Computer 2000 announces appointment of Jo-anne Foreman as Director of TDConsumer Electronics

Computer 2000 has announced that Jo-anne Foreman, currently Managing Director of Widget UK, is to be appointed as Director of its TDConsumer Electronics division.

She will take up her new position on 12 December. She will report to David Watts, Commercial Director of Computer 2000 and be responsible for continuing the success of the Retail sales team and driving the development of the company’s consumer electronics business.

Jo-anne Foreman has been MD at Widget UK since September 2008 and has led the company though a period of substantial growth. David Elder, former Commercial Director of the company and currently a Non Executive Director, will take on the role of Managing Director.

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Vendors start to gear up for the festive season

With tablets all the rage and smart TV and streaming of video and music becoming more popular, this Christmas promises to be a good year for sales of consumer PC devices and accessories. While economic growth is still slow, buyers are still very likely to splash out at Christmas-time and mindful of this, vendors are preparing some fantastic new line-ups of consumer devices that will meet the needs of all users and all budgets. There will be something for everyone, lots of choice and heaps of opportunity to sell bundle and special offers that customers will find hard to ignore. We’re expecting details of many of the new lines to start coming through any day now and we’ll be making sure that you know all about them well in advance. Keep an eye out for our regular e-bulletins and if you want to start making plans nice and early, please do get in touch with our team – you know where we are. As we are one of the top distributors for all the leading brands – Apple, HP, Acer, Sony, Toshiba, ASUS, Samsung and Fujitsu, we’ll be first with the news and first with the special offers promotions and stock of all the new products.

Tech Data finalizes acquisition of distribution business of Man and Machine

Acquisition strengthens TDDatech’s Autodesk VAD business in Europe

Tech Data (Nasdaq:TECD), a leading distributor of technology products, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Value Added Distribution (VAD) business of Man and  Machine, a leading VAD in the design software market in Germany, UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Benelux, Poland and Romania. The acquisition, which was announced on 12^th September, has received the merger approval of the European Commission.

With this acquisition, TDDatech, Tech Data’s design software division, adds a number of highly skilled and qualified professionals to its team across Europe, establishes a presence in Benelux and Romania and extends its product portfolio to include the Autodesk software for the manufacturing industry in Italy, France, UK and Poland.

Mike Appel Vice President of TDDatech Europe said “This acquisition strengthens TDDatech’s  Autodesk VAD business in Europe and fully supports our strategy to expand and enhance our service and specialized added value to the Autodesk VAR channel. We are committed to making this a great success for our VAR customers and Autodesk.”

Global PC market expected to start solid recovery next year

PC vendors can expect to see solid growth in global sales, according to the latest predictions from IDC. Worldwide PC shipments increased by just 2.7 percent in the second quarter of 2011, according to IDC numbers. It now expects shipments to grow by just 2.8 percent for the full year. But the company is forecasting improved growth in 2012, with shipments expected to rise 9.3 percent and average increase between 2013 through 2015 expected to be around 11 percent. Gartner meanwhile expects shipments this year to be up 3.8 percent and predicts a 10.9 percent increase in 2012.

IT managers need to adopt ‘creative destruction’ policy

With IT budgets under pressure, CIOs need to tear up the rule book and adopt a policy of ‘creative destruction’ a leading Gartner analyst told Computer Weekly recently. With 67 percent of IT budgets used for ‘keeping the lights on’ and a further 19 percent supporting growth of current business, only 14 percent is allocated to ‘genuine transformational IT’, said Dave Aron, Gartner fellow in the analyst’s CIO research group, who recommends organisations use ‘creative destruction’ to get rid of unnecessary systems, processes and costs. This will mean more consolidation and a move towards converged infrastructures and the use of cloud computing. It will also leave plenty of room for genuine creativity and innovation. Read the published article here www.computer2000.co.uk/computerweekly

Tech Data to acquire distribution business of Man and Machine, boosting Datech presence across Europe

Tech Data has entered into an agreement to acquire certain assets pertaining to the Value Added Distribution (VAD) business of Man and Machine, a leading VAD in the design software market in Germany, UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, the enelux, Poland and Romania. The agreement, which is subject to certain conditions being met and the merger approval of the European Commission, should be completed by the end of October. With this agreement, Datech, Tech Data’s design software division, strengthens its position as Autodesk’s leading VAD in Europe, establishes a presence in Benelux and Romania, and extends its product portfolio to include the Autodesk software for the manufacturing industry in Italy, France, UK and Poland. In addition, a number of highly skilled and qualified professionals will join Datech’s team across Europe. ‘This agreement is further evidence of Tech Data’s strategy to grow its specialist divisions by making selective acquisitions in technology areas and geographies where we can continue to grow profitably for our shareholders and enhance the service and support to our customers.’ said Nestor Cano, President, Tech Data Europe. Following the acquisition, Man and Machine intends to transform its business into a value added reseller leveraging its knowledge and expertise in the market. Mike Appel Director of Datech Europe, said: ‘We are very excited about this agreement. It fully supports our strategy to expand and enhance our service and specialised added value to the Autodesk VAR channel. We are committed to make this a great success for our VAR customers, Autodesk and for Datech.’

Microsoft previews Windows 8

Microsoft previewed Windows 8 at its Build developer conference in the US last month and will support tablet form factors, including devices based on ARM’s low-power microprocessors. Due for release next year, Windows 8 will have two interfaces – a traditional desktop and the tablet ‘Metro’ version. The latter will have larger control buttons for easy touch- creen use. Microsoft will also launch its own online marketplace, called Windows Store, to sell downloadable applications. Gartner has predicted that the global market for tablets will reach 70 million this year and 300 million in 2015.

Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – October

System Centre Virtual Machine 2012 is a fantastic addition to the System Center suite of products for managing your virtualised infrastructure. There is a new interface and large number of new features for managing virtual machines, applications, and your cloud environments. Check out the basics in this video and watch out for a deep dive in the future.

One of the key changes to System Centre Configuration Manager 2012 is how software delivery will be provisioned. This change will see User Centric Application deployment, so we really need to start thinking user first. This is more than just moving are targeting from devices to users to find out more have a look at this article.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – October

How well do you know your Private Cloud, over on the Microsoft Virtual Academy you can take self-assessments covering the full cycle from understanding, planning and managing Microsoft private cloud offerings this will earn you Academy points and improve your ranking. Sticking with Private Cloud have you ever tried to get the Cloud concept over to a non-technical person, if so this should prove helpful.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – October

We’ll start this week with news that Microsoft has launched a new hub for all Private Cloud architectural resources, so if you’re looking for all things Private Cloud this would be the place to start looking.

A couple of upcoming events to tell you about, next week at 16:00 on the 13th of October Microsoft are delivering a webinar on “How Partners Can Make Money Selling Microsoft Private Cloud Solutions” to register click here and on the 19^th and 20^th of October Microsoft will be presenting “Journey to the Cloud” at this years’ IP EXPO – The UK’s Largest Enterprise IT Event where IP Networks, Virtualization, Cloud, Wireless, Storage and Security work together. For more information check this out.

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