Comms Dealer

Telit Wireless Solutions, provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, services and solutions has joined the Telefonica M2M Channel Partner Programme.

Under the terms of the deal, Telit will extend its value added services portfolio by adding Telefonica's connectivity services. The new partnership is aimed to reach to M2m customers across Europe and Latin America.

Telit m2mAIR Mobile delivers tools to service providers of M2M that help manage and deploy of global distribution, provisioning, connectivity and offers module management.

It also grants access to ePortal and help manage M2M accounts, control billing and charging as well as diagnose issues and analyse business performance, it says.

"We are delighted to serve Telit's partner ecosystem within our M2m Channel Partner Programme. This enables Telefónica to address new markets and segments and enriches our value proposition based on Telit's global leadership in module development and differential value-added services," said Rafael Garcia Meiro, Director of Telefonica B2B Indirect Sales Channels.

Three vendors are trying for the number two slot in enterprise networking and communications, says market research firm Infonetics Research. The enterprise networking and communication infrastructure market is highly fragmented, with well over 100 vendors vying for a piece of this $50bn market.

Excerpts from its 2014 Enterprise Networking and Communication Equipment Vendor Scorecard, which profiles, analyses, and ranks the seven leading vendors of enterprise networking, network security, and communication equipment and software worldwide cover Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Brocade, Cisco, HP, Juniper, and NEC.

"Cisco dominates the enterprise networking and communication market by a wide margin, due to offering the broadest solution portfolio, receiving positive feedback from enterprises, and capturing significant market share. The battle for second place is raging between Brocade, HP, and Juniper, and each has unique strengths: Brocade has the strongest financials, HP is growing the fastest, and Juniper has experienced the highest improvement in enterprise feedback," notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research and lead author of the report.

Infonetics' scorecard evaluates vendors on criteria using actual data and metrics, such as direct feedback from buyers, vendor market share, share momentum, financials, and solution portfolio. This approach aims to eliminate subjective scoring and ensures vendors are assessed accurately and fairly.

Repeating its performance in last year's scorecard, Cisco once again earned the highest overall score by far, attaining perfect scores in 6 of 7 criteria and even improving on market share momentum, but the battle for second place heated up this year, with Brocade holding on to the spot again thanks to its strong financials, and is followed very closely by HP and Juniper

HP captured showed most improvement; NEC's top position in Japan's enterprise telephony market helped place it 5th in Infonetics' 2014 scorecard.

Software defined networking is coming, but Europe may take two years to catch up with the size of US deployments, claims Dr Clifford Grossner, Directing Analyst for Data Centre, Cloud, and SDN at Infonetics Research.

"Software defined networking (SDN) spells opportunity for existing and new vendors, and the time to act is now," he said.

"The leaders in the SDN market serving the enterprise will be solidified during the next two years as lab trials give way to live production deployments in 2015 and significant growth by 2016. The timelines for businesses moving from lab trials to live production for the data centre and LAN are almost identical."

The timing between the US and Europe is difficult to predict he adds: "If I had to guess, I would say that EMEA is very active in lab trials and production trials today, same as NA, but it will take 24 months before the size of EMEA deployments start to be equal the that of NA. This may also be an unfair comparison because of the differences in the average size of enterprises in EMEA."

The top drivers for deploying SDN are improving management capabilities and improving application performance, while potential network interruptions and interoperability with existing network equipment are the leading barriers. Meanwhile, enabling hybrid cloud is dead last on the list of drivers, a sign that SDN vendors have some work to do in educating enterprises that SDN can be an important enabler of hybrid cloud architectures.

Red Box Recorders has secured a global contract with Tradition, said too one of the world's leading brokers.

Under the terms of the deal Red Box Recorders will be responsible for recording over 8,000 channels of communications throughout the Americas and the UK.

This contract is the latest in a string of new customers for Red Box Recorders in the international finance sector.
 
Yann L'Huillier, Group Chief Information Officer at Tradition, commented: "Rationalising our infrastructure and reducing costs while increasing our Quality of Service is a constant focus for us.

"Red Box Recorders has allowed Tradition to achieve this goal by providing an efficient, easy to use solution that records both turrets and IP telephony."
 
Lee Jones, CEO at Red Box Recorders, added: "Red Box's Quantify suite can help organisations to address the challenges posed by the requirements of the increasingly complex compliance regulations in different regions."

Derby-based Node4 is opening the doors of its Pride Park site to local businesses on 7th August to mark its 10th anniversary and showcase its capabilities to local firms.

Andrew Gilbert, Managing Director, said: "As the East Midlands continues to thrive as a business hub, having a Data Centre to service the local economy provides an infrastructure for growth.

"We have years of experience working with SMEs and pride ourselves on our flexible approach to doing business. Technology is an enabler for lots of things and we want to give local companies the best possible chance of experiencing the full benefits."

JMC IT has been awarded an annual contract to provide its 24/7 SupportCare Active System Monitoring Service and a new private cloud network to building products distributor Magden.
 
Having grown from a single branch Manchester operation to four distribution centres supplying customers as far afield as Scotland and Gloucester, Magden now has plans to grow the business through several acquisitions.
 
Harry Cross, Magden Financial Director, said: "We knew that our current system had been draining too much time and too many resources from the company, and so we requested that JMC conduct a health-check on our existing IT systems.

"The results confirmed our fears and showed us the potential of what could be achieved by having a system in place that would actually work for our business.
 
"We have already seen the benefits of introducing the SupportCare service and in September we'll have a new network that can support our four remote branches as well as our growth plans. The best part is, the new system will grow with us."
 
David Gowler, Account Manager at JMC, added: "Businesses are reliant on their IT systems to operate and there is no excuse for companies to allow their systems to hinder their ability to grow.

"Working with a business that has such impressive growth plans is an exciting opportunity that will allow them to see the difference we can make."

Black Box Network Services UK has achieved Premier Partner Certification from Cisco.

To earn Premier Certification, Black Box Network Services had to meet set standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction.

David Long, Director of Sales & Marketing UK & Ireland, Black Box Network Services, said: "Today's dynamic communications market requires a partner process to adapt and transform technology to drive business results, and at Black Box we believe communication is an organisation's most important process. 

"Being a Premier Partner and working together with Cisco at this level will now create further value to our propositions."

Exclusive Networks Group has appointed Julien Antoine as Director of Global Operations, an international business transformation specialist with a remit to develop on a global scale the Group's capabilities in value added services.

He comes from A.T. Kearney, the global management consultancy and is part of the drive to hit €1bn turnover by 2017.

"Our opportunity is to address the demand for a wider array and reach of our services as we extend into new and increasingly distant territories, and drive greater momentum across our vendor base," said Olivier Breittmayer, CEO of Exclusive Networks Group.

"Bringing in Julien's expertise complements our ongoing investments in global operations, our Passport 24/7 International Support Centre and supply chain solutions, and enables us to scale our services in line with future significant growth ambitions."

Antoine added: "As we expand, it is essential that our partners continue to receive consistently excellent standards of service and we do this by continually improving and innovating back-office, global supply and 24/7 support capability."

The UK tech sector enjoyed a quarter of robust growth from April to June 2014 with the expansion of business activity rising at its fastest pace since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007, says the latest KPMG/Markit Tech Monitor.

The UK survey also indicates that improving economic conditions have ushered in a sustained period of strong top line growth for tech companies, which in turn boosted investment spending plans across the sector.

Almost two thirds (61%) report a solid upturn in year-ahead expectations for business activity and more than 4 in 10 (43%) also declare an intention to hire more staff.

It is also clear from the study that capital expenditure plans within the tech sector are at their most upbeat since data was first collated in 2009. Today, 43% anticipate an increase - compared to the previous high of 37.5%.

Commenting on the latest Tech Monitor UK results, Tudor Aw, Head of Technology at KPMG, said: "The UK tech sector is firing on all cylinders with sustained growth outstripping the wider economy. Importantly, this good news story looks like it will continue in the year ahead with many tech companies planning to loosen the purse strings to hire staff and raise capital expenditure.

"For the first time since 2007, there is also a welcome upturn in Tech IPOs which hopefully signals the beginning of a comeback of Tech companies to the London Stock Exchange, something that will be important in convincing tech start-ups that the UK is the right place to be."

Solution Builders (SBL) has secured a £1m investment and named Chris Brassington as CEO to lead the firm through its next growth phase.

The investment will enable SBL to catalyse its growth strategy, expand its service offerings, extend its reach with a new office in Manchester, and recruit more staff to the sales, marketing and finance teams, as well as customer support.

"SBL is a key player in the hospitality, corporate and retail markets and this investment gives us a fantastic opportunity to move the business forward and continue to support our clients effectively," stated Brassington.

Before joining SBL Brassington was Chairman of mobile digital strategy company Starfish360, providing mobile commerce solutions to the retail industry.

He has 20 years experience within the mobile technology industry and has held senior positions with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young, BT, CPW, and NCR, and was MD for 2ergo and CEO at Totem Communications.

Also joining SBL is Richard Hubbard as Head of Finance. His experience includes a stint at Calyx Managed Services in a similar role, and senior management and financial controller positions at Evolve Energy, MKD Holding and Alcontrol.