Dell has added two certification paths to its PartnerDirect programme around its new networking and systems management technology. The vendor today announced the availability of both its PowerConnect J-Series networking solutions and its Dell KACE systems management appliances to the UK channel. To accompany the double launch, Dell is adding Networking & Security Specialist and Dell KACE Partner certifications to its PartnerDirect partner programme. This will mean partners who commit to staff accreditation and annual revenue targets on the two technologies will gain extra margins and sales support. Kathy Schneider, channel marketing and programmes director EMEA at Dell, said: “The J-Series products and the KACE Appliances are both key additions to Dell’s technology portfolio and will provide our partners with some incredibly exciting opportunities.”

HP partners are set to benefit from an influx of industry-ready graduates from 2015 following the introduction of HP-centric degrees. The vendor last week ann­ounced that the Univ­ersity of West England (UWE) is to offer an HP Enterprise Computing Degree, as it is provisionally known, from 2011. It will focus on technology from HP and its alliance partners, including Microsoft, as well as generic skills such as project management. Students of the four-year course will undertake internships at HP or its partners in their third year. Brian Fenix, client principal for unified communications and collaboration at HP, said: “We are working with UWE to ensure the students are the type of people we and our resellers want to take on. They will have an industry-recognised professional certification. That is a cost of training that partners will not have to incur.” Fenix said the degree will also teach soft skills, such as presentational styles and business acumen. Students will get a chance to network with resellers to help them secure jobs after they graduate, he said. HP’s other strategic university partner, Bucks New University, is likely to launch a similar course in the future and Fenix revealed the vendor is also in talks with a number of other universities about forming further strategic partnerships. Some of these relationships may centre more on research and development, however. Nick Grossman, corporate business development director at 2e2, said the degree could help to bolster the skills base behind HP’s more complex technologies. “This can only be very helpful to integrators like us,” he said. “We see very few highly skilled people other than those who have gone through accreditation tracks in previous jobs.” However, Paul Sweeney, managing director of ANS, argued that HP is playing catch-up to Cisco. “As a channel player we welcome anything vendors do to make graduates more industry ready, but Cisco has been doing it for years with its Academies.”

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Microsoft has extended the shelf life for its Windows XP software by five months.

The decision means that the six-year-old operating system will now be available until 30 June 2008 before it is taken off the shelves to make way for Vista.

A statement on Microsoft’s website said that because of customer feedback it now realised that the original decision to make XP available for only a year after the Vista launch was a “little ambitious.”

The software giant added the additional few months would help customers “that needed more time to make the switch to Vista.”

The XP date change applies to retailers and other manufacturers who sell Microsoft products. However, there is good news for those wishing to purchase a new PC with the XP software installed.

Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management, said: “Our plan was and continues to be that our system builder partners will be able to offer Windows XP until 30 Jan, 2009.”

Windows Vista, had a staged release between November 2006 and late January 2007 and since then Microsoft had sold more than 60 million licences for the new operating system.

However, in April this year, after PC maker Dell has switched almost all its computers to Vista, it was forced by customers to re-start sales of computers with XP installed.

Microsoft has also extended the availability of the cut-down version of XP, called Starter Edition, until 30 June 2010 as a result of increased demand for the software to run on low-powered devices made specifically for the developing world.

A representative for PC World told Computeractive that the extended shelf life was a “Sensible measure given the success of Windows XP as an operating system and a clear example of Microsoft acting as a customer focused organisation.”

However he said the retail store would consider to focus on Vista. “It offers the most secure and feature-rich option for customers.”

Hewlett-Packard has dramatically restructured Pay For Results rebates that has seen the removal of targets in favour of a flat fee based on revenues, which sources say could curtail the aggressive prices secured by e-tailers. As exclusively revealed by MicroScope last month, HP UK had been reviewing its Pay For Results compensation scheme and was expected to reduce the entry gate to earnings for its fiscal Q2 started this month to help partners in the downturn. This had been part of the original plan said Dave Poskett, UK director of the solutions partner organisation at HP, but the tougher market conditions has been such that “we needed to do something very significant for our partners”. “In essence we’ve taken away the target for partners and replaced them with a fee based scheme so that they will earn from the first dollar spent with us,” he said, adding this would make quarterly rebates more predictable. This change in PFR, Poskett added would help to steer wholesalers away from offering e-tailers’ deals at quarter-end to achieve their sales rebate targets, a practise which did not benefit HP or its channel, he said. The removal of PFR targets for distribution applies to all HP business units and resellers will see the same changes, aside from the Imaging and Printing Group where the entry level earnings gate will be reduced from 80% to 60%. The net result is that rebates have been taken away from entry level SKUs and are more slanted towards higher-end machines, which could have consequences for etailers who predominantly sell low-end systems. “This could hurt the consumer channel,” said one source, “HP has been paying e-tailers a ton of PFR for selling entry level machines and adding no value.” One distributor agreed, “I think the impact of this is that the ultra aggressive pricing into large customers is likely to reduce. Previously distributors would pursue e-tailers to secure lumps of business at quarter end to hit PFR targets.” The action taken by HP were positive for the channel said Andy Gass, managing director of Computer 2000, one of the distributors that had been calling for realism in vendor rebate targets last year. “This will help to make income streams more predictable in a challenging market,” he said.