Author: Nick Farrell

Zivver arrives in UK

Posted on November 14, 2019 by - News

Dutch email security firm Zivver wants to establish a UK sales channel to create its second business area.

Zivver has so far signed up VARs RnD Systems Integration and C-STEM, alongside distributor Progress Technology Services (PTS) to deliver its outbound email security solution. In Holland, the company has carved a niche for itself helping companies prevent data leaks linked to human error and helping to ensure compliance under GDPR.

CEO & co-founder Rick Goud (pictured) said a channel first system would work well in the UK. He said the outfit had gained credibility and was not just a startup.

Hybrid cloud architecture proving an easy sale

Posted on November 14, 2019 by - News

Enterprises plan to aggressively shift investment to hybrid cloud architectures, with respondents reporting steady and substantial hybrid deployment plans over the next five years.

Cloudy outfit Nutanix has released details of its second global Enterprise Cloud Index survey and research report, which states that the vast majority of 2019 survey respondents (85 percent) selected hybrid cloud as their ideal IT operating model.

Customers happier to talk to bots

Posted on November 14, 2019 by - News

A survey of more than 5,000 adults in six countries found that messaging and chatbots are becoming widely used, with nearly two-thirds of consumers worldwide saying they’d like the ability to message with brands.

LivePerson’s Consumer Preferences for Conversational Commerce survey looked at consumer attitudes and preferences around brand interactions, messaging, and chatbots. What’s more, the survey showed that as consumer interest in messaging increases, brands need to pay greater attention to conversational design — the ability to evaluate and optimise conversations — to meet customer expectations.

Cloud security spending in the US to hit $1.93 billion by 2021

Posted on November 13, 2019 by - News

Cloud security spending in the United States is expected to reach $1.93 billion by 2021.

In 2016, the US region spent $675 million on cloud security solutions in total, meaning it will triple in the following years.

According to PreciseSecurity.com the United States represents the leading cloud security spending region in the World, followed by the Asia Pacific with $638 million cloud security costs expected in 2021. With $573 million in expenses on cloud security solutions by 2021, Europe takes third place on this global list. In the same period, The Latin America region is estimated to spend $86 million on cloud security services.

Security outfit ZIVVER names UK partners

Posted on November 13, 2019 by - News

Dutch-founded data protection platform ZIVVER announced it has signed value-added resellers RnD Systems Integration and C-STEM, as well as value-added distributor Progress Technology Services, to deliver its unique outbound email security solution to the UK market.

The plan is to add more VARs before the end of the year.

ZIVVER is bringing its proven technology to the UK via a channel-first approach, helping government and enterprises to prevent data leaks due to human error; improve compliance (including GDPR) and save costs from ineffective communication via fax, snail mail and courier. Its unrivalled, three-in-one solution does so by securing outgoing emails and file transfers throughout the whole communications process, i.e. before, during and after sending.

Dell offers Technologies-on-Demand

Posted on November 13, 2019 by - News

Dell has been showing off its “Technologies on-demand as-a-service” offerings to its to channel partners at its Dell Technologies Summit shindig in Austin.

As part of this new offering, the company is expanding its  consumption portfolio to support Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and the new Dell EMC PowerOne autonomous infrastructure system.

Dell vice chairman Jeff Clarke said the multi-cloud world is here and will only grow, which means customers need on-demand and consistent infrastructure that yield predictable outcomes across all of their clouds, data centres and edge locations,

Mist Systems releases first AI-driven self-driving network

Posted on November 12, 2019 by - News, Products

Juniper off-shoot Mist Systems announced that the first AI-Driven Self-Driving Network for the enterprise has been released to its partners.

The system uses Mist’s AI engine and microservices cloud to streamline IT operations, simplify troubleshooting across wired/wireless domains for network users.

Mist is expanding its platform with a new cloud subscription service for Wired Assurance. This new feature brings data from Juno’s switch telemetry into the Mist microservices cloud and AI engine for simpler operations, shorter mean time to repair and better visibility into end-user experiences. With the following capabilities.

ASL snaps up Smart Print

Posted on November 12, 2019 by - News

Welwyn Garden City managed office specialist ASL has bought Smart Print.

ASL will be adding the expertise that Smart Print brings to bolster its efforts to establish itself as the first “port of call” for users looking for independent advice around printing and office management.

Managing director of ASL Group. Mark Garius aid Smart Print will add significant value to ASL’s team.

Avaya rolls out device as a service to partners

Posted on November 12, 2019 by - News, Products

Avaya said that it has expanded global availability of its Device as a Service (DaaS) offering, allowing businesses to acquire the outfit’s latest smart devices with  a monthly subscription rather than an upfront purchase.

The move follows the successful introduction in the United States in 2018 and is being rolled out in Europe.

Avast to boost channel partner support

Posted on November 11, 2019 by - Moving People, News

Security outfit Avast announced leadership promotions as part of its cunning plan to boost channel partner support.

Daniel Parks (pictured) is promoted to Sales Director for UK and Rest of World, and Thomas Hefner is promoted to Sales Director for the DACH and Benelux regions, with immediate effect.

Vita Santrucek, GM for Avast Business, said: “One of my areas of focus this year is on ensuring excellence in our products and growth in our partner program. With these promotions, I have assigned additional responsibilities to Daniel and Thomas who will be supporting our delivery in these two core areas and building out our partner channel in their respective geographies. Their contribution will be key to the expansion of our product portfolio, increasing our channel support services, and reinforcing our footprint globally.”

Partners represent 90 percent of Cisco’s business

Posted on November 11, 2019 by - News

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins (pictured) told the assembled throngs at a  2019 partner shindig that nearly 90 percent of his outfit’s business was through the channel.

He said that Cisco was committed to doing business through its partners and our partners are bringing such value to Cisco customers, particularly as it makes its transition to software, helping customers adopt and gain value out of the software assets.

“I’m sure that’s been part of it, but we’ve just been very committed that as we go through the transition we’ve gone through, we’re going to do it with our partners. I’ve joked with people that in many cases, I don’t know what that might look like, but we are committed to doing it”, he said.

SCC spends £7 million on Birmingham HQ

Posted on November 11, 2019 by - News

IT services and solutions provider, SCC, has announced the start of a £7 million refurbishment programme to its UK headquarters.

The commercial premises, located in Birmingham, are being completely remodelled and upgraded as the latest part of a long-term regional investment strategy by the multi-award-winning business.

SCC has been headquartered in Birmingham since its incorporation in 1975 and is now a £2.2 billion turnover company, with 5,500+ employees and businesses in the UK, France, Spain, Romania and Vietnam.

Insight revenue up nine percent thanks to PCM

Posted on November 8, 2019 by - News

Insight saw sales grow nine percent in its third quarter, with the bulk of the cash coming from the recently acquired PCM business.

Revenue for the third quarter ending 30 September rose nine percent year on year to $1.9 billion while gross profit climbed 18 percent to $27 6million.

EMEA IT spending expected to increase.

Posted on November 8, 2019 by - News

Gartner augurs have been “taking the auspices” and had a vision that EMEA IT spending will rise by 3.4 percent in 2020.

John Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, said 2020 will be a recovery year for IT spending in EMEA after three consecutive years of decline.

“This year declines in the Euro and the British Pound against the US Dollar, at least partially due to Brexit concerns, pushed some IT spending down and caused a rise in local prices for technology hardware. However, 2020 will be a rebound year as Brexit is expected to be resolved and the pressure on currency rates relieved”, he added.

HP admits that Xerox has been on the blower

Posted on November 8, 2019 by - News

The maker of expensive printer ink called HP has admitted that Xerox has been on the phone about a potential buyout.

The dark satanic rumour mill manufactured a hell on earth yarn claiming that  Xerox was considering a takeover bid and HP was saying nothing.

HP has now broken its silence with a statement that confirms that the rumours were true although the relationship was still has been in contact with Xerox “from time to time”.