Author: Nick Farrell

Sharp UK makes a “get back to work package”

Sharp UK launched a range of new technology stuff designed to support the safety of employees upon their return to the office.

The new solutions include: an updated Optimised Visitor Management system; the Communicate and Collaborate furniture range; and the Plasmacluster Air Purifier.

Sharp saw an opportunity to market such packages in June when it surveyed more than 6,000 office workers in small-to-medium sized businesses across Europe and found that over half claimed it was important for them to be able to meet with and work with colleagues physically. In addition, almost 58 percent said that working in a dynamic office environment had become more important since the pandemic.

Hyperoptic hire’s BT’s Neale as its MD of Infrastructure

Broadband outfit Hyperoptic has appointed Lisa Neale as its MD of Infrastructure. Neale will report into Dana Tobak, CEO and Founder of Hyperoptic, and will be responsible for delivering the company’s network rollout ambitions.

Neale joined BT as an engineer at age 18, she has spent twenty years steadily rising up the ranks in telecoms. She recently held a number of leadership roles at Openreach, including the Director of Fibre Build in UK East, and Director of Fibre and Network Delivery in UK West.

Neale said: “I am really excited to have a key role in enabling Hyperoptic to connect new customers so that they can enjoy a whole new broadband experience. In parallel, I am also looking forward to collaborating with the senior team on new innovative tools and techniques that will help fast track our rollout schedules. I feel that I will be able to add a lot of value from consolidating everything I have learnt through my career.”

UK workers find workplace info difficult

Research released by Sinequa reveals that UK workers face greater challenges finding information in the workplace than their US counterparts.

While nearly half of UK workers think it is harder than it should be to find information at work, only just over a third of US workers agree. Similarly, 71 percent of UK workers say it’s harder to find information on work systems than it is to find information on search engines like Google, compared to 57 percent of US workers.

While Sinequa’s research reveals that employees in both the UK and the US face challenges when searching for information at work, US employees report fewer problems than UK workers on average. The difference between the countries may partly be accounted for by the differing emphasis on tools designed to help with search needs. Two times more US respondents (14 percent) than UK respondents (seven percent) said their organisation had implemented an intelligent enterprise search tool to help adapt to new working environments.

Fragile supply chains, ransomware, lack of security investment makes 2022 looks rubbish

Global technology distributor, Westcon-Comstor, is not predicting a great time for the channel in 2022.

The outfit has released its predictions for next year covering ybersecurity, the supply chain, subscription models and hybrid working and it does not seem like a great year to get out of bed.
Westcon-Comstor VP Cyber Security & Next Gen Solutions Daniel Hurel said that ransomware attacks have been the most prevalent form of cybersecurity threat this year, with this threat type taking hold of businesses of all sizes and sectors.

“We have begun to see more companies taking the realities of ransomware seriously, which will prompt further investment into ransomware protection in 2022. we’re anticipating an uptick in technologies and tools in the back-up software and antivirus software spaces”, he said.

Security needs a rethink

A poll conducted by SentryBay, the UK-based cybersecurity software company has found that 69.1 per ent of professionals with security responsibility believe a rethink is needed to deal with the threat of cybersecurity now that devices and applications have moved outside the corporate network.

The poll, which was conducted on Twitter amongst cybersecurity professionals, aimed to assess attitudes to cyber threats and methods of protecting vulnerable devices. It found that 58.3 percent of respondents believed that a zero-trust approach to security was essential, and 19.9 pe cent thought it was important. When asked if their organisation had adopted zero-trust, however, only a third said they had.

One barrier might be the difficulties that companies are experiencing in implementing BYOD models, for which zero trust is the recommended approach to securing corporate perimeters. Over a third (33.5 percent) said that adopting BYOD was too complicated. The role of enterprise users has also been a BYOD challenge with user privacy concerns being cited by 28.1 percent of respondents and user engagement/friction cited by 19.9 percent . Management overheads were a challenge for 19.9 percent.

Avaya scores Learning People Contract

Avaya is providing career and tech education company, The Learning People with its Avaya Cloud Office UCaaS solution.

For those who came in late, Learning People provide curated career counselling and online training for more than 35,000 students, many of whom have landed careers in the tech industry with the help of the company.

Apparently, Learning People selected Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral, an all-in-one cloud communication solution, to enhance its customer and employee engagement, and support future expansion.

The move was part of the outfit’s attempts to adopt work-from-home technology during the pandemic.

Tech Data signs a European distribution agreement with Nvidia

Tech Data announced a European distribution agreement with Nvidia.

The new agreement extends an existing agreement, in which Tech Data offers Nvidia Networking solutions across the region, to now include Nvidia hardware, the AI Enterprise software suite and DGX systems, as well as the Omniverse Enterprise platform.

The agreement also adds Nvidia DGX systems, enabling businesses to scale AI development with solutions purpose-built for enterprise.

Tech Data said it will reinforce its Nvidia offerings with a comprehensive range of professional and managed services and will leverage its own Solution Factory methodology to develop customised solutions with Nvidia products at the core for a variety of vertical use cases.

PC and datacentre vendor to roll out Lenovo 360 in January

Lenovo partners could earn 30 percent more on sales as the vendor launches a new global channel framework that goes live next month.

Lenovo 360 will launch in January 2022 and it promises to give partners easier access to the entire Lenovo portfolio encompassing devices, infrastructure and services.

It follows the reorganisation of the Lenovo business earlier this year into three business groups: Intelligent Device Group; Infrastructure Solutions Group; and the Solutions and Services Group.

The Lenovo 360 framework is the culmination of a restructure which saw Lenovo geo and marketing teams across PC endpoint and infrastructure come together into single teams to report to a single-channel leader responsible for Lenovo’s entire portfolio.

Black Box announces new international partner programme

Black Box has launched the Black Box Velocity Partner Programme, which it says gives VARs and resellers programmes, training, product authorisation, and support to boost sales and revenues.

Members of the Velocity Partner Program also gain access to strategic pricing incentive programs designed to assist in closing new business.

The plan is being piloted over the pond and should be appearing in the UK early next year.

Black Box Sales vice president CJ Ballejos said that combining resources across key areas of sales and support, the new Black Box Velocity Partner Programme delivers a wide array of tools partners can use to kick sales into high gear.

Law outfit Wiggin boosts telecom brief

Media, technology and IP law firm Wiggin has announced that telecoms specialist Victoria Harris-Honrado has joined the firm as a partner. The hire is something to do with the arrival of Gordon Moir and his team in October 2020.

Harris-Honrado joins from 3 . Before her time in-house she spent nine years in private practice, including at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells in Brussels.

John Banister, CEO, Wiggin said: “I’m delighted to welcome Victoria to the partnership. As the past two years have demonstrated, the telecoms sector is vital to all. It will only become more so as we move increasingly online, making connectivity critical to all elements of our lives, both personal and professional. I’ve no doubt telecoms will continue to be a key sector for us as we continue to pursue our vision of being the destination law firm for a digital world.” Whatever that means.

Nordic Advania takes over Content+Cloud

Content+Cloud has been acquired by Nordic MSP giant Advania, in a deal which will create a combined group with more than £800 million in turnover. M&As again, eh?

The London-based Microsoft partner generated revenues of £84.5 million for its year ending 31 March 2021 and it has 800 staff across offices in London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Reading, Cardiff and Cape Town in South Africa, Content+Cloud claims to operate across all three of “Microsoft clouds” – Modern Workplace, Azure and Dynamics – and has earned 16 Microsoft Gold certifications and six Advanced specialisations.

Ransomware attacks will rise to £15 billion

Ransomware continues to be the number one threat to big and medium businesses, and the damages caused as a result of ransomware attacks are expected to exceed $20 billion (about £15 billion) before the end of 2021.

The Acronis Cyberthreats Report 2022  shows that during the second half of 2021, only 20 percent of the companies reported not having been targeted in cyber attacks, as opposed to 32 percent last year.

The study highlights that managed service providers (MSPs) are particularly vulnerable to ransomware and supply chain attacks, because cyber actors are now attempting to use MSPs own management tools, such as RMM or PSA, against them.

NTT data sees its sponsored candidates graduate

NTT data announced the graduation of its sponsored candidates participating in the route2work digital skills Academy programme.

The scheme forms part of the outfit’s activities designed to support women into tech careers and invest in their development as they progress. The graduates of the route2work programme, who come from a wide range of backgrounds, received training in Microsoft skills.

The partnership with route2work saw NTT data fund scholarships for 30 women to enrol in one of four digital skills and it aimed to give those who otherwise lacked opportunities to enter the industry.

VOW wholesale signs up Synaxon UK

Channel services group,  Synaxon UK, is taking products available from business supplies distributor, VOW Wholesale on its stock availability and pricing platform, EGIS.

VOW is the latest addition to the stock availability and pricing platform, which gives partners a fast, efficient, and economical way to check current stock availability and pricing from over 40 distributors.

Business fails women

Research by Thoughtworks has found that three in five tech businesses in the UK believe there is still a long way to go to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in their sector.

Among the problems that need the most urgent attention were career development for minority groups, representation in senior posts and at the board level, and “allyship” and understanding.

The findings come as Thoughtworks continues to recruit from a number of backgrounds, as well as establishing a DEI council within the business.