* Posts by The Godfather

606 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Oct 2011

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Distie: Build the cloud and resellers will come... so WHERE ARE THEY?

The Godfather
Coat

Vendor and Distributors are in the business of selling traditional product and software. Vendor and Distributor 'cloud service' offerings are a misnomer, they are simply bundled packages designed to fuel or drive stagnant product and software sales.

The threat to traditional manufacturers and Distributors has never been greater and only those that adapt and work within new technologies and models will survive. Acting like King Canute is folly.

Microsoft Surface slabs borked by heat-induced DIM SCREEN OF DEATH

The Godfather
Meh

Re: analysts...

Most people can do all that and more on something half the price...

HP redundancies all about getting 'cheaper, lower skilled' bods

The Godfather
Thumb Up

Re: getting rid of expensive experienced guys

I like your style.....

Microsoft bags another glamorous Office 365 customer

The Godfather
Pint

Re: Watch the fees rise.

For a pound...

Burnt-out Comet's VC backers are looking for more cash

The Godfather
Coat

penny here, you're fired there...

Easy to make money personally out of buying failing businesses. Tragedy is the VC's don't really care about how they make money.....or even lose it..

Mark my words...Game group will fail, but not without having lined some pockets along the way.

Win 8 PC sales plunge as retailers, disties shave orders by HALF A MILLION in Q3

The Godfather
Facepalm

Stop farting around..

Windows 8 stinks.....period. People don't like it cos MS didn't ask people what they wanted, or ignored what was asked for.

Is computer biz Viglen about to GET FIRED? Lord Sugar's firm in rumoured sell-off

The Godfather
Coat

Sugar's sweet but the pill's bitter...

Westcoast Holdings but Viglen? are they mad? Buying an independent OEM like Viglen or Stone right now is tantamount to blowing your feet off.

Feel Cisco's WRATH: Over 1,000 placed on DENIED partner sh*t list

The Godfather
Facepalm

Grey? been around so long it's white-washed.

Nothing new, dealing in grey has been around for decades....sole responsibility rest with the manufacturer for screwing around, playing silly games and making real margin for those down the food change nigh impossible.

Oddly, they turn a blind eye when it suits them.

EMC lobs sueball at Pure, tells court: Look what they told EL REG

The Godfather
Meh

Keys and satchels by the door please..

Question I ask is why thy were allowed to take information out with them. You can't blot, erase or hold title to a person's mind or knowledge.

CMS Distribution swallows Interactive Ideas

The Godfather
Pint

Goodbuy

Good buy by Frank. Will have cost a bit but B and C list Distributors like CMS, while still under threat along with the big A players, have more space and time to work in.

Microsoft CEO shortlist down to EIGHT ... appropriately enough, perhaps

The Godfather
Mushroom

'hard' leader needed for this 'soft' business

Microsoft does not have five years....it needs to change things within two. re-shaping and splitting it up will provide more focus and so will doing most of its business direct. They have started this process and need to accelerate it.

Microsoft should have recognized its vulnerabilities given the entrance of new major players at least three years ago.

Ex-HP VP predicts PC arm sell-off and life as IBM's number 2

The Godfather

They always win on penalties...

He could perhaps have been more brutally honest but he clearly hits the nail on the head in summation. It will take an awful lot of digging to get HP out of its current hole. It needs to divest some elements and forge ahead in serving its own interest above those of 'the channel', which changes suggest is an increasingly obsolescent and meaningless route to its ultimate market.

Mighty Cisco terminates British channel chum Phoenix IT Group

The Godfather
Coat

Red card...

Fickle nature of relationships.....that will affect 'the channel' more widely than anyone can imagine in the near future.

RM CEO: We didn't even try to sell PC biz before killing it

The Godfather
Meh

It's academic, the harsh reality is that it is not now possible to have oodles of independent OEM's vying for business share against a growing band of very large and operationally very efficient production lines. Throw in the fact that tablets, (aside those form Apple) are shrinking price to win market share and the likes of RM have no chance. Quite frankly, even Stone and Viglen now face significant pressures.

RM have done the right thing, albeit about a year or two too late.

The Godfather
Meh

wise-up...to website claims

Have you clocked their annual sales?

Dip in Blighty's titsup tech firms... but what about the ZOMBIES?

The Godfather
Angel

Respite comes with more pain

Banks and lenders have been more accommodating on debt and less eager to put the boot in. What remains fascinating is the transition to services, something that requires time, patience, money and planning and all four are often missing in the case of most traditional VAR's and indeed wholesalers.

Pressure point is margin and this in traditional reselling activity has declined horribly in recent years and an ability to borrow against a strong balance sheet, core to fundamentally re-shaping your business or planning for growth is lacking in far too many.

There will be more casualties as we move into 2014 and some will be big, like 2e2.

Win XP? Your PLAGUE risk is SIX times that of Win 8 - NOW

The Godfather
Meh

Jingle bells.....

Am I going to fall for this bullshit?

Microsoft dumps two distributors overboard in Blighty cull

The Godfather
Meh

Silver linings....

This will hurt in terms of top line and prestige but there are some compensations....loss of extremely low margin business in most cases.

Bloated tech reseller Systemax may be turning around, but it's still going the wrong way

The Godfather
Pirate

Ooops

Those plans a year or so ago appear to have gone awry...wholesaling is a bitch of a business to be in right now...

Insight inserts Microsoft vet Ebermann into top EMEA slot

The Godfather
Alert

Tough times...

'Services account for very low single digit revenues at Insight Europe and surely this will be one of the strategic priorities facing Ebermann - to build a portfolio and wrestle control of its destiny from the whim of a vendor'.....

easier said than done given one is an e-commerce wholesaler..

Daisy Group hoovers up Indecs Computer Services for £18m

The Godfather
Alien

Gobble, gobble,

Where's this heading I wonder..........

Mega-distie Ingram Micro takes knife to costs in 'very challenged' Europe

The Godfather
Pint

New moves man...

Forget distribution, logistics is where it's at.....

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131028-908953.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter

Debt hangs heavy on Stone: Yes we make PCs. For the public sector

The Godfather
Facepalm

Matter of time...

Small possible uptake given RM's decision but the writing is on the wall here too, has been for a while...

Distributing Microsoft gear in UK? You might not be for much longer

The Godfather
Coat

Woops...again..

X-factor style contests coming up...any volunteers?

PC addict RM finally quits its building habit, plans to axe 300 jobs

The Godfather
Pint

Time RM please...

Long time overdue move...gluttons for punishment in recent years...

Scottish gov follows cutting-edge Italian Post Office with Win 8 trial

The Godfather

Re: complete with the Start button

Have you seen a doctor lately?

Post-PC world? POST-MAC WORLD more like

The Godfather
Angel

Shit, a drop of 2.3% in one quarter from one analyst quarter....send for the marines, we're doomed I say...

UK.gov provider frees Microsoft partner TES from administration

The Godfather
FAIL

'zombie' gobble...where will it all end?

Folly of acquiring businesses at inflated values and where continuity and integration fail to deliver sufficient profit to meet interest payments. Yet another 'zombie' business and the acquirer will need to have done their own homework soundly as their balance may well end up looking like that of TES Group, 'zombie' like.

Unsecured creditors will be miffed, make no mistake and sadly people will be shed despite any early promises. This is an inevitable consequence.

PC sales continue meteoric death plunge through 3rd quarter, drop another 8.6 per cent

The Godfather
Pint

Re: The elephant in the room

I heard Toshiba sell well over 90% of their laptops with Windows 7...clever Japs..

Meg Whitman asks HPers to drag their asses into the office

The Godfather
Meh

Abandon ship....

When this kind of instruction comes from the very top....it's time to man the pumps...

Azzurri backers write off MILLIONS in debts - AGAIN

The Godfather

can I have creditors like this too?

Suspect this is not so much a cleaned up balance sheet to expand, but one to better sell....

Reseller giant Misco puts UK workers at risk of redundancy – sources

The Godfather
Meh

Dog-eared business

This is the latest change at Misco, which in February rejigged account management based on verticals markets* and postcodes rather than by vendors,

Misco is a wholesaler/etailer/sub distributor and this type of business cannot morph into anything other than what it is.

It'll just keep cutting cost until there is none left to cut

Sales dive at UK's oldest tech wholesaler: PC crash splashes Northamber in red

The Godfather
Coat

declining momentum...

A business sadly on its way out and with no escape mechanism or alternative path.. It's cash over the years should have been used more efficiently and not been used to prop up declining sales and profit. Another couple of years of similar decline and its fixed assets will be higher than its current. Was a terrific cash generator in its heyday and should have used it invest in growth.

Micro P consumes security minnow Cohort Technology

The Godfather
Coat

your turn next big boy...

Musical chairs in the acquisition game by bigger players... less choice and flexibility in pricing...

Blundering Tech Data faces NASDAQ boot over Computer 2000 accounts

The Godfather
Coat

cut in half here...

Ability to generate proper profit out of traditional supply means scavenging for every cent and frequently not knowing precisely what meagre amount you've made until all the various calculations/permutations are finalized.

Horrible squeeze in the middle and tougher still when you have to shift what meagre profit you make in order to minimize tax liability too, otherwise there is naff all left in the pot.

500 MEELLION PCs still run Windows XP. How did we get here?

The Godfather
Windows

time gentlemen please..drink up

It's not in the interest of those providing the operating systems to have them last forever. Some are just more blatant at ripping you off.....no names of course.

Profit healthy, sales up, 4,000 staff face axe. Cisco CEO, here's your pay doubled to $21m

The Godfather
Facepalm

bang,,,you're dead

Money for nothing...there is no skill in dropping people.

Google will barge into enterprises as IT titans squabble, Apple snoozes

The Godfather

Re: Google will barge into enterprises as IT titans squabble, Apple snoozes

Take it you're one of those worried you might get left behind, otherwise why the aggressive angle?

Google: Thanks for the billions in revenue, UK. Here are your taxes, that's ... £11m

The Godfather
Pirate

nowt strange...they're all at it

Check any foreign owned company in the UK (specifically the US owned ones) and they're all the same and all at it.........hitting Google given the profit they generate is a bit harsh.... they work around the rules because the routes are clearly marked and permitted.

Arrow's Computerlinks gobble - a vendor's perspective

The Godfather
Pirate

gobble-gobble...

Two green bottles standing on the wall, two green bottles standing on the wall and if one green bottle, should accidentally fall there'll be one green bottle standing on the wall..........but not for long.

Bit of a turkey-shoot for the big four's insatiable appetite....'your turn next then mine again'

HP gazes at own navel in UK boss search: We name tipped contenders

The Godfather

Odds?

It'll be unusual...to pick a UK bod and not parachute in someone from over there..

Have PIXmania. In fact, have £59m with it too, Dixons tell German VCs

The Godfather
Coat

Sad..

Dixons comes across as an acquirer with no skill...

BOOGIE BALLMER: Steve Dirty Dances at tearful Microsoft leaving do

The Godfather
Angel

Weird..

Sounds remarkably like a cult gathering....hope they're not opting for mass suicide

Oh snap – AWS daddy disses IT's 'old guard': You're so 2000-and-late

The Godfather
Pint

Wakey-wakey...

I'm not selling it...but he's right.

Bill Gates again world's richest, tops in US for 20th straight year

The Godfather
Pint

Next please..

Gates should buy HP, and make another pile putting it into shape...

How the internet turned ram-raiders into sophisticated fraudsters

The Godfather
Holmes

Re: Almost an interesting article

Businesses that seek protection or wish to strengthen processes should seek guidance. Providing to much detail on fraud techniques gives people ideas and ammunition.

Much of prevention is common sense, simple detective work and an experience of wide-ranging fraud indicators.

CSC boss post-NHS IT flop, Ford CEO 'pitched' as the next Steve Ballmer

The Godfather
Coat

Jeezzus...

Shareholders and investors frequently know naff-all about business mechanics and required direction. Listening to or taking shareholders advice on CEO's is a recipe for disaster...or is this a real death-wish?

The numbers are in: EMC still ruling storage LIKE A BOSS

The Godfather
Alien

l-r, r-l, u-d, d-u........who cares

El Reg readers are deemed 'multi-functional' of high intelligence and with eyes on swivels.

HP dumped from Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Godfather

Re: Legacy of Carly Fiorina and Mark Hurd

Spot on....rational judgement

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