Microsoft Summer School

Microsoft are running a scheme to help schools support their students in gaining  new and exciting App and Programming Skills as well as help them prepare for a Computer Science GCSE with a chance for 3 students to win a Windows Surface RT.  Also up for grabs is the opportunity for a top performing student from your school to be invited to Microsoft’s UK Head Office in Reading, Monday 16th September, for an exciting “Developer skills day session” accompanied by a representative from your school.

Tel: 0845 265 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk to find out more about how your school could become a ‘Microsoft Summer School’ and support your students to gain new and exciting App and Programming Skills as well as prepare for a Computer Science GCSE

McAfee is changing the endpoint market by offering the first endpoint suites featuring Intel and McAfee co-developed Deep Defender technology. In addition to being the first endpoint suite that can offer protection from chip to the cloud, these new suites also offer Real-time for ePO, making data collection easy and actionable.

For more information contact your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk

Because of our expertise and our success in EUC projects delivered to date, Phoenix was the first company to be invited by VMware to become an EUC Focus Partner along with a handful of other resellers who will all receive significant investment and resources from VMware and become the 'go-to' firms to take their end-user computing (EUC) products to market.

VMware is the global leader in virtualisation solutions and is one of the fastest-growing public software companies. Their strategic partner initiative (exclusive to the UK and Ireland) will see 12 value added resellers (VARs), including Phoenix Software, take part in the scheme and receive significant investment and incentives to promote this new technology.

Ed Dolman, VMware's Channel Manager for the UK and Ireland, speaking at a recent VMware Forum event at Wembley Stadium, said he is hoping that this investment in their initial chosen partners will ensure that their latest products are delivered to customers in the right way.

Sam Mudd, Director at Phoenix Software comments “for VMware to have  us listed as the first partner invited onto the project is validation of the years’ worth of focus and investment we have made in this area of technology. Our strength and reputation in this field has long been recognised by VMware and our customer base, and this further underscores the importance of it to VMware”

Apart from achieving VMware Premier Partner Status - VMware's highest level of partner accreditation - Phoenix Software has been named the EMEA and Global recipient of VMware's Desktop Partner of the Year award and the EMEA recipient of VMware's Partner Executive MVP award.

For more information contact Ben Rayner, VMware Business Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email: ben-rayner@phoenixs.co.uk

Adobe Creative Cloud changes everything and this June it all gets even better with more connected tools; fonts, files, and projects always in sync; your creative community just a click away.

• Work Wonders - Once you get your team on Creative Cloud, you'll never look back. The tools are constantly updated. Collaboration is faster than ever, and managing licences basically takes care of itself
• Up-to-the-minute everything for everyone - Keep your team on the same page with the entire collection of Creative Cloud™ tools. Everyone working on the latest versions of the same tools. Everyone sharing files from any device, and everyone stunned by the affordable price
• Meets your needs, even if they change every other minute - Creative Cloud for teams makes it fast, simple, and affordable to add or re-assign licences so you can scale with your workload while keeping everyone in sync
• Create. Collaborate. Iterate - Welcome to file sharing designed specifically for creatives. Every layer is maintained. Past versions are saved, and private folders control who can see your stuff. Save to the cloud right from your tools, or drag and drop to a desktop folder. Access files, edit, comment, and re-upload. With 100GB of storage per person, there's a lot of space to go around
• Questions? Adobe's best people are on it - Get unstuck. Learn something new and feel confident knowing that Adobe are right down the hall to help -  at least, that's what it feels like with Creative Cloud for teams. Every year, each member of your team gets two one-on-one sessions with an Adobe product expert. Ask whatever you like - they know the answer!

For more information contact your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk

From servers, storage and networking to PCs and tablets, Phoenix Software can now offer its customers hardware at competitive prices

The Dell Latitude 10 Tablet is built for business - Price from £375*

Thin, light and robust - this Windows 8 tablet has full PC functionality and support for your existing applications. Share, connect and increase the productivity of your staff with a tablet that’s designed for work and play:

• Secure and manageable – lock slot, optional fingerprint & smart card reader combo
• Windows 8 & Pro available
• Up to 10 hours battery life and swappable battery (selected configurations)
• Optional productivity dock
• 10.1” 10pt multi-touch display

Talk to your Phoenix Account Manager today on 0845 265 1265 and find out how a Dell tablet from Phoenix Software can help your staff touch the future …

Accessories
Also now available from Phoenix, Latitude 10 accessories can help your staff work more efficiently on-the-go:

• Dell Latitude 10 Productivity Dock
• Wacom Active Stylus
• Griffin Survivor Protective Case (coming soon)
• Kensington KeyFolio Bluetooth Keyboard and Case

Watch the Video
Latitude 10 Tablet - Product Walkthrough with the Experts
http://www.dell.com/Learn/uk/en/ukdhs1/videos~en/Documents~dell-latitude-10-tablet-product-walkthrough-video-1-7-13.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&modal=true&layoutvariation=modal&theme=default&delphi:gr=true#ooid=loaWI2ODqn7bmCoFJLKrB53sJLeZeM2F

 *Price excludes VAT and shipping. Based on the Latitude 10 Standard 32GB Windows 8 model

Revolutionise how software is requested, approved, procured and managed

Why SAM Director? 

• Streamline software requests, approvals & deployments
• Self-service improves productivity & user satisfaction
• Reduce software procurement costs
• Ensure only approved applications are deployed

SAM Director complements License Manager by extending an organisation’s ability to manage how software is requested, approved, purchased and deployed across the enterprise.  From an intelligent self-service AppStore of approved software titles to a comprehensive online sign-off process, plus the ability to feed SAM metrics and triggers to existing ITAM platforms, SAM Director is designed to help organisations move beyond Licence Management and establish mature Software Asset Management practices.

SAM Director comprises:
 
APPSTORE – provide all users across the network with self-service access to a virtual software catalogue populated with approved software titles.  Users can request software deployments, including business justification and timescale requirements

APPROVALS MANAGEMENT – line managers and department heads can view and manage software requests online, quickly approving, rejecting or re-routing requests as appropriate

LICENCE MANAGEMENT – via a direct integration with License Dashboard License Manager, SAM Director provides an instant view of licence availability as well as facilitating the inter-departmental transfer of licences as approved by the appropriate licence managers

PROCUREMENT – where licences need to be purchased, SAM Director can trigger the procurement process, identifying the appropriate suppliers for different licences and tracking progress

DEPLOYMENT – when a software request is fully approved and licences have been assigned, deployment teams can be automatically notified to deploy nominated applications to the appropriate devices on the network

SAM Director is the first Software Asset Management platform to connect everyone involved in managing and licensing the applications on the network, from end users to line managers, SAM specialists to procurement and deployment professionals.

SAM Director is available as an additional component to License Manager, or as an integral part of the Enterprise SAM solution for larger organisations.

To learn more about SAM Director, email info@licensedashboard.com or call • +44 845 265 1217 (UK/International) •1-855-773-3404 (US & Canada) • 1800 502 881 (AUS & NZ)

New research released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) suggests that 30% of small businesses in the UK are ‘knowingly under-licensed’. The research fails to identify the reason, but if the figures are accurate, it does suggest that SMBs are either simply not seeing the value in the commercial software they use, or fail to recognise the risks of being caught using unlicensed software (or, perhaps worse, perceive the cost of buying the software to be higher than the risk of getting caught).

Perhaps what the BSA and other licensing watchdogs need is a change of tact. Instead of (or, more realistically, perhaps as well as) publicising those organisations that end up significantly out of pocket following a software licence audit, perhaps there is an argument for those charged with protecting software licensing and intellectual property to talk in language that resonates better with SMB business owners?
 
Here’s a simple example. If a small courier firm had three of its vans taken off the road for not having insurance, could it still do business? Probably not; that’s why the firm accepts that van insurance is a necessary cost of doing business, even in economically tight times. But that same business may not immediately realise that its vans only go to the right places and they can only conduct their business (invoicing, payroll, scheduling etc.) because they use commercial computer software. If those applications were not available due to an audit identifying they were not licences, the impact on the business would be just as severe.

These SMEs need educating so that they stop viewing software as ancillary to their business activities, and instead realise their business relies completely on it. Failing to license properly is not an option.

What SMEs can – and should – do is minimise the cost of software and avoid over-spend. Just like they will spend time hunting for the best insurance prices, proactive management of their software licensing can deliver significant cost savings while also removing the risk of being found non-compliant.

Just as paying the van insurance, sales tax, payroll etc. is not optional – neither is paying for the commercial software used. But that doesn’t mean you should spend a penny more than you need to, or take advantage of different available licensing schemes to reap the full benefits of your entitlements. For many SMBs, the net effect of licence management can actually be positive – delivering bottom-line benefits back to the organisation.

Read more at http://www.licensedashboard.com/samblog/post/Striking-a-chord-with-SMBs.aspx#WlVPQOsFEkgvsfJI.99

Are your applications taking too much time and money to run and manage?

Is On Channel wasting valuable resources on under-utilised IT infrastructure?

While virtualisation is a sound choice for cutting costs, the prospect can seem out of reach for organisations without specialized IT support.

Keeping IT simple is critical for business success, as an inefficient IT system can lead to increased costs and budget pressure. ExpressPod™ is a smarter way to handle your IT needs, cutting complexity and reducing costs.

Make IT infrastructure management less daunting

For many small and midsize businesses, procuring and managing IT infrastructure is a challenge. Many organisations have too many systems - with individual servers dedicated to each application - and use manual processes to maintain and manage them. This environment is difficult to control, wastes resources, overburdens IT staff, and strains budgets.

But by using ExpressPod™ from Cisco and NetApp, your business can:

• 
  Cut Costs - ExpressPod with VMware lets you build cost-effective IT infrastructure
• Reduce Complexity - A consolidated approach simplifies management and automates operations
• Grow Efficiently - ExpressPod's standardised platform protects your investments in equipment, training, and applications

For more information, contact your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 2654 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk

Consumer-oriented file sharing products are great for vacation photos, but when your users start putting corporate data into the cloud, you’re in trouble.  You may not allow it, but how well do your users listen?

Perhaps it’s time you offered an alternative? Novell Filr gives mobile professionals direct access to the home folders, shared network folders and personal files you've already secured - no matter what device they're using or where they are. The difference is that it keeps file access and sharing completely under IT control.

Novell Filr:

• Leverages your existing on-premise file system
• Offers IT detailed sharing controls
• Works with Microsoft Active Directory and NetIQ® eDirectory
• Requires no recreation of access rights, quotas or backup systems
• Helps users not only share files, but collaborate on those files

Regain control over organisational data while providing users the mobile file access and sharing they want. It’s all possible with Novell Filr.
And, if you’re a Novell Open Enterprise Server or Novell Open Workgroup Suite customer, you can receive Novell Filr as an entitlement.

Find out more by contacting your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk

Exciting new capabilities include IPv6 and Windows 8.0 support, integration with Windows 2012 Server and Windows Server 2012 Essentials, and improved overall quality, performance and usability as well as FAKEAV detection and cleaning.

What sets Worry-Free Business Security 8 Standard or Advanced apart from the competition?

• URL Filtering and Web Threat Protection - increase productivity and security, hosted security technology stops web threats before they reach your  business
• Data Loss Prevention - blocks data loss and threats by scanning and controlling access by USB drives and other attached devices. Advanced version prevents loss of business information via email messages
• Comprehensive spam protection – Worry-Free Business Security Advanced software protects PCs, servers, and mail servers within one single, integrated solution – plus it includes multi-layer spam protection, for inbound email at the gateway and at the Exchange server

For more information contact your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email: info@phoenixs.co.uk