Cloud Foundry launches certified systems Integrator programme

Posted on October 10, 2018 by - News

two-clouds-1385018843_27_contentfullwidthOpen source outfit Cloud Foundry has announced its the Cloud Foundry Certified Systems Integrator programme.

The programme is  designed to help Systems Integrators (SIs), consultancies and professional services organisations highlight their expertise working with the Cloud Foundry family of technologies.

These organisations have demonstrated contributions to the Cloud Foundry community through contributing code, hosting meetups, public marketing of the platform, Foundation membership and more.

  • Cloud Foundry Certified SIs will receive the following benefits:
  • Top-level visibility in The Foundry, the largest open source marketplace in existence
  • An official Cloud Foundry Certified SI badge to use in their marketing material
  • Reseller discounts for Cloud Foundry Certified Developer exams

The Foundation also announced two new projects — Eirini and CF Containerisation — have been accepted as incubating projects by the Project Management Committees (PMCs), which oversee platform engineering of the open source projects, to further the interoperability of Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes.

Vertiv announces Joachim Fischer as EMEA channel sales director

Posted on October 9, 2018 by - News

indexVertiv has announced the appointment of Joachim Fischer as channel sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The company said that Fischer brings significant channel experience having previously worked as general manager sales for NEC in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH), leading substantial channel development programmes.

Fischer will lead the creation of an enhanced product portfolio specifically designed for the channel, along with a competitive commercial policy and a series of marketing initiatives and programmes to support resellers. Moreover, his role will be essential in supporting new product developments for this segment, as well as bringing edge computing solutions to the market.

Vertiv EMEA vice president Karsten Winther said the company had been working intensively to develop a comprehensive list of value propositions – a sophisticated channel dedicated product portfolio, additional investments in reseller recruitments and further investments in channel marketing programmes.

“This is with the ambition to attract partnerships based on trust and significant mutual growth in our channel distributors and resellers, as part of our broader go-to-market strategy. We have incredible potential – paired with Fischer ’s expertise in driving both projects and run rate business with the channel and all of our new initiatives; we can make substantial progress to become more attractive to channel partners and help expand our reach into this ever-changing, dynamic and critical market area.”

Fischer said: “I am very excited to join Vertiv and to help shape the company’s new channel programmes in EMEA. This market has its own particular dynamics, and I look forward to applying my experience and knowledge to match its needs.”

US software outfits plan $5.2 billion merger

Posted on October 9, 2018 by - News

Merge-AheadCloudera and Hortonworks have announced plans to merge, creating an organisation valued at $5.2 billion.

The pair claims the merged outfit will be “the world’s leading next-generation data platform provider”.

The new firm will have a revenue of around $720 million and will save 125 million a year.  There is no word at this point how those savings will be made, but we suspect more than one person will be cleaning out their desk and leaving the building.

Cloudera CEO Reilly is set to helm the new business, while Hortonworks CEO Rob Bearden will join the board of directors.

Bearden said: “This compelling merger will create value for our respective stockholders and allow customers, partners, employees and the open source community to benefit from the enhanced offerings, larger scale and improved cost competitiveness inherent in this combination. Together, we are well positioned to continue growing and competing in the streaming and IoT, data management, data warehousing, machine learning/AI and hybrid cloud markets. Importantly, we will be able to offer a broader set of offerings that will enable our customers to capitalise on the value of their data.”

 

Metaphor headed for £10 million revenues

Posted on October 9, 2018 by - News

PF-loadsamoney_2177214kMetaphor IT is confident that it is going to break the £10 million barrier within the next three years.

Founder Richard Callis expects the company to generate a turnover of £7 million by the end of its current financial year on 31 March 2019 and to hit the magical 10 million barrier it will use a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.

Acquisitions have been a critical part of Metaphor IT’s growth so far but the company has not found any which are the right fit, yet.

Metaphor has Rackspace, Citrix and Microsoft among its vendor partners acquired in September 2016, with the purchase of Surrey-based Teagen, but Callis admitted that it will acquire only companies that meet a set of rules.

Acquisition targets must fit in with Metaphor’s existing three pillars of cloud and virtualisation, security, and managed services, and must have revenues of £5m or below, he said.

 

 

Brexit about to give the application development market a kicking

Posted on October 8, 2018 by - News

1046922917The application development, testing and maintenance market is about to be dusted up by Brexit, according to a report from a report from Information Services Group.

Banking, financial services, healthcare and life sciences are likely to suffer some adverse impact from Brexit as no one knows what software they are going to need.

This means that the majority of companies in the UK have not yet begun preparing for Brexit, and there are growing fears of supply-chain disruptions. As for providers, the large ones should be able to cover most situations that arise, but smaller UK-based providers may struggle with the changing market dynamics.

Many vendors hope that there will be a spike in demand after 29 March next year as customers try to get in-line with any changes quickly.

Banks had already started to move headcount out of the UK, and there was talk of some movement in the car manufacturing areas, and that would be a strain on existing systems based on the current situation, the report said.

There were also signs that aside from Brexit customers were looking for more focus on next-generation options from their application development management partners. Areas of interest included: analytics, IoT, cloud-native architecture, SaaS-based offerings, security, customer experience and mobile.

BlueJeans increases US expansion with Ingram Micro channel deal

Posted on October 8, 2018 by - News

imagesBlueJeans has penned   a distribution deal with Ingram Micro as part of its push into the US market.

The pair already has teamed up in Europe and Asia Pacific market. Under the deal, Ingram Micro will send BlueJeans’ unified communications products, including BlueJeans Meetings, BlueJeans Rooms and BlueJeans Events up with its channel partners throughout the US. They will sell them on to businesses looking for collaboration tools.

Jeff Yelton, executive director of Ingram Micro, said that BlueJeans was a cloud-native meetings platform and a natural fit with Ingram’s growing unified communications and collaboration portfolio.

“Demand for intelligent workplaces is building among businesses of all sizes, and we’re excited to extend our relationship with BlueJeans and expand our U.S. portfolio to include BlueJean’s one-touch video, audio and web conferencing solutions”, he said.

Managing the relationship with Ingram Micro, BlueJeans has appointed a new SVP of global channels Barry Ruditsky who joins BlueJeans from Actiance, where he worked with ISVs and OEMs, including IBM, and launched a global VAR programme for the company.

“There is a terrific market opportunity for BlueJeans as we continue to work alongside the industry’s best partners, including Ingram Micro. Enterprise companies in every market segment are fully aware of the impact that meeting and collaboration solutions like BlueJeans have on the morale, engagement and bottom line of the business. There is an endless runway for us to grow with our partner community.”

Labour productivity figures create call for AI

Posted on October 8, 2018 by - News

Forwarders-set-to-see-growthAccording to the latest labour figures productivity in the UK is still growing but still hasn’t reached the two percent growth rate the country was seeing before 2008, despite Britons’ long office hours and intense work ethic.

However Digitial sales tranformation outfit  Altify said that it is because employees spend too much of their workday focused on admin hygiene tasks, instead of investing their time in those that bring actual value to the company and the economy.

So says Altify, the digital sales transformation company, which claims that the use of the right AI tool will help employees focus on high-value tasks and reverse the toxic lifecycle of hard work, long hours, and little of the productivity that results from genuine job satisfaction.

Altify CEO Anthony Reynolds believes that AI is the key to the productivity puzzle and said that augmented Intelligence will not signify the end of human work, but rather the beginning of it.

“Once freed from mindless tasks which uphold administrative hygiene but bring little else, in the way of value to their customers, closed sales or job satisfaction. Sales teams all too often find themselves spending their time swamped in banal administrative tasks. This is perhaps why sales has not yet fulfilled its full strategic potential for organisations and points to the same conclusion for the UK’s corporate landscape as a whole.”

Masergy makes EMEA channel expansion

Posted on October 5, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Masergy, a US provider of secure hybrid networking, cloud communications, and managed security solutions, is expanding its channel programme in the EMEA region and is looking for new parters.

Following its initial success, the enhanced programme will be implemented to attract new partners and grow the existing strategic partner base in the region, the outfit said.

The Masergy Global Partner Programme is designed to work with different business models, including value-added resellers (VARs), master and sub-agents, system integrators, solution providers, and consultants.  The programme allows partners to leverage Masergy’s expertise in servicing global customers by delivering world-class Secure Hybrid Networking with Managed SD-WAN, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), Intelligent SIP Trunking, Cloud Contact Centre, and Managed Security with detection and response solutions.

Bill Madison, Vice President of Global Channel Development at Masergy said: “We know that many enterprise IT departments are seeking innovative service providers that deliver enhanced agility and security to their businesses. Our expanded focus in EMEA will build on our current success in the region. We are adding dedicated channel resources with a focused strategic plan, and will work closely with partners to deliver bespoke solutions personalised to customers’ unique business requirements.”

Masergy has a tiered partner program and provides partners with a competitive monthly residual compensation structure along with certified product training, joint business plan mapping, market development funds, and comprehensive pre- and post-sales support.

Steve Harrington, Channel Director EMEA at Masergy said his focus was to strengthen relationships with existing partners and grow a channel base with new partners in EMEA.

“I am excited about the significant market opportunity for Masergy and our partners as our innovative technologies, customisable global solutions, and industry-leading customer experience sets us apart from our competitors.”

 

Reseller Sales management shortage jacks up wages

Posted on October 5, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Reseller Sales directors have seen a 60 percent increase in their basic salary this year from last year as a skills shortage bites.

Research conducted by Robertson Sumner recruitment agency attributed this salary rise to the skills gap, stating that channel companies are raising their wages to attract appropriately experienced candidates to their organisations.

Marc Sumner, founder of the channel recruitment agency, said there were more vacancies than people and that is a real worry for businesses.

“There were no reseller candidates on the market looking for jobs; they are either happily employed, or they are looking to work for vendors.”

The survey was conducted across 3,000 candidates over a six month period this year, and the results indicate that senior sales positions at vendors also saw salary increases of between seven and 12 percent.

Distributors were seeing sales salaries remaining stable because there is a sufficient supply of skills among distributors, so they do not need to raise salaries to attract candidates, but that this may be to their detriment as these candidates look to the more lucrative packages offered by vendors and resellers.

“You don’t usually see people in distribution move to a reseller – the next logical step would be to go to a vendor. But they are certainly falling way beyond reseller and vendor packages, that’s for sure.”

The onus is on channel companies to solve the skills gap, according to Sumner.

Silver Peak ties in with Axians

Posted on October 5, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Silver Peak has formalised a new partnership agreement with Axians UK, the VINCI Energies brand dedicated to ICT.

Axians UK will join the Silver Peak partner programme and immediately offer the Unity EdgeConnect business-driven SD-WAN edge platform to its current and prospective enterprise customers.

With EdgeConnect, Axians’ customers will benefit from the outfit’s unified WAN edge platform. EdgeConnect is centrally managed and uniquely unifies core network functions, SD-WAN, WAN optimisation, routing and security, at the branch into a business-driven SD-WAN edge.

Sales director for the UK and Ireland at Silver Peak Allan Paton said:

“As geographically distributed enterprises seek to accelerate cloud-centric business initiatives, they quickly realise that their existing WAN is not architected for the cloud. With Axians’ networking expertise and proven delivery track record for professional installation, deployment and technical consulting services, we are already providing customers with the flexibility to move beyond router-centric WAN architectures to a centrally managed business-first SD-WAN edge. The partnership with Axians UK is the next step in accelerating the international deployment of SD-WAN.”

Spencer Lea, sales director at Axians UK  said: “With our deep knowledge of the SD-WAN market, it made sense to combine our strengths and talents with Silver Peak to take customers beyond basic SD-WAN products toward a business-first networking model and ultimately a self-driving wide area network,” said  “We have already had some great success with the implementation and project delivery of global and local SD-WAN deployments. Working alongside Silver Peak will continue to bring next-generation network solutions to market that will enable our customers to accelerate cloud initiatives while dramatically simplifying IT operations.”

IT Lab and Content and Code team up

Posted on October 4, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220IT Lab and Content and Code have consolidated their operations to create one of the largest Microsoft partners in the UK.

The combined entity will have a £60 million turnover and 550 staff operating out of locations in London, Manchester and South Africa.

IT Lab has been given the backing of private equity players ECI Partners to since that relationship was struck in 2016 it has made no secret of ambitions to use acquisition as a route to growth.

Content and Code is the second deal that the firm has made in the last 18 months following on from an acquisition of cybersecurity player Perspective Risk last May. The details of the latest purchase have not been disclosed.

IT Lab chief executive Peter Sweetbaum remains at the head of the firm and Tim Wallis, founder of Content and Code, will take on the role of Chief Digital Officer of IT Lab and will lead the future relationship with Microsoft.

Craig Fellowes, productivity sales director at Microsoft UK, said: “Content and Code has been one of our strongest and most trusted partners for as long as I can remember and has continued to set the benchmark for excellence in Modern Workplace. This, coupled with IT Lab’s domain and industry expertise make this is a promising combination to provide our customers with an even more complete solution and support. This new partnership will undoubtedly provide our customers with an additional and credible option to consider when choosing who they want to help migrate, deploy and manage their desktop environment.”

 

Intel claims it has enough chips

Posted on October 4, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Intel’s interim CEO Bob Swan has said that Intel will have enough chips on hand to cope with any pick up of the PC industry.

Analysts have said that the PC market is about to pick up and there are fears that Intel might not have enough chips on hand. Already Eastern suppliers are saying that there are shortages of Intel chips and HPE has started buying AMD gear.

However Swan sang that there would be enough to go around: “We’re prioritising the production of Intel Xeon and Intel Core processors so that collectively we can serve the high-performance segments of the market. That said, supply is undoubtedly tight, particularly at the entry-level of the PC market.”

Global PC shipments grew by 1.4 percent year on year in the three months ending June 2018, marking the market’s strongest performance since early 2012.

Demand for Intel’s CPUs has also seen higher than expected demand due to a strong enterprise server upgrade cycle, the firm claims.

However, the California-based vendor’s ongoing scramble to churn out chips is likely to push PC makers and OEMs into the arms of Intel’s main rival, AMD.

AMD’s share price has more than doubled since the middle of last year, but declined around six percent after Swan’s letter was published.

Research company Fubon claims that AMD has already stepped into the breach with deals with Dell and HP, CNBC reported.

In response, Intel has pledged to plough an additional €861.5 million into its 4nm manufacturing across sites in Oregon, Arizona, Ireland and Israel.

“We’re working with your teams to align demand with available supply. You can expect us to stay close, listen, partner and keep you informed,” Swan said.

 

Barrie Desmond steps down

Posted on October 4, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Exclusive Networks COO Barrie Desmond has announced he is quitting the outfit and will hand over his duties to Andy Travers.

Desmond will leave the €1.75 billion revenue VAD at the end of December after a seven-years at the Paris-based firm.

Travers is a former Fortinet and RSA executive Travers, who will have a different job title of SVP worldwide sales and marketing.

Desmond said he had done his bit and he was tired. It was time for the company to have a new voice and he is pleased Andy is the guy succeeding him.

“I’ve known him 20 years, and he’s had experience at every level of the channel”, he said.

Desmond joined Paris-based Exclusive via its 2011 acquisition of VADition, and since then Exclusive has built out a global footprint, most recently expanding into the US.  Exclusive has set itself a new €10bn revenue goal under new private equity backer Permira.

Desmond said he had a lot of fun but spent a lot of energy doing it. Now the platform is set for the next chapter of this story.

“I’m going to see how my life is and in January onwards do a bit of skiing and make some decisions then. Nothing is decided from my perspective.”

 

IMS evolves with Intel IoT for UK supermarkets

Posted on October 3, 2018 by - News

The IMS Evolve Cold Chain solution has been released putting Intel’s IoT into the paws of UK supermarkets.

For those who came in late, IMS Evolve enables food retailers to leverage actionable data and insights from existing infrastructure and systems and has been benchmarked as a leading provider of machine integration and event management. This offers a service delivery mechanism that features configurable business process rules and logic, which enables automation and workflow improvements resulting in substantial efficiencies, cost savings, availability and quality of performance.

It uses Intel processors and Dell Edge Gateways to deliver clarity and consistency through a single consolidated integration layer and provides a practical approach to waste reduction and to ensure improved quality.

The outfit claims that with the IMS Evolve IoT solution integrated within the cold chain, not only can energy consumption be reduced, but a higher quality product can be achieved, improving the customer experience and enabling retailers to enhance their brand, realise value quickly, and save money.

One British supermarket has seen a nearly 50 percent reduction in stock loss, and 40 percent reduction in reactive maintenance calls driven by condition-based maintenance, resulting in 15-20 percent overall cost savings. The IMS Evolve solution has also enabled customers to achieve 99.98 percent availability of critical assets and a 30 per cent reduction in customer complaints, it’s claimed.

Jason Kay, CCO said: “IMS Evolve has greatly benefited from being a part of the Intel IoT Market Ready Solution Program. From accelerating the design and deployment of intelligent devices and analytics with our customers to supporting the continuous innovation, evolution and delivery of our solution.”

Dell EMC on its way to challenging HPE

Posted on October 3, 2018 by - News

Dell EMC is closing the gap on Hewlett Packard Enterprise as EMEA’s top server vendor.

Beancounters at IDC have added up some numbers and divided by their collective shoe size and claimed that Dell EMC saw its server market share in EMEA increase just over three percentage points to 22.4 percent in Q2. HPE’s numbers were disappointing, and it declined over three per cent to 28.4 percent.

IDC senior research analyst Kamil Gregor said total spend for the quarter was up 28.9 percent year on year to $4.1 billion with HPE making up over a quarter of these sales. The number of shipments, however, declined 3.7 percent to 515,000 units shipped.

Some of the largest markets in Europe experienced shipment declines, with Germany seeing a drop of 14 percent and the UK a decline of 8.7 percent. These two regions, however, experienced revenue growth of 23.2 percent and 29.9 percent respectively as the average order of shipments rose.