News
M&A Sessions
Impact Awards
Pipeline 2025
MSP Index
Reports
Events
Resources
Advertise

Business Managed IT Services Cloud

Collaboration Data Centre Digital

Distribution Hardware Mobility

Networking Printing Security

Servers & Storage Services Storage

Telco

End of support for Windows 10 State of AI 2024 Public Sector Tech Report

State of data State of Security 2024 State of the MSP 2024

Kickstarter 2024 Cloud Covered State of Diversity

State of Sustainability 2023

Channel Leaders Golf Day Benchmark Security Awards MSP Index Roadshow

Channel Meets 2025 Pipeline 2025 Impact Awards

Fast50

Photos Channel TV Focal Points

Partner Content Partner Hubs Partner Stories

Media Hub Boardroom Impact Whitepapers

News

Business Managed IT Services Cloud Collaboration Data Centre Digital Distribution Hardware Mobility Networking Printing Security Servers & Storage Services Storage Telco

M&A Sessions Impact Awards Pipeline 2025 MSP Index Reports

End of support for Windows 10 State of AI 2024 Public Sector Tech Report State of data State of Security 2024 State of the MSP 2024 Kickstarter 2024 Cloud Covered State of Diversity State of Sustainability 2023

Events

Channel Leaders Golf Day Benchmark Security Awards MSP Index Roadshow Channel Meets 2025 Pipeline 2025 Impact Awards Fast50

Resources

Photos Channel TV Focal Points Partner Content Partner Hubs Partner Stories Media Hub Boardroom Impact Whitepapers

Advertise

Log in

Email:

Password:

Remember me | Forgot password?

Don't have an account? Register now!

Home
Galleries
Business
Strategy

The biggest channel talking points of 2012

Pricing, Microsoft, HP, Apple and Amazon get the Aussie channel talking.

0 Comments

1 of 14

What a year

Resellers were pulled in many directions in 2012. From trying to stay ahead of innovations in cloud and mobility to dealing with the struggles of some big vendor partners, it's not likely to be a year that partners will forget anytime soon. With that in mind, here's a look back at the biggest channel stories of the year.

Price gouging down under

A big focus was put on the Australian operations of global technology vendors this year as a Government inquiry was launched into whether local technology buyers are getting ripped off compared to their overseas counterparts. The committee investigating the issue called on vendors to get involved but only Adobe has so far publicly participated. Apple requested a closed-door hearing.

Windows 8 is here

It doesn't happen every year, so any time Microsoft releases a new operating system, it's going to generate a lot of interest among both solution providers and end users. But the release of the new OS was initially confusing for resellers due to Microsoft's lack of clarification around the different product models. Microsoft chose to ditch full boxed copies for retail and changed the licensing system for resellers.

Alongside Windows 8 came Microsoft's first push into the tablet market, with its Surface. That move was marred for partners by the company's decision to ditch its resellers and sell to customers direct. It's now rectified that, two months after the tablet's launch, but partners were definitely not happy with the initial decision.

Partners still not pleased with Microsoft

Partners continued to rail against the company's decision to terminate its popular Small Business Server product. SBS was an SMB favourite for its ease of use and deployment. It bundled Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange Server and SQL Server for a fraction of the cost of licensing each individual product. The decision to can SBS sparked outrage among Microsoft’s resellers as their customers hit renewal time, specifically with regards to the cost the move would now incur. The death of the suite now forces customers to buy each individual product seperately, at a higher cost, or move to a cloud-based solution, as Microsoft tries to move its resellers to Office 365.

The death of distribution?

Westcon Australia MD David Henderson got the local channel talking when he posted his thoughts on the threats facing the traditional models of distribution. It got the industry discussing how distribution could survive in an age of cloud and virtualisation. Henderson signaled the start of the rise of the "thinking distributor".

Protect your stuff

Security continued to be a key concern for the channel following a series of high-profile breaches from late last year and early this year, as the likes of Anonymous highlighted just how important it is to protect your own and customers' data.

Also on the security front, Chinese company Huawei fought a fierce battle to be taken seriously in the comms market despite consistently being linked to the Chinese Government. The fear around the company is such that the Australian Government banned it from tendering for the NBN.

A new PC Leader?

Lenovo turned some heads, maybe even among its own partners, when research firm Gartner proclaimed that Lenovo had surpassed HP as the largest PC maker in the world. While HP toyed with the idea of spinning off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) before ultimately nixing the plan, Lenovo was full-steam ahead with strong laptop and tablet sales growth.

Here comes Amazon

Even with some well-publicised cloud outages, Amazon Web Services has shown it will be a force to be reckoned with in the commercial cloud market. There's an ongoing debate between public and private cloud technology, but Amazon has been aggressive in recruiting both customers and solution providers. The company debuted its operations down under in recent months, opening a new data centre in Sydney.

Ongoing drama at HP

HP once seemed invincible in the channel. The company's reach spanned everything from printers to enterprise storage to software to networking to PCs and almost everything else related to IT. But those halcyon days seem so long ago now. Most recently, HP took a staggering $US8.8 billion charge after discovering "serious accounting improprieties" related to its acquisition of Autonomy. Meanwhile, the channel ranks seemed to thin all year due to the departures of several high-profile executives. No question, it's been a difficult year for CEO Meg Whitman, but she insisted in October that she'd rather be leading HP than her rivals.

It's Apple's world ...

... we just live in it. The company still dominates the consumer market, and its products continue to resonate with both consumers and commercial customers. But could its fortunes be on the down? Earlier this month it suffered its biggest share drop in four years, and shares have been heading down steadily since September, amid growing uncertainty about the company's ability to fend off competition. The company hasn't been in favour with resellers this year, after it was revealed it had terminated contracts with up to 200 Australian resellers in the middle of the year with no explanation. Resellers told CRN Apple was totalitarian in its approach and refused resellers any leeway in how its products were sold.

BYOD is BMOC

More employees want to bring their own devices to work and more employers seem to be OK with that. It adds up to a big opportunity for solution providers to make sure the devices connect to corporate networks in a secure and reliable fashion. VARs spent much of 2012 learning how to integrate the sales, management and support of non-corporate-owned smartphones and tablets into their offerings. Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone, iPad and new iPad Mini continue to dominate the space, but a slew of devices touting Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows 8 are also vying for market share among solution providers.

Cloud rolls along

Throughout this year, vendors of all shapes and sizes tried to mark their territory in the cloud. The resulting crowds could sometimes be confusing for solution providers, but the fact remains that cloud technology, including public, private and hybrid solutions, will continue to be a big part of the channel into next year and beyond.

EMC's midmarket push

EMC put a strong focus on small and midmarket business in 2012, with a heavy emphasis on channel partners to get there. In addition to strong channel growth, EMC continues to play nice with others, building strong relationships with other vendors ranging from Cisco Systems to Lenovo to grow its business.

Cisco's rebound

After spending much of 2011 restructuring and retooling the company, Cisco Systems was back in a big way in 2012. "When we need to reinvent ourselves, we do," Chairman and CEO John Chambers (pictured) told CRN in October.

What a year

Tags:

Kaseya appoints new chief executive officer

Hewlett Packard beats Q2 results estimates on AI demand; records $1.36 billion charge

Service NSW looks for new integrated development environment software

Partner Content

Ingram Micro Ushers in the Age of Ultra

Tech For Good program gives purpose and strong business outcomes

Kaseya Dattocon APAC 2024 is Back

How NinjaOne Is Supporting The Channel As It Builds An Innovative Global Partner Program

Build cybersecurity capability with award winning Fortinet training from Ingram Micro

Events

techpartner.news MSP index - Brisbane

techpartner.news Channel Leader List / Golf day

techpartner.news Pipeline Conference 2025

Integrate Expo 2025

Security Exhibition & Conference 2025

Most popular tech stories

Westpac pilots AI to analyse inbound call content

Westpac hires CBA's data chief to lead AI, data and digital

Coles merges digital and customer leadership

Orica to set new workforce systems live in Australia in July

City of Sydney's HR uplift to help career management
Transport for NSW restructures tech division

Telstra to move away from 'best effort' connectivity, let users tweak attributes

In Pictures: Freshworks IT modernisation roundtable

Vic firefighters doing battle with IT outages

Westpac pilots AI to analyse inbound call content
Blackberry celebrates "giant step forward"

Photos: The 2024 IoT Awards winners

Axis Communications opens experience centre in Sydney tech hub

How the University of Melbourne used LoRaWAN and IoT in ‘COVIDSafe’ strategy

Perth IoT vendor Digital Matter names new chief executive

OTHER TECH SITES: Digital Nation | IoT Hub | iTnews

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Log in

Don't have an account? Register now!

Email:

Password:

Remember me | Forgot your password?

The biggest channel talking points of 2012

Pricing, Microsoft, HP, Apple and Amazon get the Aussie channel talking.

What a year

Price gouging down under

Windows 8 is here

Partners still not pleased with Microsoft

The death of distribution?

Protect your stuff

A new PC Leader?

Here comes Amazon

Ongoing drama at HP

It's Apple's world ...

BYOD is BMOC

Cloud rolls along

EMC's midmarket push

Cisco's rebound

What a year

Related articles

Kaseya appoints new chief executive officer

Hewlett Packard beats Q2 results estimates on AI demand; records $1.36 billion charge

Service NSW looks for new integrated development environment software

Most popular tech stories

Westpac pilots AI to analyse inbound call content

Westpac hires CBA's data chief to lead AI, data and digital

Coles merges digital and customer leadership

Orica to set new workforce systems live in Australia in July

City of Sydney's HR uplift to help career management

Transport for NSW restructures tech division

Telstra to move away from 'best effort' connectivity, let users tweak attributes

In Pictures: Freshworks IT modernisation roundtable

Vic firefighters doing battle with IT outages

Westpac pilots AI to analyse inbound call content

Blackberry celebrates "giant step forward"

Photos: The 2024 IoT Awards winners

Axis Communications opens experience centre in Sydney tech hub

How the University of Melbourne used LoRaWAN and IoT in ‘COVIDSafe’ strategy

Perth IoT vendor Digital Matter names new chief executive

Log in