Comms Dealer

Knight Corporate Finance has been confirmed as English Half Marathon Corporate Challenge sponsor for the second year.

The event will be held in Warrington on Sunday 17th September and offers a full 13.1 mile half marathon and 10k option to suit runners of all abilities.

"We would be delighted if you could enter a team to run alongside other North West businesses and challenge yourselves against Knight's own team of highly trained athletes," stated Knight Director Paul Billingham.

All participants of the Corporate Challenge will receive an extra medal and access to post-race hospitality in the Institution.

Runners also benefit from access to training plans and offers from event partners, as well as receive a host of race day VIP treatments.

All companies who take on the challenge, will receive their logo on the English Half Marathon website and included in the Corporate Challenge league table, where there are prizes for the teams race day performance as well as spot prizes for fundraising, fancy dress etc.

Full details are available from Knight and those interested in registering can do so here - http://ehm.contest-sports.com/corporate-challenge/

Provider of enterprise data storage solutions Infinidat has sealed its first UK distribution deal with M2M Enterprise.

Infinidat hopes to more than double its revenue globally this year and in the UK has seen units sales and revenues jump significantly.

The distributor says it has spent the last two years moving from its historic position supplying memory and storage to more of an enterprise value-add position.

"We work already with specialist and general resellers and see them as one of the key high end suppliers of storage," said Ged Mitchell, MD of M2M.

Gregory Scorziello, UK Country Manager for Infinidat, added: "Our strategy working with M2M is to go after specialist partners in the £5-£50m turnover range and smaller companies that hit above their weight, and train the key people in those companies in sales or pre-sales."

Distributor Exertis has welcomed Jonathan Wagstaff to the newly created position of Business Intelligence Manager.

He is based in Basingstoke and has a European remit to identify trends in the technology market, including new technologies, significant new market players (vendors, customers, operators, and others) and the impact of these new technologies on the distribution space.

He will report to Stephen Casey, Finance & Development Director at DCC Technology.

Casey said: "While we have a strong technology proposition it's important we continue to identify and translate market opportunities into actions that can benefit our business, and also the business of our vendor partners and reseller customers both in existing and new territories.

"Jonathan's experience in data analytics and how the channel operates is suited to fulfilling the task of providing business intelligence that can enable us to take the right decisions to meet our Group objectives."

Wagstaff joins from Context where he managed EMEA wide data collection projects for major ICT vendors and had responsibility for the UK and IE distribution, reseller and retail panels. He was also instrumental in setting up Context's VR Research Group and PC Gaming category tracking.

Wagstaff added: "Having worked at Context, I appreciate the importance of interpreting data and identifying trends, and the value that business analytics can bring to companies when making critical decisions."

London-based IT solutions and managed services provider Logicalis has bought a 51% stake in NubeliU, a specialist in cloud computing projects based on OpenStack.

The acquisition is part of Logicalis' strategy to position itself as a cloud integrator, the company said.

NubeliU, which was founded in 2015 by the team the deployed the first production clouds in OpenStack, specialises in integration of OpenStack environments with customers' existing platforms.

According to the company, NubeliU can remotely deliver its services offerings around the globe from its operations in Brazil and Argentina. The acquisition is also expected to accelerate the global expansion of Logicalis' cloud computing and SDx practices, it said.

"We are convinced that OpenStack will be one of the foundations for the ICT future infrastructure. It is a platform that allows management and orchestration of hybrid environments in public and private clouds, ensuring a safe and transparent operation for corporate clients," says Logicalis' CEO, Mark Rogers.

Record levels of venture capital investment at the start of 2017 has helped London retain its crown as Europe's 'number one tech hub for global investors', according to Mayor of London promotional agency London & Partners.

VCs are said to have pumped more than £1.1bn into London's tech sector over the last six months, with the total invested across the UK as a whole topping £1.3bn between January and June.

Despite Brexit the start of 2017 has seen more investment than for any other six month time period in the last decade.

Investment deals include £388m in virtual reality start-up Improbable and ones involving London-based fintech companies Funding Circle (£82m), Zopa (£32m) and Monzo (£22m).

"London's tech sector has attracted more venture capital investment than any other European city since the Brexit vote, including Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam," said London & Partners.

With over £1.8bn billion in VC funding across 544 deals, London has received more than double the amount of investment than Berlin (the second largest city for VC investment), which has seen £775m invested across 136 deals since the EU referendum vote.

Laura Citron, CEO of London & Partners, said: "London remains Europe's leading hub for global investors. The Brexit vote has understandably created some uncertainty but it is no surprise to see that London continues to attract more than double the amount of investment than any other European city.

"The fundamental strengths of London as a centre for technology and business have not changed and we have everything companies need to be successful - policy makers, finance, infrastructure, world-class universities and talent."

Investors are also continuing to pump large amounts of capital into the wider UK tech sector with British technology firms receiving more investment than any other European country since the EU referendum.

"UK tech companies have recorded £2.39bn worth of venture capital investment since Brexit, more than Germany, France and the Netherlands combined."

Ashish Surti has assumed responsibility for Colt's information and cyber security strategy following his appointment as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). He also heads up Colt's Computer Security Incident Response team.

Surti brings 15 years of security experience to Colt, moving from TSB Bank where he was the first CISO, accountable for duties including information risk management, security consultancy & architecture and cyber intelligence and response.

Surti reports directly to Chief Technology Officer Rajiv Datta.

"With the ever present risk of cyber attack and increasing pressure from global threats, secure network connectivity matters now more than ever to organisations across all markets and industries," said Surti.

Datta added: "Cyber security is a critical consideration for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors, and having talented and experienced leaders within our team is essential for us to maintain our own security and that of our customers' networks."

ProVu's founder and Sales Director Ian Godfrey has retired from the company after 18 years service.

He established ProVu in 1999 and has played a key role in the development of the company.

ProVu's MD Darren Garland said: "As founder of ProVu, Ian has played a pivotal role in making ProVu the success it is today. Not only has he overseen the company's growth, but he has also been instrumental in creating the positive culture that ProVu enjoys with its staff and customers.

"I am grateful for all that he has done for the company and along with the rest of the team wish him all the very best in his retirement."

Although continuing as an ambassador for the company, Godfrey now plans to enjoy his retirement with his wife, June.

As a former British Champion Yachtsman he is looking forward to getting out on the water more often and has a number of trips already planned.

He stated: "I know that I am leaving the company in great hands, with a team that is passionate and dedicated to growing and progressing to the next level. I look forward to seeing them continue to succeed and expand over the coming years."

Avaya's UK and EMEA marketing team is headed up by two new faces following the appointment of Ross White as Head of UK Marketing, supported by Nick Main who has been promoted to the role of Head of Channel Marketing for EMEA.

White leads all UK marketing activity with oversight of all country and joint partner marketing, channel communications, social media programs, and SI/SP and distribution relationships. He has over 15 years of experience in IT and telecommunications marketing. Since joining Avaya in 2004, he has held a number of positions within the company, most recently Head of Channel Marketing EMEA.

Main joined the team in 2016 as EU Channel Marketing Manager.

Ioan MacRae, MD, Avaya, said: "Nurturing an ecosystem of diverse and rare talents is a huge part of the value our customers and partners expect from us. The decades of experience Nick and Ross share show just how well suited they are for these expanded roles, and the potential we see in them to deliver even more."

Vodafone UK has recognised its top performing B2B partners at its annual Partner of the Year awards held in Manchester on July 5th.

The awards celebrate the performance of Vodafone's partners over the last financial year, recognising those who demonstrate superior capability across the Vodafone portfolio and provide excellent service for UK businesses.

The winners are judged on a number of criteria, such as sales volumes and accreditations achieved. The segment category awards (Total Communications, Advanced and Specialist partner categories) also consider how the programme's training and marketing benefits have been used by partners.

This year's winners are:
Total Communications Partner of the Year - Onecom
Advanced Partner of the Year - Garnell Corporate Communications
Specialist Partner of the Year - New Image Communications
One Net Partner of the Year - Connect Telecom
Connectivity Partner of the Year (new category for this year) - iTalk Telecom

Helen Freestone, who has recently been appointed as Director of Partners and Alliances for Vodafone UK, said: "It's a privilege to be able to recognise so many of our partners this year, particularly as the new programme, with a focus on capability and customer service, continues to generate success for both our own and our partners' businesses."

Natilik's Rory Tempest has been promoted to the Chief Marketing Officer role following a four year stint running a successful commercial sales function at the firm.

CEO Mike Danson said: "As we continue to grow and our portfolio becomes deeper and broader, there has never been a more important time to have someone in our company responsible for linking what our clients really want from their IT and communications investments and what we can offer.

"Rory brings a wealth of experience about our clients, our market and our brand and now has the opportunity to fuse this knowledge to help provide clarity on how we can bring value to our clients and deliver to the outcomes that are most important to them."

Tempest added: "We continue to disrupt the industry and in doing so have achieved some amazing things with our clients, which we're dying to share with the global market. We're on course to achieve our five year objectives and storytelling will play a crucial part of that."