Giving credit
job cuts are becoming the norm in the industry at the moment and talk is that there is worse to come in both distribution and resellers. But how confident is everyone really feeling about 2009? Are we talking ourselves into a recession here? If it is true what Informer is hearing on the gravevine at the moment, we are in for some large scale casualties over the coming months.
Sporting chance
Informer was interested to hear two executives talking about the upcoming Channel Awards at a recent gathering. The conversation went something like this:
1: Are you going to the channel awards this year?
2: No.
1: Oh, why not? We saw you there last year and you said it was a great evening
2: It was. But we didn't get shortlisted this year, and our finance department has cut the budget. We can only go to something like that if we know we have won.
Oh dear. Looks like there really is no Christmas cheer in the channel this year. Most people use it as an unofficial office party and don't take not winning personally.
Is this a sign of things to come?
Read the book, got the T-shirt
Informer was amused to find a brilliant tome landing on its desk the other day entitled - Distribution Channels - Understanding and Managing Channels to Market. Priced at a very reasonable £25 - the book delves into the fascinating world of the distribution channel, and informs the reader how best to capitalise on the industry, along with plenty of factoids and figures. What Informer finds amazing is the fact that someone has sat down and poured hours and hours of work into a book on distribution. It would be very interesting to find out if anyone is actually going to purchase this book and at least give the poor author some reward for all their hard work.
All quiet
Industry gossip is a little scarce at the moment - probably because everyone is taking a well earned holiday or break from work. There are rumours about certain companies going around, but they are far too contentious to mention at the moment. Please feel free to contact Informer if you do have any snippets.
Sweeping statement
Informer is not usually one to moan - but at an event recently a senior figure from a well known software vendor made an interesting observation about members of the fairer sex. Apparently housewives more than ever know the virtues of buying GPRS style devices for their children because once they have dropped the kids off from school, they go straight to the supermarket and log on to check where their children are.
"Because that is what housewives do - shopping," said the exec. After the cleaning, washing and ironing, obviously.
Communication is back
Thanks to a recent installation by distributor Zycomm, staff at amusement park Alton Towers can now enjoy effective communication using handheld radios - which means they can talk to each other from one end of the park to the other. Hopefully the staff have improved their communication skills since the last time Channel Informer visited (admittedly about nine years ago) - the odd grunt and bored glance in response to a question of 'should children that age be allowed on this ride' hardly filled one with confidence.
New news?
There is breaking news out apparently that Ingram has recently signed a distribution agreement with SonicWall. However informer remembers this story the first time around - June 2007 in fact. What does that mean? Did Ingram and SonicWall part company, only to reunite again this week, or is this a case of a communication breakdown?
Nerves of steel
You have to had a certain admiration for the sheer courage of one particular company that has issued a winding up petition against DSG Retail Ltd. The case is actually going to be heard on 29 May - but someone even in the wildest dreams of most David and Goliath scenarios is this company to go win. I'm sure DGS Retail is trembling in its boots
Good PR
Informer heard murmurings about one particular vendor that was so frustrated with its PR company in the UK that it started touting its stories around itself to get even the slightest mention in a trade magazine. A question along the lines of "so how do you secure coverage because our PR firm is totally useless," doesn't really leave a lot to the imagination.
HP and EDS tie up
The rumour mill is going into overdrive today with the news that HP and EDS are set to merge. The two firms have confirmed they are in advanced talks - but as yet no agreement has been reached. If it does happen, it will be interesting to see how this affects HP's channel partners globally.
