Category: News

Zeus Cloud CEO Mark Grindey has warned that public sector IT services are no longer fit for purpose due to its poor tendering system.

He said that reports of constant security breaches, unacceptable downtime, epidemic overspending, and delays in vital service innovation that would reduce costs and improve citizen experience have become rampant.

“While the UK’s public sector is on the front line of a global escalation in cyberattacks, the number of breaches leading to service disruption, data loss and additional costs to rebuild and restore systems are unacceptable and unnecessary. A lack of expertise, insufficient procurement rigour and a herd mentality have led to over-reliance on a handful of vendors, ubiquitous infrastructure models and identical security vulnerabilities that are quickly and easily exploited,” Grindey said. Read more…

Cisco supremo Chuck Robbins is adamant about not getting left in the digital dust again, especially not in artificial intelligence (AI) arena.

Cisco was the networking kingpin that got a bit of a shock when cloud computing came knocking. But Robbins does not want the same thing to happen with AI. He reckons Cisco has the upper hand this time, unlike the cloud kerfuffle when they were behind the eight ball. Read more…

TD SYNNEX has become the first UK distributor to stockpile Sophos’ shiny security gadgets, ready to wing their way to partners immediately.

The Sophos suite of cyber shields is up for grabs on TD SYNNEX’s InTouch e-commerce platform, and it’s not just any old stock list – we’re talking next-business-day delivery as standard.

TD SYNNEX UK security boss Alison Nixon said: “This is a huge change and opportunity for Sophos partners. Our customers have been wanting us to apply our top-notch stocking and ordering to the Sophos hardware products, and we’ve pulled out all the stops to make it happen.”

This means partners can now zap orders to their clients faster than you can say ‘cybersecurity’, Read more…

Crew-based Radius has just announced a strategic partnership with Vodafone Ireland Business. They’re bringing a complete communications service to their business customers in the Republic of Ireland (RoI).

This is not the first time Radius has teamed up with Vodafone. They’ve been working together in Northern Ireland, and now they’re expanding to cover the whole of Ireland.

Through this partnership, Radius’ telecoms business unit will offer a range of Vodafone communications products and services, including 5G mobile broadband solutions to those hard-to-reach regions with no fibre. They’re even throwing in unlimited 5G tariffs, giving networks like Three and Eir a run for their money. Read more…

US-based Evergreen has just snapped up another firm, Digital Origin, based in Milton Keynes.

This is not their first rodeo in the UK, mind you. Last year, they took over The Final Step, a London-based MSP.

Digital Origin, founded in August 2018, is a one-stop shop for businesses needing IT solutions. Its connectivity-as-a-service (CaaS) model delivers wholesale IT, MSP, and cybersecurity solutions across three sectors: IT connectivity, telephony, and mobile solutions.

Its top dog, James Evans, is sticking around to keep the ship sailing smoothly. He reckons the UK IT MSP (CaaS) sector is going through a bit of a transformation, what with all the political shenanigans and the lingering effects of the pandemic. But he’s confident that Evergreen and Digital Origin are ready to seize the day. Read more…

Kristin Russell, who was steering the ship of Arrow Electronics’ £5.8 billion Global Enterprise Computing Solutions business, has been given the boot, effective 2 April. And no, they didn’t even have the decency to give a reason. A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing stated that it was just a cold, brutal termination.

The plot thickens as Eric Nowak, a 20-year Arrow stalwart, most recently the big cheese of EMEA and Australia-New Zealand for ECS, steps into Russell’s shoes. He’s been handed the reins of the business that Russell led for the last three years. Read more…

Tech behemoth Cisco and a veritable who’s who of the tech world, including Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP, have united their strengths and expertise to form the AI-Enabled Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Workforce Consortium. This alliance, driven by a shared vision, is poised to prepare the global workforce for the impending large-scale adoption of AI.

Cisco top brass, Francine Katsoudas, said, “AI is turbocharging the global workforce transformation, and it’s high time the private sector stepped up to the plate to upskill and reskill workers for the future.”

The newly formed consortium is not waiting for the AI revolution to catch up. It is on a mission to arm organisations with the knowledge of AI’s impact on the workforce and equip workers with the necessary skills. “We’re taking the first crucial step to ensure the AI revolution leaves no one in the dust,” Katsoudas added. Read more…

New research from Microsoft partner Advania has found that IT complexity is hindering mid-market organisations’ efforts to harness the full potential of new technologies.

The scale of the challenge is significant, with more than 81 per cent of mid-market organisations needing help scaling, updating, and future-proofing their underlying tech stacks in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era.

This independent study by Censuswide, the largest of its kind, surveyed 966 mid-market IT decision-makers across organisations in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland. Read more…

Juniper Networks shareholders have given a resounding thumbs up to being snapped up by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), paving the way for a staggering £11.06 billion merger.

On 2 April, Juniper held a special meeting of stockholders to vote on the HPE acquisition. More than 265 million shareholders backed the deal, with a mere 258,000 naysayers voting against it. This means less than one per cent of Juniper shareholder votes were against the merger, demonstrating massive support for the acquisition.

Both companies want to seal the deal before we officially ring in 2025. Read more…

Blighty and the United States have sealed a historic pact to pioneer AI safety testing, becoming the globe’s inaugural nations to formalise a collaborative agreement in assessing the threats of artificial intelligence.

The accord, signed by Britain’s tech secretary Michelle Donelan and US commerce supremo Gina Raimondo, outlines a course for joint efforts and pooling expertise, data, and insight.

The duo intends to construct a “unified strategy” for AI safety testing, conducting “at least” one shared testing drill on a model accessible to the public. Read more…

Number crunchers at Juniper Research predict that the dosh flowing through POS terminals will hit a whopping £13 trillion by the end of 2024, and that’s not all—it’s set to balloon by 25 per cent by 2028!

Despite a spate of tills going kaput at shops worldwide, causing a right kerfuffle with closures, we’re on the brink of a till revolution. That’s right, out with the old clunky cash registers and in with the snazzy ‘smart’ ones.

The new report, “Global POS Terminals Market 2024-2028” says that loads of shopkeepers have been caught with their pants down, not ready to tackle their ancient tills conking out Read more…

Israel Checkpoint

Israel cyber security powerhouse Check Point has inked a deal with the Software King of the World, Microsoft, to supercharge its Infinity AI Copilot service with the Azure OpenAI service.

For those who came in late, Check Point’s Infinity AI Copilot is an automation service that the company hopes will redefine security administration. If it works, it promises to significantly reduce incident response times and bolster protection against cyber threats, setting a new standard in the industry.

The company claims it can harness the power of artificial intelligence; this innovative solution tackles routine and complex security tasks with lightning speed, freeing up precious time for security teams to focus on staying one step ahead of cyber villains. Read more…

UK-based security startup Goldilock has adopted a channel-only approach to drive its business forward.

The company, renowned for its physical network isolation service, is banking on an indirect strategy to unlock access to a broader customer base and expand its market reach.

At the heart of Goldilock’s range is a revolutionary appliance that swiftly isolates and secures systems, effectively halting breaches in their tracks. The National Cyber Security Centre’s NCSC For Startups programme, in collaboration with Plexal, and support from the Ministry of Defence’s Defence and Security Accelerator support the startup. Read more…

Softcat is purring over an 11 per cent gross profit leap to £196.5 million, and its gross invoiced income has clawed up a four per cent increase to £1.263 billion in its half-yearly financial fiasco up to 31 January 2024.

Operating profits have pounced up 5.8 per cent to £66.7 million, and Softcat’s saying it’s more than they’d hoped for.

However, the reseller’s revenue has tumbled by eight per cent – a bit of déjà vu from last October when they reported a similar 8.6 percent drop.

The bigwigs at Softcat reckon it’s all down to hardware sales hitting the skids, which make up a hefty chunk of the revenue pie, while software and some services get a trim under IFRS15. Read more…

TD SYNNEX has announced a staggering revenue of £12 billion and a net income of £147 million in its fiscal first quarter, defying market expectations.

Despite revenues hitting the forecasted range between £12 billion and £12.5 billion, they are a 6.7 per cent dip from last year’s figures.

The distie dropped a bombshell with a new £1.7 billion share repurchase programme that’s got the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street all excited.

CEO Rich Hume said: “We generated strong results in our fiscal first quarter, driven by our expansive portfolio and an improving IT demand environment. This resulted in record margins, EPS at the upper end of our expectations, healthy free cash flow and robust capital returned to shareholders.” Read more…