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A message from TCA Chairman Adam Harris  I have now been CEO for 2 months, I have spent this time speaking to existing and potential members, understanding the things that we have done well but more importantly the things that you would like to see moving forward. For those of you that I haven't spoken to directly I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you either on the phone or via e-mail so that I can hear what you would like from the your association.
I have now been CEO for 2 months, I have spent this time speaking to existing and potential members, understanding the things that we have done well but more importantly the things that you would like to see moving forward. For those of you that I haven't spoken to directly I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you either on the phone or via e-mail so that I can hear what you would like from the your association. I have worked in the IT industry for 8 years, before this I worked in both the Education and Retail Sector and something that has become clear is a lack of transparency and responsibility within the sector. Whilst the various stakeholders have always talked a good game, the further you get towards the sharp end, the providers who fulfill end user expectation, the harder it is to have your voice heard. The TCA exists to represent the whole Channel and collectively we DO have a voice. For many years the TCA has been acting on behalf of the industry with regard to the activities of dominant players, on issues to do with standards of trading, and we have advised government in the UK and at EU level regarding various items of legislation, including WEEE, Consumer Guarantees and EMC, and we shall continue to do this. We have identified areas for improvement in our own internal systems and structures that will be vital for the continuing growth of the association. One of the perceptions of the PCA was that it existed as a 'drinking club', but whilst industry networking is vitally important there are many other compelling reasons why Trade Associations exist and why it is vital that we should have a proper and fully effective one in our channel. The decision to create the TCA and include the Professional Computing Association as well as the Mac Technology Association has been universally acclaimed as right and sensible. The industry is changing; convergence means that a company selling IT no longer just sells IT, they also sell a number of wrap around services, be that hosted solutions, broadband or telecoms. These new opportunities are ones that we all need to be aware of, educated on and understand how it they can be used to maximum effect. The larger players have a responsibility to give something back and support the independent resellers who are representing their products and services and selling directly to both consumer and business clients. The feedback that I have received so far from the resellers is that they feel this is often a one-way street and that they don't feel as if their opinion counts, the ironic thing is that the vendors, distributors and manufacturers need the resellers' input to continually improve and drive more sales for everyone. Vendors want to engage with resellers and the resellers want to feel heard - a key justification for all parts of the channel to be part of the TCA! In a climate which is uncertain the IT industry seems to be doing better than most, yet we still seem to fight amongst ourselves. I wanted to share with you a couple of things that I have been working on and will continue to develop over the coming months. Membership offering - We are going to simplify the membership structure and make sure there is significant, tangible, benefit in being a member. The new membership options mean that all businesses can fit comfortably and effectively into the association irrespective of the size or turnover of the business. We are here to serve you, the members, so anything that you need or want in order to improve your business - please let us know. Events - we have started to plan our events for next year with more focus on tangible benefits and outputs: the content will ensure you either save money, or present you with opportunities that will make you more money, or add value to your existing offering. Accreditation - time and again, people tell me that proper professional accreditation is vitally important for the future of the channel. Whilst the TCA would love to run its own accreditation scheme we simply don't have the resources or capacity to enforce and regulate it, so instead we will be working with those that can to continually improve the benchmark within our sector. We aim to let you know more details on this at our Neworking Christmas Dinner (see below) Finally, I welcome any feedback you'd care to give me, so please feel free to call me on 0845 634 9245 or e-mail me directly adam.harris@tcauk.org. The TCA is the vendor-neutral voice representing the industry - please make use of it. Adam Harris The TCA Networking Christmas Dinner is on Tuesday 8th December at the Novotel, Nottingham The dinner gives all of our members a great opportunity to network within the channel. This time we are including a wine tasting evening. Adam Harris will be outlining his vision for the TCA's future in an address to those attending. This event will also see the launch of the Premium Reseller Group, an exciting new development for the association. Costs for your Channel Networking Christmas Dinner 4 course meal including wine £49 - With free professional wine tasting! Accommodation, single, double or twin £95 - book direct with the venue - phone 01159465111 Special advance rate: Book dinner and accommodation with the TCA before 13th November & get Dinner plus B&B at 20% saving - pay just £114! Please call the TCA office to book either the dinner, or the inclusive Dinner B&B offer on: 0845 634 9245 CompTIA UK Reseller Forum & TCA CompTIA UK will hold its next Reseller Forum in conjunction with the TCA's December event on Tuesday 8th December from 1-5pm at the Novotel in Nottingham. CompTIA Reseller Forums are member-driven events that provide networking opportunities, education and business solutions, aiming to improve quality, reduce costs and increase profits. Current Forum initiatives are: unified audit procedures; reseller and service providers standards and benchmarks; establish best practice (Trustmarque). You can get further information about CompTIA and future events by contacting William Linard: wlinard@comptia.org TCA Member shortlisted in BCS Awards London based IT company, SoThin Ltd have been shortlisted by the British Computer Society in this year's UK Industry Awards. SoThin's Thin Client product is in the running to pick up this year's award for the Information Security Product of the year after being selected by the BCS. The awards are a new joint venture between the BCS and Computing, merging the IT industry awards and the longstanding Computing awards for Excellence to create one awards ceremony celebrating best practice, innovation and excellence. SoThin's Thin Client product turns Windows devices into Thin or Slim Clients and allows connections to any local or remote servers including MS Terminal Servers, Citrix Servers and Virtual Servers as well as continued use of local applications and resources if desired. Graham Owens, Operations Director at SoThin said "Reaching the finals of the BCS awards is a fantastic achievement and highlights the growing interest in Sever Based Computing and the long term cost savings it can bring to organisations. The current financial climate has lead to many organisations reviewing their IT budgets and infrastructure with the view to making significant cost savings. Our Thin Client product bridges the gap between the current desktop infrastructure and Server Based Computing environments and allows organisations to make the move without replacing their existing desktops" The BCS will announce the winners at this year's award ceremony, to be held at the Battersea Park Events Arena on the 12th November. Microsoft shops 'till the channel drops? Viewpoint by Robert French Microsoft shops will soon be selling products that use their software. Apple's shops already sell their own products. What affect does this have on the UK IT channel? In short, I don't think it is as negative as you might think. It should expand the opportunities for local resellers to service the needs of their customers through service support, consultancy and repairs. Previously, online web stores also expanded the opportunities for the local reseller as the more equipment customers buy the more it will require servicing and configuring! The key for resellers is to understand their customers' requirements and adapt their service models to suit customer needs. Cloud computing may offer a wide area network (WAN) solution with monthly payments and low upfront costs but the need to have someone local to help out with the technical issues and business requirements will always be there, resellers need to look at their service models and accept that they ride the waves of vendor technology and adapt their service and products to suit. Retention of customers is everything and offering them the right support and service package is key to retaining revenue that will keep the UK IT channel strong. Robert French is TCA Chairman and can be contacted at chairman@tcauk.org February Conference The TCA's OGM and Conference will take place at the Novotel, Nottingham, on 23rd February. We are lining up a superb set of speakers, all of whom will be aiming to help resellers develop their business in the most profitable manner possible. As well as hearing from and speaking with some of the market's leading vendors, this year, one of the channel's most colourful, and successful entrepreneurs, David Atherton founder of Dabs.com, will be discussing his rise to fame and fortune and the perils he's experienced, and overcome, along the way, and will be considering the opportunities and threats that face the marketplace in the future. Make sure it is in your diary now! 23rd February Thank you Enta, CRN, Intel … and lots of other TCA supporters. Keith Warburton writes: This past month we've been very busy supporting our members and attending events as well as working on some pretty major internal projects. We've met TCA Members (and signed up many new ones) at the Enta/Synaxon Reseller Event which Adam Harris reported to be very successful, and we've been at the CRN Channel Conference, the Intel Channel Conference, and at IT Channel Vision. I attended the Parliament and the Internet Conference and, among others, heard Martha Lane Fox speak there. In addition I attended the regular Parliament IT Committee (PITCOM) meeting. Chairman Robert French and CEO Adam Harris attended the CompTIA conference. Furthermore we've been helping the police with their enquiries regarding a certain "rogue trader" of which I'm sure you'll be hearing more in due course. If that wasn't enough we've moved offices and held our AGM as well. As I write we're in the process of getting ready to take part in Symantec's series of roadshows (see separate info), we've well under way with our Networking Christmas Dinner and we're organising our February conference. Other than that it's been pretty quiet here at TCA Towers! Martha Lane Fox, the original dotcom millionaire, is now "Champion of the Digital Inclusion Task Force", with the aim of creating better education, health, governmental and social opportunities for the most socially excluded people in the UK. The lack of connection for the old and socially deprived, and the way this limits their access to many of the benefits of the modern world was highlighted in the Digital Britain report, which showed that there are ten million people in the UK who have never gone online. There is a whole raft of statistics stating the economic benefit to the individual and the country if we remedy this situation, hence Martha's appointment. But the obstacles to success are many, not least being a distinct lack of notable government investment: long on intent but a trifle short on money. The two largest e-bandoned groups are the elderly and the unemployed. But the Digital Britain Report highlighted that these sectors either could see no advantage in getting on line, or else simply could not afford the technology; when you are scrabbling to feed your family or pay the fuel bill you don't immediately consider getting a computer as being a potential solution to your pressing needs. And once you've got it, you still need to pay for your broadband access. The government is going to raise a levy on all fixed phone lines in order to pay for connecting the unconnected. But then what? Are they going to give away several million computers? An industry colleague whose family work in education in a socially deprived area stated their view that e-bay would get very busy, as a lot of those households exchanged their technology windfall for more immediately useful cash. It was a previous prime minister who indicated that the solution to a lot of the country's ills lay in "education, education, education", and that, surely, is the solution to the problem of the digitally excluded. First ensure they are educated as to the benefits they can gain, whether or not that is via existing social projects, or in existing schools, but let us invest in these areas first. And then we should deliver the connectivity through channels that already exist and users are comfortable with, namely cable and satellite services. But who will deliver and install the solutions, whether they are indeed "computers" or an enhancement to current entertainment services? And which people are best placed to educate their local communities? It seems to me that the future holds plenty of opportunity for independent resellers, and we've indicated as much to Ms Lane-Fox. There's plenty of opportunity, as always the issue will be how to make a margin on it. Symantec Roadshow The TCA has some fantastic, supportive members, and we take every opportunity to make use of their events to catch up with as many of our members as possible. These days everyone, whether you are a vendor, reseller or trade association, has to maximise every opportunity and Symantec's latest update for the channel gives you just such a chance to come up to speed on their latest developments. This time round they are joined by both Microsoft and Netgear, and there's even a notebook giveaway (and we're not talking the spiral-bound type either!) You can meet up with either Adam Harris or me at the events. Book with Symantec through the link below, and send me an e-mail to let us know you'll be there. GREAT NEWS, the Symantec Small Business Roadshows are back and coming to a City near you during November and December. November 10th - Glasgow November 12th - Birmingham November 24th - London November 25th - Reading November 26th - Dublin Decemver 2nd - Manchester What will be covered?
For further details and registration go to: https://symantecevents.verite.com/smallbizroadshow Distance selling: ECJ Ruling confirms no seller compensation rights The European Court of Justice recently confirmed the right for consumers to withdraw from contracts concluded at a distance without having to compensate the seller. The decision serves as a reminder to online and mail-order retailers of European consumer rights. It also exemplifies why providing consumers with upfront information can be a useful countermeasure, reducing the period of time in which withdrawal rights are exercisable. The ECJ judgment (Case C-489/07) was given following a referral from a German court and in effect concluded that German law was not compatible with the European Distance Contracts Directive. Although Germany had implemented the right to withdraw, it was subject to a requirement to compensate the seller in a number of circumstances. The ECJ determined that general compensation requirements undermined the purpose of and were precluded by the Directive. The national law of Member States may only provide for seller compensation in exceptional cases, such as where the consumer has not acted in good faith. Consumer law in the UK is already in line with this decision. A consumer in the UK has the right to withdraw from most distance contracts as stipulated by the Directive. The effect of withdrawal means that the seller is under a statutory duty to return to the consumer all sums paid under the contact within 30 days. The seller may only charge for the direct costs of recovering any goods supplied, should the consumer not return them at its expense. Notwithstanding this, the sale terms of well-known online retailers often require the consumer to return goods unopened or reserve the right to charge a fee if goods are not returned in perfect condition. It is worth remembering that the right to withdraw is generally unconditional, even where the supplied goods are opened or a fault develops during the withdrawal period (although if it can be shown that reasonable care of the goods has not been taken, the seller may have a cause of action against the consumer). As the ECJ's decision confirms, the very purpose of the Directive is to give consumers a reasonable time to "examine and test" goods which cannot be seen prior to concluding the contract. The German case leading to the ECJ referral provides an example of why it is generally a good idea to inform consumers of their right to withdraw. The German consumer in question retained the right to withdraw a contract for a second hand laptop that developed a fault 8 months after delivery because the seller had not provided the consumer with the required statutory information. The situation under UK law is not as quite as harsh; the right to withdraw will expire 3 months and 7 days after delivery of goods where the written statutory information is not provided. However, this is still a significant period of time. Sellers would generally be advised to provide the necessary information on or before delivery to limit the right to withdraw to 7 days after delivery. Original text courtesy of Bristows, lawyers |
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GfK Marketing Services is delighted to support the PCA by offering a 50% rebate off PCA membership, to any resellers that join the GfK Reseller Panel |
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Tel: 0845 634 9245 Fax: 0845 634 9247 Email: admin@tcauk.org