Comms Dealer

Growing confidence in cloud security has prompted 29% of IT buyers to spend on cloud services, according to a study by Technology Business Research (TBR).

"Throughout the study, we noted the largest customer concern was outside breach of data - there is a customer expectation that cloud solutions should have security embedded to address such issues," said TBR Cloud Research Analyst Molly Gallaher Boddy.

"Yet there was also a desire for tailored security solutions, offering consulting and managed services vendors a chance to help customers gain the security specificity they require.

"Because of this, the cloud security market is led by multiline companies that provide a range of cloud security and private cloud services that ultimately give customers cloud security packages with the option for additional add-ons."

Though customers expect CSPs to offer comprehensive security, survey respondents sought additional security options from third-party providers that offer vertical and workload-specific solutions.

As the cloud market matures, end users will purchase additional managed security services to help them customise their cloud environments, creating a rich opportunity for cloud consulting firms, systems integrators (SIs) and third-party providers, says TBR.

Given the state of the market, TBR believes CSPs that offer a range of customised cloud security services alongside private cloud options, such as current leader IBM, are best situated to win in the cloud security market.

TeleWare has appointed Nigel Simpson as Global Sales Manager whose remit includes the management of the firm's channel partner strategy.

Simpson has worked across a number of international brands including WorldPay, BT Global Services and Cisco. Prior to joining TeleWare he was the VP of Corporate New Business Sales at Barclays (within Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance).

TeleWare CEO Steve Haworth said: "Nigel brings extensive experience and expertise in building collaborative relationships with both channel partners and customers across a wide range of vertical sectors.

"His appointment is an important part of our strategic plans, as Nigel brings added depth to our sales team along with a proven ability to enhance partner relationships and deliver growth."

Simpson added: "TeleWare is at an exciting point in its journey and positioned to support partners with new regulatory challenges such as MIFID II and Dodd Frank. I look forward to helping the company and our partners achieve their business objectives across the UK and the rest of the world."

D-Link has launched the Smart Installers Programme (SIP) in the UK and Ireland, a partnership scheme for installers of physical security who sell to small/medium-sized businesses and homes.

An online portal allows users to register deals, apply for demo products and secure prices whilr NFR tools such as Surveillance Floor Planner Pro and Bandwidth Calculator aid installers in planning and creating new surveillance solution projects.

Paul Routledge, Sales and Marketing Manager UK, said: "Security installers have a huge market opportunity, yet need to have the right ingredients in place to ensure they can attract new business prospects. We've created a range of specialist tools and benefits to assist security installers in achieving this."

A new study from Juniper Research has found that OTT voice providers are expected to see an increase in service revenues by 2020, reaching over $10 billion, representing a fivefold increase over the next five years.

The study argued that OTT application providers such as Skype and WhatsApp would experience a significant rise in traffic and revenue potential as 4G network rollouts accelerate, thereby increasing their capability to offer high-quality VoIP (Voice over IP) calls.

The new research - 'Future Voice Strategies: mVoIP, Carrier OTT, WebRTC, HD Voice & Video Calling 2015-2020' - found that as most mVoIP services were offered as a free or low cost service, only a small minority of OTT players had generated a significant revenues from the service.

Instead, it argued that the more successful service providers had developed indirect or adjacent revenues on the back of the core voice offerings, with a number offering in-app purchases or - as with Daum Kakao - a social networking platform.

Meanwhile, the research observed that with traditional operators' voice revenues in sharp decline as a result of OTT voice activity, a number of operators have adopted new business models mimicking those of OTT players. These include directly offering functionality such as VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and Wi-Fi calling through the handset.

The research also argued that white label OTT services, such as the fring alliance, are becoming increasingly important in helping operators compete with the OTT business model. However, it cautioned that such initiatives historically had mixed results, with both Telefonica's TuMe and O2's TuGo service having been discontinued.

Voiceflex has revamped its logo and brand to better represent what the company stands for and how it has evolved.

"Our logo is purposefully simplified to complement all channels, distributors, resellers and dealers and SIP voice connectivity," said Paul Taylor, Sales and Marketing Director of Voiceflex.

"With this evolution of our brand, we're staying true to our 100% channel focus and we believe that our new identity reflects that.

"We knew that the year we celebrated our 10th anniversary was the right time to unveil a new look for Voiceflex.

"It's an exciting, more relevant logo and brand for us as a company that's growing and providing the next generation of voice products, all focused on the channel."

TD Azlan has appointed Phil King as Technology and Services Director, a newly created position. He will also be in charge of the Business Solutions Centre (BSC) at TD Azlan's Heathrow location.

King brings more than 15 years of business development experience in value-added distribution, vendor and reseller businesses to the post. He has worked closely with data centre and systems integration vendors such as Cisco, EMC and VMware, and with VADs and VARs, helping them to formulate and execute their services- and cloud-led business strategies.

His career has included a five year period as Sales Manager for Enterprise Software and Specialist Solutions at ETC Distribution and over four years working in senior business development roles at storage vendor EMC. King has also worked for Veeam Software and for distributor CCD and reseller Esteem Systems.

His most recent appointment was as UK Business Development Manager for Canopy Cloud, the cloud solutions business of Atos. He vacated this role to take a six month break during which he hiked from Mexico to Canada.

Sarah Deller, Azlan Software Director, stated: "The Technology Practice is at the very centre of our value proposition and Phil will lead our strategy here to build differentiated market solution propositions."

King said: "The whole channel is changing radically and Azlan is in the vanguard of that transformation. We will now integrate Azlan's presales technical practice with our service delivery team providing seamless availability of skills and value to both partners and customers throughout the whole project lifecycle."

Charlie Blakemore has joined Intercity Technology's Board of Directors as Non-Executive Director.

His current roles are Business and Transformation Director at BAE Systems Military Air & Information (MAI), and Chairman of a pension scheme with a fund of £300m and circa 2,000 members.

In his role at BAE Systems, Blakemore is responsible for transforming business performance of an organisation with a £4.6bn turnover and a 13,000-strong workforce.

Blakemore has also achieved success in the sports arena. He has played for, coached and managed football teams at a semi-professional level. And in 2007 he set a record when he managed his local football team, Chasetown, to the third round of the FA Cup. The lowest ranked side to reach the FA Cup third round.

Andrew Jackson, Chief Executive for Intercity Technology, said: "Charlie brings a wealth of experience and a network of contacts to support the Intercity Technology management team in delivering the growth strategy and acquisition plans of the business."

"Alongside his corporate credentials, Charlie is a fantastic people-person and can transcend from the boardroom right through to the football changing room."

Blakemore added: "I look forward to using the experience I have gained in my professional and personal endeavours to help further develop the high quality of solutions and services that Intercity Technology are already providing for their customers."

Webroot has added Northamber to its UK channel distribution for endpoint security. Northamber is complementing its product portfolio with Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection.

"Our strategic partnership with Webroot provides us with intelligent endpoint protection that ensures our customers are secure against emerging threats," said Andrew Birch, business unit manager at Northamber.

"We plan to take market penetration of Webroot SecureAnywhere offerings and real-time threat intelligence to the next level."

Adam Nash, EMEA channel manager at Webroot, added: "The demand for Webroot products and services is growing quickly in Europe, and we look forward to working with Northamber and their customers as we expand across the UK."

A brace of deal wins have boosted Thevoicefactory's (TVF) advance into key verticals with premium partners scooping big deals in the hospitality and automative sectors.

One partner secured a contract to provide over 14,000 UC extensions across 40 UK hotels for a global hotel chain. The project is expected to be completed mid-2016

The solution integrates into hospitality software products including guest checkin/out, wake-up call, real-time billing, maid services and mini bar.

TVF Commercial Director Paul Harrison said: "We also developed a full Disaster Avoidance solution that enables the guest room to call the hotel or emergency services if the WAN is unavailable. This solution, including emergency service dialling, can now be implemented in 20 countries with regulatory support across Europe."

TVF's UC solutions are deployed in hotels and sales offices across 10 countries with thousands of bedrooms live.

In the automative vertical, TVF's BroadSoft powered UC solution is being rolled out across 14 UK car dealerships in over 100 sites.

The deployment includes thousands of hosted IP phones providing all telephony and UC requirements such as call centre, PCI compliant call recording with Sentiment capability, along with call analytics. 

"This rollout will continue to grow for many years to come with the target being tens of thousands of hosted extensions deployed," added Harrison. 

"Working with our joint development and support teams we have delivered software applications that enable the automotive industry to innovate and increase productivity with predictable costs.

"Utilising our BroadSoft platform with open APIs and test lab we have delivered a UC solution enabling all services to be delivered from the cloud.

"Our goal is to continue developing solutions that enable partners to move their customers to the cloud."

Zest4 is introducing M2M services to its network of reseller partners following a link up with Arkessa. The partnership meets demand from resellers looking to realise the growth opportunity in M2M and IoT services in sectors such as transport, construction, healthcare and property management.

Arkessa enables IoT device and applications developers to connect to the Internet of Things, regardless of network operator or radio technology.

Its managed services span single and multi-network cellular with first time connect capability and secure communications.

Mandy Fazelynia, Zest4's Operations Director, said: "The opportunity for growth and therefore revenue generation in this sector is huge, with predictions of over 10 million connected M2M devices by the end of 2015 in the UK.

"Our partnership with Arkessa allows us to transform and develop the M2M opportunity through our channel partner programme, thereby making entry into this market a reality for all of our partners."

Andrew Orrock, Arkessa's CEO, added: "The addition of Arkessa Machine-to-Machine services to the Zest4 communications portfolio creates an innovative and high-tempo partnership benefiting telecoms resellers across the UK."