Comms Dealer

Openreach has been selected by UK data centre company Virtus to provide high speed connectivity to its facility in Enfield.

Openreach will deliver a dedicated, high capacity fibre link to the site, allowing Virtus and its business customers to access Ethernet backhaul services from more than 200 UK communications providers.

The dedicated fibre link from Openreach will provide a range of high bandwidth options, from 10Mbps up to multiple 10Gbps services. This will allow Virtus' customers to access their mission critical information stored at the data centre via fast, secure and resilient backhaul links.

The deal is one of several similar contracts Openreach expects to sign over the coming months with major UK data centre providers given its rapidly expanding fibre footprint.

Openreach already provides high speed Ethernet connectivity to more data centres than any other infrastructure provider in the UK. Its commercial fibre network currently covers more than 16 million premises across the country and this will rise to 19 million - or two thirds of UK premises - by the end of Spring 2014.

Openreach plans to build dedicated fibre links to around 15 data centres throughout the UK in this financial year. As the infrastructure will already be in situ at the data centre, communications providers and their customers can have their backhaul links up and running in a matter of days rather than waiting for the fibre network to be built direct to the data centre.

The open, wholesale nature of Openreach's network means that all UK communications providers can access its fibre network on equivalent terms. This allows data centre companies to offer their business customers high speed Ethernet services from a wide choice of communications providers.

Tim Barclay, MD, Sales, Marketing & Customer Engagement, Openreach said: "This deal with Virtus is part of a major push into the UK data centre market by Openreach. Our expanding fibre network means we are well placed to increase our footprint in this market so we expect to sign more deals over the coming months. We're also speeding up the provisioning of our Ethernet services by building fibre links direct to major UK data centres well ahead of any customer orders."

Neil Cresswell, CEO, Virtus, added: "This dedicated fibre link supports our strategy in building a thriving and diverse digital ecosystem in our data centres."

Comms channel businesses have been given an insight into Openreach's Superfast Fibre Access (SFFA) rollout and the benefits of this for the small business sector via special webinars run in association with Comms Dealer.

Openreach have brought target dates for fibre roll-out forward and now aim to bringing fibre to two thirds of the UK by spring 2014, way ahead of its end of 2015 schedule. This is great news for resellers aiming to help customers benefit from an improving economy and advances in cloud computing.

Increased speed and bandwidth are seen as the main motivational drivers and, according to recent research, 84% of businesses who have already upgraded are satisfied with new fibre connectivity which drives applications and services such as VoIP, videoconferencing, virtualisation and remote working.

Jamie Burgess IT director at Retail recruitment specialist RHR commented: "Since we switched to fibre we have seen a big difference in speed and reliability. We have six remote sites across the country, each connected via public VPN's and our up-time for each site has increased from 88.1% to 98.7%.  This mean less headache for me with support calls!"

To find out more about Openreach's SFFA rollout, how it is transforming the way small businesses work and how you and your customers can benefit, join a re-run of the educational  webinar tomorrow 19th September at 3pm (click on link to register)

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has appointed Nuvola Distribution as a nationwide distributor to small and medium-sized businesses.

Nuvola will offer resellers throughout the UK and Ireland a complete range of products and services including design, specification and installation, as well as maintenance, support and managed services across the complete range of voice, data (including WLAN) and performance management products.

Nuvola will look to offer hosted voice solutions for the SMB market by the new year, and hopes to offer training services in the future.

The new relationship with Nuvola is part of the company's strategy to drive Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions into the SMB marketplace, and follows the recent announcement of a partnership agreement with TClarke to move into the growing data centre market.

Jeff Manser, Technical Business Manager at Nuvola Distribution, said: "We have chosen to work with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise because of their forward thinking strategy and the strength of their portfolio.

"Alcatel-Lucent provides opportunity for both distribution and resellers to grow by ensuring that their solutions are not over-distributed. Resellers have the opportunity to provide something different to their customers, allowing for flexibility, creativity and added service value for their customers."

Peter Tebbutt, Country Sales Director for UK&I at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, added: "Distribution is vital in the future path for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise as distributors have the flexibility to offer complementary and value-added services to support resellers, regardless of the size of their businesses.

"We are looking to grow all aspects of our distribution business, and this new relationship with Nuvola is in line with our UK&I growth strategy to recruit new business partners and to further enable our existing partners in terms of their offering to end customers."

Gamma has joined forces with Semafone to provide a fully hosted secure payments solution for contact centres.

Companies will now be able to use Semafone's patented technology via a hosted service, taking contact centre telephone payments out of scope from Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) regulations.

In addition to helping to eliminate fraud, this also further reduces the cost of compliance compared to the price of CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) deployment.

The secure telephone payments software will be available alongside the Semafone-enabled SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) presented by Gamma, and will offer customers a cost-effective and flexible solution that can be scaled up or down according to business requirements.

Gamma's secure hosting facilities ensure that the system is resilient and that multiple - on and off-shore - sites can be protected quickly and easily at relatively low cost, said the firm.

Using Semafone's technology, customers are able to make a payment using their telephone keypad to transmit credit card data directly to the bank, so no sensitive details are held in the contact centre's infrastructure.

Card numbers are not spoken aloud and individual key tones are masked by the Semafone application so that they cannot be recognised by their sound.

Throughout the transaction the contact centre agent can neither hear nor see sensitive card information, but remains on the call to deliver a high level of customer service.

"We are increasingly supporting contact centre implementations where the features of SIP trunking, including flexibility in number routing and scalability, are really benefiting those businesses both in cost effectiveness and in overall service availability," commented Alan Mackie , head of voice services at Gamma.

"Contact centres are looking for additional services from SIP connections, and we are delighted to work in partnership with Semafone to provide a solution for PCI compliance to businesses in a hosted model that is both scalable and easy to deploy and support. We see this as a significant addition, allowing Gamma's channel partners to provide a more complete network solution to their contact centre customers using Semafone's software."

Tim Critchley, CEO of Semafone, added: "It is vital that merchants ensure that card data is always secure, not only to protect the consumer, but also to avoid the damage to brand reputation that can result from a breach. We hope that together with Gamma, we can help even more companies achieve straight-forward, cost effective PCI compliance, keeping sensitive information secure."

Scotland could be in line for a boost in high quality jobs as the country's thriving technology industry pushes the boundaries both at home and internationally, according to a new survey of the sector.

More than 70% of companies in digital technologies plan to employ more people in the coming year and 58% will be looking for graduates to promote innovative growth, said the review by ScotlandIS, which provides an annual health check for the industry.

But while the good news is that jobs are in the pipeline, the less good news is that skills shortages mean employers are still struggling to find candidates who are suitably qualified for an intensely competitive global arena.

A spokesperson for 9-20 Recruitment, the Glasgow-based specialist technology recruitment company which sponsored the survey and added expert analysis and commentary, said: "The challenge is keeping the talent coming through from universities and colleges to keep up with demand for skilled workers."

The survey suggests that software, web, telecoms and IT businesses contribute more than £4 billion to the Scottish economy and support more than 100,000 jobs in more than 1000 innovative companies. Their markets include health, energy, aviation, financial services and the public sector.

Of those surveyed, 71% said that they were optimistic or very optimistic about the year ahead, with 67% reporting a rise in turnover. The vast majority of companies - 80% - expect sales to grow in 2013 and only 8% expect to see a decline.

Encouragingly for Scotland's international position, there is an increasing focus on building software products, with the number of companies engaged in this field up to 16% from 12.4% last year.

There is, indeed, significant emphasis on global focus, with 47% of smaller companies, 58% of mid-sized companies and 84% of larger companies already active in export markets with many more in all segments planning to engage.

And in what could be interpreted either as a reflection of tighter lending criteria or a determination to retain executive control, 82% of smaller companies and 63% of mid-sized companies are funding themselves either through founders' capital or retained profits.

Polly Purvis, executive director of ScotlandIS, said: "There is an increasing buzz about the industry as business and government transform their operations through the smart application of technology."

However, reservations remain across the industry about perceived skills shortages. Alastair O'Brien, deputy chair of ScotlandIS, said: "The software industry in Scotland is crying out for suitably qualified graduates.

"Growth in our industry is being restricted and Scotland is losing out to other countries. It is unacceptable that, in the midst of a world-wide digital revolution, Scotland doesn't have enough talented graduates to exploit fantastic global opportunities."

SAP has acquired KXEN in what could be the first of several spot acquisitions as the firm accelerates its product introduction cycles.

KXEN, a cloud-based technology provider of predictive analytics, brings predictive capabilities to SAP and the SAP HANA platform enabling customers to gather big data and leverage it before their competitors, according to the firm.

"The combination of KXEN with analytics and business intelligence solutions from SAP intends to deliver the capability organisations need to innovate for growth in high volume data environments," said Michael Reh, EVP of Business Information Technology.

A group of riders from Networks First have completed the 110 mile Stratford to Stratford two day cycle ride, raising £3,100 for Prostate Cancer UK.

Sallie-Ann Allen, Head of Operations and support crew member, said: "Prostate cancer is a cause close to our hearts at Networks First, so choosing a charity to support was simple. If detected in its early stages there is a high successful treatment rate. We're proud to be raising much needed money for Prostate Cancer UK to support the great work they do."

Tandberg Data has signed an agreement with Hammer, the UK-headquartered distributor dedicated to storage, to distribute Tandberg Data's portfolio of data storage and data protection products throughout Europe.

Eddy Bergiers, Hammer's Regional European Sales Director, said: "We see Tandberg Data as playing a significant role in developing our tape and backup business across mainland Europe, and we look forward to working closely with it to fulfill the needs of both new and existing resellers focused on this market."

Gerard Marlow, General Manager for Business Development at Hammer, added: "Tandberg Data offers an out-of-the-box working solution complete with backup software, ensuring a cost- and time-effective way to get the technology up and running. Also, by offering Fibre Channel interface on certain products, we are able to address the needs of the Apple marketplace more than ever before with our Tandberg Data offerings."

Hats off to wholesale network operator Virtual1 which has debuted in The Sunday Times 'Tech Track 100' league table reaching 33rd position.

Companies appearing on the list are typically owned and run by entrepreneurs; have up to 200 staff, 3-year sales growth around 40%-280% and sales ranging from £5m-£50m. Virtual1's sales growth was over 93%pa in that period

Managing Director Tom O'Hagan commented: "This recognition shows how far we have come, as a team, over the past three years. We have a vision that encompasses continuous innovation and growth, to both extend and develop our service within the industry.

"This listing is testament to all the hard work the team have put in over that period, but the story does not end here - there's far more to come from Virtual1."

Confidence within the IT contracting community is up year-on year, according to recent research by professional umbrella employment provider, giant group.

Results of its latest contractor survey of IT specialists point to increased confidence in the temporary market. Compared to figures over the last two years, the length between assignments is reducing, with the majority (82%) citing less than 31 days.

In comparison, those recording 90 days and above has halved since 2011. Added to this, over half of respondents are expecting job opportunities in IT to grow over the coming year and a further 64% predicting their earnings will increase.

The survey also suggests that the top sectors for IT contracting opportunities over the next 12 months will be Support Services (26%), Financial Services (19%), Public Sector (14%) and Engineering and Construction

Matthew Brown, Managing Director of giant, commented: "During times of budget and staff cuts, the demand for contractors has a tendency to spike. However, as positivity returns to the economy it is encouraging to note that the IT contracting community is reporting an increase in opportunities.

"It's clear that organisations are continuing to recognise the value these experts can bring to businesses and are expecting to not only utilise this resource over the next year, but also potentially allocate more budget to these specialists."