Comms Dealer

Following today's announcement that EE is to double the speed of its 4G network, Emeka Obiodu, principal analyst at Ovum, observed: "The updates EE has announced for its LTE service offering in the UK are clearly aimed at giving it a competitive edge as other players launch LTE later this year. EE's choice of a summer promotion to push these initiatives attests to this."

"Fleshing out its shared plans for customers, and positioning it as a way for families to save money, is a canny move in today's austerity-dominated society. The ability to cap costs should appeal to families who will get better clarity on what their telecoms spend will be. We also liked how EE is going to use the shared plans as a nudge to push customers into a higher-prized plan. This is what Verizon Wireless has done successfully in the US and is one reason why their ARPU is rising."

For EE, offering pay as you go LTE is a tactic to corner the market for sporadic users of mobile broadband, noted Obiodu, adding: "It is safe to assume that other telcos will want to lock customers into some sort of contract and so EE could tap this opportunity for a while.

"The doubling of LTE speeds in several cities across the UK is a nice headline. But, on its own, we don't believe it is a standout game changer as telcos struggle to sell LTE as a speedier network.

"Instead, its merit is that it gives EE a base from which to offer LTE packages tiered on speed and usage which are far acceptable to customers. That is going to be the interesting thing to watch out for and if its rivals do not have the capability to do that, EE could have quite a solid marketing message."

Cloud-based Microsoft Lync provider alwaysON has designated Jabra, a Microsoft Gold Communications Partner, as its preferred headset supplier, supported by the Jabra WIN Partner programme.

alwaysON is a Gold and UC Specialist partner in Jabra's programme and is also a Microsoft Gold Communications and Silver Hosting Partner.

Both companies are part of the Microsoft's Technology Adaption Programme (TAP) for Lync which provides a consistent experience for customers collaborating with Microsoft and its partners.

James Byles, Managing Director of alwaysON, said: "This partnership ensures we can deliver full end-to-end Lync solutions for our white label partners and customers."

Andrew Doyle (pictured above), Managing Director for Jabra Business Solutions, UK & Ireland, added: "We are committed to supporting alwaysON's business to enable consistent growth of their devices category."

IT solutions provider Logicalis has achieved Elite Partner status for Advanced Security solutions within the Juniper Networks Partner Advantage Programme.

Elite status is the highest level in the Juniper Networks Partner Advantage Programme, where only qualified partners, who possess the capabilities to drive technical engagement and demonstrate industry expertise, are invited to participate.

The Advanced Security Specialisation incorporates Firewall/VPN & IDP and Policy and Access Control product authorisations.

Mark Starkey, Managing Director of Logicalis UK, said: "As enterprises seek to reap the benefits of data centre initiatives and balance the trends for mobility and cloud, advanced security technology is critical to their success.

"This accreditation provides us with access to the latest technologies and advanced training at Juniper, which will in turn help us support customers in their infrastructure strategies as we seek to bring agility and efficiency to the fore."

Accenture has reported Q3 revenues of $7.2bn, up 3% in local currency. While outsourcing growth was 7%, consulting growth was flat, resulting in total revenues slightly below the guided range.

Clients held back on spending more than expected, particularly in Europe and Brazil, and the environment is more competitive, said the firm.

System integration bookings, on the one hand, reflected rising demand for industry-specific Software solutions, where emerging technologies such as Mobility, Analytics and cloud are part of the mix. On the other hand, the bookings also reflected lower demand and a more competitive environment for ERP systems work.

The decrease in ERP work was most pronounced in some European countries, as clients are slowing down their investments in add-on work to existing solutions and generally starting fewer large programmes right now, it says.

Communications, Media & Technology revenues decreased 3% in local currency. Outsourcing revenues reflected a modest decrease, with the expected ramp down from one contract in EMEA, partially offset by very strong growth in the Americas across all industries.

Consulting revenues declined slightly overall, but it points out that the communications industry in EMEA and high-tech in the Americas had strong double-digit growth.

While the communications industry remains dynamic, it believes its offerings around transformation are resonating. a and overall, in CMT, expects year-over-year revenue performance to improve going forward.

TDAzlan, the enterprise networking division of Computer 2000, part of the Tech Data Group, has signed an agreement with Rackspace Hosting, the open cloud company, to provide a key element of its new Cloud Services portfolio.

With immediate effect, TDAzlan cloud resellers can now offer Rackspace Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) options through the TD Cloud programme and manage monthly charges and subscriptions through Tech Data's partner aggregation and billing platform, StreamOne.

The agreement means resellers can provide Rackspace's cloud services, opening up new potential revenue streams for their business and providing customers with the added flexibility and immediate scalability that cloud services deliver.

"An effective cloud partner channel is fundamental to Rackspace's vision of flexible cloud delivery across platforms, across application and data boundaries and across commercial frameworks," said Richard Brown, Rackspace Business Development Manager, International Sales.

"TDAzlan now takes up an important position inside the total Rackspace Cloud Services portfolio universe."

Joel Chimoindes, European Cloud Services Director for Azlan, said: "Resellers will now be able to offer a wide range of hosted services, extending their own potential and enabling customers to take advantage of the instant deployment capabilities and dynamic flexibility."

Jabra's Q1 2013 partner incentive scheme came to fruition last month when the vendor's top performing partners were treated to a day of horse racing and full hospitality at Royal Ascot.

Winners included Kelway, Dell, Amillan and Computacenter and collectively the troupe lapped up a Pimms and champagne reception, four-course lunch, afternoon tea and a funded racecard.

Event host Robert Stockford, National Sales Manager, Distribution & Reseller at Jabra, said: "Although some people had a flair for backing a winner, some of us weren't so able to spot a thoroughbred on the day!"

Jonathan Sharp, Sales & Marketing Director from Britannic Technologies, enthused: "The Jabra Ascot Incentive was a fantastic day. It is always great to get recognised and rewarded for success. I could not have asked for more.

"Such networking events are so important in gauging the current market situation and identifying opportunities for collaboration and development. The day was topped off by picking out a winner in the last race!"

Tim Breslin, Practice Manager, Enterprise Architecture, Global Services at Dell, added: "The day was a classic blend of frivolity, networking, champagne and strawberries. An amazing opportunity to not only build on our relationship with the Jabra management team, but also listen to other partners' successes and plans for the future."

Consumers want a more sensible approach to customer service in the contact centre, shunning a wholesale approach in favour of different types and levels of technology involvement depending on the nature of interactions and their seriousness.

That's according to a report commissioned by Avaya and Sabio which surveyed 2,000 UK consumers. 
 
The results show that businesses are missing an opportunity to gain competitive advantage through their strategic approach to customer service. Consumers want more stringent technology and automation for more sensitive interactions, but not for all of them. For example, 81% said they are comfortable using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) when dealing with financial matters, while 55% of respondents would be happy using voice biometric technology when checking their account balance. But only a minority (35%) see biometrics as an option for more general and less sensitive tasks such as renewing car insurance.
 
Similarly, while consumers' enthusiasm for self-service and new media remains strong, they still appreciate personal interactions with agents to get the appropriate support and assistance when dealing with more complex services and products.

With 60% of organisations now asking for security details when there is no need, it's hardly surprising that one in two consumers becomes frustrated with call centre agents when there are security or identity problems. Once connected, if the transaction involves payment, only 5% of consumers think speaking to an agent in a UK call centre is secure, and this reduces to just 2% for overseas call centres.
 
As well as highlighting an openness to embrace numerous contact centre technologies, the research also found six insights into consumer feeling about data breaches and the risk of payment and identity security within contact centres.

Simon Culmer, MD, Avaya, said: "There is still a strong role for voice in the contact centre as it offers versatility in solving complex queries and a key gateway for those who are not online - nearly 20% of the UK population. That said, technical solutions to address concerns about fraud and data security are also critical. In essence, UK businesses need to listen to their customers, assess their corporate requirements and look at the demands being placed on them through their customer service channels, and from there determine the right strategy and solutions to meet their customer service needs."
 
Kenneth Hitchen, founding director at Sabio, added: "Organisations are clearly experiencing real friction between their demanding compliance processes and an ongoing commitment to providing consumers with a positive customer experience. The good news is that the two goals aren't mutually incompatible. Applied correctly, technology can help organisations tick both boxes."

These six insights are:
• We're only human: consumers show definite preference for brands that make it easier for them to go through identification and verification when making payments
• Work-arounds: consumers regularly jeopardise their own personal data security to make their lives easier
• B+ for effort: consumers try hard to take care of their personal data
• Alias-mania: consumers often try to hide their true identities when dealing with businesses
• The long number: consumers are worried about sharing their personal and payments data verbally over the phone
• Who's to blame?: consumers are aware that they need to protect themselves from fraud, but feel that organisations (merchants and acquiring banks particularly) should shoulder more responsibility and are the weak link

IT Europa is to stage the seventh annual European ISV Convention on 26 March 2014 in London. The event will bring together leading Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with hardware, software and service organisations to explore and address the issues affecting the development of the IT Industry in Europe and to develop and strengthen partnerships aimed at supporting solution-based sales.

Over recent years ISVs have been very much the driving force behind growth within the IT and Telecoms markets. This seems set to continue over the next 4 years with IDC predicting average annual growth rates of 6.3 % through to 2017 - almost twice the rate of growth in IT spending as a whole.

The European ISV Convention 2014 which has been designed to build upon the success of the six previous conventions, which have been staged in Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Berlin, is expected to again attract leading ISVs from all over Europe.

The convention will feature a high-level conference programme with leading industry speakers on topics that include the challenges and opportunities facing ISVs in Europe.

Under the umbrella theme of 'Innovation, Intelligence and Integration - driving better business outcomes', presentations will cover such areas as managing information across Hybrid IT, Mobile and M2M environments, harnessing advances in business analytics to deliver better business outcomes, collaboration, cloud computing and the impact of new business models on the future of application development and delivery.

"In what remains a tough economic climate, customers are looking to ensure that they derive real value and business benefits from any new investment in IT. Applications continue to drive growth, but ISVs are having to adapt to new business models, emerging technologies (in such areas as Big Data and Business Intelligence) and adopt more collaborative marketing techniques to stay ahead of the competition and deliver better business outcomes," says Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa.

"The European ISV Convention 2014 provides a unique opportunity for Europe's ISV community to come together to address the issues affecting the development of the software applications industry. It also provides a framework within which major hardware and software vendors, as well as service providers and system integrators, can meet and engage with the directors and decision makers of Europe's most significant ISVs and Solution Providers to create business opportunities."

The European ISV Convention 2014 will take place at the Lancaster London Hotel, London, on 26 March 2014.

www.isvconvention.com

A new cloud-based personal video collaboration application has been designed to enable home workers to collaborate more effectively.

Research commissioned by UCi2i, based on a poll of 1,000 office employees in the UK, found that 94 per cent of workers feel they work better working from home, despite stating they were not equipped with the appropriate technology to communicate with fellow colleagues (85%).

"Working from home is on the rise as employers begin to meet the demand of staff who expect collaborative technologies and flexible working," said Michael Grant, Founder and Managing Director of UCi2i.

"However, this research highlights how far behind employee needs we are. The results show the need for companies of all sizes to seriously consider investing in video conferencing to support this shift. This reflects our mission to develop a tool that allows any employee - whether in the office, on the move, or working from home - to collaborate with one another instantly and effortlessly, without limitations."

In a bid to match employee needs with the appropriate technology UCi2i has developed V-Book, an interoperable personal video collaboration workspace for business quality video communications designed for non-technical users.

V-Book has been in beta for some months and UCi2i's R&D efforts were recognised by the UK Government when the Technology Strategy Board awarded the firm a £250,000 innovation grant at the beginning of 2013.

Grant commented: "V-Book defines our company-wide ambition to make video conferencing as easy as picking up the phone - available all the time, anywhere, between anyone and on any device."

Infonetics Research forecasts a solid outlook for network equipment spending, driven by the demands placed on network infrastructure. But not all is well, says the firm, highlighting a disconnect between the growth in network usage and enterprise budgets.

"Cost containment is one of the top priorities over the next year," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. "Vendors that can solve this challenge are best positioned to take share in this $27-billion-a-year market."

On average, respondents to Infonetics research spent around $2m each on networking equipment in 2012, with the top networking-related initiatives over the next 12 months said to be beefing up security, adoption of cloud architectures/services, virtualisation of IT infrastructure and cost containment.

Respondents plan to slightly throttle WLAN expenditures this year, and correspondingly increasing router and switch outlays with company headquarters the top investment focus, but those surveyed intend to ramp branch office spending as they seek new opportunities for post-recession growth.

Survey respondents rate Cisco the top networking manufacturer overall, but the big IT suppliers - IBM, HP and Dell - have beefed up their networking capabilities and are battling for the second position, according to the research.