Comms Dealer

New research into the country's disaster recovery habits has revealed that over a quarter of businesses' outages in the UK are a result of unreliable power supplies - followed by software (21%) and hardware failures (19%).

Most respondents (39%) stated that the cost of per minute of their downtime runs into the £10,000-£20,000 bracket - meaning that such frequent power outages present a significant financial risk for UK businesses.

he study, conducted by Timico, provides insights into the disaster recovery habits of IT managers in the UK and revealed the most common causes of IT outages. Alongside power failures and hardware and software issues - other common causes of an outage were human error, natural disaster and even malicious activity.

The research was initiated as Timico launched its Disaster Recovery as a service (DRaaS) solution, a cloud-based service which protects businesses from costly downtime by replicating a secure secondary environment in the cloud.

Andrew Fox, Director for Managed Networks and Cloud & Hosting at Timico, said: "Whatever the cause of an outage, protecting the business from downtime should be a top priority. Our entire DRaaS solution is designed to mitigate against a drop in power - so it's the perfect fit for businesses that simply can't operate without the entirety of their IT solutions.

"DRaaS is particularly effective for customers whose existing production VMware environment sits 'off-platform' within their offices, where power redundancy protections won't be at the same level as those found in a certified data centre.

"Providers such as Timico have uninterruptable power supplies thanks to onsite back-up generators - so with full replication to a commercial data centre environment, outages due to power failure need never be an issue again."

The study also found that only 5% of respondents were completely confident that their disaster recovery plan would be successful in the event of an emergency.

Despite this, only 6% made the commitment to testing their disaster recovery plans more than once a month.

Daisy Group has strengthened its public sector portfolio following the extension of its government offering.

The business communications and ICT provider has been awarded places in 10 different lots under the UK Government's new Network Services framework agreement (RM1045), as announced by the Crown Commercial Service.

As a supplier of services to the public sector Daisy had already been selected under the previous PSN agreement and also G-Cloud.

The Public Service Network is the foundation of the Government's ICT Strategy, a programme designed to provide an assured network for sharing services - including many G-Cloud services - and encouraging efficiency and collaboration across the public sector.

The announcement enables Daisy to provide a range of services that will improve cost efficiencies and stimulate collaboration between public organisations, ultimately meeting the objective of delivering a more effective experience to citizens.

Daisy will continue to supply public sector bodies with solutions and services. These range from telephony, contact centre and collaboration, through to network-centric IT services such Local Area Network management, hosting, gateway and web services wide area connectivity.

Daisy has also announced that the Pan Government Accreditor has accredited its communications for PSN telephony services. As part of the accreditation, the business was recognised for maintaining ISO 27001 in our office and data centre environments and achieving the CAS(T) certification that is governed by GCHQ.

Andy Riley, Head of Local and Central Government and Frameworks Director, said: "We are delighted to be part of this new iteration of the framework agreement. This means that as well as continuing to help public sector bodies introduce innovative solutions to meet demanding savings targets, we are able to make available our market leading portfolio to all public sector organisations."

New research by IT Europa shows that Europe presents a patchy picture of managed services provision. Decisions on which cloud suppliers to work with, which services to use, the pace of expansion and the management of systems and users, particularly those on mobile links, are being debated in an environment with little history and experience on which to build a strategy.

The Managed Services & Hosting Summit 2015 will set out to answer some of these questions, according to IT Europa .

Many of the industry's leader providers of technology and solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have already signed up as sponsors including: MaxFocus (LogicNow), Autotask, Azlan, ConnectWise, Databarracks, Datto, LabTech, ScienceLogic, SolidFire, Soonr, Sunrise Software, Tintri, Webroot, Bitdefender, ManageEngine and StorageCraft.

There are also already more than 200 qualified delegates who have registered to attend, of which 75% are CxO level (Director and above). Registration is free-of-charge for qualifying delegates.

Another issue to be debated at the summit will be the appropriate size of providers: The big consumer brands - Amazon Web Services, Google etc are in the public eye, but business wants specialist suppliers.

Christian Nagele, Autotask's General Manager of RMEM, told IT Europa: "We come across plenty of small-medium MSPs who deliver excellent service for their clients while driving profitable revenues for themselves. Growth is often slow, organic and achieved through referrals. They are profitable as the business is efficient and optimised (through effective processes and tooling as well as careful customer selection)."

The market may be getting harder to call, however. Researcher Tariff Consultancy forecasts that while data centre space and power in Europe will increase by almost 20% from the end 2015 to the end of 2020 with the UK being the largest single market in Europe, pricing has reached its limit, with average rack space and square metre pricing forecast to decline by 10% over the five year period.

This will put pressure on those counting on a rising demand and consequent returns. One further twist will be the rate of consolidation - already acquisitions are running at a peak; it is not just customers, but skills and expertise that are forcing the pace.

On the horizon for service providers is the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) where its use in automotive, healthcare and other vertical sectors is expected to scale dramatically.

The Managed Services & Hosting Summit 2015 is organised by IT Europa and Angel Business Communications, will be staged on 17th September 2015 at 155 Bishopsgate, London.

Annodata has been awarded both the Customer and Digital Excellence accolades at the O2 Direct Partner Network Awards 2015.

The awards were established after the relaunch of the O2 Direct Partner Network earlier this year to celebrate companies providing best-in-class services and support.

The Customer Excellence Award focuses on partners' overall capability to provide world-class customer support and service, while the Digital Excellence Award focuses on digital knowledge, capability and performance of O2's digital partners.

Since being announced as an O2 'Centre of Excellence' in 2010, Annodata has built up a nationwide base of mobile customers. As a winner in both categories, Annodata will receive additional marketing and digital consultancy support from O2 to encourage further business development.

Stuart McAlpine, Head of Annodata's Communications division, commented: "Mobile and Unified Communications are key growth areas for Annodata. While mobile is a relatively recent addition to the Annodata service portfolio, it has really taken off. To be recognised for our achievements in this sector is a coup indicative of Annodata's successful expansion into new markets.

"We are committed to growing the mobile arm of our business and we expect to double our base over the next two years, working to cross-sell with existing print customers and by pursuing new ones.

"The infrastructure and support offered by O2 will be invaluable."

Cloud computing take-up among UK SMEs) has increased 15% in the last year, according to the latest research from BT Business and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

The results, part of a wider survey which examined how UK SMEs use and benefit from technology, revealed that 69% of businesses use cloud-based applications, with more than half (53%) believing that they are critical to effective remote working.

The research also revealed that nine out of ten (91%) of companies now have at least one member of staff working from home, while a fifth of businesses (19%) have more than half of their workforce working away from their main office location.

In addition to cloud-based applications, other technologies seen as critical for effective remote working include remote access to company data (56%), wi-fi access when out of the office (64%), and fibre-optic broadband (33%).

Smartphones are seen as the technology that has made the biggest difference to businesses in the last 12 months (68%), followed by improved wi-fi access (54%) and cloud-based applications (42%).

When asked about the benefits the Internet has brought to their business, more than three quarters of respondents (79%) cited increased speed of communication, followed by improvements to customer service (64%) and enabling flexible working (63%).

Danny Longbottom, MD for UK SME, BT Business, said: "Technology is at the heart of a lot of the dramatic changes we're seeing within the UK SME market - whether that's offering the realistic possibility of working from home, increasing the effectiveness of people when they're out of the office or opening up new markets, both in the UK and internationally. Central to those changes is connectivity, which is why we're investing heavily to provide access to the fastest connections possible for businesses across the UK."

Dr. Adam Marshall, Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs, BCC, added: "It is vital to ensure that UK businesses have access to world-class digital infrastructure if they are to maintain their competitiveness in a global marketplace.

"Cloud and mobile technologies are becoming increasingly important as firms expand into new markets and explore new ways of working - especially overseas. It is encouraging to see that so many British firms are adapting their working practices to take advantage of these developments."

Growing firms in the comms sector must do more to attract and retain top talent in STEM roles as the latest quarterly employment figures reveal stalled employment growth and a rise in unemployment, warned technology staffing firm Gibbs S3.

Farida Gibbs, Founder and CEO of Gibbs S3, said: "The UK is now close to full employment after two years of solid growth. However, while employment levels are still high, there is still a severe shortage of experienced, skilled workers in key technology-driven industries like oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and financial services.

"A lack of access to the right technology talent has a severe impact on a company's ability to expand, and when the growth of international, blue chip companies falters it impacts the entire economy. Working with some of the world's biggest companies, we have seen the shortage is pushing up wages as more demand is placed on a dwindling pool of quality workers.

"It is more important than ever for expanding companies to invest in high quality personnel. Hiring under-skilled or inexperienced workers, especially technical specialists, can cause entire projects to fail and derail growth plans. Firms must ensure they are able to balance the reward of a successful new hire with the risk of those that don't measure up.

"Leading companies are increasingly demanding a hybrid approach to workforce solutions that are in tune with their specific business challenges across both long-term recruitment and for short-term projects.

"The challenge doesn't end with getting top workers on board however, and firms must offer the most attractive incentives and growth prospects to staff to retain them. They must think outside the box and offer a complete package that extends beyond a competitive salary."

Azzurri Communications has secured a place on nine out of the ten available Lots on the Network Services Framework (RM1045).

The new framework, which went live in July 2015 and is operated by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) on behalf of the government, enables any public sector body to procure ICT services from credible, vetted providers.

The framework enlists suppliers and pre-approves their capabilities, assessing companies based on experience, company size, reputation, adherence to standards, financial stability, and compliance with the law. Public sector bodies assess their own requirements, and approach providers in the appropriate lot for proposals, which are typically awarded based on the most economically advantageous tender.

"This is hugely important for Azzurri in several ways," said Chris Jagusz, CEO of Azzurri Communications. "Firstly, it of course gives the business access to a huge addressable market in the public sector. Secondly, it is testament to the breadth of our portfolio, the quality of our partnerships, and the strength of our references. We are delighted with this result, not least because it unequivocally shows Azzurri to be more than capable of competing and succeeding on the largest of stages."

The latest procurement analysis from the CCS anticipates total spend through the framework over the next four years will be in excess of £3bn with an associated savings target of £556m over the same period.

The Network Services Framework is anticipated to deliver savings in excess of £500 million for departments and the public sector.

The new framework will provide simplified access to network and telecommunications services, replacing the existing PSN Services, PSN Connectivity and Telephony Services agreements.

The Network Services Framework lasts four years and is designed to replace the Public Sector Telecommunication Services (PSTS), Public Services Network Connectivity (PSNC) and Public Services Network Services (PSNS) frameworks, with which it will run concurrently for a time after PSN was extended.

ShoreTel has advanced its UK expansion strategy following a partnership with Nuvola Distribution.

Adrian Hipkiss, VPof EMEA at ShoreTel, commented: "We selected Nuvola for its UC services background including skills in application integration and cloud services.

"Alongside its services capabilities, Nuvola, as a true service value added distributor is strongly committed to offering customers the solution that is just right for them, which is something we value highly.

"This partnership marks further expansion of our business in the UK and will allow us to address both new markets and new types of partners. This will help us to continue to deliver flexibility and choice to businesses around communications in the enterprise."

Michael Lloyd, MD at Nuvola Distribution, added: "In today's IT environment the reseller must be able to deliver the total solution and partnering with ShoreTel and Nuvola in the UK ensures they are in position to do this."

The European SMB cloud services market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% within next three years (from €18.9bn to €30.1bn), according to latest SMB Cloud Insights report from Odin.

Now in its fifth year, the Odin annual report identifies trends within the cloud computing industry and its impact on SMBs within the European market.

A highlight of European cloud services market growth will be the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market which is expected to increase from €7.6bn to €11.6bn.

The healthcare and finance/insurance industries will increasingly invest in security and server backups due to regulatory requirements. Professional and technology/science industries will also lead the adoption of IaaS.

"Increasingly, we see more and more SMBs realising the business benefits of cloud adoption, and as a result we see businesses are not asking why or how they will adopt the cloud, but when," said Jacek Murawski, Odin EMEA General Manager and Vice President.

Organisations now making the move to cloud services recognise the benefits of security, resilience, flexibility, scalability and business continuity. "By becoming cloud adopters, organisations can be safe in the knowledge that their IT is secure, which enables them to focus on their core business needs and do what they do best," added Murawski.

Good Energy, the fast-growing 100% renewable electricity supply and generation company, has agreed a three-year mobile phone deal with Excalibur Communications.

The Chippenham-based company has switched from a direct contract with a network provider to Excalibur's fully managed service.

Good Energy's IT Infrastructure Manager Steve Simmonds said: "As a rapidly growing organisation, it was time to review the way we managed our mobile phone needs, and Excalibur offers us a great fit."

James Phipps, CEO at Excalibur Communications based in Swindon, added: "Working with such a go-ahead customer-focused company as Good Energy is also a good fit for us at Excalibur. We work hard to remove those pain points by not only providing the right products and the right tariffs, but exemplary customer service so that we can become a long-term trusted partner."