Comms Dealer

 Longer business cycles and the move to cloud alternatives have caused the global enterprise telephony and UC market to dip 1% in Q4 2015, and drop 5% for the full-year to $7.4bn.

According to IHS Technology's latest figures, north America notched up 6% growth for the year, while the rest of the world recorded an 11% fall.

Pure IP PBXs were the only segment to post year-over-year growth (6%), but it remains almost half the size of the hybrid segment.

"Though UC demand has been strong over the past two years, revenue came to a halt in 2015, falling 2%," said Diane Myers, Senior Research Director.

"The decline is attributable to pricing drops as more and more UC functionality is incorporated into PBX packages, the move of UC applications to the cloud and the general competitive environment."

IHS Technology's research also found that PBX line shipments were slightly down in 2015; and hybrid IP PBXs (which appeal to businesses that want to minimise upfront capital outlays on handsets) continue to dominate; and UC platform licenses grew 10% last year.

"As enterprises migrate to IP and UC solutions, the top PBX vendors remain in a battle to gain customers and hold onto existing ones," added Myers.

"Cisco led all vendors for the full year 2015 (35% share), followed by Avaya (17%). On the UC front, Microsoft continues to have strong sales, which it looks to carry over to the voice side."

Cloud DR specialist Druva has sharpened its focus on the UK channel and signed up two new partners, infrastructure and networking specialist LAN2LAN and service provider Oriium.

They will offer data protection and governance services for mobile and distributed data, including data hosted in the cloud such as Office 365.

Druva has also launched a dedicated partner portal for MSPs alongside a new management platform that runs converged data protection services for customers based on the public cloud.

Working with MSPs, Druva aims to offer data back-up and governance solutions using Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

"The focus is the public cloud with the likes of AWS and a concentration on expanding in UK&I, DACH, Nordics, Benelux and Iberia," said Rick Powles, Vice President EMEA at Druva.

"The channels are all different - some are cloud specialists, others are traditional resellers with growing MSP business, but there is no one vertical market.

"Some have offered disaster recovery and protection, but based on servers, and they have nothing for end users with tablets and phones.

"Druva has a strong mobile story and data protection requirements are evolving as companies make more use of cloud computing and employees seek to work where it suits them to be, rather than solely in the office.

"This means that traditional data protection tools are no longer fit for purpose.

"Providing a data availability and governance solution can help MSPs fill the gaps that are developing in their customers' data protection strategies. This is not just about protecting end points, apps should also be protected."

Powles plans to take the DR proposition to 'different markets by taking to different people', pointing out that it is not just the data centre manager who is the target, HR and finance departments are also in the frame.

This means that Druva's offering can be positioned on cost as well as coverage. It should be cheaper to run on AWS, he says, as well as appealing to the household names as customers who are already running it on AWS.  

Big data integration software specialist Talend is driving growth in its European VAR programme which currently accounts for almost 20% of its total new software business in Europe.

The value added resellers programme in Europe was launched in March last year and has focused on new market opportunities in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Up to now, Talend has on-boarded 30 new reseller partners while the total number of contracts during the first nine month of the new programme duration climbed to 20% of its new subscription business.

"Our VAR programme has produced significant growth and momentum since it kicked off, enabling us to keep pace with the increase in product demand we are experiencing.

"Importantly, the programme is empowering participants to expand their relationships with existing customers, acquire new clients and drive new and recurring streams of revenue," said Francois Mero, senior vice president of sales EMEA, Talend.

With Aruba and enterprise wireless proving to be one of the more dynamic parts of HPE's portfolio, judging from its latest figures, and as the second placed brand in the market after Cisco,

Distributor TD Azlan is fast-tracking HPE partners onto the Aruba product range with the roll out of educational and marketing tools. 

Jonathan Kaiser, Head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Products at Azlan, said: "The investment Azlan is making and the resources we are providing will enable HPE resellers to learn about Aruba technologies, explain the added value for their customers and start driving incremental business as soon as possible."

Simon Ewington, Vice President, EG Distribution EMEA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, added: "Our new partnership with Azlan will enable us to reach out to the entire HPE partner community in Europe."

Claranet has taken steps to ensure that customers maximise their user experience with a ramp-up of its training operation.

The company is working with Train to Win.tv which offers web-based and on-site telecoms training.

James Mitchell, Claranet's UC Product Manager, commented: "We want our customers to get the most from our services, and an important part of this is understanding the full range of features available to them. Training has a crucial role to play here.

"While our customers already tell us about the flexibility, efficiency and improvements to customer service that their UC solution provides them, we are always looking to help our customers do more with what they have."

Train to Win.tv MD Julie Mills added: "We have a shared vision on how best to help customers solve key business challenges by leveraging the benefits of Claranet's platform."

snom has launched the Snom Innovation-Output (Snom IO) platform, allowing thousands of developers to create integrated applications into Snom's IO ready IP business telephones, which enable the telephone to host personal, business, video, IoT, vertical and PBX applications.

These new capabilities mean that developers, integrators and solution providers can create and globally distribute application that deliver specific capabilities directly on users' desktop telephone.

Nadahl Shocair Group CEO, said: "This will enable businesses to utilise more sophisticated and specific functions for their people, allowing them to configure their desktop telephones around the way they work.

"This delivers efficiency, cost reduction and increased employee performance and, therefore, empowering and improving the way people work and interact with the world around them."

Paul Clark has stepped in as VP and MD of Plantronics' Europe and Africa business, taking over from Philip Vanhoutte who exits this month following a 12 year stint with the firm. Clark previously led the Northern and Eastern Europe, Russia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions.

"Paul has deep knowledge of our business, customers and partners and his strengths in global collaboration position him well to help take our company to the next level," said Ken Kannappan, President and CEO, Plantronics.

Clark added: "With the inexorable rise of professional and personal communications, where we are increasingly finding ourselves time-poor, it is exciting to lead a business committed to helping people improve their connected lives."

Clark joined Plantronics in 1994 and became EMEA Marketing Director, spearheading the launch of an international reseller programme and Plantronics' consumer business.

Clark was also instrumental in launching the Plantronics Connect Partner Programme in the Russian and Eastern European markets.

He has also held a number of executive positions in sales, product management and marketing across the consumer, SMB and enterprise segments.

Clark holds a first class honours degree in Electronic Engineering and a business administration degree from Durham University. He also studied strategic marketing management at Harvard Business School.

EnGenius has commended Nimans for its work in establishing the brand in the UK wireless communications market.

Vincent Chng, Senior Business Development Manager, EnGenius, said "With the addition of the wireless data portfolio of EnGenius, Nimans now offers a full portfolio, where we expect the proportion of EnGenius in 2016 will grow enormously in the UK."

Nimans is the exclusive distribution partner of various products including the Extreme cordless telephone that offers coverage up to 2km.

Phil Collins, Head of Purchasing at Nimans, added: "EnGenius has become a growing part of our product portfolio. We look forward to an ever closer working relationship with them to offer resellers more ways to capture more business."

New Star Networks (NSN) Channel Director Ryan Kersey cracked open the bubbly to celebrate NSN's most profitable bill run since the business launched in December 2010, driving record breaking revenue and margins from the channel operation.

"The February bill run confirms the success of NSN's cloud telephony strategy and that our joined up channel marketing programme, Affinity, is delivering the goods," he enthused.

Pictured with Kersey are Ewelina Oszust (left), Office & Business Process Manager, and Katy Brown, Corporate Account Manager.

Hamilton-based Cisco partner Provista UK is forecasting sales to jump by a third this year and plans to boost staff numbers but almost 30%.

The firm celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and is targeting £7m annual revenue, up from £5.6m in 2015.

Director Stuart Little said: "Ten years ago, a few of us spotted what we believed to be a real opportunity in the market, the need for an independent firm to offer expert consultants, right through to the build, supply and maintenance of technological, network and video solutions.

"Since then it has been a decade of cautious but consistent growth, using profits to expand organically, making sure to retain the culture of our brand.

"With that careful attention and by sticking to our ethos of placing the customer at the heart of operations, we have been able to grow to the scale whereby we can deliver solutions for a client of any size, anywhere in the UK."

Provista specialises in UC, secure wireless, IP security and IP LAN and WAN networks. Its clients include Baillie Gifford, Wood Mackenzie, Canadian Natural, Scottish Parliament and Greater Glasgow NHS.

The firm currently has 30 staff and aims to expand into the north of England.

"It is a truly exciting time to be part of Provista UK, " added Little. "While we are still the underdogs compared to the household names we truly believe we have an offering that goes above and beyond.

"Our team have extensive experience in security, wireless, data and voice solutions, with particular expertise in unified IP converged environments.

"In an ever-changing industry we can't wait for what is certain to be a hugely exciting next ten years."

Provista UK was named Cisco Scottish Partner of the Year in 2015, and is aiming to achieve Cisco Gold Partner status, the highest partner level, which would make the company the only Cisco Gold partner headquartered in Scotland.