Stories by: Brian Corrigan

Although heavy-handed messaging has led to a great deal of scepticism in the market, there’s no doubting that environmental concerns are creating serious market opportunities. ARN recently brought together a group of IT industry thought-leaders to talk about myths and margins.

The past year has seen more column inches dedicated to the concept of green IT than just about any other topic you could name in this industry.

Virtual desktops are being touted as a way of delivering applications to any user via any device. So does this brave new mobile world mean curtains for the humble PC? ARN recently brought together a panel of industry professionals to hear their views.

Every now and again a technology comes along that, to some extent, sells itself.

As the world’s largest distributor of IT products, Ingram Micro is something of a dichotomy. It reported global annual revenues of more than $US35 billion for its last financial year but despite its size – due largely to the low average margins of its broad-based business model – it is often more susceptible to changes in the economy than its smaller rivals.

As Optima’s administrators recommend the company be liquidated, I can’t help but think that repercussions for the local whitebox industry are going to be much deeper than I first feared. The reason why, in a word, is warranties.

I recently found a new website called vendorrate.com that invites IT users to rate their vendors (including channel organisations). Companies, or particular product categories such as IBM server & systems, are rated out of 10 across a list of 10 qualities including budget, communication, customer service, expertise, integrity, reliability and usability.

Why set up a business unit focused specifically on Internet security?

Escalating freight costs and a slowing market are forcing leading hardware distributors to put their cost structures under the microscope.

About a month ago, I used this column to warn of difficult times ahead and suggested that companies already under pressure would find the going particularly tough.

Dicker Data is considering the introduction of early settlement discounts and late payment fees.