Comms Dealer

John Pett is to take the helm of Chess' Partner division following a promotion from Sales Director, and the division's best financial performance.

He said: "We have already developed one of the most successful telecoms partner programmes in the UK and are undoubtedly a significant player in our industry with the potential to be great. We have a great team here, working together to deliver great service and we're proud of our past successes but even more excited by our future plans."

Along with the appointment of John Pett as MD, other Chess people given opportunities in a new role include Kerri Lendon who has been promoted to Head of Partner Support and Dan Russell, who is now Head of Partner Sales - Mobile.

David Pollock, Chess Chief Executive, commented, "Our growth creates opportunity for everyone to progress their career and our Partner division is an incredibly successful area within the Chess group. John has been instrumental in this continued success and with over 25 years' industry experience I am confident he can take the division to even greater heights.

"These promotions reflect the dedication and ambition of not only John but also Kerri and Dan. We strive every day to be a great place to work, a great place to be a partner and these appointments will support in delivering that vision."

For the third consecutive year Yorkshire-based Lily Comms picked up Ericsson-LG's Best Partner of the Year Award at the vendor's Global Partner Conference in Shanghai, China.

For the third year in a row the company were presented with the for a combination of exceptional performance, growth and capability demonstrated by Lily Comms throughout the year.

It caps a highly successful period for Lily Comms who recently won Best SME UC Solution, Nine Customer Service Award and Overall Reseller of the Year at the coveted Comms National Awards.

Owners Chris Morrisey and Adrian Jackson attributed Lily Comms' recent success to a continual recruitment drive, an ambitious sales and marketing strategy and redevelopment of their customer services department.

Morrisey explained: "We've dedicated a significant amount of time, resource and finance into building our workforce over the past year.

"With the team we have in place we can continue to achieve great things. We've increased our sales force and diversified our marketing activities which has helped us to double our turnover.

"As always one of our key focuses has been on customer service. Splitting the department into two separate functions, account management and technical support, has dramatically improved the way we communicate with our clients."

Jackson added: "With the support of our suppliers, Pragma Distribution, we ensure that we have our fingers on the pulse in terms of the product portfolio we are able to offer clients."

Will Morey, Marketing Director of Ericsson-LG's UK Distributor, Pragma, commented: "Winning this award for the third year in a row is testament to Lily Comms' outstanding growth and is an acknowledgement to the absolute focus they place on customer service."

VoIP Unlimited is to sponsor Southampton University's 2016 Formula Student team (SUFST) for the second year running.

Formula Student invites engineering students around the world to design and build a single-seat race car in just nine months, before racing it at Silverstone.

The Southampton University Formula Student Team (SUFST) comprises of over 100 students from a wide range of course backgrounds, currently studying at the University of Southampton. This will be the team's fourth year in the competition, and students plan to redesign last year's car to improve it for Formula Student 2016.

The team are better prepared than ever and intend to finish in the top 30 out of one hundred competitors by gaining over 300 points. Its targets to accomplish this goal include producing a sub-220kg car, finishing the endurance race and further improving its preparation for the static events.

This sponsorship further strengthens VoIP Unlimited's links with motor racing, with the firm already providing VoIP services to Formula One teams, with its recent partnership with Sahara Force India F1 Team.

Managing director Mark Pillow, said: "We are proud to be a Tier 1 sponsor for Southampton University's Formula Student Team for the second year running. As the team enters its fourth year in the competition, I'm confident that the students will carry through the experience they've accrued over the last three years and continue to improve on their position".

Joe Coakley, team leader of this year's Southampton University Formula Student Team (SUFST) added: "We're really happy that we could continue our partnership with VoIP Unlimited, we're looking forward to a hopefully fruitful year. Their financial and technical support will as ever allow us to be more creative and pursue our hopes of finishing in the top 30."

A new plug-in that bridges the gap between BT Wholesale's Hosted Centrex solution and Skype for Business will unlock new revenue opportunities for comms providers, says the telco.

The plug-in removes the need for businesses to invest in a new IM system or run a disparate IM and communications service, enabling them to integrate additional capabilities.

"With BT Wholesale's inclusive plug-in customers will be able to use their existing Microsoft set-up, beefed up by carrier class communications from BT Wholesale," said Steve Best, MD of products, BT Wholesale.

"By integrating our carrier class Hosted Centrex capability, which includes HD voice, with Microsoft's 365 messaging suite our wholesale customers will be able to address Microsoft's large UK customer base with an exciting new communications service. This will open new doors for many communications providers who buy services from BT Wholesale."

Best also noted that IM applications are fast replacing email as the number one means of workplace communication.

"Instant messaging applications allow workers to see whether their colleagues are in meetings or free to start an instant chat," he said. "A lot of these applications have the capability to make and receive calls locally to users, but do not provide the ability to make calls to anyone not on this client, or on the company's IP network.

"But integrated voice, video and messaging is revolutionising how people work. Instead of going onto a directory and looking up telephone numbers, users can simply click-to-dial this person directly from a messaging client, as well as being able to see their availability.

"The plug-in also offers deeper integration, supporting click to dial from Outlook and Internet Explorer, not just Skype and Lync."

Distributors' expansion seems to have been built on expanding portfolios and ranges of products sold, as well as selling more to partners, according to the latest database report by IT Europa, 'Distributors in Europe - the top 500'.

The report found that Europe's channels have grown again after a period of decline following the recent financial crisis, but that consolidation has changed the top players' list.

The report profiles 500 companies, including: 14 parent companies, 135 subsidiaries, 335 independents, and 16 public companies (traded on stock exchanges).

The combined revenues for all companies in 2015 was $153.75 billion (€141.3 billion) with a combined staff employed figure of 100,007. Overall, total revenues of all companies increased 7.25% in 2015 (based on 2014 revenues) compared to 2013 (when the report was last published). However, between the financial years of 2012 and 2014 that market decreased by 14.67%.

In the last year, the European market has seen many new products coming across the Atlantic as US companies look for growth opportunities, helped by the US dollar/Euro rate of exchange. Some distributors have signed up several new vendors each month, particularly in the security area. This has enabled portfolio expansion, often with centralisation of costs leading to economies, but in the challenging new technology areas, distributors have also had to invest in staff and support, with some larger firms setting up specialist units.

The distributor market is growing steadily across Europe despite quite a few of the smaller distributors going out of business, quite often, due to being acquired by larger parent companies. In general, Eastern European Distributors are doing well, with the exception of those in Slovakia. Conversely, a few of the Southern European countries such as Portugal and Cyprus are finding things harder, based on their recent revenues.

The top ten companies by revenue are listed below. New entries in 2015 were Exertis Group, Westcoast Ltd and ASBIS Group. Distributors no longer in the Top 10 (but were in 2013 when the last report was published) were MERLION ZAO and Specialist Distribution Group (SDG) Ltd.

Rank by Revenue Company
1 Tech Data Europe
2 Ingram Micro Europe
3 ALSO Holding AG
4 Exertis Group
5 DCC Technology
6 Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA
7 Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions (ECS) EMEA
8 Esprinet S.p.A.
9 Westcoast Ltd
10 ASBIS Group

In terms of distributors' software offering, the most common type of software distributed was Network / Security / VPN Software (65.6%); followed by office software (52.4%); and storage software (26.8%).

The most common type of hardware distributed was Networking Hardware (72.2%); followed by PC Accessories & Consumables (68.8%); Printers & Scanners (62.4%); Enterprise Storage & Other Data Storage (62.2%); and PCs/Notebooks/Laptops/ Non-Windows PCs (58%).

In terms of the geographical markets, the top three countries in 2015 that were most widely covered were Germany (56 company profiles), United Kingdom (56) and France (50). The geographical markets which experienced the most revenue growth from 2013 to 2014 were: Ukraine (21.29%), Turkey (20.92%), Hungary (19.92%), Ireland (17.5%), and Czech Republic (14.56%). Markets which experienced revenue decline were: Portugal (-5.27%), Cyprus (-8.98%), and Slovakia (-9.47%).

The volume of products across all software categories increased between 2013 and 2015. The top 5 category volume increases were in: Linux Software increased by 77.48%, followed by Console & PC Games/Education Software (64.22% increase), Internet/Server Software (54.26%), and Network / Security / VPN Software (50.61%).

Volume of products also increased in most hardware categories except Digital Cameras (-1.59%) and Motherboards (-6.45%). The top 5 hardware types which had increase in volume between 2013 and 2015 were: CPU (52.24%), Telecom/IT Cabling (27.69%), Printers & Scanners (26.6%), PCs, Notebooks, Laptops & Non-Windows PCs (25.17%) and Servers (24.72%).

A large proportion of distributors are selling third party products indirectly but those distributors who are selling their own branded products are equally distributing their products both directly and indirectly across the channel. Distributors who are selling through the channel indirectly are primarily doing it through resellers, retailers and systems integrators.

The Distributors in Europe - the top 500 database report spans 38 countries and represents the most detailed view available of this key market sector. It has been compiled from detailed interviews by IT Europa's own research team.
The report is available from IT Europa (www.iteuropa.com) costing from £2,350.

Data can also be extracted and supplied by country, region or on a bespoke basis.

Redbridge College has achieved significant cost savings by replacing its out-dated traditional phone system with a cloud-based solution from VIA, the business telephony and communications specialist.

The vocational college deployed VIA Voice to enable its workforce to communicate more efficiently while avoiding the substantial up-front cost of upgrading its legacy phone system.

Redbridge College wanted to replace its telephone systems that were being used by more than 300 staff across the educational establishment's campuses in Chadwell Heath and Ilford, as well as its offices in Kent and Hertfordshire.
The existing systems had reached capacity and were lacking in support, and the college was facing an extensive investment to upgrade to a new ISDN solution that would fit its growing requirements.

In a bid to modernise its communications system while reducing costs, Redbridge College instead opted to implement VIA Voice. The solution operates over the Internet and replaces the need to have a traditional phone network.

It allows employees to talk, instant messaging, email, video chat or take part in conferences across a variety of devices, such as landlines, smartphones, PCs, and tablets.

This helps the workforce to stay continuously connected and reachable even when they are on the road or working from home. In addition, the new platform provides the ability for staff to hold online sessions with students, who do not need the Skype for Business tool to partake, instead using a web client.

The solution has also enabled Redbridge College's various support teams to streamline their operations and provide instantaneous support to staff that are in need of assistance, regardless of location. This has led to a reduction in response times across the organisation, as well as substantial cost savings.

VIA Voice also includes additional bespoke functionality that is being used to drive further efficiencies across the organisation. This includes VIA's advanced call routing solution which effectively directs incoming phone calls to the correct departments. This functionality has also modernised the way students can report any absences.

In addition, Redbridge College is using VIA's real-time management portal which allows the organisation to observe trends, evaluate the usage and productivity of employees, monitor costs, and add new users. Employees joining Redbridge College previously travelled to its site at Chadwell Heath for a one-day training course, however by using VIA Voice the training can now be delivered remotely, leading to efficiency gains.

The switchover was handled proficiently by VIA's team of in-house experts using its VIA Sync functionality, which allows existing staff to be automatically uploaded onto the new platform. The college was also provided with up-to-date telephony equipment on a lease basis to ensure overheads were kept to a minimum.

Costas Calcanis, Director, eLearning, Innovation & ITNS, Redbridge College, said: "Redbridge College is reaping the benefits of switching to a cloud-based communications solution. We now boast a highly innovative system that is easy to use and helping to reduce costs on a day-to-day basis.

"Staff are able to communicate with one another more effectively, whilst we have also seen a reduction in unnecessary email traffic and mobile phone usage."

Alex Tebbs, Director, VIA, said: "Our VIA Voice solution boosts workforce connectivity and is therefore the perfect fit for Redbridge College who employ a large number of staff across multiple locations. The functionality of the solution continues to promote efficient, unified communications across the organisation. Moving forward, colleges and universities could also use VIA Voice to deliver classes and lectures remotely."

Olive Communications has secured a partnership with global beauty manufacturer Coty which will see the High Wycombe-based Managed Communications Provider handle all integrated communications for Coty globally.

With international traffic accounting for 60% of all voice and data used by Coty's workforce, both on fixed line and mobile devices, Olive has been chosen to implement a bespoke package that expertly manages Coty's domestic and international communications requirements in the UK and abroad.

The Olive managed solution will optimise domestic charging across UK fixed and mobile services with Vodafone, with the added benefit of predictable roaming communications when UK employees operate abroad, ensuring Coty employees do not incur unpredictable roaming charges, whilst at the same time allowing their permanent internationally-based staff to have a local number and not experience bill shock when travelling back to the UK.

Olive, through its billing management portal (OBM), will be able to proactively manage expenditure when Coty's workforce operates in the UK, splitting their integrated communications between their UK network and Truphone.

Martin Flick, Olive's Chief Executive, said: "Coty's requirement is not unique but does require management of a hybrid solution to achieve maximum value.

"We are looking forward to working alongside them and our strategic partners to offer a bespoke integrated communications solution for both their UK and European workforce."

Almost half (48%) of IT managers would move away from their current connectivity or virtualisation providers if they needed help to implement a new disaster recovery strategy, according to a survey by Timico.

The most popular port of call was an independent consultant (18%) followed by an entirely new IT provider (17%), while a specialist disaster recovery company was the favoured option for 10% of IT managers. The remaining 3% would use another unspecified option.

This suggests that the disaster recovery market is open to the channel, with customers currently spreading their loyalty across a wide range of options.

The research coincides with the roll out of Timico's Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solution, which is available for resale in the channel.

DRaaS is a cloud-based and scalable service which negates the need to replicate a secondary environment - making it much cheaper and simpler to deploy than traditional disaster recovery services.

Darren Hilton, Director of Partner Services at Timico, said: "Our research seems to suggest that there is still a lot of confusion surrounding disaster recovery, with customers unsure of who to turn to. This means that existing IT and virtualisation providers could be missing out on the opportunity to provide additional services to existing customers.

"There is still a perception that disaster recovery is very expensive, and a bit of a nightmare to implement. However, by using a cloud-based system, testing and updates can be done quickly and cheaply. Everyone knows the risks of not investing in disaster recovery - and now it's easier than ever to make sure your business is adequately protected."

Those surveyed were asked to select the key priorities to consider when choosing a Disaster Recovery partner: 34% of respondents highlighted flexibility among their choices, service level agreements (32%), support (22.67%) and resilience (18%). A further 15% said online support tools were a key selling point and 11% appreciate a UK-based provider.

The most popular virtualisation platform providers were VMware, with just under 50% of those surveyed using it, whilst XenServer and Hyper-V were both relied upon by just over 20% of respondents.

Over three-quarters (76%) of senior IT leaders in the UK, France and Germany feel more personal risk when making decisions than they did five years ago because of IT's increasingly central role in businesses, a study commissioned by Colt reveals.

Meanwhile, 77% of CIOs say that pivotal moments in a business calendar (rather than day-to-day performance) define their career trajectories. This is compounding the sense of vulnerability felt during key decision-making moments, as highlighted in Colt's recent ‘Moments that Matter' study.

The study findings reveal a discrepancy in CIOs' perceptions of personal/career and company risk. The areas where this is seen are:

• Creating the business case for change is more important for the company than the career of the CIO - 35% ‘company' risk against 28% ‘personal' risk.

• Selecting the right team and skills is considered key to personal success - 39% ‘company' risk against 48% ‘personal' risk.

• Communicating with internal and external stakeholders is undervalued - 27% ‘company' risk against 19% ‘personal' risk.

The study also shows that the majority (73%) of CIOs believe the personal risk they experience is mitigated when working with a team they trust. Trust is also very important when dealing with external teams, as the majority of respondents (85%) believe technology issues are sometimes inevitable. A partner proves its value when things go wrong, they understand the impact of service interruption and act accordingly.

Carl Grivner, EVP at Colt said: "The advent of digitalisation and changing role of IT are clearly having an effect on the personal risk IT leaders experience. Playing such a pivotal role in the overall success of the company, IT leaders know that the boardroom has eyes on the key moments that will determine their success.

"But this increased responsibility also means CIOs feel more vulnerable than five years ago. They are facing a new set of challenges - their ability to drive change and innovate will determine the success of the business and ultimately make or break their career. Building a team with the right skills and working with trusted suppliers that know the business inside out, will allow the CIO to take this weight off their shoulders and make the decisions that matter most to their careers."

Virgin Media has launched a programme to identify and support the most innovative and disruptive digital start-ups from around the world.

In partnership with Techstars, a global technology accelerator organisation, the Virgin Media Accelerator is a three-month mentorship-driven programme designed to support companies working on innovative businesses.

Applicants can apply online with the deadline on 9th January 2016. Ten start-ups will be chosen to take part in the accelerator programme which will involve an intense, 13 week mentorship and guidance programme.

This will give the start-ups access to senior experts from Virgin Media and its parent company Liberty Global, as well as Techstars' global network of more than 7,000 founders, mentors, investors and corporate partners.

Once the 13 week programme has been completed, the 10 start-ups will take part in a Demo Day in London, where they will each pitch to some of the world's leading investors for the chance to raise capital and secure investment in their businesses.

Start-ups involved in a range of digital sectors are encouraged to apply. They could be involved in the Internet of Things, telecom infrastructures, customer data and experience, social enterprise, connected homes, connected goods and services, interactive home experiences, connected business services, home health and wellness, and connectivity for social good.

Virgin Media Accelerator powered by Techstars is sponsored by Liberty Global, the parent company of Virgin Media, and will be run in conjunction with Virgin Media Business, the arm of Virgin Media that provides products and services to start-ups and small business in the UK.

Virgin Media Business also manages Pitch to Rich, the annual entrepreneur competition to find the most innovative start-ups and small businesses from any sector, not just digital, who win a slice of a £1m cash prize. Virgin Media Business last week launched a report, 'The UK's £92 billion Digital Opportunity', which revealed digital technologies could boost the UK economy by 2.5% of GDP (or £92bn), as well as creating over a million new jobs across all industries over the next two years.

Peter Kelly, Managing Director, Virgin Media Business, said: "With the support of our parent company, Liberty Global, and our new partner, Techstars, we're delighted to support this exciting programme in the UK. Supporting businesses of all sizes is at the heart of Virgin Media's purpose. Virgin Media Accelerator will give the most exciting digital start-ups a phenomenal opportunity to learn, develop and grow."

Bruce Dines, Vice President, Liberty Global Ventures, said: "Innovation and the infinite possibilities offered by a connected world lie at the very heart of our business, which is why we're proud to partner with Techstars to launch the first ever Virgin Media Accelerator programme.

"There are endless possibilities for the kind of companies who should apply to this programme - we are interested in driving innovation, convenience and social well-being across our consumer and business connected world. We look forward to working with the best start-ups in the world to help them bring their brilliant ideas to life."

David Cohen, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Techstars, said: "New technologies enabled by improved networking and connectivity have become critical in all aspects of our personal and professional lives."