Category: News

Hybrid working could be a channel answer

Posted on August 3, 2020 by - News

Hybrid working could be the new abnormal for work channel work places, spaces and culture, according to a report from Poly.

Darrius Jones, executive vice-president and chief strategy officer at Poly said the unfortunate circumstances experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic were an opportunity for businesses to challenge current thinking and shape a new future of work.

“The next normal is all about hybrid working moving to the mainstream as we respond, redesign and reinvent – flexible working across multiple locations, with immersive, productive workspaces that accommodate the working style of every employee”, he added.

Dell’s job cuts are nothing to do with coronavirus

Posted on August 3, 2020 by - News

Dell has confirmed that an unspecified number of job cuts,was based on decisions made early in 2020 and unrelated to the  pandemic.

The vendor refused to put a figure on the number of employees affected, but it said: “Like all businesses right now, we’re taking a number of proactive steps to prepare for the uncertainties presented by COVID-19. We recently made some workforce reductions that reflect decisions made in early 2020 as part of regular evaluations of our business structure, and weren’t related to the pandemic.”

The number of redundancies have been rumoured to be about six percent of Dell’s 160,000 workforce globally and under 2,000.

Apple’s channel inventory takes a hit

Posted on August 3, 2020 by - News

Fruity cargo cult Apple’s phenomenally successful figures revealed a surprise inventory hole among channel partners which CEO Tim Cook put down to supply constraints.

For those who came in late, Apple reported its best-ever June quarter despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue for the three-month period ending 30 June 2020 climbed 11 percent to $59.7 billion, while operating profit was up 13.4 percent at $13 billion.

Cook said that Apple did not really talk about channel inventories any more but there did appear to be a hole there.

Metro Bank gives Wipro a contract

Posted on July 31, 2020 by - News

Wipro has said that Metro Bank has awarded it a multi-year contract to deliver and transform Testing and Environment Management Services.

Wipro will use its Digital and Quality Engineering capabilities to drive transformation through automation, service virtualisation and DevSecOps enablement.

The idea is to help Metro Bank achieve its objectives around cost, pace and quality of operations and further differentiate them from other high street banks. Wipro will accelerate the bank’s digital journey through its marquee offerings, Virtual Automation Engineer, IntelliAssureTM and Digital Rig.

Pulsant pairs with Megaport on clouds

Posted on July 31, 2020 by - News

Regional data centre, cloud and managed services, Pulsant has partnered with Megaport, a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) provider, to strengthen connectivity for hybrid and multi-cloud solutions.

Using Megaport’s software defined network (SDN), Pulsant customers can now connect their infrastructure directly to Megaport points of presence housed within Pulsant data centres in Milton Keynes, South London and Edinburgh, to access a multi-cloud ecosystem.

Delivered via Pulsant’s Cloud Connect service and through Megaport’s scalable, private network, customers can connect to over 360 service providers, including major hyperscalers like Alibaba, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Nutanix, Oracle Cloud, Salesforce, and SAP via a single port. Customers can benefit from secure, fast and flexible connectivity across regions, countries and continents, enabling organisations to scale their business faster, access new markets and deliver local services to global clients.

Logistics companies need digital transformation

Posted on July 31, 2020 by - News

A report from Lux Research suggests that the transportation and logistics industries are crying out for digital transformation.

In its latest report, “The Digital Transformation of Transportation and Logistics,” Lux Research said the transportation and logistics (T&L) industry has observed steady growth for more than 10 years and now represents an over $300 billion industry.

But for it to grow further the industry has three major challenges – agility, sustainability, and visibility – and companies operating in the industry are hoping to address those challenges through digital transformation.

Lux Research Analyst and lead author of the report Harshit Sharma said that trade globalisation, digital consumers, and low oil prices have all driven growth in the T&L industry while imposing new challenges.

Channel loses the human touch

Posted on July 30, 2020 by - News

The IT channel today is missing ‘the human touch’ according to a Kaspersky survey.

Nearly seven out of 10 resellers and distributors want better relationships with vendors. The same number say they would like more personal contact with their dedicated account manager.

Kaspersky notes that the current need for more of a human touch is important, given that phone calls have, in many cases, been replaced by email and other digital forms of communication, like Morse Code and Semaphore.

Every cloud has a sliver of lining

Posted on July 30, 2020 by - News

Attitudes to cloud have changed according to research from Cloud player Aptum.

Cloud player Aptum claims it has has revealed sweeping changes to remote working and cloud collaboration tools due to the coronavirus.

No surprise there, then, in stating the obvious.

The firm found that 76 percent of businesses are using cloud services to facilitate remote working and just under half of the IT pros surveyed have used hosted solutions to provide users with critical services.

(ISC)² adds Global Knowledge as partner

Posted on July 30, 2020 by - News

(ISC)², the non-profit association of certified cybersecurity experts, has added Global Knowledge as an Official Training Provider for the UK, further expanding the range of training organisations offering (ISC)2 certification. [What a ridiculous name. Are you sure, Nick? Ed.]

Global Knowledge will be providing exam preparation training for the full range of (ISC)2 certifications to its UK customer base, delivering pathways to new sectors and audiences, increasing the size of the UK channel presence for (ISC)2 and responding to increased demand and a growing supply shortage of certified professionals in the workforce.

Cognizant signs off on New Signature takeover

Posted on July 29, 2020 by - News

New Signature has been acquired by services giant Cognizant.

Cognizant said the deal will expand its “hyperscale cloud advisory services”, adding that 500 employees across predominately the UK, the US and Canada will join the business.

New Signature CEO Jeff Tench said: “New Signature’s success is built upon helping clients create and accelerate their business transformation through the adoption of Microsoft cloud technologies. In joining Cognizant, we will have access to Cognizant’s deep industry expertise and global scale, and together, provide best-in-class cloud solutions for the intelligent workplace, applied innovation, and managed services.”

ScanSource cut in staff due to coronavirus

Posted on July 29, 2020 by - News

ScanSource has said it will lay off 200 employees after seeing multiple areas of its business hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

ScanSource CFO Gerry Lyons said that the layoffs were made across multiple business units but focus on non-customer facing positions in the company as well as the distributor’s Salesforce-focused Canpango division.

During an investor call, ScanSource chief revenue officer John Eldh said the reductions include its sales support and sales administration roles, as well as staff in both sales and supply roles in its on-premise communications business.

Most of the reductions are in ScanSource’s North and South American business.

IT departments have seen more focus and funding in 2020

Posted on July 29, 2020 by - News

Research from hybrid IT services provider, Ensono, has found that the relationship between IT decision makers and business leaders has improved since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 43 percent of the 153 IT decision makers studied across the US and UK revealed that IT now commands more respect from the business.

With this increased respect, businesses have also grown hungrier for innovation, and consequently  a third of IT decision makers are seeing IT budgets increase. A third have been given more scope to define IT spend since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, versus just five per cent who feel they have been given less scope to define IT spend.

Securefort will be Libraesva’s UK partner

Posted on July 28, 2020 by - News

Security outfit Libraesva has announced that Securefort is its sole Cyber Security Technology Distributor partner in the UK.

The cunning plan is to will combine Securefort’s approach to business development via their Market Activation Programme (MAP), with Libraesva’s growth plan for the UK market.

Libraesva’s product suite provides a solution for email that includes; security, continuity and compliance in their offering. 

Agilitas tees up Georgia Hall until 2022

Posted on July 28, 2020 by - News

Agilitas IT Solutions has extended its partnership with Georgia Hall , professional golfer and former Women’s British Open champion and Solheim Cup Winner, until 2022.

After a successful couple of years as its brand ambassador, Agilitas has increased its investment to support Georgia. As part of the new agreement the Agilitas logo will be positioned on the front of her top, demonstrating a strong alliance between two leaders in their respective fields.

As part of their partnership over the last two years, Hall has attended Agilitas’ golf partner days at the Ryder Cup Twenty Ten Course in Celtic Manor, as well as playing alongside Agilitas team members and partners at their inaugural AgiliGolf event. Earlier this year, Hall opened Agilitas’ new international logistics hub based in Nottingham. She has participated in charity events by donating her US Open golf bag for a charity auction on behalf of Agilitas’ chosen charity the Children with Special Needs Foundation.

UK employers still need IT workers

Posted on July 28, 2020 by - News

UK employers continued their search for workers to fill critical information technology (IT) roles even as unexpected changes in business conditions took hold during the second quarter, according to beancounters working for CompTIA.

The total number of employer job postings for core IT positions was slightly more than 125,000 in the second quarter, a decline from the first quarter, according to CompTIA’s analysis of data from Burning Glass Technologies Labour Insights.