Author: Nick Farrell

Xpedition and K3|pebblestone team up

Posted on June 10, 2020 by - News

Xpedition and K3|pebblestone [What sort of name is that? Ed.] have announced their partnership. Xpedition will become a value added reseller for K3|pebblestone solutions in the Fashion and Apparel sector, and also provide support for users of the K3|pebblestone system.

K3|pebblestone supports Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud with product extensions built for the industry covering the entire lifecycle from design to sale. K3 will provide solutions and subject matter expertise in the fashion market to complement Xpedition’s expertise in this area.

Frank Deans, Enterprise Business Development Manager at K3|pebblestone said: “K3 are thrilled to announce their partnership with Xpedition. In this strategic cooperation Xpedition will provide ongoing support to existing K3|pebblestone customers and strengthen our go-to-market proposition in the UK. We look forward to working with Xpedition to help businesses in Fashion and Apparel gain competitive edge and delight their customers.”

Avaya expects expansion after Furlong appointment

Posted on June 9, 2020 by - News

Avaya Holdings is planning to accelerate  its global cloud strategy in Ireland following the appointment of Aidan Furlong as Country General Manager of Ireland.

The company said that Furlong will help to champion the evolution of new and existing customers and partners to cloud-centric communications and build momentum in the adoption of Avaya solutions as businesses across the island of Ireland increase their digital transformation.

Previously Client Director at Avaya Ireland for over two years and Channel Manager for over six years prior to that, Furlong has extensive experience in working with the Avaya Partner community to drive growth and mutual success in meeting customer needs.

AWS and Slack take on Microsoft

Posted on June 9, 2020 by - News

AWS and Slack have united in a project to take on Microsoft Teams.

The multi-year deal will see Slack migrate all of its audio and video call capabilities to Amazon’s Chime platform, which competes with the likes of WebEx and Zoom. Slack already used AWS as its “preferred cloud partner”.

Under the deal Slack will pay AWS at least $425 million for hosting between now and May 2025

AWS will adopt Slack internally as part of the deal, and encourage developers to manage their AWS environments on Slack’s messaging platform.

Exertis Hammer announces distribution deal with DDN

Posted on June 9, 2020 by - News

Value-add distributor Exertis Hammer announced an EMEA-wide distribution agreement with big data storage supplier DDN.

The vendor designs, develops, deploys, and optimises systems, software and storage solutions that enable enterprises, service providers, universities, and government agencies to generate more value and accelerate time to insight from their data, on premise and in the cloud.

Exertis Hammer General Manager Adam Blackwell said: “New and existing customers will hugely benefit from DDN’s focus on artificial intelligence, big data and high performance computing (HPC) that this partnership will bring to our offering.”

Channel should be worried about increase in private investment

Posted on June 8, 2020 by - News

Increasing in private investment might be putting the channel at risk, according to analyst outfit  Canalys.

The IT industry has seen a surge in private equity (PE) investment of late. Traditionally a source of funding for start-ups, larger vendors such as LogMeIn, McAfee, Sophos, Veeam and Veritas have all benefited from PE funding over the last year.

But Canalys thinks this is a bad thing saying that the continued investment by private equity firms in technology vendors is a lit fuse which is designed to ignite value (and return) for shareholders, but which often ignores the long-term value brought by the channel.

Kodak Alaris names top partners

Posted on June 8, 2020 by - News

Kodak Alaris has recognised partners from the Europe, Africa and Middle East region (EMEA) in its annual Partner of the Year awards.

Spigraph, Benelux was named Top Value Added Distributor; the company has collaborated closely with the Kodak Alaris sales team and continued to drive high market share in the region.

Spigraph Vice President Sales, Northern Europe Koen Beeuwsaert said: “To be awarded as Top Value Added Distributor of the year is a great recognition of all our joint efforts to drive profitable growth through the region.

VMware buys security vendor Lastline

Posted on June 8, 2020 by - News

VMware is to buy network detection and response vendor Lastline.

The agreement is set to close by 31 July and  VMware will run Lastline’s malware analysis as a “critical feed” for its Carbon Black EDR platform.

VMware’s Networking and Security Business Unit, general manager Tom Gillis,  VMware said: “This is an important step forward for VMware’s vision of Intrinsic Security, as it will allow us to further take advantage of the intrinsic attributes of our virtualisation platform to yield innovative security capabilities.

Insurance industry embraces automation

Posted on June 5, 2020 by - News

Automation is being embraced by business leaders as the linchpin of the insurance industry’s future success, according to IT services and consultancy business NTT DATA UK.

The research surveyed senior London Market syndicates, brokers and managing agents, uncovering that 70 percent believe automation can significantly benefit business development.

Appetite for this digital transformation of the insurance business model is growing as costs rise within the market – for every £1 spent by Lloyd’s customers, around 40p is consumed by costs. As such, the majority of respondents (59 percent) recognise digital as important to their business today, rising sharply to 97 percent who believe digital will be important in the next three years. 

Carpenter joins VMware vice president of product marketing

Posted on June 5, 2020 by - News

VMware has appointed  former Google Cloud vice president of product marketing Carol Carpenter as its new chief marketing officer.

With over 25 years’ experience in the technology sector, Carpenter will be responsible for leading all aspects of the firm’s Global Marketing organisation, including Corporate Marketing, Partner, Segment and Field Marketing.

Sanjay Poonen, chief operating officer of VMware, said: “Carpenter’s  passion for solving customer problems aligns well with VMware’s customer-first approach and her expertise will take our marketing team to new heights.”

Pip White is Google’s UK and Ireland cloud queen

Posted on June 5, 2020 by - News

Google Cloud has appointed Pip White as the company’s Managing Director of UK and Ireland.

White will join Google Cloud in September this year and will lead the UK and Ireland business and the company’s development of its “go-to-market” sales operations across the region. She will spearhead and scale Google Cloud’s sales strategy across the UK and Ireland, a market which has seen a number of recent high-profile customer wins such as Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone and The Football Association.

White  has about two decades of sales leadership experience, driving enterprise cloud solution sales strategies, strategic alliances, inside sales, and technical team management.

Exclusive Networks scores Vodafone Ireland contract

Posted on June 4, 2020 by - News

Exclusive Networks announced it has become a Strategic Partner for Vodafone Ireland to reflect its role in accelerating the creation of the network operator’s internal cybersecurity practice with a suite of managed security services delivered all the time using next-generation technology.

Exclusive said the awarding of the contract demonstrates the value of the Exclusive Networks MSSD (Managed Security Service Distributor) proposition to enable partners with the means to differentiate in the B2B market – particularly in the wake of growing threat vectors arising in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic – using innovative technologies including Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and Thales.

UK smart cities need to advance in response to COVID-19 

Posted on June 4, 2020 by - News

illustration: elenabsl/adobe stock

Analysts GlobalData said any of the short-term fixes and even long-term cures envisaged for the illness of urban and wider society so vividly and exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic lie, at least in part and sometimes almost completely with ICT.

With half of the world’s population living in cities and 70 percent projected by 2050, it is now more important than ever to tackle these challenges, the analysts said.

GlobalData forecasts the market for smart cities to grow from $458 billion in 2019 to $624 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4 percent, with the biggest growth coming from transportation, infrastructure, and grids.

Tony Cripps, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Creativity of thinking by UK cities and companies will be a necessity for managing the business impacts post-COVID-19, a fact that necessarily places the use of advanced ICT very high on what looks set to be a reinvigorated smart cities agenda.”

Coronavirus drives digital transformation and continuity planning   

Posted on June 4, 2020 by - News

The combination of supply chain disruption, shortage of materials, dependence on globalised production, and a national workforce with restricted movements, is not only affecting the industry, but the wider economy, according to InfinityQS Director of Global Channel programmes Jason Chester (pictured).

Chester said that while many have struggled to adapt within the current environment, there are those taking this opportunity to transform.

Manufacturers are collectively being forced to devise and implement new and agile approaches to product monitoring and quality control. One of their biggest logistical challenges involves ensuring their production lines are running, despite the lack of available staff due to social distancing rules. This is where digital innovations in smart manufacturing can offer many benefits.

Alinda glides as Inflexion quits

Posted on June 3, 2020 by - News

US infrastructure investor Alinda Capital has taken over Glide after  Inflexion’s exit.

Glide designs, installs and manages fibre networks required to deliver broadband connectivity together with other critical products and services to student accommodation, the private rental sector and small and medium sized enterprises.

Inflexion’s  bought Glide in 2013 acquisition along with WarwickNet to diversify its customer base and offering.

Simon Turner, managing partner at Inflexion said: “We are pleased to have supported Glide’s strong growth journey, which has seen the company transformed into the UK fibre leader serving niche markets and benefitting from the exponential growth in broadband usage.”

Verkada announces partnership with Distology

Posted on June 3, 2020 by - News

Cloud-based security outfit Verkada  has teamed up with Distology today announced a strategic partnership to drive adoption of Verkada’s hybrid cloud video security and access control systems within the UK and Ireland via Verkada channel partners.

Since launching in the UK, Verkada claims to have got some “tremendous traction” with customers across industries, including Bath Spa University, GAIL’s Bakery, and Border Biscuits. Verkada has extended its global infrastructure to the UK, including a dedicated HQ and logistics hub located centrally located in London, as well as a regional AWS data centre in Ireland. With Distology, Verkada adds a leading distribution network to reach new growth opportunities with leading resellers.

Verkada Head of EMEA Channel Sales Edoardo Cannarsa,  said: “As we expand globally, partnerships with leading distributors like Distology will allow us to more effectively support our existing UK and Ireland reseller network. At the same time, we’re accelerating new VAR enthusiasm and enrollment while ensuring our customers receive the quality and best-in-class experience we strive to deliver.”