Author: Nick Farrell

The battle over digital monopolies is just getting started

Posted on March 2, 2021 by - News

The case for new regulation around the monopolisation of user data by big tech companies has never been stronger, according to a new report from GlobalData.

GlobalData’s latest report, Antitrust – Thematic Research, notes that big tech companies do not have much of an incentive to change their anticompetitive behaviour, despite facing large fines.

GlobalDataSenior Thematic Analyst Laura Petrone said: “Existing antitrust rules are broad in scope and only allow enforcers to act after wrongdoing has been committed. Big tech companies have been fined billions for their anticompetitive practices over the last decade, however, these practices are still in the spotlight after years of scrutiny.

Hyperoptic helps on data poverty with fibre plan

Posted on March 1, 2021 by - News

Hyperoptic has announced its ‘Hyperoptic’s Fair Fibre Plan,’ a new affordable tariff that will enable people on specific means-tested benefits to get access to discounted rates on its 50Mbps and 150Mbps monthly rolling packages.

Under the plan the cost of a 50Mbps broadband-only service on a monthly rolling contract will be reduced to £15 a month. There will be no charge for installation and the package will come with a free router and an unlimited data allowance.

‘Hyperoptic’s Fair Fibre Plan’ includes:

· 50Mbps monthly rolling contract, broadband-only: Reduced from £22 to £15 a month
· 50Mbps monthly rolling contract, broadband and phone: Reduced from £25 to £18 a month
· 150Mbps monthly rolling contract, broadband-only: Reduced from £35 to £25 a month
· 150Mbps monthly rolling contract, broadband and phone: Reduced from £38 to £28 a month

Node4 buys Starcom

Posted on March 1, 2021 by - News

Cloudy Managed Services Provider (MSP) Node4, has acquired Starcom which is the  MSP division of K3 Business Technologies Group (K3).

The acquisition will see Starcom Technologies become part of Node4’s comprehensive portfolio of services, further adding to its capability of delivering enhanced cloud-managed services throughout the UK. It also expands the company’s operational presence with offices in Scotland, the North West and South East England.

Starcom has annualised revenues of £11 million and Node4  said the acquisition presents a huge opportunity for Node4 to continue its growth as a leading national provider of cloud managed services, expanding its operational footprint while deepening the company’s cloud hosting expertise with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SYSPRO, Sage and Microsoft Dynamics.

SCC scores Amazon advanced partner status

Posted on March 1, 2021 by - News

Independent IT solutions provider  SCC has achieved Advanced Partner status with Amazon Web Services (AWS) across its UK and French businesses.

As a member of the AWS Partner Network (APN), SCC is part of the global community of partners who leverage AWS to build solutions and services. SCC is a Public Sector Partner, Solution Provider, and Advanced Consulting Partner to AWS.

The AWS Advanced Consulting Partner tier recognises Consulting Partners that have excelled in providing successful solutions on AWS.

The company sees it as a milestone for SCC EMEA, with the business awarded AWS Advanced Partner status for its combined capabilities across UK and France.

Wipro celebrates 25 years as a Cisco kid

Posted on February 26, 2021 by - News

Wipro is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its business partnership with Cisco by launching a new business unit.

Wipro is launching the Cisco Business Unit that will focus on the development and adoption of end-to-end digital transformation solutions using Cisco technologies for customers.

The Cisco Business Unit will provide a full stack of industry offerings aligned to customers’ needs. Key solutions and digital accelerators include Intent-Based Networking, Digital Workplace Virtualisation, Hybrid Cloud, Application Transformation, Security and Enterprise 5G.

Oliver Tuszik, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Partner Organisation, Cisco said: “As a key partner, Wipro has consistently innovated its business model by leveraging its diverse Cisco capabilities to deliver end-to-end digital solutions that enable customers’ business outcomes. Wipro has pioneered the adoption of Cisco’s critical software and digital solutions—not just for its global customers’ usage but to enhance its internal IT architecture as well. With today’s current global challenges and rapidly evolving customer needs, the launch of Wipro’s Cisco Business Unit will ensure that the best of Cisco and Wipro are available to our customers through innovative joint solutions and consumption-based business models.” That’s a lot of words with lots of jargon.

Palantir Technologies deal under legal scrutiny

Posted on February 26, 2021 by - News

Tech-justice outfit Foxglove has issued a lawsuit on behalf of news site openDemocracy over a National Health Services deal with the controversial big data firm Palantir Technologies.

The lawsuit claims that NHS England failed to consider the impact of the deal on patients and the public by performing a fresh Data Protection Impact Assessment.

Foxglove founding director Cori Crider and openDemocracy editor in chief, Mary Fitzgerald, warned that it could damage the future of the NHS.

“The government has a legal duty to consult us, citizens and NHS users, before they strike massive deals which affect that future. In doing so, they need to take important steps (like conducting ‘data protection impact assessments’) to ensure our health information and our rights are protected”, Crider and Fitzgerald said.

Cloud backup is an opportunity for MSPs

Posted on February 26, 2021 by - News

Cloud backup is increasingly important for SMBs and where there is an opportunity for the channel  Giacom Product Manager,  Carl Oliver, said.

Oliver said that digitalisation accelerated by around five to eight years because of Covid19 and transitioning towards the use of cloud-based technologies has formed a key component of this transformation.

However, as organisations shift from using on-premise solutions to the cloud, many will not have considered that data – despite being located in the cloud – still needs to be backed up. This is particularly true of the SMB market.

“The channel, therefore, needs to educate and support SMB organisations as they develop and deploy their cloud strategies. But, it also means that ITCs need to work with their CSP partners to capitalise on the potential recurring revenue-generating opportunities that backup provisioning can offer”, Oliver said.

Content+Cloud snaps up Sipcom

Posted on February 24, 2021 by - News

Content+Cloud has bought comms and UC specialist Sipcom to add more communications expertise to Content+Cloud’s existing Microsoft cloud knowledge.

It gives the UK player revenues of £100 million and a staff of 775.

Sipcom’s presence in the US, it gives Content+Cloud a chance to grow its footprint on the other side of the pond.

The SipcomHALOTM platform is a technology that will give its new owners the chance to pitch a unified, secure and resilient architecture.

Daniel Allen, CEO of Sipcom, said: “Sipcom has always punched above its weight as a business. Our close relationship with Microsoft, our track record of deploying services around the world, and our many accolades – including inclusion in the 2020 Sunday Times Tech Track 100 – are evidence of our commitment to excellence in delivering enterprise-class communications and collaboration services.”

Opengear appoints Svenson as Nordic regional sales manager

Posted on February 24, 2021 by - News

Security outfit Opengear  has appointed John Svenson its new Regional Sales Manager for the Nordics.

Svensson will use his extensive experience to continue Opengear’s rapid expansion across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. The appointment comes amid record revenue growth for Opengear across the entire EMEA region.

In the last 12 months, Opengear has acquired more than 200 new customers, signed up 14 new distributors, and expanded headcount by 20 percent. Financial services, banking, telecom, higher education, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, oil and gas, local and central government, computer gaming, online gambling, technology, and managed services are sectors where Opengear said it has seen significant customer growth. 

Kaspersky hires Symantec executive Christopher Hurst

Posted on February 23, 2021 by - News

Kaspersky has named former Symantec executive Christopher Hurst as its new general manager for the UK and Ireland region.

Hurst’s has been hired to take a “more aggressive” growth in the cybersecurity vendor’s enterprise business, and develope a stronger presence in the UK channel by recruiting more partners and customers.

Kaspersky  Deputy VP of global sales network Chris Connell, said: “We’re very happy to welcome Chris Hurst to Kaspersky. His vast experience in this sector and demonstrated leadership ability from start-ups to enterprise businesses will bring real value to the business. We are confident that he will help drive strong regional growth in 2021 and beyond, and continue to support and protect our customers from ever-changing and growing cyber-threats.”

 Palo Alto Networks snaps up Bridgecrew

Posted on February 23, 2021 by - News

Woodridge, IL, USA — Great White Shark Opening Mouth — Image by © Denis Scott/Corbis

Palo Alto Networks will buy Bridgecrew, a developer-first cloud security provider, for $156 million.

The firm said the acquisition will enable “shift-left” security, with its Prisma Cloud offering becoming the first cloud security platform to cover the full application lifecycle.

The platform will now be able to provide developers with security assessment and enforcement capabilities throughout the DevOps process. Ultimately, Prisma customers will benefit from a single platform that can deliver cloud security from build time to runtime, seamlessly connecting security and DevOps teams, Palo Alto added.

Exclusive Networks widens X-OD options

Posted on February 23, 2021 by - News

Exclusive Networks has included Fortinet among its team of X-OD disties and increased the number of countries which can use the platform.

Patrice Perche, chief revenue officer and executive vice-president support at Fortinet, said it wanted to provide resellers with more consumption options.

Perche said: “With X-OD, Exclusive has engineered another genuinely innovative contribution to channel dynamics that aligns with how we see the world and how we want our partners to be enabled and supported. This represents significant benefits to all levels of our partner community, and ultimately provides our customers with new ways of consuming our market-defining products and services.”

Stone, XMA and Softcat get (SBS) framework spots

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

Stone, XMA and Softcat are among the companies to be awarded spots on an NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) framework.

The Link 3 framework is for the procurement of IT hardware and services and will run for four years. It replaces the Link 2 framework, which expires from 12 March 2021.

Other suppliers on the framework include Ricoh, CDW, SCC and Insight. Stone is listed in five of the six Lots and was previously on the Link 2 framework.

The framework is split into six Lots: Desktop PCs, laptop, tablets, specialist healthcare technology, printing and scanning hardware and a “one-stop-shop” the latter of which is a list of suppliers who can provide two or more of the items together that are covered in the other five Lots.

SHI International saw its sales top $11 billion

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

SHI International has reported a four percent year-on-year rise in revenues to $11.1 billion.

The “record-breaking” result was due to growth in its public sector division, which reported a turnover of $3 billion for the first time, marking a 16 per cent jump from the previous year. It now ranks alongside SHI divisions Enterprise/Global and Commerical as a $3 billion businesses for the reseller.

SHI CEO Thai Lee said: “For all the reasons that require no explanation, the past 12 months represent one of the most challenging professional years most of us will ever face. Yet throughout 2020, from our essential onsite employees to those balancing increased responsibilities and decreased bandwidth at home, our dedicated employees went above and beyond to provide customers world-class service when they most needed it.”

Channel needs to focus on ransomware

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - News

AV outfit Sophos says the channel needs to focus on ransomware, due to the escalating number of cyberattacks exploiting vulnerable home workers and people who are desperate for information about the virus and vaccine.

Kevin Isaac, senior vice-president of EMEA sales at Sophos, said partners need to remain focused on the ransomware threat because customers were coming to the company  because  the two really large, totally addressable markets are endpoint security and firewalls, and those deal with ransomware.

Sophos has seen the channel promoting its endpoint detection and response (EDR) and managed threat response (MTR) solutions and helping customers to implement a rapid response to attacks. The tools have appealed to managed service providers (MSPs) that are looking to add more security depth to their proposition.