1 Focus op uw beste verkoopopportunities
Beoordeel alle verkoopopportunities die u in de pijplijn hebt zitten en selecteer de opportunities die u redelijkerwijze nog voor 5 december 2009 kunt afsluiten.
2 Definieer uw unique selling points
U hebt een unieke organisatie!
3 Pak uw bellijst van driekwart jaar geleden er weer eens bij Hoe staat het nu met de projecten die toen werden uitgesteld?
4 Stel een commercieel actieplan op
Alles moet anders het laatste kwartaal
5 Zoek contact met de beslissers bij de klant
Blijf niet hangen bij mensen die geen beslissingen mogen nemen
6 Stel een goed verzorgde laatstekwartaalaanbieding samen Schakel hiervoor professionals in
7 Verberg uw eigen doel ‘ik móet verkopen’
Los niet uw eigen problemen op, maar die van de klant
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Mobile Cloud Computing Subscribers to Total Nearly One Billion by 2014
Experts say that the number of mobile cloud computing subscribers worldwide will grow rapidly over the next five years, rising from 42.8 million subscribers in 2008, (approximately 1.1% of all mobile subscribers) to just over 998 million in 2014 (nearly 19%). Mobile cloud applications move the computing power and data storage away from mobile phones and into the cloud, bringing apps and mobile computing to not just smartphone users but a much broader range of mobile subscribers.
According to senior analists; “From 2008 through 2010, subscriber numbers will be driven by location-enabled services, particularly navigation and map applications. A total of 60% of the mobile Cloud application subscribers worldwide will use an application enabled by location during these years.”
Some quite innovative applications are already commercially available. Lock manufacturer Schlage, or example, has launched LiNK – a keyless lock system for the home that enables subscribers to remotely control not only the door lock, but heating/cooling, security cameras and light monitors, all via PC or mobile device.
Business productivity applications will soon dominate the mix of mobile cloud applications, particularly collaborative document sharing, scheduling, and sales force management apps.
Experts expect some or all of the major PaaS platforms — Google, Amazon AWS, and Force.com – to market their mobile capabilities aggressively starting in 2010.
Experts conclude by reiterating their findings that; “By 2014, mobile cloud computing will become the leading mobile application development and deployment strategy, displacing today’s native and downloadable mobile applications.”
Netbooks reshape the PC industry
- Telcos across EMEA and APAC rush to sell 3G netbooks
* 13.5 million netbooks were sold worldwide in H1 2009
* More than 50 telcos have begun selling netbooks
* HP has the most telco deals overall, but Samsung has risen quickly with the NC10
* Many established PC vendors have moved too slowly, including Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Lenovo
* Netbooks are three times as likely as notebooks to be used in public places
* €100-€199 is the sweet spot for subsidy-driven netbooks H1 2009 research highlights
The PC industry is undergoing a more dramatic transformation than seen at any time in the last 15 years. The netbook category was invented as recently as 18 months ago by the likes of Asus and Acer and is the only PC segment enjoying growth this year. The impact of netbooks has been profound. It has forced Microsoft to fend off a threat from Linux by reducing its operating system prices and to continue promoting its aging XP brand. Netbooks have dramatically lowered industry price points, attracting new categories of consumer buyers. Furthermore, hard-pressed PC vendors have been forced to cut their operating costs to have any chance of turning a profit. The biggest change of all has been the success the telcos have had in selling subsidised 3G netbooks, emulating the mobile phone business model. The market shares of PC vendors are changing rapidly on the back of their willingness to commit to the netbook category and their agility in chasing these new, substantial telco deals.
A research analyst, said, “Our latest research reveals that, in August, across Europe, the four PC vendors with the most telco deals were Samsung, Asus, HP and Acer. The real surprise has been how quickly the Korean vendors have moved to leverage their mobile phone businesses, selling netbooks to telcos – LG’s netbooks have become prominent in the major countries too. Samsung has achieved great reviews for its NC10 netbook, primarily because of its keyboard and extended battery life. Suddenly, Samsung is a force to be reckoned with in the PC industry – it already has deals with more than half of the telcos currently selling netbooks. Meanwhile, traditional notebook category leaders – including Lenovo, Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba – have been slow to recognise how quickly the market is changing around them and as a group they have signed fewer than 10 operators.”
As well as being an important sales channel, the operators are playing a pivotal marketing role for the netbook. The telcos have massive retail and marketing coverage, so suddenly netbooks are being promoted in newspapers, billboards and storefronts with a prominence never before given to PCs. Vendors that are not present in the telco channel are missing out on valuable promotional opportunities. Netbooks and smart phones are finally justifying the telcos’ massive infrastructure investments in mobile broadband. They are seeing data revenues rise quickly to offset falling prices for their voice services, and the business case for investments in LTE are starting to look more promising.
Research suggests that many netbooks are being sold as additional devices, rather than as replacements for notebook PCs. A survey of over 3,000 European consumers during August 2009 revealed that netbooks were three times as likely as notebooks to be used in cafés, public parks or on trains. More than 45% of netbook owners said that they took the device on vacation with them.
“The telco channel took around six months longer to develop in APAC than in EMEA, but activity has accelerated, especially in North Asia. We observed more than double the number of netbook deals in telcos in August as we did in June. The local vendors are moving fast in their home countries, so Asus and Acer lead in Taiwan, Samsung and LG have the deals in Korea, while Lenovo, Haier and Tsinghua Tongfang are active in China. Sony, Toshiba and Sharp have all arranged deals in Japan. HP’s superior coverage gives it the most deals overall across the APAC region. We expect to see a rush of new deals across South East Asia and Oceania toward the end of this year.”
In August, in both EMEA and APAC, the preferred range for subsidised netbook prices was €100-€199 ($145-$290). Monthly contracts are more common in Europe, whereas in APAC pre-pay is preferred, both through embedded 3G and dongle options. Consequently, the subsidies on offer from the telcos are around €60 ($97) higher in Europe than in Asia.
Apple has resisted the temptation to follow other PC vendors into the telcos, despite the fact that its phenomenally successful iPhone has given it these relationships. Its selling proposition and price points for the Mac fit better with its own Apple retail stores, its stores-within-stores, and its Premium Resellers and other partners. Nokia, the smart phone leader, has, on the other hand, moved quickly to launch its Windows-based Booklet. It has the best telco coverage of any vendor, but it will be a surprise if it can succeed with price points that are substantially higher than the competition.
Microsoft’s launch of Windows 7 next month is likely to provide a further boost to the PC market, the consumer side of which has held up surprisingly well during the summer months. Expect the distinctions between smart phones, netbooks and notebooks to become increasingly unclear over the next year as the screen sizes and performance of netbooks increase while new operating systems and processors are launched. Mobile devices, in all their different forms, have been the bright points within the technology industry in this difficult year.
TOP TEN NETBOOKS; KLICK HERE
* 13.5 million netbooks were sold worldwide in H1 2009
* More than 50 telcos have begun selling netbooks
* HP has the most telco deals overall, but Samsung has risen quickly with the NC10
* Many established PC vendors have moved too slowly, including Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Lenovo
* Netbooks are three times as likely as notebooks to be used in public places
* €100-€199 is the sweet spot for subsidy-driven netbooks H1 2009 research highlights
The PC industry is undergoing a more dramatic transformation than seen at any time in the last 15 years. The netbook category was invented as recently as 18 months ago by the likes of Asus and Acer and is the only PC segment enjoying growth this year. The impact of netbooks has been profound. It has forced Microsoft to fend off a threat from Linux by reducing its operating system prices and to continue promoting its aging XP brand. Netbooks have dramatically lowered industry price points, attracting new categories of consumer buyers. Furthermore, hard-pressed PC vendors have been forced to cut their operating costs to have any chance of turning a profit. The biggest change of all has been the success the telcos have had in selling subsidised 3G netbooks, emulating the mobile phone business model. The market shares of PC vendors are changing rapidly on the back of their willingness to commit to the netbook category and their agility in chasing these new, substantial telco deals.
A research analyst, said, “Our latest research reveals that, in August, across Europe, the four PC vendors with the most telco deals were Samsung, Asus, HP and Acer. The real surprise has been how quickly the Korean vendors have moved to leverage their mobile phone businesses, selling netbooks to telcos – LG’s netbooks have become prominent in the major countries too. Samsung has achieved great reviews for its NC10 netbook, primarily because of its keyboard and extended battery life. Suddenly, Samsung is a force to be reckoned with in the PC industry – it already has deals with more than half of the telcos currently selling netbooks. Meanwhile, traditional notebook category leaders – including Lenovo, Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba – have been slow to recognise how quickly the market is changing around them and as a group they have signed fewer than 10 operators.”
As well as being an important sales channel, the operators are playing a pivotal marketing role for the netbook. The telcos have massive retail and marketing coverage, so suddenly netbooks are being promoted in newspapers, billboards and storefronts with a prominence never before given to PCs. Vendors that are not present in the telco channel are missing out on valuable promotional opportunities. Netbooks and smart phones are finally justifying the telcos’ massive infrastructure investments in mobile broadband. They are seeing data revenues rise quickly to offset falling prices for their voice services, and the business case for investments in LTE are starting to look more promising.
Research suggests that many netbooks are being sold as additional devices, rather than as replacements for notebook PCs. A survey of over 3,000 European consumers during August 2009 revealed that netbooks were three times as likely as notebooks to be used in cafés, public parks or on trains. More than 45% of netbook owners said that they took the device on vacation with them.
“The telco channel took around six months longer to develop in APAC than in EMEA, but activity has accelerated, especially in North Asia. We observed more than double the number of netbook deals in telcos in August as we did in June. The local vendors are moving fast in their home countries, so Asus and Acer lead in Taiwan, Samsung and LG have the deals in Korea, while Lenovo, Haier and Tsinghua Tongfang are active in China. Sony, Toshiba and Sharp have all arranged deals in Japan. HP’s superior coverage gives it the most deals overall across the APAC region. We expect to see a rush of new deals across South East Asia and Oceania toward the end of this year.”
In August, in both EMEA and APAC, the preferred range for subsidised netbook prices was €100-€199 ($145-$290). Monthly contracts are more common in Europe, whereas in APAC pre-pay is preferred, both through embedded 3G and dongle options. Consequently, the subsidies on offer from the telcos are around €60 ($97) higher in Europe than in Asia.
Apple has resisted the temptation to follow other PC vendors into the telcos, despite the fact that its phenomenally successful iPhone has given it these relationships. Its selling proposition and price points for the Mac fit better with its own Apple retail stores, its stores-within-stores, and its Premium Resellers and other partners. Nokia, the smart phone leader, has, on the other hand, moved quickly to launch its Windows-based Booklet. It has the best telco coverage of any vendor, but it will be a surprise if it can succeed with price points that are substantially higher than the competition.
Microsoft’s launch of Windows 7 next month is likely to provide a further boost to the PC market, the consumer side of which has held up surprisingly well during the summer months. Expect the distinctions between smart phones, netbooks and notebooks to become increasingly unclear over the next year as the screen sizes and performance of netbooks increase while new operating systems and processors are launched. Mobile devices, in all their different forms, have been the bright points within the technology industry in this difficult year.
TOP TEN NETBOOKS; KLICK HERE
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Jobs Takes Stage at Apple Event
Apple's chief executive officer gratefully accepts applause as he returns to the stage at Wednesday's company event after a lengthy absence due to a liver transplant. (Sept. 9)
Mr. Jobs, taking the stage at an event in San Francisco, unveiled new offerings that included an iPod Nano with a video camera. Apple also dropped prices across its iPod lineup as the company tries to revive slowing sales.
Mr. Jobs, who had not been seen publicly since an October event, was dressed in his usual black turtleneck and jeans. The 54-year-old appeared thin and spoke with a scratchy voice, but showed energy and enthusiasm.
"I'm very happy to be here with you all," said Mr. Jobs as he received a standing ovation. He explained that he had received the liver of a young adult who died in a car accident. "I wouldn't be here without such generosity," he said, urging others to become organ donors, too.
Apple's changes to iTunes, including the social-networking features, are the biggest in years, and the iPod nano's video camera is a shot across Cisco's bow, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal tells Stacey Delo.
Apple's CEO and co-founder returned to his post in late June, following a nearly six-month medical leave. Mr. Jobs, who has battled pancreatic cancer, worried investors last year by exhibiting noticeable weight loss. He bowed out of his usual keynote at the Macworld trade show in January and went on leave.
"He looked thin but much better than he had a year ago. Part of the reason was to show the crowd he's alive and kicking," said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co.
Apple showed off new iTunes software and iPods with lower starting prices amid slowing sales and increasing competition from companies like Microsoft Corp., which recently announced a new version of its Zune HD music player.
The iPod is still the dominant digital music player, with nearly 74% market share, according to Apple. But it has been eclipsed by the fast-selling iPhone. In the quarter ended June 27, iPod revenue fell 11% from a year earlier to $1.49 billion.
Apple lowered the starting price of its iPod Touch device, which is essentially an iPhone without cellular phone capability, to $199 from $229. The new iPod Nano, starting at $149, comes with an FM receiver and pedometer in addition to the built-in video camera.
"They're just trying to segment the product line, and they're trying to get people to buy multiple iPods," said Gene Munster, an industry analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. He noted that Apple didn't add a camera in the iPod Touch as had been widely expected.
The company stressed the success of games on the iPod Touch and the iPhone, compared with devices like Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Co.'s DS.
"When these things came up they seemed so cool...but they don't really stack up anymore," said Apple marketing chief Philip Schiller.
Apple also unveiled a new version of its iTunes software and online store. Among the new features: greater ability to share music and other digital content between multiple computers in a single home and a feature called iTunes LP, which brings additional content like lyrics, videos and artwork to albums purchased on the site.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Home fibre plans survive downturn
The benefits of fibre to the home go beyond speed
More than two million people in Europe now have fibre broadband direct to their home, suggests a survey.
The latest figures on superfast broadband delivered by fibre to the home (FTTH) shows 18% growth over the last survey compiled in late 2008.
The continued growth suggests that the global economic downturn has not hit plans to build a fibre infrastructure.
Sweden tops the list of nations rolling out the technology, with 10.9% of its broadband customers using fibre.
Karel Helsen, president of Europe's Fibre-To-The-Home Council, said the growth matched predictions that were revised when the credit crunch started to make itself felt.
TOP FIBRE NATIONS
1) Sweden - 10.9%
2) Norway - 10.2%
3) Slovenia - 8.9%
4) Andorra - 6.6%
5) Denmark- 5.7%
6) Iceland - 5.6%
7) Lithuania - 3.3%
8) Netherlands - 2.5%
9) Slovakia - 2.5%
10) Finland - 2.4%
"The numbers in 2009 are in line with the latest forecasts," said Mr Helsen.
By 2012, the FTTH Council expects that 13 million people across 35 European nations will have their broadband delivered by fibre. Such services would start at speeds of 100 megabits per second (mbps), said Mr Helsen.
Around Europe more than 233 projects were underway to lay the fibres that would connect homes or buildings to the net, said Mr Helsen. Many of those, he said, were being operated by local governments or smaller net firms.
Local governments were interested in FTTH because of the economic and social benefits it brought in its wake, said Mr Helsen.
The low latency or delay inherent in high-speed fibre networks made possible novel uses of broadband, he said.
"No delay is very important," he said, "specifically if you talk about applications that are time dependent such as personal communications, conference calls or video calls where delays cause a lot of interference."
While early FTTH services were concentrated in cities, said Mr Helsen, many more were reaching out to rural areas for e-health and e-learning projects.
Separate studies show that an FTTH infrastructure can have a direct impact on local economic output, said Mr Helsen.
The UK, France and Germany have yet to break into the list of top ten FTTH nations.
More than two million people in Europe now have fibre broadband direct to their home, suggests a survey.
The latest figures on superfast broadband delivered by fibre to the home (FTTH) shows 18% growth over the last survey compiled in late 2008.
The continued growth suggests that the global economic downturn has not hit plans to build a fibre infrastructure.
Sweden tops the list of nations rolling out the technology, with 10.9% of its broadband customers using fibre.
Karel Helsen, president of Europe's Fibre-To-The-Home Council, said the growth matched predictions that were revised when the credit crunch started to make itself felt.
TOP FIBRE NATIONS
1) Sweden - 10.9%
2) Norway - 10.2%
3) Slovenia - 8.9%
4) Andorra - 6.6%
5) Denmark- 5.7%
6) Iceland - 5.6%
7) Lithuania - 3.3%
8) Netherlands - 2.5%
9) Slovakia - 2.5%
10) Finland - 2.4%
"The numbers in 2009 are in line with the latest forecasts," said Mr Helsen.
By 2012, the FTTH Council expects that 13 million people across 35 European nations will have their broadband delivered by fibre. Such services would start at speeds of 100 megabits per second (mbps), said Mr Helsen.
Around Europe more than 233 projects were underway to lay the fibres that would connect homes or buildings to the net, said Mr Helsen. Many of those, he said, were being operated by local governments or smaller net firms.
Local governments were interested in FTTH because of the economic and social benefits it brought in its wake, said Mr Helsen.
The low latency or delay inherent in high-speed fibre networks made possible novel uses of broadband, he said.
"No delay is very important," he said, "specifically if you talk about applications that are time dependent such as personal communications, conference calls or video calls where delays cause a lot of interference."
While early FTTH services were concentrated in cities, said Mr Helsen, many more were reaching out to rural areas for e-health and e-learning projects.
Separate studies show that an FTTH infrastructure can have a direct impact on local economic output, said Mr Helsen.
The UK, France and Germany have yet to break into the list of top ten FTTH nations.
McAfee New Channel Chief Eyes Cisco Model
Alex Thurber has just assumed the role of McAfee’s global channel chief, but he’s already laying plans for bringing better structure to the security vendor’s channel program. His inspiration is the Cisco channel way, a program he’s spent the better part of the last decade.
If McAfee partners are looking for clues to the future of the security vendor’s channel program, they only need to look to the organization from which the new global channel chief came: Cisco.
Just nine days on the job, Alex Thurber is still feeling his way around the McAfee headquarters and collecting bits of information about the channel he inherited. But the one thing he’s observed so far is the need to provide better structure and consistency in partner relationships.
“The channel program has been cobbled together in the legacy that is McAfee’s endpoint security products and all the acquisitions it’s done,” Thurber told. “There hasn’t been an overall strategy that, with a plan, that we can snap new acquisitions into place.”
In the past decade, McAfee has acquired 18 companies ranging from small startups to mature organizations. Companies added to the McAfee portfolio include Foundstone, IntruVert, Citadel, Reconnex, Preventsys, Solidcore Systems, Entercept, Secure Computing and, most recently, MX Logic. The acquisitions have bolstered McAfee from being an antivirus software vendor to a portfolio company of security products that address consumers to large enterprises.
Resource Library:
The enterprise security challenge: Turning security into a business enabler
Your Network at Half the Price: Slash Network Hardware Costs with Pre-Owned Equipment
What CIOs Want from the Channel Headlines Event
Common Vulnerabilities in Business IT Systems
Acquisitions have given McAfee more weapons to battle longtime rival Symantec, but Thurber says it’s created a channel hodgepodge as different programs, products and partners. What’s needed—he suspects—is better program structure and consistency in the way McAfee interacts with partners.
“We need to give partners consistency in the money they’re going to make, who they are going to work with and where they’re going to get support,” Thurber said.
Where Thurber will draw the inspiration for that structure, consistency and guiding channel management principles is the company he called home for the last decade, Cisco.
Until last month, Thurber was Cisco Go-To-Markets team, where he handled channel strategy for Cisco’s security, wireless and emerging technologies under Edison Peres. At the Cisco partner summit in Boston last June, Thurber was one of the key executives talking up the virtues of peer-to-peer partnership and collaboration, and the need for solution providers to adopt technology and vertical alignment to maximize their market potential.
Thurber envisions building a channel structure at McAfee that’s similar to Cisco in terms of creating technology disciplines, systems of rewards for partner investment and consistency in support and communications. He says that companies like McAfee cannot lose sight on the fact that partners are independent small businesses that rely on their vendors to create a navigable framework for conducting business. The ultimate goal is to create a value-based channel program that has common elements for all channel partners—from small business to large enterprise.
Will the Thurber McAfee channel program have the same attributes as Cisco’s? Thurber says no. “It won’t be a carbon copy,” he says. “There will be elements that we emulate and elements that we improve upon.”
Thurber replaces Roger King, the former executive vice president of worldwide sales who also oversaw the company’s channel strategy and management. King, who left to pursue other opportunities, was standing in for David Dickison, who left McAfee a year ago, and Lisa Loe, who oversaw channels for just three months.
Thurber’s appointment follows the promotion of McAfee veteran Fernando Quintero from his role overseeing Latin America to running North America channels.
Prior to joining Cisco, Thurber was the founder and owner of Thurber Works, a network and security VAR in Portland, Ore. He sold the business in 1999 when he took his first position at Cisco.
Leaving Cisco and taking the McAfee post was a chance opportunity resulting from connections made through social networks. After meeting with McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt and Michael DeCesare, the executive vice president of worldwide sales, he was convinced that the security vendor had a tremendous opportunity to build world-class channels that would help grow the overall business.
The move means Thurber will compete, on some level, with his former employer, Cisco. It’s a situation that doesn’t faze him. “I love Cisco and it’s a wonderful company, and I want them to do well except in one area.”
If McAfee partners are looking for clues to the future of the security vendor’s channel program, they only need to look to the organization from which the new global channel chief came: Cisco.
Just nine days on the job, Alex Thurber is still feeling his way around the McAfee headquarters and collecting bits of information about the channel he inherited. But the one thing he’s observed so far is the need to provide better structure and consistency in partner relationships.
“The channel program has been cobbled together in the legacy that is McAfee’s endpoint security products and all the acquisitions it’s done,” Thurber told. “There hasn’t been an overall strategy that, with a plan, that we can snap new acquisitions into place.”
In the past decade, McAfee has acquired 18 companies ranging from small startups to mature organizations. Companies added to the McAfee portfolio include Foundstone, IntruVert, Citadel, Reconnex, Preventsys, Solidcore Systems, Entercept, Secure Computing and, most recently, MX Logic. The acquisitions have bolstered McAfee from being an antivirus software vendor to a portfolio company of security products that address consumers to large enterprises.
Resource Library:
The enterprise security challenge: Turning security into a business enabler
Your Network at Half the Price: Slash Network Hardware Costs with Pre-Owned Equipment
What CIOs Want from the Channel Headlines Event
Common Vulnerabilities in Business IT Systems
Acquisitions have given McAfee more weapons to battle longtime rival Symantec, but Thurber says it’s created a channel hodgepodge as different programs, products and partners. What’s needed—he suspects—is better program structure and consistency in the way McAfee interacts with partners.
“We need to give partners consistency in the money they’re going to make, who they are going to work with and where they’re going to get support,” Thurber said.
Where Thurber will draw the inspiration for that structure, consistency and guiding channel management principles is the company he called home for the last decade, Cisco.
Until last month, Thurber was Cisco Go-To-Markets team, where he handled channel strategy for Cisco’s security, wireless and emerging technologies under Edison Peres. At the Cisco partner summit in Boston last June, Thurber was one of the key executives talking up the virtues of peer-to-peer partnership and collaboration, and the need for solution providers to adopt technology and vertical alignment to maximize their market potential.
Thurber envisions building a channel structure at McAfee that’s similar to Cisco in terms of creating technology disciplines, systems of rewards for partner investment and consistency in support and communications. He says that companies like McAfee cannot lose sight on the fact that partners are independent small businesses that rely on their vendors to create a navigable framework for conducting business. The ultimate goal is to create a value-based channel program that has common elements for all channel partners—from small business to large enterprise.
Will the Thurber McAfee channel program have the same attributes as Cisco’s? Thurber says no. “It won’t be a carbon copy,” he says. “There will be elements that we emulate and elements that we improve upon.”
Thurber replaces Roger King, the former executive vice president of worldwide sales who also oversaw the company’s channel strategy and management. King, who left to pursue other opportunities, was standing in for David Dickison, who left McAfee a year ago, and Lisa Loe, who oversaw channels for just three months.
Thurber’s appointment follows the promotion of McAfee veteran Fernando Quintero from his role overseeing Latin America to running North America channels.
Prior to joining Cisco, Thurber was the founder and owner of Thurber Works, a network and security VAR in Portland, Ore. He sold the business in 1999 when he took his first position at Cisco.
Leaving Cisco and taking the McAfee post was a chance opportunity resulting from connections made through social networks. After meeting with McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt and Michael DeCesare, the executive vice president of worldwide sales, he was convinced that the security vendor had a tremendous opportunity to build world-class channels that would help grow the overall business.
The move means Thurber will compete, on some level, with his former employer, Cisco. It’s a situation that doesn’t faze him. “I love Cisco and it’s a wonderful company, and I want them to do well except in one area.”
Monday, September 7, 2009
HP ProCurve's BattlePlan
Paul Congdon is chief technology officer (CTO) at ProCurve, the division of HP that manufactures switches, routers and other networking products. He talked to Computing about how network virtualisation can improve the performance and manageability of virtual servers in the datacentre.
Analyst research suggests Ethernet switch sales are down 24 per cent year on year - how can ProCurve get companies buying again?
The market has been down overall, but we have had enormous success with wireless, seeing 112 per cent growth even though the market was declining by 20 per cent overall. We are closing the gap on Cisco in sales of 10Gbit/s Ethernet equipment as well.
Many organisations still find it difficult to obtain cash or get a loan, while ProCurve has been traditionally strong in the public and education sector, and in the US at least government cutbacks have presented a challenge – public sector money is not as available as it used to be. We are offering various incentives within the [reseller] channel, trade-in programmes and initiatives around lead generation. There are no heavy discounts, but the margins have not changed much.
What new technology will tempt firms into upgrading their existing network infrastructure?
Embedding security in switches is an ongoing process. One of those things with the whole Moore’s Law process is the density of silicon and the amount of space within chipsets to add programmable functions to switches. The other is network virtualisation, where we can create virtual ports inside a switch. You might have 24 physical Ethernet ports, but another 200 virtual ports, for example.
What will network virtualisation do?
There are a couple of approaches to the technology being proposed to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one backed by HP ProCurve, and another by Cisco. The driving force here is that a virtual server has a piece of network infrastructure, a virtual switch, embedded in its software, which could actually be moved into hardware to improve virtual server performance and manageability.
The big questions are what should the virtual switch do, how much number crunching should it implement, and where should it reside? Network managers generally like to configure devices to make them behave the way they want them to, either within virtual software on the server, or at the edge of the network. Either the servers need to take on new functions, such as firewalls, or that stuff has to be put out on the network where the switches can do it for them.
What would you recommend as the best approach?
HP ProCurve proposes choice and flexibility, a way to configure virtual software so it can direct traffic out onto the edge of the network rather than have every feature known to mankind embedded within software that will ultimately run on a network interface card (NIC) with input/output (I/O) virtualisation capabilities.
The difference here could be NICs that cost $500 rather than $5, so we are very interested in finding a way that uses the capabilities in existing switches so the upgrade path is less disruptive. We could add a lot of that software into a switch without the capital cost of the NIC, it just comes down to a question of complexity and management – configuring firewall rules between new virtual LANs (VLANs) for example, could be done on one switch or every switch in the system, and that could create management problems for some people. There is trade off between performance and functionality and customers should be able to choose between the two rather than be limited to what is put inside NICs.
What are the potential benefits of network virtualisation for the IT manager?
Performance and manageability are foremost, but it is also ease of migration. You could import a base set of these capabilities into a switch, for example, without requiring a hardware upgrade, and therefore experiment without taking on capital costs right away. There are some open-source solutions available now – I wrote some of the code myself.
Where will demand for this sort of network virtualisation come from?
Datacentres will be the big beneficiaries, but also imagine how that extends to wireless environments. If you can embed a wireless controller in an Ethernet switch, you can use virtual ports to represent wireless users, then terminate virtual private network (VPN) connections on virtual ports [without taking up physical ports on the switch].
Analyst research suggests Ethernet switch sales are down 24 per cent year on year - how can ProCurve get companies buying again?
The market has been down overall, but we have had enormous success with wireless, seeing 112 per cent growth even though the market was declining by 20 per cent overall. We are closing the gap on Cisco in sales of 10Gbit/s Ethernet equipment as well.
Many organisations still find it difficult to obtain cash or get a loan, while ProCurve has been traditionally strong in the public and education sector, and in the US at least government cutbacks have presented a challenge – public sector money is not as available as it used to be. We are offering various incentives within the [reseller] channel, trade-in programmes and initiatives around lead generation. There are no heavy discounts, but the margins have not changed much.
What new technology will tempt firms into upgrading their existing network infrastructure?
Embedding security in switches is an ongoing process. One of those things with the whole Moore’s Law process is the density of silicon and the amount of space within chipsets to add programmable functions to switches. The other is network virtualisation, where we can create virtual ports inside a switch. You might have 24 physical Ethernet ports, but another 200 virtual ports, for example.
What will network virtualisation do?
There are a couple of approaches to the technology being proposed to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one backed by HP ProCurve, and another by Cisco. The driving force here is that a virtual server has a piece of network infrastructure, a virtual switch, embedded in its software, which could actually be moved into hardware to improve virtual server performance and manageability.
The big questions are what should the virtual switch do, how much number crunching should it implement, and where should it reside? Network managers generally like to configure devices to make them behave the way they want them to, either within virtual software on the server, or at the edge of the network. Either the servers need to take on new functions, such as firewalls, or that stuff has to be put out on the network where the switches can do it for them.
What would you recommend as the best approach?
HP ProCurve proposes choice and flexibility, a way to configure virtual software so it can direct traffic out onto the edge of the network rather than have every feature known to mankind embedded within software that will ultimately run on a network interface card (NIC) with input/output (I/O) virtualisation capabilities.
The difference here could be NICs that cost $500 rather than $5, so we are very interested in finding a way that uses the capabilities in existing switches so the upgrade path is less disruptive. We could add a lot of that software into a switch without the capital cost of the NIC, it just comes down to a question of complexity and management – configuring firewall rules between new virtual LANs (VLANs) for example, could be done on one switch or every switch in the system, and that could create management problems for some people. There is trade off between performance and functionality and customers should be able to choose between the two rather than be limited to what is put inside NICs.
What are the potential benefits of network virtualisation for the IT manager?
Performance and manageability are foremost, but it is also ease of migration. You could import a base set of these capabilities into a switch, for example, without requiring a hardware upgrade, and therefore experiment without taking on capital costs right away. There are some open-source solutions available now – I wrote some of the code myself.
Where will demand for this sort of network virtualisation come from?
Datacentres will be the big beneficiaries, but also imagine how that extends to wireless environments. If you can embed a wireless controller in an Ethernet switch, you can use virtual ports to represent wireless users, then terminate virtual private network (VPN) connections on virtual ports [without taking up physical ports on the switch].
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Sunday, September 6, 2009
Cisco Scores First UCS Win
Construction company consolidates five datacenters into one by going with Cisco's Unified Computing System.
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) has landed the first major customer win for its Unified Computing System (UCS) blade computer offerings, a civil construction firm that was able to consolidate five datacenters into one with the new system.
Tutor Perini does jobs such as airport construction and building casinos in Las Vegas. It had five datacenters scattered around the country using a mish-mash of computing systems, from single, stand-alone servers to some older blades.
Its networking equipment was already mostly Cisco, so that familiarity assured Tutor Perini that Cisco, a newcomer to the blade server computing world, had a top-flight product.
"It did give us a little pause because it's a brand new tech they are rolling out, but this isn't a startup company. Everyone on my team has over a decade of experience with Cisco products, so we felt pretty comfortable they would meet all our needs," James McGibney, datacenter lead for Tutor Perini said.
That's also why Tutor Perini was willing to build almost all of its datacenter on one vendor product. "We liked having one source for everything. We like that fact it's a one-stop shop. Some critics have said you're putting all your eggs in one basket, but we're pretty comfortable with who has that basket," said McGibney.
Tutor Perini built a new datacenter with four chassis, 22 server blades, and two Cisco 6120 Fabric Interconnects. The system connects to 83 terabytes of data in an Ethernet environment. The company makes heavy use of thin clients and virtualization with VMware (NYSE: VMW) to support the clients.
With the UCS, Tutor Perini will be able to deploy four times as many virtual machines per VMware ESX host as it could in its previous environment. At the same time, it has capacity for 30 percent growth over the next three years despite cutting its datacenter facilities down.
The consolidation is not yet complete. McGibney said that only three of the five datacenters have been shut down, so there is more consolidation to be done. That said, so far Tutor Perini has reduced the hardware footprint by 60 percent. Power consumption has been reduced by 38 percent so far.
Then there's the advantage of having an all-Cisco shop. McGibney said he has one Cisco console to manage all of his devices from one console, which was very appealing to Tutor Perini.
"It's a one-stop interface, so we're able to view things from the 10,000-foot level to every server and every blade. We haven't had that many problems, which is amazing, especially since this is a brand-new technology. If it's something, it's usually minor, like a fan failing. But there just haven't been that many problems with it," he said.
Being the first UCS deployment had its pluses, too. Cisco made a full-court press to get its first UCS customer up and running with as little disruption as possible. Tutor Perini is not finished with the migration, so it doesn't have a final performance measure. So far, the thin client performance has gone up at least 20 percent with the more powerful server systems.
Likewise, it doesn't know how much savings it will enjoy, but just going from five datacenters to one will yield inevitable savings. Still, McGibney is already satisfied with the results. "We're happy with overall migration because we are seeing overall savings, which is what you hope to achieve when you start reducing server counts," he said.
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