Oracle creates “self-driving” cloud services

Posted on May 8, 2018 by - News, Products

two-clouds-1385018843_27_contentfullwidthOracle released three more autonomous cloud services which it is calling “self-driving” database and development platforms – which we assume cannot crash into any cyclists on a dark night.

The three new products are Oracle Autonomous Analytics Cloud; Oracle  Autonomous Integration Cloud and Oracle Autonomous Visual Builder Cloud. The trio of products comes two months after Oracle unleashed its Autonomous Data Warehouse

The batch of autonomous services all uses machine learning to provide intelligent patching, upgrading, tuning, and resource scaling, which Oracle sees as a cunning plan to beat Amazon Web Services.

Amit Zavery, executive vice president for Oracle Cloud Platform, told the assembled throngs at a media launch that all three new services “give customers the ability to build applications as well as get analysis inside the data quickly and easily”.

The analytic cloud service provides customers with pre-built models they can use to drive deeper analysis of their data and better optimisations, Zavery said.

The integration cloud service recognises the proliferation of SaaS across the enterprise, and the challenges in connecting diverse platforms and solutions, Zavery said. That product uses machine learning to understand different elements inside an integration flow and quickly connect them. It comes with pre-packaged connectors to products from Salesforce, Workday and SAP, he said.

Oracle’s visual builder service is geared for would-be developers without much, if any, coding skills. The autonomous functionality will make the low-code platform even easier for them to rapidly create and extend desktop and mobile apps, Zavery said.

In June, Oracle is expected to release another significant database offering—the OLTP database—as an independent cloud service.

The company has said by the end of summer customers will see Express and NoSQL autonomous databases, along with a layer of other autonomous services pairing databases with analytics, data management and visualisation tools.

Digital payments are changing the channel

Posted on May 8, 2018 by - News

imagesDigital payments are creating new value by changing how buyers and suppliers find and do business with each other according to the CEO of Adflex.

Patrick Bermingham said it is surprising how many big organisations still rely on traditional paper invoicing and BACS to pay their suppliers.

While this approach has some advantages, the stretching of standard payment terms – particularly in embattled sectors like construction – is causing suppliers considerable pain.

He said that the high volume of human and capital resources required to set up and maintain admin-heavy supply chain finance processes means buyers often struggle to onboard new suppliers.

“This ‘process overhead’ can be so cumbersome that many buyers become resistant to change, opting instead to limit their supplier choices to a small number of partners, meaning they end up doing business with only a tiny fraction of the overall market”, Bermingham said.

Digital payments integration and the popularisation of B2B card payments in the supply chain is enabling dramatic change. Here, buyers, acquirers, and suppliers can all plug into independent stakeholder-agnostic payments platforms that offer simplicity and efficiency as fundamentals, by doing the invoicing, payment and reconciliation ‘heavy lifting’ on their behalf.

Card payments enable large parts of the payments process to be automated and streamlined, reducing administrative headaches for procurement teams and suppliers alike. For example, Level 3 purchasing cards use bespoke electronic card management information systems. These systems receive invoices electronically, cost-allocate and then reconcile them, all without human input. This creates significant process efficiencies by freeing up internal resources at either end.

Best of breed B2B payment processing platforms also provide detailed email remittances and portals accessible to buyers and suppliers 24/7. These portals include information about past and incoming payments and calculators that allow stakeholders to input their data to show the cost of payments and savings offered – removing any uncertainty and complexity from the equation, he said.

Suppliers that are connected to a well-populated platform can position themselves favourably to buyers. What was once merely transactional has now become a tool to enable the harmonisation of commercial engagement, which is, in turn, allowing stronger, deeper partnerships.

Payments integration is playing an increasingly influential role in supplier selection, evidenced by the sharp rise in tender documents that enquire about supplier acceptance of card payments, and even whether they accept Level 3 purchasing cards. Suppliers who can answer in the affirmative can position themselves more favourably in tenders with any buying client operating a card programme.

Joining an established business network is also beneficial for suppliers – it opens them up to other buyers and issuers in the system. Plus, as a card acceptor, they automatically become part of the network of the card scheme they partner with – Visa or Mastercard, for example. Since the card schemes publish lists of accepting suppliers, buyers use these to identify suppliers on the same network as them – increasing merchant visibility amongst their target customers and driving business growth.

 

Nadella says we are in a new industrial revolution

Posted on May 8, 2018 by - News

Hartmann_Maschinenhalle_1868_(01)Top Vole and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claims that the world is becoming a computer with computing getting embedded in everything that moves and somethings that don’t.

Talking to the assembled multitudes at Vole’s annual Build conference Monday, Nadella said that means that suppliers have a responsibility to protect people’s security and privacy, as well as to sustain and grow economic opportunity around the world.

“We have the responsibility to ensure that these technologies are empowering [everyone], that these technologies are creating equitable growth by ensuring every industry can grow and create employment”, he said. “But we also have a responsibility as a tech industry to build trust in technology.”

In his speech, Nadella said the shift to cloud and edge computing can be compared to the industrial revolution, where the period’s core technologies, such as electricity and internal combustion, weren’t something that could be seen. He called the opportunities in the growth of cloud and edge computing, “in some sense, endless”.

New applications, platforms and capabilities in cloud and edge computing were the primary focus of Microsoft’s announcements at the 2018 Build conference. They included the open-sourcing of the Azure IoT Edge Runtime, a new Speech Devices SDK and the Project Kinect for Azure sensor developer kit.

Nadella warned of creating worlds which could have been written by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, saying “none of us wants to see a future” that they imagined.  He quoted philosopher Hans Jonas, who once said: “Act so that the effects of your actions are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life.”

“We need to develop a set of principles that guide the choices we make because the choices we make are going to guide our future”, Nadella said.

Ousted Xerox CEO and six board members still at work

Posted on May 7, 2018 by - News

91dc16ab4a65742ca57074215f67b2d3Xerox CEO Jason Jacobson and six board members are to remain at the vendor, despite a deal being reached with activist investors that would have seen them depart.

For those who came in late, the Xerox board and two activist investors (Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason) had a scrap over the outfit’s direction and an agreement was announced last week that would see Jacobson and a host of board members clearing out their desks, to be replaced by Icahn favourites.

But now  Xerox released a statement overnight claiming that this agreement has expired, meaning all leadership will remain in place.

Icahn and Deason have attacked the Xerox board for displaying “brazen self-interest”.

The statement said: “The settlement agreement we entered into with Xerox and a unanimous Xerox Board earlier this week expired without the Xerox Board permitting the agreement to take effect, once again intentionally violating their fiduciary duties to Xerox shareholders by pursuing their own brazen self-interest.

“This inexplicable turn of events occurred for one reason only: the Xerox Board recklessly refused to follow through with the leadership and governance changes we agreed to, demanding unprecedented additional approvals for their own personal self-interest.

“Over the next few months, we intend to see that ‘massively conflicted’ Jeff Jacobson and old guard directors like Bob Keegan, Ann Reese and Chuck Prince – who have already done so much damage to the company, and are continuing to do more damage with these actions – are held fully and personally liable for their misconduct.”

The dispute was largely a result of Icahn and Deason opposing the proposed merger of Xerox and Fujifilm.

The merger plans looked to be in ruins after the agreement between the investors and the board was reached last week, but is perhaps more likely now that Jacobson appears to be back in charge.

Fujitsu launches MSP partner programme

Posted on May 7, 2018 by - News

imagesFujitsu has launched a pilot programme that will enable service providers to have a crack at building their solutions.

The firm is aiming to increase its involvement with  MSPs and those using the scheme to encourage more to take its products out to market as part of a services proposition.

The Service Provider Programme pilot will run for a year as the vendor continues to step up its commitment to the channel.

The company said that the emphasis on collaboration and customisation is the main highlight of the MSP programme, which promises partners the chance to co-create solutions with the vendor.

It said that there were opportunities for partners in helping customers manage applications and data, infrastructure and next-generation solutions.

With more users looking for help with digital transformation projects the vendor would also be helping MSPs by developing that helped IT managers get a single view of their operations.

Fujitsu is looking at rolling out more products and services this year that lend themselves to an MSP approach, and Mclean said that it was building on positive momentum from last year.

The plan is to significantly grow the indirect share of the product business and take it from the current levels of around 65 percent up to 90 percent in the next six quarters.

 

MSP day planned for May

Posted on May 7, 2018 by - News

indexWednesday 23 May has been declared as the inaugural MSP Day and is being touted as a chance to celebrate the difference that managed IT services are making to UK businesses.

The day, which is being led by Jason Howells, Director EMEA for MSP Business at Barracuda will be seen as an attempt at getting the industry gets together to share success, best practice and insights to give businesses in the UK the best possible experience of managed IT services.

Howells said: “Managed services are about making it easier for businesses to make the most of technology, yet the plethora of products, packages and offerings in the market can make it daunting and confusing. This day, and what it goes on to become, should unite the IT industry behind a shared vision. Behind the jargon, the bold claims and the promises it’s ultimately about giving businesses technology that works. That allows them to focus on the things that are important to them. MSP Day celebrates this possibility.”

At the latest estimate, the global managed services market is expected to grow from $152.45 billion last year to $257.84 billion by 2022. This phenomenal growth is driven by several factors, including budget constraints for installation and implementation of hardware and software, limited IT resources to manage and support managed services, and business needs for greater scalability.

That’s a tremendous opportunity which has been made possible through increased collaboration between the creators, distributors and providers of technology to businesses of all sizes in a wide range of industries. MSP Day celebrates this, with the aim to give those UK firms that are using managed services the chance to learn what’s possible, and how to make the transition securely and efficiently.

MSP Day will see the launch of the State of the MSP Nation Report, a detailed analysis of the appetite and application of managed IT services within UK businesses. The views of those offering managed services will be compared with the opinions of those who are using them to gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges likely to affect the further growth of this sector.

The report will contain a foreword from Clive Longbottom, founder of industry analyst group, Quocirca and 35 year veteran of the industry, who said of  MSP Day:

“The MSP model is now a proven means of SME organisations gaining access to large enterprise capabilities at manageable costs.  The MSP is there for one purpose and one purpose only: to be good at what they offer, and they do that by employing the best specific skills on the market.  An SME’s IT team should also be there for one purpose – to ensure their organisation’s success – which requires different skillsets. By leveraging the services an MSP can provide, the IT staff can be freed up to focus on that one purpose.  On MSP Day, we should all be glad that the MSP model provides such capabilities – and use them to build a better platform for our own organisations’ futures”.

For technology creators, distributors and providers MSP Day gives them a unique opportunity to build partnerships with like-minded organisations. In hearing from their peers about how they’ve successfully developed and sold managed services for businesses in a range of industries, they’ll be able to broaden their knowledge and pick up some useful best practice tips to aid their business growth.

One organisation that’s already signed up is Effective Cyber Security, a specialist provider of security managed services to UK customers in a wide range of sectors, from retail, finance and utilities to education and manufacturing. It’s founder, Rick Gray, pledged his support for MSP Day:

“The cybersecurity industry is primed for managed services. Too many businesses waste money on security products and services that either don’t work, aren’t appropriate or are only partly effective, leaving them exposed and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Being able to show how managed services can help them to overcome this is at the heart of our offering, and that’s why we’re supporting MSP Day.”

For the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses, for whom managed services could be a cost-effective platform to support their growth, MSP Day represents an opportunity to demystify the concept of managed services and visualise how exactly they might impact on their business. The development of an online community alongside the day will give them the chance to share advice and tips with other businesses who are facing the same challenges, as well as find answers to their questions. Most importantly, it’s an opportunity to hear from the experts in this field without feeling like they are getting a sales pitch.

In a world where businesses are seeking to do more with less resources, MSP Day 2018 will kick-start a movement aimed at tackling this challenge.

Creators, distributors and providers of technology can register at http://cuda.co/mspday to show their support and access a helpful toolkit of MSP Day assets.

Now is the time to make a real killing from the ISDN switch-off

Posted on May 4, 2018 by - News

paulclarke3cxchannelmanager-580x358UK Manager, 3CX, Paul Clarke says that BT’s ISDN switch off is a significant opportunity for the channel.

Clarke claims that the channel can enhance the existing opportunities in light of the proposed changes, as well as the broader opportunities for businesses and how the channel can make use of these.

He said: ” We’re currently on the brink of another such change, with British Telecom steaming ahead with its plan to switch-off of ISDN and PTSN lines in 2025, with consultations about the change said to be starting in the next few weeks. If BT stops selling new ISDN lines in 2020 as expected, the three million ISDN lines still used by businesses in the UK will have to begin exploring IP-based communications. This change presents a great opportunity for the channel, but with the change-over deadlines looming, time is running out to react.”

Clark said that the task facing channel businesses is the same. It did not matter if it was an IP specialist or newcomer taking advantage of the new ground this change provides, or a traditional ISDN service provider adapting to the new IP business model. If the channel does not have a plan for converting ISDN customers to IP, they could be turning their back on vast potential revenue.

“By offering businesses of every size, in every industry, the tools, services and support they need to modernise their communications throughout, this change provides a fantastic opportunity for the channel to reach new customers. Communication has made huge technological leaps since VoIP was first introduced, and the channel should be capable of overcoming any concerns their potential new customers have about the change”, he said.

The UK faces a struggle in guaranteeing high-speed broadband consistently across the nation. This means that businesses in more rural locations might be unwilling to swap their well-established ISDN connection for a less-trusted IP connection, even if the existing connection is slower.

British Telecom isn’t the only company to switch off ISDN and PSTN connections: SwissCom phased out ISDN lines last year in favour of IP based services. SwissCom’s change has highlighted the benefits of IP lines; including lower costs, higher bandwidth and greater flexibility. Significantly, even areas with limited broadband connections are likely to see better speeds than the existing ISDN provides. Switching to IP can open up far more options to channel partners, as well as the business,” Clark said.

Some businesses may not immediately recognise the benefit of the additional services beyond voice that IP allows, offering services including instant messaging, and video, these can provide valuable revenue streams for the channel. The support needed to keep these services operational can also offer a financial opportunity to the channel, as long as it can show how these additional communication strategies can benefit businesses, he said.

This means ensuring businesses understand that working practices are changing, with flexible working meaning anywhere can be an office.

“Instead of communicating over fixed lines, using IP is a great way for businesses adapt to this change, as well as providing simpler, lower-cost communication with potential customers and partners anywhere, at any time, over any channel. By making this clear, businesses are more likely to embrace the opportunity to update their technology and reduce their costs at the same time”, Clark said.

Clark thinks that while it is undeniable that communication is at the heart of modern businesses. The ISDN switch-over may be one of the last chances for the channel to benefit from changing technologies, leading customers through potential challenges and helping them to make the most out of IP. However, time is of the essence and the channel needs to move now before businesses are pushed to make the change before the deadline.

“Guiding customers through this new landscape, for example by offering new forms of communication, could reward the channel handsomely. The alternative is settling for the leftovers come 2025”, Clark added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardware sales up for Insight

Posted on May 4, 2018 by - News

Verocy_InsightGlobal reseller duo Insight has reported revenue growth for the first quarter of 2018, driven by an increase in hardware sales.

For the three months ending 31 March 2018 Insight saw revenue rocket 19 percent year on year to $1.76 billion.

Insight’s gross profit increased 15 percent to $240 million.

On an earning’s call, Insight CEO Ken Lamneck said that the firm had increased its market share in various hardware spaces, which contributed to the revenue increase.

“Notebooks were, by the way, powerful across the whole channel and we picked up further share”, he said.

“There was also pretty substantial growth in the categories of servers and storage in the channel as well, and we picked up considerable growth in both of those areas, so those are the primary areas.

“Those are all big segments of the business in regards to hardware; those are the main drivers. Devices are number one, networking products are two and then server storage [is] three.”

Lamneck added that customer demand for devices has been strong for the last six quarters as a refresh cycle continues. However, he does not expect this to last and demand will tail off into low single-digit growth in the second half of the year.

Insight’s market share was less promising when it came to software, Lamneck claimed that “pretty good information” provided by Microsoft each quarter confirms that Insight has retained its “number one status” with the vendor globally.

Public cloud sales were 40 percent of Insight’s consolidated gross profit.

 

Dell worries about Huawei

Posted on May 4, 2018 by - News

wfxclbexksl44fd3lpoeDell has suddenly found a serious rival in the Chinese outfit Huawei.

Dell’s global channel boss Joyce Mullen told the assembled throngs at Dell Technologies World, that Huawei has been “growing like crazy in multiple countries” in the last few years, and predicted that the Chinese vendor would “keep us on our toes for a long time”.

She said that Dell’s added breadth and scale since acquiring EMC and bringing its seven business units together have not made it impervious to the competition and she was worried about a lot of competitors.

“We have to be mindful of the companies that are trying to be as broad as we are. There are a couple out there – maybe they’re not our traditional competitors we think about – but, for example, Huawei is a super-interesting competitor that is going to keep us on our toes for a long time.

“We don’t see them as much in the US, but they’re growing like crazy in multiple countries.We are also potentially vulnerable to specialists. I think about a lot of specialists targeting our server business, a lot of specialists targeting our storage business and our data protection business – all that stuff.”

Last year, Huawei announced plans to launch three PC models to the consumer market, putting the vendor in direct competition with incumbents Dell, HP and Lenovo. Reuters reported that Huawei plans to launch its PCs into 12 countries globally.

Fortunately for Dell, the Chinese vendor has found itself ostracised from the US market over national security concerns. Indeed, in 2017, the Americas was the only region that saw declines for Huawei as revenues fell by 11 percent.

 

Claranet snaps up Union Solutions

Posted on May 3, 2018 by - News

Cat-Plying-Clarinet-Funny-Musicians-PictureClaranet has written a cheque for the data storage and security reseller Union Solutions.

Claranet has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire the Surrey and Kent-based Microsoft Azure partner, which employs 30 staff and has a turnover of £10 million.

Claranet has bought up 20 firms in five years – its more recent purchases include UK security provider Sec-1.

Operating in the UK and seven mainland European countries, Claranet claims to have a revenue of £325 million and hires 1,800 staff and have 6,500 clients.

Claranet UK said it bought Union to boost its presence in the retail, legal and financial services sectors.

Union Solutions will enhance its hosting design, transition, and migration capabilities for large-scale on-premise solutions as well as additional strong Azure skills and offerings.

Union founder Jason Rabbetts is staying with the business. He said that Union’s data management services, hyper-converged platform skills, and Azure specialism – now coupled with Claranet’s public cloud and private cloud capabilities – brings an incredibly powerful hybrid transformation proposition to our customers and the general market.

Accenture buys Oracle partner Certus

Posted on May 3, 2018 by - News

Finding-Nemo-Shark-Wallpaper-HDAccenture has announced the acquisition of Oracle Cloud implementation service provider Certus Solutions, helping businesses deliver digital transformation services on Oracle Cloud.

Certus is focused on the public sector, and it brings Accenture expertise in the financial services, logistics and telecommunications industries.

Accenture Technology Services group chief executive Bhaskar Ghosh said that Accenture is focused on delivering cloud, analytics, and intelligent automation and artificial intelligence to help clients become smart enterprises.

“With the addition of Certus Solutions, we’re further expanding our Oracle Cloud services and capabilities that help organisations accelerate their digital transformation and achieve better business outcomes.”

Certus and Accenture have a lot of experience working together, including one of the most massive government Oracle rollouts, so buying Certus was a natural progression for Accenture. The company knew what Certus offered and how it would complement its own Oracle Cloud business.

Certus Solutions founder and CEO Mark Sweeny said that Accenture was at the forefront of positive transformational change. Certus’ industry specialists ensure end users are able to implement Oracle Cloud solutions with as little disruption to their business as possible.

No terms of the deal have yet been revealed, nor has any information regarding how the acquisition will affect current customers.

Dell EMC unveils data centre partner plans

Posted on May 3, 2018 by - News

emcboxDell EMC has been telling the world about its latest offerings designed to power what it calls the modern data centre, and to help customers achieve their IT, security and workforce transformations.

Jeff Clarke, Dell EMC’s vice chairman of products and operations,  told the assorted throngs at t Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas that everything comes down to helping customers deal with the massive increase in data they will be receiving in the coming years, including managing, analysing, storing and protecting it.

A number of the technology trends powering digital transformation include immersive and collaborative computing, new ways to work, a modern PC experience for the workforce; the internet of things (IoT), software-defined “everything” and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, Clarke said.

“So when I think about all of that and all of the devices coming, we will need more technology to help customers deal with all of this data”, he said.

Dell EMC unveiled new storage and server technologies, hyperconverged infrastructure and cloud offerings. Dell and Dell EMC will provide AI, machine learning and deep-learning capabilities from the desktop to the data centre.

The company showed off some of its new PowerEdge MX modular infrastructures. We expect to see more details later on these products later in the year.

Virtustream, a Dell Technologies company, launched the next generation of its risk management and continuous compliance monitoring solution. It also unveiled the Virtual Cloud Network with new VMware NSX networking and security portfolio.

“I think it’s a huge opportunity for us to collaborate with our partners and extend the Dell brand, to extend Dell Technologies’ reach into a broader set of customers to help them solve their IT transformation/digital transformation, and we’re excited about that opportunity”, Clarke said.

Partner feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive that we are highlighting the right things that are shaping our industry, which is shaping our roadmap and is what our customers are asking for”, he said.

“They were very excited to see us respond”, Clarke said. “In fact, I announced our ReadyStack solution that is a channel-exclusive offer that is for the converged space, and it was received overwhelmingly positive[ly].”

Joyce Mullen, Dell EMC’s global channel, OEM and IoT president, said partners are “really leaning” into these new technologies.

Exclusive Group appoints Philippe Carlier

Posted on May 2, 2018 by - News

Pictures Philippe 0011 (002)Value-added services and technologies (VAST) outfit Exclusive Group, is sprucing up its worldwide logistics operations with the appointment of international supply chain specialist Philippe Carlier as its VP Global Operations.

Carlier has joined to build the future operational strategy and platform for the Exclusive Group business. He heads up a global team focused on driving new efficiencies and improvements across the delivery of innovative value-added services and ‘classic’ distribution.

Exclusive Group CEO Olivier Breittmayer said: “This strategic appointment is integral to the digitalisation of our business model as we seek to address new opportunities with the world’s leading IT partners and sustain our innovative edge in global markets.”

Carlier’s job is to address the growing market appetite for Exclusive Group’s global projects competencies and increasing popularity of the outfit’s vendor and service portfolio, and the expansion of our geographic reach.

Philippe Carlier has over 25 years’ leadership experience in IT distribution operations, with a track record of transformational success in EMEA, North America and global theatres. He joins from Westcon-Comstor where he was Director of Global Supply Chain Services. Prior to this, he worked in senior-level strategic roles on both sides of the Atlantic for Ingram Micro and US Robotics.

Carlier said: “This is a great opportunity to contribute to a global success story, utilising my expertise in strategic supply chain management to influence further growth and boost bottom-line profitability.”

 

Invest in AI suggests Dell

Posted on May 2, 2018 by - News

michael-dell-2Michael Dell told the assorted throngs at Dell Technologies World that they needed to splash out on AI and data. Well he would, wouldn’t he?

Speaking to a room of more than 14,000 delegates including 5,000 channel representatives in Las Vegas, Dell said organisations were going to lose their competitive edge if they didn’t implement AI and machine learning to use data.

“To be competitive in the future, you have got to use software and data and AI. Businesses are starting to use AI and machine learning to use that data much more effectively… Data helps make a product or a solution better, and this allows a company to attract more customers, which then results in more data, and the cycle repeats itself.”

He added: “AI is your rocket ship and data is the fuel for your rocket. If you know how to use it, your data will become your most valuable asset – even more valuable than your applications.”

Dell thought his PC business would continue to thrive despite a push towards emerging technologies such as AI and IoT.

Michael Dell recounted IBM’s departure from the PC business more than 20 years ago. Dell’s CEO said that at the time Biggish Blue declared the beginning of a post-PC era.

“Our PC business is rocking. In the last five years, every year and every quarter we have gained share, and we expect to do so again this quarter. It has been 20 years since IBM declared the post-PC era. Since then, four billion PCs have been sold, so maybe they got that bit wrong. But what they got right is that computing would expand to include embedded devices.”

XBM opens Birmingham office

Posted on May 2, 2018 by - News

Epson reseller partner XBMhas opened an office in Birmingham, its first in the Midlands.

The print management company, founded and headquartered in Leeds, used £235,000 of funding from NatWest to expand its presence outside the North of England.

XBM’s Birmingham office, located in Aston, will create 10 new jobs for the area, adding to its 35 strong headcount across its Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester offices. The total investment in Birmingham will reach £750,000 by the end of the year.

XBM has partnered with Epson since 2017.  Its focus is to sell Epson’s WorkForce Enterprise superfast eco-efficient business inkjet printer into educational establishments.

Chris Smith, sales manager for business products at Epson UK said: “We are delighted to work with XBM as they continue to grow their business.  They are well established in the print management industry and combine an ideal blend of product knowledge, market experience and sales support to ensure that our customers receive the best levels of service possible.  We look forward to supporting them as they continue to deliver Epson’s print solutions to customers in Birmingham and beyond.”

Justin English, managing director at XBM said: “Birmingham has a high concentration of businesses that could benefit from our innovative services, which makes it the perfect location for our next phase of expansion.  We are looking forward to talking to new and existing customers about Epson’s range of business inkjet printers and demonstrating their environmental advantages by providing a low power solution, with fewer supplies, while delivering remarkably fast print speeds at high quality.”

Founded in 2008, XBM is one of the fastest growing and most competitive providers of specialist office and production print equipment in the UK. The business has been growing at 20 percent a year and has a reported annual turnover of £2.5m.