A slice of channel history - PART ONE
In this two-part timeline article to celebrate the 30th birthday of the CRN Channel Awards this year, we look at a potted selection of the headlines and goings-on over the last 30 years.
The UK channel and wider IT industry has always been a lively place to exist, and there is never a dull moment.
Over the years we have seen multiple spats between various vendors and their channel partners over changes to channel strategy/MDF/payment terms plus much more; we have seen certain vendors competing with their partners with their direct business, cutting partners out of the loop completely and then just turning full circle back to indirect; and we have seen more mergers and acquisitions than we have had hot dinners over the years. Plus all the people comings and goings that are too numerous to mention.
In the below article, we slice up the Channel Awards' 30th birthday cake and take a trip down memory lane to skim over a selection of headlines and events spanning the 15 years between 1993 - 2007.
1993
Jan Murray sells PC World Plc, along with Vision Technology Group, to Dixons Group for around £9m
Computerworld up for sale as administrators move in
SCH opens the first of its Byte stores in Gateshead
Azlan floats on the stock market
Microsoft overhauls its channel strategy, with resellers made to deal with distribution rather than directly with the vendor
P&P announces it is pulling out of distribution, with Merisel buying its wholesale business
Lou Gerstner becomes CEO of IBM
1994
Mike Norris is made general manager of sales and services at Computacenter
P&P buys Computers for Business Scotland for more than £6m
Amstrad withdraws from the retail channel
Compaq UK announces plans to double its channel marketing funds in major push
Elonex prepares for stock market floatation within ‘next two years' and brings in industry veterans Steve McCall and Jamie Minotto
Commodore (parent of Commodore 64) declares bankruptcy
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos, starting life as a website selling just books.
1995
Amstrad buys Dataflex Design
Retail distributor Gem is bought by Sharptext in a £4.5m deal
IBM and Lotus merge after IBM launched hostile takeover bid which is eventually accepted at $3.6bn
Morse buys out from VC backers
Microsoft is barred from taking over Intuit by the US Department of Justice
Microsoft launches Windows 95
John Chambers becomes CEO of Cisco
1996
Rumours are rife that Sun is set to buy Apple, but the deal falls through on price. Sony and IBM are also reported suitors.
Escom goes bust
CHS buys up Merisel's European operation
Cisco buys Stratacom for $4bn
Skywell falls into the hands of receivers
Sage launches a takeover bid for rival Pegasus
Tux the Penguin, created by Larry Ewing, is unveiled as the Linux mascot
1997
Tech Data eyes UK after German buy
Compaq buys Tandem
Ellison's latest bid for Apple crumbles
Steve Jobs becomes Apple CEO
1998
Mulligan walks away from Datrontech MD position
Microsoft acquires Hotmail for an undisclosed sum
Memsolve directors in VAT fraud investigation
AST exits the PC market after 12 years
Compaq chops senior partners in sales rejig
Computacenter begins flotation on the London Stock Exchange
Novell announces plans to slash European distributor numbers
Dixons snaps up SCC's Byte chain of stores for £5m
Google is officially launched by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
1999
Insight puts end to Action takeover bid
250 staff face the axe as GECITS quits PC business
Compaq culls reseller margins
SCC acquires part of Elcom International's UK reseller business (formerly known as Lantec) for an undisclosed sum
Principal Distribution enters receivership
Industry concerns mount for Millennium Bug - but luckily it was a damp squib
Carly Fiorina becomes HP CEO
2000
Receivers move in at Datrontech
Jungle.com acquires Software Warehouse. Several months later it is sold to rival Great Universal Stores for £37m
Gresham Computers issues profit warning
Ballmer becomes president and CEO of Microsoft
Tech Direct Europe placed in administrative receivership
Bell Microproducts buys Ideal Hardware for £18m
Rumours emerge that SCH and Computacenter are mulling a bid for Compel
Pegasus allays partner fears after cancelling its annual reseller conference
Love Bug virus causes billions of pounds worth of damage
2001
Compaq divides channel unit
HP recommits to the channel
C3000 faces final curtain after trade creditor ETI pulls cover
5,000 Compaq jobs to go
HP and Compaq merge in a deal estimated at $25bn
Microsoft launches Windows XP
2002
Landis UK gives up the fight
Time is up for Tiny Computers
ETI withdraws Ideal cover
Sam Palmisano becomes CEO of IBM, taking over from Lou Gerstner
2003
Actebis deal falls through
Buyers line up for Micro Warehouse
Dell delves into channel
Diagonal move splits company
2004
HP cans Centres of Excellence Scheme
Acquisition hungry Bell eyes OpenPSL
Dixons acquires Microwarehouse for undisclosed sum
Sun Microsystems and Microsoft come to $2bn agreement after years of legal wrangling
Ubuntu, a Debian-based Linux distribution, is launched. It is still one of the most popular Linux distributions to date.
Mark Hurd becomes CEO of HP
2005
InTechnology warns of challenging time ahead
Hurd promises to simplify HP for partners
Morse sees profit jump as restructure pays off
Equanet sold to Dixons for undisclosed sum
2006
Arrival of VADition stirs up the distribution mix
Microsoft ready to shake up distribution strategy
Avnet exits InTech race to clear path for Arrow
Dave Atherton sells Dabs.com to BT for £30m
Elonex goes bust
2007
Dell woos resellers for PartnerDirect scheme
Westcoast subsidiary Orion swoops in to acquire XMA for an undisclosed sum
Rivals line up to pick over Maverick assets
Evesham sales raises concerns
Avnet snaps up Magirus arm for undisclosed sum
Entries for this year's Channel Awards close on Friday 30 June. Please click here to have a look at the full range of categories available to enter, or to start your entry.
Coming Soon! Keep your eye on Channelweb for the second part of the Channel Awards 30-year timeline. Do let us know if we have missed anything major out!