Comms Dealer

Cheltenham-based PSU Technology Group has bought in additional leadership expertise and technology capabilities with the acquisition of local rival Hub Business Solutions. Headline news from the deal is the appointment of Hub Director Stuart Baikie as PSU's Director of Telecoms Sales.

Baikie co-founded Total (now Bamboo Technology group) which he led as MD before leaving in 2014 having built a £12m business.

"Joining the PSU team was a no-brainer," stated Baikie. "We share the same ideas about it's not what you are using, but how and why you are using it. PSU was the right place for us to continue to create customer centric end to end solutions."

Hub's Lorne Fry and Glyn Evans also take up lead roles as heads of departments for telco and mobile, reporting to Baikie.

PSU MD Michael Lounton commented: ""Over the past year our customer growth and take up of multiple product lines has continued to flourish.

"Hub has built up a reputation for its mobile solutions, rapid site deployment, wireless networking and IoT, making it the perfect fit to deliver a wave of new technology to our customers."

Pictured: PSU's Glyn Evans, Stuart Baikie and Lorne Fry

After a tumultuous period of electoral surprise and tragic events, there is a palpable sense of trepidation across the country at the moment, writes Clive Jefferys of Telecoms recruitment agency JMA Network.

With so many bad things on people's mind of late, you can hardly blame them for wanting to play safe.

While the temporary and contract market remains strong, swapping jobs is part and parcel of this sector and the true barometer is always permanent employment. All in all, we are witnessing the lowest level of new jobseekers for permanent roles in 20 years.

Yet demand for staff remains high, particularly in telecoms. So the current market trend is very good news for anyone willing to look for a new career option today.

Quite simply - if you go to an interview today you will have hardly any competition for the job!

Whereas we would normally source many good candidates for every role, at the moment we can only offer one or two. Providing they are good enough to do the job in question, the offers are forthcoming and its very much business as usual here.

So in an era of 'one on one' recruitment, what can employers do to increase their chances of hiring?

Firstly, accept this new reality. There's no point bemoaning it. Instead you should embrace the opportunity and consider how you can outsell your competition to win the best candidates.

Secondly, it's not all about money. Certainly offering higher starting salaries helps, but the intangible benefits are just as important. Demonstrating flexible working, extra staff benefits and excellent team morale all help to make your company a 'go to' destination.

Thirdly, nurture your hiring friendships. Jobsites, traditional and social media and of course, recruitment agencies, are all your vital allies.

Invest in and motivate these key relationships to keep their attention, to get them on your side with the best people.

In sum, you must learn to love every channel you have into the candidate market. If you look after them, they will look after you!

Aurora Kendrick James has confirmed that it will continue to trade under the Aurora brand name and remain independent of the Daisy Group which acquired Aurora's parent company Alternative Networks in November 2016.

Aurora MD Derek Watson stated: "With the Daisy acquisition now finalised we are investing heavily in our Affinity billing platform with a raft of new products set to be released."

Watson outlined that Aurora has put in place a long-term investment programme aimed at high end customers and a strategy to secure a greater proportion of its target billing market.

"Investments will enhance Aurora's supplier integrations to extend the single key provisioning to billing capability across a greater range of products and suppliers," added Watson.

"Affinity's cloud billing capability will also see further investment along with the product plan."

Aurora's data centre hardware is undergoing an upgrade that will triple the number of customers using Affinity's hosted bureau billing services.

Watson also emphasised that Aurora's largest customers should expect their call rating activity to be completed within a two hour window.

"Aurora has also introduced new capabilities that will increase customers' productivity and ensure they are able to get new products to market quicker," added Watson.

"Packages can be altered to best suite usage profiles while our revenue assurance and bill shock prevention system can be fine-tuned to the needs of the end user. This facility raises alerts on targeted usage via email and SMS and can also enact network bars to reduce further exposure of exceptional usage."

Aurora has also enhanced Affinity's reconciliation facilities to allow customers to match their supplier invoices to the charges they are passing on to their customers.

Broadband provider Voneus has secured a £4.8m growth capital loan from BOOST&Co alongside a £500k equity funding round raised by Jenson Funding Partners.

Voneus provides super-fast broadband to customers in UK rural and metro communities where alternative services may not be available.

The combined debt and equity facility enables Voneus to meet demand and accelerate its roll out of deployments.

Voneus CEO Steve Leighton said: "The flexibility that the BOOST&Co deal brings will allow us to scale quickly and more efficiently."

The outcomes of IT projects can be stymied by the very process that brings them into life, according to KCOM, which has called for an urgent review of IT Request for Proposal (RFP) processes which are all too often tilted towards IT matters rather than taking into consideration the wider business goals.

KCOM claims this skewed approach stifles partner innovation and fails to meet an end user's future requirements.

KCOM bases its argument on its own examination of RFPs it received in 2016 and 2017 for strategic IT projects. The aim of the study was to determine whether the RFP process encouraged innovation and functioned as a platform for future technology developments which support overall business goals such as an improved customer experience.

The upshot is that just 14% of RFPs showed evidence of collaboration between IT and the wider organisation.

A lack of input from external sources such as suppliers is also a block to innovation, along with a reluctance to form strategic partnerships that might deliver better long-term results.

Only 30% of RFPs for consumer-focused projects required a measurement of how the IT project would improve the customer experience, with the remainder focusing on IT metrics.

More than half of the RFPs examined failed to ask vendors how they would ensure their proposal was future-proof.

"Our analysis reveals that the overwhelming majority of RFPs were developed in 'IT isolation', with measures of success being IT-centric rather than focused on broader business or customer outcomes, even where project objectives were specifically to improve customer experience or improve service delivery," stated Stephen Long, EVP at KCOM.

"This, combined with a common failure to encourage technology providers to propose solutions that are innovative and future-proofed, has led KCOM to conclude that the traditional approach to enterprise technology projects needs an overhaul. It is a process that has barely evolved in decades.

"Business strategies that focus on collaboration, customer centricity and future proofing are remarkably rare in a typical RFP. The process is too rigid, restrictive and defensive for business ambitions to be reflected, or for the supplier to act as an innovative partner, jeopardising the ultimate success and commercial benefit of the project.

"For many industries, customer experience is one of the last differentiators available to them, so enterprises can ill afford to limit the potential of technology projects intended to enhance this service delivery.

"The current enterprise IT RFP process is not fit for purpose. Realistically, the process is unlikely to be replaced wholesale, but it can be improved.

"Over specifying technical requirements, restricting dialogue with prospective partners and an over reliance on a scorecard procurement process does not demonstrate innovation and thought leadership."

ProVu's founder and Sales Director Ian Godfrey is to retire from the business paving the way for incoming Sales Director Craig Herrett who joins the distributor from VoIPon Solutions where he was COO following a stint as Sales Manager.

Herrett (pictured) brings 20 years sales experience and is no stranger ProVu MD Darren Garland who stated: "Having known Craig for a number of years I have always admired his approach to work and his enthusiasm."

Herrett added: "I will support the next level of growth while ensuring we stay true to ProVu's core values."

Start-up wireless networking distributor Cogent Distribution has plugged a gap in the UK channel market by offering an alternative set of solutions to resellers of wireless and mobile connectivity, claims MD Jim Kernahan.

The company launched this month following a link-up with Peplink which provides SD-WAN, load balancing, VPN and proprietary bonding solutions designed to increase and secure wireless bandwidth.

"The rapid expansion of mobile and smart devices underscores the importance of delivering reliable, high speed wireless connectivity," said Kernahan.

He also noted that the company has three core focus areas - high speed outdoor fixed wireless, indoor wireless and mobile data routing - and that technical expertise and fast product availability are also a priority.

"In the UK and Ireland there is a significant opportunity to bring Peplink products to a far wider audience," added Kernahan. "We are well placed to do so and looking forward to the challenge."

The Peplink portfolio is supported by radio solutions from Siklu and Mobile Mark's range of antennas that work with Peplink's mobile data routing products, as well as covering other areas of wireless connectivity.
?"Cogent is working closely with a number of manufacturers to deliver new products, consultancy and design services that integrate into existing customer infrastructures," confirmed Kernahan.

Analyst forecasts indicate that spending on wireless telecoms worldwide will hit circa $871bn by the end of 2017.

PMGC has acquired fellow Vodafone Total Communications Partner Pure Business Services for an undisclosed sum. The combined entity boasts over 70,000 connections and annual revenues of between £16m to £20m.

PMGC hopes that the deal will give it the critical mass and scale to become one of the largest independent telecoms and IT managed solutions providers in the UK, operating out of six offices (London, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Northampton, Manchester) and with an increased headcount of 110.

Shez Cheema will remain as CEO of the enlarged business. He previously played a key role at Azzurri Communications where, as CFO, he was involved in 16 acquisitions over a six year period that took the business to circa £150m turnover.

John Handley, CIO of Finance Birmingham and former Head of Lloyds Development Capital becomes Chairman of the business.

PMGC's Sam O'Donnell continues as COO while Pure's Ricky Bayliss takes the Head of Converged Services role.

Cheema said: "Growing the business organically and moving us from a pure play fixed and mobile provider to a unified telecoms and IT fully managed service provider is now our sole focus.

"The acquisition of Pure provides us with the springboard to enable some ambitious longer-term strategic aims that include IP voice, IT hosting and cloud computing.

"Further capability based acquisitions are being considered, and we are in discussions with a number of strategic IT, mobile and fixed line partners."

Helen Freestone, Partnership and Alliances Director at Vodafone UK, added: "It's exciting news to see two strong Vodafone Total Communications Partners coming together.

"Combining their range of skills in mobile, Unified Communications and IT services will be key as businesses increasingly look for fully integrated communications and technology support."

Pure was formed in 2006 and has a head office in Northampton and satellite office in Warrington. The firm generates £8m-plus annual turnover and is also a Strategic Gamma Partner.

Twenty four top channel sellers descended on PalmerSport's race track for KCOM's annual Fastest 4 racing incentive event on June 7th. Head of Channel Sales Henry West hosted the day which saw delegates put through their paces by Ben Collins, Top Gear's longest running Stig.

Collins said: "KCOM's 2017 Fastest 4 event produced a thrilling duel between two teams of tech-savvy speed merchants.

"They treated the brake pedal like the enemy and scorched around former F1 racer Jonathan Palmer's circuit like a swarm of cruise missiles.

"Driving the sporty Renault Clio Cup, twitchy Ariel Atom and bruising BMW M4 GTP cars was a new experience for many guests, and one that will take some weeks for both the cars and the racing instructors to recover from.

"I always try to ensure that I have the last word, and taking the guests for a time attack as passengers aboard the Palmer JP Le Mans car was one way to guarantee they left with a smile across their faces and, in some cases, a little lunch too."

The day conclude with prizes that rewarded driving skills, racing etiquette and all else in between.

KCOM's Fastest 4 incentive continues to attract new partners such as Jackie Killiard, Sales Manager at Diva Telecom, who enthused: "What could top being driven around the track at Palmer Sport by ex-Stig Ben Collins? Nothing!"

Channel Telecom has attributed a run of record breaking month-on-month Managed Internet Access Services sales to its commercial proposition and the launch of OPTIC, an online pricing portal.

Stuart Burdett, Head of Data Services, said: "Demand for cloud-based services is also a key driver for business grade connectivity. And since the launch of Nimbus UC in August last year our Ethernet orders have soared."

MD Clifford Norton enthused: "Successes like this motivate us to keep pushing the boundaries to find out what else might be possible.

"As interest in Nimbus UC grows we're noticing a series of positive knock-on effects throughout the organisation - and it's fantastic."