Author: Nick Farrell

 Palo Alto Networks snaps up Bridgecrew

Posted on February 23, 2021 by - News

Woodridge, IL, USA — Great White Shark Opening Mouth — Image by © Denis Scott/Corbis

Palo Alto Networks will buy Bridgecrew, a developer-first cloud security provider, for $156 million.

The firm said the acquisition will enable “shift-left” security, with its Prisma Cloud offering becoming the first cloud security platform to cover the full application lifecycle.

The platform will now be able to provide developers with security assessment and enforcement capabilities throughout the DevOps process. Ultimately, Prisma customers will benefit from a single platform that can deliver cloud security from build time to runtime, seamlessly connecting security and DevOps teams, Palo Alto added.

Exclusive Networks widens X-OD options

Posted on February 23, 2021 by - News

Exclusive Networks has included Fortinet among its team of X-OD disties and increased the number of countries which can use the platform.

Patrice Perche, chief revenue officer and executive vice-president support at Fortinet, said it wanted to provide resellers with more consumption options.

Perche said: “With X-OD, Exclusive has engineered another genuinely innovative contribution to channel dynamics that aligns with how we see the world and how we want our partners to be enabled and supported. This represents significant benefits to all levels of our partner community, and ultimately provides our customers with new ways of consuming our market-defining products and services.”

Stone, XMA and Softcat get (SBS) framework spots

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

Stone, XMA and Softcat are among the companies to be awarded spots on an NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) framework.

The Link 3 framework is for the procurement of IT hardware and services and will run for four years. It replaces the Link 2 framework, which expires from 12 March 2021.

Other suppliers on the framework include Ricoh, CDW, SCC and Insight. Stone is listed in five of the six Lots and was previously on the Link 2 framework.

The framework is split into six Lots: Desktop PCs, laptop, tablets, specialist healthcare technology, printing and scanning hardware and a “one-stop-shop” the latter of which is a list of suppliers who can provide two or more of the items together that are covered in the other five Lots.

SHI International saw its sales top $11 billion

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

SHI International has reported a four percent year-on-year rise in revenues to $11.1 billion.

The “record-breaking” result was due to growth in its public sector division, which reported a turnover of $3 billion for the first time, marking a 16 per cent jump from the previous year. It now ranks alongside SHI divisions Enterprise/Global and Commerical as a $3 billion businesses for the reseller.

SHI CEO Thai Lee said: “For all the reasons that require no explanation, the past 12 months represent one of the most challenging professional years most of us will ever face. Yet throughout 2020, from our essential onsite employees to those balancing increased responsibilities and decreased bandwidth at home, our dedicated employees went above and beyond to provide customers world-class service when they most needed it.”

Channel needs to focus on ransomware

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

AV outfit Sophos says the channel needs to focus on ransomware, due to the escalating number of cyberattacks exploiting vulnerable home workers and people who are desperate for information about the virus and vaccine.

Kevin Isaac, senior vice-president of EMEA sales at Sophos, said partners need to remain focused on the ransomware threat because customers were coming to the company  because  the two really large, totally addressable markets are endpoint security and firewalls, and those deal with ransomware.

Sophos has seen the channel promoting its endpoint detection and response (EDR) and managed threat response (MTR) solutions and helping customers to implement a rapid response to attacks. The tools have appealed to managed service providers (MSPs) that are looking to add more security depth to their proposition.

Accenture goes to Infinity and beyond

Posted on February 20, 2021 by - News

Accenture has acquired cloud and digital transformation consultancy Infinity Works.

Leeds-based Infinity Works specialises in helping organisations with their digital transformation, offering a range of value-adding services that include cloud, data, design and research, mobile, as well as full-stack engineering.

Accenture said the addition is a “significant step” in its  Accenture Cloud First strategy and capabilities in the UK.

Founded in 2014, Infinity works has a staff base of around 440 people, including software engineers, data engineers, cloud architects, and cloud certified specialists. Headquartered in Leeds, the company has offices across the UK – including Manchester, Edinburgh and London.

Avaya boss praises channel

Posted on February 19, 2021 by - News

Avaya CEO and president Jim Chirico took time out of his results call to praise the outfit’s channel.

Chirico said that revenues from its Cloud, Alliance Partner and Subscription growth engines had more than doubled from the same period last year and now accounted for 34 percent of total revenue.

Those numbers, for the three months ended 31 December 2020, showed a  four percent climb in revenues to $743 million.

Expect job cuts if virus support ends

Posted on February 19, 2021 by - News

A survey by the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) says that a quarter of UK firms expect will have to fire people if the government stops its financial support in April.

The BCC has now called on Boris Johnson’s government to set out a “clear roadmap” for reopening, advancing vaccination and extending key financial support measures for businesses through 2021.

Nearly 70 percent of respondents to the survey reported that the furlough scheme was the most effective of the government’s support packages, with business rates relief, VAT deferrals and VAT cuts for certain sectors of the economy also rated as very effective.

Medium sized businesses outsourcing security

Posted on February 18, 2021 by - News

A survey has found that a big chunk of medium-sized businesses are looking to outsource their security operations.

Beancounters writing for the TX Next Global CTO Survey found that only one in five businesses has a dedicated cybersecurity team in place, with 40% choosing to outsource at least some of these capabilities to external providers.

Company size is a key factor in the approach taken. More than 80 per cent of organisations with 1,000+ employees have a dedicated team, compared to half of the organisations with 300-1,000 people.

Calligo buys US Decisive Data

Posted on February 18, 2021 by - News

Calligo, an end-to-end managed data services provider, has acquired Decisive Data, a pioneer in data analytics, data science and visualisation.

The integration of US-based Decisive Data’s capabilities in data science and data analytics into Calligo’s existing data insights team, alongside its global privacy and security-centric managed data services, said it creates the most capable, accessible and compliant data insights service for modern businesses.

Decisive Data was established in 2008 in Redmond, Washington.

Velocix promotes Berkeley to CEO

Posted on February 18, 2021 by - Moving People

Video provider Velocix has promoted Anthony Berkeley to be its CEO.

Berkeley was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Velocix, and he has previously held senior leadership roles in sales, product, and professional services during his 11-year tenure with the company. Prior to Velocix, he held senior positions at Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia.

David Sharpley, Group Leader at Lumine Group, Velocix’s parent company, said: “Anthony is ideally-suited to drive Velocix’s continued expansion, with his deep domain expertise in the video technology market and proven track record of driving profitable revenue growth. With an expanding base of top tier customers and strong market momentum, Velocix is well-positioned to build on its success in 2021 and beyond.”

Sharp’s Complete I.T. gets blue diamond partner status with Datto

Posted on February 17, 2021 by - News

Complete I.T. has achieved  Blue Diamond partner status with Datto, the leading global provider of cloud-based software and technology solutions purpose-built for delivery by managed service providers (MSPs). Datto Blue Diamond status represents the top five per cent of the company’s partners, worldwide.

Complete I.T. has exceeded high standards of performance to qualify for Blue Diamond status within Datto’s Global Partner Programme. Blue Diamond status includes many exclusive programmes and benefits designed to support further enablement and business growth.

Complete I.T., one of the UK’s IT support providers, understands the need for SMEs to have robust and reliable cloud-based data protection and business continuity which is why it partnered with Datto back in 2014. With over 700 clients supported from its network of seven offices throughout the UK, Complete I.T. is said to be dedicated to understanding its clients’ technology needs and building future-proof IT roadmaps to ensure clients meet business goals.

Pandemic boosting outsourcing

Posted on February 17, 2021 by - News

TDM Group research shows that the outsourcing industry could be a beneficiary of the pandemic.

New research has revealed almost a third of organisations in the UK and Ireland, furloughed IT staff during the pandemic. According to Tarek Meliti, Director of TDM Group, these findings are not surprising. With business survival remaining the priority, organisations are needing to become more flexible in the wake of the crisis. Outsourcing operations like IT, can actually increase business agility and resilience.

Meliti said: “Despite there being light at the end of the tunnel as vaccine distribution ramps up, many organisations across the country remain cautious about their future. Survival remains the priority and with government restrictions in place for some time yet, business leaders are needing to become much more reactive to sudden changes, brought on by the pandemic.

Orange Cyberdefense UK gets Varonis gong

Posted on February 17, 2021 by - News

Security outfit Varonis Systems, a company specialising in data security and analytics, has announced the winners of its Partners in Excellence awards.

Varonis’ channel leadership selected the winners based on the achievements of the partners.

Varonis’ channel partners play a key role in the company’s success. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Varonis saw North America and EMEA year on year growth of 35 percent and 33 percent, respectively

Wipro connects with Telefónica Germany / O2

Posted on February 16, 2021 by - News

Outsourcing king Wipro announced a five-year strategic partnership with Telefónica Germany / O2

As a part of this contract, Wipro will work with Telefónica Germany / O2 and its wider ecosystem to transform its Business Support Systems and associated Quality Assurance to enable better customer experience and growth in the B2B market segment. This Radical IT Transformation (RAITT) programme brings Wipro and Telefónica Germany / O2 together to allow for risk-mitigated self-funded transformation that will benefit both outfits.

The RAITT programme aims to ensure that Telefónica Germany / O2 is well-positioned to modernise and launch a range of new offerings including 5G products and services.  As 5G networks and new IoT connectivity solutions start to roll out, this refresh provides not only an essential foundation for the new services but also enables new ways of work at a significantly lower cost of ownership to Telefónica Germany / O2. Wipro will also invest in developing a state-of-the-art digital Business Support platform that will fuel Telefónica Germany’s growth and provide the company with an outcome-based, committed plan.