Comms Dealer

Ingram Micro UK has added the SkyKick Migration Suite to its cloud portfolio, a solution that automates the Office 365 migration project, including the sales, planning, migration, management and on-site phases of a customer's move.

"Migrating a customer from a hosted or on-premise environment to one that is cloud-based can be a major undertaking for channel partners for the simple reason that it takes time, expertise and resources," noted Apay Obang-Oyway, General Manager, Ingram Micro Cloud.

"SkyKick will help our partners by simplifying this entire process while providing the opportunity to deliver great value by reducing the time, risk and complexity of migration projects."

Eric Jewett, VP International, SkyKick, added: "In just over half a year working with Ingram in the United States, the SkyKick Migration Suite has helped many partners accelerate their Office 365 deployments. We look forward to replicating this success with Ingram Micro Cloud in the UK."

Cisco's Q1 was hit by weak US carrier spending and falling emerging market growth, but it still managed a record and was lifted by good figures in Europe. Total product orders rose 1% yr/yr in FQ1: Americas +2%, EMEA +6%, Asia-Pac/Japan -12%.

"We are pleased with our results and are comfortable in our strategy to deliver innovative solutions that enable the next generation of IT and the Internet of Everything," said Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers. "This was our strongest Q1 ever in terms of revenue, non-GAAP operating income, and non-GAAP EPS.

"We are still in a tough environment, but seeing encouraging trends as cities, businesses, governments and schools are becoming more digitised.

"EMEA was a highlight with growth of 6%. We saw strong performance in the UK, up 20% and strength in Germany, up 6%. Southern Europe grew approximately 20%. We saw some stabilisation in the emerging countries within an EMEA with growth of 2% in the emerging segment.

"Based on the role we play in the digitisation of countries and companies including our ability to bring innovation in job creation, we're more positive on the future business in Europe than perhaps some of our peers are."

Cisco saw a reduction in spend at several large US service providers, and the cloud is changing a lot of its business. "We are frequently asked what Cisco is doing differently in the crowded cloud markets," added Chambers. "Simply put, we see the same problem in cloud that we saw 20 years ago in networking, where numerous networks operated on different technologies that didn't talk to one another.

"As we blow down the silos with Ethernet we made the Internet pervasive. We are running the same play in cloud as only we can, unifying private, public and hybrid clouds.

"We will place this market as a solutions play, meeting the network requirements of enterprise class applications and providing the platform to deliver Cisco's growing portfolio of software-as-a-service offers. This would drive our strategic role with customers and over time our recurring revenue."

Security is the number one issue facing many customers. "Security revenues grew this quarter by 25%. We combined our security products more closely with the Sourcefire products and delivered a highly anticipated Cisco ASA with Firepower services, which combined Cisco's ASA firewall with Sourcefire into one platform.

"Customer receptivity has been positive. Our innovation and security is very strong. Security continues to be our customers' number one business priority at the CIO level, but perhaps even more important at the CEO level. And we are doing very well in this market. Nearly every initiative we have at Cisco has security as a key component."

Daisy Wholesale has been chosen by Phoenix Managed Networks to provide a range of services for its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Level One certified cloud-based network security and management solution.

PhoeniXSentry offers security for the processes and data carried through transactional networks, to which Daisy Wholesale will be providing telephone line, internet connectivity, a managed installation service and the option of 3G failover.

As well as supporting PCI compliance, PhoeniXSentry is an independently certified ICSA Labs security appliance and boasts features such as included WiFi, 3G failover, usage reporting, content filtering, real-time proactive status alerts and Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities.

As part of the partnership, PhoeniXSentry will be made available to Daisy Wholesale's reseller partners.

Mark Hickey, Director at Daisy Wholesale commented: "There is already a high level of interest among the reseller community for this service.

"For the SME market, the PhoeniXSentry solution provides those businesses that may not have much in-house capability with the reassurance that they are being diligent with their network security and complying with their PCI regulations, allowing them to focus on the growth of their business."

The launch of PhoeniXSentry comes at a pivotal time for the transactional networking market, as new PCI regulations come into fruition, and as banks and card issuers start to crack down on non-compliant businesses.

Alan Stephenson-Brown, Senior Vice President of International Sales and Business Development at Phoenix Managed Networks, said: "Daisy's partnerships with all of the major UK networks is an important resource, saving us valuable time which would otherwise have been spent managing the relationships with multiple suppliers."

ShoreTel's board of directors have rejected Mitel's revised proposal of $8.50 (comprised of $8.10 per share in cash plus $0.40 per share in Mitel common stock) saying that the offer significantly undervalues ShoreTel and is not in the best interests of ShoreTel stockholders.

"After careful deliberation, ShoreTel's board of directors has determined that the incremental value represented by Mitel's revised, unsolicited proposal is highly inadequate, and that this revised proposal is again an opportunistic attempt to acquire ShoreTel," said Chuck Kissner, Chair of ShoreTel's Board of Directors.

]Don Joos, president and CEO of ShoreTel, added, "ShoreTel's focus on successfully executing its strategy has been driving improved financial performance and value creation, as evidenced by our recent financial results including our fiscal first quarter 2015 earnings report.

"We are confident that executing our strategic plan is the best path forward and will deliver substantially more value to ShoreTel stockholders than Mitel's significantly inadequate proposal."

A blend of opex and capex business models is tipped to be the order of the day according to research commissioned by Nimans which found that 91% of resellers contacted in the study believe that a hybrid approach will be the de facto trend.

In more results, 97% think hosted will grow significantly over the coming years, and 38% of respondents think that hosted will eventually replace the traditional PBX.

Almost 70% said better commercials and connectivity would help them sell more hosted solutions while 78% stated that the sub-20 user market was crucial to widespread adoption. Two thirds indicated they fully understand the benefits of hosted with three quarters saying they currently sell hosted solutions.

"Clearly the market is beginning to shift," observed Mark Curtis-Wood, Head of Nimans' Network Services. "We know from the huge amount of IP end points leaving our warehouse that the goalposts are beginning to move."

Nimans has launched its own hosted proposition, GS-hosted that offers upfront or recurring revenue opportunities, or a combination of both. GS-hosted includes a free three-year hosted seat licence with every handset purchased.

"Orders and general interest have been phenomenal and clearly demonstrates a large appetite for the service," Curtis-Wood added.

Genius Networks has appointed Scott Lee as Channel Director. His 20 year industry experience includes stints at Energis, Global Crossing and Calyx, and fighting the corner for smaller businesses has become his trademark.

Lee said: "Ten years ago the tier 1 carriers dominated the network market with contractual restrictions and product sets that locked-in the customer and limited the choice of network solutions.

"I've always fought to break down these barriers and give the smaller service provider more freedom to deliver what his customer needs, and that is what Genius Networks is all about."
 
James Arnold Roberts, Genius Networks Director, added: "Scott's understanding of the channel will be a great asset to Genius Networks, ensuring we deliver the solutions and customer service that resellers need but do not get when dealing directly with the tier1 carriers."
 

When it comes to drumming up trade, Britain's small and medium-sized businesses are sticking to what they know best - getting business through personal referrals and networking.
 
That's according to a survey by Virgin Media Business of over 1,000 SMBs which found that 77% find new customers through referral and 60% generate new business through networking or personal contacts.
 
Only 52% of respondents say they use their website to find new customers - pointing to a large number of UK companies that have yet to embrace digital technology.

A surprising 4% still rely on a shop window to attract passers-by.
 
Mike Smith, Director, SMB, Virgin Media Business said: "Our research has shown that around one in five SMBs surveyed still don't have a website, a pretty shocking figure.

"It's great that networking works, but it's so important that growing businesses embrace technology and up-skill to increase their opportunity for growth."

Alternative Networks staged its annual fusionLIVE event at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria, London (November 6th), where the company presented its evolving device to data centre proposition.

"We took what we knew our customers wanted to learn about and developed a rich programme of seminars and demonstrations," said Edward Spurrier, Alternative's CEO.

Lord Professor Robert Winston kicked off the event with a keynote that explored how interaction and collaboration is evolving as a result of technology.

Also presenting was Microsoft's Chief Envisaging Officer, Dave Coplin, and representatives from Extreme Networks and Citrix.

"fusionLIVE was not merely another technology event, but a business event," added Spurrier.

Samsung's first tablet designed specifically for the B2B market will be available exclusively for six months with Exertis, in both the 4G and Wi-Fi versions.

Exertis will offer the ruggedised Galaxy Tab Active with specific sector proposals to enhance the end user experience, across lone workers, field-based operators, the health sector and the education arena.

Graham Long, Vice President of Enterprise Business at Samsung, commented: "Samsung's Galaxy Tab Active device has been designed to address the requirements and challenges faced by business users.

"The enterprise technology landscape has shifted dramatically, driven by the demand for devices that appeal to consumers while being able to cope with the challenging requirements of professional use.

"Exertis' sector-specific proposition reflects our view that a tailored approach is key to differentiating within a crowded marketplace."

Ewan Davies, Exertis' Head of Devices, added: "Samsung's Galaxy Tab Active is its strongest B2B tablet opportunity to date. Exertis will develop a proposition for all sectors, particularly in education and health.

"As an exclusive product for Exertis, this really enables us to be creative in terms of value and service and we are already seeing volume deals across multiple sectors."

Nimans resellers were standing tall on a five-star trip to Chicago after winning their place on a Unify sales incentive.

Dinner at a jazz club and a trip to The Tilt, Chicago's newest attraction - a 1,000ft high viewing platform that offers downward facing views over the city - were part of the three night stay.

Guests experienced the city's famous architecture on a river cruise and watched a high profile ice hockey game where Nimans' Chairman Julian Niman was wished happy birthday on a giant electronic scoreboard.

They also enjoyed a guided tour along Lake Michigan while travelling on Segways, a two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicle.

Nimans is the official distribution partner for Unify in the UK and the two parties joined forces to reward high performing resellers who exceeded agreed sales targets of the OpenScape Business portfolio.

Nimans' Group Sales and Business Development Director, Richard Carter, said: "Guests sampled the culture of a unique and colourful city in many fun and invigorating ways. The friendliness of the people and the stunning architecture really stood out. It was a trip to remember."