Author: Nick Farrell

Channel ignoring net-zero or carbon-neutral goals

Posted on November 8, 2021 by - News

Most channel businesses do not seem to have thought enough about improving the environment, according to beancounters at DataSolutions.

The IT and security solutions distributor has announced the results of the UK’s first study designed to uncover the sustainability of the UK IT channel. Between June and August, the firm quizzed 134 UK channel partners and over 244 UK end-user IT decision-makers on their organisations’ approach to sustainability.

It found that more than 60 percent of channel businesses have not set net-zero or carbon-neutral goals.

Wavenet snaps up Excell Group

Posted on November 8, 2021 by - News

Wavenet has acquired Excell Group as part of a cunning plan which will see its cloud and workspace business grow and push revenue above £100 million.

The Excell Group buyout is being billed as the “largest deal in Wavenet’s history” and will give the business increased scale and a “true London presence”.

It will also give the company a business centre infrastructure arm.

SMBs are the future of the new normal

Posted on November 5, 2021 by - News

SMBs are the future of the new normal and what the channel can do to enable and equip this growing sector more effectively, according to Giacom Head of Platform Rob Hancock.

Hancock said that SMBs needed essential digital tools and technical support. And smaller organisations that take a cloud-first approach are a ‘new generation’ of business owners that will continue to drive business success into the new normal.

Yorkshire cloud outfits team up

Posted on November 5, 2021 by - News

Two Yorkshire based cloud outfits have teamed up to provide clients with a “supercharged” cloud product.

Managed IT specialist CloudCoCo, in Leeds, will strengthen the cybersecurity offering provided by Huddersfield’s Vapour. While Vapour will enhance CloudCoCo’s network infrastructure with the addition of security-first SD-WAN connectivity.

The alliance is the latest in a series of strategic partnerships for Vapour – an organisation that has never shied away from joining forces with the industry’s brightest talent, when approaching customers’ digital transformation projects.

Resellers revolt over Microsoft’s 365 payment plans

Posted on November 5, 2021 by - News

Resellers are mightily miffed over Vole’s proposed 20 percent fee on monthly Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

An online petition against Microsoft’s cunning plan has attracted almost 1,000 signatures even if Vole has yet to announce the fee.

Microsoft hinted in its New Commerce Experience operating guide that flexible subscriptions will be available on monthly terms “at a premium price”.

Resellers believe that “premium price” means a 20 percent fee, and they will have to take on financial responsibility for customers if they can no longer pay for the rest of their licence agreements due to insolvency or another reason.

Bolton council wants nearly £80 million ICT services

Posted on November 4, 2021 by - News

The Borough Council of Bolton wants nearly £80 million of ICT services from a single preferred bidder on the cheap.

The framework is made up of service management, communications, security and application development.

The tender advert says that the authority wants a cheap and cheerful, er cost-effective, value for money, innovative service provider to meet both the existing and future ICT needs and to achieve service improvements and cost savings.

Imperva appoints Jorgenson Euro head of channel sales

Posted on November 4, 2021 by - Moving People, News

Security outfit Imperva has appointed Kirt Jorgenson as Vice President of EMEA Channel Sales.

The company said that Jorgenson work closely with partners across the region to create programs designed to grow their business with Imperva products, solutions, and services.

It added he will scale any collaborative go-to-market partner activities that need a bit of scaling and expanding the Imperva brand across EMEA.

Imperva Regional Vice President Spencer Young said that the outfit’s network of partners was under Jorgenson’s leadership.

“We will continue to help them grow their businesses and take advantage of the market opportunity we all have. Our Partners will benefit from Kirt’s deep understanding of the Imperva business globally and the strong relationships he already has with the EMEA Channel community”, Young said.

Atos says digital solutions are the key to emission reductions

Posted on November 4, 2021 by - Events, News

Atos has been bending the ears of attendees of COP-26, highlighting increasing evidence of the role that new and emerging digital solutions play in helping organisations of every description reduce emissions.

Speaking at a panel organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Nourdine Bihmane, Global Chief Delivery Officer and Head of Net-Zero Transformation at Atos, will make a case for digital, not only as an enabler of the transition to net-zero but as a critical accelerator of this process

Computacenter optimistic about third quarter

Posted on November 3, 2021 by - News

Computacenter claims its third-quarter results were”marginally above expectations” and says it is “very comfortable” with its current expectations for the full year ending 31 December.

The reseller added that it is “on track to deliver record revenue, profits and earnings per share” based on its recent earnings and forecasts.  In a statement the company said that it entered the fourth quarter with strong backlogs in both Services and Technology Sourcing.

CAE opens flash new HQ

Posted on November 3, 2021 by - News

Reseller CAE Technology Services has opened a new multi-million pound global HQ and warehouse facility in Hemel Hempstead which the reseller claims will “meet the needs of the CAE workforce in a post-pandemic environment”.

The Cisco, Dell and Microsoft partner bought the 30,000 sq. foot facility at the start of the pandemic and will host roughly a third of the company, plus more for events, and includes sustainability features such as solar panels, efficient lighting and electric car charging points.

Harris buys Onefile: M&A news strikes again

Posted on November 3, 2021 by - News

Harris, a global vertical market software provider and acquirer has written a cheque for Onefile ,a UK-based apprenticeship and learning software provider.

Onefile provides learning and development software to support the delivery of apprenticeships and qualifications training through its ePortfolio and learning management (LMS) platform.

Virgin Media O2 Business appoints Diego Tedesco as wholesale fixed director

Posted on November 2, 2021 by - Moving People, News

Virgin Media O2 Business has appointed Diego Tedesco as its Wholesale Fixed Director reporting to Jo Bertram, Business and Wholesale Managing Director,  and will join Virgin Media O2’s senior leadership team.

Tedesco will lead the day-to-day operations of the Fixed Wholesale business as it continues to drive growth and strengthen its partner ecosystem.

Diego previously served as Wholesale Fixed Commercial Marketing Director and has been operating as a member of the Wholesale Fixed leadership team for almost 9 years across various roles in the Finance, Strategy and Commercial teams.

ChannelEngine hires Ruben Stappers as CFO

Posted on November 2, 2021 by - Moving People, News

ChannelEngine announced that Ruben Stappers joins its management team as CFO, effective 1 November 2021.

ChannelEngine helps Brands, Retailers & Wholesalers to connect to marketplaces and other sales channels worldwide. Its clients include Bugaboo, Hunkemöller, Brabantia, Bosch, JDE, and Reckitt.

Stappers has 20 years of progressive finance experience, 12 of these at Royal Philips’ Lighting, Corporate, and Consumer Lifestyle divisions. In 2014 he was appointed as the global CFO at the Lifestyle Entertainment division, where he supported the carve-out, sale, and financial management of the business. As the CFO at ZALORA, he had a leading role in scaling the No.1 Fashion Marketplace of Southeast Asia from the startup phase to the IPO.

Record highs in Europe’s technology and business services market

Posted on November 2, 2021 by - News

Europe’s technology and business services market reached a record high in the third quarter, paced by surging demand for cloud-based services, even as spending on managed services slowed for the third straight quarter, according to an ISG report.

ISG is forecasting the market for cloud-based services (IaaS and SaaS) will grow 25 percent globally in 2021, up from its 21 percent growth forecast last quarter. The firm also is raising its forecast for managed services growth to 10.1 percent, up from its prior forecast of nine percent.

Belfast City Airport halves IT costs with Nutanix

Posted on November 1, 2021 by - News, Products

Nutanix claims that George Best Belfast City Airport has halved IT operational costs in the data centre as well as enhanced performance, security and availability to cope with rapidly escalating post-Covid business demand by migrating its legacy IT infrastructure to Nutanix Enterprise Cloud.

With the job of enhancing the airport’s IT services to cope with growth whilst, at the same time, cutting escalating costs, newly appointed Director of Information Technology Brian Roche realised the need for a lot more than a simple hardware upgrade.

Roche said: “It wasn’t just a matter of replacing the infrastructure we needed to move away from the existing managed service model as it was no longer delivering value for money. We also identified significant opportunities to enhance our backup and disaster recovery processes.”