Comms Dealer

The latest stage in Ofcom's strategic review of digital communications, published today, shows it's listening to the industry's concerns but the big question about BT-Openreach separation has been somewhat dampened by the potential impact of OTT players, according to Matthew Howett, Practice Leader, Regulation at Ovum.

"Leading up to its publication, BT and its rivals had been engaged in a bitter war of words in relation to where Ofcom should focus its priorities.

"Rivals to BT believe the incumbent should be further split up and the access division, Openreach, hived off. BT responded calling for PayTV to be in the spotlight. Both of these have made it into the discussion document, however neither should probably be the focus."

The strategic review seeks to ensure that the industry continues to meet the needs of end users. The last such review, a decade ago, lasted almost two years and ultimately led to the separation of BT's access network.

"This review is unlikely to result in a further separation of the incumbent," added Howett.

"While Ofcom recognises there are challenges with Openreach, in particular in relation to service quality, it heavily suggests that further separation will not address these, and could ultimately be disproportionate. That's not to say that tweaks to the Openreach model aren't likely.

"What this review really does is present an opportunity for the regulator to properly consider the impact competing services coming from so called OTT players are having on the sector, and whether this impact warrants further deregulation of the traditional communications markets.

"As new, more nimble players such as Skype and WhatsApp have arrived on the scene and competed away traditional telco revenues, regulators have been somewhat constrained in their ability to react, and certainly have not responded in the way telcos might have liked.

"This is where Ofcom's focus ought to be, and could even be an area where BT and its rivals find mutual agreement."

Identity and access management (IAM) company SailPoint is to acquire Whitebox Security, a provider of data access governance solutions that identify and protect sensitive data against internal and external threats.

The Whitebox Security suite of solutions will continue to be available from SailPoint and will be rebranded as SecurityIQ.

By combining SailPoint's governance-based approach to IAM with Whitebox Security's ability to collect and analyse data, SecurityIQ will provide visibility and control into 'who has access to what' in unstructured data resources.

"Unstructured data is the next frontier in the IAM space, and it's a growing concern for our customers," said Kevin Cunningham, president and founder of SailPoint.

"By bringing data governance under the scope of IAM, organisations can now manage access to unstructured data in the same way as access to applications and systems.

"Our acquisition of Whitebox Security's expertise and technology allows SailPoint to link identity-centric and data-centric views within the IT infrastructure in powerful ways for our customers."

M-Files, a provider of solutions that improve how enterprises manage documents and other information, has opened a UK office in Reading, Berkshire.

The new office, along with increased investment in personnel and marketing, is part of the company's plan to increase its presence in the region.

The expansion comes as an increasing number of UK businesses are realising that information management is a strategic priority, and it is driving them to eliminate manual processes and replace existing document management systems that have proven to be complex and difficult to use.

Common requirements include the need to transition away from the use of unmanaged network file folders, and getting control of personal and less secure file sync and sharing apps for managing business content.

Companies are turning to enterprise information management solutions such as M-Files to eliminate content chaos and information silos while enabling fast and easy access to the right documents and other information from any core business system and device.

"The IT-savvy UK document management market is growing quickly because organisations of all sizes and across a wide array of industries are looking for easy-to-use and secure alternatives for managing their information assets," said Julian Cook, Director of UK Business Development at M-Files.

Olive Communications has picked up Vodafone UK's Platinum Partner of the Year award at the operator's Fifth Annual Partner Conference held at St Johns in Solihull (9th July).

The award win follows a joint initiative established in 2014 which gave Olive full access to the Vodafone UK portfolio of products and services across mobile, fixed telephony, data and cloud-based applications and services.

Olive CEO Martin Flick said: "The way people communicate and share information is being revolutionised, and Vodafone and Olive are able to help customers maximise the benefits of this technological advancement for maximum advantage.

"The pace of change is accelerating and by integrating communications, UK plc can derive significant advantage from our combined offering, improving productivity, flexible working, and workforce efficiency."

Nick Birtwistle, Director of Partnerships and Alliances at Vodafone UK, added: "Olive has a strategy that is aligned to Vodafone's and has demonstrated that it can deliver our portfolio in close proximity to customer need, with solutions more valuable than the sum of the parts.

"This award recognises Olive as being one of the leaders in our indirect space."

Business leaders unable to contain and manage the burgeoning mobility trend occurring under their noses are certain to welcome an initiative launched by Exclusive Networks UK, according to its Country Manager Graham Jones (pictured).

"With as many as 82% of employees now using multiple mobile applications for work purposes the enterprise IT environment continues to grow. With that comes a wide range of challenges," he stated.

"Coupled with the explosion of Shadow IT - systems, software and other technologies installed without IT approval - these trends are putting organisations on the back foot."

In a move to put control back into the hands of businesses Exclusive Networks UK has introduced Disruptive Enterprise Mobility, a new framework that enables resellers to work more effectively with their customers on creating tailored mobility strategies.

"The scheme brings together a range of complementary vendor technologies which, when combined, allow IT teams to address challenges posed by the five core pillars of enterprise mobility - connectivity, user, devices, application and data," added Jones.

"With this initiative we are adding value by giving our resellers the tools to help their customers create a secure, scalable and flexible environment in which they can embrace change.

"This, in turn, will help resellers expand their mobility offering and increase margin potential."

Participants in the initiative include Aerohive, Aruba Networks, Druva, Elastica, FireEye, Fortinet, Lookout, MobileIron, Netskope, Palo Alto, SafeNet and SecureAuth.

Disruptive Enterprise Mobility will be launched to channel partners with a set of sales and marketing tools including information sheets, an email campaign, an infographic and a video.

Scottish network infrastructure specialist Xtreme Business Solutions has invested £50k in technical equipment as part of its growth strategy.
 
The Westhill-based firm, which also has offices in Dalgety Bay, has purchased the latest generation of fusion splicers and optical domain reflectometers (OTDRs). 

The new kit reflects the rise in use of fibre optic cables to transmit communications data and comes as the firm increases its workforce with the addition of eight new engineers. 

Fusion splicers are used to join fibres together using heat, while OTDRs test the integrity of fibre optic cables, ensuring they are fit for purpose. 

Xtreme was assisted in purchasing the equipment with a grant from Scottish Enterprise.
 
Xtreme designs, supplies and installs a range of IT solutions for companies across Scotland, and now increasingly overseas. 

Over the past 12 years it has expanded its customer base and the type of projects undertaken. This has involved some of its fibre and data engineers gaining their BOSIET and MIST qualifications, enabling Xtreme to undertake network cabling work on offshore installations.
 
International expansion is forming a key part of the business as it looks to boost turnover to £4m in the current financial year, and double this by 2020. 

The company was recently selected as one of three Scottish SMEs to represent the country on a trade mission to Dubai.
 
MD Graeme Duncan (pictured) said: "Increasing the number of fusion splicers and OTDRs we have allows our staff to travel further and for longer periods without the need to relocate kit to other projects. 

"This greater flexibility will be crucial for us going forward.  The investment has been very timely, as in recent weeks we have increased our workforce due to recent contract awards.
 
"Over the coming years we will be looking to substantially grow the amount of work we do overseas. 

"Xtreme has picked up a number of jobs in Europe recently, and we are looking to build on our recent work in America. 

"Our participation in the recent trade mission to Dubai generated some positive and exciting discussions for projects in the region."

Nimans is beating the drum about an 'advanced' radio system from ICOM that operates over WLAN and IP networks and can connect sites thousands of miles apart.

"The IP100H solution is easy for resellers to set-up and can accommodate up to 100 users at the same time with no licence fees or call charges involved," enthused Nimans' Head of Dealer Sales Tom Maxwell.

"The talk range is only restricted by a site's network coverage while encryption provides extra security. Full duplex hands-free communication is possible when an optional headset is used."

The system is suitable for hotels, warehouses, hospitals, restaurants and supermarkets, and dovetails into Nimans' WLAN portfolio.

"The ICOM system is a modern take on traditional two-way radios," added Maxwell.

"By deploying access points users can communicate all the way from a basement to the top floor.

"Talk range is only restricted by a site's IP network coverage which can potentially be much greater than a standard solution especially if connected over a VPN - even sites thousands of miles apart."

Managed 24/7 has achieved Cisco Gold Certification well in advance of its 2015 year-end target date.

MD John Pepper said: "The Gold Certification gives us access to new technology as it is developed, enabling us to stay at the forefront of delivering innovative and high quality solutions.

"This announcement coincides with a £1.5m investment in our new network operations centre in Milton Keynes which will also create up to 150 new employment opportunities."

As a Cisco Gold Certified Partner Managed 24/7 has met the requirements for attaining expertise in enterprise networks architecture, security architecture, collaboration architecture and data centre architecture.

Managed 24/7 has also integrated Cisco Hybrid IT, the resale of cloud and managed services, into its offerings.

Tollring has scooped an award in the Data Visualisation of the Year category at Computing's inaugural Vendor Excellence Awards 2015.

Tollring was nominated as A double finalist and its award winning solution, the iC360 suite, is a hosted business analytics tool that enables multi-site enterprises to visualise call information and manage their entire telecoms estate providing real business insight.

Telecoms-related data from multiple sources is analysed to solve business challenges, from managing unresolved missed calls to achieve excellence in customer service, to telecoms lifecycle management.

Tollring MD Tony Martino said: "Data visualisation sums up exactly what we do as an organisation. Our product portfolio is growing from strength to strength and I believe that our understanding of business need, commitment to research and development and our flexible approach have been instrumental to our success."

What happens to the financial information given by customers to call centres is a mystery to nearly all callers, according to research cited by Elitetele.com.

With many businesses looking to provide new ways to unify communications and give staff more flexible working patterns, Elitetele.com is urging companies to review PCI compliance in order to avoid fines, which are set to increase under the new EU Data Protection Law.

It is also advising those with a call centre presence to do more to educate customers on the security surrounding phone payments.

The survey of 2,000 UK consumers by Opinion Matters found big insecurities exist about how financial information is handled despite technology being available, which businesses can use to ensure call centres take and store customer information securely.

43% of respondents (rising to 50% amongst those aged over 55) believe their financial details are most vulnerable to fraud or misuse when given over the phone to an operative who works from home.

A third even believe operatives who work from an office pose the same level of risk.

40% cent stated they are not confident their payment details are secure from being hacked by cyber criminals, and 30% are scared operatives can secretly record their information elsewhere.

Matt Newing, CEO at Elitetele.com, said: "The scale, frequency and evolution of security threats means that consumer confidence in the ability of businesses to store their data securely has taken a huge hit.

"In fact, only three per cent of consumers we surveyed understand what really happens when they make a payment over the phone and they are equally as concerned about internal and external threats to their information.

"Under the new EU Data Protection law, it has been reported that fines for noncompliance could be as high as 2% of annual worldwide turnover.

"This, accompanied by the inevitable damage to brand reputation and loss of customer trust demonstrates the need for businesses to ensure they have PCI compliant technologies in place to protect consumer data. By doing so, companies can reassure consumers and safeguard the growth of their business.

"Understandably, there is no one size fits all solution. Compliance levels depend on the size and nature of a business, and knowing where to start can prove a daunting task due to ever changing rules and regulations.

"One of the first measures that can be put in place quickly and easily is to end the practice of asking customers to read their sensitive card details out loud over the phone.

"It's easier and safer for call centre staff and customers alike if we offer customers the option of entering card numbers via their telephone keypad instead - whether that's an automated process or managed by the agent.

"We need to reassure consumers that they are not obliged to say this information aloud.

"I would urge businesses to seek expert advice on deploying the best solution for them ahead of the new EU legislation, helping them become and remain PCI compliant."