Category: News

Blue Prism’s former CEO joins ScaleUp Group

Posted on April 24, 2020 by - News

Alastair Bathgate has joined ScaleUp Group after he steps down as Blue Prism CEO on 30 April.

Bathgate founded and led Blue Prism from a two person startup in 2001 through to a successful 2016 IPO with a market cap that grew from £48 million to more than £1 Billion. Blue Prism created a brand new enterprise software product category that became known as Robotic Process Automation with a $multi-billion ecosystem of technical and distribution partnerships and a global reach across 130 countries and 70 industry sectors.

Kodak Alaris holds virtual partner summit

Posted on April 24, 2020 by - News

Kodak Alaris saw more than 200 partners online when it conducted its  first virtual Partner Summit this week.

The global info capture specialist had planned on holding its annual partner conference for the EMEA region in Vienna from April 21 – 23, but in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, decided to make it a virtual event.

Alaris President & General Manager Don Lofstrom (pictured) confirmed that despite the challenges presented by the current global pandemic, Kodak Alaris’ performance in the financial year ended March 31 was strong overall. In his address to partners, he provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the business and the marketplace over the past four months, as well as steps Kodak Alaris has taken to minimise disruption to its customers.

Netsweeper signs up with Sigma

Posted on April 24, 2020 by - News

Threat detection, productivity enhancement, and HR policy enforcement software maker Netsweeper has signed a distribution partnership with Sigma Software Distribution. The partnership will see Sigma working to build channel-led sales of Netsweeper’s security products across EMEA.

Netsweeper has a suite of products to enhance productivity of remote workers, cyber security, enforce internet use policies, and solve BYOD challenges.

Multinationals decline cannabidiol ads, but hemp ads OK

Posted on April 23, 2020 by - News

Nick Boardman, who launched a business called Lizard Green earlier this week, told ChannelEye that both Google and Facebook have declined to run ads for CBD products on their sites.

CBD (cannabidiol) products are routinely sold on the UK High Street by chains such as Holland & Barrett with multiple SKUs. Cannabidiol is extracted from the cannabis plant.

Tech Data expands configuration centre

Posted on April 23, 2020 by - News

Tech Data has boosted the size of its Midlands configuration centre so it can configure up to 10,000 units a month.

The outfit uses the site to build customised servers and desktops for channel partners, with its electrostatic discharge room the only one in the UK to hold Cisco Level 6 accreditation.

Tech Data UK endpoint solutions operations director at Kevin Wragg said: “The configuration centre at Magna is probably one of our best-kept secrets.It’s a state-of-the-art facility and with expanded capacity we can now provide services of the highest quality on even the very largest orders – whether they are for advanced servers, special notebook configurations, or simple desktops with some additional memory or disk.”

HPE offers partners finance

Posted on April 23, 2020 by - News

Former maker of expensive printer ink, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has launched a finance scheme to help vendors through the COVID-19 pandemic.

HPE said its initiatives will “relieve financial pressure on HPE partners and assist with business continuity planning”.

The vendor has suspended the revenue threshold for resellers to maintain their partner programme status, while payment terms will be increased from 60 to 90 days.

Distributors will benefit from a “significant reduction” or suspension in strategic development initiative targets.

Nutanix provides partners with financial assistance

Posted on April 23, 2020 by - News

Cloudy Nutanix has announced a Special Financial Assistance Programme (NSFAP) to demonstrate its commitment to support partners worldwide during their coronavirus woes.

NSFAP will provide participating partners with extended payment terms to give them increased financial flexibility for their businesses. Additionally, Nutanix enables enhanced financing options for customers through Nutanix Financial Solutions (NFS).

Nutanix Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales Chris Kaddaras said: “We recognise the immense pressure businesses face today and we are happy to be able to offer immediate support to our partners by alleviating cash flow concerns and increasing financing flexibility,”

Cato Networks gets its first pan-European distributor

Posted on April 22, 2020 by - News

Software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) outfit Cato Networks has signed on its first pan-European distributor.

This was a few weeks after the outfit was given $77 million in its largest funding round so far at the start of April.

The firm made it clear that the broad plan was to use those funds to continue to build on the momentum the business enjoyed last year, with a 220 percent increase in bookings, and the solid start it had made to 2020.

Part of that strategy involved investing more in the channel, and Cato has appointed Nuvias as its first pan-European distributor.

Block Solutions snaps up Connect IP

Posted on April 22, 2020 by - News

Block Solutions has written a cheque for network infrastructure specialist Connect IP.

Block CEO Marc Chang said: “Like Block, Connect IP is a business built on the quality of its people, trusted client relationships and an unwavering commitment to quality and innovation.  Over the years I’ve received a lot of feedback from our clients that it’s challenging to find a trusted partner to assess and transform their physical environments.Connect IP’s approach and capability takes that pain point away, and our joint end-to-end service will deliver greater assurance, investment efficiency and reduce risk.”

Exertis Hammer reaches distribution agreement with Siklo

Posted on April 21, 2020 by - News

Value-add distributor Exertis Hammer, and t millimetre-wave wireless company, Siklu, announced a distribution agreement to boost Siklu’s reach to wireless connectivity resellers, datacentres, integrators, service providers and OEMs in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Benelux and Scandinavia.

As part of the arrangement, Exertis Hammer will carry and distribute Siklu’s millimetre wave wireless solutions to their vertical markets.

The UK and Europe distributor will be able to supply new and existing customers with the full Siklu product range, which includes radios in the 60 GHz and 70/80GHz bands. Products offered through Exertis Hammer will include Siklu’s EtherHaul Hundred Series and EtherHaul Kilo Series that can support deployments with up to 10 Gb throughput, and up to 4.3 miles (6.9km), as well as the MultiHaul Series for automatically aligning rapid deployment.
Siklu’s mmWave radios provide fibre-like performance.

Cognizant hit by Maze ransomware cyber-attack

Posted on April 21, 2020 by - News

Tech services provider Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) said on Saturday that it was hit by a Maze ransomware cyber-attack, resulting in service disruptions to some its clients.

The company said on its website: “Cognizant can confirm that a security incident involving our internal systems, and causing service disruptions for some of our clients, is the result of a Maze ransomware attack.

“We are in ongoing communication with our clients and have provided them with Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) and other technical information of a defensive nature.”

SCC provides help to Cambridge University Hospitals

Posted on April 21, 2020 by - News

SCC has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) launch a free national PPE training website amid the on-going COVID-19 outbreak.

CUH needed to quickly provide critical training on how to correctly put on and remove Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to protect them from contracting and spreading the virus. A new website was built prior to lockdown measures being implemented in the UK, hosted locally.

The website is a resource for the whole of the NHS on the practical aspects of PPE, developed in collaboration with experts in infectious diseases at CUH. To launch the website as quickly as possible, CUH asked SCC for support in architecting and deploying the infrastructure required to host this website in AWS.

Cannabis oil is good for you

Posted on April 21, 2020 by - News

Channel entrepreneur Nick Boardman has set up a business to market cannabis oil and is offering products which, he claims, will help people facing anxiety and depression during the current coronavirus crisis.

Boardman – who set up Rock Group PLC during the 2000s, said he had decided to launch the business dubbed Lizard Green after he faced his own health challenges over the last few years.

Microsoft’s ‘Planetary Computer’ switched on

Posted on April 20, 2020 by - News

Software King of the World, Microsoft, has been showing off its latest sustainability initiative.

Dubbed Planetary Computer, the project is an expansion on the vendor’s current AI For Earth initiative, which sees environmental organisations around the world use artificial intelligence to create solutions to environmental challenges.

Microsoft president Brad Smith gave specific examples of how the platform will work in a blog post, stating that it will provide searchable satellite imagery, machine learning tools and user-contributed data about forest boundaries, as well as leveraging predictive models to estimate global carbon stocks and inform decisions about land use that impacts the ability to address climate change.