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NEWS
Channel Life
Get your MoFo Rising! Or
Time to work your MoFo!
By ChannelMedia Editor,
Keith Newman
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Sponsored
by:
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All of this moaning and
groaning can be depressing. Time to get your MoFo working. MoFo stands for Momentum
and Focus and are two of the most critical ingredients in generating sales in
today's sluggish market- and the channel is playing a major role in helping suppliers
establish their MoFo.
Forget about the things
you can't impact (i.e. Stock Market, Mideast peace process, etc.) and focus on
driving momentum. One way momentum is gained is by establishing a "proof
of concept" or "positive reference" that demonstrates that your
product/technology/service works and that it is a repeatable solution. Today,
the results of these efforts are key at determining the potential of a Company's
future. That wasn't always the case. For example, I recently ran marketing and
business development for a company that had a truly great concept that could actually
make a different to business decision makers and impact ROI. With some words here,
a little spreadsheet info there and a Flash demo we were able to raise nearly
$30M in venture funding, garner a bunch of press and analyst praise and "strategic
agreements. " We had created a great perception that ultimately led to a
Phase 1 objective: A healthy pipeline of leads. In essence, we had Big Mo. A lot
of companies had similar strategies and results. The point is that many of the
leads and even sales were based on "perception." The fact is we, and
many others, never really delivered on our promise and we eventually changed our
business model entirely. We lost our MoFo.
Again, a lot of company's
have taken this route over the past few years. But perception or "buzz"
is yesterday's story. Today's market environment has a "show me" look
and feel. That means press clippings and Flash demos alone don't cut it.. They
may still be nice and helpful but they have taken a back seat to showing the product
or service not only works but drives a meaningful ROI to the customer. Thank goodness.
Here's where today's market
swings to the "value channel" and the enormous opportunity for resellers
and vendors to leverage each other toward profitable, short term outcomes. Resellers
can help identify potential customers of new technology and services and then
can drive toward successful "POC's"). Resellers and vendors who work
together to create strategy, design, development, implementation and measurement
plans will be the top performers in this skittish, reluctant market. Simply put:
Using integrators to help acquire those early POC's is the most effective and
efficient way to grow. Without having a few of these "proofs" in your
back pocket it will be near impossible to establish momentum.
(For a discussion on how
to acquire early customers see one of my favorite sources on this topic: http://www.chasmgroup.com/underthebuzz.htm).
Keith Newman is the Editor
and Publisher of ChannelMedia - the SMB Edition. This newsletter is free, courtesy
of VisionEvents and we are looking for contributors and readers.
|

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viruses, malicious code and email intrusions before they have a chance to infect
users.
Free, 15-day trial applies to new resellers only. Network Associates, McAfee,
and VirusScan are registered trademarks of Network Associates, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the US and/or other countries. All other registered and unregistered
trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.
© 2002 Networks Associates Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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NEWS
Q&A
with Bret Udy, Sr. Manager, Channel Programs, Iomega Corporation
By ChannelMedia Editor,
Keith Newman
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Q. Give us an update
on the world of "user data…"
A. As email, the
internet and new technologies continue to fuel the rapid growth of information
and 81% of the workforce spends some amount of time out of the office, user data
is saved and stored on multiple desktops, notebooks and networks - making it increasingly
difficult to manage and protect. Versatile storage and backup of user data is
essential to the stability of every business. With file-level removable storage,
desktop hard drives and network attached storage (NAS) products, each complete
with automatic backup software, Iomega continues to lead the industry as it has
done for the past 22 years. Iomega offers a full line of innovative and affordable
storage solutions designed to simplify user data storage, protection, security
and recovery.
Q. And still have
a strong bias toward selling through the Reseller Channel?
A. Over the past
ten years, 99% of Iomega products have been sold through channel partners. The
Iomega IoLink Reseller Program was developed and launched in March of this year
to better support the sales efforts of our valued partners and to build long-term
relationships for mutual success. This robust, tiered program delivers committed
resources, tools and support that assist our Resellers in driving demand and generating
sales for Iomega storage solutions.
Q. The current push
is with network attached storage products, correct?
A. Our move into
NAS came with the introduction of seven Iomega NAS A300 and P400 Series server
configurations in March of this year. Iomega NAS servers are optimized for fast
deployment, easy integration, high-performance file serving and high data availability
at a low total cost of ownership (TCO). With prices ranging from $1,099 to $4,499
and a choice of operating systems, connectivity and fault-tolerant features, Iomega
NAS is ideal for SMB customers, workgroups and/or remote offices with limited
budgets and IT resources. An Iomega NAS server adds up to 480GB of RAID-redundant
network capacity, takes the storage burden off of application servers, simplifies
data-management tasks and increases information accessibility and sharing across
all clients on the LAN or WAN.
Consistent with our long-term
strategy to lead the industry in affordable and easy-to-manage solutions to store
and protect user data, Iomega will continue to introduce, market, and support
innovative network and client storage products.
Q. What else do you
want to share with our Resellers?
A. For those Resellers
interested in building their product portfolio with industry-leading data storage
and backup solutions, connecting with more customers and boosting their profitability,
sign up for the Iomega IoLink Reseller Program today at www.iomega.net/iolink.
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NEWS
Backup Ideas for SMBs
- an Underused Opportunity
By
ChannelMedia Staff
SMBs rely on their data
to stay afloat just as much as Fortune 500 corporations do. While it may seem
less glamorous to sell software to SMBs than it is to sell to the big boys, the
current reality is that there are far more people computing in smaller companies
than in larger ones. AMI-Partners, Inc. says businesses with 5 to 500 employees
shelled out $270.8 billion total IT spending in 2000. That figure jumps to $800
billion spent by SMBs worldwide.
The SMB backup segment is
untapped. Common mental blocks abound. Backup is considered too hard to learn
and implement. Tape management is laborious. Businesses feel they must make a
trade-off between speed and reliability. Even customers who routinely back up
data on their servers must be instructed that beyond servers, PCs need backup
too: it is estimated that 40 to 80 percent of a company¹s data is stored
on desktop PCs and notebooks. Oh, and notebooks? Notebooks account for 35 percent
of all PCs sold to businesses 25 percent of which lose data as a result of theft
or damage.
"For the roughly 7.1
million small and mid-sized businesses with PCs, backup continues to be a major
chore," said Raymond L. Boggs, Small Business/Home Office VP at market research
firm IDC. "Many view it like going to the dentist important in theory, but
often postponed until there's a problem."
Somewhat more appealing
than a visit to the dentist is Orinda, Calif.-based Dantz Development Corp.'s
flagship Retrospect Backup. Dantz has set out to make Retrospect the software
of choice for the SMB market.
How can the channel take
full advantage of Retrospect? In too many cases, SMB customers buy the same products
as large enterprises, paying the same high-priced client licenses that the enterprises
do. Worse yet, the choice for SMBs is often not how to back up, but whether to
back up when the intelligent IT strategy is always to err on the side of caution.
Understandably, businesses
without a dedicated IT staff are not particularly thrilled with unmanageable enterprise-level
products when their goal is to simplify and automate the backup process. IDC's
Boggs noted that having backup take place automatically insures that it gets done,
especially in smaller firms.
Rather than stripped-down
and up-priced backup software for the enterprise, Dantz recently introduced version
6 of its Retrospect Backup already used by 3 million individuals and businesses
worldwide and touts it as offering some of the same features the big enterprise
software vendors sell, only tailored for the small business. Quick, automated
and accurate backups, easy file location, laptop backup, media space conservation,
open file backup, and the ability to recover from a non-bootable (dead) computer
are some of the advancements Dantz has engineered for the business customer.
One of the best new features
is the ability to rebuild even after a laptop has been stolen. (You may not recover
the computer, but at least you can recover the data.) Even among giant backup
software providers, few want to tackle the problem of the road warrior who never
lands in one place long enough to back up.
Unique to Retrospect is
its support for the storage devices small offices rely on most: CD-RW, DVD and
Zip drives, and other small/desktop backup systems. Dantz says currently none
of the enterprise-level storage software vendors will condescend to back up to
a CD, let alone a 100 megabyte Zip disk. The company notes it is equally adept
at backing up to tape drives, tape library systems, fixed and removable disk drives,
as well as backup over the Internet.
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NEWS
Channel Digest
Sapient, GSI, Intel, Palm, Microsoft, and more…
Sapient said it was
named a member of the Microsoft BizTalk Server Partner Program. Sapient has implemented
BizTalk Server for several Global 2000 clients to reduce the time and costs required
to deliver complex technology engagements -- from the integration of existing
enterprise systems to the development of new web services for the integration
of business partners. "Sapient is a leading implementer of BizTalk Server and
can attest to the reliability and scalability of the product," said Eric Swift,
lead product manager for .NET Enterprise Servers at Microsoft Corp. "Using BizTalk
Server, Sapient has been very successful in delivering integration solutions that
generate business value for its clients, who have been incredibly pleased with
the results Sapient has provided."
Intel said it has
begun initial commercial shipment of Itanium(R) 2 processors and that systems
and software based on the new processors are expected to be available beginning
this quarter. Over the next year, a broad base of original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) are expected to offer a range of server and workstation models with support
from leading enterprise software and operating system vendors, the company said.
"Intel and the industry are making great progress building enterprise solutions
for the Itanium 2 processor," said Mike Fister, senior vice president and general
manager for Intel's Enterprise Platforms Group. "With the processor's outstanding
performance, enterprise-class capabilities and enormous industry support, 2002
will be the year the Itanium processor family makes real headway toward becoming
the platform of choice in high-end data center computing."
GSI Commerce, a leading
outsource solution for e-commerce, said it has entered into an agreement with
Palm, a leading provider of handheld computers, to operate the Palm online
store. GSI will be responsible for the development of the web store, including
a revised design, merchandising, customer service and fulfillment. The store will
feature a full line of Palm(TM) products and accessories, as well as software
and an expanded selection of third-party accessories for Palm handhelds. Special
"concept shops" will be created to service select business segments, including
education and healthcare providers. "Because Palm is the market leader in the
handheld category, many of our existing and prospective customers come to Palm.com
to investigate the mobile computing solutions most appropriate for their needs,"
commented William Lynch, Vice President of eCommerce at Palm, Inc. "When customers
do come to the Palm online store, we want to ensure that they have the most satisfying
browsing and shopping experience possible. GSI Commerce is a best-of-breed e-commerce
partner that we believe will provide an even better experience for Palm customers."
Michael G. Rubin, chairman and chief executive officer of GSI Commerce, Inc.,
said, "Palm is a leading player in the worldwide handheld computer industry. Through
this alliance, we believe that GSI Commerce can utilize its existing infrastructure
to help Palm become even more effective in its online marketing and sales to customers
and businesses."
StructuredWeb, Inc.,
developers of online marketing and sales collaboration platforms empowering small-to-mid
size businesses (SMBs), and Best Software announced today a reseller program for
ACT! Certified Consultants to deliver StructuredWeb for ACT! to individual and
corporate users of ACT!. Available today, StructuredWeb for ACT! provides ACT!
Certified Consultants with a robust, yet cost effective ecommerce solution for
current customers and prospects.
The worldwide market for
Building Automation Systems Hardware, Software, and Services exceeded $19 billion
in 2001 according to a new ARC Advisory Group study. It is expected to grow at
a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 5 percent over the next five
years and exceed $24 billion in 2006. David Clayton, ARC Senior Analyst and author
of the study 'Building Automation Systems Worldwide Outlook' stated, "Despite
signs pointing toward a global economic recovery, there remain tremendous pressures
on all companies to find ways to lower their variable costs and become more profitable.
A key factor to reducing costs, which is often overlooked, is the strategic management
of brick and mortar assets. When managed strategically, brick and mortar assets
can become tools, which support the company's strategic goals, as opposed to costs,
which drag profits down. Comprehensive facilities management, however, requires
a new approach to managing brick and mortar assets, one which utilizes integrated
Building Automation Systems (BASs)."
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RESEARCH
Small
and Midsize Business
By Gartner
|
The typical small and midsize
business (SMB) has revenue of less than $500 million per year and an overall staff
of less than 1,000 employees. The Small and Midsize Business Focus Area looks
at the issues SMBs need to focus on in order to survive in today’s growing IT
world.
Scope of Coverage
Leveraging IT is critical for resource constrained SMBs to participate in today’s
business environment. Recent studies have shown that, on average, SMBs will spend
between 5 percent and 7 percent of their revenue on IT in 2001. However, SMBs
should not simply adopt the same technologies, vendors, products, and service
used by larger enterprises. There are new and unique IT opportunities to help
SMBs overcome staffing and budgetary constraints.
Core Topics
Small and Midsize Businesses IT Management Strategies
Small and midsize businesses continually walk a tightrope in their attempt to
balance planning, funding, resources, IT skills and IT infrastructure management.
This core topic explores the management issues associated with strategic and tactical
IT decision making, bounded by the constraints of a small and midsize businesses
IT environment.
Small and Midsize Businesses
Application Strategies
Small and midsize businesses applications development and deployment issues include
functional, technical, vendor-related and deployment issues. Application strategies
and packages — supporting electronic commerce, extranets, customer care, manufacturing,
logistics, finance, human resources, marketing, sales and customer service will
be covered. Additional areas covered include development tools and methods, databases,
middleware, application integration, project management, data marts, business
intelligence, and application services providers.
Small and Midsize Businesses
Infrastructure Strategies
The Infrastructure Strategies core topic covers the full gamut of technologies
which makeup Small and Midsize Businesses IT architecture. Areas covered include
desktop and server operating systems, midrange systems, local and wide area networks,
telecom and data services, desktop and server hardware, midrange systems, thin
clients, mobile and wireless, and collaborative systems.
Small and Midsize Businesses
E-business Strategies
The E-business Strategies core topic covers the extensive business plan, organizational,
processes, and sweeping technology changes associated with transforming a classic
business into an e-business. This core topic examines the evolving best practices
and enabling technologies that small and midsize businesses need to embrace to
fully exploit the potential of e-business.
Recent Spotlights
SMBVision: Business Powered by IT
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Key Issues
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What are the key semiconductor
technology transitions, and how will they happen? |
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How will small and midsize
businesses functional requirements for software applications evolve during
the next three years? |
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How will SMBs deploy and
manage software applications during the next three years? |
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Which vendors delivering
software applications to SMBs will survive during the next three years? |
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What are the benchmarks
and characteristics for SMB IT spending that balance strategic infrastructure
evolution with operational efficiency? |
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What are the factors that
are influencing IT decision making within SMBs? |
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What strategies and tactics
will SMBs use to prioritize, track, manage and optimize their IT investments? |
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What tools are vendors
providing to help SMBs manage their IT strategy execution and realization of business
objectives? |
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How will SMBs effectively
manage their IT infrastructures during the next three years? |
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What infrastructure providers
will be strategic for small and midsize businesses during the next three years? |
| |
What technologies and services
will small and midsize businesses deploy to build and maintain reliable and flexible
IT infrastructure? |
| |
What will be the critical
success factors for SMBs for deploying and implementing infrastructure components
during the next three years? |
| About Focus
Areas |
| Gartner's breadth
and depth of coverage is unsurpassed. Focus Areas are views into Gartner that
represent shared interests among our clients. Focus Areas fall into several key
categories including Business, Industry, Markets, Technology and Special Reports.
Focus Areas evolve as the interests and needs of our clients change. Visit Gartner.com
for a complete view of current Focus Areas. |
|
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RESEARCH
Small
and Midsize Businesses North America
By Gartner
|
The Small and Midsize
Businesses North America Cluster takes the vendor viewpoint — providing CEOs,
business unit leads, CMOs, sales executives and market research departments of
services, application, and hardware vendors targeting the small and midsize business
(SMB) market with actionable forecasts, trends, and analysis. Specifically, the
Cluster provides an in-depth look at the market potential, preferred channels,
services needs, budgets, priorities, decision makers, decision criteria of the
small and midsize market. It is designed to help companies maximize their market
share through the development of profitable penetration strategies in the areas
of marketing, services, sales, branding, partnering, business models, vertical
industries, competitive positioning and emerging markets.
Cluster programs deliver
industry-specific business planning statistics, forecasts and analysis. Clusters
enhance the broad range of Gartner analysis available in Core Research by providing
in-depth information of unique interest to companies competing (or investing)
in the industry covered by the Cluster.
Scope of Coverage
If you are someone who creates services or products – or markets or sells IT offerings
to SMBs – understanding their unique needs based on primary research is vital
to your strategy and execution. SMBs present a lucrative opportunity for technology
and services vendors. However, this market is highly fragmented and rapidly changing,
making it a significant challenge to gain their elusive mind share.
The Small and Midsize Businesses
Cluster provides an understanding of the unique wants and needs of SMBs on a semiannual
basis. With this insight, you can confidently make marketing strategic and tactical
decisions that will affect the running of your IT applications, hardware and/or
services business.
Market Segmentation
- Small business
- Midsize business
- Targeted verticals
- Professional services (legal, accounting, consulting)
- Real estate
- Financial services (banks, brokerage, insurance)
- Retail
- Wholesale
- Manufacturing (discrete and process)
- IT spending, budgeting, buying cycles
- Decision makers and influencers (internal and external)
- IS department characteristics (staffing, sourcing, operations, support)
- Overall technology purchasing requirements (pricing and products), decision
criteria services, hardware, software, and integrated offerings
- Vendor management (channel preferences, preferred number of vendors to manage,
selection criteria)
- End-user penetration, requirements and priorities:
- Professional services (systems integration, strategy)
- Infrastructure
- Devices (desktop, PDA/mobile, thin client)
- Midrange servers, middleware, OS, desktop management tools, asset management
tools
- Networking (LAN, WAN, wireless, broadband)
- Business applications (HR, accounting, financials, CRM, ERP, SCM)
- Outsourcing (ASP, hosting, datacenter)
- Internet services and technologies (Web services, ecommerce, e-marketplace,
e-business adoption
- Security services and technologies
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Key Issues
|
| |
What go-to-market strategies
are most successful in winning market leadership in the SMB space? |
| |
How should IT and services
vendors develop and sustain relationships with the SMB market? |
| |
What are the key technologies
and business trends influencing SMBs? |
| |
Which criteria are most
important to the SMB market when making IT and services purchasing decisions? |
| |
What are the IT and services
spending forecasts for the SMB market? |
| |
What are the attitudes
of the primary SMB verticals in terms of adopting IT? |
| |
What partnerships should
vendors establish to minimize customer acquisition costs? |
| |
Who influences IT and services
purchases, and who makes the final decision within SMBs? |
| |
Which IT services companies
target, and have most effectively deployed an SMB strategy? |
| |
What are the dominant characteristics
of the SMB buyer and how can IT services suppliers respond? |
| Available
Deliverables |
|
Statistics: Forecast
and Market Share
Detailed five-year
market/product growth forecasts and detailed market share estimates with historical
year-to-year market size comparisons identify the market leaders and the products/services
that are driving the market.
Market Trends
Market Trends reports analyze key market events and product technology trends
to present an overall analysis of the competitive landscape for the market.
User Studies
User surveys and analysis help clients understand end-user purchasing behavior
and intentions, attitudes and awareness toward specific markets, products or services.
Gartner Dataquest Market
Databook
The Databook provides spending and growth information across the IT/telecom industry,
segmented by region and technology segment.
Focus Reports
Focus Reports provide in-depth analysis on hot topics at a level of detail relevant
to specific vendors within the market sector.
Inquiry
Inquiry is available to users with Core Research Advisor memberships. The purchase
of the Cluster extends the deliverables upon which inquiry may be based.
|
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RESEARCH
Speakeasy's New Promotion
Concept, Broadband Bank
By Bruce
McGregor, ARS Broadband & Networking Research Analyst
High-speed broadband providers
are scrambling to attract new residential subscribers on a daily basis. This chaos
has generated an array of promotions offered by DSL and cable providers that have
evolved over the past two years. Each promotion is based on the premise that customers
will benefit from a faster service than dial-up and the cost is not much more.
Speakeasy.net, an up and coming DSL provider, is trying a new tactic of attracting
new broadband customers with what it is calling its "Broadband Bank" promotion.
Released June 24, Broadband Bank offers new dial-up subscribers the option to
invest their monthly dial-up payments towards a future upgrade to DSL service.
The Broadband Bank credits dial-up customers their $14.95 or $19.95 monthly fee
toward discounts in start-up costs. The credit includes set-up and DSL modem charges
that could add up to a $225 savings on the upgrade to broadband service. To complement
the Broadband Bank promotion, Speakeasy simultaneously introduced a new DSL service
that is the company's cheapest broadband package to date, priced at $39.95 per
month and featuring 200Kbps download and 64Kbps upload speeds. This new promotion
is targeted at dial-up customers that are contemplating the conversion to a higher
speed connection and are looking for a competitive low price. The Speakeasy promotion
is based on the idea that customers who are paying between $20 and $30 per month
for dial-up access, along with a second phone line at about $10-$15 per month,
will probably switch to entry-level DSL that is three to six times faster and
costs approximately the same price. Speakeasy's marketing idea of customized,
quality service has taken a different course with this clever marketing hook to
draw in dial-up users via Broadband Bank. Speakeasy is trying an inventive promotion
that addresses the industry-wide issue of getting a higher percentage of dial-up
users to switch to broadband. The success of this promotion will obviously be
directly related to how effectively the company can market to dial-up customers.
The problem for the company
is the challenge of competing in a dial-up market that is saturated with offerings
from established brands such has AOL, MSN and EarthLink. There is no question
that an AOL or EarthLink has far greater resources at its disposal than Speakeasy
when it comes to marketing dial-up services due to brand recognition and established
relationships with national retailers. Furthermore, the slowing narrowband growth
at AOL and its competitors indicates that dial-up is fast approaching a saturation
point, and that the national dial-up customer base will begin to shrink as more
people migrate to broadband services. Finally, certain broadband providers - including
all of the major cable providers and some of the large DSL carriers - do not require
annual contracts for broadband service, which puts them at a competitive advantage
when compared to Speakeasy, which does require a one-year commitment. Ultimately,
given its limited resources and national presence, one has to wonder how much
of an impact Speakeasy can make in the dial-up arena. Speakeasy might be more
successful if it concentrates its efforts on its primary customer, the DSL user.
It may be wishful thinking that there will be a large volume of new users who
sign up for dial-up service and then switch to the same ISP's broadband service
a few months later when there are so many options out there in the marketplace.
A Speakeasy competitor that copies the Broadband Bank idea could achieve greater
success with a larger market reach, more established dial-up product, and no consumer
burden of an annual contract for when dial-up users migrate to broadband. In ARS'
opinion, the Broadband Bank is a new and creative concept from an ISP that is
well known for its customer service and large variety of options available to
users. However, it remains to be seen if Speakeasy has the brand recognition and
resources to effectively market the service to the public at large.
|

RESEARCH
Top-Selling Software
- Business, Week of June 23 - June 29, 2002
Provided by
NPD Techworld
| Rank |
Title |
Publisher |
ASP
|
| 1 |
Norton
Antivirus 2002 8.0 |
Symantec
|
$43 |
| 2 |
QuickBooks
2002 Pro |
Intuit |
$219 |
| 3 |
VirusScan
6.0 |
Network
Associates |
$32 |
| 4 |
MS
Windows XP Home Ed Upgr |
Microsoft
|
$96 |
| 5 |
Norton
System Works 2002 5.0 |
Symantec
|
$64 |
| 6 |
VirusScan
6.0 Pro |
Network
Associates |
$47 |
| 7 |
MS
Office XP Student & Teacher Ed |
Microsoft
|
$141 |
| 8 |
Norton
Internet Security 2002 4.0 |
Symantec
|
$65 |
| 9 |
MS
Windows 98 2nd Ed Upgr |
Microsoft
|
$95 |
| 10 |
MS
Windows XP Pro Upgr |
Microsoft
|
$193 |
List is based on units sold
by twenty-three channel partners. For more information, please contact NPDTechworld
at (703) 376-6200.
|

RESEARCH
Get Free Market Research
and Shape the Future of channel partner portals!
One of the industry's largest
technology vendors wants to design and implement a next generation channel partner
portal which reflects the best practices in the industry and meets or exceeds
your needs. To accomplish that goal, they need to better understand your experiences
with channel partner web sites and portals, your level of satisfaction with the
channel partner web sites and/or portals of your technology vendors, and what
resources, features and capabilities you believe are most important in a next
generation channel partner portal.
Your responses are strictly
confidential and will be used only in aggregate by Summit Strategies for market
analyses purposes. You will not be contacted by Summit Strategies unless you agree
to be by providing your contact information at the end of the survey.
If you respond by July 22,
2002, and include your email address at the end of the survey, you will receive
an executive summary of the results of this study and a free 3-month subscription
to SummitVision, Summit Strategies' monthly newsletter, which contains
compelling articles and editorials that identify and assess the important technology
trends and vendor initiatives that are shaping the technology market today.
The survey should take about
10 minutes to complete. Would you please take a few moments to answer some questions
about your experiences with channel partner web sites and/or portals? To participate
go to:
http://www.insightexpress.com/s/pha44146.asp
Good luck and thank you
for your participation!
|
|

FROM THE
COMMUNITY
Malicious Code: Laying
down the Law
By Mike Menegay,
Network Associates
In its thirteen-year history,
McAfee AVERT (Network Associates' Anti Virus Emergency Response Team) has seen
a rapid increase in the scope and severity of network attacks. Today, viruses
and other forms of malicious code are moving more quickly, growing more pervasive,
and inflicting more damage than ever before. This trend is prompting security
vendors to continually raise the bar on technology innovation in order to stay
ahead of virus writers. Meanwhile, solution providers are required to be more
knowledgeable in their implementations, and customers are required to be more
vigilant in seeking protection from evolving threats.
For years, McAfee Security
has charted the development of computer viruses, analyzing code, dissecting engineering,
and evaluating payload. Currently, there are more than 62,000 known viruses, spanning
an incredible breadth of sophistication and damage potential. However diverse
and complex, these viruses can be placed into a relatively simple framework, which
we have named "McAfee's Laws." These laws, based loosely on Moore's Law, provide
an intelligible means of describing the scope, progression and devastation of
virus infection.
McAfee's First Law
states that the time required for malicious code to spread to a point where it
can do serious infrastructure damage halves every 18 months. The simple truth
is that viruses are spreading more quickly than ever. Looking back upon several
widespread Internet threats in 2001, we can see a marked rise in infection rates.
At the peak of the Nimda outbreak in September of 2001, the virus was infecting
2,200 machines per hour. Code Red, a faster-moving piece of malicious code, infected
6,000 machines per hour. Most recently, the Goner virus infected an astonishing
12,000 machines every hour at its peak in December of last year, moving twice
as quickly as any predecessor. Moving at this rate, Goner infected nearly a million
machines in just three days.
McAfee's Second Law
states that when a platform or an application gains widespread popularity, it
will be attacked. Virus writers are very adept at writing malicious code that
specifically targets those applications and platforms with large installed bases.
The reason is obvious; virus writers can inflict much more damage this way. Popular
enterprise platforms and applications, such as the Windows operating system or
Outlook email client, are frequent targets of virus attacks. Their widespread
usage makes them prime targets for widespread virus infection. Just as new technologies
gain in popularity, virus writers develop code to attack them. Every day, McAfee
AVERT discovers new threats targeted at increasingly popular enterprise applications
and devices, such as instant messaging, peer-to-peer networking and PDAs.
McAfee's Third Law
states that the cleverness, technical sophistication and malicious intent of virus
writers increases over time. The first generation of viruses, which emerged in
1986 (prior to widespread Internet usage), required human action to spread. Viruses
such as "Stoned" infected PCs because users inserted corrupt floppy disks into
their machines. These earlier viruses were controlled and contained with relative
ease. By 1999, however, viruses became quite capable of spreading on their own.
The much-publicized Melissa virus, for example, required no user action; Melissa
propagated itself, sending malicious code to everyone in a user's email address
book. With viruses such as Melissa on "auto pilot," infection rates increased
exponentially. The latest threat to network security is the "blended threat,"
a sophisticated piece of code that can damage the network in a variety of ways,
including denial of service attacks (DOS), file deletion and the creation backdoors,
or "windows" into the network.
Just as the sophistication
of viruses has increased over time, so too has the damage they are capable of
inflicting. Three years ago, the Melissa virus had a $1.10 billion worldwide impact
according to research firm Computer Economics. Last year's Code Red worm, in contrast,
cost businesses more than twice that amount: a $2.62 billion. Computer Economics
and PriceWaterhouseCoopers forecast that by the end of this year, malicious code
will have cost businesses a staggering $1 trillion in damages.
McAfee's Fourth Law
states that any network or system open for business is also open to attack. This
is the reality of doing business today. As such, network security must remain
a paramount concern for all of us. It is up to all of us - vendors, solution provides
and end users - to keep open the lines of communication between us. We must continue
to work together at all stages of the security cycle - from product development
to customer deployment to responsible network usage.
As I close out this article,
you can bet that virus writers will continue to find and exploit network vulnerabilities,
and will continue to develop increasingly complex code. As new technologies emerge,
count on new threats to follow. Every new application, device and end user on
a network represents a possible security breach. We are all at risk, yet we all
have the power to minimize the impact of future network attacks through utilization
of proper technology that is available today.
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FROM THE
COMMUNITY
Changing Channels: The
Future is Here
By Steve Cross
The Future is here! While
on vacation I had an encounter with our future at the resort's high-tech library.
A 10-year old girl was using one of the four PCs that also provided for Internet
access to check her email (AOL, I looked). A gentleman of my approximate age approached
me to complain/gripe about having to wait for a 10 year-old saying "this
kid is tying up a PC to send instant messages or something."
He was right, of course,
the young girl was using her own AOL account (or user name), probably her own
buddy list, and maybe instant messaging too. That's the point, and he missed it.
In 6-8 years, this little girl is our new customer. When she graduates high school,
starts college, buys a car, a house, a laptop, an HDTV, software, and clothing;
Will we be ready?
The teen of today represents
a different kind of customer. For the most part, they view the Internet the way
we thought about TV, like a utility
ubiquitous, and just part of the landscape.
She doesn't think its "way cool." After all, she grew up with it already
there. She feels the same way about using it to post her homework, send email,
IM (Instant Messages), and 20 other things we all had to learn to use. Banner
ads are to her like highway billboards are to us
just landscape that we generally
ignore or filter out. What will she filter? Starting to get the problem?
We will find that she (and
her generation) has different attitudes about things than we do; Spam probably
doesn't bother her that much, creeping text on TV screens is just part of the
wallpaper to her, streaming full-motion video over the web is what she'll expect,
and Internet privacy is a myth to her. Either be ready for her, or go find something
else to do for a living.
As she grows up, I intend
to send video pitches to her smartphone, produce mini movie-quality product vignettes
for her in-car video screen, and beam self-printing coupons to her PDA to drive
her into stores. I'll be there to sell and market to her and her generation in
novel, imaginative, persuasive ways. Care to join me?!?!
Steve Cross has been
helping companies grow since before dirt was invented (seems like a long time).
He can be reached at steve@crosschannel.com,
702-492-7472.
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the attention of the top CHANNEL decision makers NOW! Put a contextual ad message
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FROM THE
COMMUNITY
Tablet PC's are the real
deal!
By Fred Brown
The technology sector has
lacked velocity since staggering out of the dot. bomb deflationary spiral. PC's,
once the driving force in channel sales have limped along without glamour for
too long. Finally we've been given new life, the Tablet PC. Tablet PC's are not
tricked out PDA's. A Tablet PC is not simply a "Pumped up Palm", but
instead the real deal.
The new Tablet PC's provide
everything you would get from a laptop and more. The user will get a fully configured
PC with 30Gig+ hard drives, the latest released processors, all standard I/O and
built in wireless capability. Users loose nothing in configuration between a laptop
and a Tablet PC. What they do pick up is impressive.
First and foremost they
will get INK, as in Digital INK, one of the cornerstones of Microsoft's new Windows
XP Tablet PC Edition. INK is not just another handwriting recognition attempt
but the realization of the dream of the combination of analog methods of communications
(note taking and handwriting) and the personal computer. The old saying, "seeing
is believing" has never been more appropriate when trying to describe the
benefits of Microsoft's new Tablet PC operating system. Whether you are writing
your notes on the screen, saving or searching on those words, responding to an
email with a quick handwritten note or filling out a form in your own handwriting
and seeing your scribbles turn into Times New Roman in the right box, this software
is stunning.
Microsoft's new Tablet PC
version is not an upgrade to XP but rather an entirely new chapter in the personal
computer industry evolution and will provide a much-needed boost to revenues in
the channel for those who are ready and prepared to take advantage of this paradigm
shift. You cannot buy this new version of XP. It's only bundled with a Tablet
PC. ISV's are creating new versions of their software to take advantages of the
new powerful capabilities of the Tablets. All segments of the computer industry
will be invigorated.
All Tablets are not created
equally. There will be plenty of room for innovation. Some Tablets will have 10.4-inch
screens, some 12.1-inch screens. Most will come with a keyboard (Blue Tooth, IR
or attached) but some will not. The form factors will vary, the operating system
will not. There has been a debate over the type of screen to be used, electro
magnetic (pen), or resistive (touch). Microsoft ended that debate
.
The winner is, electro magnetic. The elegance of the "pen" based INK
far exceeded the result of "touch" in recognition, user acceptance and
application potential. Any manufacturer that wants the Microsoft Tablet PC version
of XP must be pen based. Any company foolish enough to go after this market with
a touch screen will have their head handed to them on a real "tablet".
There may well be a niche market for touch screen laptops but they are not Tablet
PC's if they are not based upon Microsoft's Tablet PC Edition of XP.
The market for Tablet PC's
is both vertical and horizontal. The horizontal market is anyone using a laptop
today. At a price point of around $2,000.00 it is inconceivable that anyone buying
in the mid to upper price category for laptops would buy anything other than a
Tablet PC. The vertical markets for the Tablet PC will be everything from hospitals,
engineers, hospitality, real estate, legal and any number of other markets.
These vertical markets for
the Tablet will spawn an array of new applications that will stimulate the ISV's
and Vertical VAR's. Companies like Adobe, ScanSoft, Franklin Covey and others
are already fast on the uptake in this market. There is a major challenge standing
as an obstacle to the success of this breakthrough technology. That challenge
is for Microsoft, the Tablet PC manufacturers and ISV's to provide sufficient
education and awareness so the consumer will be able to make a clear distinction
between the Tablet PC, traditional laptops and PDA's. There exists a subtle yet
pervasive assumption in the user community that Tablets are not full PC's but
souped up PDA's. This assumption or more accurately misassumption, must be met
head on with focused marketing, education, awareness, demand creation and channel
penetration. Clearly making the distinction between the contenders will assure
the Tablet PC takes it place at the head of the table and show us all the beginning
of something wonderful.
Tablet PC's are coming,
are you ready to cash in on the boom?
Fred Brown is President
of Brown & Associates, specializing in Marketing & Sales Consulting
for the Digital Age. He can be reached at fbrown@browna.com.
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FROM THE
COMMUNITY
The SMB Channel Community
Services Job Board
We are looking to hire someone
for Market Development activities for our products. Primarily they will be responsible
to identifying and engaging with new channels. During that period they will also
be responsible for recruiting early adopters for that channel/market. Once engaged
they will transition that channel to our sales team to grow. Must have a minimum
5 years experience in developing a channel program with significant revenue upside.
BS required, MBA preferred. Contact: Sandip Gupta, Vice President, Business Development
at www.ensim.com.
(Courtesy CyberMartini).
iCOM Consultants, Inc., is pleased to announce a recently retained search
for an OEM Sales Director. Our client is based in the Northern Calif. and
our OEM director can be based in either Northern CA or Denver. Highlights: Promote
and build relationship with OEM Partner's field organization. Drive revenue and
sales by executing to account strategies. Create and deliver the Company's OEM
Partner value add message, develop organization charts for field, understand management
and compensation models, understand regional strategies, work with geography marketing,
create and manage: collateral, and training strategies, events, sponsorship, education,
drive demand creation through development of programs, understand OEM channels
organization, build relationships between the Company and OEM management. Mercedes
Chatfield Taylor (mercedes@icomconsultants.com).
BusinessLaunch Inc.
needs people with cross-functional product launch experience (especially in engineering,
operations, and manufacturing) and people with industry marketing experience (especially
healthcare, retail, gov, and financial services). Please send email to jdavis@businesslaunch.biz.
Tell 'em ChannelMedia sent
you!
CHANNELMEDIA COMMUNITY SUBMISSION
If you have an opinion, article
or job you would like to post, please send info to keithn@telocity.com
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