Author: Nick Farrell

Cloud security spending increasing

Posted on June 19, 2020 by - News

Divination experts at analyst outfit Gartner have been observing the flight of birds, taken out the kidneys of live animals as auspices and are predicting that cloud security spending will increase by a third this year.

Information security spending is set to grow 2.4 percent to hit $123.8 billion in 2020, down from the 8.7 percent growth Gartner projected in its December 2019 forecast update.

Firewalls and network security devices  are expected to endure spending declines this year, the mass shift to remote working and cloud will drive gains elsewhere.

Helium launches peer-to-peer wireless network

Posted on June 19, 2020 by - News

Helium  has announced the European launch of its Helium Hotspots. The business, which was co-founded by Helium CEO Amir Haleem and Napster’s Shawn Fanning, has seen exponential uptake of its devices in North America and creating ‘The People’s Network’ across more than 1,000 cities.

The Hotspot, it is claimed,  lets people to own and operate a wireless network that will support the Internet of Things (IoT) technology surrounding them. The technology supports both smart home and IoT devices from smart pet collars and home delivery systems, to smart bikes and scooters, medical transport and tracking devices, cooling systems, smart lighting systems, and more, it is claimed. 

SentryBay wants new partners

Posted on June 18, 2020 by - News

UK-based cybersecurity software company SentryBay is recruiting new partners for its Authorised Reseller Programme to help it meet a sharp rise in demand for its endpoint protection.

The company, which has a broad range of specialist enterprise, data monitoring, ID theft protection and OEM products is actively seeking resellers with security software experience, who can benefit from cross-selling opportunities alongside standard security solutions.

Agilitas moves into security

Posted on June 18, 2020 by - News

Channel services outfit Agilitas wants to expand into the security market in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Agilitas has become a Fortinet Integrator Partner and will offer the vendor’s products to its partner base.

Agilitas CEO Shaun Lynn said:  “We understand from discussions with our valued partners that they are concerned about security in today’s changing world. We have decided to partner with Fortinet, meaning we can give our partners access to Fortinet’s first-class security solutions. As a vendor-agnostic solutions provider, we are proud to be able to incorporate Fortinet into our portfolio so quickly.”

Agilitas has a background in networking and storage, with relationships with vendors including Cisco, Juniper, Dell, NetApp and Oracle. The Fortinet deal extends coverage to security and the firm has also become an HP Business Partner to be able to deliver more PC and print services. 

Is your channel business equipped to survive COVID-19?

Posted on June 18, 2020 by - News

Peter Olive, CEO of Vortex 6, a company which automates vendor partner programme compliance has been explaining the key approaches for channel businesses to undertake to make sure they stay in good shape during the pandemic, not only ensuring business continuity but thriving as a result.

Olive said that the current pandemic is forcing firms all over the world to rethink how they do business in 2020 and beyond – the IT channel is no exception.

Channel partners are playing a crucial role during the crisis, ensuring customers’ businesses are fully enabled – in many cases standing up remote workforces almost overnight. Partners have been forced to adapt quickly and some may feel vulnerable during this period of uncertainty.

Olive says as a partner, you will have many questions and concerns. Is the budget your customers spend with you likely to be cut? How are we going to be affected by the economic recession? Where should you put your resources? Are there processes that are manual and inefficient that you can automate?  

Cohesity moves to consumption based pricing for partners

Posted on June 17, 2020 by - News

 Cohesity announced a significant expansion and updates for its partner programme, empowering service providers to leverage pay-per-use pricing for Cohesity’s full suite of data management services.

The company said that the new pay-per-use subscription model will provide even greater predictability for partners as they support enterprise and mid-market end customers, which is ideal for organisations under increasing pressure to reduce capital budgets during the current global pandemic.

Through this model, service providers only pay for the data management services they use each month, instead of committing to set blocks of capacity in advance. The appeal of this approach is that as business needs change, service providers can make adjustments as necessary, which provides maximum levels of flexibility.

Stratus unveils new partner programme

Posted on June 17, 2020 by - News

Edge computing outfit Stratus Technologies has unveiled a new Partner programme that it thinks provides its channel partners access to a broader range of valuable services and resources to help them generate new revenue opportunities while delivering valuable Edge Computing solutions to their customers.

The company said that the new programme offers unique tools to loyal partners committed to delivering Stratus computing platforms to their customers and creates a more extensive network of highly engaged partners. It helps Stratus’ channel partners provide their end-users, system integrators and value added-resellers with valuable Edge Computing platforms, services and consulting needed to achieve peak performance of business-critical applications and operations.

Its a good time to be an MSP

Posted on June 17, 2020 by - News

It is a good time to be an MSP, according to a report issued by Datto.

The report notes that 40 percent of MSPs have been in business for over 16 years, and there is a solid crop of newcomers. More than 18 percent of MSPs have been in business less than five years,  indicating that there’s plenty of room in the market and the managed services industry is attracting new blood. This could explain why 84 percent said that now is a good time to be an MSP.

It is not all great.  The issues keeping MSPs getting a good night’s kip include economic uncertainty is troubling for MSPs due to  the COVID-19 pandemic as it will likely have downstream effects for their own business.  Nearly 40 percent are expecting to reduce their growth projections by between 10-20 percent. Cybersecurity for clients remains a top pain point for 34 percent of MSPs, compared to 30 percent in 2019. More than 61 percent state that they consider anti-virus the most critical security solution for SMEs, followed by advanced firewall and RMM Other pain points include work/life balance (27 percent), hiring staff (25 percent) and sales & marketing (23 percent).

Agilitas becomes Fortinet integrator partner

Posted on June 16, 2020 by - News

Agilitas IT Solutions  said that it is expanding its offerings to include security solutions, becoming a Fortinet Integrator Partner.

The recent mass move to home working that came as a result of the COVID-induced lockdown has led to a significant increase in cyberattacks. Many organisations neglected to update security policies in the rush to implement home working, and there has been a rise in COVID-related phishing campaigns.

The comapany thinks it will resolve these problems by partnering with Fortinet, and offering  Fortinet’s security solutions to its expanding partner base. 

Datacentre market slows

Posted on June 16, 2020 by - News

Big snail in Old TaipeiThe datacentre market began to lose momentum in Q1 as the COVID-19 crisis halted hardware spending in the enterprise space according to a report from Synergy Research Group.

In a freshly baked report  Synergy said that software spending declined by two percent globally in the first quarter to $35.8 billion.

The Q1 decline was driven by a sharp drop in enterprise and service provider spending, which fell by four per cent during the quarter to $22.5 billion, Synergy wrote.

Public cloud spending, however, helped abate the decline, growing by three per cent. The company said that COVID-19 pandemic has had “little impact” on the public cloud datacentre infrastructure market.

It follows several consecutive quarters of growth in datacentre spending. Synergy claims that datacentre hardware and software spending grew by two percent in 2019, with public cloud up by seven per cent and traditional datacentre spending down by seven percent.

Calligo snaps up Itomic in Irish push

Posted on June 16, 2020 by - News

End-to-end managed data services provider, Calligo has snapped up Itomic Voice & Data Ltd., a Cork- and Dublin-based IT managed services provider, specialising in delivering IT solutions and maintenance and managed Microsoft 365 and Azure services nationwide.

The purchase of Itomic Voice & Data is Calligo’s seventh acquisition in three years, and follows January 2020’s acquisition of Dublin-based DC Networks. These two acquisitions combine to make Calligo one of the largest IT managed service providers in Ireland, and the only one to offer data privacy support at the heart of every service.

Calligo CEO  Julian Box said that adding Itomic Voice & Data, made his outfit one of the largest IT service providers in Ireland, with sizeable presence in both Cork and Dublin – Ireland’s two largest economic regions – and the capability to serve businesses throughout the country.

IT Lab to lose its name

Posted on June 15, 2020 by - News

IT Lab has been renamed as Content+Cloud as the businesses it has acquired over recent years are lumped together.

The IT Lab brand will be retired on 1 September along with the Content and Code name, which joined the group via acquisition in 2018.

CEO Peter Sweetbaum (pictured) said that Sol-Tec, which was also acquired this year, will also be renamed “in due course.”

Sweetbaum said the name changes reflects the services that the group provides.

Bro Tathan is Britishvolt’s preferred site.

Posted on June 15, 2020 by - News

Battery manufacturer, Britishvolt, has announced the down selection of two promising sites for the UK’s first 30 plus GWh gigafactory, from an initial 42 locations, with Bro Tathan in South Wales leading the way.

The battery industry is forecast to be worth £5 billion domestically by 2025, and the demand for lithium ion cells across a number of industries, including vehicle electrification, is already increasing dramatically, and risks becoming constrained as the UK Government strives to meet its Road to Zero targets by 2050.

Tech Data partners with StorTrec

Posted on June 15, 2020 by - News

Tech Data has entered into a pan-European agreement with storage support specialist StorTrec to provide channel partners with access to a wide range of value-added services that can be offered alongside storage products.

StorTrec provides on-site service and support options for white-box servers and storage products from leading vendors, such as Intel, Synology and Supermicro. The new offering is part of a range of services that Tech Data offers to resellers to enable them to add more value to end-user customers, drive sales growth and profitability, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Channel optimism on the rise

Posted on June 12, 2020 by - News

Happy man portrait

Beancounters at analyst outfit Context has added up some numbers and asking around and reached the conclusion that the European channel has been feeling a lot better about itself since late May.

When asked how the climate was last week, compared to the prior seven days, 59 percent  indicated that things remained the same and 28 percent saw things improving. Only 13 percent saw the climate worsening.

An analysis of pipeline strength indicated that one-off deals when compared to the start of the year were down for many, but when compared to conditions on 1 April they were the same or improving for many resellers.