ON LOCATION
A cloud program from across the pond PAGE 8
FOCUS ON FINANCIAL BMO watches the market for innovation PAGE 22
FEBRUARY 2012 www.channelinsider.ca
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D R I V I N G T H E C H A N N E L T H R O U G H I N F O R M AT I O N A N D E D U CAT I O N
SECURITY TRENDS AND SOLUTIONS ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Photo studio finds cloud gold December drop in special-bid pricing Avnet launches mobile partner program
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We predicted growth, but nothing on this scale.
D r i v i n g t h e c h a n n e l t h r o u g h i n f o r m at i o n a n D e D u cat i o n
cOnTenTs
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12.02
security trends and solutions
FEATURED THIS ISSUE
SECURITY 2012: THE CORPORATE MANAGEMENT SCORECARD
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To an IT manager, security is a critical aspect of corporate infrastructure, requiring constant attention. How does it look to business management?
supplIer pOV
Sometimes the best ideas come from creative solutions to the problems we have. VRX Studios learned that the Azure way.
TracKer neTwOrKs Explaining the “December drop” phenomenon in last month’s special-bid pricing numbers: where did that 18% go?
TesT bed Most Android tablets have an identity crisis, but not the Lenovo ThinkPad. It makes no attempt at appealing to consumers.
dIsTracTIOns Featuring news you can’t use – but should know. This edition: Time bandits, Canadians in space, and Watson as police deputy.
4 ccO VIew
6 channel news
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8 On lOcaTIOn
In an Ottawa forum, VMware invited IT pros to hear how the U.K. government aims to cut costs and improve services with the cloud.
All about P2P in Canada enables Canadian VARs 12 sOluTIOnVTN spOTlIghT It takes more than software and a desire to win Selectforsupports VAR principals business online companies to succeed in e-commerce. delivering “PinPoint” value 21 prOgram updaTes Varnex On Location
Helping enable smart devices in corporate settings, Avema Critical Wireless has a new channel program for mobile security.
22 fOcus On fInancIal
The Bank of Montreal is keeping its collective eyes open for innovative technologies from large and small vendors.
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26 fOcus On securITy
Attacks will be all the more sophisticated in 2012, leading one IT security expert to suggest this year will usher in the “higher-class hacker.”
februar y 2012 | 3 | channel insider canada
Sustaina
ccO VIew
new lIfe In an Old mOdel
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by MiChael o’neil, Chief Content offiCer, it in CanaDa Today, cloud has put new pressure on n a prior life, I spent this approach. VARs are seeing that there years building and is little margin in resale of cloud services, describing models and many leading cloud vendors insist of channel activity on direct billing of clients, eliminating designed to help VARs resale altogether. The substitution of and their suppliers to web-delivered systems for on-premise maximize growth and hardware and software – exacerbated by profitability. One of those models is the trend towards consuming the content depicted here, outlining three sources of from these systems with consumer devices IT revenue: products, services, and resale. available through retail and telecom Some companies can be easily plotted at service providers – puts pressure on the the points – Intel and Microsoft at the top, current model, reducing opportunities to consultants at the bottom left, distributors generate cash flow from resale. at the bottom right. Many others would Traditional VARs have been looking at be positioned somewhere within the methods of adding new value to cloud triangle, with revenues derived from two services to remain viable. But is there also or three sources. opportunity for new entrants to revitalize The first VARs combined all three the idea of “VAR,” by borrowing a page revenue sources. They were often spun from the book written by the channel’s out of end-user businesses that had been pioneers? In this issue of Channel early adopters of technology; eventually, Insider Canada, we present a profile of management saw potential (or were MediaValet, which launched a web service persuaded by their hardware suppliers) to address a point of pain in a traditional to offer the software they had developed (photography) business – and ended up for their own businesses as a “turnkey” spinning off a business that has attracted solution to other companies in their high-level attention from some of the industries, delivering their application industry’s most powerful firms. with the hardware and advice needed to It may be that the best antidote to run it. diminishing resale opportunity is to When packaged software became much re-inflate the product aspect of the VAR more pervasive in the 1980s and 1990s, revenue equation, with “corporate app these traditional VARs had to adjust their stores” driving demand for major vendors’ approaches. They were still much closer cloud offerings – and driving them to to their customers’ business requirements compete for the attention of potential app than the independent software vendors, sources. but the ISVs could amortize the costs of enhancements and new releases across thousands or tens of thousands of users; VARs, with installed bases typically measured in the dozens or hundreds, could not keep pace. Over time, most phased out their proprietary software, replacing it with packaged alternatives. The business model (as is shown in the blue box at the bottom of the triangle) was compressed, with VARs balancing resale and services ratios; few were able to maintain proprietary products as a substantial income source.
februar y 2012 | 4 |
channel insider canada
Volume 2, Issue 1 EDITORIAL Michael O’Neil | Chief Content Officer michael.oneil@itincanada.ca Stefan Dubowski | Editor stefan.dubowski@itincanada.ca Christopher Rogers | Senior Staff Writer chris.rogers@itincanada.ca CONTRIBUTORS Jason Doel ART & PRODUCTION Elena Pankova | Senior Art Director elean.pankova@itincanada.ca David Potocki | Art Director davidp@precision-multimedia.com CHANNEL INSIDER CANADA SALES Patricia Bush | National Account Manager trisha.bush@itincanada.ca ONLINE Michael Howe | CTO michael.howe@itincanada.ca EVENTS Sandra Service | Events Manager sandra.service@itincanada.ca CIRCULATION Denys Cruz | Circulation Director circulation@itincanada.ca CORPORATE INQUIRIES John R. Jones | Publisher john.jones@itincanada.ca HOW TO CONTACT CHANNEL INSIDER CANADA Telephone: 905-727-4091 Editorial issues: Michael O’Neil, Chief Content Officer, IT in Canada network michael.oneil@itincanada.ca Business issues: John Jones, Chief Operating Officer, IT in Canada network john.jones@itincanada.ca SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES For help with subscriptions, please contact circulation@itincanada.ca To subscribe to Channel Insider Canada in print, as a digital magazine – or to receive our daily e-newsletter – please visit us at www.itincanada. ca/registration Channel Insider Canada is published 10 times per year and is found on the web at www.channelinsider.ca One year subscription rates: One year subscription rates: Canada, $50, US $60 (US) and foreign $90 (US). Single copies $5.00. Please add HST where applicable. Complimentary subscriptions available to qualified Canadian readers. When notifying of an address change, please include address label to ensure continuity of service. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in whole without the permission of copyright owner. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. REPRINT INFORMATION High quality reprints of articles or additional copies of the magazine are available through IT in Canada. Please contact us by phone at 905-727-3875 x336 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement # 41382532 All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without written consent; inquiries should be addressed to circulation@itincanada.ca
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Spring 2012, Hart House, U of T Information technology is one of the primary consumers of electricity in public and private sector organizations, accounting for as much as 5% of global power and emitting a comparable proportion of global carbon emissions. However, responsible IT management and the intelligent application of information technology in business activities could reduce global carbon emissions by 15%. These practices are collectively known as sustainable IT. Executives and management in the 21st century will require an understanding of sustainable IT practices to reduce both their carbon footprint and overall operating costs. The Centre for Environment, University of Toronto, in partnership with IT in Canada (publisher of the Sustainability Platform website), is presenting Sustainable IT, a 2-day workshop to provide both IT and business managers with the tools to plan and implement a decisive sustainable IT strategy.
Topics include: - IT power management - How IT & facilities can work together on sustainability - Reducing travel costs and carbon emissions with IT - Environmentally-responsible approaches to printing - E-waste management: best practices and compliance Workshop Rate: $1499 plus HST - apply now for early bird or volume discounts
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channel news
1 Xerox buys Ontario print services provider LaserNetworks, a managed print services provider in Oakville, Ont., is now owned by print industry giant Xerox, following a deal in early January. “Our acquisition of LaserNetworks expands our services footprint in Canada, enhancing our capabilities and distancing us from our competitors,” said Mandy Shapansky, president and CEO, Xerox Canada, in a prepared statement. “It is further evidence of Xerox’s transformation into a services-led, technology-driven company.” LaserNetworks’ MPS offerings include print device tracking, centralized service and supply management, and document routing. The company has 40,000 print-related devices under management and 189 employees in sales, services and business operations. It will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xerox Canada with LaserNetworks founder and CEO Chris Stoate continuing to lead the company, reporting to Shapansky. “By becoming part of such an esteemed company with well respected industry leadership, we exponentially increase our ability to deliver more customer value,” Stoate said in a statement. “We’re combining our collective industry expertise and innovative technologies to help our clients take full advantage of the benefits managed print services bring to their workplaces.” The move by Xerox is only the most recent in efforts by printer manufacturers to enter the services business. Konica Minolta acquired MSP All Covered a year ago. OKI Data America has acknowledged that it plans to embark on a campaign to acquire MSPs.
vaya’s IP Office 8.0 boosts mobile, partner workload 2 Areduces The latest iteration of Avaya’s IP communications system for small to midsized businesses relies on the on-board capabilities of smartphones for extended mobility, the company says. IP Office 8.0 with one-X Mobile Preferred allows Android device users to access features of the software via the handset. Full multi-party conference management is available through mobile devices. Users can invite, view, mute and drop participants on conference calls. Using the device’s touch interface, users can also set up a voice conference simply by selecting the participants and then initiate a group conversation with a single tap. The Android application also integrates full presence, allowing users to display their availability status to co-workers. The application integrates with Microsoft Outlook calendars to give specific availability times. Users can even follow each other and receive alerts when availability resumes. Instant messaging can also be accomplished over the applications so employees can connect through an integrated corporate directory. The geopresence feature displays the location of the user. Visual voice mail shows the date and time messages are left.
februar y 2012 | 6 |
Avaya’s mobile solution for IP Office 8.0 New plug-ins are available to bring some added functionality to frequently used business applications. Users of Google Talk contacts can be imported into the one-X portal for IP Office. Google Talk and IP Office contacts are also available in a single location with click-to-call and conference capabilities. Salesforce. com users can make and receive phone calls from a page. The visual voicemail feature is also available for use in a Microsoft Outlook window. For partners, Avaya has simplified the deployment of IP 8.0, offering a new server-less implementation option, whereby the system is delivered through a device called the Avaya C110 Unified Communications module. “It eliminates the need for an external server in IP Office implementations,” said Laura Evans, director of SME channel sales at Avaya Canada.
vnet brings demo facilities to partners 3 ACanadian Canadian Avnet partners now have two new resources at their disposal when selling Cisco unified communications solutions.
channel insider canada
Partners versed in Cisco’s Unified Communications Systems B- and C-series servers can now demonstrate the operation of the devices to customers in Avnet’s Cisco Data Center Lab. The lab is located in Avnet’s Toronto-area office. The lab includes access to a range of Cisco UC products as well as other solutions, allowing solution providers to build authentic demonstration and proof-of-concept designs. Partners looking to give their own staff a hands-on look at the products can also leverage the lab to provide technical training. After seeing how the products would work in the lab environment customers can take advantage of the Cisco Customer Test Drive program provided by Avnet that allows them to test the products out in their own data centres. The hope is that the combination of the test program and the demonstration environment from Avnet will lead to shortened sales cycles for partners and shortened deployment time for customers once a purchase decision is made. An additional benefit for partners is that they do not have to purchase demo equipment for these cases. Brian Aebig, VP and GM, Avnet Technology Solutions, Canada, said in a statement from Avnet, “Because of the investments we have made in these Cisco demonstration resources, Avnet’s partners can quickly and cost-effectively capture sales and profitably grow their businesses. Avnet’s new Cisco Data Center Lab and Customer Test Drive Program are extremely effective in the sales process because partners can let their customers experience first-hand the power of Cisco’s data centre solutions.” Avnet’s core data centre technologies practice, SolutionsPath, offers customers tools and resources to build their practices in cloud computing, mobility, networking, security, storage and virtualization, after which partners can further specialize within verticals such as finance, government and health care. Nicholas Laine, manager of enterprise architecture for ESI Information Technologies, an Avnet partner, said in a statement, “The ability to demonstrate the Cisco UCS portfolio in action to our customers is a great sales advantage, but it can be a resourceintensive activity. Avnet’s Cisco Data Center Lab and Customer Test Drive Program will provide us with all that we need to create a proof-of-concept set-up and a live environment for our customers without additional investment on our part.”
BM closes Platform Computing buy, snaps up Hat 4 IGreen IBM announced that it has completed the acquisition of Platform Computing, a privately held company headquartered in Toronto. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In October, IBM announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company, a provider of cluster, grid and cloud management software for distributed computing environments. The company will be integrated into IBM’s Systems and Technology Group.
Platform Computing’s technical and distributed computing management software is designed to help clients create, integrate and manage shared computing environments that are used in compute- and data-intensive applications such as simulations, computer modeling and analytics. These technical and highperformance computing (HPC) applications can help fuel product development, business decisions and science in financial services, manufacturing, digital media, oil and gas, life sciences, government, research and education. “The acquisition of Platform Computing will help accelerate IBM’s growth in smarter computing – a key initiative in IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy – by extending the reach of our HPC offerings into the high-growth segment of technical computing,” said Helene Armitage, general manager of IBM systems software. “Our intent is to enable clients to uncover insights from growing volumes of data so they can take actions that optimize business results.” By combining Platform Computing’s software with IBM highperformance systems and software, IBM said it can better serve enterprise clients who are turning to technical computing to accelerate application performance, improve infrastructure flexibility and reduce time to results. IBM also said it intends to support Platform Computing’s software on heterogeneous systems and would continue to work with many of Platform Computing’s existing partners. In January, IBM announced that it had acquired Green Hat, a software quality and testing solutions provider jointly headquartered in London, England, and Wilmington, Del. The Green Hat software testing solutions will also be offered through IBM Global Business Services’ Application Management Services (AMS). AMS provides strategy, design, implementation, testing and managed services for application virtualization to accelerate customer results. Upon the acquisition close, Green Hat will join IBM’s Rational Software business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
februar y 2012 | 7 | channel insider canada
ON LOCATION
A cloud-first program from across the pond
In an Ottawa forum, VMware invited TECH pros to hear how the U.K. government aims to cut costs and improve services with the cloud.
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by Stefan Dubowski hen the U.K. government found that it was running 130 data centres, the organization knew it had too many. When the government counted again and discovered the number had grown to 200, it knew it had a problem. Technology spending was out of control, and the government couldn’t take it anymore, what with reduced budgets courtesy of the global economic fallout of the financial crisis of 2008. So the U.K. made the bold decision to invest in a cloud-computing infrastructure to reduce the number of overlapping technology systems and to shave millions of pounds from the IT spend. That’s the presentation Andy Tait made at VMware’s forum in Ottawa last month. As the head of public services strategy for VMware in the U.K. and the former deputy director of the government’s G-Cloud program, he was speaking to a room full of technology professionals from Canada’s public service, which is undergoing its own IT transformation – a “Shared Services” plan that will see individual technology departments merged into a single, cross-government platform providing IT to numerous agencies. Tait explained the challenges that the U.K. government faced, and the solutions it chose, with an eye towards giving Canada’s public-sector technologists ideas that they may find useful as Shared Services comes to fruition. He started by saying the U.K. government’s technology situation was untenable. It had 250,000 servers (running at the typically dismal 10% utilization rate), 10,000 applications, too many data centres, and zero data mobility between departments. The organization was spending 25 billion pounds on IT each year. If it could share resources across departments, improve server utilization, and reduce the number of data centres, the government would save 30% on annual costs. “We were looking at 2.5 to 3 billion pounds a year,” Tait said. The government began with a complete data-centre headcount. (That’s when it realized it had even more data centres than first thought.) Once it understood the situation with those assets, the organization worked on developing guidelines for the way forward, including an overall vision that put cloud at the centre of future plans, a business case, a strategy for the transformation, and an implementation plan. Tait said the government had to come to terms with certain realities. First, the approach would have to be collaborative. This couldn’t be a build-it-and-they-will-come project. “We februar y 2012 | 8 |
never imagined that would work,” Tait said. Instead, the program would operate on a set of standards that would enable organizations to adopt cloud computing at their own pace, and according to the aspects of the cloud that made the most sense for them. Those standards plus an application store for shared resources and a serious data-centre consolidation effort would operate as the platform for the program.
Locked up with vendors The government identified a number of goals. For instance, the organization aimed to avoid being tied to just a few technology vendors. In the past the government spent $18 billion on services from just 10 systems integrators. “They really have us locked up,” Tait said. The organization also wanted to reduce its carbon footprint; server consolidation through virtualization would help, Tait said. The government wanted to foster more sharing as well. The U.K. houses more than 400 municipal authorities. Each one operates its own payroll system, with its own technology infrastructure and its own backup system. But the payroll software is only active three days each month, processing payments for employees on a monthly pay schedule. Why not share that infrastructure and balance the load across numerous servers? That would reduce the server count and reduce power usage while ensuring the payroll systems would be able to access the processing power required for batch operations. A G-Cloud Authority was created to manage technology procurement and standards, Tait said. The authority was also tasked with overseeing the app store, where organizations would be able to shop for technology services. The store would include a “latest best price” widget advertising the lowest price for each application, enabling individual departments to compare costs and save money. The government identified a number of “Foundation Delivery Partners” – organizations involved in building services such as web hosting, IaaS, collaboration tools, and a secure email solution. The foundation delivery piece “is on the cusp of realization,” Tait said, adding that the government now has some 500 companies expressing interest in providing services. The app store is expected to be fully operational by April 2013. Data centre costs will be reduced by 35% by 2016. By 2015 the government expects to save 200 million pounds a channel insider canada
year. That’s “not very aspirational,” Tait said, recalling the government’s previous assessment of 2.5 to 3 billion pounds in savings. But more savings could be realized over time, he added. “We certainly haven’t fixed all of the commercial challenges we have,” he said, explaining that a number of the government’s current service agreements with technology providers don’t allow for certain changes, such as server consolidation. The government has learned a few things: • It’s counterproductive to develop cloud strategies without consulting with your existing technology providers. They know your systems well, and they can provide helpful advice for the transformation. “You do have to take your suppliers and partners with you,” Tait said. • Be realistic about the pace of change. It’s hard on the wallet. Given today’s financial realities, funding for new projects (even cost-saving, carbon-footprint-reducing cloud concepts) is tight. • Hammer out the implementation details. Strategy alone isn’t enough. “Know what you’re going to do tomorrow,” Tait said. “What is the first step?”
Cloud development For most organizations embarking on a new technology project, the first step has to do with understanding what, exactly, that technology is all about. Although cloud computing is less of a mystery than it was a few years ago, people still have questions about it. Michael O’Neil, IT in Canada’s chief content officer and president of IT Market Dynamics (IT in Canada’s research organization), provided the VMware forum participants with some pointers on cloud development. He presented a comprehensive cloud definition, courtesy of IT in Canada’s content partner organization, ZDNet: “Cloud computing” occurs when an Internet/intranet-based infrastructure enables self-service, on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources (e.g., servers, storage, applications). These resources can be quickly and elastically provisioned by users, because the cloud’s management has implemented systems for metering usage and automating resource allocation. It’s a mouthful – and according to O’Neil, most organizations simply refuse to swallow it all at once. In IT Market Dynamics’ assessment, businesses take to the cloud in small steps, accessing discreet aspects of the technology according to their own requirements. Some organizations zero in on self-service because line-of-business managers would be more efficient if they were able to spool up applications without help from the IT department. Others target the “shared pool of resources” part to support test-dev environments that need pieces of servers only part of the time. “As an analyst, this is kind of unsatisfying, because it ends up with the classic definition problem: “I know it when I see it but I can’t define exactly what ‘it’ is,” O’Neil said. “As an IT manager, though, this is kind of liberating – it’s like getting
Andy Tait, public services strategy leader, VMware U.K. permission to create your own puzzle with whatever pieces you feel like you need to use.” One of the more prevalent cloud questions concerns security: Is the cloud secure? O’Neil said that according to an IT Market Dynamics survey, a slight majority (55%) of respondents said they think the cloud is as secure as (or more secure than) their existing systems. Since most cloud adopters are seeking business benefits like agility, productivity, cost savings and/ or new management support options, security isn’t as big a hurdle as it’s sometimes made out to be, O’Neil said. That said, the cloud does present a number potential “gotchas.” A few from O’Neil’s list: • Some organizations will be too ambitious with cloud projects; they’ll try to implement business-critical applications ahead of smaller apps, believing the payoff will be greater. It’s better to start small and experiment where the risks aren’t as dire. • Some organizations will find that they’re locked in with a cloud service provider, even if the service provider isn’t meeting expectations. It’s important to scrutinize service-level agreements to ensure there’s a way out if the partnership doesn’t work. • Some IT workers will be displaced by the new technology. Others will decide that the cloud will take them where they want to be – but given its newness, it could be something of a tough sell in certain organizations.
februar y 2012 | 9 | channel insider canada
Supplier POV Photo studio turns data issue into cloud gold Sometimes the best ideas come from creative solutions to the problems we have. VRX Studios learned that the Azure way. by Christopher Rogers
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wo years ago VRX Studios had a big problem. A global photography company, the firm was trying to manage a rapidly growing media library that at the time had just surpassed 20TBs. The digital asset management system it was employing could no longer handle the scale or growth of the company’s data. Understand, in 2009 VRX was engaged in content production, management, distribution and licensing for roughly 8,000 hotels. These assets were not limited to photos of hotels, but also included hospitality and travel-related videos, slideshows, virtual tours, and interactive maps. The Vancouver-based company used a custom-built asset management system and it had grown as new clients came on board. As a result the architecture of the system was becoming too complex to support. The system was collocated in Houston, Tex., which complicated frequently-needed server and storage additions. Having physical servers was difficult because of fluctuating storage and processing requirements. David MacLaren, president and CEO of VRX Studios, said he needed a system that could handle the amount of data and users, and grow with the company. “We also needed a system that could be easily accessed by our customers throughout North America, Europe and Asia,” he said. The fact that the servers were hosted in Houston was a problem. It worked well for the company’s North American customers, but not for those overseas. The terms were set. VRX needed a cost-effective, globally accessible digital asset management system able to handle large amounts of data, file types and users. A cloud-based solution seemed like a natural fit, but MacLaren lamented that when the company went looking there was no product that fulfilled the firm’s unique needs. He described two options, both of which would require collocating to at least one data centre on each continent: 1: p urchase a system that had all of the required features; 2: p urchase a system that didn’t have all the features and customize it. Collocation was an expensive and time-consuming proposition, according to MacLaren. The equipment would cost plenty, it would be expensive to implement, and expensive to manage over the long term.
Azure As neither optioned worked for VRX, MacLaren and his team turned to the cloud. While there weren’t many cloud platforms that would meet VRX’s needs, there was one that did.
februar y 2012 | 10 |
Left to right: MediaValet CTO Jean Lozano, Microsoft Canada president Eric Gales, MeidaValet CEO David MacLaren In 2009 Microsoft was coming out of beta with Windows Azure, a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that could provide the basis for what MacLaren and his team at VRX needed. The Azure platform would also allow the solution to be globally accessible at launch. That revelation prompted a massive shift in VRX’s approach to the tool. The solution went from a tool built specifically to meet a single pain point to a product that would solve more than one issue. The tool was custom-built on Azure and within a few months it was offered to VRX’s hotel customers so they could access the content that VRX created for them. VRX referred to it as its “Digital Asset Management Service.” MacLaren said the reaction from the customers was significant and many asked if they could use the tool to manage non-VRX assets they owned.
Expanding horizons MacLaren now had a custom cloud digital asset management product used by thousands of hotels. VRX called it “MediaValet,” but the system seemed a good fit for other industries as well. “We did a little bit of online advertising, just to see if there was a market outside of the hospitality and travel industries and we were overwhelmed by demand,” he said. MediaValet has since become its own standalone brand, to make it more accessible to new clients who wouldn’t be familiar with the VRX brand. MediaValet now has clients in industries from manufacturing to real estate, construction to advertising. MacLaren, who now heads both VRX and MediaValet, attributes much of this cross-industry, cross-continent success to the Azure platform. “I think Azure is going to do this for a lot of companies,” he said. The platform makes it easy to build the required tools and make them available cost effectively – keys for startups, MacLaren said. “Platform-as-a-service cloud offerings are going to enable companies of various sizes, across industries, to reduce their IT costs, improve their productivity, and uncover new product and service offerings,” he said. channel insider canada
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Solution Spotlight Understanding the e-commerce opportunity It takes more than software and a desire to win business online for companies to succeed in e-commerce. by Christopher Rogers
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ast fall Channel Insider attended an event in Toronto hosted by Magento, an e-commerce provider. The reason for the event was to draw attention not only to the strong e-commerce solution the company sold but it also succeeded in opening our eyes to the channel of partners it takes to deliver an online storefront. A 2011 holiday survey from Deloitte said that pressure from online-only retailers will force more traditional store-based retailers to step-up their e-commerce offering. But with online security and data-loss prevention top of mind for today’s consumers it is critical for retailers with online storefronts to invest in a secure e-commerce solution that is also compelling while not being overly complicated.
The opportunity While this may seem like a simple proposition – there are free, open source, e-commerce solution available (including Magento community edition) that provide good functionality for those willing to invest the time into them – having a secure and reliable solution is another story altogether. One company on hand at the event, The Bentley Group, a Canadian retailer of luggage, purses and related goods, was in need of an online offering that provided consumers with the information on products and then got them through the checkout successfully. In a release, Jamie Schreter, e-commerce and marketing director at Bentley discussed the company’s needs. “We needed to create an online presence that would mirror the strength of our other 400 physical stores. It needed to be a site that would be secure, efficient and reliable. Our customers can enjoy a robust shopping experience through our dynamic web design, they can check out a full shopping cart with ease and they can do all this quickly since our website is hosted on a stable and fast network backbone.” These are many of the same wants and concerns that retailers looking to implement an online store have. Also in attendance at the event was Matthew Bertulli, co-founder and CEO of Demac Media. Demac is a Canadian Magento Gold partner. The company was chosen by Bentley to build the e-commerce solution. At the event, Bertulli talked about what made a good e-commerce solution and the customer problems it needed to address. “It’s all about reliability. We started it focusing specifically on the back-end of e-commerce. We got really good at moving information around – customers’ products, inventory, orders – all the stuff that causes (as things are inputted manually) more pain.” Demac has built customization options around the Magento solution, including an extension for Social Gift, which lets friends split the price of a gift they are all purchasing for a friend. (Bertulli is also VP sales and business development for Social Gift.)
februar y 2012 | 12 |
Matthew Bertulli, president and founder of Demac Media (left), meets attendees at the Magento eCommerce Forum.
Reliability is key Of course, e-commerce needs a host that will ensure uptime and consistency for the online shopping experience. In the Bentley example, PEER 1 was used. A spokesperson for PEER 1 in attendance at the event talked about the customer experience. If customers have a poor experience (navigating, screen refresh) in the store they will not wonder whether it’s a code, host or other problem, they will simply know it was a bad retail experience. While code and development usually get the focus, it’s equally important to focus on where the code is going to be hosted.
Reseller opportunity Regardless of which hosts or developers resellers choose to partner with, there are a number of opportunities from Magento itself that can make adding an e-commerce business to a system integrator or VAR worthwhile. Magento’s Solution Partner Program is split into three categories: Gold, Silver, and Bronze; each has its own fees, revenue commitments and commissions. The Bronze program has a 10% referral fee and 20% discounts on training. It has no annual revenue commitments and a $2,000 annual program fee. It is designed for partners looking to focus on the professional and community editions of Magento. For businesses that want to focus on the professional and enterprise editions of Magento’s e-commerce solution the Silver program has higher annual fees and revenue commitments but offers free training and a 15% commission on Magento enterprise edition sales. The Gold program has higher requirements than Silver but offers 25% commission and priority placement on the Magento site. Magento also actively promotes Gold partners. This is for partners that are committed to the enterprise edition of the product. As online sales continue to mount and consumers are more comfortable shopping online these opportunities should only grow; it will be up to VARs to take advantage of them. channel insider canada
Research feature Security 2012: The corporate management scorecard To A TECH MANAGER, security is a critical aspect of corporate infrastructure, requiring constant attention. How does it look to business management? In this scorecard edition, we give you the answers – and the grades. by Michael O’Neil
O
ne of the most Figure 1 difficult tasks in Security as a corporate priority IT management is developing and delivering an optimal approach to IT security. Security offers a dramatic example of IT being most effective when it’s invisible. No CIO wants to wake up to find that malware is eating corporate data and panicking the staff, or see his/her corporate logo on the TV news in connection with a privacy breach – and no business executive wants to find the CIO in that position. To establish a secure environment, however, IT management must concoct a complex brew of product effective IT security investments, IT skills, user training, and Figure 2 practices allows our business executive policy decisions. Security as an investment area employees to work Both budget and policy commitment depend on the support of business management. But do non-IT managers understand and value IT security? To answer that question, IT Market Dynamics, the research arm of IT in Canada, commissioned a survey of 346 non-IT business managers, and supplemented findings from this research with parallel questions directed at our IT audience. Based on that data, we’ve developed a 2012 scorecard to help IT managers understand security through the eyes of their business colleagues.
Building the context
The name of the game is “efficiency” The first part of our management survey looked at the context for security within the organization, focusing on the key business outcome from security investments. As Figure 1 shows, business managers consider efficiency to be the most important result from effective IT strategies. Half of small businesses, and 60% of mid-sized and large organizations, agree or strongly agree that “establishing
more efficiently.” They are less persuaded that effective security practices lead to improved productivity, but they are at least accepting of the idea that security need not impede the introduction of new IT-enabled capabilities; the rating for “security is the major impediment to deploying IT solutions within our organization” is shown in red because here, a lower number is a better result. As you can see in the figure, only about one-third of business managers from large and mid-sized organizations, and just 15% from small businesses, believe that security concerns make it difficult to introduce new applications.
Security is a worthy investment area Our business management audience also provided opinions on the importance of IT security investments by comparing it with investments in other IT and corporate categories. In each of the seven categories shown in Figure 2, respondents were
februar y 2012 | 13 | channel insider canada
Continued on page 14...
Research feature Continued from page 13... asked whether IT security was “more important than,” “less important than,” or “about as important as” investments in new PCs, social media, smartphones, business applications, corporate branding, corporate advertising, and corporate travel. The ratings show that business management places a relatively high value on IT security; in all cases, these investments were rated as being at least on par with alternatives. At a more detailed level, we see that business managers view security as being about as important as new PCs or business applications, and more important than smartphones or social media. They view investments in corporate branding and (to a somewhat lesser extent) corporate advertising as also being roughly comparable in importance to IT security, and view security as a noticeably more essential expenditure than corporate travel.
Figure 3
Presenting the security implications of business initiatives
Figure 4
Employee training: securing the workplace
Grading IT With that context established, how do IT security policies fare when they are evaluated by business management? Overall, the results are quite positive. Translating our 1-5 ratings into the alpha scales used in report cards, we find that IT managers garner a B- rating from business managers, and that IT security as a category – including two areas that are directly controlled by the non-IT managers themselves – receives a grade of B. Here are the results by category:
Presenting the security implications of business initiatives Asked to assess the truth of the statement, “Our IT management does
a good job of briefing management on the security issues connected with new applications, policies, and business initiatives,” respondents reported that the flow of information from IT to business managers is generally adequate. While somewhat less than 40% of small business managers agree or strongly agree with the statement, large business managers, at 53%, are happier with the insights they receive from their IT peers. Overall rating: B
Employee training: securing workplace data The ratings in this category are incredibly consistent, with 44% to 45% of small, mid-sized, and large organizations agreeing that “our employees are welltrained in taking measures to secure the data they work with.” Mid-sized organizations are somewhat more likely to disagree with the statement (21% disagree or strongly disagree, as compared with 16% of small businesses and 13% of large Continued on page 16...
februar y 2012 | 14 |
channel insider canada
Research feature enterprises), but overall, the ratings reflect positively on IT management. Overall rating: B
Employee training: avoiding threats from social engineering Responses to a followup question focused on social engineering were again consistent, but this time, somewhat less positive. Large enterprises in particular seem to appreciate this threat source, with only 38% agreeing that “our employees are welltrained in taking measures to avoid social engineering security threats.” This seems to ITMD to be a volatile area: on the one hand, there’s room for improvement, but on the other, increasing general awareness of the threat posed by social engineering could increase scrutiny on prevention measures. Overall rating: B-
Figure 5
Employee training: avoiding threats from social engineering
Figure 6
Management sets clear guidelines for data collection
Management sets clear guidelines for data collection In the final two report card categories, we shifted focus from IT to business managers themselves. The first question here was, “our business management has set clear guidelines for the data we need to collect from customers and prospects.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, business management finds that they themselves are generally clear in setting policy. Over 50% of small and over 60% of large enterprises agree or strongly agree with the statement, leading to the report card’s highest grade. Overall rating: A Management sets clear guidelines for data deletion There is far less unanimity within the business management respondent group regarding guidelines for data destruction,
which is often seen as an essential step in safeguarding customer/prospect data against unauthorized release. While 53% of large organizations concur with the statement, “Our business management has set clear guidelines for the deletion of data that is no longer needed by our organization,” just 31% of their peers from mid-sized organizations agree. Overall rating: B-
Concluding observations It occurred to ITMD as we reviewed the report card data that the “eye februar y 2012 | 15 |
of the beholder” might have played an important role in the fact that business managers rate their own policy communication higher than any IT-initiated activity. Would it be the case, we wondered, that IT management had a similarly positive view of its own efforts? To investigate this question, we drew upon 131 surveys from a parallel IT-focused research initiative, and compared these findings with the results of an identical set of questions asked of our business respondents.
channel insider canada
Research feature The questions Figure 7 asked about security Management sets clear guidelines for data deletion status included: Is the organization’s security, continuity, and privacy readiness consistent with levels expected for other organizations in the same industry and of a similar size? Would the organization be considered to be in the top 10% within its peer group? And have investments in these areas kept pace with the threats that they address? As you can see from Figure 8, while our business management respondents generally agree with these statements, IT respondents are overwhelmingly Figure 8 positive in all three areas. Business and IT views on the organization security status IT is roughly 33% more likely than business users to report that they are meeting or exceeding peer levels of readiness and that investments are keeping pace with threats, and more than 50% more likely to report that they are in the top 10% of peer organizations – though the fact that only 11% of respondents don’t believe that they are in the top 10% of their peer group suggests that there are some unrealistic perceptions within our IT respondent community. The data overall, and this well received. As a step in that direction, than business management understands, discrepancy specifically, point to some though, IT management may want to use readers may want to spend some time interesting implications for IT managers. benchmarking services from specialized educating their line-of-business colleagues On a general level, business management providers or from communities (including about what is being done to secure believes that IT is doing a good but not IT in Canada’s IT Insight Exchange) to corporate information assets – after all, outstanding job of providing for build a data-supported dialogue that can security is viewed by business managers information security; there is room to help align perceptions inside and outside as a worthwhile investment area, so grow, but a solid base to grow from. If IT the IT department. discussions on the topic are likely to be management is in fact performing better
ITMD’s 2012 security research is delivered in two reports – one based on a survey of business users, and another (upcoming) document integrating this perspective with a survey of IT decision makers. Both reports are available to members of IT in Canada’s IT Insight Exchange program and subscribers to All Points Connected research program at no charge. In addition, qualified IT managers can take advantage of ITMD’s Security Benchmark survey to assess their approach to security, privacy, continuity and compliance vs. peer organizations. Please contact Stephen Symonds at stephen.symonds@itincanada.ca for more information.
februar y 2012 | 16 | channel insider canada
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Channel Perspective From chartered accountant to channel success Blue Link has created big opportunities for itself in a specialized niche as an ERP integrator and Microsoft partner.
“
by Christopher Rogers I’m actually a CA by qualification,” said Mark Canes, president and CEO of Blue Link, a Concord, Ont.-based developer of accounting and inventory management software. When Canes first got into pubic accounting practice in the 1980s it wasn’t everything he imagined, but after discovering the PC and in particular Lotus 123 he saw career potential. “I transformed myself from being a CA in public accounting practice, to being a CA who could write and understand software, to a software developer, to a software implementation consultant,” he said. Eventually Canes and his company Blue Link developed an ERP (enterprise resource planning) software package for Microsoft Access and by the mid-1990s the company was doing sales and installs. Buzz for the software grew mostly by word of mouth. Canes said most of the early customers were located within 10 kilometres of his office in Richmond Hill, Ont. Canes was offering the software at a low entry-level cost to build a user base. In return, the company would use feedback and make changes to the product. As the Blue Link customer base grew so did the product offering and eventually the software was migrated onto the Microsoft SQL server back-end where it is still currently developed. The company was making its business by acquiring two to three large installs a year, but these were large custom projects that required heavy customization.
Changing perspective In 2003 Blue Link was doing well but the constant customization work was stifling its potential growth. Canes said at the time there were two ways of looking at ERP solutions: picking an offthe-shelf product and changing your business processes to match the software, or buying a customized piece of software but then being stuck on that version. Canes and Blue Link decided to present customers with a basic ERP package that could be easily customized to suit unique business needs while maintaining the ability to be upgraded to newer versions. “While the technology has changed since then, the methodology has remained unchanged – it works very well,” Canes said. Whereas Blue Link was customizing up to 40% of the product under the old system, the new approach meant only around 10% of the software package was custom. Blue Link also decided its efforts were best put to use in a verticalized approach to the market. Since 2003, the company has focused on wholesalers, distributors, importers and other enterprises that have pain points in inventory management.
Carving out a niche Blue Link has developed a product that works particularly well in industries that have perishable items such as food distributors or the pharmaceutical industry.
februar y 2012 | 18 |
These industries require distributors to track lot numbers and expiry dates. When these companies use off-the-shelf accounting software to track inventory, they generally run into problems with recalls and other situations where tracking specific products and customers is important. Blue Link’s flagship product, Elite, is a complete replacement for the off-the-shelf accounting products that some of these companies might be using. Canes said the sweet spot for the product is companies with between 10 to 100 employees. The product also has support for companies that do importing and exporting with multi-currency support and advanced line-ofcost tracking.
Deployment As it has shown from its software development methodology, Blue Link isn’t afraid of new trends. This is also true of its delivery methods. The company’s ERP solution can be delivered in a traditional on-premise model or as a hosted solution/SaaS model (software-as-a-service). Customers choosing to deploy on-premise typically need a hardware upgrade as well, Canes said. In most situations the customer is not running a server powerful enough to handle the SQL server and database. Although it doesn’t have any specific hardware partnerships Blue Link provides its customers with a detailed hardware recommendation and will frequently configure the hardware for the customer once it has been procured. The hosted solution is new for Blue Link. Canes said three years ago the company found very few of its customers (the majority owner-managed companies) were interested in moving to a cloud solution. However, Canes believed that was going to change and two years ago Blue Link began putting together a structure for a SaaS offering. Towards the end of 2010 Blue Link’s first hosted customer went live and the ERP provider expected to see 20% new customer growth in the next year. Instead, the company has seen 75% customer growth for its SaaS offering. Canes said that caught Blue Link by surprise but in a good way. “We think [SaaS is] a much better way to go, both for us and for our customers.” The hosted model removes the complications and complexities around server setup and delays around infrastructure procurement. Though other developers have found it challenging to adapt, Canes is also a proponent of the recurring revenue model that comes along with a hosted solution. He said if a company is not prepared it could definitely create negative revenue and negative cash flow situations initially but over time as a company moves into the model it evens out. A Microsoft Gold ISV partner, Blue Link has been successful keeping up with the times. It understood when it needed to change its development methodology and when it should embrace SaaS. As such, the company has set itself up for future success.
channel insider canada
INDUSTRY ISSUES
MSP HELPS BUSINESS FOCUS ON CORE ISSUES
Managed service providers make sense for IT departments trying to do more with less, says Forsythe Technology. by Christopher Rogers
N
o matter the major IT trends of the year, perhaps the single, persistent trend for CIOs is the focus on getting value for their money. Never has their been more for IT departments to be conscious of tracking (for security or otherwise) but still organizations are faced with reducing their spend or at least optimizing it. This can be particularly difficult for businesses that have had to freeze hiring, and do more with the same number of staff members, or fewer. For businesses in this situation the only solution is to get creative with their spending; in this case, a managed service provider (MSP) might be a good fit. Siobhan Byron, president of Forsythe Technology Canada, a technology consulting, infrastructure, and integration firm, said companies’ IT budgets tend to fall behind in areas such as technology upgrades. This can lead to significant security vulnerabilities from an IT standpoint. Dragana Vranic, director, managed services at Forsythe, said that if technology such as firewalls and applications are not patched and updated regularly the risk of exposure is much higher. Playing catch-up can also be tricky if employees have not been performing regular updates – they may have lost the skills necessary to perform the update. In these types of situations enterprises can reach out to an MSP to preform upgrades and monitoring. Engaging an MSP also ensures IT services are being monitored by a professional with a current skill set.
Hybrid solutions In most situations MSPs are engaged as part of a hybrid solution with the IT department. “Our job is to become an extension of their team and not to take over anything,” Byron said. It’s a hybrid solution that provides value not only from a maintenance, updating and patching perspective but it also allows IT teams to focus on the technical areas that seriously interest them. Byron said a good relationship with an MSP is about companies being strategic and focused with the resources at their disposal. As IT can quickly become an organization’s most overworked department, focusing IT staff on aspects of the business that are tied to driving revenue is essential to finding the right balance with an MSP partner.. Although the benefits to bringing in an MSP can extend beyond the IT department’s bottom line, the reason new clients come to an MSP can be different. Byron said that generally companies that have gone through internal audits are trying to determine their
biggest risk or where they can focus their efforts to best support the business. Another prime reason for bringing an MSP on board is accurate reporting that is usually required by audits. Siobhan Byron, president, Forsythe A further driver Technology Canada is compliance, such as when a company is trying to implement a new mobility program. Byron said that questions MSPs usually field involve helping companies address pressing issues when budgets are a problem, or suggesting options for new areas like cloud and mobility. MSP are even used for training purposes. MSPs need to look at what the client is trying to achieve and what skill sets are already present to determine what makes sense for the client, Byron said. Cost is typically a concern with customers. An engagement with an MSP can seem more expensive at first than simply keeping the tasks in-house. Enterprises need to factor in all of the costs over the lifecycle of the engagement (typically three years) and also take into consideration items they might not have been able to provide before such as around-the-clock monitoring, updating and accurate reporting and logging. These assets can prove invaluable during audits. Byron said that MSPs typically don’t increase a company’s cost when all aspects are taken into consideration.
Beyond cost savings The main driver of new clients may be budgets and security but Vranic and Bryon said that clients are also very interested in understanding how technologies such as cloud and mobility can be incorporated into their existing business to improve efficiency. Mobility in particular is seeing heavy interest from an IT management level, Byron said. Simply the predictability in cost and maintenance can be enough for some customers. Having an MSP monitor firewalls and other essential security tools can be reassuring. “[Enterprises] want that knowledge,” Bryon said. “It really does go back to the fact that if you have the knowledge then you can make the right decisions…where to invest their money and their time and their resources, and where they are going to get the value back for that.”
februar y 2012 | 19 | channel insider canada
TracKer neTwOrKs specIal bId prIcIng In The channel december 2011
eXplaInIng The “december drOp” phenOmenOn: where dId ThaT 18% gO? by JaSon Doel
D
uring quarter-end months a spike in bid activity typically occurs, and as December is both a quarter-end and for many companies a yearend, one might expect December to be busy. However, the volume of bids in the channel dropped significantly in December 2011, down 18% overall from November. In many ways this is counterintuitive, but not out of the norm. We observed the “December drop” in 2009 and 2010. This December we saw daily bid processing volumes increase through the start of the month and then peak at higher than average volumes around Dec. 16. The volume for the remainder of the month was then much lower as the holiday season kicked in and business activity dropped. The most likely explanation for the December drop is the holidayshortened month. The six-month trend lines continue positive. The 12-month trend line for hardware vendors has turned negative. This suggests that while things improved in the second half of the year, overall bid activity was lower in 2011 than in 2010. Anecdotally we can report that expectations for bid processing speed have increased significantly. There are several solution providers using quote turnaround time as a competitive tactic, and the introduction of bid automation tools like our PriceTracker system have conditioned many in the channel to expect near real-time response. The data shows that despite the drop in December, year-over-year volumes increased 10% from 2010.
vendOr BId vOluMe By MOntH
Six month rolling trendline
vendOr BId vOluMe By MOntH
Twelve month rolling trendline
vOluMe OF SPeCIAl PrICInG AGreeMentS In tHe CAnAdIAn CHAnnel
februar y 2012 | 20 |
channel insider canada
prOgram updaTes
aVema launches parTner prOgram fOr mObIle marKeT helpIng enable The waVe Of new smarT deVIces In cOrpOraTe seTTIngs, TOrOnTObased aVema crITIcal wIreless has a new channel prOgram fOr mObIle securITy.
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by ChriStopher rogerS obile device management (MDM) specialist Avema Critical Wireless has created a new channel program for VARs looking to take advantage of the Toronto-based company’s expertise in the mobile security. The program allows resellers to resell MDM services to their clients. Avema supports a vendor-neutral environment, which saves partners having to choose just one mobile device security system. Mobile device security couldn’t be a hotter topic. Mobility was featured as one of IT in Canada’s 2011 trends to watch, and Channel Insider Canada has recently devoted a cover to it. “Now that Android and iOS have become so popular, companies are looking for a way to manage that to allow employees to use their iPhones, Android devices, instead of just the BlackBerries now,” said Roger Yang, CEO of Avema Critical Wireless. The problem with most mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones is the lack of built-in security functionality. Most are developed specifically for consumerlevel use, tasks that do not require the same level of security as corporate data.
“most companies Will have to deal With enabling the mobility trend Whether they like it or not” Many vendors have stepped up with mobile device security products that can perform tasks such as wiping the device in case it is lost or stolen or enabling a secure connection to corporate data or desktops. Yang said that most companies will have to deal with enabling the mobility trend whether they like it or not, because the devices are finding their way into the enterprise – in many cases it is the C-level executives that are asking to have their devices enabled.
Avema’s MSM solution looks to enable devices beyond BlackBerry. Yang described two sides to the mobility equation: the users who have corporate-paid devices that are asking for iOS and Android when receiving new devices, and another segment of users who do not have corporate-paid devices but would like to enable their phones for work uses such as corporate email. Though companies may benefit from increased productivity, they may also lack the expertise to enable these solutions. This is where resellers can leverage Avema’s solutions. Yang said that many of the company’s reseller partners would deal with the same kinds of clients as Avema but not in the same area. He described a situation where solution providers that offer managed services around IT or outsourcing for desktop support may be approached by their clients to help them with iOS or Android mobile device deployment. “If they aren’t already familiar with that, then we can help them fill that gap,” Yang said. The Avema program will focus on a partner-to-partner approach, with potential for referral, sales agent or even white label engagements. “It depends on how involved [partners] want to get and how much volume they want to do,” he said.
februar y 2012 | 21 | channel insider canada
Focus on Financial
Cloud, mobile top BMO’s tech trends
The Bank of Montreal is keeping its collective eyes open for innovative technologies from large and small vendors. by Stefan Dubowski
A
s the senior business technology and vendor consultant for the Bank of Montreal, Mark Kovarski knows a thing or two about the financial industry and its computing requirements. In a wide ranging interview with Channel Insider, he framed 2012 as a year in which desktop virtualization, mobility, and cloud will begin to mature for financial institutions.
Current plans Asked about his current workload, Kovarski said his latest project has to do with meeting with technology suppliers and vendors to consider new, innovative technologies and opportunities. “It’s really how they can help the bank,” he said. “Technology is moving so rapidly. If you look at innovation as a whole, technology plays an important part.” As such, Kovarski has been holding court with a number of technology companies, investigating systems supporting cloudbased information access, mobile data management, and other concepts. It isn’t just the big companies that are attracting his attention – small firms, even start-ups, are on his radar. Kovarski said he isn’t the only one keeping an eye out for small, innovative companies. “I’ve seen a shift in that,” he said. “Large organizations are more open to talking to emerging vendors.” Private-cloud management is one of the areas Kovarski is investigating. “We’re just looking at where we can leverage those vendors, whether that’s for cloud management or mobile management.”
Line of business shift Asked to describe the pain points he sees line-of-business managers struggling with, Kovarski said it all comes down to market share. “At the end of the day they’re trying to see how technology will give them a competitive edge, how to enhance the customer experience of whatever product they’re offering.” The business manager’s point of view on technology is changing, he said. “There’s a major shift. They’re realizing that technology plays a key role. They’re more technically aware of what’s out there and the key capabilities. They’re starting to form technology groups within the lines of business.” He said he believes other organizations will undergo a similar shift, with the lines of business having more say over technology decisions than they have in the past. “They have the budgets,” he said. “That has always been the case. But given the rate of change and the fact that they want to move a lot quicker, they’re willing to take technology on more februar y 2012 | 22 |
directly than they have before.” This may be good news for IT managers and technology executives. Whereas it used to be somewhat challenging for them to explain to line-of-business managers the connection between technology investments and bottom-line improvements, it’s getting easier to shine a light on that link. “It’s easier to work collaboratively,” Kovarski said.
Mark Kovarski, senior business technology & vendor consultant, BMO
BYOD here to stay He said that he’s seeing the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement and the consumerization of IT impact technology plans “in a big way.” “I support it,” he said. “But people are going to need to get on top of it. One of the big reasons I personally cite is, down the road it’s going to be truly a requirement to attract top talent. We need to give people the flexibility to work from home, or on whatever device they prefer.” It comes down to the different ways in which people work, Kovarski said. For his part, he uses three information-access devices regularly: a tablet for reviewing presentations and other documents on the go, a smartphone for communication, and a standard computer for developing content at his desk. Information needs to flow smoothly between the different endpoints in order for him to remain productive. The Bank of Montreal uses virtual desktops to enable that. It not only gives organizations the opportunity to maintain control of BYOD environments, but it also reduces IT overhead. “The beauty for me is I have the horsepower,” Kovarski said. “In the past I’d have to order a new laptop with more processing power and more memory. Now, I can switch to a virtual instance, and because it’s running on the server I have the resources I need, right there and then. That’s something we never thought about when we researched the technology.” The virtual desktop has only been rolled out to a subset of the users, however, and the company doesn’t plan to offer it to everyone. Some users will still have traditional desktop computers as the organization comes to understand which technologies Continued on page 24... channel insider canada
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Focus on Financial Continued from page 22... make the most sense according to the employee’s role and requirements. “It’s not going to be a one size fits all.” The bank is also investigating software that presents a virtual instance to users’ mobile phones, so people can use their preferred personal handsets in a business setting. “That’s definitely something we’re looking at,” Kovarski said. Among the other technology trends that he and the organization are watching is private cloud computing. “For most large organizations, first it’s going to be building out the private cloud. In terms of public cloud, you see a surge in the uptake in software as a service, followed by infrastructure, then platform as a service. Software is taking off significantly.” Another noteworthy shift has to do with the role of IT in the enterprise. ““The era of IT innovation is upon us. I’ve seen organizations really want to become innovative.” That speaks to the increasing role of the line-of-business manager in technology, Kovarski explained. As the business side becomes more enmeshed in IT, there may be a diminished need
Financial tech beat From advanced data-access cards and mobile credit-card readers, to Canadians succeeding in the financial IT industry abroad, here are a handful of the latest banking-related news items from the IT in Canada network (courtesy of Dave Chappelle, editor, eWEEK Canada).
A new take on the punch card Most of us are used to punching numbers and commands into a bank machine. But what if we could conduct personal banking transactions by punching numbers and commands into our debit and credit cards directly? NagraID Security (NIDS), based in the U.S. and Switzerland, has unveiled its display cards, designed to let cardholders make payments and access their bank accounts even when users are nowhere near an ATM. Certified by MasterCard and Visa, the NIDS cards are the same size as typical credit or debit cards, but they feature an LCD screen and a 12-button touch-sensitive keypad. A custom firmware loading capability combined with a smartphone keypad enables advanced applications, including PIN protection, challenge/response, and transaction signing. “It took us many years to master the technology,” said NIDS CTO Philippe Guillaud. “Today and for the last three years, we are producing these cards with a near-zero failure rate. And we’ve delivered more than 2 million cards worldwide.”
Big future for mobile credit card reader NetSecure Technologies now offers a mobile credit card reader designed to help Canadian businesses take advantage of mobile payments. Called the Kudos, the reader transforms smartphones and tablets (Apple, Android and RIM) into payment-processing devices. “Canada is full of people looking to take payments
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NIDS’ display cards have keypads and LCD screens. for stand-alone IT organizations. Instead, technology leaders such as CIOs will either shrink in importance to provide little more than occasional support, or they’ll attain an even more strategic position helping the business side connect the dots between desired applications and the technology required to support them.
on the go,” said Dan McCann, president of NetSecure. “Small businesses that were once unable to provide a credit card option now have a quick and affordable way to meet customer needs. This has the potential to accelerate economic growth and significantly impact thousands of micro businesses in Canada.” The Kudos kit includes the swipe reader and an app. NetSecure charges 2.9% plus 20 cents per transaction. Research from Gartner and Juniper revealed that in 2011, 141 million consumers spent more than $85 billion using mobile payments. That’s expected to grow to $670 billion by 2015.
Telepin drops into Afghanistan Telepin Software out of Ottawa has announced that it will power mHawala, the new mobile financial services (MFS) offering from Etisalat Afghanistan. The deal includes central bank cooperation, banking ecosystem participation, utility merchant involvement, and salary disbursement, which enables complete mobile banking capabilities and future cross-border money transfers. While 95% of Afghanis have no access to banking infrastructure, they use mobile devices. International studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between having access to financial services and the stimulation of economic growth within countries. The service is an attempt to stimulate economic growth. Money in Afghanistan is moved physically, as it was in North America in the 19th century. People are paid in cash, pay for goods in cash, and send/remit money to friends in family through a physical people network in cash (the Hawala’s). “mHawala is the introduction of a money system whereby money will be used electronically, as we do here in North America, but through the use of a mobile phone,” said Telepin CEO Vincent Kadar.
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Focus On Security
The rise of the ‘higher-class hacker’ Attacks will be all the more sophisticated in 2012, calling for a sophisticated response from the channel. by Stefan Dubowski
B
lack-hat hackers are stepping up their skills to infiltrate computer systems. Whereas in the past, most would target vulnerable operating systems, now more of them are going deeper into the software stack, according to one McAfee IT security expert. Doug Cooke, director of sales engineering, Canada, said that 2011 saw more root kit activity, with hackers targeting the systems below the OS. “It shows greater sophistication,” he said, explaining that previous attacks didn’t require all that much skill. The new trend is different. “You have to use assembly and other detailed languages to do that sort of thing. You’re looking at a higher-class hacker.” People bent on stealing electronic information are pushing the boundaries into new areas, IT security experts say. It suggests a wealth of worry for end-user organizations – and a boon to technology security providers in the channel, particularly those that know how to deflect the latest attacks. McAfee expects to see sophisticated proof-of-concept codes exploiting embedded systems this year, designed to attack specific control functions in larger systems (automotive, medical devices, GPS devices, routers, cameras and printers.) Malware targeting the hardware layer will enable the attackers to gain greater control and maintain long-term access to the system, the company says. Attacks on industrial systems will ramp up as well, following successful attacks on SCADA (supervisory control and data access) systems in 2011. (Remember Stuxnet? That was the digital worm designed to compromise Iranian nuclear facilities.) As Cooke pointed out, SCADA systems weren’t designed with Internet connectivity in mind – but now that these networks are getting connected to the web, they may be vulnerable. “Certainly a target for hackers,” he said. There may be greater opportunities for the channel in areas such as industrial system protection and mobile protection. Cooke said digital thieves are more financially oriented than ever before. With more and more people using mobile devices for banking and payments, the mobile sector appears increasingly attractive to hackers. “We think the hackers will look for ways of doing man-in-themiddle attacks, because that’s where the money is,” Cooke said.
Mobile botnets Paul Pinkney, director of security programs and strategy with Symantec Canada, said that should come as no surprise. “The smart mobile device is no different from any other endpoint, he said, explaining that today’s smartphones have nearly as much processing power as desktop computers. That means the industry
februar y 2012 | 26 |
2012 will be the year of targeted attacks, said Paul Pinkney, Symantec. should be ready to see similar attacks – including botnets that recruit smartphones for distributed denial-of-service attacks. Targeted attacks based on compromised trust will be the attack angle of choice, Pinkney said. “Technology is getting better at isolating the broader attacks,” so customized attacks that target specific individuals and content may be the hacker’s best bet for 2012. “There’s a tremendous opportunity right now for partners to really educate customers about the challenges of security,” Pinkney said. One of those challenges has to do with predicting future threats – and if 2011 was any indication, 2012 could be a tough year to parse. IT security firm Commtouch found that email malware was surprisingly high in 2011, with major spikes in March and August, when outbreaks hit 20 billion emails on particular days. “In 2010 and before 2011 we would have said email-attached malware was a thing of the past, because levels were so low at end of 2010 and even in 2009,” said Avi Turiel, Commtouch’s director of product marketing. “The attack in March was a surprise,” as was the August aftershock. What drove the increase? Likely the attackers believed that people had largely relaxed their email defences. “People forget
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inject malicious code into the form, which then operates as an open door. 2012 will bring “more of the same, and it may get more pronounced,” he said. “We’re hoping we’ll have more in-depth conversations with our customers about how to protect their websites.” Robert Herjavec, head of IT security provider The Herjavec Group, said customers took to unified threat management (UTM) devices in 2011, purchasing appliances that combine antivirus, URL filtering, spam filtering and intrusion prevention. For 2012, the company expects to see more threats targeting mobile endpoints, and a greater call to get to know its customers even better than before. “The focus is going to be on knowing even more about the client’s environment,” Herjavec said, pointing out that this trend is ongoing. Four short years ago, the ratio of engineering staff members to sales staff at his company was one to one. Now it’s four to one as the business invests in the resources required to understand the threats and the solutions.
Softchoice aims to talk web security with clients, said Stephen Perciballi. you’re not supposed to open any attachments, because it’s been so long since attachments were a problem,” Turiel said.
blended threats Expect 2012 to bring more blended threats, and continued social engineering designed to compromise personal information, Turiel said. “The one we see most talked about is advanced persistent threats where organizations have invested in firewalls and anti-malware, but a really targeted attack can get through.” Organizations should be investing in services to inspect network traffic for suspicious data and activity – a PC suddenly performing numerous DNS lookups, for instance. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) will likely continue in 2012. “That’s something the channel might want to start looking at,” Turiel said. What are channel participants seeing? Stephen Perciballi, category leader, security at Softchoice, said hackers took the simple route in 2011, attacking web servers. “The majority of compromises we saw in 2011 were all based on compromising websites... or they would use that as a jumping spot into other systems,” behind the corporate network,” he said. Web server attacks “are relatively easy to execute for attackers. It doesn’t take that much experience to do it. And so many servers are vulnerable.” Blame poor programming, Perciballi said. “This is really where art meets science. It’s actually the websites that are vulnerable.” For example a web administrator might inadvertently program a vulnerable form online – hackers could
februar y 2012 | 27 |
what do the channel and the ultimate fighting championship have in common? Robert Herjavec, head of IT security provider The Herjavec Group (partnered with McAfee, among others), recently had the opportunity to converse with none other than George St. Pierre, welterweight champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts league – and the businessman discovered that he has something in common with the bruiser. St. Pierre told Herjavec that the strongest or biggest fighter doesn’t necessarily have the advantage. “It’s the most efficient guy” who has the edge, Herjavec recalled St. Pierre saying. Likewise in the channel, it’s the most efficient companies that pull ahead of the competition, Herjavec said. That’s becoming more and more difficult, however, as customer requirements change and technology advances. IT security makers may be tempted to bypass the channel to ensure end-user organizations fully understand and benefit from IT security solutions. “I worry about that from our suppliers,” Herjavec said. It’s up to channel participants to invest in their own knowledge and understanding of the technology – and their customers’ environments – if they mean to continue to operate as the bridge between end-user organizations and the vendors. That’s where Herjavec’s focus is for 2012. “We are trying to become an integrator that’s ahead of that curve,” he said.
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TEST BED
Test bed: Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet
The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet makes no attempt at appealing to the consumer crowd. by Christopher Rogers
Device: ThinkPad Tablet Price: $499.99 - $669.00 Release: August 2011 OS: Android 3.1 CPU: NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core ARM @ 1GHz RAM: 1GB Storage: 16 – 64GB Display: 10.1” 1280x800 LCD What the manufacturer says: “It has the body of a tablet and a head for business.”
M
ost Android devices have an identity crisis of sorts. They try to combine consumer and business features and never succeed much at the latter. The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet makes no attempt at appealing to the consumer crowd. Its industrial look, preloaded security and business apps, stylus and abundant input/ output options are targeted squarely at the enterprise. It’s no surprise this device bears the ThinkPad name.
Hardware The hardware is perhaps the best part of the ThinkPad. This is clearly where the designers spent the most time. Lenovo has made the device in the same vein as its ThinkPad laptops, and while it may not be the prettiest device out there, it is more than functional. The tablet sports a 10.1” display, at 1280x800 resolution. It’s a good screen size and the display itself is brightly lit. The display is coated in Corning Gorilla Glass that helps prevent scratches. The strong glass is required to handle the Lenovo stylus - a digital pen that slides away into the tablet for storage. The stylus has a plastic nib and takes two AAA batteries. One note, there are small dots that are sometimes visible on the screen at certain angles and in certain light situations. A
quick check online suggests that these are digitizer dots (used by the stylus). This is very similar to the dots we noticed on the HP TouchPad. The rest of the device is covered in a rubbery plastic that is easy to hold and handle. The ThinkPad weighs in at 715 grams and has a thickness of 14mm. There are a number of hardware buttons along the bottom of the device – the standard Android “home” button, a back key, a dedicated browser shortcut button and also a hardware button for orientation lock. The power/ lock button is hidden along the right side of the device where it is difficult to find. It’s also not a comfortable button to press, since it is sunk into the side and is easy to miss. The tablet has a volume rocker on the top as well. Inputs are plentiful, and one of the many business-oriented features of the tablet. There is one micro USB connector, a mini HDMI, one USB 2.0 connection (but if you choose to dock the device in the optional folio, the USB 2.0 port will be used), and a dock connector. There is also a three-in-one media-card reader as well. The USB 2.0 connection is a welcome addition to this device as it gives users the ability to plug most memory keys into the tablet directly. Charging the device is handled using the microUSB port and connecting to a PC or convertible power adapter. The internal storage for the device comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavours. Our review unit was the 32GB variety. The device is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core ARM processor, and 1GB of available RAM. Although this may seem like a lot of power for the device, during our review, we noticed multiple areas of slowdown where the ThinkPad simply struggled to keep up. Netflix was one app that seemed to produce this effect, especially when browsing collections (and when compared to other tablets). The
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slowdown is also quite noticeable even in browsing around the home screens. There are settings in the main menu to turn off additional features such as the home screen animations that sped up the device. This feature was absolutely necessary when using the optional keyboard folio – as our typing completely outpaced the device’s ability to process the words. Turning off autocorrect also helped this tremendously. Another helpful tool was the “multi-tasking” software button in Android 3.1 which allows users to quickly close open applications. Without these other applications running, the typing environment was much more tolerable. For those who take advantage of web conferencing, there are dual front and back mounted cameras on the ThinkPad Tablet – a 5MP rear-facing camera for photos and a front 2MP camera for web conferencing.
Accessories As mentioned above, the ThinkPad has an optional keyboard folio. Ultimately, the keyboard is a great addition and significantly improves productivity on the device. Along the top of the keyboard is a
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TEst BED on the device. Lenovo has packed the ThinkPad with a number of premium apps such as Documents To Go, Mobile Notes and others such as a USB Data Transfer Utility. There are also Lenovo home screen widgets such as the Launch Zone are little more than shortcuts, but add a unique Lenovo touch to the basic Android 3.1 interface. Our ThinkPad came loaded with a McAfee mobile security app that allowed users to locate the device if lost or wipe the device if stolen. There are a number of security-focused apps that go beyond the scope of what is normally offered in tablets as well. A full SD card encryption service for the device storage and the option to encrypt user data on the device provide additional security. Users must enter a PIN at the lock screen to decrypt the data when the device is turned on.
Ultimately, the keyboard is a great addition and significantly improves productivity on the device. row of shortcut keys for volume, settings, zoom and forward, back, play/pause. The rest of the keyboard will feel immediately familiar to any ThinkPad user. It replicates a laptop chiclet keyboard. It even has keys for ALT, CTRL, Tab, PgUp, PgDn, and arrows. Yet, unlike other tablet keyboard folios, it doesn’t feel cramped during long typing sessions. This review was typed on the ThinkPad Tablet and Documents To Go, which is an included basic office productivity app compatible with Microsoft Office document formats such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The folio is USB powered, not Bluetooth, because Lenovo said it was more efficient for the battery life of the device. It’s great to have manufacturers concerned about battery life and it shows with the ThinkPad Tablet. The battery easily made it through a day of persistent use with room to spare. The keyboard also sports a feature that will be instantly recognizable to any ThinkPad user – a red mouse nub and two mouse buttons. The mouse works as expected and is very accurate at controlling the on-screen cursor. The cursor functions just like a standard
mouse, and is particularly useful for navigating large text documents. Inserting the cursor where it’s needed in text sections is far easier using the mouse than tapping the screen. As mentioned above, the ThinkPad also has a stylus that can be used along with almost any of the device’s apps, though it works best with Mobile Notes, an app that allows users to write using the stylus in their own handwriting, which is then converted into exportable text. The handwriting recognition works well for the most part, but it is not at the same level as the handwriting recognition that some of the recent Windows 7 tablets have. The stylus is also handy for creative apps such as sketchbook apps where it can be used to draw and paint on a virtual canvas. It should be noted that when attempting to export a Mobile Notes document to Dropbox the app gave the error message that the feature had not yet been implemented.
Final thoughts After a few days with the device, it’s easy to say the ThinkPad is one of the better Android tablets available and perhaps the best choice for enterprises looking to incorporate a mobile OS device into their network. For the most part everything works as advertised. The folio and stylus make good on claims that the ThinkPad can be used for productivity tasks. The productivity software syncs with Google Docs or Dropbox and also works well, except in the case of the Mobile Notes app. This review was even written using the ThinkPad’s apps including Mobile Notes and Documents To Go. Where the ThinkPad falls behind is in the stuttering and lag that are admittedly apparent on many Android devices. However, with a name like ThinkPad, the tablet should be free of such hiccups.
Apps This review has mentioned a number of apps, most of which come preloaded
februar y 2012 | 29 | channel insider canada
PROS: Business first design Stylus integration Keyboard is well implemented CONS: Some apps lack functionality Keyboard requires USB Sluggish performance in areas
dIsTracTIOns
dIsTracTIOns, february 2012:
feaTurIng news yOu can’T use – buT shOuld KnOw. ThIs edITIOn: TIme bandITs
T
by Channel inSiDer Staff
he International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has decided to take more time to... decide on time. Last month the organization’s Radiocommunication Assembly announced that it is deferring the development of a continuous time standard to address concerns from countries that currently use the leap second in Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC). Implemented since 1972, leap seconds compensate for variations in the speed of the earth’s rotation within the UTC framework. Suppressing the leap second would eliminate the need for specialized time systems in computers and electronic navigation systems; but it could cause problems in the future, when the accumulated difference would reach a perceivable level (two to three minutes by the year 2100). Canadians among top tech finalists: From the thousands of submissions received from more than 80 countries, Canada is among the top-five nations with the highest number of finalists in the YouTube Space Lab competition, which challenged 14 to 18 year-old students from around the world to design a science
experiment that could be conducted in space. Six regional winners will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. to experience a ZERO-G flight and receive a Lenovo IdeaPad laptop. Two global winners will be announced; their experiments will be performed aboard the International Space Station and live-streamed on YouTube. In a global survey, Lenovo found that just 55% of Canadian students feel that it’s very important for the country to lead the world in science-related fields. This is the lowest percentage of students with that opinion among the countries surveyed. The Space Lab competition is designed to ignite students’ passion for science and technology. Anomaly, my Dear Watson? When an IBM computer named Watson beat a couple of Jeopardy champions last February, it opened possibilities for more than just trivia buffs and artificial intelligence aficionados, reports Vanguard, the defence and security magazine. As Anand Paul, the global government industry research relationship manager for IBM Research’s Watson Labs, told a SecureTech audience in Ottawa this past fall, the victory demonstrated the ability of a machine to
februar y 2012 | 30 |
learn within a particular domain. “Watson can make the necessary connections between large sets of dynamic data,” he explained, and provide an answer that may not “be readily obvious.” Paul suggested the Deep QA software behind Watson has the potential to help police forces and intelligence agencies with scarce resources sift through streams of data – including the 140 million daily Tweets and other social media postings – to link what otherwise might appear to be disconnected pieces of information. This item equals 20 hours of video: Sixty hours of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every minute – one hour of video every second, the website boasted recently. That represents an increase of more than 30% in the last eight months. Google’s video upload site also pointed out that it garners more than 4 billion video views globally every day, up 25% in the last eight months, and the equivalent of more than half the world’s population watching a video daily. In 2007, six hour of video was uploaded every minute. In 2010, it was 24 hours per minute.
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