Comms Dealer

Exertis Micro-P has signed a contract with O2 to provide O2 airtime on partner platform, Conect.

One year on from the launch of the platform, Conect channel partners will be able to offer O2 airtime to their customers.

This new partnership means all the major UK mobile networks are now available through Conect. O2 joins Vodafone, EE, Orange and T-Mobile on Conect from 1 April.

Conect enables resellers of mobile, IT and comms to connect services including mobile airtime, hosted services, employee benefit schemes (including BYOD), managed print services and video conferencing via a simple to use, unique and intuitive connections portal.

Fridolin Engel, Head of Sales for Conect, commented: "Having O2 on Conect completes the full portfolio of major networks available to Conect partners."

Exertis Micro-P also announced it is now able to provide Microsoft Office 365 with O2 connectivity on Conect. Office 365 covers the desktop to a user's mobile device offering an easy to manage office anywhere.

Over the second quarter 2014 Exertis Micro-P will be hosting O2 and Office 365 Boot Camps for partners around the UK. Conect partners will be invited to attend as the events hit their region. Each Boot Camp will be supported by both O2 and Microsoft.

There is a growing discrepancy between IT technicians' potential billing time and what is actually billed according to a new report.

In a new Autotask survey, just over 46% of UK IT companies say the optimal target for billable time is 70% to 90%, and another 16.5% said it should be 90% or greater.

But when asked how much of technicians' time is currently billable, 27% of respondents put that number at 50% or less. An additional 20% said between 60% and 70% of their technicians' time is billable.

According to respondents, between one and 20 hours of lost time each month stems from staff conducting manual tasks across multiple systems, an issue that also complicates tracking and reporting.

More than half of respondents said they lose one to 20 hours per month due to an inability to accurately capture billable time or to optimally schedule technicians to balance their time.

The Autotask 2014 IT Service Provider Benchmarking Survey was conducted by the research firm Decision Tree Labs and included responses from 1,300 IT service providers globally, 10% of which are in the UK.

IT companies in the UK predict that managed services will remain their largest growth area this year. Managed services ranks as the top business model, and providers believe client renewal rates will improve as a result of increased managed service contracts.

From that growth will come new hiring - 45% of respondents plan to hire additional workers this year. The improved economy, new client requests, the need for new skills and geographic expansion are also driving new hires.

Those new hires may help companies focus on service levels, an area of concern for UK providers. The survey found that only 41.7% of companies achieve top service level agreement (SLA) response time compliance (91% to 100%), leaving more than half at less-than-optimal levels.

The survey also found that the expansion of cloud services is the biggest factor driving demand for IT services, surpassing the headline-grabbing but less critical areas of mobile connectivity and 'always-on' environments.

Forrester forecasts that spending on cloud software, platform and infrastructure services will grow from $28 billion today to $258 billion in 2020, reaching 45% of total IT services spend.¹

"With the expansion of cloud services, there is a real opportunity for managed service providers to offer clients more than just IT support," said Mark Banfield, Vice President of International at Autotask.

"Offering managed services, increased security and acting as a trusted advisor to clients will be at the forefront of priorities for MSPs to take advantage of the tremendous growth opportunities around cloud."

Distributor Nimans has introduced a series of discounted demonstration kits to help resellers capture more sales of an IP solution from Phybridge.

Dubbed 'the simple route' to IP telephony the demo kits are on offer for less than 50% of the RRP, and free if agreed targets are hit.

Phybridge can help resellers identify and eliminate customer barriers to IP telephony, shorten the sales and deployment cycle and eradicate data network dependencies, claims the from.

The Phybridge PoE switches deliver power over a single pair of telephony grade wire with up to four times the reach of traditional data switches.

They are designed to allow businesses to maximise their existing voice infrastructure and turn it into an IP path for IP telephony.

The solution has been certified with many leading manufacturers including Aastra, Avaya, Broadsoft, Mitel, NEC, Unify - and now with Cisco Call Manager 9.1.

Paul Burn, Head of Category Sales at Nimans, said: "The Phybridge success story continues to grow. The discounted/free demonstration kits (subject to terms and conditions) will help pour more fuel on the fire.

"Acquiring a demonstration kit is highly recommended but is not mandatory for Bronze accreditation. However it is a requirement of silver, gold and platinum sales accreditation."

Kirsty Dawe, Marketing Director of MarketMakers (pictured) - one of the UK's top telemarketing companies - has joined the panel of judges selecting finalists and winners for this year's Comms Dealer Sales Awards. "We are delighted to have Kirsty on board as a judge and she joins a panel of experts who all have a high pedigree of experience across the channel sales and marketing spectrums,"  said Nigel Sergent, Chair of Judges.

"This is a great line up of judges and we are delighted that they have freely given up their time to fairly and professional judge the awards. Once again we have received a record entry which has demonstrated how many companies in the channel value the work carried out by their sales and marketing team. We are looking forward to recognising their efforts at the Awards Luncheon at The Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London's Mayfair on May 8th."

The full line-up of judges is as follows:
CHRIS HARRIS

Chris is well known in the telecoms channel having held a number of senior positions for vendors and distributors - most notable being Managing Director of Inter-Tel Europe and also MD of Contact Centre specialists Zeacom.  Chris is passionate about delivering outstanding customer service, and appreciates that in today's competitive market, it is only outstanding individuals who will deliver outstanding results.

GARY MAY
Back in 2001, Gary May became a Sales Director for a telecoms company to which he helped grow from less than £4m to £40m in just 5 years. Gary is now the Founder of a highly successful training company, Salesology Ltd, which is a professional sales training approach that combines two crucial selling elements, the Art of Sales and the Science of Persuasion.

JEREMY COOKE
Jeremy Cooke was Sales and Marketing Director for telecoms distributor Rocom between 1984 and 1990. In 1991 he co-founded SDX Business Systems, where he helped grow revenue from £8m to £60m. The company was acquired by Lucent Technologies in 1998, returning 29 times original investment over the seven years since inception. Since then Jeremy has held numerous non-executive directorships for a range of technology based businesses.

JOHN MASSEY
John Massey has been in the telecoms industry for over 30 years and has previously been CEO of Actimax and Chairman of the Callback Group. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marketing and also of the Institute of Management. John has built up two companies from scratch into successful enterprises. Over the years he has won over 30 awards and accolades for his companies.

KIRSTY DAWE
Kirsty is co-founder and director of award winning B2B marketing agency ReallyB2B. She is also Marketing Director for the MarketMakers group. Prior to this, Kirsty headed up marketing for leading IP tracking software firm Lead Forensics., Kirsty is passionate about the measurability of B2B marketing and delivering campaigns that are completely accountable, providing results right through to the bottom line.?

Nimans has produced a guide to Microsoft Lync end points, targeted not only at Lync resellers but also non-lync dealers who still have an opportunity to supply end points such as headsets, telephony and audio and video conferencing.

"Microsoft Lync is a complete Unified Communications platform that provides effective communication and significantly increases business performance and productivity," says Head of Category Sales, Paul Burn.

"It's being adopted by UK businesses at a tremendous rate which in turn accelerates demand for high quality optimised end points.

"Helping customers choose the most appropriate devices is one of the most crucial components of any Lync deployment. It's why we've just launched an informative guide that combines advice with a product overview, focusing on all the key areas."

Cisco has revealed how the Internet of Everything (IoE) is actively taking a role in solving some of the UK's biggest infrastructure and economic challenges. Bringing together a panel of industry experts and IoE 'watchers', Cisco presented a combination of visionary thinking and practical applications at the launch of its new report at the CiscoCREATE Internet of Everything innovation centre in Greenwich.
 
The report, titled 'The Internet of Everything: Bringing the Future to Life', examines the current realisation of the IoE in the UK today and how this vision will play a key role in fuelling the British economy for years to come. As uptake gathers pace, the IoE will radically transform and shape lives by connecting the unconnected, creating unprecedented value for organisations, individuals, communities, and countries.
 
From retailers to utility companies, manufacturing firms to healthcare, the IoE represents a huge opportunity for organisations, educators and people across the country. In an era when it's possible for everything to be given an Internet address and connected to the network, 50 billion 'things' will be connected globally by 2020, creating $19 trillion worth of value.
  
Phil Smith, Chief Executive, Cisco UK & Ireland, said: "The Internet of Everything provides the platform from which an ever-increasing number of connections will wake-up the world around us. With just 1% of the physical world connected at this time, this is just the beginning of an amazing future.

"As connections become smarter, faster and more insightful, we will only see more imaginative and ambitious applications of the IoE which will quite literally change the world. That is exciting for Cisco because there is no required roadmap, no single path ? just a platform that offers abundant opportunity and endless possibilities for everyone."
 
The Internet of Everything is being brought to life in a number of ways in the UK. In the report, Cisco identifies five areas that will see the biggest benefits first: healthcare, retail, transport, energy and manufacturing.
 
Healthcare:
The challenges facing healthcare are plentiful, but in an ever more connected age, so too are the options for tackling them. Different thinking and new operational models are needed to empower medical staff, carers and the patients, no matter who or where they are.
 
By using reliable and trustworthy communications technology, not only will patients be able to manage their own healthcare conditions, but medical staff will also be able to keep track of recovery remotely and automatically update health care records. In emergency situations, wireless mesh and 4G mobile connections will allow for smarter, more instantaneous decisions on the move.
 
Retail:
The fundamental processes of retail are being overhauled to put the Internet at their core. By combining the online and physical realms, the Internet of Everything has the power to bring consumers back to the high street by enabling retailers to connect with customers; to hyper-locally promote and market their business in a time-specific targeted way; and to gather business intelligence about their customers and their behaviour.
 
As the number of connections continues to increase - with everything from devices to the items that we buy becoming part of a wider web of interconnected "things" - so too does the potential for retailers to revolutionise and tailor the way that they interact with and sell to each individual customer.  
 
Transport: 
Smart cities transformed by connections and the intelligent engineering of railways, stations, vehicles and roads will drastically alter the way the UK thinks about travel, from the daily commute to the transport network as a whole.
 
From the remote monitoring of infrastructure conditions through digitally connected tracks and roads to the provision of real time data and journey-planning applications for customers to make smart decisions about their travel, the Internet of Everything creates new ways to keep us moving both safely and efficiently.
  
Energy: 
If the gloomiest of estimates are to be believed, the UK could be facing energy shortfalls approaching 10% by 2015. Different ways of thinking about power and the way that we consume it are needed. The use of smarter devices allows us to be less wasteful through the more measurable use of energy. The networking of everything from our thermostats to the sensors that monitor our homes can help us toward a more productive energy future.
 
Manufacturing: 
Consumers' relationships with purchases are being transformed as sensors and monitoring devices are built into not only the production process but also products themselves. "Cradle-to-grave" strategies tracking product lifecycles from the raw materials in the field through to refurbishment and renewal present manufacturers with major opportunities in the face of spiralling costs and dwindling resources.
 
With the UK poised to - once again - become a hub for manufacturing, there's a growing necessity for manufacturers to put the same efficiency into the manufacturing process as they do the sales, and seek to make disposable items the renewables of the future.
 
"UK organisations, in both the public and private sectors, need to take a closer look at their current business models if they want to take advantage of the opportunities generated by the IoE," said Ian Foddering, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco UKI.

"Three factors are key to tapping into these opportunities effectively. Firstly, an ambition and willingness to be open-minded and realise how the IoE applies to the business context. Second, to hire and invest in the right skills to manage connections, and thirdly to explore what new partnerships will allow new ground to be broken for everyone involved to benefit."

As global PC shipments reached just 73.4 million units in the first quarter of 2014, a decline of -4.4% year on year, says IDC, Europe is looking more stable.

The global market, though still in decline and with continuing weakness in consumer and emerging market segments, saw preliminary results are slightly better than a projected decline of -5.3%.

The PC market in EMEA returned to more stable levels and performed above expectations, with shipments supported by healthy demand in the commercial space, IDC says, where end of Windows XP support and improving macro-economic outlook led to stronger than anticipated sell-in across a number of countries. "The consumer market started to stabilise, showing signs of improvement; however shipments remained within negative trends."

Performance in some mature European markets appears to have been more positive than expected, with growth enhanced particularly by corporate renewals, while the business environment in the emerging economies proved difficult, with shipments affected by currency fluctuations and high inventory in certain countries.

Similar to the latter part of 2013, the global upside in the first quarter arose primarily from demand in mature commercial markets. 

"Worldwide PC shipments have now declined for eight consecutive quarters as a result of shifting technology usage and competition (notably with tablets & smartphones) as well as economic pressures (including high unemployment, slow growth & investment, tight credit, and currency fluctuations) related to the Great Recession, sovereign debt crises, and their related impact on international trade," said Loren Loverde, Vice President, Worldwide PC Trackers.

"The economic front seems to be gradually stabilising and/or improving. However, this has been a slow process, and it is unlikely that sovereign debt issues will be resolved soon or that growth in emerging markets like China will return to prior levels. On the technology front, the transition to more mobile devices and usage modes is unlikely to stop, although the short term impact on PC shipments may slow as tablet penetration rises - as we've begun to see in some mature regions. The net result remains consistent with our past forecasts - in particular, that there is potential for PC shipments to stabilise, but not much opportunity for growth."

"PC shipment growth in the United States remained slightly faster than most other regions in the first quarter. However, the passing boost from XP replacements, constrained consumer demand, and no clear driver of a market rebound are expected to keep growth below zero going forward," said Rajani Singh, Senior Research Analyst, Personal Computing.

"A rebound in consumer or a continuation of accelerated commercial upgrades could boost growth slightly, but low demand for upgrades in general combined with competition from tablets and 2-in-1 systems limit the growth potential."

Virgin Media Business has extended a partnership deal with network provider LN Communications to bring high-speed connectivity to five million people in Yorkshire.

The new deal allows LN Communications to provide superfast broadband to eight sites by the end of April 2015, including Castle Howard, Darlington, Barlby, Darley, Kettleworth, Bradley, Northallerton and Stokesley.

The upgrade will extend to an area of 12,000 km2 across Yorkshire. Once complete, customers will have access to Virgin Media Business high-speed fibre-optic broadband and Wi-Fi services, bringing substantial improvements to both homes and businesses.

The three-year deal worth over £350,000 will put in place a strong, reliable service; providing consistent coverage, better connectivity and the ability to use data-intense services, such as video messaging or streaming services like Skype and Netflix.

Plans are already in place to plug individual business parks straight into the network, providing a digital boost to the local economy. The new network offers greater scalability which allows for flexibility in bandwidth to meet demands from businesses, ensuring they stay connected and work more efficiently.

Mario Di Mascio, Executive Director for Sales, Virgin Media Business, said: "This partnership with LN Communications brings the UK one step closer to its goal to provide 95% of the population with high-speed connectivity by 2017.

"The Internet is a gateway to the global economy and we're glad to open it up for the people and businesses in Yorkshire as digital technology is a key driver of growth for the UK economy."

Simon Hayhurst, MD at LN communications, added: "Our partnership with Virgin Media Business gives us a connectivity boost that enables us to provide superfast broadband in areas that have historically been difficult to reach.

"Our approach and strong relationship with the company, combined with the scalability of its network will mean a huge step in the direction of digital innovation for Yorkshire."

Unify and BT have signed a new multi-country enterprise agreement under which BT will add Unify's OpenScape suite of products and services to its enterprise offering, combined with BT's networked IT and professional services capability.

The companies also announced that BT will join Unify's Go Forward partner programme and in the UK the focus will be on the government and healthcare sectors.

"This agreement with BT places the customer at the forefront of our business and our thinking," said Trevor Connell, Managing Director, West Region, Unify.

"Together with BT, we are ensuring that customers have ready access to tailored unified communications and collaborations solutions. Combining our OpenScape portfolio with BT's network capability and market reach has already delivered value to customers, and our new relationship enables us to build on this success."

Andrew Small, VP UC and CRM, BT Global Services, added: "Unify's OpenScape will enhance the breadth of services which we deliver to our customers, and we're excited to strengthen our relationship with Unify in the unified communications market.

"Virtual working, unified communications and the use of collaboration tools are now a crucial part of our working lives and our new agreement with Unify ensures that we will continue to meet our customers' needs."

Node4 has been busy assessing the rate of outsourced IT infrastructure adoption among SMEs and discovered that 60% of them have gone down the outsourcing route while one in ten have deployed a fully cloud-based IT infrastructure.

A report produced by Node4 and based on its research findings suggest that SMEs are becoming confident in adopting the latest technologies and flexible IT services.

According to Node4 companies now see technology and IT as a business enabler powered by the many variants of IT infrastructure provision such as cloud computing, IP-based technologies and virtualisation.

Paul Bryce, Business Development Director, Node4, said: "Many studies continue to claim SMEs are struggling to adapt to this new landscape and are at risk of being left behind.

"However, we firmly believe there is much greater recognition of the value that IT can deliver to businesses among SMEs, and the apprehension that surrounded outsourcing has largely dissipated.

"IT has gone from being a static cost-centre to a dynamic business enabler that must support the organisation at every stage of the sales cycle, empowering the business to grow and succeed.

"Our research and analysis has borne this feeling out and our report demonstrates how savvy SMEs are able to proactively embrace the latest technologies and meet and exceed the demands of the business and employees."