v51 · 2022 www.technologyreseller.co.uk THE MAGAZINE & ONLINE CHANNEL RESOURCE FOR MSPS, IT RESELLERS & IT SUPPORT PROVIDERS PAGE 18 DISPLAYS DISTRIBUTION EVENTS PAGE 32 PAGE 14 SMART goes back to its roots with stronger focus on business market David Watts explains why he has complete confidence in the IT channel Tech Live 2022 returns on September 13, in partnership with Mobile News Xpo Tech Data – the complete print solutions provider Interview with PETER LUNN TECH DATA’S UK LEAD FOR PRINT SOLUTIONS Page 34: All the winners from the Technology Reseller Awards 2022
Features include: Easy installation Web-based Console Call Management/Routing Softphone integration Connect using handset, laptop, PC or mobile phone The Great Migration is the largest herd movement of animals on the planet involving an astonishing 1.2 million Blue Wildebeest. www.spitfire.co.uk Telecoms and IP Engineering Solutions for Business since 1988 Innovative • Flexible • Reliable • Supportive • Cost Effective Sales 020 7501 3333 • Partner Services 020 7501 3150 Features: Up to 1Gbp downstream 24/7 Support Opti ns Voice Assist Call Priority Ideal with Hosted PBX Multiple fibre options Free connection & router on 24 month minimum term Blue Wildebeest [Connochaetes taurinus] Now is a good time to upgrade your Internet circuit to full fibre. FTTP broadband (Fibre to the Premises) supplies the fastest possible broadband speeds available, up to 1Gbps! Not only does fibre provide a supremely reliable connection, Spitfire can also ensure superior VoIP quality with Voice Assist call priority. Fast speeds. Clear calls. Perfect for versatile VoIP telephony systems, such as Spitfire’s Hosted PBX 2.1 or 3CX Cloud. Contact us about future-proofing your business needs, ahead of the Big Switch Off in 2025. Spitfire’s Ultrafast Full Fibre FTTP Broadband Openreach are upgrading their national telecommunications network to an all IP future. Before the end of 2025, all existing analogue and ISDN lines with be switched off. Most existing broadband circuits must be upgraded to work with the new network. www.spitfire.co.uk/bigswitchoff Full Fibre FTTPBroadband. Get ahead of the greatmigration to next generation connectivity.
technologyreseller.co.uk If you no longer wish to receive Technology Reseller magazine please email your details to [email protected] COMMENT 03 One of the attractions of writing about the technology industry is that when everyone else is fretting about a looming recession, leaders in the ICT sector remain upbeat about the future – more upbeat than ever according to Agilitas IT Solutions’ new Technology Channel Confidence Index (see page 16). As Tech Data’s David Watts says in our interview on page 14, ‘If a customer is looking to reduce their operating costs, IT is often part of the solution’. IT was certainly part of the solution when businesses suddenly had to give employees the ability to work from home during the recession – and many resellers/MSPs profited from that disruption. But that does not mean the IT channel is merely a passive beneficiary of wider trends. Watts describes renewed urgency among Tech Data partners to take advantage of the distributor’s Practice Builder programmes and enhance their capabilities into areas adjacent to their core competencies, such as cloud, IoT, analytics. The agility of many IT businesses and their desire to keep evolving their offerings to meet changing customer needs is also part of the solution. This, of course, is the rationale for Tech Live 2022 at the Business Design Centre, London on September 13 (see page 18). By bringing together vendors from across the ICT spectrum, Tech Live enables technology providers to assess the offerings of multiple providers and identify new opportunities for diversification. As much as that, it gives people the chance to meet up with old colleagues and associates and perhaps develop new relationships. And as Barb Huelskamp, Senior Vice President of Global Partners and Alliances at Alteryx, points out on page 29, working in partnership with other suppliers can be very lucrative. In fact, she says that when one of its solutions providers partners with Alteryx and another ISV partner, the deal size goes up three times. With that in mind, please make a note of September 13 in your diary or, even better, go onto www.technologylive.co.uk and register for the event today. James Goulding – Editor, [email protected] Technology Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 10 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.technologyreseller.co.uk No part of Technology Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2022 Kingswood Media Ltd. Design: Sandtiger Media www.sandtiger.co.uk 04 What’s New The month’s best new products and services 06 Distributor News Record results for cybersecurity VAD Infinigate 07 Working Together This month’s round-up of new distribution agreements 08 Reseller News Upskilling staff is investment priority for UK resellers 14 Interview Talking distribution with David Watts, Managing Director UK&I at Tech Data 18 Tech Live Why you should attend Tech Live 2022 at the Business Design Centre, London, September 13 20 Q&A With Barb Huelskamp, Senior Vice President of Global Partners and Alliances at Alteryx 32 Interactive Displays SMART Technologies goes back to its roots with enterprise and SME push 34 Technology Reseller Awards The big winners on the night of May 26 46 Comms BT Wholesale prepares partners for an all-IP future 49 View from the Channel With Paul Colwell, CTO of OGL Group 50 People New faces, new places v51 · 2022 technologyreseller.co.uk Comment Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of Technology Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.technologyreseller.uk/register Read Technology Reseller online, on tablets and smart phones www.technologyreseller.uk Join us : Follow us @techreselleruk www.facebook.com/TechnologyResellerMag technology-reseller-magazine Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [email protected] Publishing Director, Social Media and Web Editor: Neil Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 · [email protected] Group Sales: Martin Jenner-Hall 07824 552116 · [email protected] or [email protected] Art Director: Nick Pledge 07767 615983 · [email protected] Advertising Executive: James Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] ISSN 2632-9301 (Print) ISSN 2632-931X (Online) The essential show for IT and mobile resellers and providers Business Design Centre · London · 13 September 2022 22 In partnership with
3CX and Snom are taking their 10-year working relationship to the next level with the development of coordinated USPs that give partners and resellers compelling arguments for a UCC infrastructure made up of the 3CX phone system and Snom products. This builds on an existing relationship that ensures seamless integration between Snom IP phones and the 3CX UCC solution, with the Snom R&D department making sure Snom phones support all new versions and features provided by 3CX and 3CX making sure that new functionalities introduced on Snom phones can be used by its customers. Both companies also work closely together in the area of customer support so that they can offer customers coordinated solutions. www.snom.com 01732 759725 04 INNOVATIONS What’s New PSTN line replacement With PSTN switch-off very much on the horizon, wholesale SIP provider Jola has created a PSTN Replacement Toolkit that enables partners to provide replacement products for the millions of PSTN lines that won’t be able to use a SoGEA or FTTP type replacement due to costs, incompatibility or logistical challenges. These include PSTN-connected intruder alarms and call points in hospitals, supermarkets and hotels that allow people to book a taxi or receive information for free. Lee Broxson, CSO of Jola, said: “We create unique solutions for every user-type from our PSTN Replacement Toolkit. Jola partners are currently upgrading analogue call points in hospitals, hotels and hospitality venues, as well as replacing PSTN lines in alarm systems nationwide. We provide dual-SIM routers, multi-network SIMs, Analogue Telephone Adaptors (ATAs), SIP Overlay and cost-effective calls.” www.jola.co.uk Better together Inking in the gaps Brother UK is bridging the gap between its upgraded X-Series of A3 inkjet printers for larger businesses and its A4 Mini Business range, introduced last year for small office/ home office users, with the launch of a new range of A4/A3 inkjet printers with print speeds of 28 images per minute (up from 22 ipm before) and a monthly duty cycle of 2,500 pages (up from 1,500 pages). The MFC-J5340DW, MFC-J5740DW, MFCJ6540DW and MFC-J6940DW also feature automatic two-sided printing and optional A3 print and scan capabilities. Russell Brown, Head of SOHO Sales at Brother UK, said: “This new range balances time-saving features with affordability to boost everyday productivity, while helping firms keep their costs down and remain secure with the latest network authentication and Wi-Fi security protocols.” https://www.brother.co.uk/printers/ inkjet-printers/all-in-one-inkjet Safe to touch Office products dealers may be interested in a new range of UK-made stationery products featuring an anti-microbial coating that continually reduces microbial levels. Bio5 claims protection provided by Polygiene BioMaster technology lasts for the useful lifetime of the products, with Bio5 antimicrobial pencils showing a 99.7% reduction in the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) after 24 hours. Bio5 stationery products are made from sustainable timber and are manufactured in the UK to reduce their carbon footprint. www.polygiene.com Nice to Meet you Interactive display company Avocor has been introducing its Google Meet Series One all-in-one video conferencing devices to potential customers in the US and Europe via a series of roadshows and tradeshows including ISE 2022 in Barcelona and InfoComm 2022 in Las Vegas. Developed in collaboration with Google Workspace to bring meeting equity to in-person and remote participants, the Series One Desk 27 combines the functions of a 27-inch desk monitor, laptop docking station and digital whiteboard, through integration of the popular Google Jamboard app, while the wall-mountable 65-inch Board 65 is designed to bring teams together for more efficient and intuitive collaboration. For mobility, sharing and the ability to set up spontaneous meetings anywhere, there is the option of a purpose-built stand. Both devices recently won Red Dot design awards, for design excellence and ‘Best of the Best’ respectively. www.avocor.com Extreme speed Huawei has expanded its mesh router portfolio with the release of the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 7 and HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3. The HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 7 tri-band router (RRP: £329.99) provides large households with blazing fast Wi-Fi 6 Plus connection speeds of up to 6,600Mbps for up to 250 devices within 6,000 square feet, while the HUAWEI WiFi Mesh 3 dualband router (RRP: £249.99) provides connection speeds of to 3,000Mbps. https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/ Lee Broxson
technologyreseller.co.uk 05 INNOVATIONS Partner success Virgin Media Business Wholesale, the wholesale connectivity arm of Virgin Media O2 Business, is introducing a dedicated Partner Success team to support partners throughout the customer journey, from onboarding, quoting and ordering to in-life changes and renewals. Aaron Briant, Head of Wholesale Operations at Virgin Media O2 Business, said: “The way the wholesale connectivity channel does business is becoming less transactional and more consultative, and partners across the industry are facing more bespoke requests from their customer base. They need greater support from their suppliers to meet their individual needs. Our new dedicated Partner Success team is here to ensure we create the right environment and support model to foster mutual growth and success.” virginmediabusiness.co.uk/wholesale/ Introducing Flipside AV London-based systems integrator Flipside Soundsystem has changed its name to Flipside AV after closing down its rental business to focus purely on installed AV projects. MD James Cooper said: “This name change is the result of a gradual shift in our priorities at Flipside. As we have evolved as a company, the AV installation side of the business has gone from strength to strength and become the main driver for where we see our future.” Alongside the name change, Flipside AV has redesigned its website to provide a clear explanation of the services it offers, the solutions it provides and the venues that it serves. flipsideav.co.uk Adding flavour Konftel has launched a range of five video kits optimised for Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms and in-room PC-based systems from the likes of Lenovo and Dell. With options to suit all sizes of meeting room, Konftel Attach kits bring together conference cameras, speakerphones and a long USB cable (up to 10m). Konftel Product Manager Torbjörn Karlsson said: “A typical in-room solution has a main computer, which is controlled via a touch panel or wireless keyboard and mouse, connected to a display screen. Users can ‘add more flavour’ by combining a high quality Konftel camera and audio with a long audio cable that maximises speakerphone placement.” konftel.com Better connected Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) is adding Wi-Fi 6E access points to its OmniAccess Stellar portfolio to connect larger audiences in dense environments and to meet the demands of bandwidth-heavy applications like augmented/virtual reality, 4K/8K UltraHD video and medical IoT. ALE is introducing a high-end premium Wi-Fi 6E Access Point in September, followed by a mid-range access point by the end of the year. Wi-Fi 6E extends Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz band, adding a substantial amount of unlicensed spectrum to address the exponential expansion of connected devices. al-enterprise.com Made for hybrid work Dynabook Europe is extending its X-series range of ultraportables with the launch of the Portégé X40L-K. Described as the perfect companion for hybrid working, the 14in device offers a combination of premium features that allow employees to collaborate, connect and switch seamlessly between the physical and online worlds. Its AV features, for example, include four premium stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos sound and 360-degree dual-array microphones that pick up voices equally from all directions. This allows the user to roam around a room, while also enabling the X40L-K to serve as a hub for multi-person conference calls. AI Noise Reduction filters out background noise to ensure participants can be heard clearly, while an AI camera delivers lighting correction, background blurring and face framing irrespective of the conferencing platform used. uk.dynabook.com/laptops/portege/ Easy access Sensedia’s API management platform and professional consulting services are now available from AWS Marketplace, after the multinational API technology company became a member of the Amazon Web Services Partner Network (APN). Sensedia co-founder and Chief of Growth Marcilio Oliveira said: “Sensedia’s integration into AWS Marketplace emerges from the increasingly global consumption of APIs, prompted by API-led businesses, such as digital banking, food delivery and mobility apps, wallets, e-commerce and insurance tech ecosystems. By using API management in the cloud, they can integrate systems and share data to create new digital business models, giving them more operational agility and revenue growth.” www.sensedia.com Marcilio Oliveira
01732 759725 06 NEWS : Distributors Exclusive takes on education role for ICC Exclusive Networks is partnering with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to provide specialist cybersecurity expertise to the leaders of its 45 million member companies. As the cybersecurity partner of choice for ICC’s Trade for Prosperity initiative, the distributor will explain what business heads need to know, what they need to do and who can provide the products and services to help them safeguard their businesses against growing cyber threats. Jesper Trolle, CEO at Exclusive Networks, said: “Our mission is to drive the transition to a totally trusted digital world for all people and organisations. To achieve this we need to build an ecosystem of partners – a cyber coalition of the willing, if you like – to help raise awareness, educate, inform, guide and advise organisations on how to combat the growing threat of cyber-crime. With its global business reach and scale, the ICC Trade for Prosperity initiative is a perfect campaign to help with this mission and we are delighted to be partnering with them as part of this important programme.” www.exclusive-networks.com Jesper Trolle Matt Child Andrew Stuart Double Veeam win for Tech Data Tech Data is celebrating a double win at the recent Veeam UK Partner Summit, where it was named Distribution Partner of the Year for the second year in a row and Aggregator of the Year, after growing its Veeam sales through partners by around one third in 2021. Sales through VCSPs (Veeam Cloud & Service Providers) grew even faster. Sales growth was driven by Tech Data’s investment in partner support, including new automated processes, an enhanced Software Store and new Veeam VAR and Cloud training content on the Tech Data Channel Academy platform. Matt Child, Tech Data Managing Director, Advanced Solutions, UK and Ireland, said: “Over the past year, we have really helped partners to position Veeam solutions and migrate customers successfully to the cloud. The specialism, focus and knowledge of our team is second-to-none.” He added: “Our enhanced Software Store is helping more partners to maximise licensing renewals and our Click to Run solutions – for Veeam Cloud Connect, Veeam Backup & Replication, and Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 – have provided partners with ready-made Azure-based cloud offerings to take to market.” uk.techdata.com SOC 2 success for Pax8 Cloud commerce marketplace Pax8 has demonstrated the effectiveness of the controls it has in place to protect and manage customer data by passing the SOC 2 (Service Organization Control for Service Organisations) type 1 examination. The voluntary compliance standard developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which specifies how organisations should manage customer data, defines criteria for managing customer data based on five trust principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. www.pax8.com Records results at Infinigate Infinigate Group, a pan-European valueadded distributor (VAD) of cybersecurity solutions, has announced a 26% rise in revenue to €813m for its financial year 2021-2022 (ending 31 March). Acquired by global investment firm Bridgepoint in March 2021, Infinigate aims to reach €1.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2024, through a combination of vendor expansion and M&A activity to consolidate its position as a leading distributor of cybersecurity solutions and subscriptions across EMEA. In Q1 this year, 80% of its revenue came from subscription- based services. Infinigate’s record results for 2021/22 were helped by the acquisition of VAD D2B Informatique at the start of the year. www.infinigate.com Advanced warning for HPE partners Tech Data is launching a new Software Store that will give HPE partners advanced warning of warranties that are due to expire within 90 days, presenting them with an opportunity to sell HPE Pointnext Tech Care Services. Andrew Stuart, Tech Data HPE Business Unit Director, UK and Ireland, said: “The Software Store for HPE Pointnext post-warranty opportunities is a really valuable tool that our partners can use to maximise their business. They can generate quotations and process orders automatically and because it’s remarkably easy to use it will save HPE partners an enormous amount of time.” https://uk.techdata.com/ Midwich adds Zoom subscriptions to its offering Midwich has joined the Zoom Master Agent Referral Program in the UK and Ireland, with plans to extend the arrangement to other territories in the near future. Forming part of Zoom’s Partner Referral Program, the Master Agency agreement will enable Midwich to offer Zoom subscriptions as well as hardware solutions. Through its Zoom Certified Hardware portfolio, Midwich already has a successful and long-term partnership with Zoom and vendors of Zoom hardware, such as Lenovo, Poly, Neat and DTEN. As a Zoom Master Agent, Midwich can represent Zoom’s entire product suite, gain ongoing commission on Zoom products for the life of the customer, look forward to simplified and streamlined sales engagement and take advantage of free tools and resources. To support the partnership, it has set up a dedicated Zoom Team, led by Phil Ashby, the newly appointed General Sales Manager – Zoom Alliance. Dion Smith, Director EMEA Channel, Zoom Video Communications, said: “Midwich has demonstrated great value-add via the breadth of Zoom Certified Hardware in their portfolio. Their experience centre of excellence in Bracknell (Innovation House) has hosted some amazing Zoom events so it was only a matter of time before Midwich joined the Master Agent Referral Partner Program. This enables Midwich to provide Zoom with hardware solutions as well as now offering Zoom subscriptions via our referral program.” Zoom will be exhibiting at Midwich’s Unified expo at Innovation House on July 12th.
technologyreseller.co.uk 07 WORKING TOGETHER Exertis has expanded its services portfolio through a new partnership with Virtu that will give Exertis Enterprise customers the ability to outsource project management services to the London-based network and cloud consultancy. Virtu has successfully developed and implemented secure, scalable IT transformation projects for multinational businesses and SMEs, encompassing cloud strategy, rapid project delivery, network and connectivity, deployment and digital transformation. Simon Gallini, Director of Delivery at Virtu, said: “We are excited to be partnering with Exertis as its single source project management supplier, providing Virtu’s IT project management expertise, and ensuring that the investments made by Exertis’ resellers and end customers are truly realised.” Geoff Towns, Head of Enterprise Services, Exertis Enterprise, said: “We’re pleased to announce our service partnership with Virtu. The team have proven expertise and capabilities to deliver optimal, customised and secure IT solution projects for businesses.” www.exertis.co.uk www.virtuprojects.co.uk Cloud products marketplace Pax8 has entered a global agreement with Check Point’s email security group, formerly Avanan, to provide MSPs with nextgen security solutions for cloud-based email and collaboration suites, such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack and Dropbox. When embedded within cloud suites, Checkpoint’s technology prevents malicious and phishing emails from reaching the inbox, saving time and preventing monetary and data loss. Its MSP management portal gives MSPs a multitenancy view of their email environments, plus a monthly, usage-based billing system and full automation. Gil Friedrich, Vice President of Email Security at Check Point, said: “The important thing we do that no other cloud-API based vendor does is prevent malicious and phishing emails before they are delivered to the user inbox. Our partnership with Pax8 will enable us to continue to scale our business globally in the IT channel ecosystem.” www.pax8.com Exterro, provider of Legal GRC software that unifies digital forensics, cybersecurity compliance, data privacy and e-discovery, has appointed Nuvias Group as its distribution partner across Europe as it seeks to make inroads into the corporate market across the DACH region. Under the agreement, Nuvias will offer the Forensic Tool Kit (FTK) platform, Incident & Breach Management and Smart Breach Review solutions via its channel partners and provide Exterro with sales operations and business development support. Helge Scherff, Regional Vice President Central for the Nuvias Group, said: “Exterro’s legal GRC solutions are a great fit within our security portfolio and are truly unique as they provide an end-toend solution that covers multiple GRC disciplines. These solutions will enable our channel partners to provide their enterprise, government agency, law enforcement, law firm and legal service provider end customers with the means to tackle their diverse needs across privacy, compliance and incident response.” Ian Rainsborough, Regional Vice President Channels, Exterro, said: “We’re already well established across Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the public sector with customers such as Schweizer Bundesverwaltung, the Federal Administration of Switzerland, but with Nuvias we can now actively communicate our offering to the corporate market. We will be able to help these organisations unify their data processes with FTK Enterprise, Incident & Breach Management, Smart Breach Review, as well as Privacy and E-Discovery solutions such as Data Inventory, Data Subject Access Request, Data Retention, In-Place Preservation and E-Discovery Data Management. From a privacy perspective, this means they can use a single solution for GDPR compliance, data breach notification and any postbreach digital investigation, effectively creating a complementary Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) process.” exterro.com Ignition Technology, the specialist division of Exclusive Networks focusing on fastgrowth SaaS-based cybersecurity vendors, has become the first EMEA distributor of Abnormal Security, an AI-based cloudnative email security platform. Initially focusing on the UK&I, Nordics and Benelux, the agreement follows Abnormal’s recent Series C funding of $210 million, giving it a valuation of $4 billion. Business email compromise (BEC) continues to be the primary threat vector for cybercriminals, with organisational losses amounting to nearly $2.4 billion in 2021, according to figures published by the FBI in its most recent Internet Crime Report. This has been fueled by the move to remote and hybrid working, where distributed enterprise workforces can no longer rely on manual processes or traditional email security solutions for protection. Peter Ledger, Managing Director at Ignition Technology, said: “Cybersecurity teams are rethinking how to solve this escalating challenge and are looking for a more modern approach to their evolving email security needs. With Abnormal’s behaviour-based and AI-powered platform, channel partners now have the ideal solution to address this growing market opportunity. We are delighted to partner with Abnormal to help accelerate and scale their channel business across Northern Europe and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.” Chris Martin, European Sales Director, Abnormal Security, added: “We have completely changed how security leaders protect users and their mailboxes, ensuring that organisations are protected from business email compromise, supply chain fraud, ransomware, spam and graymail, account takeovers and more. The modern enterprise workforce requires greater email security than ever before, and Ignition Technology is the ideal partner in helping us protect the Northern European market.” www.ignition-technology.com Working together This month’s round-up of new distribution agreements Simon Gallini, Virtu Peter Ledger Gil Friedrich, Check Point
01732 759725 08 NEWS : RESELLERS Upskilling staff is investment priority for resellers Upskilling workforces through training and recruitment is the number one investment priority for resellers in the UK and US as they face rising demand for cybersecurity (40%), SaaS application management (38%) and public cloud (33%), according to a new survey by digital accounting software specialist Sage. The Channel Landscape – Partnering for Success reveals that over the last 18 months, 39% of US and UK resellers surveyed have invested resources in the upskilling of their workforces. When it comes to recruitment, UK respondents identify cloud computing and cyber security as the most sought-after technical skills from new recruits (each cited by 39%), followed by coding (35%). One third (36%) of UK resellers are also recruiting for essential business roles. Almost half (46%) of UK respondents in the process of recruiting say they are having difficulty finding skilled management-level staff, with 40% finding it hard to attract skilled entry-level talent. www.sage.com/en-gb/ Onecom Group expands strategic partnership with Vodafone Hampshire-based Onecom Group, a leading provider of mobility and cloud communication solutions, is extending its £500m+ strategic partnership with Vodafone to the reseller channel it gained with the acquisition of 9 Group in March 2021. Those 450 channel partners will now have access to an expanded portfolio of Vodafone products and services that Onecom already offers to direct customers, including wholesale and distribution mobile airtime, SIP and SD-WAN connectivity, IoT, 5G, and emerging connectivity solutions such as FTTP and SoGEA. Onecom CEO Martin Flick said: “Following investment from LDC in 2019, the Onecom M&A strategy has been executed to build out geographic reach, enhance capability and open new routes to market through numerous acquisitions. The purchase of 9 Group in March 2021 provided access to an established partner channel, which perfectly complements our direct customer offering. It makes perfect sense to extend our long-standing relationship with Vodafone to those partners. Our unrivalled scale, capability and award-winning proposition will empower our channel partners to scale up and win greater market share together.” Onecom employs more than 600 people and has more than 100,000 customers for which it manages in excess of 800,000 mobile, hosted telephony and connectivity end points. www.onecom.co.uk FluidOne invests in Marathon FluidOne has strengthened its Connected Cloud offering with a strategic investment in Marathon Information Technology Services Ltd (Marathon), a Microsoft Gold Partner for cloud services management. Specialising in cloud transformation, modern workplace, security and contact centre, Marathon was founded in 2010 by CTO Paul Hepburn. In 2020, CEO Iain Maclean and Chairman Tim Thrower invested via a management buy-in as they realised the business was a great platform to build out cloud-managed IT services to enterprise clients. Since then, Marathon has grown annual revenue from £4m to £11m and increased its headcount to 80 staff, delivering IT managed services to enterprise clients with up to 17,000 employees. The investment by FluidOne, a provider of connectivity, SD-WAN, cyber security, IT managed services, mobile, IoT, UCaaS and CCaaS, broadens Marathon’s offering to its own clients and gives it the opportunity to provide managed services to FluidOne customers with more than 200 employees. FluidOne’s investment in Marathon is part of the company’s on-going buy and build strategy that has so far created a £68m revenue group with 310 staff serving more than 1,350 customers and resellers. It follows the acquisitions of managed SD-WAN network provider SAS Global Communications in December 2021 and IT Managed Services and Unified Communications provider PSU Business Technology Limited (PSU) in October 2020 and investment in cyber security consultancy and managed services specialist Cyber Security Associates Ltd (CSA) in November 2020. Maclean will continue to lead Marathon as CEO, with Tim Thrower as a non-executive director. FluidOne CEO Russell Horton is to become Chairman of Marathon, with the FluidOne Directors Brendan Lynch, Chris Rogers and Roy Hastings also joining the Marathon Board. Russell Horton said: “Investing in Marathon allows us to complete the IT element of our Connected Cloud solutions portfolio alongside our market-leading connectivity, mobile, UCaaS and cyber security. When combined with our IT capabilities from the acquisitions of PSU and SAS Global, we are now able to serve our entire customer base, including our largest multinational customers.” Marathon CEO Iain Maclean added: “It was time for us to take things to the next stage. We saw a great opportunity in FluidOne’s investment to support our ambitious growth plans allowing us to expand our service offering to our current client base whilst also reaching new customers.” www.fluidone.com • www.marathon-ms.com Russell Horton Sustainability first for Forfusion Forfusion, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, has become the first supplier in the North of England to achieve Cisco Environmental Sustainability Specialisation. The specialisation was created by Cisco earlier this year to reward partners who support Cisco’s sustainability pledge, educate customers on the benefits of migrating to cloud-enabled solutions, and participate in its global initiative to responsibly repurpose or recycle end-of-use products. Established in 2007, Forfusion designs, implements and manages mission-critical networking infrastructure for large public and private sector companies. Its services include switching customers from traditional MPLS networks to SD-WAN technology, to ensure robust site-to-site connectivity, and providing access to on-ramp services from AWS and Microsoft 365 via Express Route. https://www.forfusion.com
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01732 759725 NEWS : RESELLERS 10 New chapter for Connectus Business Solutions and KTSL Business connectivity and managed services provider Connectus Business Solutions has merged with service management and integration specialist KTSL to create the Connectus Group, an IT MSP with 60 employees operating from six sites in the UK and Ireland, including Doncaster, Salford, Corsham, Egham, Daresbury and Dublin. Clients include AIB, UCB, Unilever, the Peel Group, Sale Sharks and the National Police Air Service. Commenting on the third such transaction for Connectus in as many years, Connectus Group CEO Roy Shelton said: “This is the start of an exciting new chapter for Connectus Business Solutions and KTSL and will present an opportunity for further growth and job creation. By bringing these two great organisations together and creating Connectus Group, we have significantly increased our technical capability, boosted our delivery resources and further deepened our pool of commercial experience.” He added: “This merger brings a greater scale, allowing us to bid for larger opportunities, increase our recurring managed services revenue and will allow us to leverage our 60-plus members of staff in a more collaborative manner.” Connectus Group expects to deliver revenues of more than £10m in the current financial year ending March 2023. ANS Group unveils new brand identity ANS Group, formed late last year from the merger of the former UKFast and ANS brands, has unveiled a unified brand and go-to-market proposition and announced a target to double EBITDA to £80 million by the end of 2025. It has also made a commitment to train 200 new apprentices over the next three years. Boasting a 650-strong workforce, 7,000 B2B customers and revenues of £123 million (FY21), ANS is now one of Europe’s largest digital transformation providers, with strengths in public and private cloud, hosting, security, DevOps, applications and data. CTO Joe Wolski says that ANS Group’s position in the market will enable it to ‘hack the tech adoption curve’ and offer cutting-edge tech to organisations that might otherwise be priced out. He said: “‘Hacking the tech adoption curve’ sounds like jargon but by bringing together the capabilities of both businesses, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Because we have specialists and deep expertise both in products and in services, we can overlay our products with a service layer and help companies adopt tech quicker and cheaper than they would normally be able to do. That’s what hacking the tech adoption curve means and it’s an approach that’s already delivering unbelievable results for our customers.” www.ans.co.uk Integrity 360 partners with Deep Instinct Cybersecurity services specialist Integrity360 is expanding its cyber security offering through a new partnership with Deep Instinct. As a member of Deep Instinct’s Stratosphere channel program, it will offer the company’s industry-first Prevention Platform to UK enterprises alongside complementary technologies within its portfolio as part of a multi-vendor solution. Deep Instinct takes a preventionfirst approach to stopping ransomware and other malware, including known, unknown and zero-day threats, across hybrid environments using the world’s first and only purpose-built, deep learning cybersecurity framework. Richard Ford, CTO at Integrity360, said: “The ability to prevent attacks from hitting the network or endpoint before they become a problem is a powerful proposition, and one that will make forward-thinking customers sit up and take notice. There is a great synergy between Integrity360 and Deep Instinct, and together we are confident that we can achieve our shared goals, delivering true prevention to customers across UK&I.” Pexip award for Kinly Systems integrator and remote collaboration service provider Kinly UK has been named winner of the ‘Greatest Retention Award’ at the Pexip EMEA Partner Community Summit 2022. The award from global video conferencing specialist Pexip AV follows a year in which minutes on the Pexip for Kinly video conferencing platform surpassed 130 million in the UK for the first time. Pexip offers an extensive catalogue of video-based solutions that go beyond standard UC comms, providing seamless interoperability between popular video conference systems like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Skype for Business. Pexip solutions are used in more than 190 countries by more than 4,400 leading enterprise and public sector clients (including 15% of the Fortune 500). www.kinly.com Fluent becomes AWS Retail Competency Partner Fluent Commerce, provider of a cloudnative distributed Order Management System (OMS), has become an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Retail Competency Partner following validation by AWS to ensure alignment to best practices for building secure, high-performing cloud infrastructure for retail applications. Born in the cloud and architected from day one to take advantage of modern-day cloud services, Fluent Order Management has the features of a traditional OMS but with the flexibility of a software as a service (SaaS) offering. Fluent Order Management is MACH certified and provides the tools to connect systems, sync inventory in near real-time and update fulfilment logic quickly. fluentcommerce.com Richard Ford Roy Shelton New acquisitions by 11:11 Systems Following its recent acquisitions of iland and Green Cloud Defense, managed instrastructure solutions provider 11:11 Systems has pursued its mission to become the industry standard in cloud, connectivity and security solutions by acquiring certain managed service and cloud infrastructure assets from Unitas Global and certain connectivity assets and customer contracts from Cleareon Fiber Networks, including a base of wholesale carrier customers. The acquisitions are backed by Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. 1111Systems.com
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12 01732 759725 NEWS : RESELLERS Zen Internet partnering with Kroll In a new partnership to enhance online protection for businesses across the UK, Zen Internet is offering Kroll’s flagship managed detection and response solution, Kroll Responder, and its penetration testing, attack simulation and protection services. Zen’s customers will benefit from Kroll’s front-line threat intelligence and experienced team of accredited analysts, threat hunters and incident response experts who handle more than 3,200 incidents every year. Dave Barber, Portfolio Management Director at Zen Internet, said: “With the skills gap in the cybersecurity industry ongoing, businesses are increasingly outsourcing services to experts in the field who can provide a one-stop shop for holistic security solutions. Our partnership with Kroll is fundamental in enhancing our clients’ cybersecurity strategies; it brings a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity and risk management, providing UK businesses with round the clock access to qualified analysts to support their digital transformation and protect their business.” WatchGuard Platinum Partner status for Redinet Redinet has been promoted to Platinum Partner status in the WatchGuardONE partner programme. To achieve Platinum status, companies must be nominated and invited by the cybersecurity vendor’s executive team. James McMillan, CTO at Redinet Limited, said: “Over the years, we have worked to build a great relationship with WatchGuard which has helped us and our customers continue to grow and stay ahead of the increasing threat landscape. Dedicated access to product and technical teams within WatchGuard means we are always up-to-date and ready to introduce new technologies as they become available.” Jon-Marc Wilkinson, Sales Director UK & Ireland at WatchGuard, added: “For over two decades we have worked collaboratively with Redinet, and with this close working relationship Redinet offers the entire WatchGuard portfolio of products and services that make up WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform. Redinet continually works with our own internal teams to provide valuable insight into the requirements from their customers to assist our go-to-market strategy. “Their knowledge and technical expertise of the WatchGuard portfolio ensures they are perfectly positioned to continue to deliver service excellence to their growing number of customers throughout the UK.” www.watchguard.com/wgrd-partners Google success earns recognition for DoiT Global multi-cloud software and managed service provider DoiT International has won the Google Cloud Global Sales Partner of the Year Award 2021 in recognition of its success in increasing adoption of Google technologies and services and in helping customers maximise value from the cloud by streamlining operations through intelligent technology, expert consultancy and unlimited support. An example of the former includes DoiT Flexsave technology, which enables an average 17% cost saving for customers after adoption. A remote-first, global organisation with more than 350 employees, DoiT International serves more than 1,700 customers in 70+ countries, including the US, UK, Nordics, France, Germany, Israel and Australia. Yoav Toussia-Cohen, CEO of DoiT, said: “2021 was a phenomenal year of growth, allowing us to help our customers continue to transform their business potential through affordable, cutting-edge cloud products. Last year, cloud costs accounted for one-third of corporate IT budgets, a figure that’s only expected to rise.” doit-intl.com Top UK WatchGuard partners WatchGuard announced its 2021 top-performing North European partners at last month’s Apogee Partner Conference. In the UK, these included: Kuiper Technology, UKI Growth Partner of the Year; NETbuilder, UKI Project of the Year; and CCS Media, UKI Partner of the Year. Jonathan Whitley, Regional Vice President, Northern Europe at WatchGuard, said: “These award-winning companies exemplify the power of WatchGuard’s channel network, demonstrating a high degree of competence in our technology and products, to provide the right guidance, implementation expertise and support for our customers’ cybersecurity strategies.” www.watchguard.com Efficiency replaces cost savings as top IT investment aim Efficiency (cited by 65%) has replaced cost savings (44%) as the primary reason for organisations to adopt AR, robotics, IoT and other digital technologies, according to new research by cloud-based accounting software platform bluQube. Other motivations include enhancing the customer experience (39%) and improving sustainability (32%). Three quarters (76%) of respondents say that remote working has caused them to bring forward plans to implement new digital technologies, with 30% of company leaders already using artificial intelligence and machine learning in pursuit of efficiency and productivity gains. Obstacles to digital transformation include security fears (35%), cost concerns (34%) and a lack of time to implement and train staff (32%). https://www.bluqube.co.uk/digitaltransformation-report-2022 Jon-Marc Wilkinson Dr Aleksandar Radu 1 Digital Transformation and Next-Gen Business Technologies January 2022 CGI launches SEEDS initiative CGI in the UK is partnering with top academic institutions to launch a new research programme called Sustainability Exploration Environmental Data Science (SEEDS), supported by the United Nations. SEEDS aims to accelerate knowledge transfer from academia to industry and the development of technological solutions in areas such as climate mitigation and adaptation, natural capital accounting, chemicals and waste reduction, and supply chain sustainability. Commenting on the programme, Dr Aleksandar Radu, Postgraduate Research Director, Faculty of Natural Sciences at Keele University, said: “Problems that we face today are challenging and require highly multidisciplinary solutions. The SEEDS approach provides an excellent platform for efficient knowledge exchange between all stakeholders and the development of fit-for-purpose and sustainable solutions.” cgi.com
Cloud Services | MPS | Voice | Mobile | Software | Storage | Finance | Security | Sustainability | UC | Mobility Distribution | AV | SaaS | Ai | Comms | Billing | Service | MSP | Document | Print | ICT | UPS Exhibitors to date include: Tech Live 2022 in partnership with Mobile News xpo opens its doors on the 13th September 2022 at the Business Design Centre, London. If you are an ICT Professional, IT or Mobile Reseller, MFP/Printer Dealer, Dealer, Reseller, MSP or VAR looking for new opportunities and products to add to your portfolio, being at Tech Live 2022 In partnership with Mobile News xpo is a MUST. We already have an excellent mix of exhibitors offering a range of different propositions with even more in the pipeline PLUS we are putting together an informative and thought-provoking seminar programme for the event. We look forward to welcoming you on 13th September 2022. TO BOOK YOUR STAND Call Ethan or Neil on 01732 759725 or email [email protected] In association with: MAGAZINES &WEBSITES The essential show for IT and mobile resellers and providers Business Design Centre · London · 13 September 2022 22 In partnership with Recruitment Partner & Exhibitor Registration Sponsor & Exhibitor www.tech-live.co.uk
David Watts 01732 759725 14 INTERVIEW David Watts is confident about the technology channel’s prospects for the year ahead, despite persistent challenges, reports James Goulding channel businesses are small and quite nimble. Nor should one forget that they provide solutions that their customers need. If a customer is looking to reduce their operating costs, IT is often part of the solution. “The channel did very well during the pandemic because it was able to react to the needs of customers very, very quickly in a way that was often the difference between a business existing or not. When the end customer has to react to a new economic environment, IT might be part of the solution. For example, if you want to change the way your workers work or if you want to close some offices to save costs, your IT systems need to support that.” That is one reason why Tech Data’s enterprise business has bounced back strongly in 2022, after a slow-down during the pandemic when budgets were constrained and enterprise offices were shut, while its endpoint solutions business (PCs, printers, mobile phones, peripherals) has generally declined from its pandemic peaks – albeit by less than the overall market because of Tech Data’s focus on the B2B channel rather than the consumer space were demand has been hardest hit. “A lot of companies spent a great deal of money to enable people to work from home and now they’ve got much needed projects to complete in their offices, which are probably not prepared for hybrid working. A lot of budget has moved to updating the network, updating collaboration devices, which is probably why the enterprise market has been up over the last six months.” Opportunity 1: Hybrid working Watts believes that this will continue to drive growth and present opportunities for Tech Data vendors and customers over the next 12 months. “End user customers are coming back into environments that are not fit for hybrid working, yet that is what most of their employees want. That means a fundamental rethink and a re-spend to make those offices fit for purpose – and not just the offices. Even when you’re in the office you may be spending half your time in a virtual environment because plenty of people you’re dealing with within your own company or other companies will be working from home. That requires different collaboration spaces, IT, microphones, audio; it probably needs a much bigger network, a much more capable network, different security and so on. “Shoring up the hybrid workplace and adapting the hybrid workplace is a massive opportunity and we’re working with partners across those product sets all the time to ensure they can bring those solutions to market.” Plus ca change Hybrid working aside, Watts believes that many of the problems IT is solving today are the same ones it was addressing before the pandemic, which are continuing to drive demand for Tech Data’s advanced solutions. “Security continues to do very well. That was a feature pre-pandemic, and it needs to be again post-pandemic. The feeling generally is that security spend didn’t keep up with general spend during the pandemic, so there is a catch-up on security, and that market was already doing well. Cloud, particularly around the public cloud providers Microsoft, Google, AWS, continues to be very, very strong, double-digit growth for us and the market. And then anything IoT or anything that makes sense of data. Analytics vendors continue to do very well. “What’s interesting is that though we've had a global crisis, those things were all doing really well pre-pandemic. I don’t think the needs that IT addresses have changed particularly. The problems that IT is solving now are the same ones it was tackling three years ago.” Opportunity 2: cloud Watts sees the move from on-premises solutions to cloud as the second really big opportunity for the channel, which it is helping resellers/MSPs to tap into through its Practice Builder programme. “We take our customers on that journey. If they are ready for it, we will assess them moving through it, we help them make their first sales in cloud, for example, or in security or in IoT, when Can you be buoyant and concerned at the same time? You can if you are David Watts, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Tech Data, who shares the concerns everyone has about inflation, the price of fuel and the broader cost of living crisis, but who also presides over a business that continues to outperform the market in key areas and which serves an industry that has proved to be remarkably resilient to past recessions and more recent shocks such as Covid. So, while Watts is concerned about the possible effects of high prices and rising interest rates on businesses that have built their foundations and achieved growth when inflation has been very low or which became highly leveraged, often for very good reasons, when money was cheap, he is also confident that Tech Data customers in the reseller and MSP community will be able to survive a business downturn. “We know from previous recessions that the number of liquidations in the IT channel, or the number of businesses that just stop trading, is tiny in comparison to general business liquidations. One of the reasons for that is the vast majority of Like before but with added ESG
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