In addition, server solutions can be combined with 4way Solutions' complementary network and storage solutions, business continuity & disaster recovery and security solutions, and other offerings such as alignment, cost management, enterprise management and data centre relocation services to provide a comprehensive infrastructure solution to meet your business needs. In today's highly-competitive server environment, you have more options and greater flexibility when selecting a platform that provides the integrity, availability and operational benefits your organization needs.

Vendors continue to improve performance with more reliable, more robust, faster, and less expensive servers. And, 64-bit processors are now available across the entire spectrum of operating environments. Making the right choice and creating the best infrastructure, while maintaining flexibility to support the dynamics of your organization, can prove to be a challenge.

Now is the time to re-evaluate your information management strategy – and 4way Solutions can help

4way Solutions has developed an information management framework, which provides a road map to build storage infrastructures that best, suit your specific goals and objectives. This framework aligns all of the strategic goals, tactical drivers, and issues within the storage infrastructure, including information, life cycle management, storage resource management, data retention, archival and replication, and operational backup and recovery. It is imperative that the all of these specific-focused areas complement and build upon each other in order to have an effective storage strategy.

4way Solution’s information and storage solutions utilise an end-to-end methodology, which includes assessment, design, implementation, management, procurement, and financing services.

Explosive growth and demand for storage, coupled with the advent of networked storage technology and information litigation, has revolutionised the data centre and repositioned information at the forefront. This technology revolution has caused an evolution in the principles that surround information and its management; data is no longer just static bytes, it is a living entity now called information. 4way Solution’s storage solutions address all facets of your information management strategy. We provide robust, proven, and documented solutions for information policy and information life cycle management, storage resource management, tiered storage, data archiving, mobility and replication, operational backup & recovery, disaster recovery and business continuity, and the networked storage technology infrastructure to support your IT enterprise.

Now is the time to re-evaluate your information management strategy – and 4way Solutions can help

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.