Author: Nick Farrell

Allvotec teams up with cloudy Vapour

Posted on September 9, 2021 by - News

ICT outfit Allvotec has partnered with cloud specialist Vapour as part of a cunning plan to boost its Unified Communications portfolio.

Vapour scores all Allvotec’s Avaya projects with <250 users. The Vapour Subscription Service (VSS) means Allvotec can securely deliver enterprise-grade UC services via Vapour’s private network infrastructure, with an end-to-end service wrap, complete with SIP if required. But the customer relationship and contract remain with them.

Allvotec’s CEO Dave Gardner said: “For three decades, we’ve delivered, supported and maintained tech solutions that enhance customers’ communications, collaboration and productivity, via a partner-exclusive business model. We only collaborate with true experts who are as confident and experienced in their respective fields. We’re forecasting a big growth over the next 12 months, as organisations’ digital transformation projects continue at pace. Vapour will now play a key part in accelerating our ability to innovate, and deliver successful UC solutions which are agile, robust and compliant.”

Midwich Group returns to normal

Posted on September 8, 2021 by - News

Midwich Group is seeing its bottom line returning to normal again.

The distributor shared preliminary first-half results, for the six months ended 30 June, revealing that it had delivered profits on the back of lockdown restrictions easing.

The first half of last year saw the firm reporting losses after tax of £2.8 million, but this time around the firm delivered £4.6 million in profit, representing a 263 percent year-on-year improvement. Revenues were up by 29 percent, rising to £390.1 million.

The firm used its trading update to inform investors of its ongoing recovery, and trading momentum was continuing as more of the venues and activities that required audiovisual solutions reopened.

Distology moves house

Posted on September 8, 2021 by - News

IT security distributor Distology has moved into a new 4,000-plus sq. ft office.

The business has grown its number of employees from 20 to 50 and has appointed new senior staff, including Lance Williams as chief product officer following a 15-year stint at Softcat, while also onboarding 40 new strategic partners, Distology says.

Distology CEO Hayley Roberts (pictured), said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been able to accelerate growth from both a team and commercial standpoint, whilst retaining the key elements that make our business unique. We credit our success to a number of different factors including the dedication of our talented team, our unique and innovative ways of working, exceptional customer experiences and deep knowledge and expertise of the cyber sector.”

The Stockport-based distributor, which claims it has increased its revenues by more than 75 percent over the past three years, gained private equity investment from NorthEdge Capital earlier this year.

Its new office space tripled the size of its former base and the company is looking to grow its team further in the near future, Roberts says.

 

 

Exclusive Networks to go public

Posted on September 7, 2021 by - News

Exclusive Networks has revealed its intention to go public as part of a cunning plan to go global.

The channel player has chosen to list on the Euronext Paris after filing its documents with French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), courting investment in a business that has charted a course in delivering emerging security and cloud technologies.

The aim is to use the IPO to generate a capital raise of up to approximately €260 million of primary proceeds that will help the business continue on its growth journey.

The firm has grown significantly and had a 36 percent gross sales CAGR since 2013. It is operating in a cyber security market that is estimated to be worth €58 billion in 2020 and growing at a nine percent CAGR from 2020 to 2026.

Jesper Trolle, CEO of Exclusive Networks, has been in the role for just over a year and during that period the business has expanded geographically. The company has launched its XOD cloud platform and earlier this summer made sure it was in a position to support security start-ups with the acquisition of fellow distie Ignition Technology.

 

 

Prime snaps up G3 Solutions

Posted on September 7, 2021 by - News

Prime Networks has announced the acquisition of Bournemouth-based MSP G3 Solutions.

Prime Networks’ managing director Mark Simons said G3 Solutions will further bolster its team and widen its national reach.

“G3 Solutions was a natural fit for us and we are excited once again to be growing our team with such a talented group of people and formidable clients”, Simons said.

G3 Solutions offers server and network installation, cloud solutions and backup and disaster recovery and counts HP, Microsoft, VMWare and Dell among its vendor partners and works with over 130 businesses while employing nine staff, according to its website.

Most businesses say tech is their biggest challenge

Posted on September 7, 2021 by - News

More than half  of UK organisations say making effective use of technology to meet their business needs is their biggest challenge over the next 12 months, according to research commissioned by Daisy Corporate Services (DCS).

In addition, 47 percent say improving digital skills is a challenge at a time when 41 percent of organisations say that improving the performance of a distributed workforce is a top business priority.

The survey of 165 UK organisations across the private and public sector reveals that cybersecurity remains top of mind, with more than a third stating the increase in cybercrime presents a challenge over the next 12 months. Unsurprisingly, this has led to half of the organisations saying that protection against cybercrime and data theft will be a technology investment priority.

Lyndsey Charlton, COO at Daisy Corporate Services said: “Technology undoubtedly played an important role in helping many organisations negotiate the pandemic. However, the research reveals there is a danger that some have tried to run before they can walk, which in turn has highlighted a skills gap. If organisations are to maximise their current and future technology investments, it is vital they provide their employees with the necessary training and support. This will not only boost productivity but also improve cybersecurity – allowing organisations to educate employees to use technology insecure manner.”

TechnologyOne snaps up Scientia

Posted on September 6, 2021 by - News

Aussie SaaS company TechnologyOne is set to buy UK-based higher education software provider Scientia for around £12 million.

TechnologyOne said the acquisition would strengthen its offering in the higher education market, considering that 75 percent of institutions in Australia and 50 per cent in the UK currently use Scientia’s products.

The “likely consideration” for the acquisition will be £12 million and includes an initial payment of £6 million.

TechnologyOne CEO Edward Chung said the acquisition will accelerate TechnologyOne’s growth and competitive position in the UK as well as having significant benefits in the Australian higher education market.

HPE loves its as-a-service cunning plan

Posted on September 6, 2021 by - News

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) claims its GreenLake portfolio as-a-service strategy has been boosting its bottom line, as it has never been boosted before.

Earlier this year the vendor revealed that it had 80,000 partners globally, with 70 percent of its revenues coming from the channel, and it has been using its GreenLake subscription model as a major channel play.

Since then, HPE has been adding more options to GreenLake, with unified compute operations and cloud data services both being recent additions. Following its acquisition of Zerto, data recovery services will be the next to add.

In the firm’s third quarter earnings call, CEO Antonio Neri gave an update on progress said that HPE GreenLake has more than 1,100 customers.

Beyond Identity building UK channel

Posted on September 6, 2021 by - News

Passwordless security outfit Beyond Identity is building a two-tier channel approach in the UK.

The firm has signed up Distology to do its distribution in the UK and Ignition Technology to cover the Nordics and is already working with a number of resellers that specialise in password authentication.

Beyond Identity vice-president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at  Tony Shadrake said he wanted to extend the firm’s channel base by using partners.

“It’s a build-out year and we’re getting great support from corporate in the US as we build the business. So far, I think we’ve been pretty successful in our efforts, taking on Distology and Ignition, as we build out the Identity platform”, he said.

Amazon boosts UK staff by 2,500

Posted on September 3, 2021 by - News

Online bookseller Amazon is about to create 2,500 new staff in the UK as part of its move to hire 55,000 new staff to technology and corporate roles globally,

Andy Jassy, who took over from Jeff Bezos in July, highlighted the growth of cloud and Project Kuiper, the firm’s initiative to launch satellites into space to improve broadband access, as two areas that would need more staff.

The bulk of the positions will be in the US, where the firm plans to create 40,000 roles, while about 2,500 will be created in the UK, according to the Guardian.

It also reports that Amazon will hire the new UK staff for its offices in London and Manchester, as well as its “tech hubs” in Cambridge and Edinburgh.

 

A little trouble from nig China

Posted on September 3, 2021 by - News

There are rumblings from behind the bamboo curtain which could indicate a push from China to export services and promised to share locally developed technology with the world.

In a speech delivered yesterday at an event called the “Global Trade in Services Summit of 2021” China’s President Xi Jinping said China will change rules for its services sector.  The move will bring them into line with international norms and make it harder for the US and UK governments to complain about.

“We will create more possibilities for cooperation, by scaling up support for the growth of the services sector in Belt and Road partner countries and by sharing China’s technological achievements with the rest of the world”, Xi said.

China is currently a net importer of services, but is rated the world’s second-finest destination for outsourced labour thanks in part to workers being well-educated.

Air does a double deal

Posted on September 3, 2021 by - News

MSP Air IT has made its fourth double acquisition in the space of a year.

The outfit has just written a cheque for Reading-based MFG UK and Uttoxeter-based Infinity IT Solutions Limited for undisclosed sums.

The rationale for Air IT’s latest purchases is to extend the company’s geographic reach, as well as adding more expertise to its MSP portfolio. The addition of the latest two businesses adds 270 staff to the group headcount and will give it more muscle in the south-east and the Midlands.

Air IT CEO John Whitty said the aim was to be the go-to MSP and MSSP for SMEs across the UK, delivering a local service on a national scale.

Synnex and Tech Data deal done

Posted on September 2, 2021 by - News

Synnex and Tech Data have completed a blockbuster $7.2 billion merger which will see the joint company become the industry’s largest distributor.

The name Tech Data will be history and the new company will be TD SYNNEX, and led by Tech Data’s Rich Hume as CEO.  It will have combined revenues of almost $60 billion, putting itself in front of rival Ingram Micro.

The merger sees Synnex shareholders own 55 percent of the combined company and private equity firm Apollo Global Management own 45 percent.

“TD SYNNEX is uniquely positioned in today’s relentlessly transforming technology ecosystem”, Hume said.

“As a versatile distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem, we’re strengthening our entire portfolio of solutions and raising the bar on the value we deliver to customers and vendors with exceptional reach, efficiency and expertise.

Check Point snaps up Avanan

Posted on September 2, 2021 by - News

Israeli security outfit Check Point has acquired cloud email security firm Avana,

Avanan will integrate into the Check Point Infinity consolidated architecture to enable cloud email malware protection, and expand security to SaaS collaboration suites.

Check Point said that it means the offering will be the only one on the market to protect the remote workforce from malicious files, URLs and Phishing across email, collaboration suites, web, network, and endpoint.

Check Point’s chief product officer Dorit Dor said that as more businesses shift to cloud-email platforms, said the acquisition represents a “huge potential” as organisations look for a new approach to email and collaboration suite security.

Education laptop market growing

Posted on September 2, 2021 by - News

The market for educational laptops is still growing, even if the rest of the sector is showing signs of slowing.

Beancounters at market analysis outfit Context said that the rate of shipment growth is slowing down in the UK.

But in Western Europe sales of educational laptops being sold through distribution increased year on year by 38 percent, indicating that demand from educational buyers remained high.

Context senior analyst Marie-Christine Pygott said: “The rise in sales of notebooks targeted at education was lower than in previous quarters, during which a number of significant institutional deals were completed,” said, senior analyst at Context. “Despite this slower growth, the volume sold to commercial channels was still up by 53 percent and that to retailers and consumer retailers by 20 percent.”