The Pipeline

Compliance Is A Gold Mine

April 20, 2012

Regulations are not just for big businesses anymore. Today states are enacting data privacy laws that mandate companies both large and small protect the confidential data of their customers. And this could be a huge opportunity for you to add services and provide expertise to your customers.

Earlier this month the state of Utah disclosed that 181,000 people who receive benefits from Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Plan had personal information stolen due to a simple configuration error. These types of disclosures happen all too often. In fact, there have been more than 3,000 breaches since 2005 with more than 545,645,703 records breached in the same time period. While Windows has been the platform of choice for hackers, the popularity of Apple devices has hackers moving their attention toward the Mac platform. Kaspersky Lab recently said that its analysis of a massive botnet revealed that more than 98 percent of the infected systems were running a version of Mac OS X and more than 600,000 computers had been compromised. If you think anyone or any platform is safe, think again.

There is an alphabet soup of regulations out there: PCI-DSS for companies that take credit-card payments, GLBA and SOX for financial institutions, HITECH and HIPAA for the health-care sector. You can add to the mix 46 states that now have some sort of data breach notification law on the books, with Massachusetts and Nevada leading the charge with stringent laws forcing proactive, not reactive, security measures.

Beyond state regulations, do you know about e-discovery? The official name is the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures (FRCP) and it now states that electronic documents are discoverable. So, theoretically, all businesses involved in lawsuits, IRS actions or HIPAA or SOX violations must respond to an electronic discovery request. This means your customers must retain electronically stored information -- e-mails, IMs, text documents, wikis, blogs, Web transactions -- and be able to retrieve it and hold onto the electronic record until the matter is settled.

And while you don’t want to be in a position to be an auditor for your clients, baseline knowledge of the regulations and, more importantly, the technologies that can help can be something added to your arsenal. I would bet that most small businesses aren’t even aware that they must meet these data protection laws or know much about e-discovery. What’s more, there is a lot of sensitive data that small businesses have and need to be protected: Social Security numbers, W2s, payroll information, Tax ID numbers, credit-card numbers, the list goes on.

This could be a gold mine for the channel. Solution providers can install a number of security measures to help small businesses meet the regulations and protect their customers’ data. You can help a small business create a document retention and business continuity plan and then map policy-based encryption, e-mail archiving and recovery and data leakage prevention to the strategy. Today there are some hosted models that you can white-label as a service and look like a hero to your client.

So get a primer on the most common regulations, what they mandate and what technologies map to the regulations. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

BACKTALK: Kelley Damore is VP, Editorial Director for UBM Channel. You can reach her via e-mail at kelley.damore@ubm.com.

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Happy Anniversary, CRN

March 23, 2012

Michael Jackson had just released his “Thriller” album, “E.T.: The Extra- Terrestrial” was playing at the movies, the average cost of a home was $82,000 and gas was 91 cents a gallon. It was 1982. Time Magazine declared computers its “Man of the Year,” and CRN published its first issue under the name Computer Retail News.

For 30 years, CRN has been chronicling the events in technology and providing analysis as to why it is important to those selling systems to customers. In the early days, it was computer retail stores, such as ComputerLand and Businessland, armed with medallions selling PCs and microcomputers. Today it is about managed service providers and cloud providers selling access to applications and infrastructure.

If you look back on the past 30 years -- or just glance at this month’s cover -- the impact of technology and the pace of change it has brought about are really quite astounding.

The 1980s brought us the PC and the first Macs. During that decade other start-up companies built upon those advances and gave us sophisticated applications, databases and LANs.

In the 1990s, the Web was opened up for commercial use. E-mail exploded, browsers were developed and computer services around these technologies soared.

As we approached the millennium, Y2K took center stage followed by advances in mobility, storage and security.

And now the 2010s are bringing social media to the forefront, and technology has moved from a nice-to-have to a critical part of any company’s business and everyone’s personal life.

In the pages of CRN this month we will look back a bit on the industry, and on CRN.com we will reflect on the changes and advancements of technology as well as take you on a trip down memory lane, where we will profile the companies, the different personalities and the milestone industry events.

While it is always fun to reminisce (by the way, one of my editors just informed me that he wasn’t even born yet in 1982), we also must look ahead to ensure the channel continues to grow and thrive. At XChange Solution Provider in Los Angeles earlier this month, CRN honored two groups of people working in the channel.

We brought on stage our “30 Peers With 30 Years” -- those executives who have been in the industry for 30 years -- and “30 In Their 30s” -- the next-generation channel leadership.

The channel trailblazers literally built this industry that we have today. They are truly resilient and understand that the one constant in the channel is change. Familiar faces such as Jeff McKeever, Mike Long and Ed Anderson, among others with 30 years or more in the channel, caught up at our event.

The new generation of channel leaders networked at XChange Solution Provider as well. These executives are passionate about technology and their love for it often began in their formative years, programming or working on laptops as teenagers. They are eager to see where technology takes them.

While technologies and business models change at a blinding pace, one thing remains the same: It is all about the people and relationships forged within the channel. We hope to continue our relationship with you whether it be on the Web, a tablet or some other technology that isn’t in existence yet. So here’s to 30 years of the channel and another 30 more.

BACKTALK: Kelley Damore is VP, Editorial Director for UBM Channel. You can reach her via e-mail at kelley.damore@ubm.com.

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Whitman Must Bury 8/18/11

February 20, 2012

August 18, 2011 is the day that will live in infamy for HP VARs. In one fell swoop, HP’s former CEO, Leo Apotheker, announced it was possibly spinning off its PSG division, killing its six-week-old TouchPad tablet and buying a UK software vendor, Autonomy, for more than $10 billion.

Over the months, this date has been specifically referenced time and again by VARs -- and even HP executives -- as an indelible mark left on the company -- a time when the biggest IT channel was turned upside-down and defined more by uncertainty than predictability.

One cannot understate the damage done to the channel by the 11-month tenure of Apotheker. Since 8/18, the HP channel has been in limbo trying to decide whether it should stick with HP, or diversify and invest in other vendors. This is all against a backdrop of extraordinary change within the technology marketplace as VARs try to shift their business models in order to capture some of the cloud and mobile revenue. Still others are looking to an unlikely ally -- Apple -- in light of its astounding iPad success.

And HP’s other competitors aren’t standing still. They are aggressively recruiting some of HP’s finest and architecting its field sales force to capitalize on the uncertainty. Cisco, who had its own share of difficulties during the past 18 months, seems to have recovered and, according to VARs, is a formidable foe with a field sales force that is working hand-in-hand with the channel. HP meanwhile, they grumble, does not have a clear channel strategy and the field is rife with conflict and confusion.

Enter Meg Whitman. One hundred days on the job, Whitman has been forced to focus on cleaning up the chaos Apotheker has rent. But in the next 100 days, she needs to prove she understands channel dynamics, has an overarching vision for where HP needs to go and communicates that strategy far and wide.

One of Whitman’s strengths -- from her days at eBay and on the campaign trail in 2010 -- is communication. She will need those skills to assuage solution providers’ fears. HP’s channel clout and influence is waning as it loses mind share and market share. While Whitman hasn’t met with many channel executives face to face yet, she needs to hear their concerns. Ironically, she also needs to take the politics out of HP and break down the silos that are so firmly entrenched in the company. Today, HP is a company of individual product divisions rather than a company that stitches products onto an overall vision.

Furthermore, Whitman should take a page from HP’s old playbook, circa 2001, when channel engagement was at an all-time high. One of the first changes she should make is to appoint a channel chief. In years past, HP had one channel chief who was the channel face of HP. Other large technology vendors have a similar role. HP has moved away from this and has upwards of a dozen “channel chiefs” within divisions that report up to the division presidents, making it difficult for solution providers to align a face to HP’s channel.

Finally, HP needs to reinstitute the “hard deck” to minimize conflict in the field. This was a list of companies that HP’s direct sales force owned, and any companies outside the hard deck were fair game for the channel. Today, the hard deck is unclear or unspoken. What’s more, many of HP’s competitors have implemented a similar model.

Reversing course is a big job for Whitman, but hopefully a year from now, 8/18/11 will be a distant memory, and HP and its channel will be back in all its glory.

BACKTALK: Kelley Damore is VP, Editorial Director for UBM Channel. You can reach her via e-mail at kelley.damore@ubm.com.

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The Apple Of My 'i'

January 20, 2012

I made a personal decision over the holidays, and believe it or not, this decision will ultimately affect how you run your business.

When I started at CRN, I was given a BlackBerry and for a few years it was my go-to device. Then I got the Apple bug. I bought an iPad a few months after it came out. I loved my iPad so much that I bought an iPhone for personal use. It gave me the ability to download apps for me and my kids, the keyboard was a cinch and the camera was a great feature. Quite simply, the ease of using the device got me hooked. In fact, after those two purchases our family has added a MacBook Air, another iPhone and an iPod. In a matter of three years, we went from zero Apple devices to eight.

I was using the iPad and iPhone so much that it was a hassle to have the BlackBerry. Pinch and zoom Webmail is no way to work especially compared to the fast scroll of messages on the iPhone. So I signed an IT document and I now am getting proper access to my mail and apps on my iPhone and iPad.

But here’s the rub. I am paying for my iPhone and iPad wireless services and walking away from a company-paid BlackBerry. And I am pretty cheap. But the BlackBerry seems dated, and I want just one device to run my professional and personal life.

And I don’t think I am alone. Consumer devices are entering offices every day, and the line between business life and personal life is morphing with the combination of social media and mobile technology. So how does this affect you? Traditional corporate hardware sales in the form of client devices are going away.

In fact, John Ross, CTO of GreenPages, told me last year that in a few years he won’t even issue PCs or client devices to GreenPages’ employees anymore. Rather, employees will need to have their own laptops and will be given the ability to access the necessary applications via the virtualized environment.

Ross is transitioning and plans to have the policy in effect next year.

While this may have been met with resistance three to five years ago, it isn’t a big stretch today. Many employees have devices at home and would rather use their own system than a company-issued laptop.

And let’s look at the other corporate device killer or device replacement: the iPad. Sales in the U.S. could top 40 million in 2011 with iPad owning 97.2 percent of tablet traffic, according to comScore. Looking at the holiday season alone, Wall Street investors estimate 5 million to 7.5 million people received iPads in their stockings and 6.8 million Android and iOS devices were activated on December 25 alone with an additional 242 million apps downloaded on Christmas Day, said mobile application analysis firm Flurry.

So what does this mean for you? If you have not changed your solution provider business model to play in a world where the consumers -- not CIOs -- are driving information technology device adoption, then you are missing the boat. Some solution providers are adapting by aggressively offering virtual desktop infrastructure that adapts to any and all devices. Others are moving to sell, support and integrate the iPad into their product portfolios. And still others are aggressively moving into telecom services with many even offering Verizon, AT&T and other smartphones to their business customers.

So let my simple little story be a lesson for you. Solution providers that ignore the consumerization of IT do so at their own risk.

BACKTALK: Kelley Damore is VP, Editorial Director for UBM Channel. You can reach her via e-mail at kelley.damore@ubm.com.

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Channel Business Index Offers Insight

December 09, 2011

One thing is certain: We are still operating amid economic uncertainty. From the European debt crisis to the unemployment number remaining steady, the healthy and predictable turnaround is still out of our reach.

Traditionally, technology has been an economic bellwether and the channel offers great insight on the sentiment of the SMB. As a result, CRN is unveiling a new business index to get a real-world view of solution provider confidence and business outlook in the channel.

Called the Channel Business Index (CBI), this confidence number is modeled on the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI), a well-accepted and reliable economic indication of the health of the services market. The CBI will represent those that sell to the small, medium and enterprise business markets, and CRN will go to the same panel of solution providers each month and ask them to assess their organization’s performance comparing the current month to the previous month. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the market is generally expanding while a number below 50 percent indicates that the sector is generally contracting.

This year we have been quietly building data for this index. The good news is business activity, sales or new orders have all registered strong numbers and were higher than the national average. Employment was the lowest number and appeared to be contracting slightly, indicating that the channel is still reticent to hire new employees or fill vacant positions. As we gather more data, we will be able to offer additional metrics and trending on production, customer inventories, new orders, prices, employment, backlog of orders, supplier deliveries and inventories. Stay tuned for more data and analysis around the CBI in 2012 both in print and online.

While the economy is sputtering and cost cutting appears to be the most common reaction, a recent study challenges that conventional wisdom. Rather, those that can transform how they sell, see the biggest improvements in sales and profits, according to ZS Associates and the Aberdeen Group.

Instead of selling on products and services or even relationships and price, these companies are tailoring their offerings to customer needs and the value delivered. Because buyers today are more sophisticated and product information is readily available on the Web, a salesperson’s role must be focused on value, and they must have a deeper level of insight into customers’ priorities. It is all about understanding your customers’ problems and solving those problems.

According to the study, “best-inclass” companies had 91 percent customer retention rates, an 11.7 percent year-over-year increase in annual contract or average deal size, and an average year-over-year profit growth rate of at least 16 percent. Meanwhile, “industry average” companies saw 42 percent customer retention rates, a 1.7 percent year-over-year increase in annual contract or average deal size, and an average year-over-year profit growth rate of 1.8 percent. Lastly, “laggard” companies had 31 percent customer retention rates, a 3.7 percent year-over-year decrease in annual contract or average deal size, and an average 1.9 percent decrease in overall year-over-year company profits.

So the marching orders for 2012 are to get to know your customer even better than in 2011. And here’s to some consistent economic results and growth for the channel in the future.

BACKTALK: Kelley Damore is VP, Editorial Director for UBM Channel. You can reach her via e-mail at kelley.damore@ubm.com.

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