Comms Dealer

The Managed Services & Hosting Summit series of events is expanding to Amsterdam in April, assessing the impact of market trends and compliance on the MSP sector in Europe.

Expert speakers from Gartner and a leading legal firm involved in assessing the impact of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be providing keynote presentations, speaking as evidence emerges that many MSPs need to 'up their game', particularly in their sales and customer retention.

Customers are demanding more, so Bianca Granetto, Research Director at Gartner will examine new research into digital business and digital transformation market dynamics and what customers are really asking about.

Another keynote speaker, Renzo Marchini, author of Cloud Computing: A Practical Introduction to the Legal Issues, is a partner in law firm Fieldfisher's privacy and information law group which has over 20 years' experience in advising clients across different sectors and ranging from start-ups to multinationals. He has a particular focus on cloud computing, the "Internet of Things", and big data.

Finally, for those seeking guidance on the high level of merger and acquisition activity in the sector, David Reimanschneider, of M&A experts Hampleton, will look at where the smart money is going in the MSP business and what the real measures of value and time are, and when to sell.

The European Managed Services & Hosting Summit 2017 which will be staged in Amsterdam on 25th April 2017 will build on the success of the UK Managed Services & Hosting Summit which is now in its seventh year and will bring leading hardware and software vendors, hosting providers, telcos, mobile operators and web services providers involved in managed services and hosting together with channels including Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and resellers, integrators and service providers seeking to developing their managed services portfolios and sales of hosted solutions.

The European Managed Services & Hosting Summit 2017 is a management-level event designed to help channel organisations identify opportunities arising from the increasing demand for managed and hosted services and to develop and strengthen partnerships aimed at supporting sales.

The event has attracted a strong line up including many of Europe's leading suppliers to the MSP sector such as: Datto, SolarWinds MSP. Autotask, Kingston Technology, RingCentral, TOPdesk, ASG, Cato Networks and Kaseya.

For further information or to register please visit: HYPERLINK "http://www.mshsummit.com/amsterdam"www.mshsummit.com/amsterdam

Arrow Business Communications has boosted its annual turnover to £26m and established a presence in the business energy sector following the acquisition of London-based Pulse Business Energy.

This is Arrow's eighth acquisition in seven years and enables the firm to provide an energy, telecoms and IT consultancy and service proposition.

Arrow MD Chris Russell stated: "We identified the energy market as a strategic opportunity a while ago but wanted to partner with a company whose ethos and values were similar to Arrow's."

Ofcom's reaction to Openreach broadband installation delays was a record £42m fine, but according to Bamboo Technology Group MD Lorrin White there remains big questions over how quickly the UK's fixed line network can be improved.

"As a provider working in the fixed line arena for nearly 20 years we are used to the complexities and moving goalposts of Openreach's compensation processes so are not surprised to learn that rules have been breached to avoid successful claims," she said.

"While the fine reflects the significant impact that late installations have on businesses and was deemed a justified figure by Ofcom, I hope it will instigate the shake-up required to avoid such rule flouting in the future.

Openreach has already agreed to meet Ofcom's demands to become a separate company - a step we wholeheartedly support and agree with - but as a telecoms provider that works with Openreach every day we only want it to succeed.

"Openreach needs to commit everything it can to significant nationwide fibre investment. To do that it needs all the resources it can get."

Serial entrepreneur and former Lanway MD Vernon Yerkess, who played a key role in selling the IT services and supply business to Chess early last June, has urged exit hungry ICT businesses not to underestimate the work involved in the sale process.

"It's emotionally exhausting and the due diligence process is really tough," said Yerkess speaking to guests at last month's exit educational seminar in London organised by M&A specialist Evolution Capital, who managed the Lanway sale.

Lifting the lid on the work involved in the sale, Yerkess told guests that the key to his successful outcome was the Strategic Review undertaken by Evolution at the outset which enabled them to match them with the right type of buyer.

"The Strategic Review was very important because it told Evolution what our business was all about and they could then position us with the right people to buy us. Based on the review they told us what they thought the business was worth - high and low - and we ended up somewhere in the middle. Evolution knew the market and this set our expectations on what we would get, the timing and the work involved. The due diligence process was the hardest challenge. It consumes your life because it's your baby you're selling.

"It was Chess' 93rd acquisition in 10 years so they knew what they were doing. The process they went through was very templated which meant in six weeks I knew everything that went on in Lanway in every nook and cranny. I knew every bill, how much the electricity cost, how much we paid each person, their length of service...everything because that's what you must do. I found out about a lot of stuff in that period!

"Eventually we completed the Shareholder Purchase Agreement - there was an issue with some of the add-backs and the balance sheet because cash in our sort of business is always up and down - but Evolution sorted it out.
"From the time Steve and I decided to sell the business to in April 2015 we got our money the following June which was about the time Evolution had predicted.

"There have been no regrets at all and the former Lanway staff are enjoying life at Chess. We thought it was a good fit because we had a good idea where they could take the business and they had done it all before!"

Yerkess will repeat his talk at the Radisson BLU Hotel in Manchester on Thursday March 30th. To attend email Debbie@evolutioncapital.com.

Any telecoms or ICT business looking to sell in the next year or so will find a willing buyer despite uncertainty over Brexit.

That's the view of Evolution Capital business advisor Nick Blong who believes the M&A market will remain healthy for the rest of 2017.

Speaking at Evolution's breakfast seminar at The Ivy in London last month, he told reseller guests that 2017 GDP forecasts from both the IMF and the Bank of England had been upgraded but a downgrade was expected for 2018.

"The IMF's economic Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld has said that reduced output, transactional costs and restriction of labour supplies due to Brexit will present a longer-term challenge for the UK but if you look at the wider market, in a survey of Private Equity and Venture Capital Funders there is 94% confidence for the long-term future and 97% expect to deploy the same rate of funds," said Blong.

"These are the people putting money into the market which is important to sellers because there will be more buyers with more money and they will increase the amount they'll be willing to pay.

"The same survey said there is likely to be a burst of activity in some sectors, one of which was ICT. Whatever the state of the economy there is always going to be challenges and opportunities and you're always going to be in the same place as your competitors so for a good profitable business there will always be an opportunity to sell. ??"None of us can accurately predict the future, but from what we have seen 2017 looks like a good time to sell," he concluded.

Gamma has expanded its nationwide build-out programme to connect 18 additional BT exchanges to Gamma's core in order to consume Ethernet directly from Openreach.

This is in addition the original 19 launched in 2016.

These locations have been strategically chosen to maximise the benefit for Gamma's partners and its customers, helping them reach businesses in 74,300 postcode areas across UK.

David Doherty, Product Director at Gamma, commented: "This expansion allows Gamma to provide partners with competitively priced Ethernet services in key business locations."

This development is in addition to Gamma introducing TalkTalk as an additional carrier to further expand its range and coverage for Ethernet connectivity to resellers, while underpinning Converged Private Networks, Gamma's MPLS proposition, which offers voice and data services over a single network.

For the second year running Chess Partner was the only distributor to scoop both the O2 Digital Excellence and the O2 Customer Excellence Award.

The award ceremony took place at the Ivy Market Grill in London on March 9th where John Pett, Managing Director of Chess Partner, accepted both awards.

He commented: "Throughout 2017 we will continue to invest in our partners to help realise our goal of winning these awards for an unprecedented third consecutive year within distribution."

A record number of entries have been received for the UK's most popular event for sales and marketing teams operating in the ICT channel.
 
The Comms Dealer Sales and Marketing Awards, sponsored by KCOM, has attracted over 120 entries this year and the countdown is now officially underway to the finalist's awards luncheon to be held at the lavish Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London on May 4th.
 
"The entries we have received this year have been of exceptional quality and we have been delighted by the enthusiasm across the industry for rewarding the efforts and sales and marketing teams working in reseller and supplier organisations all over the UK," said Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent.
 
"Response to the extra awards we have added this year such as Best Company to Work For, Best Company Portal and Best Apprentice Scheme have been exceptional which demonstrates the progress so many companies are making in our amazing industry.
 
"I would like to congratulate all of our finalists and hopefully look forward to welcoming them, their clients and partners to our spectacular awards presentation luncheon on May 4th."
 
To book your table or place please go to: http://www.cdsalesawards.com/#tablebooking
The shortlist for the 2017 Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards is as follows:
 
COMMS DEALER SALES & MARKETING AWARDS 2017 SHORTLIST
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year up to £2.5m (small)
GHM Communications
City Talk Communications
Cloudsource Technologies
Loop Voice and Data
Nexus IP
Pure Telecom
Solution IP
TWL Voice and Data
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year £2.5m-£5m (medium)
Exsel Group
Frontier Voice and Data
Glamorgan Telecom
Infinity Group
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year £5m plus (large)
Berry Telecom
Focus Group
NetConsult
STL
SW Comms
 
Reseller Best Marketing Campaign
Cisilion
IP Solutions
Lily Comms
Nexus IP
Peach Technologies
 
Service Provider Channel Sales Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Daisy Wholesale
New Star Networks
Pangea
 
Service Provider Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
 
Service Provider Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Agilitas
Assembly Channel Services
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
Pangea  
Plan.com
Text Local
Voiceflex
 
Distributor Channel Sales Team of the Year
Nimans
Pragma
ProVu
Siphon
Zycko 
 
Distributor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
Nimans
 
Distributor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
DMSL
 
Vendor Best Partner Programme
Gamma
Pangea
Splicecom
TelcoSwitch
Teleware
Tollring
Unify
 
Vendor Channel Sales Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Sennheiser
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Virtual1
 
Vendor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Gamma
Inform Billing
 
Vendor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Entanet
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Xarios Technologies
 
Best Partner/Customer Event
BT
Channel Telecom
Cisilion
Fidelity Group
Gamma
NGC Networks
Pragma
 
Best Partner/Customer Portal
Daisy Wholesale
Entanet
Fidelity Energy
Gamma
ICUK
Plan.com
ProVu
Virtual1
 
Best Company to Work For
Berry Telecom
Complete IT
Channel Telecom
Chess
Cisilion
Entanet
Exertis
Lily Comms
Peach Technologies
Virtual1
 
Best Apprentice Scheme
Boxx Communications
BT
Databarracks
Entanet
Frontier Voice and Data
Lily Comms
ProVu
Union Street

A record number of entries have been received for the UK's most popular event for sales and marketing teams in the ICT channel. The Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards, sponsored by KCOM, attracted over 120 entries and the countdown is underway to the finalist's awards luncheon (Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, London, May 4th).

"The entries we have received this year have been of exceptional quality and we have been delighted by the enthusiasm across the industry for rewarding the efforts and sales and marketing teams working in reseller and supplier organisations all over the UK," said Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent.

"Response to the extra awards we have added this year such as Best Company to Work For, Best Company Portal and Best Apprentice Scheme have been exceptional which demonstrates the progress so many companies are making in our amazing industry.

"I would like to congratulate all of our finalists and hopefully look forward to welcoming them, their clients and partners to our spectacular awards presentation luncheon on May 4th." 

To book your table or place please go to: http://www.cdsalesawards.com/#tablebooking
The shortlist for the 2017 Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards is as follows:

COMMS DEALER SALES & MARKETING AWARDS 2017 SHORTLIST
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year up to £2.5m (small)
GHM Communications
City Talk Communications
Cloudsource Technologies
Loop Voice and Data
Nexus IP
Pure Telecom
Solution IP
TWL Voice and Data

Reseller Sales Team of the Year £2.5m-£5m (medium)
Exsel Group
Frontier Voice and Data
Glamorgan Telecom
Infinity Group

Reseller Sales Team of the Year £5m plus (large)
Berry Telecom
Focus Group
netConsult
STL
swcomms

Reseller Best Marketing Campaign
Cisilion
IP Solutions
Lily Comms
Nexus IP
Peach Technologies

Service Provider Channel Sales Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Daisy Wholesale
New Star Networks
Pangea

Service Provider Channel Marketing Team of the Year

Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group

Service Provider Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Agilitas
Assembly Channel Services
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
Pangea  
Plan.com
Text Local
Voiceflex

Distributor Channel Sales Team of the Year
Nimans
Pragma
ProVu
Siphon
Zycko 

Distributor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
Nimans

Distributor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
DMSL

Vendor Best Partner Programme
Gamma
Pangea
Splicecom
TelcoSwitch
Teleware
Tollring
Unify

Vendor Channel Sales Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Sennheiser
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Virtual1

Vendor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Gamma
Inform Billing

Vendor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Entanet
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Xarios Technologies

Best Partner/Customer Event
BT Wholesale
Channel Telecom
Cisilion
Fidelity Group
Gamma
NGC Networks
Pragma

Best Partner/Customer Portal
Daisy Wholesale
Entanet
Fidelity Energy
Gamma
ICUK
Plan.com
ProVu
Virtual1

Best Company to Work For
Berry Telecom
Complete IT
Channel Telecom
Chess
Cisilion
Entanet
Exertis
Lily Comms
Peach Technologies
Virtual1

Best Apprentice Scheme
Boxx Communications
BT Wholesale
Databarracks
Entanet
Frontier Voice and Data
Lily Comms
ProVu
Union Street

Bamboo Technology and Tech OP have partnered with Gloucestershire College to stage a one day event on 28th April (at the Gloucester Campus) to raise awareness of the cyber security threat.

The Seven Cyber Sins event will give local business leaders and a small group of Gloucestershire College students a non-technical look at the growing threats faced by businesses.

Derek Hassack, Head of School at Gloucestershire College, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for some of our students to gain a better understanding of the cyber security threat and to spend the day working alongside senior leaders at major employers across the county."

Simon Leonard, Commercial Director at Tech OP, added: "The sad truth is that many businesses do not have the correct protection in place when it comes to cyber security. They are unaware of the nature of modern day security threats and do not understand how they may be compromised, and how significant the impact can be.

"This event will demonstrate - with real-world examples and using non-technical language - the range and breadth of cyber threats and how they are targeting staff and businesses every day."

Lorrin White, MD of Bamboo Technology, said: "Business leaders are overwhelmed by almost daily media reports highlighting the latest breaches, attacks and threats. But most don't understand the solutions or processes their businesses must have in place to protect both their own data, and that of their customers.

"It is not unreasonable today to think of cyber security planning in terms of when your business will be attacked, not if. With a lack of understanding or awareness and complacency being the biggest risks to any business, this event is set to be invaluable."