Dimension Data has written a cheque for a “majority stake”  in SAP partner e2y.

For those who came in late, e2y implements digital commerce platforms for its global customers and it has Amazon Web Services and Rackspace among its partners.

Laurent Christen, CEO of e2y, said: “The digitisation of goods and services disrupts established business models and existing value chains, enabling new models to emerge. e2y is a pioneer in digital innovation for commerce and marketplaces. We deliver solutions for our clients aiming to improve their customer experience and achieve growth. We’re excited to be joining forces with Dimension Data to help our clients benefit from enhanced digital commerce capabilities and transform their businesses.”

Dimension Data said e2y’s UK and European business will complement its existing solutions.

Scott Gibson, group executive for digital business solutions at Dimension Data, said: “With the future of commerce being firmly focused on the experience of trading online, and our digital business solutions portfolio centred on driving innovation for our clients, our investment in e2y will bring our clients closer to their customers on these advanced commercial platforms. It will also help us continue to guide our clients along their business transformation journeys.

Brother is increasing its share of the Managed Print Services (MPS) market at an annual rate of 200 percent across Europe, according to a new report.

Beancounters at Quocirca have added up some numbers and worked out that Brother’s success in the retail, healthcare and banking markets has “created an attractive proposition for its reseller partners and their end customers”.

In its report with the catchy title, “Channels to Managed Print Services 2018”, Quocirca said Brother’s MPS business to gain further traction as it continues to ramp up its offerings.

Philip White, European managed print sales manager at Brother, said: “We know that channel organisations are frustrated by margins, slow response times, a lack of vertical market experience and lead generation support. In response, our MPS offer has a rigorous focus on lead generation and has been fine-tuned to deliver improved margin against transactional sales by giving resellers the opportunity to earn revenue on up to nine streams, including hardware, supplies, software, and services.

“The Quocirca report identifies the strengths of the Brother MPS offer and recognises our investment in tools and resources to support the channel. We will continue this strategy of commitment and investment in the channel to ensure that together Brother and channel partners can continue to meet the many and varied needs of the customer.”

Arrow Business Communications has acquired Cisco and Microsoft partner 360 Solutions.

This is the fifth acquisition the comms VAR has taken since it scored private-equity funding in 2016.  CEO Chris Russell said that all of the 360 Solutions team will be joining Arrow.  The move strengthens Arrow’s presence in the East Midlands and increases its UK-wide “footprint”.

“We are looking forward to working with the team at 360 Solutions as they will help to broaden our product portfolio, particularly around our Skype for Business and PCI-compliant solutions, and will further enhance our Mitel capabilities and the technical skill set of the Arrow Group”, the company said in a prepared statement.

Burton-on-Trent-based 360 Solutions counts Cisco, Microsoft, Mitel, O2 and NetApp among its partners, and offers things including virtualisation, cloud and networking.

The firm’s founder and main shareholder Oliver Marsden will remain with the business and manage a number of key customer accounts.

Marsden said: “Having started 360 Solutions with my brother Sam 15 years ago, I am excited to be joining a larger group that shares the same values and approach as I do. I can’t wait to get started.”

2Checkout – formerly Avangate-  released its Q1 2018 benchmark report on Digital Commerce Trends in Software & Online Services Sales, and it is good news for the subscription-based model.

The report shows that subscription-based purchases maintain a strong upward trend. Similar to previous years, consumers and businesses continue to prioritise security product purchases.

The company’s Digital Commerce Benchmark follows trends in the global consumption of software and digital services, as reflected by purchases via 2Checkout’s Avangate digital monetisation platform, highlighting fast-growing regions and categories as well as uncovering the most popular payment methods worldwide.

The “overwhelming” shift to subscription commerce is even more evident when comparing data over time. In 2012, only about half (49 percent) of software sales were for subscription-based products and services, while a substantial 76 percent of sales in Q1 2018 have been for recurring-based purchases. The share of subscription-based products has been increasing steadily over the years, with 2017 witnessing a 75 percent level.

The global average order value (AOV) for software, SaaS and online services in the first quarter of 2018 is $50, a slight increase from $48 the previous year.

Visa and MasterCard continue to dominate regarding payment methods, accounting for 68 percent of global online sales, followed by PayPal at 19 percent and American Express at seven percent. This split emerges almost unchanged from the previous years, at a global level and mirrored closely by the United States, the largest software market.

Other countries show stronger preferences for local payment methods such as iDEAL in the Netherlands (43 percent), Alipay in China (42 percent), local credit cards in Brazil (28 percent) and Turkey (17 percent), Carte Bancaire in France (at 12 percent) and JCB and Konbini in Japan (with 19.5 and five percent, respectively).

Security and privacy products are the leading category in software products sold online, accounting for 38 percent of online sales. This represents a four-percentage-point increase compared to 2017 data. Multimedia and design software (including audio-visual tools) follows at 21 percent, and online services, including business and finance, follow at 20 percent. Other categories tracked in the report include utilities, marketing tools, web tools, office tools and development tools.

The United States continues to lead in global sales of software, SaaS and online services, accounting for half of the sales worldwide, followed distantly by the UK and France. Germany claims the fourth spot, closely followed by Canada, similar to the 2017 ranking. Non-English-speaking countries account for a bit over 20 percent of global software sales, on par with 2017 data.

Continuing to show strength as an additional sales and marketing channel for the software industry, affiliate-generated sales account for 24 percent of revenue for companies connected to 2Checkout’s Avangate affiliate network and actively using it, with promotions touching 33 percent of revenues, cross-selling 5.5 percent and upselling seven percent. Compared to 2017, promotions are used more intensively, showing this classic marketing tool still yields results.

Erich Litch, 2Checkout’s Chief Revenue Officer, said this company had been tracking these digital commerce benchmarks for years now and it’s interesting to notice clear trends – such as the proliferation of subscriptions, the continued preference for local payments in many parts of the world, and the most sought-after software products and online services.

“As companies continue to expand into international markets, they need to be prepared to sell in the ways their end-customers want to buy, support a broad range of payment methods and business models, and sell through multiple channels and touchpoints to deliver exceptional user experiences. Understanding trends and buyer preferences is an important step in this direction”, he said.

MHR said it will work with HFX to extend its  flexible working and staff time management.

HFX, a provider of SaaS flexitime and workforce management solutions, has signed a Partnership Agreement with MHR.  The agreement lets MHR (formerly MidlandHR) offer the entire suite of HFX’s Imperago cloud-based workforce management solutions which include Time & Attendance (T&A), Access Control and Flexitime Management.

Anton Roe, Chief Executive Officer at MHR, said: “HFX’s range of products perfectly complement those of MHR, enabling us to extend our proposition to our client base. We can now offer our customers HFX’s full Cloud solution range, from shift pattern design to T&A. This is an important addition to our fully integrated HR solutions.”

Nicola Smart Chief Operating Officer at HFX said: “We are delighted to be working with MHR to introduce the HFX range of products to their existing and future customers. Our products are a natural fit with MHR’s enterprise, commercial and public sector HR and payroll solutions and customers will have access to a powerful SaaS Cloud workforce solution for every staffing group.”

As part of the deal, MHR gets its paws on Imperago’s Time & Attendance all-in-one Service-as-a-Solution package that covers software, hardware, support and maintenance and its Flexitime Management software which is used in the public sector and local government organisations.

It also will use EveryOneCloud which logs time, supporting workforce planning and Time & Attendance solutions, enabling organisations of all sizes to monitor their staff and productivity. EveryOneCloud is a ready-to-go cloud which does not need for servers, software installation or massive up-front costs. It integrates with and sends data to T&A, Payroll, Student Attendance and Workforce Management solutions (including rostering & shift management).