Juniper Networks said things are pretty OK thanks to the changes it made in its channel last year.
Juniper Networks Sander Groot, head of EMEA and LATAM channels, said the changes bought in in the second half of last year to improve its market position made a difference.
Among those changes has been a decision to increase the number of managed partners that it works with, increase the focus on the enterprise market and more incentives for resellers to register deals early.
He said before the change he looked after 160 managed partners and which increased to 250.
“We have seen a 25 percent growth with our worldwide managed partners, which is spectacular growth with partners. It was a phenomenal year for Juniper in 2020 – we have grown significantly”, he said.
Companies have speeded up their move to cloud-based HR platforms amid the pandemic and say they expect adoption to grow in the coming years, according to a new survey from ISG.
The ISG survey of 260 companies worldwide found 46 percent using an HR Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform or hybrid solution, up from the 20 percent who said they were using a cloud-based solution two years ago. The survey found 57 percent of organisations expect to be using a subscription-based SaaS or hybrid solution by 2023.
Study co-author Stacey Cadigan said that in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic changed work in “unimaginable ways” and increased focus on the potential of HR SaaS technologies to engage employees better and support a virtual workforce, improve productivity and enable a more agile HR model.
“Our survey reveals a growing interest in HR SaaS, as more and more companies realise measurable business value from a platform-based approach.” A hard sentence to parse.
Tech Data is launching two new Boost Communities – one for collaboration and security – that will bring partners together to share experiences and ideas and gain insights and knowledge on how to grow their sales.
Tech Data, UK’s Cisco director, Tony Nevill said that a Boost Community for Cisco data centres was launched in autumn last year. The aim is to emulate this success in security and collaboration, which present enormous opportunities for partners.
Cloud specialist Vapour has joined forces with global IT solutions provider ICC to deliver what it describes as a next-generation managed service for customers.
The collaboration follows ICC’s appointment of Gary Saunders, who will be responsible for growing the managed service division to a multi-million-pound revenue business, in only two years.
With a 60-strong nationwide team and an extensive customer base within the SME, enterprise and public sector markets, ICC’s dosh has primarily resulted from its hardware product and maintenance offering. The organisation sought the skill-set of an experienced Microsoft CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) to bolster its partner portfolio by recognising the ever-evolving needs of customers and rising demand for proactively managed services.
Microsoft Dynamics Gold partner to the fashion and apparel sector – Xpedition, is partnering with Voyado to supply a cloud-based platform that enables retailers to create strong brand loyalty.
The partnership builds on Xpedition’s broad portfolio of solutions for fashion retail environments. The pair say they will empower fashion brands to forge a loyal following and increase revenues rapidly.
Xpedition centres on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Enterprise Resource Planning – ERP), offers customers an end-to-end, fully integrated business management solution.
Marco Vergani has replaced Adalsteinn Valdimarsson who left K3 after five years with the firm following the sale of its managed services business to Node4 earlier this year.
K3 chairman Tom Crawford said Vergani will lead a re-evaluation of its own software offering for the retail space.
“Marco will be leading a re-evaluation of our target markets for K3|imagine, which continues to offer exciting growth potential. We have a strong product offering and look forward to a return to more normal trading conditions as the coronavirus vaccine programme continues and lockdown restrictions are eased”, he said.
Managed print outfit Apogee has snapped up the Kent-based provider of print, document and IT solutions for businesses and public sector organisations Direct-Tec Group.
The group has offices throughout the UK including Southampton, London, Tonbridge and Salisbury, and focuses on the education, healthcare, legal, charity and commercial verticals.
Businesses can no longer rely on technology alone to mitigate the risks that come from cyber threats, especially while many workforces work remotely through the pandemic, according to Giacom Product Manager Daniel Warelow, cybercriminals are using change sparked by COVID to their advantage.
He thinks that the channel plays a key role in the fight against cybercrime as organisations cannot be expected to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals and adapt to new threats on their own, but by relying on the help of their MSP, businesses can feel confident that they have the right education and tools in place to combat the risk of cyber attacks.
“There remains a large cyber skills gap across many businesses, and with the immediate move to remote work over the last 12 or so months, being away from the help of on-site IT teams, organisations are more vulnerable than ever. Finding the right vendor and solutions to tackle these evolving threats is crucial, and end-user organisations need to work effectively with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to stay ahead of the attackers. This enables MSPs to become trusted IT security advisors for the businesses they support, helping them to create a secure business and custom-fit security approach”, he said.
Exertis has rejoined the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) after five years.
The GTDC is a worldwide association whose members generate more than $150bn in annual sales. Members include distribution heavyweights including Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data, Arrow and Exclusive Networks. Exertis was part of the GTDC until 2016 when it became a founding member of an EMEA-focused rival distribution group called the Technology Channels Alliance (TCA). The TCA’s reason for existence was that European members believed it was too dominated by US-based distributors.
A survey of 1,150 IT channel partners in 12 countries conducted by Accenture finds the channel is facing demand for more digital business transformation initiatives.
Accenture high tech global industry lead David Sovie said the IT channel overall had reached an inflexion point where many of the assumptions made about what motivates channel partners today are invalid, and innovation is now a much more significant driver.
The Accenture survey finds customers want partners to develop more solutions on top of platforms provided by vendors (48 percent), support digital transformations (46 per cent) and support smaller customers in different geographies (43 percent).
More than half of MSPs in Europe are concerned about security according to the latest MSP Benchmark Survey from Kaseya.
The survey found that with the past 12 months dominated by home working due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a further 48 percent expressed worries over the challenges of managing the devices and technology used by remote workers.
Additional findings reveal that the threat of cyber-crime is a key driver to these increased concerns. Due to the mass shift of workforces to remote locations, cybercriminals were more active than ever in 2020. More than 71 percent of respondents stated that 10-20 percent of their clients had experienced at least one cyber-attack in the previous 12 months.
Unified Comms, Contact Centre and Cyber Solutions provider, Babble, has announced it is buying 81G Blue.
The deal continues Babble’s rapid buy and build strategy. The business has completed seven deals since the start of 2020, three of which have been undertaken since backing from lead investor Graphite Capital.
With customers situated nationwide, 81G Blue is a managed service IT solutions provider that will enhance and expand Babble’s cyber capabilities.
Veeam is talking to partners about improving its channel programme because it wants them to include the improvements made to its latest flagship product release into their pitches.
Veeam, which is a backup and data management specialist, wants to give more rewards for those that specialise in services and gaining expertise around its technology.
Under the new plans, gold and platinum partners will get opportunities to increase profit margins and the deal registration system will have stronger incentives. The vendor is also making sure that the margins remain high for those that want to offer their customers subscription payment models.
There are more performance-related metrics for Value-added resellers (VARs) and distributors using A management by objectives system.
Ofcom is looking for a supplier for an IT services contract worth up to £44 million to design, plan and deliver IT services across its user base.
The IT services contract will commence on 1 May 2022 and will run for four years, with the option to extend the contract by up to two additional years. Ofcom claims the contract’s value is estimated to be between £25 million and £44 million over the contract’s life.
The contract covers Ofcom’s IT including PC equipment and supplies, networking and software programming and consultancy services.
Laptop and tablet usage will surge this year, as the pandemic triggers a permanent change in how we use them, according to Gartner.
