Comms Dealer

Veritas Technologies has named David Noy as VP of Product Management. He will oversee product management for the Veritas Software-Defined Storage (SDS) and Appliances portfolios as well as the appliances support, manufacturing and supply-chain functions.

Noy joins from Dell EMC Isilon where he was vice President of Product Management and Marketing, leading the product management team to develop and execute on product strategy and roadmaps.

Before joining Dell EMC, he was Director of Product Management at NetApp and was responsible for NetApp's big data strategy and competitive insights teams. Prior to that, he was Director of Product Management for the Veritas Storage Foundation product line at Symantec.

Leaders of European artificial intelligence and robotics firms are among over 100 signatories to a letter to the United Nations calling for action to prevent the development of 'killer robots'.

In the letter to the organisation, AI leaders, including billionaire Elon Musk, warn of 'a third revolution in warfare'. AI is already getting a bad press in some quarters as a result of predictions that large numbers of jobs will disappear as a result of robots taking people's jobs.

The UN letter claims the human race now faces a rather more serious threat: being wiped out by lethal autonomous robots used in warfare. The letter says the world is now facing a 'Pandora's Box'.

AI leaders state, 'As companies building the technologies in artificial intelligence and robotics that may be re-purposed to develop autonomous weapons, we feel especially responsible in raising this alarm.

'Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at time-scales faster than humans can comprehend.

'These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways. We do not have long to act'.

The many European technology leaders signing the letter include Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google's AI company DeepMind, headquartered in the UK. In 2015, in another letter, over 1,000 technology experts warned about the dangers of autonomous weaponry, including scientist Stephen Hawking, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and, again, Elon Musk.

Mark McHale has been promoted as the new VP of Arrow's Enterprise Computing Solutions business in the UK and Ireland.

McHale was previously MD for Arrow's Data Centre Solutions division.

McHale succeeds Jesper Trolle who has been promoted to president Americas of Arrow's Enterprise Computing Solutions business.

McHale joined Arrow just over 30 years ago and became a member of the UK and Ireland management team over a decade ago.

Snom's new C520-WiMi conferencing solution is targeted at companies of all sizes requiring flexibility and independence as a key benefits when conferencing.

DECT and Bluetooth technology aids teamwork and three microphones ensure voice quality. One microphone is integrated into the base unit together with the full-duplex speaker, while two other cordless DECT microphones can be set up anywhere in the room and/or passed on to whoever is speaking.

The C520-WiMi features a Bluetooth interface which enables mobile or DECT telephones, such as smartphones, to be connected and used.

The C520-WiMi conference system can be extended to facilitate telephone conferences with large teams. The additional C52 speaker units are paired with the base unit in this case, thereby increasing the range of the speakers and microphones.

Nimans cooked up a charity treat by hosting a staff BBQ which raised almost £300 for Cash4Kids - a project which supports children aged 0-18 who are disabled, disadvantaged or suffering from abuse or neglect. The lunchtime event, spearheaded by the company's very own 'MasterChef' and Head of Sales Operations Mat Weall, was held at the company's Manchester headquarters and saw staff enjoy burgers, hot dogs and ice creams plus some rare north west sunshine.

DISTRIBUTORS are evolving to address the shift towards Managed Services and Cloud-based applications which are driving much of the growth across the UK ICT sector.

According to the latest research from IT Europa and Gartner respectively, Europe's leading distributors increased their share of the supply chain, growing their revenues by an average of 5.4% while overall the ICT industry grew by just 0.3%. The UK overall experienced growth of 6% - higher than the European average of 5.4%.

IT Europa's latest database report 'Distributors in Europe', describes an industry that is changing fast. While consolidation and organic growth are making for economies of scale, and portfolios are expanding, the costs of doing business in the world of complex services and emerging technologies is increasing. The larger distributors, who have been advancing into cloud, analytics, IoT and other areas, have invested in staff and training, with numbers employed in the top 500 in Europe rising to over 103,000 from just over 100,000 in the last study.

The twenty-plus publicly quoted distributors in Europe managed to lift their sales in 2016 by just 2.58%, while smaller independents did over 10% better.

The total revenues for all companies in 2015 was $142.84bn (€132.38bn) with a total staff figure of 103,034. Overall, total revenues of all companies increased 5.42% in 2016 (based on 2016 revenues) compared to the previous year.

The 'Distributors in Europe' report provides in-depth profiles of Europe's leading distributors including: 20 parent companies, 144 subsidiaries, 314 independents, and 22 publicly-listed companies. Priced from £2,350, The report is available from IT Europa (www.iteuropa.com).

Of various client and prospect meetings over the last few weeks two have stood out in my mind. You might well call it a Tale of Two Employers. Why? When it comes to employing staff today - it seems that this is the best of times and the worst times, writes Clive Jefferys of Telecoms recruitment agency JMA Network.

Both companies called us in to advise on recruiting for key positions. One needed to replace lost staff, the other wanted people for expansion. Both organisations are outwardly successful and profitable, but two very different mentalities rule within.

On one hand, the conversation was dominated by why people resign from their job. The other was all about how to attract them. One laboured on about recrimination, the other spoke of desire and ambition for the company and the people that make it. It's hard to confront issues sometimes and I don't sit in judgement - but above all else, one company simply refused to accept that this is a candidate-led market. The other embraced this fact wholeheartedly.

Its leaders enthuse about offering more holidays, shorter working hours, flexi-time, home working, better pay, employment incentives. Yes, you've heard it all before from the HR handbook. But you cannot deny that happier employees make for more productive and creative ones too.

So, when it comes to recruitment, in-house or using agencies, it's so much easier if you have a market-leading employment package on offer. It's not rocket science, it may feel costly on day one, but the long-term rewards for your business and its bottom line are much greater.

Distributor ALSO Group has reported a net profit of €36.9m in the first half of the year, an increase of 32.4% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Profit before taxes climbed by 27.6% to €51.4m. Net sales increased by 9.5% to €4.1bn.

In the Central Europe market segment, which encompasses Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland, net sales rose by 9% to €2.5bn.

In the first half of the year, the Solutions business grew by approximately 10% and the Services business grew by approximately 40% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Of particular note are IT as a Service and Logistics as a Service, which developed favourably by 45% and 60%, respectively.

An update from M24Seven following its acquisition of Venus Business Communications in March this year outlined a stronger channel proposition headed up by newly appointed Channel Director Will Brooks who introduced a partnership programme divided into three categories - reseller, referral and wholesale partners.

"We want to take the best aspects of all the partner programmes across the businesses which have come together to form M24Seven," he explained.

M24Seven MD Neil Rampe added: "The acquisition of Venus and integration into M24Seven means better productivity and efficiency through a greater range of services and capabilities.

"Our channel partners and customers can now focus on their growth, their business and their objectives while we deliver connectivity without compromise."

Former Venus Business Communications Director Brian Iddon commented: "Our reseller network will transfer seamlessly into the M24Seven partnership programme where they will experience increased levels of support."

M24Seven now employs 230 people across six sites including Manchester, Newcastle, London and Bucharest.

Comms Dealer sister organisation IT Europa has reported 'huge interest' in this September's Managed Services Summit to be staged in London, with record sponsorship across all levels.

Event sponsors now include Datto, Highlight, Kaspersky, Mimecast, SolarWinds MSP, Autotask, Cisco Umbrella, ConnectWise, DataCore Software, ESET, ForcePoint, ITGlue, Kingston Technology, WatchGuard, 5NineSoftware, Altaro, APC by Schneider Electric, Beta Distribution, Continuum, Deltek, Egenera, Intronis MSP Solutions, Kaseya, RapidFire Tools, Webroot, plus media partners IT Europa, Comms Dealer and Computer Weekly.

The agenda for the event includes Keynotes from Research Analyst Gartner on what it takes to sell digital transformation, advice from GDPR legal experts Fieldfisher, as well as presentations on merger and acquisition activity, looking at building value in the business.

Event content director John Garratt, Editor of IT Europa, said: "It is clear from our many discussions with vendors and channels over the last few months that there are still many questions to be answered - indeed, it is a moving target as the industry evolves to change alongside its customers.

"We aim to capture the position in September with clear insights and analysis, based on the real experiences of those involved."