Business

This article on the register says "BT reseller DMSL has created a IT repair service that will compete with the likes of the Geek Squad and PC World's Tech Guys by offering support services for home users and small businesses across the UK." - the difference being that the "FixITlocal" service will be operated by local resellers who have signed up to be part of the group.

I'm not sure how they plan to regulate and check the skills/credentials of each individual reseller (a simple "i agree to the PCA Code of Practice" checkbox just doesn't cut it!) , and looking at the sign-up form and text on the website leads me to believe that you have to attempt to sell their supplied products. It will be interesting to see if this has any impact on The Tech Guys.

• 31% of businesses surveyed do not use broadband... That's almost a third!
• of these, almost half reported that they simply weren't able to do so due to lack of skill or technical resources.
• The relationship between age of an owner and plans to introduce internet trading have a clear declining linear correlation (i.e. the young are more likely to use the internet for trading)
• 80% of businesses reported that they would need more skills in computer/ICT usage within the next 3 years.

The key areas for outsourcing are security and e-mail. Only a small minority of SMBs can see a time when their IT function is fully managed

...partners either renewing or subscribing to the Action Pack ... will be required to take an online course ... and pass the associated assessment (with a score of 70% or higher). We will require that Acion Pack subscriberse pass an assessment every two years.... most courses are an hour in length.

This is not just an isolated incident, according to reports from Geek Squad insiders alleging that Geek Squad techs are stealing porn, images, and music from customer's computers in California, Texas, New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere. Our sources say that some Geek Squad locations have a common computer set up where everyone dumps their plunder to share with the other technicians.