Author: Nick Farrell

UK smart cities need to advance in response to COVID-19 

Posted on June 4, 2020 by - News

illustration: elenabsl/adobe stock

Analysts GlobalData said any of the short-term fixes and even long-term cures envisaged for the illness of urban and wider society so vividly and exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic lie, at least in part and sometimes almost completely with ICT.

With half of the world’s population living in cities and 70 percent projected by 2050, it is now more important than ever to tackle these challenges, the analysts said.

GlobalData forecasts the market for smart cities to grow from $458 billion in 2019 to $624 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4 percent, with the biggest growth coming from transportation, infrastructure, and grids.

Tony Cripps, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Creativity of thinking by UK cities and companies will be a necessity for managing the business impacts post-COVID-19, a fact that necessarily places the use of advanced ICT very high on what looks set to be a reinvigorated smart cities agenda.”

Coronavirus drives digital transformation and continuity planning   

Posted on June 4, 2020 by - News

The combination of supply chain disruption, shortage of materials, dependence on globalised production, and a national workforce with restricted movements, is not only affecting the industry, but the wider economy, according to InfinityQS Director of Global Channel programmes Jason Chester (pictured).

Chester said that while many have struggled to adapt within the current environment, there are those taking this opportunity to transform.

Manufacturers are collectively being forced to devise and implement new and agile approaches to product monitoring and quality control. One of their biggest logistical challenges involves ensuring their production lines are running, despite the lack of available staff due to social distancing rules. This is where digital innovations in smart manufacturing can offer many benefits.

Alinda glides as Inflexion quits

Posted on June 3, 2020 by - News

US infrastructure investor Alinda Capital has taken over Glide after  Inflexion’s exit.

Glide designs, installs and manages fibre networks required to deliver broadband connectivity together with other critical products and services to student accommodation, the private rental sector and small and medium sized enterprises.

Inflexion’s  bought Glide in 2013 acquisition along with WarwickNet to diversify its customer base and offering.

Simon Turner, managing partner at Inflexion said: “We are pleased to have supported Glide’s strong growth journey, which has seen the company transformed into the UK fibre leader serving niche markets and benefitting from the exponential growth in broadband usage.”

Verkada announces partnership with Distology

Posted on June 3, 2020 by - News

Cloud-based security outfit Verkada  has teamed up with Distology today announced a strategic partnership to drive adoption of Verkada’s hybrid cloud video security and access control systems within the UK and Ireland via Verkada channel partners.

Since launching in the UK, Verkada claims to have got some “tremendous traction” with customers across industries, including Bath Spa University, GAIL’s Bakery, and Border Biscuits. Verkada has extended its global infrastructure to the UK, including a dedicated HQ and logistics hub located centrally located in London, as well as a regional AWS data centre in Ireland. With Distology, Verkada adds a leading distribution network to reach new growth opportunities with leading resellers.

Verkada Head of EMEA Channel Sales Edoardo Cannarsa,  said: “As we expand globally, partnerships with leading distributors like Distology will allow us to more effectively support our existing UK and Ireland reseller network. At the same time, we’re accelerating new VAR enthusiasm and enrollment while ensuring our customers receive the quality and best-in-class experience we strive to deliver.”

Anderson Zaks partners to get POS in the shops

Posted on June 3, 2020 by - News

UK-based multichannel Payment Gateway Anderson Zaks has partnered with Varlink and Smart Volution to deliver a one-device mobile POS and payment solution for retailers and merchants in the UK.

Based on the Sunmi P2 Pro and Sunmi P2 Lite Android devices the new solution is certified for use by Elavon for all European markets where Elavon operates.

The combined Anderson Zaks, Sunmi and Smart Volution Register solution will be distributed to resellers throughout the UK by Varlink, a specialist Value Added Distributor of mobile computing and EPOS hardware. The Sunmi P2 Lite and P2 Pro provide omni-channel payment capabilities including contactless, Chip & PIN, magnetic stripe and keyed entry solutions as well as support for 1D and 2D code scanning. In addition, the P2 Pro provides the ability to print receipts. Both devices operate with 4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi and 2.4G/5Ghz connectivity. 

SBL to be renamed as boxxe

Posted on June 2, 2020 by - News

SBL is to be renamed ‘boxxe‘ 12 months after Phil Doye bought the York-based reseller.

SBL used to be known as Software Box so the name change is a step towards that.

Doye has been telling the world+dog that SBL’s rebranding was accelerated by COVID-19, which he said has underlined the importance technology plays in keeping businesses afloat.

Agilitas offers partner support through new portal

Posted on June 2, 2020 by - News

Agilitas IT Solutions has launched its services portal, ‘Partnership’, to assist partners in providing their customers with additional support during the cCorona Virus crisis.

Agilitas CEO, Shaun Lynn, said: “At Agilitas, we understand how important it is for channel partners to respond quickly and efficiently to the service requests of their end user clients, especially during challenging times like these. During the pandemic, many partners have increased their reliance on our online service portal to enable them to react quickly and efficiently to customer fault call requests.

“We have worked closely with our partners’ service teams, and responded by investing in further development of our services portal ‘Partnership’ to support their changing needs. We are proud to be able to respond to our partners’ needs in an agile manner, and provide them with the tools they require to keep their customers’ networks operational through these challenging times.”

ESET announces new channel programme

Posted on June 2, 2020 by - News

Security outfit ESET has launched  of a new Partner Programme with the idea of helping new and existing partners to unlock their full sales potential through a series of incentives, benefits, and training courses.

ESET said that its partner programme recognised that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to helping partners achieve their growth objectives.  It has streamlined its offerings to make it easier for partners of all types and sizes to take full advantage of the services available to them. This is in addition to ESET’s recent move to allocate more account managers and provide customer-focused support to partners.

Excel Esports extends partnership with Chillblast

Posted on June 1, 2020 by - News

Excel Esports  has extended its partnership with the UK PC manufacturer, Chillblast, as its official PC supplier.

The new agreement includes the creation of a bespoke range of Excel equipment with three systems covering beginner, player and creator specifications. The branded towers are available.

Chief Commercial Officer of Excel Esports, Robin McCammon had the following to say: “In Chillblast we have a dedicated and true supporter of Excel. The quality and speed of the Chillblast PCs allow us to compete at the highest level and prove ourselves amongst the world elite in professional gaming and Esports. We look forward to gaming together with this key partner.”

Arcserve has Renaissance

Posted on June 1, 2020 by - News

Security outfit Arcserve has named  value-added IT distributor Renaissance as a new partner to help out in the Irish market.

Renaissance director  Michael Conway said: ” Arcserve brings a phenomenal depth of data protection experience to the table, particularly in terms of mitigating the rising threats posed by ransomware and phishing attacks. As we have well over twenty years of experience distributing Sophos’s cybersecurity solutions this seems like a natural, complementary partnership.

“Despite the looming challenges facing the IT industry, we expect this partnership to allow us to further meet the needs of our partners and resellers during this uncertain time, by giving them the all-in-one, turnkey, business continuity solutions they need now more than ever”

Glide sees growth in wholesale channel

Posted on June 1, 2020 by - News

Infrastructure and utilities outfit Glide said that it has noted a remarkable growth in the UK’s wholesale channel market.

Having started from scratch just over a year ago, Glide now has more than 300 partners who are using the Glide fibre network.  Additionally, Glide says it is already billing a significant amount per month with 183 of those partners – a figure which continues to grow on a month-by-month basis.

Glide’s business is based on allowing the channel to cross sell products on top of a better level of connectivity, which is a key requirement for cloud services. One of Glide’s key objectives is opening up a whole host of connectivity options to its channel.

There is gold in BYOL for robots

Posted on May 29, 2020 by - News

Oracle Partner Blue Prism has noted that its Bring your own licence [BYOL] is doing rather well with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) users.

The new Oracle Cloud Marketplace offering makes it easier for customers to run Blue Prism on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, it’s claimed. It also gives customers access to end-to-end automation solutions that cover the broadest range of IT environments — including on-premises, hybrid and SaaS — an industry first, the company claims.

The BYOL listing on Oracle Cloud Marketplace is Blue Prism pre-installed on an image for easy deployment on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure; those with existing Blue Prism licences can migrate software licences to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle customers can also use existing Oracle Universal Credits to pay for cloud infrastructure services. The offering gives Oracle customers an opportunity to experience Blue Prism on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, as well as introduces them to the possibilities of intelligent automation.

Demand for cybersecurity is increasing exponentially

Posted on May 29, 2020 by - News

A report from MSP Barracuda shows that cyber-criminals have been taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Barracuda Vice President,  Brian Babineau, channel partners currently on their MSP journey, now is the time to really think about adding security to their services portfolio.

The report shows that  88 percent of partners questioned, believed demand for security services was set to increase over the next 12 months.

“It also is no surprise that  91 percent of the global MSP partners we surveyed are planning to increase the number of services they offer in the coming year, particularly around security”, he said.

Managed services are set to be the top revenue generator for the vast majority of respondents.

A total of 69 percent of respondents picked managed services as the biggest opportunity for increasing  sales this year. This is significantly up on 2019 where 54 percent saw managed services as their biggest opportunity, he said. 

Gaming industry could be the Cloud and 5G’s next conquest

Posted on May 29, 2020 by - News

The gaming industry could be the next target of cloud and 5G based sales teams according to beancounters at GlobalData.

Traction towards gaming-on-demand is fuelling the migration of games to the cloud while trying to utilise the peak speed abilities of 5G, says GlobalData

‘Cloud’ and ‘5G’ have become rising topics of discussion in the gaming industry in 2020 as tracked by GlobalData’s Filing Analytics platform. Mentions of these terms in earnings transcripts of companies in the gaming industry witnessed double digit growth in Q1 2020 when compared to Q1 2019. Nvidia GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Playstation Now and Microsoft’s Projext xCloud are some of the top cloud gaming services mentioned.

Rinaldo Pereira, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Following the video streaming industry trend, subscription models will cause a shift in the gaming sector due to the dawn of cloud services. The expansion of cloud 5G gaming is attractive for telecom operators – with consumers accustomed to paying for subscriptions in the industry, network operators with the right assets will gain growth and competitive agility in the lucrative market.”

Dell cuts staff benefits

Posted on May 28, 2020 by - News

Tin box-shifter Dell plans to cut some staff benefits including pay rises, promotions and 401(k) contributions as it looks to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis unscathed.

According to Bloomberg, Dell will halt several staff benefits as of 1 June and until at least the end of the year.

It is basically refusing to make contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans and will freeze internal pay rises and promotions as it looks to preserve cash during the COVID-19 crisis.

Dell has put in place a hiring freeze until at least the end of 2020. Dell said the actions will help set it up for success when the pandemic subsides.

“Like all companies right now, we’re constantly evaluating our business to plan for resiliency in the current environment and to support our team members, customers, and community in a way that sets us all up for success on the other side of this pandemic”, the company said in a statement.