Author: Nick Farrell

Accenture investing $3 billion in cloud

Posted on April 19, 2021 by - News

Every silver has a cloudy liningAccenture is investing $3 billion over three years in its multi-service group, starting last autumn, to help clients across all industries become cloud-first businesses and accelerate their digital transformation.

Accenture said its Cloud First group is designed to harness the “full power and breadth” of the firm’s industry and technology capabilities, ecosystem partnerships, commitment to upskilling clients’ employees and responsible business approach.

Accenture’s CEO Julie Sweet said that Digital transformation required cloud at scale, and post-COVID leadership requires that every business become a cloud-first business.

“COVID-19 has created a new inflexion point that requires every company to dramatically accelerate the move to the cloud as a foundation for digital transformation to build the resilience, new experiences and products, trust, speed and structural cost reduction that the ongoing health, economic and societal crisis demands — and that a better future for all requires.”

Insurers forced to deploy more digital services

Posted on April 19, 2021 by - News

An Insurtech study claims that consumers are demanding more digital services from their insurance companies.

The study is part of the 2020 DXC Insurance Survey Report: The Voice of the US Consumer and highlights how consumer demand creates opportunities for insurers to deploy customer-facing digital technologies across their organisations.

Digital transformation by insurers will not only help them “gain market share and boost lifetime customer value” but also assert themselves as “exemplars of a new, more collaborative concept of the insurer-policyholder relationship”, according to DXC Technology.

DXC developed the survey to help insurers transform their business models and compete in a “changing, more consumer-focused market”.

In the survey, 87 percent of respondents said they’re comfortable sharing personal and lifestyle-focused data to benefit lower insurance premiums.

HPE gets servers TCO certified for sustainability

Posted on April 19, 2021 by - News

HPE has had its servers certified for sustainability to ensure that its channel partners can include a green element in customer pitches.

HPE is now TCO Certified for sustainability and met the criteria in the touch data centre product category. It means that the hardware is sustainable even after having its lifecycle, including supply chain responsibility and hazardous substances assessed.

TCO Development CEO Sören Enholm said that his organisation spent more than 20,000 hours verifying products and the factories where they’re made according to the criteria in TCO Certified.

LogicMonitor hooks 11 new partners

Posted on April 16, 2021 by - News

LogicMonitor has added 11 new partners to its Partner Network as part of its expansion plans.

Eight partners are located in Europe, a region where cloud computing is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years.

New LogicMonitor partners in Europe include Amasol in Germany, CDW in the UK, Corporate Finance International (CFI) in Switzerland, Exccon AG in Germany, KAEMI in Germany, Netsecurity AS in Norway, Proact in Europe and the US, and SoftwareOne in The Netherlands. Additional partners joining the LogicMonitor Global Partner Network outside of Europe include Arvensys Technologies in Australia, Total eBiz Solutions in Singapore, and Xylex Technologies in the US.

HeleCloud appoints Walter Heck as Group Chief Technology Officer

Posted on April 16, 2021 by - News

HeleCloud, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner based in the UK, Bulgaria and the Netherlands,  announced the appointment of Walter Heck as Group Chief Technology Officer.

Heck’s appointment comes after a strong year of growth for HeleCloud, with the company recording a 70 percent revenue growth rate in 2020 while also adding more than 30 AWS consultants and engineers.

 In his role as CTO, Heck will be primarily responsible for maintaining this growth by expanding HeleCloud’s technical offerings to its customers and working to attract the best AWS consultants.

 HeleCloud completed the acquisition of Cloud-native software development company DataStork, enabling HeleCloud to expand its expertise into the Cloud-native software development and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ ML) space. Heck will be responsible for ensuring these capabilities are integrated with HeleCloud’s existing professional and managed service offerings.

Miss Group appoints Nordberg chief marketing officer.

Posted on April 16, 2021 by - Moving People, News

Web hosting business, Miss Group, has appointed David Nordberg to be its chief marketing officer to support its growth plans.

Nordberg joins the Perwyn-backed business from gaming and e-sports platform, G-Loot, and a board position with e-sports app, Strafe. He brings more than 20 years’ experience in building international brands, cross-functional teams and new business models for a range of fast-growth online businesses.

His appointment follows a strong period of growth for the Group, which completed two acquisitions in March 2021 – Seravo and MMD Networks. So far Miss Group has swallowed up 14 companies since 2018, with five completed under Perwyn-ownership since February 2020.

MSPs who support SMEs with Datto tools see more growth – claim

Posted on April 15, 2021 by - News

A Forrester Consulting report, commissioned by Datto, claims that MSPs which use its tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enjoyed an average of more than $100,000 in business growth annually.

Forrester found that those using the range of tools Datto provides, including PSA and RMM, delivered approximately $792,000 in benefits, including 50 per cent improved productivity on work orders, and a reduction of 90 percent in downtime incidents.

Obviously, another thing in the report that atto is keen to highlight is the average return on investment (ROI) of 256 percent in a three-year period, with the platform paying for itself in less than six months.

Ensono sold to KKR

Posted on April 15, 2021 by - News

Hybrid IT services Ensono has sold itself to investment giant KKR in a deal worth $1.7 billion.

Ensono claims KKR’s technology experience and resources will help it achieve “new heights” in the managed services industry for medium and large enterprises.

Under the deal will see KKR acquire the MSP business from existing investors Charlesbank Capital Partners and M/C Partners. Ensono claims the deal is expected to close within the next 60 days and will be financed through KKR’s Americas X11 fund.

Cloud and managed services use growing

Posted on April 14, 2021 by - News

Beancounters at ISG say that the European market for IT and business services is doing well with record demand for cloud-based services in the first quarter and continued strength in managed services,

The EMEA ISG Index, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of US $5 million, shows ACV for the combined market, which includes both as-a-service and managed services, reached US $6 billion, up 20 percent year on year, but off five per cent from a record fourth quarter.

Cloud-based as-a-service ACV reached a quarterly record of $2.5 billion, up 16 percent versus the prior year. Within this segment, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) climbed 19 percent, to a record $1.8 billion, while software-as-a-service (SaaS) rose nine percent, to a record $658 million.

Managed services, meanwhile, produced its second straight strong quarter, with ACV of US $3.5 billion, up 23 percent year on year, fuelled by growth in both IT outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) and strong results in the UK, France and DACH. ITO was up 17 percent year on year, to $3.0 billion, on strength in both ADM and infrastructure services, while BPO surged 66 percent, to  $521 million, on strong demand for industry-specific, finance and accounting, and engineering and R&D services.

IBM’s infrastructure services spin-off to be named Kyndryl

Posted on April 14, 2021 by - News

A not so mobile X86 PCBiggish Blue has decided to give its infrastructure spinoff a name that sounds a bit like a skincare product for nappy rash.

Kyndryl, which will be kinder to all your kinder’s itchy skin, is the name of IBM’s Managed Infrastructure Services business which is to become a fully-fledged public company by the end of this year.

The marketers say that the name is a combination of the words ‘kinship’ and ‘tendril’ which sounds even less appetising unless you are a company designed by HP Lovecraft.

Datech provides self-service option for reseller partners

Posted on April 14, 2021 by - News

Datech has launched an online service, called Renew Online, which enables reseller partners to provide a self-service option for end-user customers renewing their AutoCAD subscription licences.

The Renew Online function is designed to help partners automate their “tech touch” customers that have a very small number of AutoCAD licenses. Renew Online can be used by partners to drive a series of automated email reminders, highlighting the benefits and value of the software, and reminding them they are due to renew soon. End-user customers are able to update their AutoCAD licenses online and pay immediately using a credit card.

CCL Computers snapped up by Tactus

Posted on April 13, 2021 by - News

West Yorkshire-based gaming PC builder CCL Computers has been acquired by consumer tech group Tactus in an £11.25 million private equity-backed deal.

Tactus said the deal will create a £125 million business while bolstering its position in the fast-growing PC gaming space.

CCL’s e-commerce capabilities will hand Tactus – which specialises in sourcing, branding and supplying multi-branded Windows 10 devices and wearable tech via retailers including John Lewis and Amazon – its first direct route into consumers.

Half of Brits prefer working from home

Posted on April 13, 2021 by - News

More than half of UK workers have felt happier over the past year as a result of working from home, according to a study commissioned by Avaya.

The Life and Work Beyond 2020 study, conducted by research firm Davies Hickman Partners, polled 10,000 consumers and workers in 11 countries to discover the impacts of COVID-19 on consumer wellbeing and values as the world embraces a new world of work.

The research found that workers in the UK are among the most appreciative of work-from-anywhere models, with 44 percent saying that the ability to conduct hybrid work – from a home or office – would contribute to their happiness. The survey also revealed that over half UK workers feel they have the right technology to work from wherever they want. However, the UK has some catching up to do as it trails in 6th place behind India, where 73 percent consider themselves to be equipped for remote working as well as the UAE with 64 percent and the US with 62 percent.

A key finding is that only 30 percent of UK employees said that they loved the idea of being able to work from anywhere in the future, meaning that a key requirement for business success in 2021 and beyond will be building a hybrid model of work that suits the needs of every employee.

Hyland completes Nuxeo purchase

Posted on April 13, 2021 by - News

Hyland, a content services provider, has completed its acquisition of Nuxeo, a content services platform and digital asset management (DAM) provider.

The acquisition brings the entire Nuxeo business, including products and technology, under Hyland.

Following Hyland’s acquisition of Alfresco last year, the addition of Nuxeo reinforces Hyland’s cunning plan to push into cloud-native platforms and open-source communities while expanding its global footprint with additional team members, customers and partners.