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February 2009

www.crn.co.za

Inside
 EMC anticipates growth in SA P12>>
 Small business storage needs still rising p20>>
 Convergence: networking’s hot topic p29>>

Industry heads share what they

think 2009 has in store p33>>
 PUBLISHER’S: NOTE

Hope in the SME

W
hether you call it the SMB or SME space, the small and medium business sector,
regardless of its focus, seems to be a big ray of hope for the IT industry.
During this very negative period where project businesses are being reduced
or suspended until sunnier days, there still seems to be a lot of hope that the
SME/B space will remain vibrant.
While the bigger corporates seem to be adopting a “lets sweat our assets”
approach, the medium and smaller sized guys look poised to do quite a bit of
spending this year.
I have met with many heads of IT companies over the past 30 days and the
one thing that remains constant is their faith in the small and medium-sized
companies as the spenders in 2009.
However, this begs the question as to how much is this space really worth
locally and what if the recovery does not come as quick as most expect it to,
what will we do then?
The good thing is that I have actually spoken to a good number of SME/B
companies and YES, I can confidently say that I am reliably informed that the
space will be spending.
Before anyone pops open any Champaign bottles, the companies did stress
that their spending will be very cautious and that vendors, distis and resellers
should all remain realistically optimistic when they plan to deal with SME/B
companies.
I guess for those that will be lucky enough to have their quotations accepted
there is the blessed 2010 business to look forward to. My only concern is how
many local distis and resellers will actually benefit from all this, I guess we will
have to wait and see.
I assure you I will give the final procurement list a thorough going through
once it is available for public consumption or if it magically lands on my desk
before then.
In addition, it is interesting to see how much focus is being placed on the
SME/B space by companies that previously mostly focused on the large
enterprise and public sector, could this bring about some interesting developments.
Let us wait and see.

Kaunda Chama – editor

 Contents
News & Analysis
4 – What’s News

6 – Comings and goings

8 – Demand Generator takes a look at how Bytes SI upgrades

PGP’s systems
10
10 – Hi Five
CRN Contacts:
Editor: 14 – Microsoft partner changes may cause concern

Kaunda Chama
16 – HP advances Adaptive network vision
kaundac@systems.co.za

33 – Cover story: 2009 market outlook. By Kaunda Chama and

Journalists:
Stanley Chishala
Portia Shaba
portias@systems.co.za
16
36 – Ten real cost cutting technologies for 2009. By CRN
Staff, ChannelWeb
Dominic Khuzwayo
dominick@systems.co.za Features
21 – Virtualisation: Virtualisation is a hot topic and
Brand executive: creeping into every layer of the IT stack. Organisations are
Hellen Murahwa investigating the opportunities that exist in virtualising operating
hellenm@systems.co.za systems and applications with an aim of consolidating
infrastructure and driving business alignment. By Dudu Shaba
23
Sub-editor:
25 – Notebooks: The South African notebook market is
Jenny Bastomsky
expected to be resilient in the face of a slowing local and glob-
jennybee@telkomsa.net.co.za
al economy as end-users continue to buy into the benefits of
mobile computing. By Dudu Shaba
Designer:
Spencer van Graan
29 – Networking: The ability to deploy best-of-breed applica-
spencerg@systems.co.za tions directly into the network infrastructure assists networking
vendors to differentiate themselves and helps their customers
Database and subscriptions: achieve even greater returns on their investment in network- 29
Daisy Mulenga ing infrastructure. These applications create a more powerful
daisym@systems.co.za and intelligent network. By Dudu Shaba

copyright notice Product and Technology

CRN Southern Africa is published monthly by
Systems Publishers (Pty) Ltd. The copyright of all
material in this publication is reserved by the proprietors,
39 – McAfee Total Protection 2009 review
except where expressly stated. The publisher, however,
will consider reasonable requests for the use of material
by others on condition that the source and author
of the report are clearly attributed. Due to the nature
of the newspaper print process, Systems Publishers Parting shots
cannot be held responsible for colour variations
in printed advertising. Printed by Ultra Litho.
CRN Southern Africa is a licensee of CMP Media LLC.
40 – Snapshot: Andrew Holden, Bytes Outsource Services
Private Bag X12, Rivonia, 2128
Tel: (011) 234 7008
Fax: (011) 234 7025
Registered with the Audit
Bureau of Circulation
40 – Dilbert 39

2 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009

WHAT’S NEWS
IBM and SAP AG join forces
IBM and SAP AG have announced the planned release of their first joint
software product in March. The product named Alloy software was
announced at the annual Lotusphere conference. Alloy software
combines IBM Lotus Notes software with SAP Business Suite. “We expect
the new Alloy software from IBM and SAP to help us drive down IT man-
agement costs and boost productivity by allowing employees easy access
to SAP reports, procurement data and product lifecycle management
tools directly from their Lotus Notes e-mail,” says Tom Greene, CIO,
Colgate-Palmolive.
Sahara’s latest ImageBook
Sahara Computers has introduced its latest
notebook based on Intel Centrino 2 processor
technology to the local market. Sahara believes
the sleek piano-black finished offering will add
immense value to users in the business or corpo-
rate arena. “The mobile professional has the
benefit of a mobile workstation and multimedia
device in one. There is ample storage capacity to
Gary Naidoo
store and digitally manipulate information and
large files,” says Gary Naidoo, deputy MD at Sahara. Key features of
the Sahara ImageBook 15WS include an Intel 2GHz Core 2 Duo
Mobile Processor, 2GB memory, a built-in 2.0 mega-pixel webcam, a
15-inch TFT LCD display, a 250GB hard-disk drive and a super
multi-DVD writer.
Microsoft protects Office customers
Microsoft has released a program called Office Genuine Advantage
(OGA) notifier. OGA is designed for home and business customers,
and partners to test their software’s authenticity. OGA notifier is
downloaded voluntarily and once installed can tell whether
Microsoft Office applications are authentic. “People spend thousands
of rands on PC hardware, software and services, so it makes
sense to keep it all virus free and up to date,” says Charl Everton, the
anti-piracy manager at Microsoft SA. “With that in mind, we have seen
an increase in the amount of counterfeit software in the local market,”
he adds.
Tarsus announces new 3G
Aspire One
Tarsus Technologies has announced a host of
interesting upgrades to Acer’s Aspire One range.
According to Traci Maynard, Acer business
unit manager at Tarsus, the upgrades comprise
the addition of an integrated 3G modem to
certain of the Windows XP-laden models in the
range, an increase in hard-disk storage
Traci Maynard
capacity to 160GB and the introduction
of two new colours - coral pink and diamond black. Maynard
says that her team is looking forward to the arrival of the new Aspire
One models, since they have been hugely popular with clients of
every size and in every sector of the market since their launch a couple
of months ago.
4 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
CommVault releases Simpana 8
CommVault Systems has announced that Simpana 8, a major new
release of its enterprise data management software, is now available.
This includes advances in recovery management, data reduction, virtual
server protection and content organisation. Simpana 8 helps companies
to manage larger amounts of data, scale to accommodate an
expanding, globally distributed enterprise, and implement cost-saving
strategies by offering users new snapshot-based data management,
laptop and desktop protection, remote office data management and
advanced copy management features. The new version of Simpana
software continues CommVault’s commitment to delivering comprehensive
data protection, backup and recovery, and information management
capabilities that enable companies to meet key business challenges and
transform their enterprise.
Konica Minolta SA launches myFAX
Bidvest Company, Konica Minolta South Africa has launched the myFAX
network fax server product in SA. myFAX is designed to meet the needs
of small-to-mid-sized businesses, and allows users to send and receive
faxes from their desktop or browser. “Many organisations are becoming
increasingly knowledgeable with high expectations for immediate and
personalised service and support,” explains Mohammed Vachiat,
product manager at Konica Minolta South Africa. “Expectations are
rising and yet organisations are under pressure to do more with the
same or fewer resources. The myFAX solution can assist in finding new
ways to optimise operational efficiency, improve productivity and reduce
costs,” he says.
New HD displays
Packard Bell has updated its Maestro line of high-performance displays
with two new widescreen, full HD models, the 24-inch Maestro 242 Ws
and 22-inch Maestro 222 Ws. “The two new displays are our most
advanced ever,” says Emmanuel Fromont, sales and marketing VP,
Packard Bell. “Not only is their design unique, with their signature seam-
less edge-to-edge glass enclosure, they also feature the latest LCD tech-
nologies, including 16:9 full HD, 2-ms response time and 40000:1
DCR.” Both Packard Bell Maestro displays have the same thin-case
design and elegant stand. Behind the seamless glass enclosure, the
glossy, widescreen display provides an immersive viewing experience.
Nortel users get bonus
Enterasys Networks SA has announced an unprecedented 100%
“trade-in credit” offer to users of Nortel Networks’ switching products
should they replace them with the Enterasys equivalent. This limited
period offer comes in the wake of news that Nortel Networks has filed
voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and
has received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for a
number of motions requesting relief from creditors. Martin May, country
manager for Enterasys Networks SA, has taken advantage of apparent
marketplace uncertainty over Nortel’s future – as highlighted in the
global media – to encourage local Nortel customers to look at
alternative solutions. May says the move will also facilitate free upgrades
in future, allowing them to take advantage of imminent innovations in
switch technology, particularly in data security.
WHAT’S NEWS
COMINGS
Avaya appoints head of
EMEA Distribution
& GOINGS
Avaya has appointed Thomas Veit as director of
Avaya Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
distribution. He will lead the distribution strategy
for Avaya’s products and solutions across its
business and channel partners in EMEA. Veit
brings more than 17 years of experience
Thomas Veit
and success in building pan-EMEA distribution
Thomas Veit
programmes. Most recently, Veit worked
at SonicWALL as senior director, EMEA sales operation &
emerging markets, where he was responsible for the restructuring
and rationalisation of distribution and reseller channel
relationships. “Thomas brings a legacy of solid expertise in
distribution strategies, and will help Avaya to expand its channel
relevance and responsiveness,” says Jeremy Butt, VP, worldwide
Channels, Avaya.
Intel Capital appoints Sam Mensah
Intel Capital has appointed Sam Mensah as its director for South
and sub-Saharan Africa. Mensah has been with Intel Corporation
for the past six years, he previously worked in London at Deutsche
Bank and tech consulting firm Gresham Financial Systems. “Intel
New Manhattan USB Radio
Manhattan has announced its new USB Internet Radio that receives and
records radio broadcasts on personal computers. Through Internet
access and a USB port, the Manhattan USB Internet Radio delivers more
than 14 000 radio stations from around the world to desktop and note-
book computers, whether you’re under a palm in Rio or in an Internet
café in Miami. You can connect, listen to and enjoy favourite sports, talk,
music and news broadcasts without subscriptions, user restrictions or
costly upgrades. Its multi-function on-screen control panel provides
access to intuitive search, sort, audio controls and settings.
HP takes tech to varsities
HP recently announced the successful implementation of the Technology
for Teaching Grant programme at the University of the Free State. HP’s
Higher Education Technology for Teaching Grant initiative creates an
opportunity for new models of success on campus by integrating mobile
technology into the classroom setting. This initiative is aimed at
improving teaching and learning experiences through the innovative and
effective application of mobile technologies. According to Oliver Fortuin,
6 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
Capital will seek out and make strategic invest-
ments, allowing innovative home-grown tech-
nology companies not just access to our capital
but also to our technological expertise and
global network,” says Mensah. “The move into
Africa illustrates Intel’s view that Africa as an
emerging market will continue to unearth great
business opportunities for us” he adds.
Sam Mensah
Peter Watt joins Itec
Former Business Connexion (BCX) CEO Peter
Watt has been appointed deputy chairman of
Itec Distribution, bringing with him extensive
strategic and leadership skills. “Having been
with large public companies most of my life, I
look forward to helping the management team
of this growing business to achieve its
Peter Watt
objectives and roll-out key projects designed
to enhance Itec’s market position,” says Watt. His primary function
at Itec will be the development of business strategy, executive
development, and mentoring and assisting in the establishment of
governance committees. He will also watch over and guide the
company’s expansion into the overseas market.
HP South Africa managing director, “HP South Africa has always
been committed to promoting empowerment and ascribes to the
underlying principles of broad-based black economic empowerment ini-
tiatives as the key to realising our full potential as a company and as a
business imperative.”
Alvarion’s new move
Alvarion, an international wireless broadband
pioneer, has launched a new distribution model to
address vertical market requirements and expecta-
tions. The Alvarion distribution strategy currently
being rolled-out as part of its partner programme,
has seen the appointment of Duxbury Networking
as the master distributor of Alvarion products in
southern Africa. Duxbury Networking offers turnkey Graham Duxbury
wireless solutions to its partners, including feasibility studies, pre and
post-sales, and technical support. As a distributor of the Alvarion product
range in southern Africa, the company is now able to complement its
existing range of wireless networking solutions in the licence-free bands.
DEMAND GENERATOR: BYTES SI
SOLUTION
Bytes SI upgrades PGP’s IT systems
Implementing IT solutions.
BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO
B ytes Systems Integration (SI), a division of
Bytes Technology Group, assisted Pam
Golding Properties (PGP) to upgrade its IT
systems and introduced services orientated
architecture (SOA) element.
After 32 years in the property market PGP
has become a trusted name when it comes
to real estate. However, to gain a lead in a
market that is suffering a slump, PGP turned
to technology to get its systems running
properly, better serve its customers and to
create an efficient working environment for
its staff.
“We were struggling with our online
systems because they were not integrating
efficiently,” says Henry Potgieter, infrastructure
manager, PGP.
“When we started at PGP in the beginning of 2008, its
application business logic resided in many systems and was
tightly integrated into those systems. As a result, its IT systems
were difficult to use, slow and expensive to grow with the
business’ needs.” – Willem Odendaal, Bytes SI.
Willem Odendaal, Bytes SI
8 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
PROVIDERS
“We needed to link our Web services with
our database and various applications but
soon realised that our systems were very
disjointed and were linked by an array of
applications that just didn’t make sense,”
adds Potgieter
Bytes SI was chosen to make sense of the
various applications and document the
existing applications to allow all the systems
to integrate seamlessly.
The project, which started in March 2008,
was successfully completed five months later
and achieved the integration and logical
links between the database, various applications
and Web services that PGP needed. Bytes SI
met the requirements of the real estate giant
by building an application that logically
grouped the Web services and created an
SOA layer that sits above the database and
dynamically controls the links between the
various applications and the database.
“When we started at PGP in the beginning
of 2008, its application business logic resided
in many systems and was tightly integrated
into those systems. As a result, its IT systems
were difficult to use, slow and expensive to
grow with the business’ needs,” says Willem
Odendaal, senior architect at Bytes SI.
One of the main goals of the solution was
to document how PGP’s current IT systems
are built so that future systems can be easily
built to this standard. The SOA layer we
implemented achieved this level of standards
and will dictate the management principles
for the future. In this way the collective
teams have led the way and implemented a
solution that creates a benchmark and
standard for all future applications to be built
on within PGP.
“We set out with a small team to start
implementing the SOA at PGP. As with any
SOA it is critical to have a successful pilot
project, so for our pilot project we focused
on providing services to be used by PGP’s
intranet site,” explains Odendaal.
Potgieter says: “Our IT services have
already seen marked benefits since having
the SOA layer in place.” It has allowed
us to hide complexity, simplify project
deliverables and reduce costs. The SOA
enables us to integrate solutions without
having to be concerned with the underlying
technology of the solutions.”
“The intranet site is used daily by
hundreds of PGP offices around the
country. During the pilot project we followed
agile development practices like SCRUM and
continuous integration with great success,”
says Odendaal.
In addition, albeit an uncomplicated
solution, the application implemented by
Bytes SI satisfies the needs of PGP by providing
an integration layer that effectively links the
database to the various Web services. The
solution itself is built on a .Net platform and
makes use of Web services, factories, cruise
control for continuous integration and an
NUnit testing application, and uses SOA as
the management principle.
Odendaal adds: “SOA is a long-term
goal, it was important for the business and IT
department to understand and support
what we were doing. As such, education of
business and IT staff was an important part
of the project.
“The pilot project is only the beginning,
and we trust that it will serve as the foundation
for future SOA growth at PGP and will
ultimately make its systems more agile and
business focused, and cheaper to maintain.”
Do you have demand generator stories to
share with us, please e-mail Dominic
Khuzwayo at dominick@systems.co.za
 HIGH FIVE: IMPROWEB
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

ImproWEB improves the IT channel

Digital business is the future.
BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

“D igital business its your future or you’re history,” this is according to

Henno Marais MD of ImproWEB. Marais claims the online solutions
offered by improWEB are supreme and unrivalled in the South African
market, which has made improWEB one of the leading Web-based
solutions companies today. In this month’s High Five, CRN chats to
Marais, an industrial engineer and consultant, to find out what digital
business has to offer the IT channel.

CRN: Tell us more about ImproWEB?

HM: Founded in 2005, ImproWEB develops high-technology solu-
tions specific to the IT industry. Driven by a strong business back-
ground, development skills and a passion to help smaller businesses
like resellers ImproWEB was born. ImproWEB has re-engineered the IT
channel in SA so that the sales chain can be completely automated.
This means that the reseller can now sell to its customer, and have the
product delivered to the customer without knowing about it.
ImproWEB can do for the IT industry what Internet banking has done
for the banking industry.
“ImproWEB can do for the IT industry
CRN: How is digital business in SA?
HM: We are fortunate in that we can see the future for our own what internet Banking has done for the
country by observing what has happened in other countries. In SA a
Banking industry.” – Henno Marais
large portion of online sales activity is driven by rewards programmes.
There is still room for improvement because there is no way that a MD, ImproWEB.
physical store can compete with a properly integrated Web store. This
comparison is both on price and service levels. Digital business needs
to be done correctly before it really works, if somebody can do it CRN: How does it help distributors?
correctly they will fly in 2009. By using the ImproWEB software HM:
correctly with my knowledge and experience distributors will stand out  Cheaper for the distributor or bank

above the rest.  Improves customer-reseller experience

 Improves customer-reseller relationship

 Develops loyalty towards the distributor or bank

 Creates customer-reseller expectations

CRN: How does it help resellers?

HM: With resellers being able to generate orders
and have those orders delivered without them lifting
a finger, I cannot see why resellers would buy from
a distributor without a system like this. It also makes
life easy and cuts costs for resellers.

CRN: How does it help vendors?

HM: By making it easy for the reseller to get
vendors’ products out there while having all
the product specifications and pictures available
sends a strong brand message. Vendors will benefit
from both distributors and resellers if everything is
done well.

10 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009

ANALYSIS: EMC
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

EMC wants to ‘fly’ in SA

BY DOMINIC KHUZWAYO

E MC, one of the world leaders in information infrastructure solutions,

announced that it is anticipating high growth in South Africa in 2009
despite the bleak economic outlook globally.
Recently, EMC joined the list of IT vendors who are cutting cost by
confident of delivering solutions to
the market by working closely with
its partners to provide end-to-end
virtualisation projects encompassing
sending their staff home in order to survive in this financial draught. hardware, software services and
However EMC South Africa says this did not have any impact on the consulting.
local operation. “We see our growth coming
Looking at the EMC‘s financial results released a few weeks ago, from our content management
the vendor reported a total revenue of $14.9 billion, up 12 percent product. There will be a big drive
from the $13.2 billion it reported for 2007. On CRN.com Joe Tucci, around security and storage prod-
EMC chairman, president and CEO, said he is happy with the ucts, and we intend to open a new
fourth-quarter results but a bit disappointed with the results for the division called Resource
entire year. “I am disappointed that we missed our $15 billion revenue Management Software Group
target by a little over $100 million,” he said. Gerhard van der Merwe, EMC which will combine a new product
According to EMC, it currently has a 40% market share in South line with existing products such as
Africa compared to 50% in the US and 30% globally. Smarts, Infra and Control Centre to offer clients a value proposition to
Gerhard van der Merwe, Regional Country Manager of EMC South handle the growth in content in South Africa and Africa,” explains van
Africa says: “The strategy for EMC South Africa is the same as the de Merwe.
global strategy. As an information infrastructure provider, EMC aims to According to him, 2009 will have a very strong virtualisation focus.
become a virtual data centre solution specialist, achieving 100% “Server virtualisation is the most substantial shift in IT so far, adoption
virtualisation and being recognised as number one solution provider is high, and organisations are virtualising mission-critical and business-
in the world.” critical applications. As a result, enterprises need to work with a
In addition, Van der Merwe says, the company will use the storage partner like EMC SA to carefully select the appropriate storage
cost-saving strategies of local enterprises to offer value-added, efficient networking approach and storage system,” he says.
solutions and services which increase its market share. In addition, EMC says it will invest approximately $1.4 billion in
EMC says its focus in 2009 will be on the South, East and Central research and development during 2009, thereby demonstrating its
African (SECA) region, where it has identified opportunities in the commitment to remaining one of the leading IT services and solutions
telco, public sector, oil and gas market sectors. providers globally.
“In South Africa, our focus on the enterprise side of the business will However the writing is on the wall, that even the IT vendors are also
be in the telco, financial services, public sector and industrial sectors.” feeling the economic knocks.
“On the corporate and commercial side of the business, the focus is This clearly shows the high growth that EMC anticipates won’t be as
on manufacturing and retail. We also aim to double our existing 25% easy with the economic downturn pulling IT spending on the ground.
market share in the coastal regions this year,” says van der Merwe. With things projected to pick-up in the second half of the year, if
In a time where you need to have a true partner, EMC says it is EMC plays its cards well they might get an ace in South Africa.
ANALYSIS: MICROSOFT
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Microsoft program changes:
VARs will be happy, LARs less so
BY SCOTT CAMPBELL, CHANNELWEB
M icrosoft is poised to make some sweeping
changes to its channel programs, ushering in
more opportunities for VARs seemingly at the
expense of direct marketers and large-account
resellers, according to channel sources.
Microsoft plans to dramatically reduce
funding to DMRs and LARs and give VARs
more equal footing with those larger partners
on opportunities of more than 250 seats,
sources say.
“This is real, real positive for the channel.
It’s a more level playing field,” says one distri-
bution executive who asked not to be named.
Microsoft informed its DMRs and LARs of
“We make our money in services, but if they can make it
an even playing field, or at least lessen the gap between
the larger and smaller VARs, it will be better for the
industry.” – Tim Howard, Rmon Networks Inc
its intentions at a meeting last week,
according to sources. “It was very poorly
received by the LARs,” according to the
distribution executive.
Microsoft reportedly feels that those large
partners are fulfilling demand but not doing
an adequate job of driving it and wants to
provide more incentives to solution providers
to do so, according to the executive.
Soon after the meeting, direct marketer
Insight Enterprises said that changes to
vendor incentive programs would negatively
impact its earnings for 2009. On a conference
call with analysts, Insight CEO Rich Fennessy
said the direct marketer expects to earn
$10 million to $15 million less this year in
incentives from its largest software partner,
although he did not mention it by name.
The changes come as Microsoft also
revealed plans to open its own retail locations.
14 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
Microsoft has yet to inform solution
providers about the changes, and executives
at Microsoft declined to comment. A
spokesperson issued a statement that read
“Microsoft regularly evaluates its partner
programs and incentives with the goal of
rewarding partners for driving revenue
growth and delivering value-added solutions
and services.”
A channel executive briefed on the matter
said VARs will be pleased with the changes.
“Microsoft has always given a very unfair
advantage to their LARs and the Dells and
Insights of the world. They’ve really done a
180. They’re investing dramatically more
into the channel, through distributors and
VARs,” says the executive.
A second distribution executive who asked
not to be named said Microsoft hasn’t
detailed the changes to distributors either but
he noted that that could happen as early as
next week. That executive said the strategy
will be implemented on a worldwide basis.
The move could have a dramatic impact
on the LAR landscape, said the second
distribution executive.
“Those [LARs] that are financially and
operationally minded, I think you’ll see them
make cuts. Others might be in a position to
grow. They’ll all start to look at consolidation
opportunities. We’ll see that this year,” said
the executive.
It’s believed Microsoft is hoping the
changes could foster partnerships between
VARs and LARs, but the second distribution
executive is not so sure. “I don’t see a VAR
doing business with a LAR. That’s like letting
the fox into the hen house,” he said.
In these tough economic times, Microsoft
is making changes it believes necessary to
drive more demand, said the first distribution
executive. “They’re reducing investment on
those [partners] that are just fulfilling
demand. Anyone that is good at driving
demand, that can increase the average
invoice of a customer, should benefit,” said
the executive.
Some Microsoft solution providers lauded
the news, saying moves to help SMB partners
are overdue.
“They’ve had the same pricing structure
for a long time. Times have changed, with
netbooks and Linux taking hold. It’s good for
them to re-evaluate this,” said Todd Swank,
vice president of marketing at Nor-Tech,
Burnsville, Minn. “All we ask for is an equal
playing field. We’re good at taking care of
customers, delivering innovative solutions.
But certain people can take advantage of
different programs not available to the rest of
us. That’s not fair.”
Tim Howard, president of Rmon Networks
Inc. Danville, N.H., said back-end incentives
from Microsoft to large partners have been a
sticking point for a long time.
“Those larger companies, they live by
those and pad their earnings by hitting those
volumes. As smaller VARs, we don’t have that
volume because we’re constantly competing
with the Insights and CDWs,” he said.
However, some customers still turn to
VARs to implement the Microsoft applications
even after the end user buys them from a
LAR. “We make our money in services, but if
they can make it an even playing field, or at
least lessen the gap between the larger
and smaller VARs, it will be better for the
industry,” Howard said.
Kevin Mclaughlin contributed to this story.
ANALYSIS: HP
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

HP advances adaptive network vision

Technology vendor launches multi-vendor program and data centre solutions.

BY KAUNDA CHAMA

L ast month HP ProCurve announced a

dramatic change in the way it will engage its
current and future technology partners, and
also announced some new products for
data centres.
The networking vendor has made a con-
certed effort to expand its Adaptive Networks
vision by announcing two initiatives that
enable customers to address rapidly changing
enterprise data centre needs and improve the
efficiency of their network applications.
At the same time, the company added to
its extensive technology portfolio by unveiling
data centre switches and management soft-
ware designed to help customers lower costs,
mitigate risks and drive business growth.
HP ProCurve’s new Open Network
Ecosystem (HP ProCurve ONE) is a multi-
vendor alliance program that optimises the
performance of enterprise-class applications
with HP ProCurve infrastructure. Marius Haas, HP ProCurve
Participating in this program are technology
leaders such as Microsoft, Avaya, McAfee, and certified to ensure interoperability with five new top-of-rack server edge switches to
F5 and Riverbed. Adaptive Networks is HP the new HP ProCurve ONE Services zl the HP data centre portfolio, simplifying
ProCurve’s vision for the future in which Module. The module is an HP blade for the management and maintenance enabled by
networks adapt to users, applications and an HP ProCurve Switch 5400zl and 8200zl consistent firmware across HP ProCurve
organisation’s needs. series that consolidates many partner 5400, 8200 and new 6600 series switches.
“To help customers address the increasing applications onto one common platform, The switches are all based on the fourth
pace of change within their businesses, HP thereby eliminating redundant operational generation of HP ProCurve’s internally developed
ProCurve is combining its own technology with costs while optimising rack space. ProVision ASIC network chipset, which drives
some of the most innovative, respected and Meanwhile, the partners are collaborating the functionality of the network switches.
visionary companies in the world,” says Marius with HP ProCurve to help customers strengthen By turning off unused ports and employing
Haas, senior VP and GM, HP ProCurve. security, reduce complexity of network a front-to-back reversible airflow system, the
“Establishing partnerships with major technology management, increase network and data HP ProCurve 6600 switches help to reduce
companies to deliver open-standards choices centre performance, deploy new VoIP energy consumption and allow customers to
delivers business value by increasing the services and improve manageability. effectively manage the cooling layout of their
efficiency of network applications.” data centres.
New data centre solutions Through the HP ProCurve ONE initiative,
The ecosystems The new HP ProCurve Data Center HP ProCurve is helping customers to accelerate
Using HP ProCurve’s open networks platform Connection Manager is designed to stream- their adoption of next-generation data centres
as its foundation, HP ProCurve ONE allows line operations in next-generation data centres. by teaming with F5 to provide application
customers to securely integrate a wide choice This software enables automated provisioning delivery technology, and with Riverbed for
of network applications and services from of server and network resources in virtualised WAN acceleration and optimisation.
alliance partners that integrate directly with and traditional environments to help reduce Speaking at last month’s event to officially
HP ProCurve infrastructure. operating expenses in data centres. announce the new initiative, Alberto Soto, VP
Partner applications are rigorously tested The HP ProCurve 6600 switch series adds and GM for HP ProCurve EMEA mentioned

16 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009

 ANALYSIS: HP
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Riverbed’s senior VP marketing and

business development Eric Wolford says:
“I particularly admire the tighter integration of ProCurve switches into the “The inclusion of Riverbed WAN optimisation
HP Data Centre story. Acknowledging networking as a vital part of the in the HP ProCurve Open Network Ecosystem
gives customers moving to next-generation
Data Center’s Green agenda further strengthens the ProCurve offering.” –
data centre models a best-of-breed solution
Keith Humphreys, EuroLan that reduces costs and complexity, while
improving application performance and
“IDC is very positive about HP ProCurve’s expansion into the network employee productivity.”
Miercom CEO Rob Smithers comments:
equipment market through the launch of these new switches, since data
“Miercom is pleased to recognise the
centres are becoming increasingly important for organisations, fuelled by ProCurve division of Hewlett Packard for
the growth in data centre hosted applications.” – Peter Hulleman, IDC achieving the Certified Green Standard for
the products in the 6600 series data centre
switches which were recently reviewed.”
“By signing partnerships with top companies like F5, Avaya and Aastra,
“HP’s innovation is truly commendable in
HP ProCurve is increasing its market reach and it will help to strengthen that it has built sustainable benefits into its
its position as the 2nd largest player in the European LAN switch products, while at the same time demonstrated
market.” – Peter Hulleman, IDC responsible environmental practices in
production and in its business practices.
“The certification is based on a holistic
review of Hewlett Packard’s ProCurve division
and the switching products produced.
that the company is expecting and will allow Detailed lab testing, qualitative product
more members to join the initiative provided assessments, and an audit of business and
they are able to add value. production practices were included in the review.”
Alan Baratz, senior VP; president, Global He says that HP has effectively proven an
Communications Solutions at Avaya says: innovative product design to offer network
“Through our strategic alliance with HP and switching products with lower energy
the ProCurve Open Network Ecosystem, consumption that comply with increasingly
we’ll deliver fully integrated IP networking stringent environmental directives.
and unified communications solutions and “Analysts are praising this move by HP
services with significant benefits for business- ProCurve, stating that the Open Network
es and organisations.” Ecosystem takes the concept of strategic
Dan Matte, F5 senior VP marketing and alliances one step further, as it not only
business development comments: “F5 is very provides customers with a choice of multiple
pleased to be chosen as a strategic launch applications on multiple appliances, it also
partner for the ProCurve ONE program and executes on true go-to-market partnerships
align much more closely with HP. We bring of combined solutions.”
our deep expertise of the enterprise data “The fact that ProCurve One has
centre and market-leading application identified common resellers with leading
delivery networking solutions that give companies in their market segment such
customers the flexibility to deploy solutions as Avaya, and Aastra in voice, Fortinet and
that scale and adapt on demand.” Alberto Soto, HP McAfee in security as well as Microsoft, gives
Dan Ryan, executive VP and GM of security all vendors that participate in ProCurve One
vendor McAfee’s network security unit says: ProCurve ONE will help customers to resolve credibility in their joint solutions and the
“We’re excited about becoming a member of interoperability concerns by delivering an competitive advantage of engaging with new
the HP ProCurve ONE alliance program and open standards-based solution that is effective channel partners.”
the opportunity to collaborate with HP and efficient. The combination of the HP “This is definitely one of the most
ProCurve in building data centre solutions that ProCurve ONE initiative and Microsoft interesting strategic moves by any multi-
combine McAfee’s industry-leading network Network Access Protection (NAP) will provide national in recent history and it will be
security products with HP ProCurve’s new customers with enhanced security and policy- interesting to see how it all develops and
family of data centre switching products.” based access that helps to reduce downtime how successful it will be both in the short
Microsoft GM Tim Sinclair comments: “HP and boosts return on investment.” and long term.”

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 17

ANALYSIS: SAHARA COMPUTERS
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Sahara 2009 plan to grow resellers

Adding value and growth to the channel.
BY DUDU SHABA

S ahara Computers’ approach to 2009 is

extremely bullish, the company says it has
recently been joined by some senior Sahara
team members, who were seconded to India,
bringing a lot of experience and business
strategies that will grow its resellers in SA.
Irrespective of the economic challenges
and the fluctuating rand, Gary Naidoo,
deputy MD, Sahara, says the company has
designed its new business model in a way
that will empower its resellers by giving them
products that sell at the right price.
“With this new business model in place,
the credit crunch will have a very low impact
on our resellers. We will create awareness by
embarking on roadshows and other market-
ing strategies to present our products and
technologies to the market,” he says.
The Sahara Business Development Division is
set to grow resellers in the nine provinces in
SA.
“We will continue to engage them in different
programmes, work more closely with distribu-
tors and continue to guide them in their exist-
ing and new markets. If our resellers take

Gary Naidoo, Sahara Computers

“The mobile professional has the benefit of a

“Even though the market is the other way round, we
remain a very strong company. We are still hiring
people, and our sales team and reseller programme
have expanded.” – Gary Naidoo, Sahara
advantage of any programme we introduce
this year, they will add value to their busi-
ness,” says Naidoo.
The company has introduced a focused and
dedicated division with regard to retail, gov-
ernment and corporate. In addition to that,
Sahara has established a new call centre that
will control the service offering.
Naidoo has outlined that Sahara has
released the Intel 2GB Centrino 2 Montevina
notebook to the local market.
He says the company has expanded its range
of digital lifestyle solutions and is targeting
the mid-level market, more specifically users
that require a feature-rich mobile solution
that offers high-speed, on-the-go computing.
`He says that the company believes the
sleek piano black finished offering will add
immense value to home users or those that
operate a home-based small business.
mobile workstation and multimedia device in
one. There is ample capacity to store and
digitally manipulate information and large
files. It can be used as a central workstation
to expand and consolidate the home net-
work,” says Naidoo.
Naidoo explains that critical communica-
tion resources such as e-mail and the Internet
are all centralised which reduces cost and
enhances control to maximise output and
lower total cost of ownership over the infra-
structure.
“It has sufficient battery power to be used
extensively should there be an interruption in
power supply. This eliminates the risk of
downtime to the business.
The Intel Centrino processor technology
enables massive performance, multi-tasking,
high-definition multimedia, latest WiFi tech-

18 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009


nology and longer battery life,” he explains.
According to Naidoo, key features of the
Sahara ImageBook 15WS include an Intel
2GHz Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor, 2GB
memory, a built-in 2.0 mega-pixel webcam,
a 15-inch TFT LCD display, a 250GB hard
disk drive and a super multi-DVD writer.
He says that it also includes Quick
Switching Speed, a feature that automatically
switches the CPU to hurry up and idle mode.
Naidoo says there is an increasing need
for affordable, robust and feature-rich wire-
less technology within the home network and
home business space.
“This is a thriving area of the market
where the rate of technology adoption is
increasing to keep up with global skills set
requirements. This solution combines the
very best in processor and chipset technolo-
gy for quick connectivity and also offers a
high memory and storage capacity for effec-
tive management of multimedia files.
The value in this offering lies in the fact
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
that it can be tailored to suit the needs of the
user and customised to fulfil all require-
ments. This is an exciting new solution that
we believe will make a difference to people’s
digital lifestyle,” Naidoo comments.
He continues to say that next month
Sahara will introduce a next-generation net-
book, a fully functional device that will allow
resellers to tap into the new market.
He also comments that Sahara is operat-
ing extremely efficiently with regard to its dis-
tribution model that is based on cash on
delivery. “We do not expose ourselves to
bad debt,” he remarks.
Given the current economic challenges in
the market, Naidoo says Sahara will not fall
as it has the strong backing of the Gupta
family that has always maintained high prof-
itability within the Sahara Group.
“Even though the market is the other way
round, we remain a very strong company.
We are still hiring people, and our sales team
and reseller programme have expanded,
ANALYSIS: SAHARA COMPUTERS
therefore the economic decline does not affect
the growth of our company,” says Naidoo.
Analysing the market in terms of IT use,
Naidoo states that large corporations and
businesses are expected to be tighter and
more controlled, at the same time he is
expecting more growth in terms of IT use in
the government sector.
“The household market is also showing
growth with regard to computing and skills,
while the FIFA World Cup will enable small
businesses and resellers to grow their busi-
nesses,” he comments.
Naidoo comments how Sahara remains
consistent in keeping its business. “Getting
the basics right and achieving operational
efficiency is very important. Sahara continues
to provide its resellers with good training
and putting the right tools in place, because
we know that when they grow, we will
grow with them. Always ensure that when
you lay a foundation you sustain its growth,”
Naidoo concludes.
ANALYSIS: TRENDS
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Pack Rats
Small businesses save too much, too often. How can you help them deal?
BY JOSEPH F. KOVAR, CHANNELWEB
T he economic downturn may be hammering
many small businesses,but it is not impacting
the growth of their data storage require-
ments. In fact, opportunities abound for solu-
tion providers to help small-business clients
better manage their storage and save money
in the process. All it takes is a few key tech-
nologies and policies.
Three trends are driving the fast-growing
need for small-business storage, said
Stephen Allen, president of Integrated
“Just don’t forget to back up the data. A lot of small businesses
buy two and use the second one for backups.”
Technology Systems, a New York solution
provider.The first is the fact that customers do
not delete e-mails. Second is that they
are scanning more documents into reposito-
ries that are not deleted.Third is that they are
using applications that generate more and
more .PDF and Word document files.
A few years ago, a business figured it
might need triple or quadruple its capacity
over the next two to three years, Allen said.
“But in 2007 and 2008, when we designed
an upgradable network, we used a factor of
eight. So if the customer has 100 Gbytes of
storage today, we figure 800 Gbytes over
the next two to three years.”
Small businesses are burning through stor-
age capacity with things like downloading
photos and putting files on the network
without regard to the cost of managing that
data, said Fred Moore, managing partner at
Moore Computing, St. Louis.
“For example, a construction company
might be storing 600 site photos at maxi-
mum resolution,” Moore said. “There’s no
reason to store all those photos, or at that
20 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
resolution. Or they may be using a multi-
function printer to scan documents at 300
dpi with color. I suggest 200 dpi with black
and white.”
Technologies that help better manage
storage and cut the need to buy new hard-
ware are key, solution providers said. Server
virtualisation, for instance, simultaneously
increases the need for storage while making
it easier to manage. Combined with iSCSI, it
allows solution providers to build low-cost,
disaster-resistant infrastructures for small
businesses, said Mitch Kleinman, president
of Ryjac Computer Solutions, Irvine, Calif.
Customers can use the VMotion capability
of VMware to connect two physical host
servers and 3 TB to 5 TB of shared disk stor-
age to allow the sharing of multiple virtual
servers to build a high-availability infrastruc-
ture, Kleinman said.
Another important technology is e-mail
management.
Kleinman expects to see more e-mail
management solutions combined with dedu-
plication technologies to handle the growing
volume of information that does not need to
be stored in multiple copies. “A lot of com-
panies in this space need to put best prac-
tices in place,” he said.
Small businesses are also likely to be
scanning and storing more documents for
search and archive purposes and to
decrease the physical and compliance risk of
storing them in paper versions.
Small businesses can take advantage of
what used to be called HSM, or hierarchical
storage management, to scan a document
and store it with e-mails into an archive that
can be backed up to disk or tape and then
secured in an offsite location, Kleinman said.
Only don’t call it HSM, Kleinman said.
“That’s a big word for a small business,” he
said.“When you walk into a company that
sells stools to restaurants, they don’t want to
hear about HSM.They want to hear what the
solution will do for them.”
A lot of small businesses are also looking
to tiered storage, said Jeanne Wilson, presi-
dent of Condor Storage, Sedona, Ariz.
“They want to start moving data from prima-
ry storage because they have no budget for
adding new capacity,” she said. “One cus-
tomer said he can’t get rid of the music files
users keep. Managers tell me they can’t get
people to delete things.
They want to clear out files so they don’t
need to back them up, but they’ve had little
success.” Small businesses also like tradition-
al NAS appliances because of the cost, the
ease of hooking them to the LAN and the
fact that they eliminate the need for a dedi-
cated file server, said Brian Lisse, owner of
Madison Computer Works, a Madison,Wis.-
based solution provider. “Plug it in, and turn
it on,” he said.
“Just don’t forget to back up the data. A
lot of small businesses buy two and use the
second one for backups.”
Allen said his small-business customers
prefer to move away from tape to a NAS or
SAN appliance like Hewlett-Packard Co.’s
All-in-One or SonicWall Inc.’s continuous
data protection, which handles version con-
trol and replication.
Another opportunity is customers who
work with brand-name vendors like EMC
Corp. or HP but are becoming more open
to working with lower-cost second-tier ven-
dors,Wilson said.

Virtualisation:
a very hot topic
Most IT organisations are implementing the virtualised environments.
BY DUDU SHABA
V irtualisation is currently a hot topic and creep-
ing into every layer of the IT stack.
Organisations are investigating the opportuni-
ties that exist in virtualising operating systems
and applications, with an aim to consolidate
infrastructure and drive business alignment.
Gartner predicts that virtualisation will be
the highest-impact trend in the infrastructure
and operations market through 2012.
Raymond Watt, MD, REO Consulting (an
EOH company), backs this prediction saying
that the current global economic situation is
driving companies to lower costs, show better
returns on existing hardware, and do more
with less.
“Virtualisation is all about the numbers. It
is about reducing the number of physical
servers in an environment while increasing
availability stats, and at the same time
decreasing complexity and administration
overheads. There is no need to stick to the
one-to-one application to server ratio any-
more,” he comments.
“Pressure on limited resources requires us
to increase our awareness of the impact we
have on the environment and to consider our
carbon foot print, our energy consumption,
etc. This is further compounded by the global
financial crisis, resulting in many companies
looking for ways to improve the way they
utilise technology, without sacrificing the
number of machines that do the work. In
short virtualisation is the do more with less
solution,” Richard Sutherland, Portfolio
Manager, Dynamic Infrastructures, Fujitsu
Siemens Computers says.
Virtualisation is enabling one of the fastest
growing trends in the technology space
VIRTUALISATION TRAINING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
today, and this is cloud computing. This is
according to Nick Keene, Country Manager,
Citrix Systems, SA.
“Cloud Computing has been around for
a number of years in a few guises, initially,
Application Service Providing (ASP) was a very
popular movement at the turn of the century
but failed to deliver possibly due to the con-
ceptual idea being 10 years too soon.
Software as a Service (SaaS) and Web 2.0
took the lead in providing software to enter-
prises with infrastructure without requiring too
much bandwidth to connect to environments
hosting such facilities.
However, this is very much limited to Web
type applications. Although 80% of applica-
tion development is done for Web format
today, organisations still have to grapple with
legacy 16 and 32 bit client server applications
Nick Keene, Citrix Systems, SA
coupled with the need to centralise desktops
and deliver these as a service,” he explains.
“Virtualisation is enabling one of the fastest growing
trends in the technology space today, and this is cloud
computing” – Nick Keene, Citrix Systems, SA
According to Keene, moving IT infrastructure
into the Cloud offers an organisation many
benefits including a flexible and agile
platform to access their information while
reducing the total cost of ownership compared
to owning the infrastructure.
In his view, the South African adoption
rate of cloud computing has been slower
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 21
VIRTUALISATION TRAINING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
than that of Europe and United States,
primarily because South African organisa-
tions are taking a more cautious look at the
concept and waiting for more success stories
in the form of references and case studies.
“Organisations are investigating the opportunities that exist
in virtualising operating systems and applications, with an
aim to consolidate infrastructure and drive business alignment”
– Manfred Gramlich, Sun Microsystems.
“The adoption rate is also constrained by
concerns such as bandwidth costs and the
reliability of the connections into the cloud.
There will also be a natural trust issue that
will have to be overcome, as many local
organisations fear their vital information is
no longer on their own infrastructure and in
their direct control, but rather managed by
the cloud service provider,” he comments.
Manfred Gramlich, storage leader for Sun
Microsystems SA, believes that Storage virtu-
alisation is a more mature methodology and
is now being supported with innovative
hardware and software solutions that have
the ability to unlock great value. Gramlich
says that storage virtualisation has much to
offer businesses in reducing complexity and
consolidating hardware, along with often
overlooked advantages in data migration.
Andrea Lodolo, CA Africa Manager,
Technical Sales is also bullish about
virtualisation, He says that it is gaining
momentum and most IT organisations are
either investigating, implementing or
already using virtualised environments.
“Most of these business know why they are
doing it, to save costs, sweat their assets, and
deploy new solutions quicker,” he comments.
The market
Looking at the current state of the virtualisation
market, Steve Buck, MD, Edgetec, says that
virtualisation is becoming a top priority because
of the specific pressures that companies and
their IT departments are facing.
“According to the Worldwide Virtual
Machine Software 2006-2010 Forecast, it is
predicted that the already strong x86 server
Manfred Gramlich, Sun Microsystems. virtualisation software market will expand to
22 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
more than $1,8 billion in 2009.
“One of the main drivers of server
virtualisation is the green issue. Using fewer
servers drives the effective utilisation of server
capacity, and from a green perspective it
helps reduce electricity consumption as less
power is needed to cool the consolidated
servers,” he comments.
Another factor that Sutherland raises is
that the management of servers is becoming
increasingly more costly.
“Virtualisation gives us a 1 to 7 physical
to virtual ratio on average and often a lot
more. This means that 6 out of every 7
servers are not seen, which makes managing
them more difficult. More importantly is the
fact that there isn’t the obvious red light that
comes on when a component fails.
There needs to be visibility and manage-
ability to the virtual environment to enable
more effective capacity planning and control
on VM server sprawl,” he says.
Meanwhile, Gramlich adds that the market,
however, has not been educated enough in
the advantages of effective provisioning.
“Virtualisation means simplification. And if
organisations can simplify they must begin to
take steps to do so immediately. The gap
between management, deployment and the
amount of data to be managed continues to
widen. This is why virtualisation is currently
on the front page of nearly every trade
journal,” he remarks.
Benefits
According to Watt, these are the six major benefits,
which are driving server virtualisation in SA:
1. Quality of service
One of the beauties of virtualisation is the
ability to shrink or grow the virtual machine’s
resource utilization, allowing business
processes to become more agile.
2. Optimisation
Most data centres have a lot more servers
than are strictly required, with administrators
preferring to keep critical systems separate.
This same methodology can be followed by
using virtual machines which are configured
with exactly the right amount of resources
required, instead of server typically being
underutilized by as much as 90 percent.

3. Standardisation
Most companies have a list of standard soft-
ware and patches that need to be installed
on every machine they roll out. In a virtualised
setup, one machine can be installed with all
the correct software and this can then be
backed up and used as an install template
for all future server rollouts.
4. High availability
Many virtual machines can be created to run
a single application with dynamic fail over
based on the application’s clustering
capabilities ensuring little or no downtime.
5. Backup
Virtualisation also simplifies backup strategies
as virtual machines can be backed up as a
flat file or a simple partition at any time. At
critical stages, the virtual machine can be
backed up in its entirety and restored if any
issues are encountered.
6. Disaster Recovery
This is also simplified as the entire virtual
machine can be backed up and restored on
similar hardware, or each individual machine
can be backed up and restored as required
on any host.
The latest technologies
Keene says that, Citrix, launched the Citrix
Cloud Center product family at the end of
2008, a solution that brings together the
service delivery infrastructure building blocks
that have been proven in the world’s largest
clouds and enterprise data centres, enabling
massively scalable architectures that support
rapid innovation and cost reduction.
“Known as C3, the Citrix Cloud Center
allows next-generation cloud providers to
take advantage of the most widely-adopted
virtual infrastructure platform for hosted
cloud services, as well as the most proven
infrastructure to deliver those services reliably
and securely to both cloud consumers and
enterprise data centres.
The Citrix strategy focuses on equipping
both new and existing cloud providers with
the infrastructure needed to deliver successful
clouds to their customers,” he says.
He adds that the Desktop virtualisation
solutions from Citrix, Citrix XenDesktop,
which is co-marketed with Microsoft, is a
groundbreaking desktop delivery solution
VIRTUALISATION TRAINING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
that allows companies to virtualise Windows
desktops in the data centre and deliver them
on-demand to office workers at any location.
“Unlike first-generation virtual desktop
infrastructure (VDI) technologies, XenDesktop
is a comprehensive end-to-end desktop
delivery system that offers an improved
end-user experience, dramatically simplifies
desktop management and reduces the cost
of traditional desktop computing by up to
40 percent,” Keene says.
Buck notes that virtualisation will continue
to become a top priority because of the
specific pressures that companies and their IT
departments are facing.
He cites the Worldwide Virtual Machine
Software 2006-2010 Forecast, stating that it
predicts that the x86 server virtualisation
software market will expand to more than
$1,8 billion in 2009.
“One of the main drivers of server virtuali-
sation is the green issue. Using fewer servers
drives the effective utilisation of server
capacity, and from a green perspective it
Raymond Watt, REO Consulting
helps reduce electricity consumption as less
power is needed to cool the consolidated
servers,’ he says.
“Virtualisation is all about the numbers. It is about
reducing the number of physical servers in an environment
while increasing availability stats, and at the same time
decreasing complexity and administration overheads.” –
Raymond Watt, REO Consulting
He goes on to say that VMware continues
to dominate the market it has created.
“When EMC bought the company in
2003, VMware revenues were around
US$100 million a year. But at the end of
2007 the company hit $1,5 billion. Most
enterprise data centres today contain at least
one or two x86 servers running VMware
virtualisation software.
VMware is pushing server virtualisation by
opening up its code so that partners, such as
application vendors, can integrate better with
its virtualisation software. It is also pushing
for virtualisation standards,” he remarks.
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 23
VIRTUALISATION TRAINING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Storage Virtualisation
Deriving value from data storage, however,
relies on effective optimisation in the form of
thin or dynamic provisioning of virtualised
storage that can provide an immediate ROI.
Gramlich points out that storage
virtualisation is possible via four methodologies
that share common advantages.
“Virtualisation of storage improves device
utilisation levels, reduces storage management
“Management of servers is becoming increasingly more
costly. Virtualisation gives us a 1 to 7 physical to virtual
ratio on average and often a lot more” – Richard
Sutherland, Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
complexity and overall costs while facilitating
interoperability and driving open storage
systems. Other advantages include resource
consolidation and the enablement
of applications to more fully leverage
virtualised storage, thanks to the tight
integration of operating systems and
virtualisation technology,” he says.
He emphasises that one of the greatest
advantages of storage virtualisation is in
data migration.
“This is not often perceived in the market,
where the likes of consolidation and the
resulting reduction in complexity tend to take
a front seat,” he adds.
“Moving data from one storage system
to another is essential, yet most end-users
don’t have a strategy aside from letting
their storage vendors move their data for
them,” explains Gramlich. “The problem
with this approach is that it is a reflex
action rather than something that should
be considered as an important project in
and of itself. Additionally, there are more
reasons to move data between storage
systems beyond upgrades, such as intelligent
tiered storage; something that everyone
thinks about doing, but rarely implements,”
he explains.
He says that data migration drivers
include upgrading to new storage systems
for next generation upgrades, storage
Manfred Gramlich, Sun Microsystems. consolidations, test and development, and
24 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
intelligent tiered storage. “Power, cooling
and floor space consumption will drive
even further data migrations to consolidate
storage systems to an even greater degree,”
he continues.
“Server virtualisation increases storage
capacity and new storage system acquisitions,
which are catalysts for data migration
projects as well.
“One time moves are valuable and
necessary, but you must also begin to
consider implementing an intelligent tiered
storage environment along with the day-to-
day migrations it necessitates. This will
provide a great deal of value in your
data-centre. Consider the implications of a
long term relationship and not just a one
time project,” advises Gramlich.
But Gramlich says that virtualised storage
should be accompanied with effective
provisioning to drive rapid ROI and offer
real value to business. “The most effective
technique of doing this is in thin or dynamic
provisioning,” he comments.
Resellers
For resellers this sounds to be a great
opportunity for partnering and making
good revenue for themselves. “There are
estimates that by 2012, 10% of the world’s
desktops will be hosted and virtualised
rather than being deployed traditionally,”
says Keene.
According to him, as customers are
challenged with reducing operational costs,
such as desktop deployment, they will be
looking for partners who understand and
can assist them in successful desktop
virtualisation projects.
“For the reseller this equates to revenue
streams from not only providing the solution
but also maintaining this on behalf of the
customer,” he says. “Resellers need to
understand the when and where it fits,
what kinds of applications are ideal for
virtualisation, then consult with the customer.
A good understanding of virtualisation,
storage and physical server infrastructures is
required,” he comments.
According to Buck, indications are that
the market is taking the direction of server
virtualisation and that in two or three
years’ time most companies will have
adopted the technology to improve their
overall efficiency.
 NOTEBOOKS FEATURE
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

2009 will see continued

growth in notebook sales
Users will benefit from new technology, better performance and lower costs.

BY DUDU SHABA

T
he South African notebook market is expected
to be resilient in the face of a slowing
local and global economy as end-users
continue to buy into the benefits of
mobile computing.
That’s according to John Geypen,
business development manager at Acer
SA. He says that 2009 will be the year a
number of technologies such as
notebooks with Blu-Ray drives and
screens with 16:9 aspect ratios start
moving into the mainstream.
“Even though we don’t
expect to see too much in the
way of new technology reach-
ing the market this year, a num-
ber of technologies are starting
to reach a price level and
maturity that will make them
attractive
to the mainstream market,”
adds Geypen.
“Blu-Ray writers, for example, are
now common in high-end notebook
models and will go mainstream by 2010,
while the first high-performance Acer note-
books with quad-core processors are starting Current Trends driver in the market and Dell has seen a
to hit the market. According to Llewellyn Chame, product growing trend towards wider use of ultra-
“Over the past few years, notebook manager, Dell SA, netbooks will continue to portable notebooks in general. Historically,
vendors have carved out the market into a be popular in 2009 as the move towards 14-inch notebooks were the most popular
number of segments to deliver a range of ultra-portable notebooks continues. In his form factor in the corporate sector while in
products that answer to the needs of a broad view, ultra-portable netbooks have seen the consumer sector the 15.4 inch models
set of users,” says Geypen. “Notebook significant uptake in the consumer market proved to be the most in demand,” he says.
vendor companies can no longer take a and still needs to increase in the coming year. At the one end of the spectrum, Geypen
one-size-fits-all approach to the market since “Netbooks are typically seen as a second believes that true desktop replacements with
segments such as the corridor warrior, the device, however, they are not so much large high-definition screens, plenty of RAM
road warrior, the deskbound user and the cannibalising the notebook market as and Blu-Ray optical drives are finding favour
desktop replacement power user all have extending it by adding a new form factor. with power users at home and at work. He
vastly different needs,” he comments. Ultra-portable is, however, still a significant comments that elegant, ultra-thin, ultra-light

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 25

NOTEBOOKS FEATURE
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notebooks with 13.3-inch screens
are finding favour with people who travel
often and want a compact notebook that
allows them to connect to the Internet easily
and do their work. At the other extreme, he
“Netbooks will continue to be popular in 2009 as the
move towards ultra-portable notebooks continues.
Ultra-portable netbooks have seen significant uptake in
the consumer market and still needs to increase in the
coming year.” – Llewellyn Chame, Dell SA
states that netbooks are driving massive
growth for vendors such as Acer by allowing
them to address new markets with affordable
Internet access devices.
Geypen says netbooks are low-cost
communication devices that are designed to
provide true mobile and wireless access to
26 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
the Web, email, instant messaging and
other Internet and communications tools,
no matter where the user is. Acer regards
netbooks as a discrete and separate market
from notebooks. “Innovations such as Intel’s
Atom processor have enabled us to bring
affordable entry-level devices such as the
Aspire One to market,” says Geypen.
“Although some industry observers expected
these products to cannibalise sales from the
entry-level notebook market, this has not
been the case. Instead, we’re reaching many
users who couldn’t afford a notebook in the
past,” he adds.
Chame says that 2009 will see continued
strong growth in notebook sales as
consumers and corporate clients benefit
from better performance, lower cost and
more environmentally friendly products.
He says that one of the key drivers in the
notebook market in 2009 will be the ongoing
development of CPUs from makers such as
Intel and AMD. “New-generation
processors will give users the
power they are used to on the
desktop, but in notebook form,
while at the same time being more
environmentally friendly through
lower power consumption,” he says.
Imi Mosaheb, country manager,
AMD SA, believes that notebooks are
becoming thinner and lighter, and also that
there are higher battery life expectations.
For 2009, he says that users should look
out for AMD’s latest and upcoming
platforms offering superior multimedia
experiences in high definition across price
segments ranging from R3 999 up, which
take full advantage of Microsoft Vista’s
multimedia options and the future Windows 7.
“ AMD-based notebooks, based on open
standards, offer a faster wireless experience
saving users both time and money.
“We have launched a new line of thin
notebooks as well as netbooks in SA and
more choices will be introduced throughout
2009. These netbook platforms are robust
enough to run Microsoft’s Vista operating
system, he remarks.
While today’s high-end notebooks
typically ship with dual-core processors,
Chame predicts that the quad-core processors
will become increasingly common in note-
books in the coming year. He adds that new
technologies such as RGB-based LCDs will
offer users better colour performance as they
become more mainstream.
He goes on to say that multi-touch screen
capabilities will also become more main-
stream in the coming year rather than being
limited to tablet PCs as in the past.
“One of the drivers for multi-touch panels
in late 2009 and early 2010 will be the
release of Windows 7 which has these features
built-in and as its release draws closer, increasing

numbers of notebooks will be engineered to
provide these capabilities,” he predicts.
According to Chame, connectivity will
continue to be an important part of notebooks
in 2009, increasingly so as WiFi, WiMax and
3G networks mature around the globe.
“As these technologies matures they will
begin to be included in notebooks as
standard features. While it is clear that
connectivity will be a key factor in notebook
uptake over the coming year and beyond,
Dell South Africa will build its notebook
range incorporating 3G and HSDPA to cater
for this market,” says Chame.
“Embedded WiMax and 3G modules tend
to be relatively expensive because of limited
suppliers at this time, and because of this
cost, the USB-dongle connectivity option will
remain dominant in the short term, particularly
in the netbook sector where cost is a signifi-
cant factor. In the longer term, however, as
suppliers become more abundant and prices
begin to decrease, embedded connectivity will
become increasingly common,” he adds.
New products
Tarsus Technologies has announced
upgrades to Acer’s Aspire One, the netbook
range that’s taken the market by storm.
Traci Maynard, Acer business unit manager,
Tarsus, says that the upgrades comprise the
addition of an integrated 3G modem to certain
of the Windows XP models in the range, an
increase in hard-disk storage capacity to 160GB
and the introduction of two new colours – coral
pink and diamond black.
Maynard, says her team is looking forward
to the arrival of the new Aspire One models,
since they have been hugely popular with clients
of every size, in every sector of the market
since their launch a couple of months ago.
“We are particularly excited about the
availability of a model with integrated 3G,
since the majority of current Aspire One users
find that using an external peripheral that
accomplishes the same task cumbersome.
With an integrated module, all the hassle
is removed and users can connect to the
Internet or their VPN whenever the need
arises. It extends the usability of the netbook
substantially,” she says.
Maynard comments that the addition of
the 3G module not only makes life more
convenient for users, but can also extend the
unit’s battery life.
SOLUTION
“Computer designers have traditionally
struggled to regulate the power consumption
of external USB-driven peripherals,” she explains.
“However, by adding the 3G functionality
into the mix as an on-board component, the
Aspire One’s power-saving features
come into effect and extend
the unit’s battery life,”
she says.
Maynard also
believes that the
availability of a 3G-
equipped Aspire One will boost
sales of the 8GB flash storage unit.
“That’s because cloud-computing
practises that allow users to store all of their
data online rely heavily on a fast and
ubiquitous Internet connection.
“The Aspire One now makes that a reality
and the need for users to carry a massive
volume of storage around with them is
starting to disappear. The Aspire One and
“This will be the year when a number of technologies
such as notebooks with Blu-Ray drives and screens with
16:9 aspect ratios start moving into the mainstream.” –
John Geypen, Acer SA
netbook concepts are changing what our
future demands on technology will look like,”
she comments.
Sahara Computers has announced the
release of the Intel 2GB Centrino 2
Montevina notebook to the local market.
The company says it has expanded its
range of digital lifestyle solutions and is targeting
the mid-level market, more specifically users
that require a feature-rich mobile solution that
offers high-speed, on-the-go computing.
“The mobile professional has the benefit
of a mobile workstation and multimedia
device in one. There is ample capacity to
store and digitally manipulate information
and large files. It can be used as a central
workstation to expand and consolidate the
home network,” says Naidoo.
Naidoo explains that critical communication
resources such as e-mail and the Internet are
centralised which reduces cost and enhances
control to maximise output and lower total
cost of ownership over the infrastructure.
“It has sufficient battery power to be used
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 •
NOTEBOOKS FEATURE
PROVIDERS
extensively should there be an interruption in
power supply. This eliminates the risk of
downtime to the business.
The Intel Centrino processor technology
enables high performance, multi-tasking,
high-definition multimedia, latest WiFi
technology and longer battery life,” he explains.
Naidoo adds that there is an increasing
need for affordable, robust and feature-rich
wireless technology within the home network
and home business space.
“This is a thriving area of the market
where the rate of technology adoption is
increasing to keep up with global skills set
requirements. This solution combines
the very best in processor and chipset
technology for quick connectivity and also
offers high memory and storage capacity for
effective management of multimedia files,”
says Naidoo.
Green computing
According to Chame, one of the overriding
trends for all technology in the coming year
is green computing, and confirms that Dell
has made a firm commitment to it.
“In August last year we announced that
we had achieved our goal of becoming
carbon-neutral – five months ahead of
schedule. Dell has achieved this with a
wide-ranging multi-pronged approach that
27
NOTEBOOKS FEATURE
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includes purchasing renewable resources, make this possible. To date,

eliminating toxic substances in our products,
creating a recycling chain for all of our products
and reducing the power consumption of
manufacturing processes as well as on our
products,” he says.
Chame adds that one way to make
computers more environmentally friendly is
to reduce power consumption.
“Some of these power savings are achieved
by the new generation of processors and
solid-state drives that are reducing the
demand on resources,” he says.
“But creating products that are truly green
is about more than reducing power usage. It
requires making improvements in the design,
manufacture and reclamation of products
throughout their lifetimes. We proactively
eliminate environmentally sensitive substances
from our products wherever viable alternatives
are available, and we design products that
are easily recyclable,” he adds.
Green computing is another area where
Acer is seeing a lot of innovation. Geypen
says processor vendors are investing
substantial parts of their R&D budgets in
creating processors that need less power
and generate less heat.
“LED screens that use 30 per cent less
power than the TFT screens used in most note-
books today are also likely to become more
common in 2009 and 2010. This not only
addresses the need to create products that are
environment-friendly, but also helps to extend
battery life for mobile users. An Atom-based
netbook can deliver up to six hours of battery
life with a six-cell battery,” he says.
Customisation
Chame says customers are demanding
customisation when buying notebooks.
He says that for Dell, customisation is a
cornerstone of the success of the business.
“We have always offered customers
products customised to their needs rather
than simply providing one-size-fits-all
products. In 2009 we expect to see greater
demand for customised products, particularly
in the notebook sector,” he says.
He goes on to say that users are increasingly
seeing their notebook as a personal product
that needs to reflect their style.
“For consumers, this means being able to
select form factors, colours and styles that
they want, and Dell’s customisation options
this has largely been limited to
the consumer sector but as
consumerisation takes hold in
the corporate sector we
expect to see similar
demands,” he comments.
AMD’s vision
Mosaheb says AMD continues
to fulfil its vision of a relatively
cheap notebook to
further help propel
PC growth and penetration in SA. “AMD
continues to make strides with One Laptop
Per Child to offer low-cost options in SA.
The OLCP OLPC AMD laptop costs around
R1 599,” he says.
In addition, Mosaheb says AMD is inte-
grating the graphics and the CPU to reduce
notebook sizes and costs while driving more
performance and higher visual experiences.
“Since AMD owns the ATI products, the
integration of two world-class technologies is
expected to yield APUs that will redefine
and establish higher computing performance
“There is an increasing need for affordable, robust
and feature-rich wireless technology within the home
network and home business space.” – Gary Naidoo,
Sahara Computers.
and improved battery life in the mobile
segment,” he comments. Mosaheb says that
AMD continues to adhere to its customer-centric
culture of listening to its customers’ needs and
defining products for future implementation.
“Our customers’ vision of advancing their prod-
ucts to offer more for better value to end-users
is what defines the AMD CPU/chipsets and ATI
Graphics roadmaps at AMD,” says Mosaheb.
The future of notebooks
Mosaheb predicts notebooks will find their
way into becoming more touch-panel
tablet-like devices and become more
pervasive in business, entertainment and
home environments.
“For example, the self-ticketing for movie
theatres take up valuable floor space and
will easily be migrated to wall-mounted
touch screens when replacement cycles
come around.
Notebooks are being integrated into
home appliances and this trend will continue
to show itself more and more in SA. Business,
home security and home automation are
other areas where notebooks are of great
use due to their mobility,” he says. As cloud
computing becomes more prevalent towards
the end of 2009, Mosaheb foresees the
mobile thin client category growing.
“This category will require more graphical
performance than CPU performance since
computation will be done in the Web 2.0
environment. AMD is well positioned
in this segment both with its very low-power
processors and its ATI graphics products
for mobile platforms and handhelds,”
he concludes.

28 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009

 NETWORKING FEATURE
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Convergence: the
hottest issue in networking today
Enabling flexibility without sacrificing productivity.

BY DUDU SHABA

T
he ability to deploy best-of-breed applications
directly into the network infrastructure assists
networking vendors to differentiate them-
selves and helps their customers achieve
even greater returns on their investment in
networking infrastructure. These applications
create a more powerful and intelligent
network. This is according to Derek Wiggill,
regional sales director, 3Com Africa.
He says that the convergence of open
standards and an economic downturn
prompt people to be more selective in their
choice of networking components.
“Open standards means that they are no
longer locked into proprietary solutions and
can hand-pick products that will deliver
value,” he says.
Richard Sutherland, portfolio manager,
Dynamic Infrastructure also believes that
convergence, mobility and security are the
hottest issues in networking today.
“Convergence brings together voice,
video and data which is critical to ensure
communication among people and organi-
sations, mobility eliminates dependence on a
wired connection, while offering the user the
ability to connect from a place of their choice,
while security with convergence and mobility
is becoming more prevalent,” he says.
Sutherland believes that convergence in
the office environment is critical for business
as it offers people the flexibility to live a more
balanced life without sacrificing productivity.
“Convergence offers the critical advantage
of working from anywhere in the connected
world as if you are in the office,” he says.
Wynand Moller, regional manager, D-Link
Africa, Western Cape, states that new applications centralised, iron-clad solution, with management Richard Sutherland, Dynamic
like Wi-Fi VoIP require the ability to roam tools, policy enforcement and built-in security. Infrastructure
seamlessly and securely. “For example, They make wireless LANs as secure as their
wireless switches provide a simple, wired counterparts. With today’s technology

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 29

NETWORKING FEATURE
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you can overlay WLAN switches without
compromising the integrity of the original
wired infrastructure,” he says.
Unlike traditional wireless networks,
Moller says that wireless switching offers a
user-based approach to administration
policy as opposed to policy tied to ports
and addresses.
“This puts the network administrator back
in charge, with a centralised console for
managing and troubleshooting any contingency.
Network administrators centrally control
“WiFi and Wimax are being adopted at a rapid pace. In
emerging markets, the adoption is delayed and, in some
instances, restricted by regulatory policy and limited
backhaul infrastructure. With Intel’s release of its new
chipsets that will support WiMax in the early part of
2009, Wimax will be fast tracked in many parts of the
world.” – Richard Sutherland, Dynamic
Infrastructure
authentication and encryption, manage
VLAN groups, enforce roaming policies and
maintain tight control over quality-of-service
traffic. Each client is tracked by user identity,
rather than by port, device or approximate
location, making the environment more
secure and intruders much more visible.
Policies that govern who can do what and
where while roaming wirelessly can be easily
implemented. Centralised WLAN systems
follow users and know who they are, so it is
much easier to locate rogues when they
appear on the scene,” Moller explains.
The adoption rate
Wiggill says that WiFi is continuing to
become more and more prevalent throughout
the marketplace. With new WiFi standards
such as 802.11n, he outlines that WiFi
continues to improve as a technology.
“Security remains a challenge facing WiFi
networks in both large and small compa-
nies, and unless implemented correctly, it
leaves them vulnerable to bandwidth theft
and makes company resources vulnerable to
Derek Wiggill, 3Com Africa unauthorised external access.
30 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
WiMax would have a ready market if it
weren’t bogged down by the ICASA
licensing process and the shortage of
spectrum. This may improve by year end,”
Wiggill comments.
According to Sutherland, globally WiFi
and Wimax are being adopted at a
rapid pace.
“In emerging markets, the adoption is
delayed and, in some instances, restricted by
regulatory policy and limited backhaul
infrastructure. With Intel’s release of its new
chipsets that will support WiMax in the early
part of 2009, Wimax will be fast tracked in
many parts of the world,” he comments.
Broadband fuelling
Are networking vendors fuelling broadband
to consumers in the home and office
environments?
According to Wiggill, bandwidth
acceleration technologies and WAN
optimisation remain extremely high priorities.
He says the availability and price of broad-
band to businesses and consumers alike
creates a compelling case for such technologies
to grow exponentially as the return on investment
is irrefutable.
Sutherland, says that network vendors,
telcos and ISVs are working together to
make connectivity more accessible through
subsidisation of the components needed to
get connected.
“The deregulation of markets has
assisted greatly with fuelling broadband to
consumers by providing access to uncon-
nected areas,” he says.
Moller says that D-Link continues to fuel
broadband to consumers by developing and
marketing products that thrive on bandwidth.
He says that new draft 802.11n wireless
technology improves bandwidth speeds
while enabling next-generation Internet
applications like VoIP.
“Small businesses that are considering
wireless to expand network coverage, and add
connectivity and flexibility need to consider
new draft 802.11n wireless equipment.
New draft 802.11n products enable
faster performance and longer connectivity
range. They are perfectly suited to small
organisations needing a more robust
wireless solution. Draft 802.11n wireless
solutions are much faster than traditional
802.11g, 802.11b and 802.11a equipment.

Draft 802.11n technology also expands
coverage much further than previous 802.11
technologies,” he says.
“The implications for small businesses and
home offices are clear. VoIP telephony, large
file sharing and streaming, and numerous
other performance-dependent applications are
now much easier to maintain without delays or
network traffic hiccups,” explains Moller.
Convergence
Organisations of all kinds are taking advan-
tage of IP network convergence solutions to
integrate applications, boost productivity, save
on network management and maintenance,
and lower the cost of communication. Moller
believes that these new solutions bring
people together more efficiently to connect
with customers, solve problems and make
better decisions.
“IP convergence does not require rip-and-
replace modifications. Converged IP services,
software and equipment can be added as
necessary and infrastructure can be improved
incrementally. IP networks already exist at
most organisations,” he says.
He goes on to say that most IT depart-
ments have been addressing the “silos of
information” issue for some time. Now, as
more and more business resources use the IP
infrastructure that has evolved from networking
implementations and Internet applications,
the silo metaphor is being extended to
people, processes and projects.
“Organisations want to leverage their IP
infrastructures to bring workers closer together,
help them work more productively, and
allow them to share information more freely
and flexibly.
Network convergence includes both
software solutions and the hardware that
accompany them. A robust physical network
is needed to support presence-aware
applications,” he comments.
The benefits of convergence
According to Moller, the following are the
benefits of IP convergence:
 Dramatic hardware, software, space utili-
sation, maintenance and support cost
savings
 Increased employee productivity and mobility
 Videoconferencing reduces travel costs
 Seamless communication improves
decision-making
SOLUTION
 Memorising of multiple phone numbers,
screen names and email addresses
eliminated
 Single, unified, open IP platform requires
only one skill set for maintenance and support
 Easy to train users and support staff
 Applications and functionality available
anywhere in the world
He adds that the benefits and advantages
of convergence are also compelling from an
IT perspective.
“The beauty of the architecture is that
presence and connectivity rely on infrastructure
that is often already in place,” he remarks.
Security management
Moller comments that D-Link demonstrated
its commitment to the latest in advanced
security technology by announcing the
integration of Microsoft Network Access
Protection (NAP) technology in its family of
xStack switches.
He explains that Microsoft NAP is a new
platform that controls access to network
“The convergence of open standards and an economic
downturn prompts people to be more selective in their
choice of networking components.” – Derek Wiggill,
3Com Africa
resources based on a client computer’s
identity and its adherence to a company’s
corporate governance policy.
“Providing enterprise-level security and
advanced network interoperability, NAP is
one of the most desired and highly anticipated
features of Windows Server 2008.
“With the support of Microsoft NAP, D-Link
xStack switches ensure that each host’s
access to the network is only possible if they
comply with IT security policies as well as the
update of anti-virus signatures and patches
from the operating system. D-Link and
Microsoft’s main objective is for users to
secure their network systems against possible
infected computers and implement more
effective security policies on computer
networks,” he says.
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 •
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PROVIDERS
“Microsoft NAP is a policy enforcement
technology built into the Windows Vista and
Windows Server 2008 operating systems that
allows customers to better protect network
assets from unhealthy computers by enforcing
compliance with network health policies.
Network administrators are able to define
granular levels of network access based on
who a client is, the groups to which the client
belongs and the degree to which that client is
compliant with a corporate governance policy.
This provides customers with bespoke
enterprise-level security features that ultimately
deliver the peace of mind of knowing that
the network is protected by the latest security
advances,” says Moller.
Wiggill believes that intrusion prevention
systems are constantly being refined to deal
with the increasing ingenuity of people
focused on penetrating company networks.
“3Com’s TippingPoint division introduced
IPS in 2002 to identify, prevent or quarantine
intrusion problems before they infect the
network. This next-generation approach
provides unmatched network-based security
with unrivalled cost-effectiveness and ultra-
high reliability, performance and scalability,”
he says.
ISVs and Vendors
ISVs are important as they are the trusted
advisers who bring the network technologies,
software and applications together to optimise
the end-user experience and provide feed-
back on the vendor’s relevant successes.
Sutherland says software developers are
more aware of the impact networks have on
performance and ultimately the end-user
experience and as such have adjusted their
development techniques.
“Convergence, together with fully automated
and integrated infrastructures that can be
acquired off the shelf, is encouraging traditional
31
NETWORKING FEATURE
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
network and software developers to team up
to ensure that their overall solutions work
together effectively,” Sutherland comments.
Wiggill states that more and more
“Resellers need to focus on advanced technologies and
development of good quality resources that will ensure
service offering that customers will be addicted to.
Service is king in the era of skills shortage. Customer
pays premier pricing for service and not products.” –
Richard Sutherland, Dynamic Infrastructure
applications are being embedded into the
network through programmes such as
3Com’s Open Services Network (OSN)
initiatives. He explains that 3Com’s OSN
programme allows software developers to
deploy their applications such as voice,
security, bandwidth optimisation and many
others directly onto a switch or router. “This
saves on the number of servers that need to
be deployed, vastly improves performance
and provides a greater degree of flexibility of
applications that can be deployed across
the network. They create a truly intelligent
network,” he comments.
Resellers
Looking at how resellers can earn revenue
from networking, Sutherland says that base
networking technology like routing and
switching has become a commodity.
“Resellers need to focus on advanced
technologies and the development of good
quality resources to ensure service offerings
that customers will be addicted to. Service is
king in the era of skills shortages. Customers
pay premier prices for service not products,”
says Sunderland.
Skills issue
As with any successful technology that has
expanded rapidly, there is a shortage of
quality skills in this space. Sutherland says
that much more needs to be done to
develop skills. “The ownership is with
government, corporate organisations and
manufacturers of network technology as
Wynand Moller, regional manager, everybody requires skills.
D-Link Africa “Government must continue to flood
32 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
the market with trained resources as
they did in late the ‘90s and early 2000s.
This is critical for the value chain and
movement of skills in the market,”
says Sutherland.
“Connecting mobile devices and managing
their network access are major issues in
network management. There is a desperate
need for qualified network security
specialists in a field where technology is
rapidly evolving. SA will never have enough
of them. They are in demand worldwide,”
Wiggill comments.
Success in the IT industry also depends on
constant learning.
Moller says that the D-link DCE course
is designed to introduce, enhance and
maintain valuable skill sets that are
required in the IT industry. The DCE
training is a full two-day intensive training
course that encompasses the basics
of networking, taking the student through a
series of simple modules through to some
very advanced and interesting topics.
The focus areas include the following:
 Wireless, switches, security and surveil-
lance, and entails theory as well as
practical hands-on sessions.
 Providing network professionals with the
knowledge to design and implement
end-to-end solutions.
 Channel partners to greatly benefit from
course.
 Achieving the highest level of
technical knowledge across a broad
range of internetworking-related
technologies.
Moller says delegates attending the
two-day course will be required to pass
assessments to gain certification.
“On successful completion of the assess-
ments, the delegates will receive a unique
D-Link Certified Engineer Certificate with an
authentication number,” he says.
Looking ahead
Sutherland says that networking is critical
and here to stay with most of emerging
markets still being unconnected.
“Most developing countries can jump to
the latest technology but the skills to support
infrastructure will be key to success or
failure,” he concludes.

crystal ball
What 2009 could hold for the industry.
BY KAUNDA CHAMA AND STANLEY CHISHALA
T
he fact that the year ahead will be a tough
one for the global economy has become a
cliché and companies have moved quickly
from thinking about how bad it will be to
making concrete plans to help them weather
the impending storm.
Company executives and industry analysts
agree that the next 12 months will be turbulent,
but there are certain market segments that pro-
vide more than just a glimmer of hope.
One such segment is the small and medium
enterprises or businesses (SME or SMB)
space which has now become the darling of
many businesses because of the potential it
still has to spend on technology provided that
the solutions make business sense.
Pierre Spies, CEO of distribution house
Tarsus Technologies, comments that 2009 is
going to be a very tough year and says some
of the financial results that have been
released so far are indicative of how tough
SOLUTION
A look
into the
the year is really going to be. An example of
this is the half-year revenue figures released
by IT solutions company Faritec this month
which showed a significant decline from
previous periods.
The company attributed the somewhat
dismal performance to the global and local
economic downturn, which resulted in a
decline in revenue for the six months to 31
December 2008. In addition, the company
also reported a decline in gross profit margins.
At the time of the results’ release, the com-
pany’s CEO Simon Tomlinson said revenue
had declined by 18% from R502 million to
R414 million compared to the same period
last year; earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
decreased to a loss of R11.6 million; and
gross profit margins decreased slightly from
24% to 23%, mainly as a result of significant
pressure on hardware margins.
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 •
OUTLOOK: COVER STORY
PROVIDERS
However, the group remains cash positive,
reporting a closing balance of R42 million.
Tomlinson said that while the revenue drop
was pronounced in the company’s Gauteng
and public sector operations, revenue from
the coastal operations has remained stable.
He added that hardware and software
revenues have declined by 21% and 23%
respectively, while the services side of the
business declined by 6%, explaining that this
was partly due to the stability of its long-term
service and support business.
Spies says that from an IT distribution
perspective, he foresees a year-on-year
decline in units moved due to the current
climate which will naturally put huge pressure
on margins.
Although some analysts and industry
players have put a 12 to 18 month time
frame on the entry point of the global
economic recovery, Spies is confident that the
33
OUTLOOK: COVER STORY
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Pierre Spies, Tarsus Technologies
turnaround could come in the next eight
months, adding that when the turn comes, it
will be a very fast one.
“This year will be a bit of a touch and go one, especially
for the smaller players so this will also be a time when a
lot of vendors will have to realign their expectations.” –
Pierre Spies, Tarsus Technologies
“Distributors and resellers should continue
to focus on their cost structures and keep
costs as low as possible because in the short
to medium term, corporates will sweat their
assets more,” he says.
He comments that companies that provide
technical services and support are bound to
benefit from this situation, but end-user
companies will find that the more they sweat
assets, the more they will experience failures
and system downtimes.
34 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
In addition, Spies comments that that the
box dropper’s road will be a tough one,
adding that he does not see any consolidation
taking place in the short term.
“The SME space is definitely going to be
buoyant. The one thing distributors and
resellers need to bear in mind is that a lot of
companies are buying down in an effort to
get the best value for money out of IT
solutions. Even with SMEs as a major option
companies should keep in mind that
generally, IT budgets are being heavily cut,”
he says.
Spies also adds that business coming from
the public sector should pick up because his
company has seen some increased activity
coming from government on the project side
although there will be some delays in the
signing of bigger contracts.
“This year will be a bit of a touch and go
one, especially for the smaller players so this
will also be a time when a lot of vendors will
have to realign their expectations,” he notes.
Sahara deputy MD Gary Naidoo says that
from his company’s point of view, the year
looks like it will be a tough one but comments
that the IT space looks poised to hit the
challenges head on.
“There is no denying the potential in
mobile computing as the industry gets poised
to service first-time notebook users and those
that will upgrade because the notebook or
computer is now a business and educational
tool,” he says.
According to Naidoo, the demographics
of SA provide for an increase in technology
demand and the fact that the demand for
data bundles is on the rise is promoting data
communications. At the same time, the
availability of wireless technologies like WiFi
and WiMax is increasing the product
offerings as well as extending communications
to areas that were previously untapped.
“Distributors like us will definitely put
campaigns in place that will help resellers to
target new market segments and also help
them to offer solution-based bundles to both
the larger corporates and smaller guys,”
he says.
Storage solutions vendor EMC South
Africa’s country manager Gerhard van der
Merwe agrees that the tough times will see a
few smaller companies in the technology
space disappear and even some larger ones
taking significant strain.

“It’s going to be tough out there so
companies have to watch their operating
expenses and what they do very carefully,”
he notes.
Van der Merwe comments that with stricter
controls on revenues and expenses, there will
unfortunately be some staff rationalisations in
the sector and major reductions in IT budgets
across the board, but adds that companies
that do smart business will remain stable.
In light of the current economic climate,
research company Gartner has released a
number of reports predicting what industries
should expect in the near future.
Regarding the IT sector, the firm says
recessions tend to be turning points in an
economy, spawning new industries. The
personal computer industry emerged from
the recession of 1979, and although the
“dotcom” recession of 2001 saw the disap-
pearance of most of the overvalued companies,
we cannot ignore those that continued to
grow – Amazon and eBay, among others.
These turning points are equally effective
in ending prior business models, as the
financial services and automotive industries
are discovering. The current recession started
with the deflation of asset values in areas
such as housing and the stock markets. At
their height, asset values powered US
consumer spending, which in turn drove the
global economy.
It will take years to know the full impact of
this recession, which makes these predictions
even more important for effective decision-
making. What are the forces in play right
now, and how will they affect your industry?
Key Findings
 The recession is having a highly negative
impact on IT budgets in government and
retail.
 ”Creative destruction” is alive and well as
business models change to respond to
new economic and competitive realities,
with automotive and K-12 including it in
their predictions.
 To show that complacency is never a
strategy, the competitive landscape is
shifting.
New players are entering the arena to
capture market share from incumbent
players, especially in banking and retail,
whereas manufacturing is seeking to regain
its power with customers.
OUTLOOK: COVER STORY
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
Looking at the corporate space, Gartner
advises that CIOs must be decisive and
resourceful in 2009. “Meeting the challenges
of 2009 requires CIOs to lead their organi-
sations or enterprises through decisions that
have no simple answers. CIOs need to lead
and have the foresight to look at IT in new
ways,” Gartner says.
“It’s going to be tough out there so companies have to
watch their operating expenses and what they do very
carefully.” – Gerhard van der Merwe, EMC
They will demonstrate this leadership
through the following imperatives:
 Being decisive in setting priorities on
actions that raise enterprise effectivenes
with a focus on improving business
process, using business intelligence to
raise visibility and enhancing workforce
effectiveness.
 Doing the first things faster, as changing
economic conditions render a large
project irrelevant. CIOs need to add
schedules to their prioritisation process
and recognise that some priorities can
wait. They need to place greater
emphasis on the schedule (when) rather
than the priorities (why).
 Being resourceful in restructuring IT to
raise its productivity and agility, because
the business will not reduce its demand
for IT just because you have fewer
resources.
 Modernise technical infrastructure, as new
technologies offer lower cost, use less
energy, deliver better performance and
provide greater capacity; the business will
need all of these in the immediate future.
With the above imperatives forming the
basis for the CIO agenda and its focus on
making the enterprise more effective,
distributors and resellers alike can rest
assured that although spending may
slowdown significantly, smarter planning on
their side will ensure that they benefit fromthe
new opportunities that will be created by the
prevailing market conditions. Gerhard van der Merwe, EMC
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 35
 10
ANALYSIS: COST CUTTING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Real cost cutting

technologies for
2009
BY CRN STAFF, CHANNELWEB

I t’s no secret that customers are reluctant to part with their hard-earned cash during the economic downturn, but that
doesn’t mean IT sales will come to a standstill. Savvy solution providers will show that by spending a little now on the
right technologies, customers will actually save down the road and gain a competitive edge over their rivals to boot.
With that in mind, CRN has identified 10 real cost-cutting solutions that will play big in 2009. The list features
technologies that offer proven ROI with real-world examples of customers that scored huge savings. Ultimately, these
technology investments will provide the tools customers need to survive in this economy.

Data Center Automation Document Management

5 KEY PLAYERS:
BMC, CA, HP, IBM, mValent
Applying automation to the enterprise data center is an important part
of running mission-critical applications and making sure servers and
storage devices are utilised to the fullest extent. And it is the kind of busi-
ness where solution providers can prove their importance to customers,
said Bob Schwartz, president of Robert Mark Technologies, Cottage
Grove, Minn. “When times are good, a lot of glitzy applications get
purchased, but people don’t think of boring things like automation,”
Schwartz said. “In the last recession, we saw a lot of interest. Now, with
the economy falling, we’re back in the same situation.”
REAL WORLD: Robert Mark Technologies automated the runbook of
a money-transfer application for a banking customer, and saved it an
initial $240,000 per year related to the cost of two full-time contractors
who manually monitored the application.
5 KEY PLAYERS:
eCopy, HP, Laserfiche, Oki Data Americas, Xerox
Print and imagingVARs that aren’t raising their game to master docu-
ment management are not only missing out on a key aspect of the
“total solution” but also ignoring one of the most important cost-cutting
technologies for today’s office. That’s probably why big players like
Xerox,HP, Ricoh and Oki Data Americas have been fine-tuning their
offerings and why mavens like Laserfiche and eCopy and newcomers
like GoScan are attracting VARs left and right.
“We had a very successful year with Laserfiche and, going forward,
we are heavily focused on [their] value, particularly with regard to
process automation,” says Kevin Smith, senior vice president of One
Source Document Solutions Inc., a Greensboro, N.C., solution provider.
REAL WORLD: One Source used Laserfiche technology to help
Iredell Memorial Hospital save $40,000 per month in writeoffs
from misplaced records.

36 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009


Managed Services
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Kaseya, Level Platforms, N-able, Nimsoft, Zenith Infotech
It sounds odd, but there aren’t many MSPs using the term “managed
services.” Rather, they market themselves as “outsourced IT
departments.” The terminology might be complex, but the concept is
not: helping customers lower costs by monitoring and managing their
IT infrastructure. In most cases, customers pay the MSP a recurring fee
to take care of their IT needs. Because MSPs have more control over
both their resources and the customer, the end user’s costs are typically
less than the traditional break-fix model.
“It’s pretty easy.We take responsibility for their network. My analogy
is if you had a mechanic living in your garage, your car would run
forever,” says B.J. Farmer, CEO of CITOC Inc., a Houston-based MSP.
REAL WORLD: PFM, a property services company for the petroleum
industry, outsourced its network management to CITOC and is saving
about $1 million each year.
Open-Source Software
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Digium, MySQL, Novell, Red Hat, SugarCRM
As the economy worsens, it’s not surprising that more companies are
looking to open-source software as a way to cut licensing costs. But
according to VARs, open-source software has matured to the point
where some products offer functionality that surpasses proprietary
software. Ron Bongo, CEO of Corra Technology Inc., a Montclair,
N.J., Linux solution provider, is seeing more companies move to
ANALYSIS: COST CUTTING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
applications like Openbravo (ERP), ProcessMaker (business process
management) and SugarCRM, as opposed to just operating systems
and databases.“Many open-source applications are not only viable
alternatives to proprietary ones, they’ve also added new functionality,
such as social networking capability, that doesn’t exist in commercial
software,” he says.
Companies are starting to take open source seriously, said Frank
Basanta, director of technology at Systems Solutions, New York.“My
first suggestions to customers are things like open-source file servers,
print servers or FTP servers. We’ve had FTP servers running for two
years without a reboot,” he says. “There is some basic input you have
to learn, but when you’re administering something and don’t have to
worry about it, that adds up to major cost savings.”
REAL WORLD: EUS Networks closed a 1,000-port VoIP deal based
on Digium’s Asterisk Business Edition for $250,000; a comparable
Cisco solution was priced at $1.5 million.
Power Management
5 KEY PLAYERS:
APC, Belkin, Eaton, Liebert, Tripp Lite
Providing solutions in power management technology for cooling and
electricity in the data center can lead to a highmargin product and
services business. Five Nines Technology Group, Lincoln, Neb., first
analyzes every device that draws power and documents the business
case, said Ben Pankonin, director of business development. For power
management, Five Nines mainly uses products from APC and Liebert,
CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 37
ANALYSIS: COST CUTTING
SOLUTION PROVIDERS
often working the technology into a
broader solution sale. “We often have the
opportunity to explore energy savings at
the time that clients are looking at other
projects,” he says. But, he warns, “Do not
pretend to be an HVAC specialist.
Instead, partner with mechanical
engineering firms and become a valuable
resource for your client.”
REAL WORLD: Five Nines cut server
power consumption for a community
bank by more than 50 percent by
combining virtualisation and APC power
management technology.
Server Virtualisation
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Citrix, Microsoft, Parallels, Sun
Microsystems, VMware Server virtualisa-
tion actually lets customers reduce the
amount of physical hardware they require while providing a platform
for expanded capabilities. Putting a dollar figure on the cost savings is
fairly easy using software tools that assess a customer’s environment,
says Mitch Kleinman, president of Ryjac Computer Solutions, Irvine,
Calif. “Our server virtualisation methodology shows tangible savings,”
Kleinman says.“We’ve gone into a customer, dropped software on their
server, and showed how much they’d save with virtualisation.”
REAL WORLD: One Ryjac customer invested $131,000 in VMware,
two IBM servers and a SAN, saving $1.3 million in power, maintenance
and acquisition costs over three years.
Software-as-a-Service
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Adobe, Microsoft, NetSuite, Oracle, Salesforce.com Given the current
economy, Software-as-a-Service solutions and their buy-what-you-need,
pay-as-you-go model are all the more attractive. “With SaaS, there is
no need to install infrastructure and no up-front capital costs, which
makes it very desirable in today’s economic climate,” says Eric
Berridge, co-founder and principal at Bluewolf Inc., New York, which
specializes in SaaS applications from Eloqua, Salesforce.com, Success-
Factors and Xactly, among others. SaaS solutions require fewer
infrastructure resources on the customer side to deploy, run and
manage vs. packaged software, and they help cut requirements for
on-site maintenance and support staff. They also typically offer more
flexibility and are quick to roll out.
REAL WORLD: By implementing SaaS applications, Bluewolf helped
a cable services company improve sales-lead qualifications and reduce
its sales cycle by 40 percent. such solutions extremely attractive, said
Wade Wyant, managing partner of ITS Partners, Grand Rapids, Mich.
“In this climate, you need to look at technologies that offer instant ROI
for customers,” he says.
38 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009
REAL WORLD: Insight Public
Sector outfitted Florida’s
Seminole County Schools with an
NComputing solution, saving it
50 percent on hardware, 70
percent on life-cycle mainte-
nance and 90 percent on energy.
Thin-Client Computing
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Citrix, IBM, NComputing,
Symantec, VMware Recent
advances in thin-client technolo-
gy– along with increased interest
in improving IT efficiency – have
led to renewed interest.
Advantages such as lower hard-
ware, IT administration and ener-
gy consumption costs make
Unified Communications
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Avaya, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Nortel, ShoreTel It may sound
expensive on the surface, but unified communications has a proven
track record for delivering rapid ROI. By tying together VoIP, IM, e-mail,
videoconferencing, smartphones and PDAs,VARs can help customers
cut costs and generally do more with less. Cisco Systems, Microsoft,
Avaya and others have been preaching the ROI story for years, and
solution providers and end customers are catching on. “Through
[unified communications] we can consolidate vendors, improve
corporate productivity, reduce hard costs and reduce our customer’s
overall bottom line,” says Glenn Conley, CEO of Metropark
Communications, Chicago.
REAL WORLD: Metropark used AltiGen IP telephony and conferencing
products and 3Com gear to save a medical equipment sales outfit
$10,000 per month in telecom services.
Videoconferencing
5 KEY PLAYERS:
Cisco, Lifesize, Microsoft, Polycom, Tandberg
Travel budgets often take a hit when times are tough, but that
doesn’t mean businesses have to cut back on face time with
contacts.And as improvements such as high-definition video
and telepresence go mainstream, the videoconferencing
experience mimics real-life meetings more than ever. “We’ve got
technical experts that are available to all of our salespeople, but
they’re centralized,” he says.“They can meet with four customers in four
parts of the world all in the same day and never travel,” said Charlie
Macli, executive vice president of sales and marketing at IVCi LLC,
Hauppauge, N.Y.
REAL WORLD: IVCi implemented a Polycom VCX 7000 videoconfer-
encing system to help an expanding East Coast-based law firm cut
travel to its West Coast offices by 20 percent.
 Reviews by: Stanley Chishala Highly Recommended

McAfee – Total Protection 2009

Well locked down.
As one of the leading vendors in the security space
with expertise in both system security and anti-virus
McAfee has done well with Total Protection 2009.
As far as modern day security software is
concerned, the suite incorporates a very good and
comprehensive collection of tools for safeguarding
users against threats.
I must admit that I took the software home and
spent some time getting the installation right (it
could have been user error) and I also seemed to
have a few issues getting the online registration
right (which is an initial prerequisite), I found that
the software was a great improvement on what the
company had to offer users last year.
The interface is relatively easy to understand
because the it displays green ticks if everything
looks OK and offers a one-click solution to fix any
problems that it detects.
It has two easy controls that offer quick access
to updates and scans and all the software’s
features are easy to get to through a categorised
list that includes computer protection, Internet and
network, email and IM and parental controls.
With all its features broken down into individual
components with advanced menus it is quite
remarkable to see how much tweaking one
can do to the way they view and use the
software through the collection of additional
lists and menus.
The firewall is admittedly quite complex and
quickly reminds beginners that sometimes even out
of the box solutions should be left for experienced
users to install.
The QuickClean feature enables users to remove unwanted files
from their systems and registries. It also comes with a convenient
The interface is relatively easy to under- shortcut to Windows’ Defragmenter and a network manager to view
the status of computers that have access to the machine the software
stand because the it displays green ticks is installed on.
if everything looks OK and offers a Essentially, Total Protection 2009 is a fairly comprehensive
collection of utilities, but in some cases switching between them
one-click solution to fix any problems involves an overly long wait while the component loads. While most
are integrated quite well they all seem to follow the same pattern of
that it detects.
being rather awkward to use. It does also give users a lot of flexibility
but comes at a sort of premium price.
At the end of the day, even with the price of the product, the
However there are some impressive extras thrown into the upside is that the solution has a lot to offer users with its wide array
package like McAfee’s Backup and Restore software. This allows of tools: It is a great system scanner and scans a users’ system
users to save copies of data to local and networked drives. This almost 100%.
feature alone makes this software solution stand out very prominently After using this product, it is easy to understand why McAfee
even in a room full of competitor brands. remains one of the global leaders in the total system security space.

CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009 • 39

PARTING: SHOTS

DILBERT www.dilbert.com by Scott Adams

S n a pshot Andrew Holden

Company: Bytes Outsource Services, a division of the Bytes
Position: Managing director
Age: 42
Best personal achivement: I think my best personal achievement lies in the growth of Bytes Outsource
Services, over the last 5 years. It has been a phenomenal few years for us, in a highly competitive industry.
Management style: I believe in People – by empowering my management team they are encouraged to perform TO the
best of their abilities thus ensuring personal development, satisfaction and inevitable success.
Most admired company: David Redshaw, CEO of Bytes Technology Group. His determination, fairness and loyalty to the
company and staff are characteristics I admire and aspire to be.
Most admired executives: Adrian Gore
Most pressing local business issues: I think the economic situation in
South Africa (and globally) as well as skills shortages and inter-related threats to
our businesses. The economic situation negatively impacts IT Projects and this in
turn affects skills development; which then exacerbates the current skills shortage
we are facing in this country.
Key to success: I think adapting to the ever-changing face of technology is a
trait of many successful people.
Favourite car: Mercedes
Your car: Mercedes
Favourite authors: Steven R Covey
Where do you live: I currently reside in Pretoria
Birthplace: I was born in England
Hobbies/sports: I enjoy Hockey and Golf
Favourite periodicals: Time Magazine

40 • CRN SOUTHERN AFRICA • FEBRUARY 2009