. Clearly, to do a good job for these brands, and for our customers who resell them, we had to get the infrastructure right. The extra space that we have obtained enabled us to put a recruitment campaign in place

“

The office space that was freed up in our established building has been redeveloped to house additional sales and marketing personnel. It also gives us extra space to store our higher stock levels of mobile computers.”

– Bill Gordon, Varlink.

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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“

Our expanded marketing team can now offer our customers focused and comprehensive marketing support for Zebra, Datalogic Mobile, Seagull (Bartender), Brother, Zebex, Datalogic Scanning, Getac, Unitech, Psion, Opticon, Trimble and Janam.”

– Sabine Kelly, Varlink.

that has seen us add sales and marketing resource, for both Varlink and EPoS Distributor customers, as well as adding to our technical support and warehousing teams. We are now well positioned to continue the growth in sales of our established brands and to create and develop business for the recent additions to our brand range.”

when the eagerly awaited Psion EP10 is launched; as we can already see a significant demand for this well specified and priced terminal.”

Significant demand Varlink’s business development manager, Georgina McWhirter, added: “Since our Meet The Manufacturer Event in February we have seen interest turn into sales for the key products that came to market in late 2010. The Datalogic Elf terminal is now well established in a number of solutions developed by our customers, and sales of the Getac MH132 and Psion Omnii are strong. The expansion of capacity and resource that we have put in place means we can maintain our service levels while growing sales.

This will have even more significance

Focused and comprehensive marketing support Sabine Kelly, Varlink’s marketing manager, concluded: “Our expanded marketing team can now offer our customers focused and comprehensive marketing

Georgina McWhirter: “Since our Meet The Manufacturer Event in February we have seen interest turn into sales for the key products that came to market in late 2010.”

support for Zebra, Datalogic Mobile, Seagull (Bartender), Brother, Zebex, Datalogic Scanning, Getac, Unitech, Psion, Opticon, Trimble and Janam. Our appointment of Sarah Eggleton as EPoS Distributor marketing executive gives our EPoS customers a single point of contact, which will help them put in place campaigns to drive sales of their solutions in the retail space.”

COMPANY NEWS

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PRODUCT NEWS

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DOTel launches DOTH-300 lightweight and rugged mobile computer Flexible communication system The DOTH 300 features a flexible communication system with HSPA, WLAN and Bluetooth, making it easy for users to send and receive data, and

OTel has launched the DOTH 300 mobile computer; a slim, lightweight and compact PDA that features the Monahan PXA 320 806MHz processor for high-speed data processing, The unit is highly ruggedised and certified to IP64 standards; confirming that under test conditions it is able to withstand drops to up to 1.5m. It can also be operated in temperatures as low as -20ºC; consequently the device can work in particularly tough conditions, including dusty or low/hot temperature warehouse environments.

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Host of built-in features According to DOTel, the button on the DOTH 300 is durable enough to withstand thousands of pushes by workers. It is also said to be a highly secure device with a host of state-ofthe-art built-in features; including HSPA, WLAN, GPS, 3M AF camera and HF/UHF RFID reader. Also, its full QVGA 3.5in LCD screen provides the mobile worker with a graphical display that is easy to ready in just about any working environment. Additionally, DOTel points out that the extended battery life offered by the unit means users in sectors such as logistics, retail and parcel delivery can be assured of long, reliable and continuous hours of use.

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

Durability and stability DOTel highlights durability and stability as being two of the key strengths of the new offering. It adds that through leveraging these benefits companies can not only improve their own bottom

“

The DOTH 300 mobile computer can be operated in temperatures as low as -20ºC; consequently the device can work in particularly tough conditions, including dusty or low/hot temperature warehouse environments.”

synchronise with other devices. And the device’s powerful fastreading laser barcode scanner makes reading and scanning barcodes a simple, efficient and accurate process.

DOTel comments that this lightweight and slim but rugged device is an enhanced handheld mobile computer with a design that looks like an attractive smart phone. It adds that workers can easily fit the device in their pocket, meaning it can be carried just about anywhere. The company reports that many companies active within a diverse range of industries are looking to both increase data accuracy and efficiency while also cutting costs. With these mission-critical requirements in mind, DOTel believes the DOTH 300 provides them with the key mobiledevice functionality they need.

lines but also provide a more reliable and professional service to their end customers, which can help to cement stronger business relations going forward.

DoTel is rolling out the DOTH-300 this month.

The company also reports that UHF compact and UHF gun type readers are scheduled to be available in the Autumn.

DOTel’s new DOTH 300 mobile computer is highly ruggedised and certified to IP64 dust/splash-proof standards.

DOTEL AT A GLANCE Established in 1999, DOTel is a total solutions provider for the Auto ID industry, covering PDA units, embedded system development, enterprise mobility, set-top boxes, vehicle navigation systems and mobile point-of-sale units. DOTel is one of the leading mobile computer manufacturers in Korea.

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OPINION

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Overcoming the complexities of Supply

Chain Collaboration Are you communicating effectively with your trading partners?, asks Bob Rossman, vice president of supply chain solutions at Agentrics. gents in the distribution of goods and services are becoming increasingly reliant upon strong relationships with their trading partners, customers and suppliers to ensure the efficient delivery of products to their target audience.

According to a 2011 Aberdeen research report, almost half of the world’s top retailers are increasing supply chain collaboration or business process initiatives with suppliers. A typical retailer today will be managing many millions of product items, dealing with thousands of suppliers, and potentially millions of customers every week. But how well are retailers working together with those trading partners?

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Traditionally, the buyer and supplier relationship has hinged upon the creation of a purchase order, or ‘PO’, as the vital document on which all orders and deliveries are based. Until the supplier received the PO, they had no insight into whether their product would be sold. But as the process of delivering goods to the market becomes more complex – for instance, on multiple orders subject to last minute changes; or against a backlog of deliveries from overseas

manufacturers with long lead times and possible delays - there is a significant requirement for sharing of information that will allow buyers and suppliers to effectively plan for the unknown. Retailers and suppliers can work together to make sure that the source of supply is available when the buyer comes calling, as well as ensuring that the buyer doesn’t completely relieve the supplier of all its inventory. And so the need for collaboration among trading partners was born.

However, effective collaboration isn’t necessarily that easy, especially in practice. Research by the Institute of Grocery and Distribution (IGD) in 2010 revealed that only around forty percent of companies believed their collaborative approaches to be any good, mainly due to inaccurate demand forecasts and outof-date sales history. Most industry insiders claim that availability of resources remains the biggest hurdle to effective collaboration. We’d argue that it’s not necessarily that difficult, you just need to be shown the way. And the benefits certainly far outweigh the costs.

Supply chain collaboration centres on buyers, suppliers and trading partners developing value-added processes that deliver innovative, high-quality, low-cost products on time with greater responsiveness than ever before. Supply chain collaboration therefore requires an increased reliance on closer buyer/supplier relationships that cooperatively work together to deliver value above and beyond what is achievable through simple long-term contracts. The Motorola is able to monitor and analyse the performance of its products. This provides Motorola with the visibility to see trends, understand how products are moving through the retail channel, and address operational issues such as stock-outs and excess inventory.

Bob Rossman: Retailers and suppliers know that collaboration is a good thing. But still relatively few do it.

key elements of these relationships involve: •

Sharing key operational information.

•

Building cooperative business processes that complement the processes of each organisation.

•

Building common goals, to ensure that both partners are trying to optimise the results.

This is the only way companies will be able to achieve true competitive advantage through supply chain execution. Yet, many major retailers and manufactures are reluctant to expand their supply chain collaboration programs due to this increasing complexity. This degrades the trading partners’ ability to truly extend their supply chain network and take full advantage of a collaborative, demand driven supply chain. Supply chain collaboration is reduced to an automated data feed with all parties expected to access, derive value from the information, and act in the best interest of the trading partner. What is being ignored is the relationship between the trading partner, the act of building a collaboration program together, to drive the process to cut costs, improve service levels and deliver overall value.

Often collaboration has not worked, simply due to a primary attention on data to the detriment of process, and not enough focus on the end customer. Or failure to recognise mutual interests, resulting in unreasonable demands placed on suppliers and retailers.

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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Today, busy sophisticated consumers demand higher levels of service, quality and shopping convenience. Improving the consumer shopping experience, keeping up with demand and adapting to customer needs is therefore essential. These challenges, together with improving service levels and sustainability, have never been more critical to maintaining market share and building supply chain flexibility.

One rule of thumb is that if retailers and suppliers work together to plan in times of volatile demand, there is a greater chance of getting forecasts right for just-in-time production (in other words, goods arriving at the right time – not too early, not too late) and matching supply with demand.

The reality, however, is a cynicism about the concept of supply chain collaboration, and a

vast number of technology solutions, interpretations and jargon that goes with it.

Many organisations have memories of difficulty implementing collaboration programs such as VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) or CPFR (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment), and are overlooking the opportunity to use supply chain collaboration to improve planning efficiencies, increase forecast accuracy, cut costs, improve service levels, and drive value to their bottom line.

Share and collaborate, then everyone benefits Retailers and suppliers know that collaboration is a good thing. But still relatively few do it. This might be principally down to limited resources, but also a lack of trust. Or, quite often, other barriers like technical challenges and knowhow. It’s not uncommon to be faced with a situation where retailers don’t want to go through all the motions themselves and just need some third party help and direction.

Today’s economic climate for greater efficiencies and lower costs, not to mention consumer pressure for better service, will force the industry to connect more collaboratively.

Technology, people and process will enable these connections to happen.

CASE STUDY: MOTOROLA Motorola, the telecoms manufacturer, uses Agentrics SCS Intelligence to gain access to point-of-sale (POS) and inventory data directly from various retail chains. So, regardless of the service bundled with its handsets, Motorola is able to monitor and analyse the performance of its products. This provides Motorola with the visibility to see trends, understand how products are moving through the retail channel, and address operational issues such as stock-outs and excess inventory. This gives Motorola the ability to proactively manage its product portfolios to optimise the ability to exploit opportunities in the market, increasing sales while simultaneously carrying less inventory.

OPINION

Increased competition, more frequent new product introductions and shorter product life cycles are driving complexity in planning and forecasting for demand. Organisations have also become more complex in the last decade with a greater number of locations, business units and markets they operate in. Not to mention the unprecedented levels of economic uncertainty that has affected buying patterns and historical data.

point of sale

This is an extract taken from a white paper downloadable at www.agentrics.com. Agentrics is a global provider of retail and supply chain solutions for clients including ASDA, Carrefour, Auchan, Marks & Spencer, PepsiCo, Casino, Walgreens, Coles and Best Buy.

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Dev elop yyour our o wn applications and manage yyour our o wnn Develop own own integration handintegr ation with witthh the h HT660e.

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Email: inf info@eu.ute.com fo@eu.ute o .com m

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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Ingram Micro EMEA Telecom Division adds BlackBerry Mobile Voice System to its BlackBerry offering

“

BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (BlackBerry MVS) is designed to unify fixed and mobile voice communications to provide one business phone number, one caller ID, one voice mailbox, and office phone features through BlackBerry smartphones.”

ngram Micro EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), a division of Ingram Micro Inc., has added BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (BlackBerry MVS) to its growing line of mobile products. BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (BlackBerry MVS) is designed to unify fixed and mobile voice communications to provide one business phone number, one caller ID, one voice mailbox, and office phone features through BlackBerry smartphones.

I

BlackBerry MVS integrates into a variety of telecommunications environments.

Companies can leverage the value of their existing PBX system or upgrade to the latest technology as it becomes available. BlackBerry MVS is designed to mobilise telephony features such as call transfers, switching between calls and call filtering. BlackBerry MVS adds desk phone features to BlackBerry smartphones. It integrates directly with the native phone application to allow the user to receive or place calls from the mobile line or the enterprise line.

Seamless integration BlackBerry MVS interfaces between the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the corporate PBX system, to mobilise desk phone features on BlackBerry

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

smartphones. This seamless integration provides secure authentication and allows for easy administration of BlackBerry MVS functionality. Calls made through BlackBerry MVS are anchored through the enterprise PBX to ensure that company policies are met.

Calls can be logged and audited to strengthen risk management policies.

Calls can be made over Wi-Fi at work, at home, or in Wi-Fi hotspots to address cost, coverage, and communication needs.

Pierre-Yvon Mechali, executive director and general manager, Telco Division, Ingram Micro EMEA, said: “We are very glad to promote such an innovative solution to our customers. We have already put resources in place and conducted training in several countries.

This generated a lot of interest so far and the Ingram Micro’s Partners demonstrated their will to invest in this area. BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (BlackBerry MVS) represents a tremendous opportunity for our resellers to tap into new business opportunities and provide technical services.”

Tailored strategies In 2010, Ingram Micro EMEA launched a new telecommunications division, and under Mechali’s leadership the company has established a team of telecommunications experts across Europe who are implementing tailored strategies in each country and receiving early positive recognition from the

market. In November, Ingram Micro Netherlands was named the Best Telecom & Networking Distributor for 2010 at the CRN Channel Awards in Amsterdam. Early December Ingram Micro announced it has become an official distributor of a full suite of BlackBerry smartphones, accessories, software and technical support services.

Through its telecommunications strategy, Ingram Micro EMEA will extend its logistics offerings with a tailored service offering designed to meet the expectations of resellers, retailers, Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators. In addition, Ingram Micro will augment its product line by significantly increasing its brand coverage in netbooks, smartphones and accessories across EMEA.

INGRAM MICRO INC. AT A GLANCE Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through marketing programmes, outsourced logistics, technical and financial support, managed and Cloud-based services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves more than 150 countries on six continents with a comprehensive portfolio of IT products and services.

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Honeywell broadens mobile computing portfolio with Microsoft Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 operating system oneywell has announced it will now offer the Microsoft Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 operating system for the Dolphin 6100 and 6500 mobile computers, providing resellers, customers and other partners with one common platform for mobile device application development.

Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 was designed specifically to power mobile devices that run critical enterprise business applications, such as those in retail, supply chain and other lightindustrial environments.

H “

Our customers asked for portability in our next operating system platform and we knew Windows Embedded would deliver. Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 matches the reliability you expect from Microsoft with an architectural design that is flexible enough to be used across market segments and regions.”

– Greg Payne, Honeywell Scanning & Mobility.

Boosting productivity For Honeywell’s Dolphin 6100 and 6500, Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 will bring efficient and secure data input capabilities as well as improved connectivity options, boosting productivity by enabling users to capture, access, and act on businesscritical information in real-time. With the addition of Handheld 6.5, Honeywell offers its customers more options, as it will also continue to support Windows CE 5.0, an architectural platform that

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includes robust developer tools and a real-time operating system.

Most advanced technologies

For Honeywell’s Dolphin 6100 and 6500, Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 will bring efficient and secure data input capabilities as well as improved connectivity options.

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“Honeywell has maintained its leadership position within the mobile computing space by listening to our customers and partners and continually working with industry leaders like Microsoft Windows Embedded to deliver the most advanced technologies available,” said Greg Payne, director of mobility systems, Honeywell Scanning & Mobility.

“Our customers asked for portability in our next operating system platform and we knew Windows Embedded would deliver. Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 matches the reliability you expect from Microsoft with an architectural design that is flexible enough to be used across market segments and regions.”

HONEYWELL SCANNING & MOBILITY AT A GLANCE Honeywell Scanning & Mobility is a manufacturer of high-performance image-and laser- based data collection hardware, including rugged mobile computers and barcode scanners. The company provides solutions for vertical markets such as retail; healthcare; and transportation & logistics, and complements its products with advanced software, service and professional solutions that enable customers to effectively manage data and assets. Honeywell products are sold worldwide through a network of distributor and reseller partners.

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL Honeywell International is a Fortune 100 diversified company serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township , N.J., Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York , London and Chicago Stock Exchanges.

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Nine out of ten businesses look to mobility to

drive productivity and cost savings Organisations are increasingly turning to mobile solutions to innovate, reduce costs and increase productivity, with 94 per cent stating that the need to increase productivity and reduce costs is driving the increased use of mobile devices and technology. These are the findings of a new survey of IT decision makers in 320 UK businesses of all sizes and across a number of key industries (manufacturing, retail, public sector and financial services) conducted by SAP…

he survey findings show that over the next two or three years, the majority of UK companies will be planning or at least considering an implementation of mobile business technology. Accurate real-time information is now expected anywhere,

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at any time, for greater customer service, improved business flexibility, and increased productivity. With the need for innovation never greater, many are recognising the capabilities of mobile technology in meeting these requirements.

Significant increase In the next two to three years, an 80 per cent majority said they will either be planning or considering the implementation of mobile Business Intelligence (BI) and mobile Business Analytics. 76 per cent said they will be looking at Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and a further 64 per cent said they would be planning or considering an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation. This means that there will be a significant increase in the number of companies running or implementing mobile applications; In some cases this is almost double the current number (presently, 43 per cent run BI and Business Analytics, 49 per cent run CRM, and 43 per cent run ERP).

“

The move toward mobile technology and workforce is indicative of businesses’ need to innovate in order to increase competitive edge, increase productivity and ultimately profitability. It is also led by demand from the end user who increasingly wants access to business-critical applications on the go.” – Tim Noble, SAP UK & Ireland.

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Less than one fifth said they were not seeing a significant increase in the need for mobile information and use of mobile devices across the business, indicating that across the UK, companies are looking at their options for innovating through mobility.

Choice and flexibility Tim Noble, managing director at SAP UK & Ireland commented: “The move toward mobile technology and workforce is indicative of businesses’ need to innovate in order to increase competitive edge, increase productivity and ultimately profitability. It is also led by demand from the end user who

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increasingly wants access to businesscritical applications on the go. From this research it’s clear that over the two or three years we are going to see British companies favouring an increasingly mobile approach to business. At SAP we are well set up to provide our customers with the choice and flexibility they need to innovate and succeed.”

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With the need for innovation never greater, many are recognising the capabilities of mobile technology in meeting these requirements.

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When asked about the drivers for increasing their use of mobile solutions, increased productivity was the number one driver (53 per cent), while over a third (41 per cent) stated reduced costs and a further 38 per cent cited improved customer service. With one third of companies expecting between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of their employees to be mobile compared with only 4 per cent now, it is perhaps no surprise they are starting to invest in ondevice solutions.

Mobile workforce productivity Some 66 per cent of companies felt that moving to a more mobile workforce has had a positive impact on employee productivity, with around a 16 per cent productivity rise amongst workers.

Respondents also stated that a 12 per cent OPEX saving could be made if an additional 25 per cent of the workforce was made mobile. Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) of those surveyed said they feel their mobile workforce is better able to do their job, at least to some extent, with a further 63 per cent saying that there is greater level of job satisfaction across on-device workers.

“On-device models allow people to access information and data wherever they are and whenever they want. At SAP we are investing heavily to ensure we provide our customers with deployment choice and flexibility. In particular with on-device we are greatly extending the reach of SAP software to many more users and deliver applications for the business and technical user on many mobile devices.

We believe that with SAP’s OnPremise, OnDemand, and OnDevice product strategy we are creating new opportunities for our customers to build value and capitalise on changing market conditions,” added Noble.

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Mobile trends for verticals: •

Over two thirds (77 per cent) of manufacturing organisations are either currently using or planning to implement mobile devices in order to increase efficiency and productivity in the area of customer service and communication.

•

Nearly half (41 per cent) of retail organisations do not have a mobile application allowing customers to view their product catalogues, but only one tenth said they do not plan to develop or release a mobile application within the next two or three years, demonstrating a shift in the retail industry toward innovation through mobile devices. A 97 per cent majority said that a mobile application would increase brand loyalty to some extent.

•

A 59 per cent majority of respondents in financial services organisations agreed that over the next two to three years we will begin to bring our business right to the customer doors step by utilising the latest tablet PC or laptop

technology, equipped with highspeed wireless connectivity.

•

Two thirds of respondents in public sector organisations stated that the budget cuts would not hold back their drive to a more mobile workforce, however only 41 per cent said they saw the mobile workforce as a key platform for cost reduction to tax payers.

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Leveraging the

power of the web Avnet Technology Solutions launches ‘Marketplace’: a new website to generate additional Motorola business for Avnet Channel Partners across EMEA. vnet Technology Solutions, the solutions distributor and an operating group of Avnet, Inc., has announced the launch of Marketplace, a new website designed to help Avnet’s wireless & mobility resellers, VARs, ISVs and associated suppliers in EMEA generate additional Motorola hardware revenue.

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“Avnet recognises that it has become increasingly challenging for our channel partners to find new end user opportunities,” commented Keith Robinson, product business group

Avnet Technology Solutions’ Marketplace website has been designed to help Avnet’s partners in EMEA generate additional Motorola hardware revenue.

director, EMEA, at Avnet Technology Solutions. “At the same time, we realise that it is hard for end users looking to deploy a mobile technology in their business to find a trusted partner to deliver a solution that exactly meets their requirements.

Marketplace was designed specifically with both of these challenges in mind.”

Confidence and peace of mind Marketplace is available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Benelux and Turkey. In order to appear on Marketplace and benefit from the lead 32

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

generation opportunities associated with being listed on the site, partners must first register and qualify to become an Avnet Certified Partner. Among the conditions of becoming a certified partner, the reseller must be able to offer local language technical support and hold up-to-date Motorola certifications.

Once a partner has been approved by Avnet, they will be supplied with an Avnet Certified Partner logo that can be used on their own website and marketing collateral. This logo will provide end users with the confidence and peace of mind to approach partners that appear on Marketplace about the implementation of their IT solutions.

Every partner that registers to join Marketplace will be able to create a tailored company profile page, in local language, including information about the vertical markets they specialise in and the products they sell. In addition, partners will be able to upload brochures and case studies to their profile and include a link to their website. A dedicated enquiry form will be provided for end users to contact the partner directly. Partners will be provided with regular statistics on site traffic and visits to their profile page, including ‘click throughs’ to their website and enquiry forms submitted.

Networking platform End user companies will be able to use Marketplace to find a trusted partner to implement their mobile technology project by searching for a partner by region, solution type and or application.

In addition, Marketplace provides a platform for channel partners to network with one another and build new working relationships. For example, hardware resellers can locate ISVs with specific vertical market expertise to assist with a project and close a deal. “We are confident that Marketplace will help our channel partners to discover new revenue streams and opportunities in 2011,” concluded Robinson.

AVNET TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AT A GLANCE As a global IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver effective solutions that address the business challenges of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For fiscal year 2010, the group served customers in more than 70 countries and generated US$8.19 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com) is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.

AVNET Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended 3 July 2010, Avnet generated revenue of US$19.16 billion.

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CASE STUDY

Hampshire Police deploys

170 Panasonic Toughbooks in patrol and specialist vehicles Hampshire Police is upgrading 170 of its vehicles with rugged Panasonic Toughbook notebooks to improve efficiency and service when out patrolling and on special operations…

he Toughbooks will provide Hampshire Police with instant access to intelligence services such as PNC and police databases while on the road, and also give them mobile access to their station IT systems to complete paperwork when in the field.

Using the Toughbooks, the officers will be able to:

T •

•

“

obvious device choice and our decision was made even easier by the excellent technical support we received from the Panasonic team.”

Reduce bureaucracy by completing work processes in the field, helping to make the most of the force’s resources.

Highly durable

•

Instantly access information whilst in their communities, helping to work smarter and more effectively to reduce crime.

•

Capture witness statements and victim reports at the scene, without the need to bring members of the public back to the station, improving the service and capture of quality data.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

when taking statements or filling in forms in the field. The lightweight device can easily be held with one hand and the bright touchscreen LCD display is easy to use both inside and outside in bright light conditions. And for reliable communications when in the field, the Hampshire Police units contain 3G broadband capability, to ensure officers are always in touch with the command

We are continuously looking at ways to use mobile technology to improve the efficiencies and service we can provide as a police service. It was clear we required a mobile computing device that could be used by officers both in and outside the vehicle and that was hardwearing and reliable.”

– Cleave Faulkner, Hampshire Police.

Reduce unnecessary journeys back to the police station for paperwork or information, enabling the patrols to stay out in the community longer.

“We are continuously looking at ways to use mobile technology to improve the efficiencies and service we can provide 34

as a police service,” said chief inspector Cleave Faulkner, of Hampshire Police. “It was clear we required a mobile computing device that could be used by officers both in and outside the vehicle and that was hardwearing and reliable. After carrying out extensive trials, the Panasonic Toughbook was the

The Toughbook CF-19 is part of Panasonic’s Fully Rugged range and is equipped with Intel Core i5 vPro processor. A magnesium-thickened casing offers maximum protection for the most sensitive components such as the display, while hard drives are secured against impact and shock. A fall from a height of 90cm is said not to affect functionality in any way, and a special protective coating provides dust and water resistance.

centre.

Perfect technology companion William McGregor, Toughbook UK Corporate Sales Manager, said: “The police service has a very difficult job to do in challenging economic times.

Panasonic Toughbooks are the perfect technology companion for Hampshire police patrols to assist officers to cut bureaucracy, improve efficiencies and their service to the public.”

The fully ruggedised Toughbook CF-19s are being installed between now and June and will be available in patrol cars, as well as specialist vehicles for critical event management and firearm response teams.

The CF-19 is also a convertible rugged notebook, which means that the device can be used as a conventional laptop or converted to a tablet PC for easy use

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Blackroc Distribution and Impinj Workshop focuses on

RFID opportunities for the channel lackroc Distribution and recently appointed RFID partner Impinj held a Workshop at Stafford University last month, informing many of its RFID developer channel partners about recent developments within this technology space and pointing out ways to develop bespoke applications for end customers. The day included a corporate overview of Impinj and its background in RFID development, together with an explanation of how RFID, antennas and readers work. The benefits offered by UHF Gen 2 RFID technology were also explained. This presentation was provided by Paul Garner-Evans, Impinj’s senior sales director, and Casey Hagen, the company’s director of applications engineering, who also gave a live demonstration of how RFID can now be an effective and easily installed plugand-play application.

B

Formal distribution agreement Impinj entered into a formal distribution agreement with Blackroc Distribution recently to provide its RFID reader and antenna products in the UK and Ireland. Impinj identified Blackroc as a natural selection for distribution of its technology in UK. Garner-Evans commented: "With Blackroc's deep understanding of RFID and the AIDC industry, we feel that this new relationship will be the first of many positive steps towards growing the Impinj brand within the UK and Irish markets.”

Blackroc and Impinj are looking to encourage more and more resellers to become active in the field of RFID and will be providing a host of services to help support and educate resellers who want to expand their solutions

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using RFID. In addition to this readily available training Blackroc has a wellequipped demonstration facility in Stafford, which is freely offered to its resellers for meetings and working demonstrations for their potential customers. "The ability to add real value-added support to our channel partners within these markets is critical to our success as a channel driven business," said Peter Horton, Impinj's global channel marketing manager.

"Blackroc brings an enormous amount of value to our channel network with respect to technical training and support, making them the perfect distributor to support these markets."

The Blackroc Impinj relationship will deliver a wide range of products and solutions comprising high-performance readers, software, antennas, and systems integration. Impinj products provide high-level performance, integration, and cost effectiveness to a global customer base, in applications covering numerous vertical markets, including apparel, inventory management, asset tracking, authentication, and serialisation.

Deep-level involvement At the Workshop, Tony Jephcott, Blackroc Distribution’s managing director, commented: “For some time we’ve been involved at a very deep level with RFID, having developed Psion’s first ever reader. And our ongoing RFID activity means we are fully able to support our channel partners in this technology space. To grow our interest in RFID further we’ve established partnerships in the area of RFID-related software in order to make it easier for our application developer partners to create their own applications. One example of this is a software development kit (SDK) from

COMPANY NEWS

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Tony Jephcott: “[Blackroc’s RFID knowledge] can be leveraged to support our channel partners when they use the Impinj SDK to assist them in creating their own applications.”

Impinj, which provides a high-level interface between the finished application and the low-level logic protocol. Also, our own technical personnel have recently developed two example applications using the Impinj SDK. So, through developing applications ourselves we have learnt how to use this technology at a deep level. And this knowledge can be leveraged to support our channel partners when they use tools such as the Impinj SDK to assist them in creating their own applications.”

Jephcott added that Blackroc Distribution has also formed a partnership with RF-IT Solutions, based in Graz in Austria. “RF-IT is a wellestablished business that has created an application platform that makes it easier for our channel partners to create their own applications,” he said.

Terry Kemp, RF-IT’s sales director, spoke about RFID modular software during the afternoon session at last month’s Workshop.

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CASE STUDY

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Psion remains pick of

the crop for UK fruit farm sion, a global provider of mobile computing solutions, and its UK partner TSC Barcode Solutions, has announced a new deal with Thomas Thomson (Blairgowie) for its Workabout Pro 3 product to replace an existing fleet of Psion devices. The company is using Psion’s rugged, modular handheld computers to help the farm with managing staff performance and productivity, maximising fruit yields and to meet its obligations to its supermarket customers for produce traceability.

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Thomas Thomson (Blairgowie) is a Scottish-based fruit farm that supplies grade A product to major UK supermarkets. In the low-margin, highvolume and quick-turnaround business of fruit farming, the company’s first priority is to drive costs as low as possible. This entails maximising the productivity of each field of fruit, identifying underperforming fields and turning around as much produce in as fast a time as possible.

Critical role The company employs 400 staff during its busy harvest season to meet the supermarkets demands for quality fresh British fruit. Groups of up to 30 workers

“

use the Psion mobile computers to clock in and out, record piecework, and hours spent on different jobs such as planting or tunnel construction. The records play a critical role in producing the company’s payroll.

The Psion devices are part of the Thomas Thomson Fruit Picking System, which was specified, designed and deployed by TSC Barcode Solutions, provider of mobile computing, barcode and RFID data capture and label printing systems, in full co-operation with the farm. The system running on Psion’s devices is helping to dramatically improve efficiency and productivity in the field by providing instant recording and access to benchmarking data.

The company had been using Psion’s previous Workabout Pro devices but after nearly a decade of loyal service, Thomas Thomson’s existing device had finally worn out as Administrator at the farm, Laura Woods, commented: “As you can imagine, a farm is a pretty demanding environment for any computer and our Psion devices had stood the test of time.

However, we’d reached the point where we were cannibalising three units to make one working device and needed to upgrade our Workabout Pros.”

The company chose Psion Workabout

We’d had a long and positive experience with the Workabout Pro devices on our farms and trusted Psion to give us the same experience with the new units.”

– Laura Woods, Thomas Thomson (Blairgowie).

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

Pro 3 for three reasons. “We’d had a long and positive experience with the Workabout Pro devices on our farms and trusted Psion to give us the same experience with the new units,” explained Woods. “Workabout Pro 3 also gave us larger and improved screens that enabled the use of sophisticated productivity and reporting software in the field saving time downloading data at the end of an already long day. The third reason was that Workabout Pro 3 is a modular device and we liked the idea of being able to swap modules in the field rather than having to send devices back for repair or upgrade.”

Meeting traceability requirements Thomas Thomson now relies on Psion computers for all its performance benchmarking. Company supervisors can check key performance reports, such as field yield and staff performance in real time as often as they wish directly on the Psion Workabout Pro 3 devices.

Finally, the company can also meet traceability requirements coming from the supermarkets. With the use of the Workabout Pros high quality barcode scanners, they can record each barcoded tray rapidly and the data for that tray is stored in the farm’s systems in case any problems with produce are identified in the packhouse.

In the future, the company is considering moving to wireless downloading of data, so the Workabout Pro 3’s mobile capabilities will prove valuable here too.

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OPINION

Counting the environmental costs of e-waste

By Mark Beauchamp, European marketing manager for Citizen Systems Europe.

T

he advent of WEEE in 2007 had a mixed reception, with some responsible producers and large outlets (like Currys for example) offering free recycling services to customers and even non-customers. The issue of who pays for the proper recycling of e-waste is also a moot one. Reputable brands such as Citizen abide by strict codes and invest heavily in good practices.

Other organisations may be much less sympathetic and uncooperative and this varies from country to country too.

Indeed, four years after the implementation of the WEEE directive, the situation is still confusing, with a combination of missed targets and confusing objectives. Most EU countries have somewhat managed to increase the recycling of electric and electronic goods. Some of these initiatives stem from organisations such as Remploy, the UK’s largest employer of people with disabilities, offering refurbished entry level computers for as little as £92 to encourage people on low income to gain IT skills and access the internet. Most of this equipment comes from government offices and would have just been scrapped (one can only hope that sensitive data has been accurately removed). Of course, eventually even these items would need to be recycled, so even in this admirable example 38

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

“

For developing nations there is a real opportunity to create efficient and safe operations where goods are properly recycled, refurbished and even re-exported, creating much needed employment and skills.”

the concerns at the back of the WEEE directive remain.

Despite initial successes two areas remain of great concern. The first relates to the export of obsolete or recyclable items to socalled recycling sites in developing nations.

The second concern relates to the USA and also to the developing countries themselves, the so called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies in particular, where use of electronic goods has increased exponentially since the drafting of the WEEE directive in 2003.

Failings For example, a study by the American Chemical Society estimates that e-waste from developing nations will reach 700 million units by 2030, 500 million more than which the developed nations would have produced by the same date. This situation is made worse by the position of the USA as this country has consistently failed to sign up to international agreements on the

recycling of e-waste, with the result that much has now become landfill in the US itself, or simply exported without appropriate checks and as second hand equipment.

Much of this second hand equipment is converted and re-used in developing nations; however, given the often limited life span of these reconditioned items, they are quickly discarded and simply amassed in often unregulated landfill areas. Some of this e-garbage is also sent to developing nations marked as ‘donations’. The US isn’t alone in this grey trade and indeed this flow exists even within the EU, as according to Greenpeace, up to 47 per cent of the ewaste traded from our seaports should actually be deemed as illegal under WEEE regulations.

The WEEE regulations were well meaning and in theory made perfect sense. Many electronic items contain precious metals such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold.

These metals can be extracted during an appropriate recycling process and obviously reused. A standard mobile phone, for

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OPINION example, is 19 per cent copper and 8 per cent iron. Manufacturing mobile phones and personal computers consumes 3 per cent of all the gold and silver mined worldwide each year, 13 per cent of the palladium and 15 per cent of all cobalt. Simply discarding these items makes no sense whatsoever.

Incineration is equally wasteful and also extremely dangerous, as in the process, highly carcinogenic substances can be released in the environment.

Mobile phones are of particular concern as their lifespan is well below that of a standard computer or other peripherals. Fashion and in-built obsolescence dictates that a mobile phone is now changed every 18 months or so, with the result that the International Telecommunications Union estimates that 5 billion phones are registered every year globally. With such short lifespan and extreme portability itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to dispose of unwanted phones, though many remain at the back of cupboards probably for several years, before their owners finally decided to dispose of them.

There is now a brisk trade of e-waste from developed countries to India, China and Africa. China is making serious attempts at preventing becoming a global dumping ground. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t entirely selfless, however, as China already produces about 2.3 million tonnes (2010 estimate) of domestic waste, second only to the United States with approximately 3 million tonnes. Moreover, most of Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own e-waste is improperly handled, much of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a practice that releases steady plumes of far-reaching toxic pollution and yields very low metal recovery rates compared to stateof-the-art industrial facilities.

Dumping ground In India the situation is more complex and with fewer controls itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much more difficult to estimate the scale of the problems. However, a leading environmental group estimates that in Delhi alone over 30,000 people are employed in the task of recovering e-waste. The real A study by the American Chemical Society problem relates to Africa and to estimates that e-waste from developing nations Ghana in particular, a country with a will reach 700 million units by 2030, 500 million GDP of just over 600 US$. Ghana has more than which the developed nations would have produced by the same date. recently been named the dumping containing lead and cadmium, a carcinogen ground of used gadgets and the problem is that damages lungs and kidneys. exacerbated by the fact that Ghanaians living abroad literally scavenge for these In the light of the above it seems that discarded items in Europe and America, directives alone, no matter how well package them and then ship them home, meaning, will not be enough to prevent according to officials from the Ghana large scale environmental problems, unless Standards Board. This can be a lucrative proper recycling processes are in place trade but ultimately the costs are passed on globally. For developing nations there is a to the already impoverished state, in terms real opportunity to create efficient and safe of safe disposal and health risks. In the operations where goods are properly heart of Accra â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in an area called recycled, refurbished and even reAbgogbloshie â&#x20AC;&#x201C; lies one of the most toxic exported, creating much needed and polluted sites in Ghana, which is where employment and skills. Yet such an all discarded electrical gadgets are enlightened approach can only come with dumped. Thick black smoke billows from a combination of scaled up control different parts of the site as parts are burnt measures combined with well-targeted aid in an attempt to retrieve the copper. In the from developed countries. process, people inhale toxic smoke

CITIZEN SYSTEMS EUROPE Citizen Systems Europe operates from locations throughout Europe covering the EMEA region. It offers a wide range of printers for industrial, retail, healthcare and mobile applications specialising in label, barcode, portable and point-of-sale printers. In each case, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products are sold and supported by a network of specialised partners. Citizen Systems Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizen Systems Japan and part of the Citizen group of companies, a global organisation that manufactures products ranging from its world-famous Eco-Drive watches, calculators, mini-printers and industrial printing systems to machine tools, quartz oscillators, LEDs and other electronic components.

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39

’NEIL DATAMAX O T ER EXTRAC WHITE PAP

The power of mobile printing in the warehouse and beyond

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ith the growing emphasis on cost cutting, companies need to find new and better ways to enhance efficiencies and ensure accuracy across their supply chains and distribution networks. One strategy that is still effective in helping achieve this goal is the implementation of greater mobility into warehousing and distribution functions through devices such as mobile printers.

According to a recent study, mobile devices and software commonly improve workforce production by 20 per cent or more. This translates into lower labour costs, lower operating costs, and faster payback on investment1. Such gains are not hard to envision. By minimising the time needed to print labels and apply them to materials, work in process, finished goods, pallets, boxes etc., mobile printers help drive down labour costs while improving performance on the warehouse and DC floors.

Similarly, companies bound by centralised printing and labelling solutions risk diminished productivity and increase the likelihood of errors because workers have to leave their positions to travel to and from the centralised printing station to retrieve barcode labels. While the integration of these centralised stations with enterprise applications has proven effective in driving up efficiencies and driving down costs, they have in many cases reached their potential.

To further streamline the operation of processes and extend the value of software and computer assets within the warehouse, mobile printing solutions can empower the worker, right where he or she is at that moment, whenever he or she demands this functionality.

printing in warehouse operations. When pallets are unloaded from a truck that is delivering goods to be stored in a receiving warehouse, a forklift is used to get the goods from the truck. Sometimes an entire pallet goes in, but in many cases the pallet has to be broken down. In either case, the destination for goods has to be identified and catalogued, and a label has to be put on each piece, so that it can be identified in the system (ie. these are wheel bearings, those are something else). The items have to be assigned to a location in the warehouse.

All this information has to be clear so that the manufacturing process can move forward. If every time a worker goes to a pallet, they have to go to a printer that is at the end of their loading dock, operator time is going to be wasted. The operator has to go back and forth, pick up the label, put the label on, and then take the item back to the warehouse.

On the other hand, in this environment, if the operator is wearing the printer or the printer is attached to a forklift, then the operator can print labels as soon as items have been identified on the pallet – as soon as the pallet is touched. The operator spends less time going back and forth to the stationary printer, and efficiency is increased.

Also if operators are distracted, items may go to the wrong place in the warehouse or – worse – outbound items may get shipped to the wrong destination. Mobile printing greatly reduces the likelihood of such errors and their associated costs, which can drive costs upwards by 15 per cent2. By empowering printing at the point-of-use, mobile printers speed time to completion and improve compliance, as print and label execution becomes a more natural part of the employee’s workflow.

The case for mobile printers in the warehouse

Redefine receiving

Greater efficiency and reducing the cost of errors are the two principal drivers of mobile

40

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

Instead of workers moving to printers at the end of the dock or from the dock to the IT office to pick up labels of advance ship

Greater efficiency and reducing the cost of errors are the two principal drivers of mobile printing in warehouse operations. notices that are printed and stored upon receipt, they can print at the point of receiving from belt- or forklift-mounted label printers. In this way, barcodes or RFID labels can be affixed immediately upon unloading, ensuring that incoming items are prepared accurately for the warehouse’s automated processing systems. This eliminates the time required for round trips between the dock and office, and minimises the chance that a worker could apply a wrong label. Labelling items in this manner also ensures that 100 per cent of incoming items are bar-coded, so that warehouse applications can be fully leveraged.

Capitalise on cross-docking By minimising steps for personnel, mobile printing optimises cross-docking procedures used at a trans-shipment point to save time and labor in moving goods from an inbound vehicle to an outbound vehicle. Staff equipped with mobile devices can receive inbound shipments, log them into the warehouse management or inventory control systems with a mobile computer or handheld device, and then use a mobile printer to create labels with the appropriate cross-docking information. Doing this at the point of use speeds the process while improving accuracy.

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’NEIL DATAMAX O T ER EXTRAC WHITE PAP Make putaway painless

Beyond the ordinary

Inherent delays in the fixed-printer model – routing to and from the printer, time spent at the printer per se – have had a negative effect on putaway. Using mobile printers within integrated environments that include mobile printers, wireless networks, and shared databases can attain significant efficiency gains over an architecture that utilises stationary devices located near, but not at the point where the work actually happens. Specifically, an integrated system empowers personnel to initiate label requests by entering data into a handheld computer that transmits the data to the company’s ERP system over a wireless LAN. After the ERP system receives the transmission and updates inventory, information required to create the appropriate label or labels is sent back to the handheld for mobile printing.

In addition to the classic warehouse procedures (receiving, QA, putaway, picking, packing, and shipping), mobile printers are proving effective in driving efficiencies in other labelling applications, including: Asset Tracking; Compliance Labelling; Inventory Control; Real-Time Tracking Status and Spare Parts; Spare Parts Inventory; Asset Utilisation; Customer Compliance; and Overage, Shortage, or Damage. Mobile printers are also showing value in other environments. For example, on the manufacturing shop floor, mobile printers are being used more in actual production areas – around production lines, workstations, machines, and equipment – where point-of-work printing access can drive up efficiencies by eliminating wasteful travel and social dwelling time.

Picking possibilities Since picking is essentially the opposite of putaway, mobile printers can provide this function with similar time and cost savings.

By enabling operators to pick multiple orders simultaneously and within a very small footprint, mobile printers drive down empty transit time and drive up productivity. The printers are used to create barcode or RFID labels for each individual item; these are subsequently scanned to speed the sorting of items for shipment.

Excellence in packing and shipping When a manufacturing process is finished, personnel can use the mobile printer to create a label for the finished goods; or, warehouses and distribution centers can use mobile printers to manage ship-to-order requirements. Workers can use labels and scanning to verify the pick/pack of all items necessary to complete an order, eliminating the need to identify and label final assemblies. The processing of ship-to-order requests can be improved by labeling items with an order code to associate them with a specific customer during picking or packing.

When the order finishes, a mobile printer creates the shipping label, ensuring accuracy in packing and shipping.

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Datamax-O’Neil’s 4inch label printer, the RL4, designed for rugged environments typically found in manufacturing, transportation and logistics applications.

It is ideal for wearing on a belt or mounting to a forklift and delivers labels where you are, when you want them. even when the printer comes with a full complement of accessories (eg. forktruck mounts, power supplies for invehicle applications, multiple battery chargers). Accessories also include language emulators; Datamax O’Neil has control language emulation that covers ZPL, CPTL, and IPL, as well as Datamax O’Neil’s own DPL. Many Datamax O’Neil printers can automatically interrogate the data stream and apply one of many control languages that is native to the device. The rugged and portable RL4 ‘speaks’ six different control languages.

Why Datamax O’Neil?

Why does Datamax O’Neil make sense as a supplier? Two compelling reasons:

Ruggedness In mature markets, which generally are markets with higher labour costs, many installations have already been done. When it comes to portable devices, whether it is a printer, hand-held terminal, smartphone, or laptop, those who have used these devices know the cost of supporting a nonruggedised solution is significant. They know that the total cost of ownership does not pay off when you have to buy extended warrantees or have a large hot swap pool to replace units that keep going down so operators can keep working, either on the manufacturing floor or in the field. Datamax O’Neil mobile printing solutions eliminate these problems because they are ultrarugged by design, providing a truly durable solution that doesn’t need frequent maintenance or replacing.

Easy integration Datamax O’Neil printers are designed to reduce your fixed cost of installation,

Easy integration also means integrating well with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). SAP has a WMS module specifically designed to improve warehousing environments, as do Oracle, Manhattan Associates and many other WMS solution providers. These companies make software specifically designed to allow manufacturers to better organise the flow of products across their shop floors and through their warehouses. Datamax O’Neil’s proven compatibility with these WMS is another important differentiator.

Specific solutions for your warehousing, distribution centre, retail, or route accounting applications keep your business efficient and error free.

NOTES 1.

‘Rationalising Maintenance without Compromising Capability’, ARC Insights, Arc Advisory Group, July 22, 2010.

2.

‘InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Studies Document Costs for Major Organisations Worldwide’, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, September 28, 2005.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

41

Printing & labelling

Company news

Zebra Technologies establishes new EMEA channel marketing team to support global ISV initiative Zebra Technologies Corporation, the global provider of specialty printing, RFID and enterprise location solutions, has announced the expansion of its EMEA channel marketing expertise with the addition of four new team roles… his expansion follows the rapid growth of Zebra’s partner base since it launched the PartnersFirst scheme five years ago, and more recently to support its global ISV programme which was announced earlier this year. ISVs can now take advantage of Zebra’s reseller channel and global sales resources, as well as global alliance partnerships that include Motorola, IBM, Oracle and SAP.

T

“We have developed our partner network significantly and we understand that companies in the channel appreciate the benefits of joining a programme that will offer them the support required to stay ahead of the competition,” said Rebecca Brookes, channel marketing team manager, Zebra Technologies. “We are now extremely well positioned to support our evolving channel and ISV base in the UK and across EMEA. With these new roles in place, I look forward to further success in the relationships with our channel partners.”

“

ISVs can now take advantage of Zebra’s reseller channel and global sales resources, as well as global alliance partnerships that include Motorola, IBM, Oracle and SAP. programme manager, a channel marketing manager and two channel programmes development specialists.

As ISV programme manager, Chris Ayres will now adapt Zebra’s global programme to the

We have developed our partner network significantly and we

understand that companies in the channel appreciate the benefits of joining a programme that will offer them the support required to stay ahead of the competition. We are now extremely well positioned to support our evolving channel and ISV base in the UK and across EMEA.” – Rebecca Brookes Zebra Technologies.

New roles To support the latest developments Zebra has added to its marketing team a range of new channel programme and channel marketing roles which include an EMEA ISV

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

EMEA region and manage Zebra’s ISV programme across Europe. As the new channel marketing manager, Chris Gubbins will focus on the development of various programmes including incentives and

marketing support, while the channel programme specialists’ roles will include overseeing the ongoing development of online resources for partners, and programmes for partners that specialise in specific product areas.

ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES Zebra Technologies Corporation offers a broad range of enabling solutions to identify, track and manage critical assets, people and transactions for improved business efficiencies. Serving more than 90 per cent of Global Fortune 500 companies in more than 100 countries around the world, Zebra’s specialty on-demand printing, RFID and enterprise location solutions help customers create smarter and more connected infrastructures, resulting in significant improvements in visibility and business performance.

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Interview

Printing & labelling

Channel push continues for Sato IT Reseller spoke with Brian Lang, managing director International Europe at Sato, about the company’s channel strategy and what its European Partner Programme can offer existing and prospective VARs. ato has been a well-established name in the world of barcode printing solutions for over two decades, The company’s product line includes everything from direct thermal and thermal transfer printers and RFID smart printers, to OEM print engines, 10.5in-wide web printers, printer accessories, label design software, labels and thermal transfer ribbons. The company’s prime focus is within the retail sector, including restaurants and hospitality.

General manufacturing and food manufacture also makes up a sizable slice of the company’s customer base, as does transportation & logistics, government and healthcare. Sato’s Brian Lang pointed out that the company’s main theatres of operation are focused within US, North and South America, North Africa and Europe – including Turkey and Greece. Sato also has a base in Singapore, which manages the company’s Asia Pacific market activity, including South Africa.

S

Three-tier partner model To further boost its activity in Europe, April 2010 saw Sato launch a new European Partner Programme. Lang explained that the rationale behind the launch of this channel initiative in Europe has been to bolster the level of VAR partners within three core tiers within the programme. “We’re looking for market specialisation, application specialisation, specific technical skills, valueadded qualities within a segment of our target markets, and also proven geographic penetration,” he said, adding: “At the top tier

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we’re looking for qualities that are rather unique, and that make us think we can invest with these partners and grow a specific part of the market. At level 2 we’re looking for partners that have proven AIDC industry experience, or offer solutions and services that we can bold our technologies and solutions to, and take them to our target markets and geographic segments. The third level comprises the general AIDC community that buys and sells product.”

In terms of partner credentials, Lang explained that Sato supplies a number of solutions and products that offer access based on particular qualifications. “We sell print engines rather than sell print application machines,” he said, “and we have a number of partners throughout Europe that we work closely with. They take our print engines, built them into their applications and then sell them into their particular target marketplace. There are a number of other products we offer where there’s a certain certification aspect. Again, we will provide the base technology. For instance, if our partners are looking to seel our recently launched TH2 printer [reported on in the March 2011 edition of IT Reseller] there’s a certain certification process they need to go through involving learning about the Application Enabled Printing (AEP) programming language and basically being able to build and resell these types of solutions. So we are looking for more partners with very specific expertise; companies that can build solutions and offer them as part of their overall package to the end customer.”

Brian Lang: Attractive business proposition.

Strong business proposition Lang added that Sato’s market share in Europe is convincing, and sales continue to grow. “So attractive sales opportunities for our partners are certainly in place,” he said.

Lang added that Sato provides solutions that can add significant value to its partners’ business proposition. He also pointed out that the company is able to provide a good level of local support, with around 400 people spread throughout Europe offering sales and technical back-up when required.

“Together with attractive margin opportunities, we believe we offer a highly attractive business proposition to our partners,” concluded Lang.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

43

Document Management

Product news

Konica Minolta's Bizhub Press C8000 receives highest product rating from BERTL onica Minolta’s Bizhub Press C8000 digital production print system has received ‘Exceptional 5-Star Rating’ from The Business Equipment Research and Test Laboratories Inc (BERTL) in the US. The ‘Exceptional 5-Star Rating’ is highly significant because BERTL is an independent testing laboratory providing objective, independent product evaluation reports and comparative analyses on imaging devices and software solutions.

BERTL ‘Exceptional 5-Star Rating’ is only awarded to industry-leading products, and positions the Bizhub Press C8000 as the must-have colour digital press for the production print marketplace.

K

Bizhub PRESS C8000,” said Arthur V. Wynne, III, President, BERTL, Inc. “This feature-rich production system certainly steps up to the challenge and exceeds expectations by delivering an end-to-end production solution. Customers concerned with image quality and full production capabilities will find that the Bizhub Press C8000 will not only meet their needs but exceed their expectations. BERTL analysts were very impressed with the image quality generated from the Bizhub C8000.”

During the extensive product testing, the Bizhub Press C8000 reached 5-Star Ratings in high profile categories such as finishing, media handling, printing, image “Konica Minolta has quality and features. drawn the line in the BERTL also sand and set a Konica Minolta’s Bizhub Press C8000 digital new quality of production print system has received ‘Exceptional mentioned the 5-Star Rating’ from BERTL. system’s security standard with the

and workflow capabilities as well as its easeof-use and configuration options with three different image controllers.

Independent endorsement For Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK), Pauline Brooks, group product manager for the Production Print Division commented: “The Konica Minolta approach to customer intimacy is key in providing outstanding equipment. Only through customer intimacy can we truly understand what our customers want and need from production class equipment. The BERTL 5-Star rating provides an excellent independent endorsement of the Bizhub Press C8000’s performance, quality and reliability. It is an endorsement that buyers can trust and use as a benchmark. Konica Minolta is committed to providing outstanding digital print solutions to meet the needs of print professionals and the BERTL 5-Star rating is clear evidence of this.”

Product news

Abbyy releases FlexiCapture 10 software system for enterprise data and document capture bbyy – provider of document recognition, document capture, and linguistic technologies and services – has announced the availability of Abbyy FlexiCapture 10, the next generation of its data and document capture system. With the new release, Abbyy offers one of the most comprehensive data capture solutions, serving a broad range of user scenarios from desktop to enterprise level and delivering templatebased form processing and intelligent document recognition in a single product.

A

Abbyy comments that new FlexiCapture technology with auto-learning helps companies ‘start smart’, significantly reducing an organisation's time to results, yet delivering a high level of accuracy in locating and recognising data fields in documents of any level of complexity. The 44

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

system also extends its feature set for the enterprise with enhanced processing power and maximum fault tolerance. In addition, it delivers new intelligent tools for remote operations as well as customisation features for easier integration with business processes and applications.

standalone application to a distributed system. It is designed to locate key data fields on complex document layouts so that it can process multiple types of documents in a single stream, eliminating the need for multiple systems to process different kinds of document types.

Addressing document processing problems common among large organisations, Abbyy FlexiCapture 10 provides intelligent technologies for streamlining the process of extracting key data from a variety of documents including machine-readable forms, semi-structured and unstructured documents. It offers a full range of functionality for document scanning, classification, indexing and data extraction, enabling the solution to meet needs specific to each individual organisation. An all-in-one solution, FlexiCapture 10 scales from a

"FlexiCapture has evolved with the needs of the market, becoming more and more self-sufficient and capable of performing the majority of tasks automatically and simplifying various stages of the document management process in organisations," said Aram Pakhchanian, director of Data Capture Products department at Abbyy.

"FlexiCapture 10's product advancements were developed to save organisations time, streamline data processing and communication, and reduce implementation costs, ultimately improving the user experience for both customers and integrators."

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Opinion

“Tips, best practices and SAN I/O optimisation methodologies should always be obtained from the respective SAN vendor.”

Document Management

Have you been told

‘you don’t need to defragment’ when adding a SAN environment into your network estate?

By Naveen Louis, IT consultant at Diskeeper Corporation Europe.

ith massive electronic data growth occurring today, there is now a much greater need for storage. SAN is at the forefront for most storage solutions and providers such as HP, IBM and NetApp, to name a few, are providing the necessary platforms to cater to this. Virtualisation and Cloud solutions are promising less hardware in this respect but data storage, if held locally, will inevitably mean acquiring more hardware. This additional hardware is where the problem will lie in terms of cost for many companies today.

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Misconception It therefore stands to reason that making full use of your SAN potential is vital. A common misconception related to SAN storage environments is that they don’t suffer from fragmentation related issues. This is the ‘party line’ being handed out by many of the storage providers. There are plausibly a couple of reasons for this. First, that each SAN provider will have their own propriety logic when it comes to arranging blocks within the SAN environment, and secondly, which is Naveen Louis: The more likely, is that less fragmented a they get to sell more file is, the less I/Os hardware to their are required to access the file. customers.

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To understand this a little better, every file system is a ‘virtual’ disk, stacking one virtual component over another (ie. one file system on top of another). What the vendor of a SAN file system does at their SAN file system level is irrelevant to what the Windows file system does underneath ― all Windows file systems fragment, regardless.

SANs typically employ a clustered/SAN file system to pool disk arrays into a virtualised storage volume. This is not Windows NTFS, but rather the proprietary software, provided by a SAN hardware or

“

Virtualisation and Cloud

solutions are promising less hardware in this respect but data storage, if held locally, will inevitably mean acquiring more hardware. This additional hardware is where the problem will lie in terms of cost for many companies today.” software vendor. Claims that ‘you do not need to defragment’ may be misunderstood and incorrectly implied to mean ‘Windows NTFS’ ― NTFS always needs to be defragmented. It is very possible that you do not need to defragment the ‘SAN file system’. Tips, best practices and SAN I/O optimisation

methodologies should always be obtained from the respective SAN vendor.

SANs are only ever block-level storage, they do not know what I/Os relate to what files.

Therefore they cannot intelligently spread the fragments of a file across multiple disks. A whole mass of separate I/Os writes/reads for fragmented files (which will most certainly be interspersed with other simultaneous data writes/reads) will non-optimally be spread across the disks in the SAN storage pool.

Measurement As for NTFS, it still fragments and causes the Windows OS to ‘split’ I/O requests for files sent into the SAN, creating a performance penalty. You can measure this using the Window's built-in PerfMon tool and watch the split I/O counter. You can also use the Average Queued Disk I/O, given that you account for the number of physical spindles.

The only solution offered by SAN vendors to address the split I/O problem is adding more spindles. This solution would mask the problem by dispersing the I/Os across the additional disks. This would mean you will need to add more disks as the I/O bottleneck increases, which would occur over a period of time.

The actual problem lies at the NTFS level, for every fragment of a file is a separate I/O that has to be generated to access it. The less fragmented a file is, the less I/Os are required to access the file, compared to when it is heavily fragmented.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

45

NETWORKING—SECURITY—UPS—STORAGE Company news

Version One toasts Green IT Awards success for second year running Document management and imaging software author, Version One, in partnership with Blenheim Palace, has won the ‘Environmental Project of the Year’ category of the Green IT Awards 2011… his is the second successive year

T

environmental impact. The 20,000 purchase

significantly reduce their environmental

that Version One has been

invoices Blenheim Palace receives each year

impact by eliminating the need to store,

declared a Green IT Awards

are now being scanned, tagged to the

process and distribute large volumes of

winner after its tree planting

appropriate record in the Palace’s Sage Line

paper. We are therefore very proud to be

scheme won the ‘Best Carbon

500 accounting system and electronically

recognised as an environmental leader within

Offsetting Scheme of the Year’ category in

stored. The original paper copies can then be

the IT industry once again.”

2010. This year’s winners were announced at

destroyed. Purchase invoices are now

an awards ceremony on 19 May 2011 held at

retrieved electronically by authorised users,

Version One’s portfolio of document

London Zoo.

eliminating the need to photocopy, file and

management and imaging solutions enable

post paper documents.

the electronic creation, storage, retrieval, management, delivery and authorisation of

The Green IT Awards recognise the outstanding environmental products, suppliers

Julian Buck, Version One’s managing director,

business documents. By implementing

and projects of 2010 and highlight the

commented: “We are delighted to have won

Version One’s systems, businesses

companies and teams that have made

this prestigious award in partnership with

significantly reduce their paper consumption,

significant contributions to improving the IT

Blenheim Palace, building on our previous

cutting costs and improving process

industry’s environmental performance.

success at last year’s Green IT Awards. Our

efficiencies whilst supporting their

innovative solutions help organisations to

environmental agendas.

Blenheim Palace is the ancestral home of the

transform their efficiency levels and

11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. As a prestigious World Heritage Site, Blenheim Palace wanted to reduce its impact on the environment and selected Version One’s solutions to electronically store and process the 20,000 financial documents it handles each year.

Streamlining Version One’s systems have significantly streamlined Blenheim Palace’s financial

Version One Version One is the author of electronic document management and imaging solutions. These solutions enable the electronic storage, retrieval, management, enhancement and delivery of business documents such as invoices, purchase orders and statements. This 'paperless office' technology is seamlessly integrated into all major ERP and accounting systems and with a typical ROI of less than six months, Version One's solutions are enabling thousands of organisations to cut paper consumption whilst saving dramatic amounts of time and money.To increase the awareness of Version One’s Clean and Green Project and for project information and updates as well as green hints and tips, Version One has launched its Eco Gecko website www.ecogecko.org. Version One is an Advanced Computer Software Group plc company.

processes, drastically reducing its

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IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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DOCUMENT

MANAGEMENT

Product news

DocuWare Smart Connect – finding and storing documents with one click of a button installation. Also, a Wizard is on hand to help

single screen mask.

any proficient user set up a configuration. The

Juergen Biffar: “By incorporating the latest Web technology in the development of our products, users get many benefits.”

user determines which content will be used

“By incorporating the latest Web technology in

from the application and whether a search or

the development of our products, users get

“

With the new module users can access information needed

for any process with a single mouse click, straight out of any

new browser-based module

A

application. It can also be used to store documents as part of

from DocuWare called Smart Connect lets users incorporate a

any workflow.”

document management solution indexing process will be started. Next, a Smart

many benefits,” said DocuWare co-president

any special programming. Whether for

Connect button is created to launch the

Juergen Biffar. “As an example, Browser-

processing orders, authorising invoices or

configuration. How the button is labelled and

based applications are much easier for

clearing up inquiries, the necessary

where it is positioned on the user interface can

administrators to use and can be distributed

documents for any workflow processes can be

be customised by the user.

throughout an organisation, without a lot of

into other applications without

effort spent on configuration or installation.”

accessed with a single click of a button.

Documents can also be archived in the same manner, straight out of any application.

Manifold benefits

DocuWare reports that cumbersome key

With the new module users

combinations are no longer necessary; users

can access information

can simply position a button comfortably

needed for any process with a

anywhere within their familiar business

single mouse click, straight

applications to access DocuWare. Whether

out of any application. It can

searching for a document or indexing before

also be used to store

storage, with a Smart Connect button

documents as part of any

information can be used directly from the user

workflow. For example, if

interface.

users need to access a stored incoming customer order from their accounting program, they

Web-based – no effort, no cost

simply click on the Smart

The new Web-based module is easy to use

Connect button. Multiple

and does not require a complicated client

buttons can also be set up in a

www.itrportal.com

The new Web-based module is easy to use and does not require a complicated client installation.

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

47

NETWORKING—SECURITY—UPS—STORAGE Company news

To Come

48

IT RESELLER – MARCH 2011

www.itrportal.com

NETWORKING—SECURITY—UPS—STORAGE Company news

Riello UPS brand will consolidate entire Riello Elettronica UPS portfolio Riello Elettronica has launched a branding initiative designed to reinforce the global marketing and sales efforts supporting its rapidly growing UPS portfolio…

Riello UPS – creating a strong marketing platform to support future growth worldwide.

ith immediate effect, all

“

W

focus on the UPS business by a dedicated UPS team. That will

visual identity. All solar inverter products will be

support and stronger brand visibility and communications.”

UPS products, including those previously sold under the Aros name, will be marketed worldwide under

the Riello UPS brand, with a new logo and

Our UPS customers and partners will benefit from a stronger

translate into a stronger product portfolio, enhanced service and

sold under the AROS Solar Technology brand.

– Roberto Facci, Riello UPS.

For UPS customers and business partners, As the brand consolidation rolls out, UPS and

the consolidation under the Riello UPS brand signals the successful conclusion of the 14-

Ongoing growth opportunities

solar inverter customers and partners will

year-old integration of Riello UPS and Aros

Solar inverter customers and partners are

continue to benefit from the full current

engineering, manufacturing and marketing

expected to benefit as Aros Solar Technology

portfolios of products and services. The

resources into a single UPS supplier.

teams focus their attention and resources

branding initiative will reportedly have no

exclusively on this rapidly growing sector.

impact on employment. To continue building

Facci said: “Consolidating all of our UPS

the Riello UPS brand, the three-year-old Riello

Stronger focus

activities under a single, global brand reflects

UPS sponsorship/partnership with the Ducati

Roberto Facci, Riello’s international sales

both our strong UPS positions and our

Corse motorcycle racing team was renewed

director, commented: “Our UPS customers and

ongoing growth opportunities, especially in

for 2011.

partners will benefit from a stronger focus on

EMEA, India and China.”

the UPS business by a dedicated UPS team.

That will translate into a stronger product

Riello UPS at a glance

portfolio, enhanced service and support and

Riello UPS, a Riello Elettronica Group company, develops, manufactures, markets and services static uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). The company provides UPS solutions for offices, electro-medical environments, safety and emergency devices, data centres, industrial complexes and communications systems. A worldwide sales and services network, including fully owned subsidiaries and selected business partners, enables Riello UPS to serve customers throughout EMEA, Asia/Pacific and South America. In 2009, Riello Elettronica, a privately-held company, reported revenues totalling more than 160 million euros, with an EBITDA in excess of 22 million and a cash flow of 21.2 million. Riello UPS (UK) is part of the Riello Elettronica group and has subsidiary companies and support offices across the world.

stronger brand visibility and communications.”

Fabio Passuello, CEO of Riello Elettronica, added: “Both our UPS and solar inverter businesses have achieved remarkable growth in virtually every market where we are active.

By consolidating each business under a dedicated brand, we are creating a strong marketing platform to support future growth worldwide.”

www.itrportal.com

IT RESELLER – MAY 2011

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On 14 June 2011, the ScanSource Europe Partner Tour stops off at Vinopolis in London.

The ScanSource Europe Partner Tour 2011 is your industry event of the year. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re coming to you with another fantastic programme â&#x20AC;&#x201C; education, entertainment and quality networking time.

This day is specially designed for your business to get as much out of it as possible. Invite your colleagues and make it a trip to remember.

What we offer you: - Vendor demonstration area and ISV area. Join us and meet representatives from all the top brands in the Auto-ID industry as they showcase their latest hardware. Our software partners will present you their most innovative applications - Opportunities to meet with ScanSource local teams and executives - A day filled with quality networking, followed by a fantastic dinner and entertainment.

Go to www.partnertour.eu and register yourself and colleagues.

Act fast, as the number of participants is limited.