Microsoft expected to complete Skype deal

Microsoft was expected to win EU approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype this month. The granting of approval was the last major stepping stone to the deal going ahead. The US Federal Trade Commission gave it the go-ahead as long ago as June. At the same time, rumours were circulating that Microsoft were preparing to make a further foray into the web with a bid for Yahoo.

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Global Internet population will be 2.7 billion by 2015

In its latest Worldwide New Media Market Model, IDC predicts that the total number of Internet users will grow from two billion in 2010 to 2.7 billion in 2015, when 40 percent of the world’s population will have access to the web. Global B2C ecommerce spending will grow from $708 billion last year to $1,285 billion in 2015, at a CAGR of 12.7 percent.

BT turns up broadband speeds

BT intends to roll out fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband service that will deliver download speeds of up to 300Mbps to as much as one quarter of the UK next spring. Other parts of the UK should be able to access fibre-to-the cabinet services at speeds of up to 80Mbps. BT is investing £2.5 billion to make  fibre broadband available to two thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015, only around a quarter of these will benefit from FTTP.

Computer 2000 backs resellers to win Microsoft business ahead of the New Year

Computer 2000, the UK’s leading IT and communication products distribution group, is appealing to resellers to get behind the drive to sell Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as a way of giving their sales a welcome boost ahead of the festive break.

With support for virtualisation and a whole range of productivity, performance and security enhancements, the latest versions of Microsoft’s solutions deliver tailored benefits for smaller businesses. For resellers, they create extended opportunities and lead to infrastructure upgrades and additional services sales. It is estimated that for every $1 spent on virtualisation software, many more are spent on additional products and services.

Computer 2000 is running a social media campaign and a series of banner and print ads to promote the solutions and is offering special sales incentives throughout the rest of the year. A whole range of marketing assets are available that will help resellers educate customers and identify the right solutions for their needs. Also, any reseller buying OEM copies of SBS2011 or Windows Server 2008 R2 from Computer 2000 before the end of December will be entered into a draw to win £5,000 worth of free marketing and lead-generation support.

To find out more, resellers should visit www.computer2000.co.uk/microsoft/stellasix get in touch with the Computer 2000 Software team.

Ovum predicts massive expansion of public cloud

The global public cloud services market will more than triple in size over the next five years to reach revenues of $66 billion in 2016, according to Ovum, growing close to 30 percent a year on average. It noted however that although the market will see strong growth, ‘the evolution of cloud computing within enterprises and the IT trends that follow will happen more slowly.’ After North America, which will generate half of all business, EMEA will be the biggest market. Western Europe will grow at a CAGR of 31.2 percent from 2011 to 2016 to reach $17.2 billion, up from $4.4 billion in 2011.

Is it time to upgrade customers to SBS 2011 and Windows Server 2008 R2?

There are a lot of benefits to be had from upgrading to Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 and Windows Server 2008 R2 – both for end-user customers and for resellers.

For the customer, SBS 2011 will deliver enterprise-class security, improved deployment, migration and management capabilities and a scalable platform – an in one affordable, easy-to-manage solution.

Stepping up to Windows Server 2008 meanwhile makes a whole lot of sense because customers who are still on previous versions will get immediate advantages in the form of improved performance and efficiency, and more reliable and cost-effective for business workloads. With innovative features for virtualisation and to optimise applications performance and server utilisation, Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances efficiency and competitiveness – making businesses better-able to withstand the continuing challenges of the economic climate.

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HP gets go-ahead of Autonomy takeover

HP has won approval for its purchase of leading UK business information software house, Autonomy for £7.1 billion. The deal strengthens HP’s position in the enterprise information management systems market. ‘Autonomy significantly increases our capabilities to manage and extract meaning from that data to drive insight, foresight and better decision making’, Meg Whitman, HP chief executive said in a statement.

Thailand floods – how will they affect you?

You may have become aware that there has been some severe flooding in Thailand lately that has caused disruptions to transport and distribution and utility services in the region. A number of disk drive and component manufacturers have been affected as a result. It is also having a knock-on effect for some PC vendors. The upshot of this is that we are seeing inconsistencies and fluctuations in prices of hard disk drives and PC products. There may be a short period during which, we’ll be able to supply only a limited quantity of WD or Hitachi drives to individual customers.

The same may also be true of some PC lines – although stock levels are OK for the time being. The main impact on supply is expected to come from December onwards for PCs, so if you want to make sure that you secure product, now is the time to place your orders.

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