Cloud is the springboard to further innovation

Imaxresdefaultndustry group CompTIA has conducted a survey and found that more customers are looking to use the cloud as a way to introduce more emerging technologies into their organisations.

In its report with the racy title “Cloud Computing Operational Efficiency in the Channel”, CompTIA found that the majority of firms were using hosted services but were looking to use it to support emerging technologies.

CompTIA’s senior director for technology analysis Seth Robinson said that the percentage of cloud-based IT architecture was approaching critical mass, and the group was seeing rising interest in cutting-edge trends that are largely driven by cloud computing.

“First and foremost, cloud computing allows users to widen the scope of technological possibilities, whether it’s accelerating existing plans or experimenting with new uses. By engaging with cloud providers, they gain access to powerful new tools without having to make a full investment or build in-house skills.”

They were now at the point where they were using the cloud as a springboard to introduce new tools the other opportunity for the channel is helping users with the challenge of multi-cloud management.

CompTIA found that half of those it quizzed used a mix of cloud vendors, which hinted at potential issues in dealing with that growing complexity.

EU grants to fund public Wi-Fi available

european-commissionWhile most people have given up on looking to the EU for funding, there is time for councils to apply for a EUR 15,000 Wi-Fi EU grant before Brexit is finalised.

The WiFi4EU funding programme, which is designed to give local authorities the chance to access EU financing to build free public wireless internet hotspots, is still around and value-added distributor Nuvias and networking outfit Nokia are ready to help town and city councils move quickly to install and deploy Wi-Fi in the early stages of this programme.

Local authorities can register on the WiFi4EU portal and apply for the grant or voucher. Applicants will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis, so time is of the essence. Nuvias and Nokia together have the solutions and expertise they reckon to move quickly and help councils get community Wi-Fi systems up and running.

NuviasTechnologies & Solutions Development Director Rob Clark said that despite uncertainty over BREXIT, the UK is still eligible to participate, but time is running out.

“Connectivity stakes are high in today’s digital age, so UK councils are strongly encouraged to participate by registering today”, recommends. As of 25th April 2018, some 74 UK municipalities had already registered”, he said.

“Citizens today expect local authorities to provide Wi-Fi access in public areas such as shopping centres, stadiums, event venues, airports, train stations and bus stops. In fact, nearly 43 percent of Britons are frustrated by the lack of free, public wi-fi networks available, according to YouGov research detailed in the Digital High Street 2020 Report. Additionally, studies have shown that cities investing in public Wi-Fi gain substantial benefits. More than half of respondents to a European Cities Monitor survey stated that “quality of telecommunications” was a key factor in attracting people and business to cities, and investment in this area is likely to generate rewards”, he added.

Public Health England signs up the Stones

StoneWall-1Public Health England (PHE) has signed up the Stone Group to supply 6,200 Toshiba and Lenovo devices.

The deal was done through the Technology Products 2 framework – it will see the agency migrate its 5,500 staff to Windows 10 devices ahead of the January 2020 end-of-support date for its current Windows 7 devices.

Technology Products 2 is set to expire this October. Its organiser, Crown Commercial Service, is running a series of workshops this month as it consults on its successor Technology Products 3 framework.

Simon Pettit, corporate director at Stone Group, said: “As one of the only UK-based IT solutions providers for the public sector with its manufacturing facility on site, Stone has proven experience in delivering large-scale device rollouts that are ready to go straight out of the box on delivery.

“This means we are well placed to help PHE transition to the new Windows 10 devices seamlessly. For PHE, this was a real game changer, and eased their decision to choose Stone as their preferred supplier.”

Dell mulls what to do with VMWare

vmware-partner-link-bg-w-logoDell is still in a tizzy over what to do about VMWare.

The outfit has ruled out flogging the outfit off and has set up a special committee has been set up to analyse the possible options on the table is a float on the New York Stock Exchange or to fold it into the greater Dell EMC empire.

In a filing made to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company explained it might merge with VMware or IPO, depending on what a “special committee” formed to help it analyse all options comes up with after looking into all avenues.

“Dell continues to evaluate potential business opportunities, including a potential public offering of shares of DHI Common Stock of Dell, a potential business combination between Dell and VMware, and a potential conversion of shares of Class V Common Stock of Dell into shares of DHI Common Stock of Dell”, the company said.

“Dell is also considering maintaining the status quo. The potential business opportunities currently being evaluated by Dell do not include the sale to a third party of Dell or VMware.”

The committee has the power to represent shareholders, although if a business opportunity offers the possibility of shares being modified, converted or exchanged, permission from shareholders must be obtained.

“Dell has not determined which, if any, potential business opportunity to pursue and there can be no assurance that any potential business opportunity will be pursued, the terms thereof, or whether, if pursued, any such business opportunity would be consummated”, the filing said.

Microsoft looks to AI to make a conversation

essential-talk-talk-51fd8e90e1476Software king of the world Microsoft has acquired Semantic Machines – a US-based conversational AI company.

David Ku, CVP and CTO of research and AI at Microsoft, said that most bots today, such as Siri and Cortana, can understand basic commands, but nothing more complicated.

“For rich and effective communication, intelligent assistants need to be able to have a natural dialogue instead of just responding to commands”, Ku explained, adding that this was called ‘conversational AI’.

Semantic Machines was founded by Larry Gillick, former chief speech scientist for Siri at Apple. The company claims to enable more natural interactions between humans and computers, and that its developing technology will understand conversational nuances.

Ku stated that this acquisition would integrate conversational AI into Microsoft’s own AI services, such as Cortana and Azure Bot Service. “Combining Semantic Machines’ technology with Microsoft’s own AI advances, we aim to deliver powerful, natural and more productive user experiences that will take conversational computing to a new level”, he said.

Ku said that Semantic Machines’ acquisition furthers the tech giant’s goal of creating computers that can “see, hear, talk and understand” as humans. This will be integrated into the company’s digital assistant Cortana, along with its chatbot XiaoIce, which has conducted over 30 billion conversations with people across Asia and the US.

 

Ryanair to swap Microsoft for AWS

Software King of the World Microsoft has received a vote of no confidence in its cloud ambitions after Budget airline Ryanair decided to ditch its data centres and shift its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services.

The bucket shop which often charges you more for your baggage than the actual ticket, already uses the Amazon cloud for sections of its business – such as its website Ryanair.com and Ryanair Rooms – but will now shift the rest of its data into it over the next three years.

Ryanair also plans to set up a data lake on Amazon’s S3 service that will useAmazon Kinesis to gain insights from customers and its broader business. It will ditch Microsoft SQL Server and switch to Amazon Aurora for its European email marketing campaigns.

Ryanair CTO, John Hurley said that it wanted to work with the world’s leading cloud to develop and deliver services that will transform customers’ travel experiences.  This will involve rebuilding core applications, converting data into actionable insights, and creating intelligent applications; we are putting the solutions in place to continue our leadership in the travel industry.

Ryanair will also work with AWS’s ML Solutions Lab to create an application that detects surges in demand for specific flights and predicts changes to flight schedules.

 

Fujifilm sues Xerox over merger backdown

xerox-parc-alto-personal-workstation-1973-bwFujifilm is to sue Xerox over damages related to the failed merger between the two companies. It said that as far as it is concerned the contract between them is still valid.

For those who came in late,  Xerox backed out of the deal after a successful revolt by activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason and the replacement of the Xerox  CEO.

Fujifilm Chief Operating Officer Kenji Sukeno said at an earnings briefing that his outfit is currently consulting m’learned friends on the schedule for filing the lawsuit and plan to go to court soon.

“The contract that ties the two companies together is still valid. We will push for the legality of it. There was a legal contract that everyone agreed on, and after that a few shareholders wanted to put a stop to it”,Sukeno said.

Fuji and Xerox were poised to join forces at the end of January in a stock swap deal that would have handed Fuji control of the American printer. However, a public relations campaign and legal battle waged.

 

 

Salesforce accelerates in Europe

Screen shot 2013-12-18 at 5.32.27 PMSalesforce is introducing its Accelerate partner assistance programme to Europe.

Speaking to the assorted throngs at the outfit’s World Tour London event, Salesforce EMEA vice president of channel and alliances, Leon Mangan, said that the move would drive and accelerate partners who want to develop ISV solutions onto AppExchange.

He described it as a mentoring and coaching model where it will carry out webinars and workshops and give each of the partners a mentor.

The plan has been running in the US since  2016. Salesforce will take applications in batches, focusing on high-growth sectors, the first of which will be those developing apps for fintech and insurance.

The company sees Fintech and insurance as its most significant addressable market opportunity although other areas are expected to follow.

Interested partners can submit their applications for the programme at the end of June, but competition is likely to be tough as there are just 20 spots available. The schedule will start in September with individuals from different Salesforce departments volunteering to act as mentors.

 

Arcserve achieves advanced technology partner status on Amazon

amazonData backup and availability outfit Arcserve has achieved Advanced Technology Partner status in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN).

As an Advanced Technology Partner in the APN, Arcserve has to evangelise cloud innovation with AWS.

ArcserveVP of Products Oussama El-Hilali said the company focuses on protecting heterogeneous environments, and working with AWS is a natural extension of that philosophy.

“We are honoured to become an Advanced Technology Partner in the AWS Partner Network, an achievement that further solidifies our commitment to continued cloud innovation. Our extensive multi-cloud capabilities underscore our deep understanding of AWS”, he said,

Arcserve offers enterprise capabilities for customers using Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS)

Arcserve VP of Global Strategic Alliances Scott Walker said that the company has partnered with AWS since it launched Arcserve UDP several years ago.

“Achieving Advanced Technology Partner status in the APN allows us to continue creating innovative solutions for our customers to scale infrastructure while protecting their investments in existing systems cost-effectively.”

 

Sophos sees sales hike

sophos-HQChannel-based Security outfit Sophos has announced annual results which saw its annual sales hiked by more than a fifth.

The company grew revenues by 21 percent to $641 million in the year to 31 March 2018, with billings hiking by 22 percent to $769 million.

Sales of Sophos Central more than doubled, from $88 million to $186 million and its subscription renewal base has now breached the $1billion mark.

CEO Kris Hagerman said that 2018 was a “strong year” as the company continued to take share in the market,.

“We execute a differentiated strategy of delivering advanced and highly-effective cybersecurity solutions designed to be simple to use, managed in the cloud, and sold 100 percent through our channel partners”, he said.

Some of this is a general improvement in the security industry.  Gartner said that total global IT security spending vaulted 8.4 percent last year to reach $89.1 billion, but some of it might be because Sophos is scoring sales off its rivals.

Sophos’ adjusted operating profits nearly matched revenues by rising 20 percent to $46 million. However it was not all good news – the firm posted a pre-tax loss of $52 million on the back of foreign exchange losses.

Hagerman added: “We have a massive market opportunity in front of us, and our strong and growing subscription base and growth in new customers, combined with our next-generation technology in endpoint and firewall and our Sophos Central cloud platform, position us well for FY19 and beyond.”

Barracuda Networks revamps reseller partner programme

Barracuda-1Cloud-enabled security and data protection outfit Barracuda Networks has announced a revamped reseller partner programme in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, designed to reward partners’ investment and commitment better.

The revised programme includes revised reseller requirements for each programming level, a simplified discount structure, easy-to-use and simplified deal registration, better access to partner online training via the companies Barracuda Campus, access to marketing resources and programmes

Chris Ross, Senior Vice President, International Sales, said that the EMEA Partner Programme had been redesigned to reduce partners’ administrative burden and make it easier to quote for Barracuda Networks solutions. The revised programme lets partners of all levels to increase their margins and rewards partners for identifying opportunities for Barracuda products.

“As cyber security and data protection increasingly gain traction with customers, it remains a key area of growth for the EMEA channel. We are committed to working with partners in the best possible way for our mutual benefit, as the contribution of our channel in supporting our growth is crucial. We have two aims for the programme: for it to simplify doing business with Barracuda and to encourage resellers to make Barracuda their first choice solution for customers.”

The new programme will also help channel partners to invest in training, technical and sales competence, and business development to enable mutual revenue growth. Members of the programme get, it’s claimed:

  • Competitive pricing and quarterly business planning
  • Extensive training via the Barracuda Campus
  • Proven marketing support and sales enablement resources via the Barracuda Partner Portal
  • Technical and renewals assistance

ADVA is a big hit with the Swedish banks

piggy-bank-swedish-flag-blue-background-piggy-bank-swedish-flag-109017685ADVA’s optical encryption technology scores with Swedish financial enterprises thanks to its long-term partner, the IT solutions provider Shibuya Crossing,

ADVA ConnectGuard is now providing some of Scandinavia’s largest banks with their security. The technology safeguards mission-critical data by encrypting at the lowest network layer, guaranteeing the most resilient protection with none of the latency and performance problems that come with other security methods. ConnectGuard supports Fibre Channel encryption for service speeds up to 32Gbit/s on line speeds of up to 200Gbit/s. It’s also the only solution capable of such speeds to achieve BSI-approved status, enabling its use for EU and NATO restricted data.

It is a big win for ADVA’s partner Shibuya Crossing. Its director, sales and marketing Mikael Johansson said financial institutions in the region put a great deal of faith in ADVA’s comprehensive Layer 1 encryption technology and the dedication and technical expertise of our combined team.

“There’s simply no one better to turn to for secure data center transport solutions that stand up to the latest cybersecurity threats and meet the diverse demands of today’s leading banking institutions. Also fundamental to our success in Sweden is the ability of our solutions to support the latest Fibre Channel transport and seamlessly integrate next-generation storage technology as soon as it becomes available. This ensures that we’re maximizing the power of our clients’ storage area networks both now and in years to come.”

ADVA sales director Peter Atterlöf said the outfit’s longstanding partnership with Shibuya Crossing was providing new opportunities.

“For an enterprise that relies on data integrity and customer trust, deploying Layer 1 network protection couldn’t be more vital. Another important factor for major banks is the ability to harness the best available storage areas network protocols. Our continuing focus on innovation in this area is another reason why so many financial institutions are deploying our security technology.”

IT service market outpaces economic growth

race-atalanta-hippomenesBeancounters at IDC have added up some numbers and concluded that the worldwide market for IT services outpacing general economic growth.

Figures from IDC showed that year-on-year growth was four percent with the second half of the year totalling $502 billion, an increase of 3.6 percent.

IDC said it was all due to increased business confidence and the digital transformation trend as some of the factors driving spending.

Digitalisation is helping service providers offset the commoditisation of traditional offerings, and project-orientated revenues are reaping more that outsourcing, support and training, IDC said,

IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Services Tracker, research manager Lisa Nagamine said: “The demand for a wide range of digital solutions continues to drive the steady growth in the services markets, but it is still cloud-related services that are having the biggest revenue impact.”

The complex nature of most digital transformation projects means customers have to turn to service providers, which is a positive development for those channel players that can plug the gaps, she said.

The US continues to dominate the global market for IT services and enjoyed the strongest growth but IDC is expecting Western Europe to come in with a decent 2018 as economies continue to improve and demand increases. Last year saw the region deliver 2.8 percent growth year on year thanks largely to sales generated in the second half.

Exertis sees revenue top £3 billion

pnw__1431353265_Exertis_CGI_Burnley_Bridge_BusExertis is reporting a £3 billion revenue and market share gains in the audiovisual, gaming and components spaces.

For the year ending 31 March 2018, DCC Technology, which trades as Exertis, saw revenue climb 14.7 percent year on year to £3.08 billion while operating profit was up 16.3 percent to £47.8 million.

Parent DCC, which plays in some other spaces including oil and healthcare, saw revenue increase 16.3 percent year on year to £14.3 billion (excluding the contribution from DCC Environmental, which was sold in May 2017).

Exertis also highlighted the contributions from recently acquired organisations MTR and Hypertec which helped the bottom line.

In an earnings report DCC said: “In the UK, DCC Technology’s largest market, the business achieved very strong revenue and profit growth, driven by market share gains and growth in key product categories including audiovisual, components and gaming.

“The business continued to invest in both its product and service capability to allow it to take advantage of growth opportunities in audiovisual, home automation, enterprise software and consumer product solutions.

“Hammer, acquired in December 2016, achieved strong growth in sales of server and storage products into key markets, including the datacentre market.

“The acquisition of MTR in July 2017 has allowed DCC Technology to enhance its service offering in the mobile market, strengthening its relationships with key vendor and retail partners. The business has performed very strongly since acquisition and provided a platform to extend its service offering outside the UK.”

DCC also said that Exertis’ new UK distribution centre is operational, with most of its original warehousing now sold off.

It added that the Irish arm of the business delivered “strong organic growth”, while the French business is looking to “significantly reduce costs”, with its conditions for its consumer products business remaining “very challenging”.

Palomäki warns of Omnichannel pressures

teleopti.tommy_.palomäki.image_.oct_.2016-266x400Omnichannel has been a buzzword for a few years now as modern consumers demand a consistent, satisfying and effortless experience, every time, whatever the device or communications channel.

According to  Teleopti customer success manager Tommy Palomäki, this is placing increasing pressure on contact centre agents to be experts in everything – verbal communication, a linguist, gifted email writer, snappy Tweeter and vibrant video agent.

At the same time managers have welcomed the whole concept of multi-skilling as a cure-all for today’s epidemic of ‘do more with less’ culture, allowing them to deliver greater workforce flexibility, maximise agent skills and lower staffing costs all in one go.

He cited the latest research from Call Centre Helper which reveals a decline in the number of contact centers multi-skilling their advisors, dropping from 90.5 percent in 2015, to 80.4 percent in 2017.

Palomäki said that technology makes it possible to schedule agents for both blended and dedicated contact inquiries environments.

“If you then expect agents to provide the same excellent service across all channels, you’ll likely encounter some challenges,” he said.

He said that one size does not fit all. Text and email often involve similar content and require the same style of dialogue, dealing with social media or the most challenging of all, switching between voice calls to Web Chat or other social media requires an entirely different tone and approach altogether. Adding multiple support channels simply adds complexity. While it might be able to ask agents to handle emails between calls, or work emails between chats, it’s unlikely you’ll find agents who can consistently do chats and calls at the same time with the same proficiency.

Palomäki added that in a blended environment the problem with routing is that channels invariably use different platforms and is often assigned different priorities and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This makes it difficult to track and predict service levels on an equitable basis across the entire contact centre.

If outfits agents to handle all channels at once, they are juggling with too many plates. Sooner or later one of the plates is going to break with a detrimental impact on customer service. It is not viable to expect an agent to be in the middle of a WebChat conversation but have to put that conversation on hold when a voice call comes through.

“By the time they go back to the Web Chat, their train of thought is lost possibly along with the customer, irritated by being abandoned and left waiting in the virtual ether”, he said.

Whether a company uses a blended or dedicated contact centre approach to serve your super-connected customers and support your agents, it is vital to ensure you rely on the latest Workforce Management (WFM) software to smooth the path to success, he claimed.

It is more important to focus on providing accurate forecasting whatever the channel, optimise schedules and consider what’s best for agents and the customer.

“Every contact centre is unique so establish what works best for yours. While blended is generally better for small teams and dedicated is better as teams grow, it’s worth experimenting. Don’t ignore the hard evidence. If call center statistics demonstrate that the majority of enquiries are voice-based or your organisation handles sensitive or highly emotive issues, don’t force customers to abandon traditional engagement methods in favour of the latest Web Chat or social media. If necessary, use your WFM to switch agents to different channels at different times of the day depending on customer demand”, Palomäki said

Agents need to help them multi-skill more easily by giving them the tools to do their job. For example, the ability to access, share and input into dynamic knowledge bases boosts performance and fosters team collaboration.

“The reality is that contact centers need to evolve into customer experience hubs where no one agent is expected to do it all. Instead, it’s often easier to assign agents with different tasks at different times of the day to ensure the best possible experience for agents and for customers. Combining this with the right WFM technology used in the right way can maximize agent skills and boost customer satisfaction, whatever the channel,” Palomäki said.