Category: News

Dynama gets onto UK G-Cloud

Posted on September 26, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220The maker of organisational design, resource management and workforce optimisation software Dynama  has been accepted onto the latest iteration of the UK Government’s Digital Marketplace, G-Cloud 10.

Dynama currently supports some of the most challenging operations in the public sector including the UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary, NATO, US military and the Australian Defence Force. Most recently, the Dynama OneView application has been successfully deployed as NATO’s new Automated Personnel Management System (APMS) providing organisational structure management, HR and logistic support to personnel across 29 Member Nations in Europe, North America and Allied Partners around the world.

Dynama is also currently working in partnership with Andromeda Systems Incorporated and the US Department of Defense (DoD) to provide Dynama OneView, to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme. This is used to aggregate and visualise data for the entire programme, which encompasses over 2,700 aircraft, with their associated personnel and support equipment.

It’s been busy then.

Andrew Carwardine, Managing Director of Dynama said: “We are proud to be accepted onto the Government’s latest G-Cloud framework and to have the opportunity to share the benefits of our technology with those who keep us safe and secure on a daily basis. These vital service providers share the common challenges of deploying appropriately skilled staff to the right place often at short notice and within budget constraints. With our fully automated solution which has been accepted by the Government’s Digital Marketplace, public sector organisations can create resource management and workforce optimisation strategies to boost efficiencies and control costs in a highly flexible way.”

 

PC sales about to pick up

Posted on September 26, 2018 by - News

The seven years of lean times in the PC industry will be over next year as Windows 10 adoption increases, according to technicolour dreamcoat analysts at Canalys.

The analyst claims that a “slight recovery” next year will see shipments of desktops, notebooks and two-in-ones edge up 0.3 percent. Hardly time for the seven fat cows, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Canalys chief analyst Alastair Edwards said: “Windows 10 refresh will continue to be the main driver of commercial demands for PCs in 2019.

“This will be buoyed by strong economic performance and business spend in the US, the largest PC market in the world, as well as a continued global push to upgrade on the back of heightened IT security concerns. Furthermore, 2019 is likely to bring about an easing of component supply constraints that have recently plagued the industry. Intel and its partners have admitted that slight supply of 14-nanometer processors will delay PC shipments this year, while DRAM shortages will start to ease towards the end of 2018, with the effects to be felt next year.”

Canalys said that the channel will see the success it has found with Windows, both through sales and services, continue for a period of time.

However, it warned that this will not last forever, claiming that the spell could come to an end in the first half of next year. Canalys added that the most “successful partners” will be the ones that build out managed desktop and subscription services.

This trend has been supported by two recent vendor announcements, with both Microsoft and HP launching desktop-as-a-service offerings.

Azure Virtual WAN gets Barracuda support

Posted on September 26, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Barracuda Networks is supporting Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN service through its CloudGen Firewall, extending enhanced networking security to organizations looking to deploy Azure Virtual WAN.

“Customers want choice and flexibility in the cloud, but they can’t sacrifice security,” said Tim Jefferson, VP Public Cloud at Barracuda. “By using our integration with Azure Virtual WAN, customers can have the best of both worlds — large-scale branch connectivity over Azure Virtual WAN with enhanced network security via the Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.”

In public preview since July, Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN service provides optimised, automated, and global-scale branch connectivity, Vole reckons. Azure Virtual WAN brings the ability to connect customers’ branches to Azure with SD-WAN and VPN devices (i.e. Customer Premises Equipment or CPE), with built-in ease of use and automated connectivity and configuration management.

The Barracuda connection to Azure Virtual WAN is automated: Users need to fill out authentication information and click “connect”. Barracuda uses dynamic routing protocols in the background to make sure new routes to new locations are automatically picked up and made available, the company claimed.

“We’re pleased that customers looking to simplify branch connectivity and extend application workloads on Microsoft Azure now have access to the Barracuda integrated Azure Virtual WAN solution”, said Ross Ortega, Partner PM Manager, Azure Networking, Microsoft. “The integration between Azure Virtual WAN and Barracuda provides ease of use and simplification of connectivity and configuration management, hence providing optimized and automated branch-to-branch connectivity through Azure.”

 

Ruckus launches Dogfather Technical Community

Posted on September 25, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220 Ruckus Networks has launched its Dogfather Technical Community in EMEA.

The programme gives partners a series of educational initiatives with the idea of giving Ruckus partners  a competitive edge and solutions.

Ruckus claims that partner enablement is the cornerstone of its channel ethos. The Dogfather programme comprises several components, each with their own dedicated and focused resources such as easily accessible technical training via monthly-webinars, seminars, workshops, events and social media, all available in 15 different languages.

Matthew Ball, Principal Analyst at Canalys, said that the channel was experiencing constant disruption, with technology innovation firmly at the forefront of partners’, and  their customers’ minds.

“Enabling partners to stand out in such a competitive market is key to making a real difference as a vendor and to drive loyalty. Giving partners the knowledge and skills they need to deliver and meet their business goals is a huge differentiator and shows real commitment to the industry.”

Following the launch of the Ruckus new two-tier partner programme at the end of 2017, channel growth has become paramount. As a channel-first company, Ruckus recognises the need to serve its partner community and provide them with the tools to be profitable, competitive and win–and Ruckus’ superior technology is driving this.

“With the introduction of our Dogfather programme, we expect to see a much closer-knit partner community,” said Massimo Mazzeo-Ocello, director of systems engineering, EMEA, Ruckus Networks. “The best partnerships are based on the simple principle of making each other’s businesses better–sharing the risk and the reward. As vendors, we need to invigorate partners, not hold them back. The channel cannot just survive, but must be allowed to thrive, in a world with technology at its core.”

 

The Dogfather Technical Community Programme consists of:

Big Dogs: Ruckus’ annual EMEA sales and technical event for senior partner executives
Mini Dogs: regional partner roadshows for regional sales and technical teams
Dogfather remote enablement: monthly webinars and tech-newsletters on select topics open to all partners and available in 15 languages
Dogfather Days: Ruckus- driven live events with technical engineers, available in 15 countries
Distributor Days: Distributor-supported, live Ruckus-driven technical events with their relevant partners
Social Media: easy to use, with pre-written blogs, social posts and spotlight promotion
The benefits of the Dogfather Community are available to Ruckus’ Elite and SMB partners immediately. For more information please visit:

 

Lee Walker joins Sherpa

Posted on September 25, 2018 by - Moving People, News

banner_220x220Channel Marketing agency Sherpa is expanding its global operations outreach by hiring a new Client Services Director.

Lee Walker, former Business Development Director for Stylus, has joined Sherpa as the Client Services Director and will head up the operations team.

Lee brings extensive marketing expertise from previous agency roles and his experience of managing numerous, successful teams throughout his career will be integral in his role as Client Services Director and ensuring Sherpa’s customers continue to be fully supported.

Lee said he was delighted to be joining Sherpa as the business looks to continue its successful growth.

“Sherpa already has a strong client focus, as evidenced by its long-standing relationships and recent business wins. I am joining a remarkable team who are extremely experienced across the full marketing mix, from data management, strategic planning and ABM to content marketing, SEO and paid traffic. The skill set is incredibly diverse, and I am confident that through our combined efforts our global operations will not only become more efficient but also develop stronger and more valuable business relationships with our clients.”

Sherpa CEO, Tom Perry added: “Sherpa has a wide range of clients, made up of some of the largest companies in the tech space at present and as our client base grows and the marketing landscape continues to change, so do the required skillsets of our core team. I am a big believer in championing our team and investing in them, ensuring the right person stepped into the role of Client Services Director has been paramount. I do not doubt that we have found someone in Lee who can actively lead our expansion and grow our operations teams as we take on more global marketing programmes.

“Our vision of creating the world’s best channel marketing agency requires people of Lee’s calibre, and I’m delighted he has joined Sherpa at this time of rapid expansion”.

 

Microsoft shows off its new things for the Cloud

Posted on September 25, 2018 by - News, Products

banner_220x220Microsoft today announced a plethora of new Internet of Things-focused updates to its Azure cloud computing platform.

Some of today’s announcements are relatively minor. Azure IoT Central, the company’s solution for helping you get started with IoT, is now generally available and there are updates to Microsoft’s IoT provisioning service, IoT hub message routing tools and Map Control API.

Microsoft said that the Azure IoT platform will now support Google’s Android and Android Things platform via its Java SDK.

What’s more interesting, though, is the new services. The highlight here is probably the launch of Azure Digital Twins. Using this new service, enterprises can now build their own digital models of any physical environment.

It is the virtual counterpart to a real-world IoT deployment and the idea is that as IoT deployment in the real world changes, so does the digital model. It will provide developers with a full view of all the devices they have deployed and allows them to run advanced analytics and test scenarios as needed without having to make changes to the actual physical deployment.

Writing in its bog, Vole said: “As the world enters the next wave of innovation in IoT where the connected objects such as buildings, equipment or factory floors need to be understood in the context of their environments, Azure Digital Twins provides a complete picture of the relationships and processes that connect people, places and devices.”

Azure Digital Twins will launch into preview on October 15.

Jane Ashworth takes over from Andy Bass at Lenovo

Posted on September 24, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220 as its channel director taking over from Andy Bass who cleaned out his desk last month.

Ashworth worked as UK MD at SMART and has the job of upping sales in Lenovo’s UK SMB business.

She said: “I am thrilled to be joining Lenovo which is such an innovative company and at a pivotal time in its performance journey. I’m very much looking forward to working with our channel partners to strengthen partnerships and support them in their delivery of tomorrow’s technology today. Lenovo is a strong, dynamic company with an excellent product portfolio and talented team. The refreshed channel programmes are helping to streamline processes for channel partners, and I’m excited about joining the company and supporting Lenovo’s ambition to grow the business alongside our channel partners.”

It looks like she means it.

Before her time at SMART, Ashworth was commercial sales manager role at the original Hewlett Packard and was a Sony general manager .

Of Ashworth’s appointment, Lenovo’s UK general manager Preben Fjeld said: “Our channel partners are fundamental to our continued growth plans and Jane’s strong background in channel sales, channel development and product management will further propel and energise the relationship with our partners in the UK and Ireland.”

InfinityQS bolsters its global channel partner programme with Tata

Posted on September 24, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220InfinityQShas announced that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is to join the InfinityQS channel partner programme in a new strategic alliance.

The new partnership with TCS – it’s said – will enable its blue-chip industrial clients to use the  InfinityQS Manufacturing and Quality Intelligence platform, Enact. It’s claimed it will enable InfinityQS to use TCS’s expertise in IT, business & technology services, and engineering, to support existing partners within the InfinityQS partner network.

For those who came in late, Tata Consultancy Services, is part of India’s largest multinational business group and helps manufacturers monetise connected products, operations and customers.

Speaking about the partnership Regu Ayyaswamy, Vice President and Global Head IoT & EIS at Tata said: “Increasingly, we’re seeing demand from our clients for greater flexibility across their plant IT solutions and because of this, it was the right time to bolster our services portfolio by becoming part of the InfinityQS partner program. Doing so enables us to integrate our solutions and offerings with Enact easily and seamlessly while leveraging its global support. Now our clients can capture data streams from a variety of plants and can significantly improve their production processes globally.”

Jason Chester, Director of Channel Programmes for InfinityQS, said: “Tata Consultancy Services is, without doubt, a revered global advisory company. We have successfully worked with TCS in the past on major projects with some of the world’s most recognisable manufacturing brands. To formalize this relationship through a new strategic alliance is a major opportunity for both our clients and prospects. Combining our best-in-class Enact solution with their exceptional services pedigree will be a transformative opportunity for the manufacturing industry.”

BuilderStorm partners with Conkers

Posted on September 24, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Cloud-based BuilderStorm announced a partnership agreement with rugged tablet maker Conker to offer its solutions to BuilderStorm clients.

Conker’s rugged devices claim to provide the purpose-built functionality construction companies need to manage resources and operations via the BuilderStorm platform. The software can be used on any device with a browser, but in construction, it’s hard to recommend hardware that’s up to ‘the job’.

David Lawrence, CEO of BuilderStorm said: “We aim to have many joint customers who use our products alongside each other. We are regularly asked the best hardware to run the BuilderStorm Platform on on-site, in the past our advice has always been ‘for your site based team nothing too expensive, anything with a browser can support us’, now we have a product that can stand up to the Construction Industry we can pass on that value to our clients.”

Conker said it is continually listening to the feedback of the industry and further developing its product. It’s claimed  Conker’s Android devices perform well, hold their charge, and are IP68 rated, dustproof, water-proof and all integrated within a durable handset.

Public cloud set to grow

Posted on September 21, 2018 by - News

Beancounters at the analyst firm Gartner have added up some numbers and divided  them by their collective neck size and worked out that the worldwide public cloud revenue market is forecast to grow 17 percent to $206 billion in 2019.

This year is expected to see revenues in the market hit $176 billion –  an increase of 21 percent from 2017.

Big G said Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is the dominant segment in the public cloud market, with Gartner predicting revenues will grow 17.8 per cent to reach $85 billion in 2019.

The analyst said SaaS will maintain this market dominance over the next four years and generate global revenues of $113 billion by 2022.

Craig Roth, research vice president at Gartner, said that the increasing adoption of SaaS applications and other cloud services affects the management, dissemination and exploitation of enterprise content.

“Organisations are steadily – but not exclusively – shifting their content environments to SaaS. Gartner expects that by 2019, the current enterprise content management market will devolve into purpose-built, cloud-based content solutions and solution services applications.”

Cloud system infrastructure services (IaaS) is the fastest-growing segment of the market, predicted to reach $39.5 billion next year, representing a 27.6 percent increase from $31 billion in 2018. By 2022, Gartner expects that 90 percent of organisations will buy their public cloud IaaS from an integrated IaaS and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider.

How SaaSy can you get?

 

NSS Labs sues Symantec, CrowdStrike and ESET

Posted on September 21, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Cybersecurity testing firm NSS Labs has filed a lawsuit against Symantec, CrowdStrike and ESET, accusing the vendors of failing to reveal flaws in their products.

In the antitrust suit, NSS claims that the vendors have conspired to prevent the independent testing of their products. Antitrust legislation is designed to prevent monopolies on a given market and promote fair competition.

All three vendors are members of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (AMTSO), which has a mandate to standardise testing methods. But  NSS CEO Vikram Phatak claims AMTSO members are instead “actively conspiring to prevent independent testing that uncovers product deficiencies to prevent consumers from finding out about them”.

He said: “Further, vendors are openly exerting control and collectively boycotting testing organisations that don’t comply with their AMTSO standards – even going so far as to block the independent purchase and testing of their products. Vendors such as CrowdStrike have conspired to prevent testing of their products by placing clauses in their end-user licensing agreements that make testing of their products subject to their permission. This unethical and deceptive behaviour hampers transparency and hinders consumers in their ability to assess whether a product delivers on its promises.”

NSS Labs said that, in the past, vendors that refused to take part in product testing would see their reputation damaged and sales hit.

With this in mind, vendors have now decided to boycott testing en masse, seeking to protect their reputations as a group, it claimed.

The vendors have not commented, so far.

 

Rubrik launches first reseller global programme

Posted on September 21, 2018 by - News

Rubrik, the Cloud Data Management Company, today announced its first global programme for resellers.

Dubbed the Rubrik Velocity Partner Programme it will  tap into the $48 billion data management market opportunity. The tiered program empowers partners with a framework for differentiation, more sales and technical enablement to build and recognize expertise, and new rewards to support partners who invest in their business with Rubrik.

Bertrand Yansouni, VP of Worldwide Channel at Rubrik said: “Rubrik’s unprecedented growth is due in large part to our phenomenal partner ecosystem and our 100 percent channel go-to-market approach. Our new Velocity Partner Programme expands upon our commitment to the channel by empowering partners to drive their key business initiatives through Rubrik, like building their cloud business or driving more advanced services. We believe this new programme will increase the velocity of our partners’ success.”

Lots of buzz words in there. Sounds like the firm needs a new spinmeister to us.

Rubrik has wanted a “total” channel business model since day one. The Rubrik Velocity Partner Programme was designed with partner input and incorporates meaningful investments to enable and reward dedicated partners who lead with Rubrik.

The new program includes three tiers – Authorized, Select, and Elite. Classification is based on competency and performance. Requirements will vary based on country and partner size so that every partner has access, and a clear progression path, to the highest tiers.

The programme also introduces new specialisations to recognise the unique capabilities.Rubrik  claims. So it is launching Rubrik Academy, a new “enablement” programme for the entire Rubrik partner ecosystem, which includes accreditations for partner sales, pre-sales, and post-sales.

The Velocity Partner Programme introduces a rebate for Elite partners, lead and opportunity sharing, joint marketing funds, and incentives for partner sales and sales engineer representatives in the highest tiers.

The programme also introduces a new global Partner Technical Advisory Board, reflecting the value Rubrik places on partner solution engineers’ technical expertise. The new program is being introduced at Rubrik’s EMEA Partner Conference. Program benefits will go into effect February 1, 2019.

“Rubrik’s innovative technology has been instrumental in changing perceptions of the value of backup, recovery, and data protection. Rubrik brings simplicity to traditionally complex technologies and has allowed us to elevate data management from an insurance policy to become an integral part of our customers’ strategic approach”, said Tim Jeans, Head of Specialist Sales at Softcat. “Through the new Velocity Partner Program, Rubrik is proving to us once again how valued its partners are by building our technical and sales competencies further to drive bookings, increase deal size, and accelerate profitability.”

“Rubrik is a key partner for us because their solutions offer our customers simplicity, cost savings, automation and a path to the cloud”, said Rob Owen, AVP – Chief Architect at Computer Design Integration (CDI). “The Rubrik partner program is going to give us the tools to increase not only our top-line revenue, but our profitability as well.”

“Rubrik is driving positive disruption in a market that had limited innovation and can benefit from efficiency and modernization improvements”, said Manny Punzo, Director of Data Protection and Management at Technologent, a global provider of IT, data, cloud and security services.  “Their [its, Ed.] simple, scalable solution addresses our customers’ key initiatives, including not only how they improve data protection, but also how they bring the cloud into their business. Rubrik’s new Velocity Partner Program is going to help us capture this shift in the market and grow our company.”

Rubrik didn’t say which tiers these partners occupied.

Formpipe Lasernet and HSO team up on digital transformation

Posted on September 20, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Microsoft Dynamics Document management solutions, Formpipe Lasernet has partnered with HSO, the provider of enterprise business solutions, to strengthen its UK presence.

The Global managed IT services market continues to grow and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.4 percent through to 2024, taking the total market value from $145.3 billion in 2016 to a projected $249.4 billion by the end of 2024 according to recent research from Wise Guys Reports.

Commenting on the partnership, Mike Rogers, chief commercial officer at Formpipe Lasernet, said: “We are continuing to build on our partner first strategy and are delighted to welcome HSO onboard. Formpipe Lasernet is a global company and the addition of HSO will strengthen our presence within the UK. The Lasernet product set and partner ecosystem continues to go from strength to strength, so partnering with HSO was a natural choice.”

HSO brings more than 25 years of industry experience to Formpipe Lasernet’s established partner portfolio. With offices in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, APAC and the US, HSO has delivered successful implementations in almost every country in the world. HSO is an award-winning Microsoft Gold Partner specialising in implementing and supporting ERP & CRM business solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and providing Managed Services to multinational enterprises in Retail, Distribution, Manufacturing and Services.

Mark Cockings Head of Alliances and Sales Operations at HSO said of the partnership: “HSO are pleased to be partnering with Formpipe Lasernet to deliver a comprehensive solution for document management with Microsoft Dynamics 365. Our joint proposition enables customers to quickly and efficiently create, modify, control, disseminate and archive branded documentation across their entire organisation. This partnership continues HSO’s strategy to work with best of breed organisations to deliver innovative solutions to meet the growing business needs of our customers.”

 

 

MSPs need strategic vision and to differentiate

Posted on September 20, 2018 by - News

Wise Guy Reports claims that the the Global managed IT services market will expand at a CAGR of 9.4 percent through to 2024, taking the total market value from $145.3 billion in 2016 to a projected $249.4 billion by the end of 2024.

MSPs globally are facing a multi-faceted struggle to grow their businesses. On the one hand, there is competition from the public cloud players such as AWS, Google and Microsoft who set pricing levels and have reach but are unable to customise or tailor their offerings to specific verticals. The bulk of MSPs are much smaller, and specialist in technologies covered and markets, but need scale to build their profitability and have limited resources.

Other analysts Gartner claim that when compared to 2017, the entry criteria have become much harder and stringent. The focus has squarely shifted to hyperscale infrastructure providers, it says, and this has resulted in it dropping more than 14 vendors from its top players list. According to Gartner, there are no more visionaries and challengers left in the market; only a handful of leaders and niche players driving the momentum.

Among smaller players, the pace of competition has stepped up and they are feeling a major pressure to differentiate, either on skills, markets covered, geographical coverage or in customer relations. According to Gartner’s research director Mark Paine: “The key to a successful and differentiated business is to give customers what they want by helping them (the customer) buy.”

Jim Bowes, CEO and founder of digital agency ManifestoOne said that the way to win more customers is by showing them their place in the future

Bowes, Robert Belgrave, chief executive of digital agency hosting specialist Wirehive along with  Gartner’s Mark Paine will be addressing these and other marketing issues for MSPs at the UK Managed Services & Hosting Summit in London on 19 September.

A key part of the event will also be hearing from the experiences of MSPs themselves and looking at established winning ideas. Now in its eighth year, the UK Managed Services & Hosting Summit event will bring leading hardware and software vendors, hosting providers, telecommunications companies, mobile operators and web services providers involved in managed services and hosting together with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and resellers, integrators and service providers migrating to, or developing their own managed services portfolio and sales of hosted solutions.

 

 

Matrix signs ICON as UK distribution partner

Posted on September 20, 2018 by - News

banner_220x220Global access control vendor ICON has been named as Matrix’s new UK distribution partner.

ICON already distributes the Matrix range of telephony solutions but has added the Access Control and Time and Attendance solutions to its portfolio in a bid to push into the healthcare and manufacturing area.

Mark Shane, Sales & Marketing Director of ICON, commented: “Our partnership with these solutions means that the UK reseller channel now has access to a very versatile and affordable range of access control solutions, which offer enterprise features at a lower investment stake. The biometric readers and from Matrix are already proving a hit with partners who have suffered from using inferior products in the past. Until now not freely available in the UK market, we believe that the Matrix solutions will become a significant revenue earner for our partners, displacing many of the traditional enterprise vendors from their preferred supplier position.”

Dhaval Bhagora, European Sales development at Matrix Comsec, said: “We are very pleased to have ICON on board distributing our Access Control solutions for us. We are very excited about our new relationship. We at Matrix recognise ICON’s abilities and pedigree and look forward to helping them achieve our goals for the UK market.”