PCR149-February-2016

FOR THE UK’S PC & TECH COMMUNITY • No. 149 • FEBRUARY 2016

THE MUCH-hyped Oculus Rift virtual reality headset launches on March 28th – but does it cost too much?

Other than its £499 price tag, Oculus has also told PCR it is not yet sure when it will be working with channel partners, leaving the door open for the HTC Vive (pictured) to work closely with retailers and distributors. Who will win the VR battle?Turn to page six for our full analysis of CES 2016.

No. 149 • FEBRUARY 2016

DISTREE previewWhat to expect from Monaco’s trade show this year

25The state of retailAre independent retailers pricing their products correctly?

21 Qsan’s UK pushThe SAN and NAS vendor outlines its ambitious plans to PCR

18

COMPUTER & IT RESELLERS RETAILERS SYSTEM BUILDERS DISTRIBUTORS VENDORS WWW.PCR-ONLINE.BIZ

W W W . P C R - O N L I N E . B I Z W W W . T W I T T E R . C O M / P C R _ O N L I N E W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / P C R M A G

VIRTUAL REALITY: IS THE PRICE RIGHT?

Retailers unsure of premium £499 price tag as Oculus Rift prepares to launch…

06

CES 2016 ANALYSIS & COMMENT – P6

PCR BOOT CAMP HEADS TO THE EMIRATES STADIUM – P26

THE HOTTEST NEW PRODUCTS FROM CES – P41

CONTENTS & COMMENT

COMMENT

Follow us @pcr_online

CONTENTSREGULARS6 Analysis: CES 2016

7 Analysis: VR market

9 Distributors embrace IoT

9 PCR Awards 2016

12 Number Crunching

15 Appointments and events

16 Opinion

30 Retailer of the month:

Airedale Computers

FEATURES18 The Big Interview: Qsan

21 Target’s ShopTalk fi ndings

25 DISTREE interview

26 PCR Boot Camp 2016

28 PCR Women of the Year

Marketing & PR interview:

Rachel Gordon, Mad Catz

32 A breif history of

computer networking

PRODUCTS35 Routers, NAS and servers

41 HP ENVY Phoenix

42 CES 2016 product

announcements

OUT OF OFFICE46 In the Hot Seat: Carly

Hill, BenQ

49 Tweets

50 Team of the Month: WD

UK sales team

The jury is out on VRIT’S BEEN three and a half years since the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset was fi rst announced – now it fi nally has a price and release date.

The device has received a ton of publicity in that time, with prototype developer kits wowing users and consumers backing its initial Kickstarter campaign in their droves. But with just over a month until it offi cially launches, we’re still not certain how it will sell – and it’s a shame to see the channel being left in the dark.

Oculus (owned by Facebook) has told me that its £499 headset will initially be sold direct from its website, and while it ‘plans to ultimately sell into the channel’, it’s not saying exactly when it will work with UK distribution or retail.

A while ago, I wrote an opinion piece questioning the margin opportunities in VR for smaller PC dealers. Of course, it’s likely the Rift will end up being sold in strong numbers through Amazon and the like, with little margin.

However, since then it’s become clear the headset will require a decent PC to run (with at least a GTX 970/AMD 290, Intel i5-4590 and 8GB+ RAM), giving system builders and indies the opportunity to sell new gaming PCs. NVIDIA introduced its ‘VR Ready’ stamp of approval and SIs already have their own VR-ready machines and initiatives underway; Dell is even bundling the Rift with some of its Alienware systems.

We asked retailers for their thoughts on the Oculus Rift’s price and if they will be stocking it on page seven, with a full rundown of announcements from CES 2016 on page six. You can also see our pick of the latest PC products from the Vegas show on page 41, including SanDisk’s super-thin SSD, Lenovo’s Thinkcentre X1 all-in-one and HP’s Envy Phoenix gaming PC. The latter is also built for virtual reality, but for HTC’s upcoming Vive headset in particular, which may give the Oculus Rift a run for its money.

One more thing – check out PCR Boot Camp’s new venue on page 26.

Dominic Sacco, editor [email protected]: 1742-8440

“The Oculus Rift will give system builders and indies the opportunity to sell new gaming PCs.”

Editorial: 01992 535646Advertising: 0207 354 6000

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations

Incorporating

Elizabeth NewtonProduction [email protected]

Dominic SaccoEditor [email protected]@Dom_Sacco

Laura BarnesOnline [email protected]@RoraDrum

Andrew WoodenInteractive Entertainment Content [email protected]@pcr_online

Sarah GoldhawkAccount [email protected]@sarzgoldhawk

Jennie LaneSales [email protected]@jennielane1

Dan [email protected]

ANALYSIS

WE’LL USE one word to sum up the Consumer Electronics Show 2016: Massive. This year’s Las Vegas event was the biggest ever, with 170,000 delegates, nearly 3,600 exhibitors and 2.5 million net square feet of floor space. And the noise. Don’t get us started on the noise.

But self-driving cars, US Marshal-led raids on hoverboard vendor booths and guest virtual appearances from Edward Snowdon aside, what did the show have in store for the UK tech channel?

If we had to pick out an overall theme it would be one of virtual reality (see Oculus Rift, opposite) and 3D. These technologies are coming to the High Street this year in a big way – they are no longer things to ‘keep an eye on’.

And it seems that collaborations and partnerships are how the big vendors are looking to take the risk out of making the early headway.

For example, HTC and HP have teamed up to deliver a virtual reality-ready desktop PC – the HP ENVY Phoenix. The PC powers Vive, the new

VR system from HTC, to deliver a VR experience that has room scale tracking capabilities, combined with photosensors on the headset and controllers, to track a user’s movement within a 3D space. This is unique in the market, with the HP ENVY Phoenix expected to be available in the UK in February (see page 41).

NVIDIA, meanwhile, detailed its new VR-ready programme, partnering with PC manufacturers and add-in card providers to deliver GeForce GTX ‘VR-ready’ systems and graphics cards. This is important for the channel because – as several stakeholders including NVIDIA have warned – the VR headsets coming to market this year simply won’t work on most existing consumer PC hardware.

The initiative will see a badge clearly displayed on all GeForce GTX VR-ready systems, with the likes of HP, Alienware, Asus and Acer already confirming support.

There were literally dozens of VR products revealed at the

show (though Sony’s PlayStation VR didn’t make it) – the trick as we move through 2016 will be to identify the winning bets at retail. Oculus has told PCR it’s not working with channel partners (yet) though we understand HTC will.

Trendforce expects the PlayStation VR to lead the way this year in terms of sales, followed by the Vive and Rift respectively.

Elsewhere, OLED has come to laptops in a big way, particularly in the 12 to 13-inch screen sizes in the form of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga and wider OLED debuts in the form of Alienware 13 and the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S.

HP had a number of OLED laptops at CES 2016, including the Spectre x360 models. The 15.6-inch version comes with a 4K display, OLED and Bang & Olufsen audio. The 13.3-inch model has an OLED Quad HD display. The 15.6-inch Spectre x360 will start at £1,000 and is available now, while the 13.3-inch will be available in the spring.

For the gaming market, a big reveal was the Razer Blade

Stealth laptop. The base model will start at $999, while the high-end version will sell for $1,599. It’s an interesting product because it allows the user to hook it up to the Razer Core (available in 2Q16), an ‘external graphics docking station’ for extra pixel crushing grunt.

Oh, and keep an eye on Intel’s second generation Compute Stick USB dongle – it can turn ‘dumb’ displays into functioning, albeit limited, PCs for the princely sum of $159 (£110).

In terms of software, Microsoft used CES to announce that Windows 10 has amassed 200 million users since its summer launch, well on the road to its target of one billion users by 2017.

The firm also confirmed it would only be providing support and security updates for Internet Explorer 11 from January 12th. All other versions are now officially obsolete. You’ve been warned.

SAVE THE DATE! The next CES will take place in Las Vegas on January 5-8th 2017.http://cesweb.org/

This year’s CES was yet another action-packed tech event. Here, PCR picks out the top trends to come out of Vegas...

“VR and 3D products are coming to the High Street this year in a big way – they are no longer things to ‘keep an eye on’.”

6 | PCR February 2016 www.pcr-online.biz

READ THE LATEST STORIES ATPCR-ONLINE.BIZ

CES 2016: Virtual reality re

ANALYSIS

www.pcr-online.biz PCR February 2016 | 7


Oculus Rift: A split in channel opinion?

ONE OF the biggest talking points at CES was the news that Facebook-owned virtual reality pioneer Oculus would start shipping its highly-anticipated Rift headset for $599/£499 on March 28th.

For that price the buyer receives the headset, an accompanying sensor, a remote, cables, Xbox controller and two games – platformer Lucky’s Tale and combat flight sim Eve: Valkyrie (with the promise of lots more software support by the end of the year).

The reveal came with an element of controversy, however, namely that the price is considerably more than the $350 Oculus founder Palmer Lucky had previously alluded to.

Combined with the fact the Rift requires some serious PC hardware support (Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 or greater, Intel i5-4590 or greater, etc), social media lit up with some fairly disgruntled opinions from consumers.

So the question is: Can the Oculus Rift become mainstream in 2016? Here’s what the UK channel has to say:

”We think [Oculus Rift] is priced correctly – it is a lot of technology at an

affordable price and will take the PC gaming segment to another level. Yoyotech is looking forward to stocking and creating special PC SKUs to enhance the VR experience.”

CK,MD, Yoyotech

”I’m pretty certain that most independent retailers would love to stock the

Oculus Rift. However, many won’t be able to for many reasons; stock will be allocated to the nationals only; the profit margin will be disproportionate to the retail price; and price support will be given to the nationals. But this product needs independents on board to help gain traction in the market – we will be the ones with the passion for the product and will ultimately be the ambassador for it.”

GAVIN HOLDER,Director,

GHI Computers

”The price is a lot more than I would have expected, but I’m a firm believer

that virtual reality is here to stay and will grow massively over next few years, unlike 3D screens, which were just a gimmick. [However], we don’t have any plans to stock VR headsets, as I can’t imagine they will be available for everyone to sell this year, only select large retailers.”

VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV,CEO, Dino PC

”The price is higher than we originally expected, however the final

specification is also higher than the development kits. Overall, I think the price is fair, given the level of user experience and hardware on offer. People don’t baulk at paying a similar price for a high-quality 27-inch QHD monitor, which most people with a PC capable of running VR will already have. We will be stocking it.”

BEN MILES,Sales Director, Chillblast.com

“We’ve had an Oculus Rift DK2 set up in our showroom for about a year now

on a high spec gaming PC and it’s fair to say that people are completely wowed when they try it. However, I think its long-term sales potential will depend on the quality of the games, not just the novelty of the immersive experience. We will certainly try to get some pre-orders in place and there should be some good PC upgrade opportunities to meet the recommended specifications.”

CHRIS INNES,MD, MicroPlus

”While the price tag is more than was originally projected, it is an incredible

amount of technology for the money. We have placed our pre-orders, but the units we have will be for demo and research purposes. I would suggest retailers look at the surrounding eco-system of PC upgrades and accessories for revenue streams.”

CRAIG HUMEDirector, Utopia Computers

ady for the mainstream?

TECH DISTRIBUTORS are beginning to investigate the much talked about Internet of Things (IoT) sector.

Last year analyst Gartner said that IoT – the idea that most physical objects and devices will be connected online – will be more disruptive to retailers than anything else seen to date, while Cisco has predicted it will generate $19 trillion over the next decade.

But while it’s not yet clear how traditional IT and PC sellers can make money from this interesting space, disties are working towards finding an answer.

Andy Dow, group marketing director for Tech Data/Azlan, said: “The Internet of Everything (IoE) is being hailed as the next big trend in IT and the numbers are impressive. Yet for resellers, systems integrators and retailers, it’s not at all clear today how money can be

made from IoE. More devices may be connected, but according to Cisco only seven per cent of companies are ready for the IoE, so there is a massive gap to be filled and exploited in this market.”

Both TD Azlan and Arrow Electronics have announced their own IoT-focused events.

Azlan, the value enterprise division of Tech Data, is to host a joint event with Cisco in early February, highlighting the business potential of the Internet of Everything (IoE) for resellers.

Arrow, meanwhile, has announced that it is participating in the NXP

Smarter World Tour, following its own ‘IoT in Focus’ seminar series, which ran in eight countries across Europe.

Andrew Bickley, Arrow’s technology marketing director for EMEA, commented: “The NXP Smarter World Tour is a fantastic way to bring demonstrations of IoT enabling technologies directly to engineers. Through it, we can show exactly how NXP and Arrow can help accelerate the development and adoption of IoT solutions and services.”

This year’s DISTREE EMEA trade event will also have a strong focus on the smart home, with event director Alexandra Sinson saying the channel will play ‘a pivotal role in determining the speed of consumer adoption and purchasing’. See page 25 for a closer look at what to expect from DISTREE EMEA 2016 in February.

Is 2016 the year of IoT?Distributors finally start to embrace the Internet of Things and explore how resellers can generate revenues…

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ANALYSIS

Big names in tech support PCR Awards 2016THE PCR Awards are back with a brand new circus theme and a revised judging process – and a number of big brands and tech firms are already on board to support it.

Taking place on Thursday March 10th 2016 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, the PCR Awards will recognise the UK PC industry’s finest and provide an unmissable evening of networking.

Distributor Entatech has signed up once again as Headline Partner for the event. Dave Stevinson, managing director at Entatech, said: “The PCR Awards have become a key part of the social calendar for the channel. Entatech is proud to be the Headline Partner for the fifth year.”

Other confirmed partners for the 2016 PCR Awards include Exertis as After-Show Party Host, Frontline Category Partner BullGuard, Photobooth Partner Hannspree, Gold Partners AOC, Centerprise, Intel and Symantec, Qsan and Nvidia as Event Partners, M2M as Entertainment Partner, Acer as Drinks Reception Partner, and CompTIA as Vendor Category Partner.www.pcr-awards.com

“There is a massive gap to be exploited in this market.”

Andy Dow,Tech Data/Azlan



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STATS


Number

crunching A round-up of the most important stats and facts in the tech channel…

15%

AOC and Philips have increased their combined

share of the desktop monitor market in Europe

to almost 15 per cent. (AOC/MMD)

Crucial’s parent company Micron posted net income of $206 million for its first

fiscal quarter of 2016. (Micron)

$206m

Widget says it’s the fastest-growing UK tech distributor of 2015, after posting year-on-year sales

growth of 132 per cent in its latest annual report. (Widget)

Lenovo claims its new YOGA 900S is the world’s thinnest convertible laptop, measuring 12.8mm thick.

(Lenovo)

200m The number of awards up for grabs at the 2016 PCR Awards, which takes place on Thursday March 10th.

(PCR)

There are more than 200 million monthly active devices running Windows 10 across the globe.

(Microsoft)

The public cloud share of storage capacity deployed for big data in EMEA is set to rise from

25 per cent in 2015 to 55 per cent by 2019. (IDC)

132%

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RECRUITMENT & EVENTS


Security vendorsin senior reshuffle

EVENTSThe UK’s channel calendar is full of important events. Here are some highlights for upcoming dates…

TERRA UK WORKSHOP TOURFebruary 2nd – 4thVARIOUS LOCATIONS, UKPC vendor TERRA UK will be holding half-day workshops in February. It will be showing off its latest server and storage product ranges and giving customers reasons to use TERRA. The event locations are as follows: Leeds/Bradford (Feb 2nd), Holiday Inn Bromsgrove (Feb 3rd), London Heathrow (Feb 4th).

DISTREE EMEAFEBRUARY 24TH - 27TH 2016GRIMALDI FORUM, MONACODISTREE EMEA brings together more than 1,000 delegates representing the leading etailers, retailers and distributors from across 60 countries in Europe. It also attracts various manufacturers of ICT and consumer electronics products, to do business in one place at one time. See page 25 for more information.

PCR AWARDS 2016 MARCH 10TH ROYAL GARDEN HOTEL, KENSINGTON, LONDONWith a mix of networking, partying and recognition of achievements in the UK PC and tech industry, attendees will also receive an evening dinner, as well as refreshments on the night. Disties, vendors, retailers and channel services fi rms will be recognised in our circus-themed awards ceremony, new for 2016.

GADGET SHOW LIVEMarch 31st – April 3rdNEC, BIRMINGHAMThe Gadget Show Live returns to Birmingham’s NEC this Easter. With 75,000 tech fans expected to fl ood through its doors, this year’s technology show for consumers features four new areas: Better Life, Power Up, The Lab and The Arcade. Parts of the show will be aired on Channel Five.

BULLGUARD: The internet and mobile security specialist has appointed industry veteran PAUL LIPMAN as CEO.

Most recently, Lipman was CEO at iSheriff, and prior to that, CEO of Total Defense. He also led Webroot’s global consumer business for three years. He aims to accelerate the success that BullGuard has had to date, through investment in new opportunities. Lipman

replaces previous BullGuard CEO NEDKO IVANOV, who departed the business last year to head up audio and tactile feedback firm Redux.

TIM REA, chairman of BullGuard and director of ePlanet Capital, said: “We are delighted to have Paul on board. He has unrivalled experience and an extremely successful record of accomplishment in the security industry.”

KASPERSKY LAB: The security software vendor has hired DAVID MOLE as its new head of UK and Ireland retail sales.

Mole has worked at games publisher EA for more than ten years, and most recently held the position of head of sales for the UK and Ireland at the firm.

Mole replaces LEE SHARROCKS, who has worked at Kaspersky Lab for

almost five years, following an eight-year stint at rival company Symantec.

Sharrocks first joined Kaspersky in 2011 as director of retail for the Northern region and has been the consumer sales director for the UK & Ireland since 2012.

Sharrocks remained tight-lipped when asked by PCR about his next job role or whether he will remain in the UK PC industry.

ARGOS: PHIL ELFORD has been named Argos’ new technology trading manager.

He replaces JULIET WARD, who took on the role in early 2014 and has now moved over to become trading manager for video games, white goods, photography and sat nav.

Elford will lead the tech buying team, covering computing (tablets, PCs, e-readers, print and office), as

well as smartphones and smartwatches.

Elford started out as a category buyer for computing peripherals and accessories at Comet back in 2008, before being appointed computing hardware category manager three years later.

He has also worked at Carphone Warehouse, and most recently led the home and utility commercial teams at Argos’ sister firm Homebase.

D-LINK: PAUL ROUTLEDGE has been appointed UK and Ireland country manager at D-Link.

Paul will look to build on the 25 per cent year-on-year growth that he has delivered in the past two years. He has been with the networking vendor for more than five years, working for the European biz dev team before becoming UK and Ireland sales and marketing manager.

Paul has over 20 years experience, having held roles with vendors and disties such as CCI Distribution, Adaptec and Eurologic Systems.

Paul said: “I’m excited to be taking on this challenge and I truly enjoy working closely with the channel. The UK industry is constantly evolving, and it is up to us to meet and exceed the changing needs of our channel partners.”

Paul Routledge has over 20 years of experience

Phil Elford (left) steps up as Juliet Ward (right) moves on

David Mole (left) replaces Lee Sharrocks (right) at Kaspersky

Paul Lipman (left) and former CEO Nedko Ivanov (right)

PCR BOOT CAMP 2016May 18thEMIRATES STADIUM, LONDONThe UK PC industry’s essential conference and expo returns at the world-class Arsenal football stadium. Delegates will benefi t from a morning conference as well as an afternoon exhibition with the latest products and services on show. It’s free for tech retailers, resellers and system builders to attend.

BUILDING the modern data centre is a lot like searching for the perfect partner – but hopefully without all the messy break-ups and awkward meeting of the parents.

There are certain characteristics that you should strive for on behalf of your customers.

OPEN PERSONALITY Systems such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network-Function Virtualisation (NFV) completely change the way that our data is processed and trafficked.

IDC has predicted that the worldwide SDN market for the enterprise and cloud service provider segments alone are forecast to grow from $360 million in 2013 to $4.7 billion by 2016. SDN and NFV decouple network functions and devices such as firewalling, intrusion detection, routers, caching, Domain Name Service (DNS) and others to offer a new way to design, deploy and manage networking services.

If you are able to condense the masses of information and advice available on SDN and NFV, and provide your customers with the best combination of the solutions on the market, they will definitely thank you for it.

BE SPONTANEOUSFlash cache technology brings the most frequently accessed data closer to the server, thereby minimising

data travel from storage to the server and making application performance faster. This is imperative to creating the speedy data centre of your customers’ dreams, and making sure that the data they need every day is at their fingertips the minute they switch on their computer or tablet.

GOOD WITH MONEY As much as you wouldn’t want your other half to run up credit card bills on fancy dinners while you pinch pennies with meal deals, you should look to combine the best technology to optimise performance at the lowest price possible for your customer.

Combined, technologies such as open networking and NFV enable far greater efficiency.

By taking the time to understand your customers’ requirements to design a truly bespoke solution that fits with their future plans, channel partners are more

likely to enter into a long term working relationship.

AIM HIGHWhen entering into any new relationship, it makes sense to take time to think about the steps your customer should take before making their move.

Providing the relevant and key information and advice to your customers ensures that their time and investment pays off, and that in years ahead they will still be in a strong and stable position.

“Providing the relevant and key information to your customers ensures their investment pays off.”

Mark Pearce, Dell

ANY RESELLER planning a commercial Wi-Fi deployment is inevitably faced with a bewildering array of choices, but it is critical that these are addressed to ensure a successful installation. Key questions include: What is the right technology to use? What type, and how many, access points (APs) should be deployed? How should the customer manage the resulting Wi-Fi network?

To help answer these questions, all resellers should undertake a comprehensive site survey at the customer’s premises. Site surveys can take the following three basic forms and we would recommend that at least two of these are carried out prior to any large deployment:

PREDICTIVE SURVEYThis is performed using software tools such as those from Ekahau, in which detailed plans of the deployment site are constructed and then different WLAN configurations simulated to predict the optimal number and location of APs of your chosen brand and model. Although not as accurate as some paid solutions, our free software can assist with getting a basic understanding of layout and coverage.

PRE-DEPLOYMENT SURVEY This is a physical survey performed on-site using one or more test APs, together with hardware or PC-based

software tools, allowing you to test various AP placements and then, by walking through the building with the laptop or tablet, record and map the resulting signal strength at surrounding points. The resulting map correlating signal strength with a detailed plan of the site, is often referred to as a ‘heat map’. Another useful tool at this stage is a spectrum analyzer, which can help to identify potential sources of interference.

POST-DEPLOYMENT/VALIDATION SURVEYThis is a survey performed after full installation of the WLAN, where

actual coverage and signal strength are verified at all necessary locations within the building, typically using the same PC-based software tools as in a pre-deployment survey. This type of survey can also be useful when planning an upgrade to an existing WLAN.

Armed with the above information, the results of a pre-deployment survey, and some of the aforementioned software tools, resellers will be able to predict with a high degree of accuracy how many of any given type of access point will be required and where they should be positioned for maximum coverage. This will help ensure the Wi-Fi network can stand up to the demands of its users and ultimately keep your customers happy.

“All resellers should undertake a comprehensive site survey at the customer’s premises.”

Kevin Drinkall,ZyXEL

Mark Pearce is Dell’s EMEA networking channel director.www.dell.co.uk

Kevin Drinkall is the technical consultant at ZyXEL. www.zyxel.com

Mark Pearce, Dell’s networking EMEA channel director, runs through what you should be offering your customers in the networking space, and explores what the future holds…

ZyXEL’s technical consultant, Kevin Drinkall, takes a look at the common questions resellers have when planning a commercial Wi-Fi deployment and how they can make sure they get it right…

Why datacentres are like partners

OPINION

How to get Wi-Fi right


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THE BIG INTERVIEW


NAS and SAN storage specialist Qsan has been in the UK since 2009, but it’s fair to say it has fl own a little under the radar. Now, having opened its fi rst UK offi ce, with a string of rave reviews and a new NAS

product around the corner, it’s ready to shout much louder about the business. Dominic Sacco sits down with UK, Ireland and Nordic MD David Kao (above right) and technical sales manager Stefan Ferrari (above

left) to fi nd out why resellers should be aware of Qsan and the margins they can expect to make…

‘It’s our timeto compete with

the tier 1s’

THE BIG INTERVIEW


Tell us about Qsan’s background…David Kao: We’ve

always been in storage, but at the very beginning we only made the controller. So before, Qsan was more like an OEM business. We made controllers for tier one and tier two vendors. Then we made our first SAN in 2004. And in 2009 we had our own brand and our own unified storage under the Qsan brand.

So, we helped the tier one and tier two vendors to make products. In Taiwan they know how to make a great product for those vendors, but they don’t really know how to make the branding. That’s why Qsan invited me to join.

What are your ambitions in the UK?David Kao: Qsan has been in the UK since 2009 with its own brand of products. We more than doubled our revenue growth in 2015 year-on-year over 2014 in the UK, and we want to increase our brand awareness and our business here further. Then we have France, Italy, Poland and Russia. The UK and Russia had the most outstanding performance for us in 2015.

Qsan really makes good products. If we can make a good product for a tier one vendor, then why not have our own brand products? We want people to know Qsan and increase our marketing so people understand who we are, why they should choose Qsan and the benefits of Qsan products.

Stefan Ferrari: In reality, we’re more of a displacement – a second option. If people wanted to have things they would get from a tier one but don’t have the money to afford it, brands like ours are positioned perfectly to pick up that business.

Why should resellers consider Qsan over your competitors?Stefan Ferrari: There’s the old adage, ‘nobody gets fired for buying HP’. But more

and more if you look at big businesses, they’re losing money, they’re merging – the market for tier one is becoming smaller and less diversified. Without diversification you don’t have any innovation.

Vendors like us can go and say: “Look, we’ve got a product. It’s reliable and has these features.” If you look at our HA NAS for example, we were first to market with an active-active NAS product. When you’re a vendor like us, you have more freedom. We’re not bound by the minimums they have at the likes of HP, they can only do certain things or have a certain amount of investment. For us, 40 per cent of our entire company is R&D. It’s a huge proportion.

Tell us about your new UK office…Stefan Ferrari: David and I are opening Qsan’s first office outside of Taiwan, because we know that the European market does require that kind of attention. That will open around January 22nd and it should be fully operational by Q2.

David Kao: We want to have local marketing – that’s very important. And we also want to have local RMA and local support. So in the future, customers won’t need to return their proper unit back to Taiwan, they will just need to return it to our UK base. So our RMA centre will be responsible for EMEA countries.

What’s new from Qsan?David Kao: We’re launching a new NAS product based on the Intel Broadwell CPU for SMBs at CeBIT in March.

Stefan Ferrari: This is for SMBs and we’re punching at the high-end. It’s not like the little Synology J Series at the entry-level. There’s no real value in those anymore. The problem is, people are going into stores looking for these products and they’re not there. They’re going to Amazon, Ebuyer and Dabs to go online and buy

them instead. So retailers are starting to change how they model their businesses and the way they get smaller vendors in.

So the market and retail is definitely changing. It’s a good time to get in and that’s one of the reasons we’re launching the new product for SMBs, but also because we would look for retail later on as a different business model.

SAN is more for enterprise customers with virtual environments, but NAS is becoming a term that people generally know now. Three or four years ago, the man on the street wouldn’t have known what it was. People need constantly growing storage – that’s why our products are designed to expand up to 256 drives. They have de-duplication.

People need that future-proofing and expect something to last for a minimum of five years. The market has changed.

Can you tell us a bit about DAS and JBOD and your other solutions? Stefan Ferrari: There’s DAS (direct attached storage) or JBOD (just a bunch of disks). Let’s use our U300 JBOD as an example. It has two SAS ports, you can either connect it to a dual controller NAS or a dual controller SAN (storage area network). Or you can plug it into a Windows Server, Windows Storage Spaces for example, and it will be able to provision the data within that. At which point, it’s literally just a bunch of disks sat in a shelf.

What kind of margins can resellers expect?Stefan Ferrari: RRPs vary. Because we’re very project-driven, we don’t have a standard price. The bottom product, the Qsan 1U Rackmount costs about £800 to £1,000. If you put drives in it, that obviously changes the price. Then it’s upwards of £2,000 for the next one up. Our top-end product is about £9,000 for our 60-bay SAN, which is still reasonable.

The average margin with other vendors is maybe six to eight per cent maximum, with us it’s more like 12. That’s with drives. Without drives it’s maybe 10. On the top-end, margins with Qsan are about 20 per cent.

Tell us how you’re increasing your brand awareness…Stefan Ferrari: For our marketing strategy, we’ve decided on a basic principle: Secure, Optimise and Scale (SOS). Our marketing will have dashes and dots for the morse code. It’s supposed to show that we’re there to rescue.

If you think about our strategy in total, we’ve got the marketing going out with the SOS message, we’re increasing our product portfolio, we’re opening our RMA office in the UK, we’re opening a support office in the UK… all of those things are designed to a) grow the awareness of the brand and b) grow the confidence in the brand.

What’s next for Qsan?David Kao: 2016 is the key time for us to compete with the tier 1s. We’re introducing new form factors.

Stefan Ferrari: At the moment we’re first to market – there’s no one else with a 2U 26-bay 2.5- inch chassis.

2016 isn’t just a launch for a couple of new products. We’re doing a full inventory refresh. Every single product will have a new version. The 2U26 is one thing, then for high density we’ve also got a 4U 75-bay. It will be shelf-driven with three drawers at the back of the unit, which you can unclip and pull out. It’s great if you have a lot of drives, like 60 or 75. In 2016 we’re also launching a new JBOD and SAN.

We’ve got some amazing very well-reviewed products, we just need to get the message right. After that, we’ll be unstoppable.Qsan’s UK distribution partners are CMS Distribution and Origin Storage.

“We’ve got some amazing very well-reviewed products, we just need to get the message right. After that, we’ll be unstoppable.”

Stefan Ferrari, Qsan

“We more than doubled our revenue growth in 2015 year-on-year over 2014 in the UK, and we want to increase our brand awareness and our business here further.”

David Kao, Qsan

24-27 FEBRUARY 2016GRIMALDI FORUM | MONACO

DISTREE-EMEA.COM#DISTREE

MEDIA PARTNER

CONNECTINGEMEA’S CONSUMER

TECH CHANNELS

Distributor Target Components has published its fourth

ShopTalk Retail Price Comparison (RPC) report – and once again its data provides valuable insight into the IT retail industry.

To recap, the RPC is an annual survey of independent bricks and mortar IT retail businesses across the UK and Ireland – 171 stores took part in 2015, up 47 per cent over 2014.

Its purpose, according to Target, is to improve the sustainability of the independent IT retail sector, ultimately by helping businesses set prices fairly.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell: participants provide their typical in-store prices and sales satisfaction across a range of products and services. Separately, the lowest online prices from select multiples, such as PC World, are included.

The resulting report combines all that data.

Pricing variances with other participants are used to structure the report, while comparisons with multiples are also presented for context.

As you would expect, the RPC is a weighty tome, so we’re going to break the 2015 results down into bitesized summaries of the key findings for you…

INDIES CONTINUE TO OFFER BETTER VALUE (FOR NOW)IMAGE – Table 3.1 from reportThe big ‘take home’ from the latest RPC is that while independent retailers continue to offer better value than multiples, their advantage is reducing – it was just two per cent in 2015, compared to nine per cent in 2014.

CAN’T GET NO SATISFACTION?According to the RPC, average sales satisfaction from indie retailers dipped by 2.15 per cent compared to 2014 levels, but remained higher than reported in both 2013 and 2012.

However, the proportion of products on which indies

HOW DID THE INDIE IT RETAILSECTOR STACK UP IN 2015?

ANALYSIS

Table: Basket Comparisons

Product matches

Multiples basket £

Indie basket £

Multiple-Indie £

Multiple-Indie %

PC World 52 £1,931.82 £1,982.68 (£50.86) (3%)

Argos 38 £1,219.12 £1,304.83 (£85.71) (7%)

Staples 30 £1,218.45 £958.51 £259.94 21%

Tesco direct 46 £1,602.61 £1,649.21 (£46.60) (3%)

Maplin 42 £1,657.61 £1,553.56 £104.05 6%

£7,629.61 £7,448.79 £180.82 2%

“The average range stocked by indie retailers has broadened in three years – from 40 products to 47.”


The results of the ShopTalk Retail Price Comparison 2015 are in, with mixed news for indie IT retailers…

IMAGE - Table 3.1 from report

PRICE COMPARISON VERSUS MAJOR RETAILERS

ANALYSIS

rated sales satisfaction as “ok or better” rose for the third successive year to 78 per cent. The report concludes that this is because indie retailers have enjoyed increasing sales over the last three years.

PRICE ELASTIC, NOT FANTASTICThe RPC indicates that independent retailers are still getting their pricing wrong, with two thirds under-pricing by 15 per cent on average, compared to the free market. The thinking is that indies use lower prices in order to better compete, but the reality is that low pricing actually fails to improve sales.

Put simply, the data indicates that consumers choose indies because of their expertise and trustworthiness – and are prepared to pay. By setting prices low, indie retailers are unnecessarily devaluing their position in the market.

For example, the RPC data suggests indie retailers selling at the highest prices are charging a significant premium, yet achieving a higher level of sales

satisfaction than those who discount heavily.

The results contradict conventional thinking regarding price elasticity for the second successive year, i.e. higher sales at higher prices, with clear ‘negative elasticity’ evident.

MORE IS DEFINITELY BETTERIMAGE – Table 6.1 from surveyThe average range stocked by indie retailers has broadened – from 40 products in 2012 to 47 in 2015.

In fact, in 2015 indies continued to offer a wider range than multiples generally. Although PC World consistently offered more (with 52 product types), half of indie participants offered as wide or a wider range than the giant. This is a significant shift from 2013, when only 25 per cent of indies offered a broader range than PC World.

KEY CONCLUSIONS, SWIFT ACTIONSThe RPC is quite clear on what the action points from the survey should be for indies: increased marketing and price

optimisation. Clearly there is a paradox between survey results that show indies are better priced than multiples and the consumer perception that they are not.

Target Components says that although not borne out directly by the survey results, discussions with its customers point to a disconnect when it comes to marketing.

Multiples operate sophisticated sales and marketing strategies in concert with complex pricing structures. Conversely, independent IT specialists are niche businesses often run by computer enthusiasts with little or no marketing experience. The result is little if any apparent competition in the eyes of the consumer.

The RPC asserts that consumer perceptions of indie pricing and value will only alter once retailers start to market more visibly and compete assertively using their inherent competitive advantages (expertise, passion, personal service, knowledge, accountability) and price advantages where they have it.

Moreover, the report concludes that the precarious circumstances some indies endure could be, at least partly, self-imposed by their approach to pricing.

As highlighted above, low pricing can depress sales as much as high, sparking a vicious circle of ever decreasing prices failing to materialise in sales, leading to further price reductions.

But there’s still some good news. Counterintuitively, the RPC says the most encouraging result from the data is the narrowing of price advantage discussed above – down to two per cent in 2015 from 12 per cent in 2012. The report says that while this is partly the result of increasingly aggressive price promotions from the multiples, there is good reason to attribute some of this to price increases from indies.

You can download the full ShopTalk Retail Price Comparison 2015 report, with full data, references and appendices, from www.targetcomponents.co.uk.


Table: Product/services matches with scope of survey

2015 2014 2013 2012 Indie average 47 48 45 40

PC World 52 50 52 49

Argos 38 21 26 -

Staples 30 28 26 24

Tesco Direct 46 42 55 48

Maplin 42 42 - -

Comet - - - 27

Asda - 14 21 22

Sainsbury’s - 14 - -

Multiple average 42 30 36 34

IMAGE – Table 6.1 from survey

“Average sales satisfaction from indie retailers dipped by 2.15% compared to 2014 levels, but remained higher than reported in 2013 and 2012.”

NUMBER OF PRODUCT TYPES OFFERED BY RETAILER

Celebratingover

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Northamber is proud to have been supporting resellers & retailers for 35 years

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INTERVIEW

What makes DISTREE different from a traditional

trade show? We bring together

hundreds of consumer tech brands in one place at one time. These range from start-ups to established multinational corporations, but they all have one thing in common: a desire to manage, build or launch their sales through volume channels in the EMEA region.

To help them achieve this, DISTREE EMEA 2016 invites senior executives and buyers from the leading consumer technology distributors, retailers, etailers and online marketplaces to attend the event. Then we give all delegates – vendors and channel partners – access to an online one-on-one meeting scheduler prior to the event.

How is DISTREE EMEA changing?The wider go-to-market ecosystem will be fully represented at DISTREE EMEA. This now includes online marketplaces, logistics and fulfilment specialists, group buying sites and a range of marketing services providers. DISTREE EMEA 2016 will give participating brands a unique opportunity to meet a wide range of companies capable of improving their consumer reach and sales volumes.

What product areas will DISTREE EMEA 2016 focus on?DISTREE EMEA is committed to covering the full range of consumer tech products sold through volume channels. This ranges from core technology categories such as laptops, tablets and smartphones and related

accessories through to new and emerging areas. Fast-growing product categories including wearables, drones, audio and smart home products will be allocated more space within the exhibition area in 2016.

What sort of conference programme takes place at DISTREE EMEA?We have a range of keynotes, workshops, panels and briefings that delegates can register for and build into their personalised agenda.

Event partner GfK will deliver an opening keynote, plus two workshops and a lunch briefing during DISTREE EMEA. In addition, CONTEXT will host the Smart Channels Summit, which will focus on the role of the retail channel in the delivery of smart technologies, solutions and services to consumers. This is a focus area for 2016 as we see a proliferation of

connected devices and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions come to market.

There will also be a special vendor briefing session at DISTREE EMEA where channel experts from each sub-region will provide an update on market conditions in the territories they cover.

What about awards programmes?DISTREE EMEA 2016 will include a series of awards programmes designed to identify rising stars, hot new products, best-in-class brands as well as distributors and retailers that have excelled in the EMEA region during the previous year.

These include the DISTREE Diamond Awards, the Fresh new technology showcase, hosted by Sightline Group, and the ‘60 Seconds to Convince’ awards will give a number of exhibitors the chance to deliver a one-

minute elevator pitch to the entire DISTREE EMEA delegate base, with the winners determined by a live electronic vote. The EMEA Channel Academy: 2016 Awards recognise distributors, retailers and etailers for channel excellence and will take place for the eighth consecutive year in 2016.

Do you see any fundamental changes happening in the channel and are these reflected in the planning of the event each year?The channel is constantly evolving and anyone that does not see that and adapt accordingly will be left behind. That’s why we keep talking about the go-to-market ecosystem. The pace of change is accelerating and companies need to keep their options open and explore all opportunities. This year’s hot new products could be a crowdfunded start-up that is sold through a pan-European online marketplace by a regional distributor. What we’re seeing is that traditional distributors, retailers and etailers need to become more proactive with business planning and managing vendor portfolio.

We also believe that wearables will be big in 2016. We’re seeing disties in Europe such as Tech Data in the UK establishing dedicated teams to address this fast-growing market. DISTREE EMEA will provide the link that allows wearables brands from around the world to meet the channel partners that can order significant volumes and raise their brand awareness. For more information visit distree-emea.com. To apply for a place or for exhibitor enquiries, email [email protected].

The 14th annual DISTREE EMEA channel event takes place in Monaco from February 24th to 27th, providing vendors, retail buyers and distributors with a place to do business, network and explore the latest market trends. PCR asks event director Alexandra Sinson what we can expect from this year’s event…

“The channel is constantly evolving and anyone that does not see that and adapt accordingly will be left behind.”

Alexandra Sinson, DISTREE EMEA


BOOT CAMP 2016

PCR Boot Camp moves into its sixth year with a new venue and its biggest line-up yet.This year’s event will take place at the Emirates Stadium in Londonon Wednesday, May 18th…


PCR BOOT Camp North will take place at the Emirates Stadium in London on Wednesday, May 18th, 2016.

The new venue – in the heart of North London – will offer delegates and expo partners easily-accessible, top-class facilities in what will be Boot Camp’s sixth year.

As usual, the morning will kick off with a conference, which will include a number of talks from industry experts, as

well as panel sessions that will inform, educate and inspire on topics directly relevant to technology dealers.

The afternoon expo will provide a platform for attendees to check out the latest products and services on offer, network with peers and do business with manufacturers, distributors, buying groups and more.For more information, visit www.pcrbootcamp.com

PCR BOOT Camp 2016 has a range of Expo Partner packages available for vendors and distributors looking to engage with the UK’s PC and tech retailers, resellers and system builders. The event offers an unparalleled

opportunity to meet both existing customers and secure new business.To become a Boot Camp Expo Partner, contact Jennie Lane at [email protected] or call her on 020 7354 6000

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PC AND tech retailers, resellers and system builders can now register to attend Boot Camp 2016 completely free of charge. All delegates will get the chance to learn during the conference session, then meet new and existing distributor and vendor partners during the afternoon expo. It is, quite simply, unmissable.To register, visitwww.pcrbootcamp.com

AS USUAL, Boot Camp 2016 will kick of with a full conference programme on the morning of the event, featuring a mix of keynote speakers and panel sessions addressing the most important issues in the industry

today. Delegates will have the opportunity to learn from some of tech retail’s largest companies and its top executives in the plush and relaxing environment of the Emirates Stadium.

THE EXPO is at the heart of all Boot Camp events and this year is no different. The Emirates Stadium provides the ideal environment for dealers

and manufactures to do business, with plenty of space for product demonstrations and meeting rooms for more discreet discussions.

REGISTER TO ATTEND AS DEALER FOR FREE

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‘The tech trade will be even more diverse in the future’

INTERVIEW

RETAIL AND trade marketing, events, social media, product launches, merchandising,

eSports sponsorships… calling Rachel Gordon’s job role diverse would be a bit of an understatement.

As European marketing manager for gaming brand Mad Catz, her daily tasks vary massively (see ‘Cool for Catz’). Her success in this role convinced our judges to award her with the 2015 PCR Women of the Year Marketing and PR accolade last October.

“Although it’s a cliché, even to have been nominated in this category was truly an honour – there were some notably talented characters that in my opinion were as worthy if not more than myself,” Rachel tells PCR. “However, the panel spoke and I am incredibly humbled still to have been recognised.

“The event was a great celebration for anyone in the industry regardless of whether female or not. I was in

great company and enjoyed networking with some fabulous ladies as well as catching up with a few peers and ex-colleagues.

“Although there’s a feeling of slight paradox in the fact that we actually choose to attend an event that seemingly singles us out for our gender, it was very apparent that the event wasn’t necessarily to put a spotlight on the fact that we were women in a male-orientated industry, but rather to celebrate and pay tribute to a select group for their hard work, tenacity and conviction which can’t be seen as a bad thing from any perspective.”

It isn’t just Rachel’s job role that’s diverse. Women in tech and workplace equality has generated a lot of headlines over the past 12 months, with

firms like Microsoft, Intel and Apple pushing new diversity initiatives. What are her views on this area?

“Women in technology will always be a topic for discussion regardless of whether the gender gap levels out,” she says. “It’s really positive that these global brands are on board and recognising the need to make the industry a more inviting and less intimidating place for young women, as well as other under-represented minorities.

“I also believe that the natural shift that’s occurring towards technology and tech-based professions will create organic growth and result in a more diverse environment. There is already a difference in the way tech is taught and received in schools – it’s a much more gender-neutral environment.

“Technology is becoming more and more mainstream and necessary. This means that certain topics such as IT, which may traditionally have been

perceived as ‘geeky’, are now relevant life skills for anyone. This, coupled with a broader spectrum of job roles within the industry, can only mean a more diverse and equal future.”

So what advice would she give to girls and other young people looking to get into the tech industry?

“To always stay determined and focused,” Rachel explains. “Although it’s true that it is still very much a male-orientated industry, there is room for anyone that can demonstrate the correct skill set and ability. Like in any walk of life, you will encounter elements of discrimination and inequality, however, it’s also an incredibly diverse and rewarding industry with an amazing amount of talented and accomplished individuals.”

After cutting her teeth in the PC industry almost 20 years ago, Rachel Gordon now holds an incredibly varied role as Mad Catz’ European marketing manager. Dominic Sacco asks her about winning the 2015 PCR Women of the Year Marketing and PR award, working life in the UK tech channel and how the trade is embracing greater equality…

Headline Partner Event Partner Event Partner Event Partner

“Certain topics that have traditionally been perceived as ‘geeky’ are now relevant life skills.”

Rachel Gordon, Mad Catz


IN HER own words, Rachel Gordon reflects on her career: “I cut my teeth in the PC tech arena almost 20 years ago. I began working for Microwarehouse – a prominent VAR/reseller – as a stopgap post-university job. The focus was on 56k modems, SCSII and parallel printer cables. And ISDN was a groundbreaking phenomena!

“My next role was with Belkin in Northamptonshire, where I worked for seven years, managing all channel marketing aspects for the retail team. This was my introduction into a more B2C environment. At Belkin we helped launch 802.11b /n protocols into mainstream retail and etail.

“Following a couple of maternity stints, I was keen for a change and the gaming industry was growing rapidly. I’ve been a casual gamer ever since I was a student, where ‘study periods’ was code for a Mario Kart tournament or Time Crisis marathon!

“I have been at Mad Catz now for six years and my role has evolved greatly. I intend to increase our portfolio of influencers – this is an aspect of my job that is increasingly relevant due to the emergence of social media personalities, both within the gaming and eSports arenas, and outside them. I’m looking forward to embracing the challenges that 2016 may bring.”

COOL FOR CATZ: RACHEL’S CAREER SO FAR

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Airedale Computers

RETAILER OF THE MONTH

Tell us how Airedale works – are you a charity?We are part of a registered charity. Airedale Computers was originally set up to get six long-term unemployed people off of the dole. We did it so successfully and made a profit doing it. We took in some old PCs and trained staff to refurbish them. We sold them straight away. We now have three retail shops and the recycling centre.

I volunteered at Airedale for six months, we made so much money, the charity picked up my wage and I continued. I’m also the chairman of the regional electronics initiative, which is aimed at getting people back into work.

Do you still give unemployed people jobs?

Yes. We take work experience placements from local schools, we do traineeships for school leavers, we do apprenticeships, we do volunteer places for the local colleges and people who want to learn. And then other unemployed people are sent from the job centres to help in our recycling centre. The Department for Work and Pensions send us the long-term unemployed, who work with us for 26 weeks. We pay our full-time employees.

Tell us about therecycling centre…It’s in the same building as Airedale’s main shop. We have a warehouse manager there, plus a driver who goes out doing the collections. That’s where

we have the unemployed. They break down the old equipment that we can’t re-use in the shops and we get good money for the scrap value. So it’s about providing

work for the long-term unemployed as training to get them back into the work routine.

What charity are youpart of?We’re the trading arm of a charity called the Chrysalis Youth & Community Project. They run a place called The Hut, one of the Myplace projects. It’s a £5 million two-storey building. It’s a sports and community facility open to the general public.

How do you strike that balance between helping people and staying sustainable commercially?We don’t make a fortune recycling – it only pays for running the place. But it’s an ethical thing, that we can break down and recycle the stuff, rather than it going to landfill. Along the way, we give away lots of computers to good causes.

Who do you give PCs to?Other charities and local good causes, such as The Sea Cadets, The Army Cadets, youth club associations, Scouts, Cubs, that sort of thing. We just gave ten PCs to a school that’s started a community magazine.

Do you think more businesses should give back to the community?I was shortlisted for Gordon Brown’s social enterprise ambassadors, and I’ll give you the same quote I gave them: “Capitalism was good for this country. It built it up but it’s had its day. Now is the turn for social enterprise.”

It’s growing daily – there are more social enterprises doing the things that the Government used to.

Established: January 2002

Number of outlets: Three stores and a recycling facility

Number of staff: 11

Contact name and address:Keith Sorrell, The Active Centre, Stansfield Road, Castleford, WF10 3AS

Telephone: 01977 736283

Email:[email protected]

Website:www.airedalecomputers.org.uk

FACT FILE

“We break down and recycle stuff rather than it going to landfill. We also give away lots of PCs to good causes.”

Keith Sorrell, Airedale Computers

Far from your typical tech store, Airedale refurbishes PCs, recycles broken equipment and gives its profits – as well as some of its computers – to charity. It also helps the unemployed get back into work. Dominic Sacco asks Airedale’s development manager Keith Sorrell how it has become an award-winning firm with a turnover of almost £500,000…

NETWORKING SPECIAL


What started out as a collection of computers sending commands to one another, has evolved into a computing sector market. Here, Laura Barnes looks back on some of the most important events in computer networking over the years,

A brief history of com

George Stibitz, who is internationally recognised as one of the fathers of the first modern digital computer, uses a teletype (an electromechanical typewriter that can be used to send and receive typed messages) to send commands to the Complex Number Computer in New York over telegraph lines. It was the first computing machine ever used remotely.

Access to the ARPANET is expanded in 1981. In 1982, the internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) is introduced as the standard networking protocol on the ARPANET. In the early 1980s the NSF funds the establishment for national supercomputing centers at several universities, and provides interconnectivity in 1986 with the NSFNET project, which also created network access to the supercomputer sites in the United States from research and education organisations. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) begin to emerge in the late 1980s.

American Airlines calls on IBM to implement the SABRE reservation system and online transaction processing is born. Using telephone lines, SABRE links 2,000 terminals in 65 cities to a pair of IBM 7090 computers and is able to deliver data on any flight in less than three seconds. Before the introduction of SABRE, the American Airlines’ system for booking flights was entirely manual. It consisted of a team of eight operators who sorted through a rotating file with cards for every flight.

Nelson Qiao, TP-LINK UK: “Wireless, the cloud and web services like Netflix and Skype have transformed home entertainment, communication and the way we work. This has in turn

changed consumer expectations. “Whether you are at work or at home a high

speed, reliable and secure network is essential. As a result, consumers are embracing networking, whether it is a range extender to make sure they have wall-to-wall wireless – or people embracing the additional features that come with a premium router.”

Paul Routledge, D-Link: “Despite being in the early adopter phase, smart home technology has been embraced by a number of major global players due to the significant

anticipated growth, with the capabilities of this technology currently only scratching the surface.

“In the channel, we’re seeing technology finding increasing shelf space in, for example, grocers and DIY stores, as well as traditional transactional resellers transforming into managed service providers, both of which present greater opportunity to share combined knowledge and best practice to the benefit of our customer.”

Steven Tseng, ASUS: “For home networking, wireless has gradually replaced wired connections over years due to the popularity of mobile devices. Wireless coverage and speed

have become important topics for end users. “Not only have routers changed from wired

routers to wireless routers, but also repeaters and powerline devices that can enhance the signal coverage have become mainstream products. Wireless speed has increased significantly from 54 Mbps in 2004 to more than 2Gbps in 2015.”

In the UK, on March 31st 2000, Telewest launches home ADSL – asymmetric digital subscriber line. Goldsmith Road in Gillingham, Kent, is the first street to receive the technology. In 2002, there were fewer than 200,000 broadband users, but just four years later, there were around 13 million.

1940 1980s

1964

How has the industry changed over the years?

2000s

Image courtesy of Computer History Museum

NETWORKING SPECIAL


covering areas such as Network Attached Storage, Wi-Fi, the cloud and the burgeoning Internet of Things and fi nds out from the experts what the future of this sector is set to look like over the coming years…

puter networking

NOW WE know how the market has evolved, what’s in store for the networking sector in the future?

TP-LINK UK country manager Nelson Qiao believes the demand for wireless is only going to continue to grow as smart home tech becomes more mainstream.

“More people have more connected devices and refuse to wait for downloads. The need for speed is opening up new wireless frequencies and encouraging manufacturers to develop more feature-rich products that are designed to be easy to set up and manage,” he tells PCR.

Paul Routledge, country manager for D-Link UK&I, agrees: “Smart home is certainly one of the most exciting new categories to emerge in recent years, and I’m delighted that D-Link is at the forefront of forging this market.”

Steven Tseng, territory product manager for ASUS’ networking & wireless devices business, believes that the trusty router will become the central hub of all smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

“The capabilities of routers will expand to allow more devices to connect to them, and IoT standards such as BLE and Zigbee will be implemented in router hardware too,” he says.

On the subject of IoT, Satyen Aggarwall, networking product manager at Northamber, cites

this area of the industry as having ‘serious growth implications for networking moving forward’.

“The cloud has also galvanized a revolution in the way in which networking is being viewed with

the advent of software defined networking, which essentially gives more programmability over your network traffic, giving the power back to your IT department to create a bespoke networking template,” says Aggarwall. “Over the next 10 years, the more traditional forms of networking will start to move over to this new technology.”

Qsan’s technical sales manager for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, Stefan Ferrari, also notes the future potential of hard disk array NAS solutions: “By 2020, digital data bits stored throughout the world will rival the number of stars in the universe. Our ‘digital universe’ is doubling in size every two years, so it’s important that data can be captured, analysed, and archived – anytime and anywhere. Network Attached Storage (NAS) is the ideal solution for this unstructured data.

“A recent report from Toshiba shows that spinning disks will keep growing with a potential to reach 20TB to 40TB by the end of the decade thanks to new technologies such as SMR (shingled magnetic recording). Therefore hard drives are here to stay for a long time,” he comments.

Box launches an online file sharing and personal cloud content management service for businesses. By 2006 Amazon Web Services introduces its cloud storage service and gains widespread recognition as the storage supplier to emerging services such as Dropbox and Pinterest.

Fiber-optic broadband and new DOCSIS standards make broadband speeds easily reach 100Mbps. This in turn means end users need better routers to match the broadband speed.

The new Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac launches, offering faster speed (over 2Gbps) compared to 450Mbps of the previous 802.11n standard. Along with this comes better signal coverage. 802.11ac was ratified in 2014.

2005 2011

“The need for speed is opening up new wireless frequencies and encouraging vendors to develop feature-rich products easy to set up and manage.”

Nelson Qiao, TP-LINK

2014

2016 and beyond

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SECTOR GUIDE

From routers to NAS drives, Wi-Fi adaptors and switches to on-premise servers, there’s a host of devices for businesses and consumers to store data and work smart. PCR features some of the newest products in our special networking sector guide…

Networking

InfiniBox, high performance enterprise storage, eliminates performance, availability and scalability issues to accelerate critical business applications. Vendor INFINIDAT says it delivers a fast and easy-to-deploy storage system.

Specs: 2PB useable capacity per rack, 8KW max power consumption.

SRP: TBC

INFINIBOX

Distributor: M2M Direct

This multi award-winning range of storage servers is ideal for any business that requires scalable enterprise storage. These servers have powered the world’s largest organisations for over 24 years.

Specs: Varies.

SRP: £858.53 to £3,606.78

CYBERSTORE SERVERS

Distributor: Broadberry

Built with gaming, streaming and mobile devices in mind, this next generation gigabit Wi-Fi router has a 1GHz dual core processor and delivers the fastest Wi-Fi currently available.

Specs: 28.5cm x 18.4cm x 5 cm, 1,000MHz processor speed, 256MB RAM size.

SRP: ££230

NETGEAR NIGHTHAWK WI-FI ROUTER

Distributor: Entatech

TrioNAS consolidates NAS and IP-based iSCSI SAN in one box. Unified storage can help consolidate your IT infrastructure and reduce hardware expenses.

Specs: 3U 16bays, 4U 24bays, Intel Xeon E3 quad cores or Core i3 dual cores.

SRP: TBC

QSAN U300-P10-C316

Distributors: CMS Distribution, Origin Storage

With the Netgear ReadyNAS 2120 4-Bay Diskless NAS Storage, users have an advanced and easy-to use solution for centralising, securing and controlling access to their digital assets.

Specs: AES 256-bit volume based encryption, X-RAID2, Single Disk, JBOD.

SRP: £490

NETGEAR READYNAS STORAGE


The ZyXEL NAS520 2-Bay Personal Cloud Storage sits on the network to provide the storage and easy access of documents and media without risking the security vulnerabilities of a public cloud.

Specs: USB 3.0, SDXC memory card slot, two Ethernet ports, up to 106 MB/sec read and above 85 MB/sec write speeds.

SRP: £109.99

ZYXEL NAS520 2-BAY PERSONAL STORAGE

Distributors: TechData, Exertis, Ingram Micro

The Intellinet Network Solutions High-Power Ceiling Mount Wireless 300N PoE Access Point is the latest in wireless networking. It serves as an access point for your wireless network supporting multiple SSIDs and tagged VLANs.

Specs: Up to 300 Mbps wireless speed, WEP and WPA/WPA2 (TKIP and AES), 160 x 127 x 35mm.

SRP: £83.99

INTELLINET CEILING ACCESS POINT

Distributor: Meroncourt

The WL-700N-XSX is an ultra-compact ‘Nano’ sized full 300Mbps Wi-Fi compatible device using 2T2R transmit technology and full backward 802.11n 150Mbps performance, plus older 802.11g legacy devices if necessary.

Specs: Up to 300Mbps wireless speed, 802.11n 2T2R standard, USB2.0 Interface.

SRP: £10.99

DYNAMODE NANO WIRELESS USB ADAPTER

Distributor: Meroncourt


SECTOR GUIDE


The powerful ProSAFE XS728T is the industry’s first and only 28-port 10-Gigabit Smart Managed Switch purposely designed for small to mid-sized organisations. The XS728T delivers unprecedented 10-Gigabit bandwidth at an affordable cost and is backed by the industry-leading NETGEAR lifetime hardware warranty and customer support coverage.

Specs: 28 ports, 10-Gigabit bandwidth, lifetime warranty.

SRP: £3,030.57

NETGEAR PROSAFE SMART MANAGED SWITCH

Distributors: Entatech, Exertis, Ingram Micro, Tech Data

The Seagate WSS NAS 4-bay network storage solution offers native cloud integration and connectivity to the Microsoft ecosystem. For small businesses and home offices with up to 50 users and devices, the WSS NAS runs Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials. The WSS NAS 4-bay simplifies the setup experience with an intuitive management interface.

Specs: Up to 50 users and devices, runs Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials.

SRP: £452.41 (4-bay), £311.04 (2-bay)

SEAGATE NAS DESKTOP SERVER

Distributor: Beta Distribution

The Samsung Access Point Controller WEC8500 is a high-performance WLAN controller, able to simultaneously manage up to 500 access points. The WEC8500 comprises of innovative architecture that guarantees speedy network connection and minimal downtime. The controller has two 10G and eight 1G ports.

Specs: Network Interface 2 10 GE, 8 GE, 1 Console.

SRP: TBC

SAMSUNG ACCESS POINT CONTROLLER

Contact: Samsung

Designed specifically for outdoor use, this waterproof and dustproof WEA453e device is the first outdoor AP equipped with wireless LAN security features. It provides full protection against WLAN intrusion, detecting an attack within 10 seconds and disabling it within 30 seconds with its embedded WIPS functionality.

Specs: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz.

SRP: TBC

SAMSUNG 11AC OUTDOOR ACCESS POINT

Contact: Samsung

The Archer VR900 AC1900 Wireless Gigabit VDSL/ADSL router features superfast broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps and supports VDSL2, as well as backward compatibility with ADSL2+/ADSL2/ADSL. The modem router exploits the full potential of VDSL broadband connections to deliver Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1900Mbps.

Specs: VDSL2/ADSL2+/ADSL2/ADSL standard, 600Mbps on 2.4GHz and 1300Mbps on 5GHz.

SRP: £139.99

TP-LINK ARCHER VR900 MODEM ROUTER

Distributors: Spire Technology, Entatech, Exertis, Tech Data, CMS Distribution

The Touch P5 AC1900 Touch Screen Wi-Fi Gigabit Router aims to be a router that’s as easy to use as a smartphone. Its responsive touchscreen revolutionises the way you set up and interact with your network. Just tap, swipe, and connect to use.

Specs: AC1900 Speed, 1GHz Dual-Core Processor, three dual band antennas (up to 10,000 sq ft of Wi-Fi coverage).

SRP: £139.99

TP-LINK TOUCH P5 TOUCH SCREEN ROUTER

Distributors: Spire Technology, Entatech, Exertis, Tech Data, CMS Distribution

Buffalo’s TeraStation is a business NAS available in TS1200D 2TB (2-bay) and TS3400D 4TB (4-bay) versions. It’s ideal for small businesses, branch offices and demanding home users looking for a feature-rich and economical Network Attached Storage solution.

Specs: Marvell Armada Dual Issue CPU processor with 512MB of DDR3 RAM (2-bay), or 1GB of DDR3 RAM (4-bay).

SRP: Varies (2-bay), £395 (4-bay – CMS)

BUFFALO TERASTATION

Distributors: CMS Distribution, Spire Technology

The EX2100 is the perfect NAS solution if you’re a creative hobbyist, creative professional or have an impressive media collection, so says WD. With My Cloud Expert Series NAS, you can easily centralise and protect your valuable content from all the PC and Mac computers on your network. Plus, users can access it anytime using tablets and smartphones.

Specs: Available up to 12TB in storage size.

SRP: £200 to £600 (depending on storage size)

WD EX2100

Distributors: Exertis, Ingram Micro, Tech Data UK

SECTOR GUIDE

Buffalo Technology’s LinkStation 210D and LS220D series makes sure you have all your data in a central place and can access it from anywhere in the world. The LS210 (1-bay) combines the convenience and capacity of NAS with a simple user interface and super-quiet fan-less operation. The LS220D (2-bay) is affordable, fast, and primed for intensive data storage tasks.

Specs: SATA 3 Gb/s, max capacity 4TB (1-bay) and 8TB (2-bay).

SRP: £124.95 (210 model), £172.95 (220 model)

BUFFALO 2TB LINKSTATION NAS DRIVE

Distributor: Spire Technology

This ultra-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi router has a combined dual-band data rate of 3167Mbps for low latency online gaming, smooth 4K streaming and fast file-sharing.

Specs: Wireless Dual Band Cable Router, MIMO, USB 3.0, 2167 MHz max wireless transfer rate, 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency.

SRP: £299.99

ASUS RT-AC88U ROUTER

Distributor: Spire Technology

Qsan’s enterprise class NAS and SAN storage solutions are built from the ground up to be reliable, affordable and uncompromising on performance. Its Q500 SAN is an award winning dual controller, active/active SAN with a range of sizes from 2U up to 4U, with a selection of connections: 1Gb, 10Gb (RJ45 or SFP+), 6Gb SAS, 8Gb fibre or 16Gb fibre. This flexibility means the Q500 can fit into any network.

Specs: 4GB upgradable to 8GB memory per controller, 256 maximum drives supported.

SRP: £3,900 (diskless)

QSAN Q500-P10-D212

Distributors: CMS Distribution, Origin Storage

This kit features two AV500 500Mbps homeplugs that turn your existing electrical wiring into a hard-wired network with no additional drilling or wiring. The kit is simple to use – simply plug into mains sockets, connect Ethernet cables (one to the router, the other to a device) press ‘connect’ and the adapters are automatically detected.

Specs: Up to 500mbps, up to 300m range, 1x10/100Mbps Ethernet port.

SRP: £30

NETIS AV500 POWERLINE ADAPTER KIT

Distributor: Target Components

The Tenda A301 wireless N300 Universal Range Extender is designed to optimise and extend your existing wireless network to the furthest corner of your house. With transmission rates up to 300Mbps, wall-mounted design, smart signal indicator and two external antennas, you can experience faster Wi-Fi over greater distances easily.

Specs: Dimensions 110 x55 x39mm, up to 300Mbps wireless link rate, frequency range 2.412GHz to 2.472GHz.

SRP: £19

TENDA A301 N300 RANGE EXTENDER

Distributor: Target Components

The Fujitsu PRIMERGY TX1310 M1 is the ideal first server for small and medium-sized businesses. With plenty of RAM and Intel Xeon processor support, it offers more than enough performance for all classic server tasks, such as file, print, web or office applications.

Specs: 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 ECC UDIMM Memory, 2TB (2 x 1TB) Non-Hot Plug 3.5-inch SATA Hard Drives.

SRP: £562.74 inc VAT (after Feb cashback), £1,012.74 inc VAT (with Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2)

FUJITSU PRIMERGY TX1310 TOWER SERVER

Distributor: ServersPlus

The AC3200 Ultra Wi-Fi Router is like three wireless routers in one. It has a 2.4GHz wireless band offering speeds up to 600Mbps and two separate 5GHz wireless bands delivering speeds up to 1,300Mbps that all operate at the same time. That means more lag free online gaming, 4K media streaming and Facetime on more devices throughout the home.

Specs: Wi-Fi speeds of up to 600Mbps (2.4GHz) and 1300Mbps (5Ghz), 1GHz Processor, Gigabit Ethernet Ports.

SRP: £215.86 (excluding VAT)

D-LINK AC3200 WIRELESS CLOUD ROUTER

Distributors: Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Exertis, Entatech

The DWR-118 Wireless AC750 Dual-Band Multi-WAN Router allows you to share superfast 4G LTE/3G mobile internet simultaneously to your smartphone, tablet, notebook and desktop computer. With universal 4G LTE/3G USB dongle support from any mobile operator, this router is the ideal solution for setting up an internet connection to share with family and friends when you are on holiday.

Specs: One Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, three fast Ethernet LAN ports, one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port.

SRP: £51.25 (excluding VAT)

D-LINK WIRELESS AC750 ROUTER

Distributors: Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Exertis, Entatech


SECTOR GUIDE

CONTACTBeta Distribution: ........0207 5312828

Broadberry: ................. 020 8997 6000

CMS Distribution: ........01423 704700

Entatech: ..................... 0333 101 1000

Exertis Home: .............. 01279 822 822

Exertis IT: ......................01256 707070

Ingram Micro: .............. 0871 973 3000

Meroncourt: .................01462 680060

M2M Direct: ................. 020 8676 6067

Origin Storage: ........... 0844 288 6868

ServersPlus (Target): ...03333 110066

Spire Technology: ........01202 828444

Target Components:... 01977 739 300

Tech Data: ................... 01256 788 000

VIP Computers: ........... 0871 622 7500

The RT1900AC is the first router launched from Synology and came to market in late 2015. It is a high-speed wireless router designed for homes and office environments, featuring the latest wireless technology.

Specs: Broadcasts both 2.4 and 5 GHz spectrums, combined data transfer speeds of up to 1900 Mbp.

SRP: £111 inc VAT

SYNOLOGY RT1900AC ROUTER

Distributors: Beta Distribution, CMS Distribution, Ingram Micro, Tech Data

The NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender boosts your existing network range and speed, delivering extreme dual band Wi-Fi up to 1900Mbps. The dual core 1GHz processor enables maximum Wi-Fi performance.

Specs: Dual band Wi-Fi up to 1900Mbps, 700mW amplifiers, 1GHz processor.

SRP: £129.99

NETGEAR NIGHTHAWK RANGE EXTENDER

Distributors: Entatech, Exertis, Ingram Micro and Tech Data

The AS1002T is a perfect entry-level 2 bay NAS for creating your own personal cloud. It features ultra-quiet operation and toolless installation. It offers a rich variety of multimedia server applications.

Specs: Read and write speeds over 110MB/s and 96MB/s respectively.

SRP: £144.99

ASUSTOR AS1002T NAS

Distributor: VIP Computers

The AS-204TE’s Intel dual-core processor allows it to raise read and write performance to the max. The AS-204TE provides high capacity storage of up to 32TB and features RAID technology.

Specs: HDMI port, audio jack, 32TB max capacity.

SRP: £337.99

ASUSTOR AS-204TE NAS

Distributor: VIP Computers

ASUS’ RT-AC5300 Tri-band 4x4 Gigabit Wireless Gaming Router boasts Ai Protection Powered by Trend Micro, WTFast game accelerator inside for free, link aggregation, adaptive QoS, ASUS router app support and more.

Specs: 802.11ac, 5334Mbps, 8X capacity Wi-Fi, two 5 GHz data rates up to 4334 Mbps and 2.4 GHz up to 1000Mbps.

SRP: £399.99

ASUS RT-AC5300 GAMING ROUTER

Distributor: Tech Data

For businesses or homes in older buildings wanting to improve their Wi-Fi, the latest AV1200 powerline starter kit from TP- LINK UK ( TL-PA8030P KIT) boasts three gigabit ports and allows data transfers of up to 1200Mbps over 300m.

Specs: Three gigabit ports, data transfers of up to 1200Mbps over 300m.

SRP: £95.99

TP-LINK AV1200 POWERLINE STARTER KIT

Distributors: CMS Distribution, Entatech, Spire Technology, Exertis, Tech Data

The N600 Wireless Gigabit Ceiling Mount Access Point is a convenient and affordable installation for administrators looking to easily manage hundreds of EAPs.

Specs: Captive portal for Wi-Fi guests, rogue point detection.

SRP: £169.99

TP-LINK CEILING MOUNT ACCESS POINT

Distributors: CMS Distribution, Entatech, Spire Technology, Exertis, Tech Data

Get ready to connect anywhere in your house with this simple-to-use WiFi range extender. Increase your range, improve your speed, and reduce interference. Netgear promises the device has no dead zones .

Specs: Up to 750 Mbps speed, 4.8 inches high, 2.9 inches wide and 1.5 inches deep.

SRP: £48.50

NETGEAR AC750 WI-FI RANGE EXTENDER



FOR SPONSORSHIP CALL CONOR TALLON OR LESLEY MCDIARMID ON 020 7354 6000 OR EMAIL [email protected] / [email protected]

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NOW in their 16th successful year, the MCV Awards are the UK’s only computer and video games awards that recognise games publishing, retail, distribution, marketing, PR, events and media – all parts of this industry we love.

Each year these prestigious awards are open to games publishers, retail and distribution, with entries peer-voted and judged by an independent panel of specialists. They are stylishly presented at the ceremony to over 600 of the industry’s leading fi gures to celebrate the achievements of the top games industry professionals and teams.

Firmly established as the unrivalled badge of excellence for the games sector, these prestigious awards were launched to raise standards across the industry by showcasing top class performance and innovation.

Today, with 23 categories recognising the best in the games business, The MCV Awards remains one of the “must attend” events in the games calendar with the great and good of the market descending on London’s new swanky Hilton Bankside Hotel for a memorable evening.

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RecommendedDedicated monthly product coverage

HP INC has teamed up with HTC to deliver a certified virtual reality (VR) ready desktop PC for gamers: the HP ENVY Phoenix.

This new desktop powers Vive, the upcoming VR system from HTC, which boasts photo-sensors on the headset and controllers to track users’ movements within a 3D space.

HP and HTC are resolving graphics card issues to ensure the correct resolution is

assigned and detected in the settings when connected to the Vive headset, and that the graphics driver recognises the headset as a secondary display. HP is also optimising driver performance and the power profile so gamers can get the best performance automatically. It’s all designed to be for gamers who are interested in virtual reality gaming and want an out-of-the-box experience.

With a 2TB hard drive, 128GB SSD and Intel CoreTM i7 K-series processors, as well as an NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti graphics card, the machine is powerful enough to ensure body tracking is done quickly and smoothly. The HP ENVY Phoenix also uses liquid cooling to keep it running quiet and cool, and offers users customisable LED lighting tied to the CPU temperature, so users are

aware how the PC is running – especially when overclocking.

“As virtual reality becomes the next wave of innovation for gaming, customers need a desktop PC configured with quality, performance and computing power to enable the experience,” said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, consumer personal systems at HP Inc. “HP is excited to be working with HTC to be at the

forefront of this new technology to deliver the HP ENVY Phoenix, a purpose built desktop PC to power amazing virtual gaming experiences.”

Dan O’Brien, vice president at HTC, added: “By testing against the most intensive games on the market, HP and HTC are pushing hardware to the limits to enable constant frame rates for smooth and glitch-free virtual gaming experiences.”

HP turns up the heat with HTC

Contact: HP | www.hp.com/go/VR | Price: TBC | Out: February

The HP ENVY Phoenix has a 2TB hard drive, 128GB SSD, Intel CoreTM i7 K-series processors and an NVIDIA GTX 980 Ti GPU

The system is ready to power the upcoming HTC Vive virtual reality headset

The latest tech Editorial planner


RECOMMENDED


Contact: Lenovo | www.lenovo.com | Price: Starting from $1,029 | Out: March

LENOVO MADE a number of product announcements at CES this year, including one for the new ThinkCentre X1 all-in-one computer.

The ThinkCentre X1 AIO offers a superlative design within an ultra-thin 11mm frame, making it one of the world’s thinnest desktops. The premium anti-glare display offers a bright picture from any angle on its 23.8-inch screen and despite the incredibly thin chassis, the ThinkCentre X1 is built tough.

Designed to withstand dust build up, a common cause of hardware failure with desktop PCs, the all-in-one has been tested for eight hours in a dust chamber, replicating ten years in an office environment.

The 7.5mm ultra-slim ThinkVision X1 is also the world’s first monitor to receive the TUV Eye-Comfort certification. Featuring a 27-inch UltraHD edge-to-edge

anti-glare display, the ThinkVision X1 includes rich connectivity options such as a USB type C port, providing the perfect complement to the ThinkPad X1 Tablet.

“Lenovo’s customer-centric engineering focus enables us

to design and build products where end-user needs come first. The new X1 family demonstrates our relentless pursuit of innovation that elevates the products above the norm,” said Johnson Jia, senior vice president, Personal Computing Group, Lenovo.

“Optimising our products with unique features and for greater performance, better cloud access and class-leading security and durability will help customers use technology as their secret weapon.”

Lenovo also unveiled other X1 products – a ThinkPad X1 Tablet, ThinkPad X1 Yoga convertible, ThinkPad X1 Carbon business ultrabook. It also showed off new accessories including a ThinkPad X1 Wireless Touch Mouse, In-Ear Headphones, Sleeve and power adapter.

Lenovo has the X factor

“The X1 family demonstrates our relentless pursuit of innovation that elevates products above the norm.”

Johnson Jia,Lenovo

Contact: SanDisk | www.sandisk.com | Price: TBC | Out: Now

SANDISK CORPORATION has announced availability of the new SanDisk X400 SSD, the world’s thinnest 1TB M.2 solid state drive (SSD).

It is the first single-sided 1TB SATA M.2 form factor with a height of just 1.5mm. The X400 SSD is designed for fast start-up and application launch, as well as for extended battery life.

Consumer research conducted by SanDisk in late 2015 indicates that these benefits are important for more than 70 per cent of consumers when using PCs.

“Consumers have spoken. They want to work faster, with fewer interruptions. Our ultra-slim 1TB M.2 X400 SSD enables our OEM customers to build completely new form factors with outstanding

reliability and the near-instant boot-up and application loading that consumers expect,” said Tarun Loomba, vice president and general manager of client storage solutions at SanDisk. “The X400 SSD is the flexible, highly reliable platform that our customers need to ensure an exceptional user experience for consumers.”

“We have been witnessing a major shift in PC user adoption as more consumers are increasingly choosing ultramobile devices,” added Jeff Janukowicz, research director for solid state drives and enabling technologies at analyst IDC.

“The evolution of flash storage and its form factors has helped this category grow.”

In testing, a 256GB X400 SSD was rated to operate for more than five years with a workload of approximately 40GB per day. This performance makes the X400 SSD an optimal solution for enterprise or other OEM customers who need a highly reliable solution for systems that are broadly deployed in

the field, such as digital signage, networking gear and point of sale, as well as commercial PCs.

The X400 SSD also achieves increased reliability and endurance by implementing SanDisk’s own nCache 2.0 technology and DataGuard technology as well as additional error correction

mechanisms. Based on SanDisk’s sixth generation X3 Technology, the SanDisk X400 SSD uses 90 per cent less power than a traditional hard disk drive.

The SanDisk X400 SSD is currently available in 2.5-inch cased and M.2 2280 form factors at 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities.

World’s thinnest 1TB M.2 SSD “Our ultra-slim SSD lets

OEM customers build new form factors with outstanding reliability.”

Tarun Loomba, SanDisk

RECOMMENDED


Contact: Xplore | www.Xploretech.com | 01926 356 560 | Price: Starting from £1,955

XPLORE’S NEW XSLATE B10 promises customers the industry’s most fully featured and fully rugged tablet PC.

The B10 is an affordable, versatile 10.1-inch HD display Windows tablet designed to withstand the harshest of environments, including exposure to extreme temperatures, dust, salt water, vibrations and of course drops; it’s also ATEX certified out of the box.

With a set of standard features that outclasses similarly priced competition, including eight ports, four sealed from behind, and an IP65 rating, the B10 comes standard with the Intel Core i5 CPU or upgradeable to i7 vPro CPU to provide top speeds to process data. Combining the Intel ‘Broadwell’ class

processor with 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 128GB SSD drive as standard, and up to 20 hours use with the optional hot swappable battery, the B10 delivers plenty of performance for even the most demanding of applications.

Weighing in from just 1.09Kg, this compact and lightweight rugged tablet PC is extremely easy to grip and comfortable to hold in one hand. Although light in weight, the B10 is not light on features. Standard ports include power, two USB, a Micro HDMI, Micro SIM, Micro SD, serial, audio and RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet. Completing the standard feature list are a front-facing 2-megapixel HD camera, rear-facing 8-megapixel camera (with

flash), fingerprint reader, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a GNSS GPS.

The 10-finger capacitive touch ‘View Anywhere’ display supports glove and wet modes for less-than-ideal environments, and also comes standard with a Wacom Digitiser stylus that stores neatly onto the back of the tablet or in the optional handle.

Additional upgrade options also include a 256GB SSD, CAC reader module, 1D/2D

Barcode reader, integrated NFC support, an exclusive HDMI-In (for the telecommunications market) and of course integrated 4G LTE.

As expected from a device designed for line-of-business applications, the B10 is supported by a host of accessories to support the mobile worker, including a keyboard, office and vehicle docking stations, a shoulder strap, a kickstand and battery charging stations.

Xplore the new XSLATE B10

“The B10 is an affordable, versatile 10.1-inch HD display Windows tablet designed to withstand the harshest of environments.”

Contact: Razer | www.razerzone.com/stargazer | Price: 239.99 | Out: Q2 2016

GAMING VENDOR Razer has unveiled the Razer Stargazer desktop webcam at CES 2016, targeting those who stream footage of themselves playing games online. It promises ‘the best video capture quality in a webcam available today’ and simplifies traditional streaming setups.

The Razer Stargazer revolutionises webcam use as the first device of its kind suitable for quality streaming content production. It sets a new benchmark for video capture at 60 frames per second at 720p, a magnitude better than the 30 frames per second limit of common webcams, and it can provide high-definition 1080p video at 30 frames per second. The Razer Stargazer also includes an automatic noise-cancelling

dual-array mic. Powered by the Intel RealSense SR300 camera, the Razer Stargazer for Windows 10 also features Dynamic Background Removal capability, eliminating the need for full-scale green screen setups traditionally used by streamers. The webcam’s Intel RealSense Technology enables the camera to intelligently sense depth to separate foreground from background. This feature works with popular broadcasting software like OBS, XSplit and Razer Cortex: Gamecaster.

The Dynamic Background Removal capability also opens possibilities beyond gaming. Video conferences using Skype with Personify will be able to remove or swap

backgrounds. FaceRig, QQ Video and ooVoo are also supported by the camera. Face and object 3D scanning will work out of the box, and users can accurately port real-life objects into the digital world in full HD.

The Razer Stargazer also offers the most advanced facial and gesture recognition in a consumer camera. Up to 78 points on the face and 22 points on each hand can be tracked by the webcam. With

this sensor advent, users can unlock their computers via Windows Hello’s face security system, launch applications with gestures, and play games that track facial expressions and hand movements.

Game streaming has seen major growth in recent years. A 2015 report by SuperData states that gaming-related streaming content and their studios are worth $3.8 billion worldwide, with more than 480 million viewers tuning in.

Stargazing with Razer

“The Razer Stargazer webcam sets a new benchmark for video capture at 60 frames per second at 720p.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND SOME FANTASTIC PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

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RECOMMENDED


Contact: Samsung | www.samsung.com | Price: TBC | Out: February 2016

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS has revealed the Galaxy TabPro S, a premium Windows 10 tablet computer.

By integrating the most popular features of laptops and tablets, users now have access to full notebook PC functionality in a lightweight tablet for a productive mobile experience.

At 6.3mm thin and weighing only 693 grams, the Galaxy TabPro S is designed to be easily carried around all day. A full-sized keyboard cover, which comes included with the device, also enhances the usability. The keyboard’s flexible hinge enables optimal, dual-angle viewing for the clearest

display in any situation. The Pogo pin on the Galaxy TabPro S keyboard also eliminates the need for pairing or charging separately. The keyboard’s touchpad emulates that of a PC in order to provide easy control, even when used in Stand Mode.

Delivering the first Super AMOLED display for Windows to the market, the Galaxy TabPro S features a multitouch screen and a deeper colour contrast with 94 per cent of natural tones to show true-to-life colours and more precise details. The tablet also boasts a lightweight, power-efficient 12-inch AMOLED display.

It is the first tablet powered by Windows to support LTE Cat 6 for the fastest and most advanced connected experience. With fast charging features, the Galaxy TabPro S’ battery can fully charge in 2.5 hours, and offers up to 10.5 hours of battery life for all day use. It’s powered by the latest generation Intel Core M processor, designed for a fanless 2-in-1 tablet, featuring only 4.5W of power consumption to eliminate

noise disruption and maximise efficiency.

“Galaxy TabPro S balances the best of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab with the wealth of features on the Windows 10 operating system for the most advanced tablet experience on the market,” said Dongjin Ko, president and head of the mobile communications business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re thrilled to be working with Microsoft to deliver a 2-in-1 tablet.”

Samsung’s new Galaxy

“Galaxy TabPro S balances the best of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab with the wealth of features on the Windows 10 OS.”

Dongjin Ko, Samsung

Contact: AOC | www.aoc-europe.com | Price: TBC | Out: TBC

THE NEW AOC C3583FQ 160 Hz gaming monitor has made its debut at CES. It comes with a 35-inch curved panel to frame the player’s field of view, engaging them in the action.

The integrated Adaptive-Sync technology is FreeSync compatible, and together with the 160 Hz refresh rate, will get every gamer’s pulse racing thanks to smooth lag-free images without screen tearing or ghosting effects.

During CES, AOC also showcased the 27-inch I2771FM9 monitor with Quantum Dot technology and vivid image quality, the 28-inch U2879VF combining the 4K UHD resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels with ultra-fast connectivity options, and the I2781FH, which combines an ultra slim premium design with supreme image quality. The latter is available in 27-inch, 23.8-inch, 23-inch and 21.5-inch versions and will arrive in March.

CORSAIR HAS unveiled the Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA mid-tower gaming case. With a striking angular design and an oversized window to show off its roomy interior, the SPEC-

ALPHA offers a sleek look in either black or red to complement its efficient cooling features.

Perfect for a PC gamer’s next rig, the SPEC-ALPHA is equipped with

three 120mm fans for Direct Airflow Path cooling, controlled by a three-speed switch on the case’s front panel.

Featuring native USB 3.0 support and room for up to four SSDs, optimal cooling and airflow (with no bulky 5.25-inch drive cage), the SPEC-ALPHA creates a clear path from the front intake straight to the CPU and GPU. It’s also front 240mm radiator compatible, allowing for additional liquid-cooling upgrades.

The PC case comes in two colour options – black and red.

Corsair also announced the more discreet Corsair Carbide 400Q and Carbide 400C high-performance PC cases at CES.

Cool cases from Corsair

Contact: Corsair | www.corsair.com | Price: $79.99 | Out: March 2016

AOC’s curvy addition

Contact: Dell | www.dell.com | Price: £569 (Latitude 11 5000 Series 2-in-1), £929 (Latitude 12 7000 Series 2-in-1), TBC (Latitude 13 7000 Series Laptop) | Out: February (2-in-1s), March (laptop)

DELL HAS announced updates to its Latitude family of business-class devices, with new notebooks and 2-in-1s.

The entire Latitude 3000, 5000 and 7000 Series has been completely refreshed with thin and light designs, excellent efficiency and powerful processing options. Dell has elevated its commercial line-up by taking design cues from its highly acclaimed XPS line, so commercial customers can enjoy the same sleek form factor and unique materials that deliver light weight and rigidity throughout the product line-up.

With an emphasis on creating beautiful products that people will be proud to carry, the addition of the

Latitude 13 7000 Series Ultrabook, Latitude 12 7000 Series 2-in-1, and Latitude 11 5000 Series 2-in-1 builds on the key pillars that IT demands while offering the high performance needed for today’s fast-paced and demanding work environments.

Products include the Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series Ultrabook, the world’s smallest 13-inch business-class Ultrabook, boasting an InfinityEdge display with ultra-thin bezel around the screen. Built using layers of unidirectional 40 ton carbon fibre, the same materials used in applications like spacecraft and aerospace, the Latitude 13 can endure the rigour of heavy business use while

maintaining an attractive allure (a machined aluminium option is available as well).

Then there’s the Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series 2-in-1, one of the lightest 12.5-inch 2-in-1s available. The keyboard is full-sized, lightweight, well-spaced with backlit chiclet keys for effortless typing, while the premium keyboard connects to the tablet, and features backlit keys and mouse cursor

control with a high precision, gesture touchpad. The 2-in-1 has a slim 8mm screen, hardened Corning Gorilla Glass NBT and magnesium unibody build.

Furthermore, the Dell Latitude 11 5000 Series 2-in-1 is a thin and light 10.8-inch business-class 2-in-1. Starting at 1.56 pounds, the 2-in-1 is a simple, portable device that provides a seamless transition between tablet and laptop.

Dell expands Latitude line-up

“Products include the Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series Ultrabook, the world’s smallest 13-inch business-class Ultrabook.”

RECOMMENDED

ACER HAS lifted the lid on the world’s first Chromebase all-in-one desktop computer with Intel Core processors: the Chromebase 24.

It’s the latest Chrome OS product in Acer’s line-up. According to Gartner, Acer Group is currently the world’s leading Chromebook brand with over 34 per cent market share for the first three quarters of 2015.

The Acer Chromebase 24 (CA24I) features the largest screen of all Chrome OS devices on the market, a 23.8-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with IPS technology, reproducing consistent and accurate colours at up to 178-degree wide viewing angles. VESA mount support

and 10-point multi-touch option allows for even more intuitive and convenient operation, making it an easy fit in any public space such as for use as digital signage or kiosk device.

Intel Core processors provide the Chromebase 24 with outstanding performance, up to 8GB of DDR3L brings a smooth computing experience, and 802.11ac wireless or Gigabit Ethernet enables speedy network connectivity. Optimised for video conferencing, the Chromebase 24 incorporates four digital microphones, and can capture the perfect frame with the chassis that easily tilts from -5 degrees to 30

degrees in addition to the adjustable HD webcam.

The Chromebase 24 will receive automatic updates every six weeks to ensure it always has the latest security

and software installed. All data, whether stored on the Chromebase or in the cloud, is encrypted and protected by its TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 1.2 chip, which

securely generates and stores cryptographic keys. Each time Chrome OS boots up, Verified Boot checks the validity of system files to ensure they have not been tampered with.

Contact: Acer | www.acer.com | Price: TBC | Out: TBC

“The Acer Chromebase 24 features the largest screen of all Chrome OS devices on the market.”

Acer announces Chromebase AIO


RECOMMENDED

Editorial Planner A look at the biggest features coming up in PCR over the next few months...

May 2016 INDIE SPECIAL PCR highlights some of the top independent PC retailers operating in the UK channel. We also preview our latest PCR Boot Camp conference.

In terms of product sector guides, we round up the newest speakers, docks, headphones, memory and smart home products on the market.

Advertising Deadline April 15th

Contact: Cooler Master | eu.coolermaster.com/uk/ | Price: TBC Out: Q1 2016Contact: BenQ | www.benq.com | Price: TBC | Out: Now

THE LATEST display from BenQ, the XL2730Z, was demonstrated at CES.

Billed as ‘the ultimate gaming monitor’, it’s packed with features like a QHD 2560x1440 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms GTG response time, Adaptive Sync and Gaming Refresh-rate Optimisation Management (GROM).

It enables gamers to customise their experience according to viewing preferences to easily adjust refresh rates, display resolutions and screen sizes. In addition, it boasts a number of BenQ’s exclusive technologies: RevolutionEyes, ZeroFlicker, motion blur reduction, low blue light, Black eQualizer and more.

“The result is the most powerful gaming monitor yet, giving gamers the precise control, intuitive setup, and visual comfort to dominate every game,” vendor BenQ said in a statement.During CES, BenQ also presented

ZOWIE eSports/gaming accessories, a new VZ2470 minimalist monitor due out in January, Trevolo speakers, a fresh WiT LED lighting line for e-reading, home entertainment products such as projectors and more.

COOLER MASTER has announced new additions to its Master line of goods, designed to enable enthusiasts and professionals to build their version of the ultimate PC.

The MasterAir Maker 8 (pictured) is the world’s first air cooler to feature Cooler Master’s exclusive 3D Vapor Chamber (3DVC) technology, seamlessly merging the horizontal base with eight heatpipes, helping to improve cooling by 19 per cent compared to conventional copper base coolers. Customers can choose from two bundled top cover designs and adjust the fan size, model or position, allowing memory or graphics card clearance. Users can also 3D print their own top cover designs.

The MasterCase Maker 5 case features an upgraded I/O including 3.0 Type C added fan LED and speed control buttons, magnetic panelling, sound suppression, custom air cooling with space for up to six

140mm fans (plus one LED Silencio fan included), a dual chamber with a partition panel isolating the PSU and cables, and more.

Finally, the MasterWatt Maker 1200 is Cooler Master’s first all aluminium, digital power supply unit with Titanium 94 per cent efficiency. It can be controlled via an exclusive Cooler Master Connect app.

BenQ’s ‘ultimate’gaming monitor

Master Maker

MARCH 2016 PC GAMING SPECIAL As virtual reality continues to increase in popularity, we take a look at how VR is affecting the PC gaming market.

In our March issue we also preview the PCR Awards and round up the latest gaming hardware, components and peripherals.

Advertising Deadline February 5th

APRIL 2016 PCR AWARDS SPECIAL We take a look back on the 2016 PCR Awards evening, publish pictures from the night and provide a recap of all the winners.

We’ll also be exploring the evolving market for mobile devices, from smartphones to tablets, hybrids, notebooks and wearables.

Advertising Deadline March 10th

OUT OF OFFICE

CES TOOK place once again in January – here’s PCR’s pick of some of the weird and wonderful products on show.Devices include the Sensorwake, which can be programmed to produce different smells at different times of the day, for example

the smell of coffee in the morning, and the Samsung ‘Welt Belt’, a smart belt that tracks the user’s waist size, diet, steps and more.

Intel also had people making music using hand gestures instead of instruments. It was all very strange…

STAFF AT distributor Tech Data have been tasked with producing a trailer or scene of a movie from the last four decades, as part of a year-end challenge.

A Tech Data source told PCR: “If you thought the video we did for the 2013 PCR Awards intro was bad, you should see some of the entries in our year-end challenge. It’s difficult to unsee…”

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…

TECH DATA AT THE MOVIES


IN THE

HOTSEAT

Carly Hill, BenQGooner and BenQ UK product manager for LCD and gaming Carly Hill talks about hating Tottenham and the next big thing in tech…What’s your most embarrassing moment in the trade? In my first year working for ATI Graphics, I was sent to CeBit for the week. This was 14 years ago now, so I was quite young and new to the industry. I was in the famous Irish bar one evening and those that have drank there will know about the step at the end of bar. It was quite late during the evening; I was standing having a conversation with a few people and took a step back. I fell down the step, wiped out three tables full of drinks, lost a shoe – and all my dignity.

Any pet hates? Tottenham Hotspur.

Good answer. How competitive are you? I simply do not like losing! That’s probably more to do with growing up with two brothers though. I’ve always had a competitive streak!

What’s going to be the next big thing in tech? 4K screens with 120Hz – something the gamers are very much looking forward to!

What are your favourite TV shows? The Wire, Game of Thrones, Ray Donovan and Luther to name a few.

What are your guilty pleasures? Anything written by John Grisham, watching any film with Tom Hardy in it – and Wagamamas!

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?Who knows where my path will take me – probably still in the industry though.

Would you like to nominate anyone for our next ‘In the Hot Seat’?Nick Barden from VIP Computers.

‘IN USE, WORKING FINE’

A five-star review of the Cables To Go 5m Computer Power Extension Cordwritten by Amazon user ‘M’:

“Fitted okay, has been in use for several months now, is working fine. Don’t know what else to say, so am just filling in to reach the 20 unique word limit.”

CUSTOMER COMMENTS

SHARE YOUR CUSTOMER COMMENTS AND STORIES WITH US – EMAIL [email protected]

OUT OF OFFICE

140 CHARACTERS OF NEWS AND VIEWSWhat the industry’s been tweeting about this month…

Rich Marsden, VIP Computers@Rich_VIPCom Had a demo on Oculus Rift today, unbelievable piece of kit, price is same as a high end VGA card, well worth investing for early adopters

Aaron Levie, Box@levie CES: Where 150,000 people travel from all around the world to put on VR goggles to leave CES.

Nicola Howes, Ingram Micro @NHowes1 Fantastic for @IMCloud_UK to be shortlisted for the @pcr_online 2016 Awards! http://www.pcr-awards.com/

Steven Levitt, Overclockers UK@fiveub We have won Store of the Year from KitGuru, and we are the finalists in the @pcr_online awards too! Sweeeeet! :)

Westcoast @Westcoast_UK As part of Cloud Sector Spotlight, we spoke to @pcr_online about our Cloud programmes, reseller support and more. http://ow.ly/X0ijO

Gemma Telford, The IT Marketing Agency @gemmaitmarketng Ooo, @paullloyd1 check you out all over @pcr_online this month! :)

Paul Lloyd, Enta Cloud @paullloyd1 @gemmaitmarketng @pcr_online marketing working a lot better than the dieting!

Richard Eglon, Agilitas @richardeglon @AgilitasIT named as finalist in channel services category @pcr_online awards 2016

Brother UK @Brother_UK Ready to roll up as a finalist in #PCRAwards2016 for Best #PeripheralsVendor http://ow.ly/X2M4d

The PR Room @theprroom Absolutely delighted to have been chosen as finalist for the #PCRAwards. Thanks @pcr_online, looking forward to another great night

GfK @GfK We’re excited to be a finalist for the 2016 PCR Awards, Channel Services Analyst.

NEW RESEARCH has found that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s personality type is most prevalent in the tech industry.

Apparently, 37 per cent of professionals in the UK industry right now think like Mr Zuckerberg, while just five per cent act like the Amstrad founder (and more old school businessman) Lord Sugar.

You can see the breakdown of personality types in the UK tech industry and where they are based on

average in the tables below. Which personality type are

you? IT recruiter Randstad

Technologies has an interactive quiz over at bit.ly/1Nzr4iE.

PC GAMING vendor Razer is giving all proceeds from the sale of new game ‘That Dragon, Cancer’ via Razer Cortex for Android TV to two cancer charities.

Funds will go to the Morgan Adams Foundation and Family House SF. ‘That Dragon, Cancer’ is a narrative video game that retells Joel Green’s four-year fight against cancer. Joel was diagnosed

with AT/RT brain cancer at 12 months old and was given a terminal diagnosis shortly before age two. Though initially given only a short time to live, Joel continued to survive for four more years before sadly passing away in 2014.

The game was developed by Joel’s parents and Numinous Games studio. It was largely funded by OUYA, which was

acquired by Razer in July 2015 and now provides content for Android TV games via Razer’s Forge TV micro console.

In celebration of the game’s launch, Numinous Games is encouraging supporters to host a pancake party for friends and family (pancakes were Joel’s favorite food) and post pictures to social media channels with the hashtag #thatdragoncancer.

ARE YOU A SUGAR OR A ZUCKERBERG?

RAZER DONATES TO CANCER CHARITIES


OUT OF OFFICE

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READ THE LATEST

STORIESAT

PCR-ONLINE.BIZ

Who’s in your team? Jermaine Campbell and Yemi Elegunde (managing component sales), Will Lewis and Tarnia Churchill (managing branded sales), and Mikael Zeitlin and Kashmir Salhan (in channel marketing).

What’s been your biggest successes of the past 12 months?Our biggest success was our channel focus. We demonstrated this by dedicating more time and marketing resources to help our key partners; either directly or indirectly via WD Direct, we increased our touch with large and smaller resellers. This was accomplished against a backdrop of a troubled market, unstable exchange rates and other macroeconomic issues. The

channel rewarded us with loyalty and market share.

What’s the best part of working in your team?There is definitely no “I” in our team. We are a small team covering a large UK business, we need each other and can rely on each other to remain motivated and focused. I know that I can count on my colleagues to give 100 per cent in spite of how busy we all are. This helps the team to reach and achieve our goals.

What’s the hardest part of working within the technology industry?The industry is ever changing with the introduction of new technologies. Our core business is storage. We have to approach every quarter and every new trend with the same enthusiasm and drive

that we had from the first day. We protect and grow our core business for our channel partners through being predictable, available, loyal and consistent in everything we do.

What’s the funniest or most memorable moment your team has had?We all agreed conclusively that Jermaine Campbell’s first worldwide sales experience always tops this chart. While enjoying evening drinks at his first sales meeting, JC (as we call him) got the chance to meet and greet WD personnel from various departments around the world. An unassuming man introduced himself to JC as John and said that he worked in the factory, JC took the opportunity to cement himself in John’s mind by

saying that he was the ‘new kid on the block’ and would need many more drives built for the UK. JC said: “Things are gonna change around here and you better be ready! When I need drives you make sure you got them ready, I don’t wanna hear any excuses! Remember my name, I’m JC.”

The next morning while sitting at the global address meeting, JC was horrified to see the quiet, humble gentleman on stage applauded for his recent promotion. You see, John was actually John Coyne – the newly appointed CEO of WD!

Which member of the team makes the best cuppa?That’s an easy one. It’s Mikael – because he’s the only one who drinks tea or coffee amongst us.

In our new Team of the Month section,

we highlight some of the important faces

from across the industry who perhaps

aren’t always in the public eye. This

month, it’s the WD UK sales team…

“There is definitely no ‘I’ in our team. We are a small team covering a large UK business. We can rely on each other to remain motivated and focused.”

Team WD (left to right): Jermaine Campbell, Mikael Zeitlin, Tarnia

Churchill, Kashmir Salhan and Yemi Elegunde

Documents

PCR149-February-2016