Comms Dealer

ALSO and Westcoast have joined forces to create what they claim is the largest Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) in Europe, offering numerous open services such as Microsoft Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM.

Joe Hemani, CEO of Westcoast, said: "Westcoast has enjoyed a good start to the cloud journey and we are seeing an increasing demand for our offers.

"The cloud market is growing fast and requires the highest level of automation and ease of use for the customer. Together we will continue to grow and and bring added value for our customers."

Gustavo Möller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG, added: "This cooperation is a great milestone for the ALSO Group, allowing our customers who are multinational companies in Europe to operate and expand the cloud business."

Ingram Micro Europe has gained certification as a Cisco Advanced Technology Distributor for Cisco Unified Computing System (ATD-UCS) in the EMEAR region, aiming to build its data centre business with Cisco.

With this new certification, Ingram Micro is now authorised to submit UCS B exception deal requests on behalf of non-certified two-tier partners as well as deploy and implement on-site installation services for these deals. It also means exception requests coming from Cisco Advanced Technology Partners can now be processed faster.

"We are now able to offer broader support and greater opportunities to the channel," said Mark Chlebek, Senior Director, Advanced Solutions EMEA, Ingram Micro.

Since earning the Build-To-Order certification, Ingram Micro says it has been able to help channels to cost-effectively increase the speed of delivery to end users and the ATD-UCS certification takes this one step further.

Philip Wright, Senior Director, EMEAR Distribution, Cisco, added: "ATD enables our distributors to differentiate, add competitive advantage and provide a more bespoke service to our Partners and their customers."

Ingram Micro's flyHigher program complements the ATD award by giving partners a structured path to acquiring the necessary skills for data centre opportunities.

Simon Fletcher has joined Real Wireless as CTO, moving from NEC Telecom Modus.

Fletcher brings a network of contacts to Real Wireless alongside a proven ability to lead teams in delivering technical projects while identifying and meeting new strategic goals for the wider business.

Her is a regular speaker at industry events and currently acts as Chairman of the Cambridge Wireless Future of Wireless Conference Organising Committee and Small Cell SIG Champion.

His long standing association with the UK Innovation ecosystem as a director of mVCE and the Innovate-UK ICT-KTN brings knowledge on the application of strategic research through open innovation to accelerate product and services delivery.

In recent times his focus has been on future cities and the application of 5G and IoT in industry verticals.

"Simon is a talented and knowledgeable professional and a perfect fit for the company," said Real Wireless CEO Mark Keenan.

"In addition to assuming technical responsibility across the company, he will join as a member of Real Wireless's newly strengthened management team. Here his leadership skills, detailed knowledge of sustainability strategy, and emerging technology insights will come together to help further build on the strength of the business, identify new potential value areas, and drive forward future growth."

Fletcher commented: "It's a great time to be joining Real Wireless as demand for wireless products and services continues to see massive growth with 4G rollout, 5G development and the Internet of Things to mention but a few areas."

A new study commissioned by Colt reveals continued insularity in the IT department, with 68% of CIOs basing pressured decisions on instinct and experience above any other factor.

Over three-quarters (76%) admit that their intuition is sometimes at odds with other sources, such as data or advice from third parties.

More than three-quarters (76%) of senior IT leaders felt more individual risk when making decisions since IT has acquired a more strategic role in a business.

The study also found that the majority (71%) of senior IT leaders feel that intuition and personal experience is, on balance, more effective than data intelligence when making decisions.

Asked to list four scenarios in order of importance when making decisions, the areas where professional experience trumped hard data included:

• When managing external events, more CIOs rated professional experience (69% ranked this as the top two most important) as being most important to making decisions, higher than using data and intelligence (66%)

• More IT leaders felt that when responding to emerging customer requirements, professional experience (67%) informed effective decisions, rather than relying on data and intelligence (61%)

• Significantly, professional experience was considered of higher importance (63%) than data and intelligence (56%) when dealing with changing compliance regulations

Carl Grivner, EVP at Colt said: "IT leaders need to embrace their growing strategic role and work collaboratively with other business partners to drive innovation and create a competitive advantage.

"The research indicates the IT department is often too insulated. When the stakes are high and a CIO is feeling the pressure to make the right decision that will result in business and career success - the natural reaction is to draw on instinct and professional judgement.

"Other sources of expertise have limited influence - in particular input from peers in other parts of the business. In today's digital world there must be a greater engagement with other business areas and external resources to drive success."

Excalibur has increased its turnover from £7.03m to £7.67m for the year ending 2014.

Profit before tax was £649,000 (compared to £911,000 the previous year), but according to CEO James Phipps the results (audited by Deloitte) are a clear signpost of sustained growth built on its managed service.

"In a year when we've raised the bar to enhance our customer's experience, the figures are encouraging indeed," he said. 

"We've invested heavily in the move to a new building and end-to-end sales-force development.

"This year we've already spent more on training than we have in the past decade. In this first phase of a solid three-year investment programme, we've launched the Excalibur Business School and gained Investors in People at the first time of asking with flying colours.

"We have recorded our best ever Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and are now in a great place to build further in 2016 with some exciting and innovative new developments, including the launch of our new Purple Me service."

Excalibur supports a number of good causes in Swindon and the South West. In its largest ever year of charitable contributions, one single donation included £50,000 for the teenage cancer ward at Bath's Royal United Hospital.

Content Guru capped a strong year with a Cloud Provider of the Year award win at the UK IT Industry Awards.

The event took place at London's Battersea Park Events Arena on 18th November and was attended by over 1,300 professionals from across the IT industry.

Sean Taylor, CEO of Content Guru, commented: "Ten years ago we took the decision to invest heavily in cloud services. The first 6-7 years were a hard journey but now the investment is really paying off. 2015 has been our best year ever and 2016 is shaping up to be tremendous."

Inverness-based comms provider HighNet has netted a major agreement with Scottish Premier League giants Heart of Midlothian FC.

The deal includes the launch of a new Hearts Telecom brand which will allow business supporters to enjoy the same benefits as the club. Services provided under the Hearts Telecom brand will include data services, phone lines, phone systems and mobile connectivity.

Hearts will benefit too, receiving regular monthly revenue from every company who moves their services to Hearts Telecom. This project is part of the club's off-field strategy to diversify income streams and bring long-term financial stability.

HighNet also undertook a detailed assessment of the club's legacy communication systems, upgrading, replacing and removing services to create a sustainable operating platform that will support the club's burgeoning business in the future.

HighNet says the club now has a much improved and more client friendly telephony system and faster, more reliable broadband speeds for all services including, general office, press and media areas, hospitality and conference and banqueting suites and the club's dedicated TV service, Hearts TV.

The club now offers state of the art communications facilities for guests at match day and non-match day events and is making a substantial monthly saving on costs.

Hearts CEO and Chair, Ann Budge, commented: "We needed to undertake a radical overhaul of the club's communications infrastructure.

"HighNet's appreciation of the business of football made them a natural choice and we look forward to taking our partnership further."

Swansea-based comms provider Siarad Network is in expansion mode following the hire of two new members of staff.

Leonie Hill joins as Administration Manager responsible for handling incoming enquiries to the company's Pontarddulais office and the management of back-office administration.

David Bartlett joins as a business development manager and will be responsible for bringing in new business to Siarad. Bartlett has over ten years of experience in customer service and sales.

Garath Williams, MD, said: "There has been a period of rapid growth over recent months and I believe adding to the team will help us take Siarad to the next level.

"This is the second time in 12 months that we have increased our team, which is encouraging for the business and testament to the progress Siarad has made."

Hill said: "I have worked in managerial roles for several years within sales, so I'm familiar with how businesses want things to be run. I hope to bring this experience to the company and help streamline the company's administrative work."

Bartlett added: "After spending ten plus years in sales and customer service roles, I look forward to bringing in my knowledge to help Siarad grow even further as its business development manager."

Telecoms firm VS Group has trebled in size after being awarded a £49.9k loan by Business Finance Solutions (BFS) from the £3m North West Fund for Micro Loans.

The funding boost enabled the firm to expand its voluntary services telecommunications business, which is now on target to hit £1m.

Eight new jobs have been created at its offices in Spinningfields, Manchester.

The company now has over 400 clients including law centres, Bluebell Children's Hospice and the Police Treatments Centre.

Established in 2012 by Director Kevin Penman, VS Group specialises in providing low cost communications solutions to the voluntary services and charity sectors.

They work with partners to offer lower prices and bespoke communications solutions that enable charities to keep costs down across call charges, line rental, hardware and Cloud storage.

Over the last three years VS Group has saved its charity customers over a million pounds worth of costs. The company has also held and supported many fundraising events, which have enabled them to help smaller charities obtain start up equipment.

Penman said: "In a sector where every penny counts, any cost-saving that charities make can be saving or improving lives.'

Mark Gibbons, Business Loan Manager at BFS, which is part of the Manchester Growth Company, said: "When they came to us for the loan Kevin and his team at VS Group had already achieved significant penetration into the charity communications market.

"By helping them to access the finance they need to grow we are investing, not only in a great business, but in a team of people who are passionate about helping others and the community.

"VS Group is a great example of the exciting and innovative businesses we are working with who may not have been able to secure funding from traditional lenders but to whom between £25k and £49,999k can make an enormous difference to the future success and job creation."

Andy Oliver has joined MTI Technology as Business Unit Manager with a remit to lead the specialist big data team, providing independent advice and consultancy to organisations as they evolve their data lake strategy.

The announcement follows news from a recent global report by KPMG International that found that while 97 per cent of organisations use data and analytics across enterprise, only 19 per cent are satisfied with current measurement tools

"There is a lot of discussion around big data and analytics at the minute, but most customers have not moved out of the initial exploratory phase," said Oliver.

"This signals an opportunity for forward thinking service companies to provide expertise and advice, especially as organisations look to deploy an analytics platform for the first time, or to scale their pilot systems into production."

"We recognised the need for increased focus and investment in big data, analytics and data lakes. It's an area we're very excited about developing."