Comms Dealer

Anyone seeking a foretaste of the future role of analytics in shaping the customer experience need look no further than last month's round table discussion hosted by TeleWare in association with Comms Dealer.

It is beyond argument that big data - universally acknowledged as a boon to the industry and a sector obsession - has brought with it real challenges when harnessing, segmenting and monetising the expanding sea of information that sits both within and outside an organisation's network. The round table discussion shone an overdue spotlight on the intrinsic potential of big data and the industry's efforts to fully realise the commercial value of deep and useful insights provided by analytics.

The issues revealed by the debate are as fundamental as the freedom of customers to persecute organisations that provide a bad contact experience. Disaffected clients can easily post negative social media reviews in real-time and switch to competitors at the drop of a hat. Not for nothing therefore will analytics and systems integration become a dominant theme. But what is to be the nature of the new reign?

"We work in the customer engagement contact centre world," commented Martin Taylor, CMO at Redwood Technologies. "We're seeing demand for voice-type control and service levels, such as monitoring and recording, applied across all channels including email, web chat and social. Customers want to achieve this without creating too many silos and inefficiency, and integrate more closely with information systems, particularly CRM. This is a business level decision rather than an IT function because it introduces more automation while reshaping the entire organisation."

Customer interactions have in the past been constrained to a traditional phone call, but digitalisation and social media have let loose the fall-out of a bad customer experience across numerous channels. Much of the impact of this multi-channel environment comes from how data is managed and handled. Not surprisingly, data analytics has assumed a unique potency in the industry's mind. "There is strength in understanding your customers quicker than anyone else and adapting to them," said Derek Watson, Managing Director at Aurora. "Knowing customers is your biggest asset, along with your speed of learning."

What also matters is how organisations react to their customers as individuals, and how the industry enables businesses to deliver an impeccable customer service. "The conversation is different, it's based on the company's aims and objectives," said Peter Gee, Managing Director at NIU Solutions. "We work with financial organisations. This sector is competitive and acquiring customers hinges on the digital customer experience. It's about how we can help their business as a trusted advisor. Technology is the enabler, not the answer. Customers see value and differentiation in this approach."

Analytics and the customer experience are inseparable and represent a new direction for the industry that will see data scrutinised with the sublime concentration of a scientist and the results applied in imaginative ways. What matters most is how the industry responds. Rob Quickenden, Chief Strategy Officer at Cisilion, cited one example of how the company is helping customers play the analytics trump card. "We're currently working with a large fitness company," he stated. "This is a competitive market and the organisation is struggling to keep members. It therefore wants to analyse how sales teams are interacting with the consumer base and how they integrate with Facebook and Twitter.

"But the social media team is not aligned to the sales department. Analytics are applied to sales calls only, while other contacts between staff and customers are unmeasured. That data is out there and we need a mechanism to join it up. Because of this we are seeing high level conversations outside of IT. It's about having an open infrastructure that harnesses every part of the customer journey. It's also about understanding not just the business's behaviour but also how consumer behaviour impacts their organisation."

Finding a way through the thickets of an information forest towards the sunny uplands of effective data analytics poses a strategic obstacle for any organisation. It's a difficulty TeleWare is addressing with gusto. "Joining up data with different medias across the whole customer journey, including information that sits outside of the organisation such as social media, is a challenge," stated Steve Haworth, CEO at TeleWare. "There is a lot of data external to businesses that can be pulled in."

The rapid rise of analytics is like a hit over the industry's head, powerful enough to cause a re-examination of traditional modes of operation and influential enough to redefine the customer experience and how that is best delivered. Why? Because those who live by the loyalty of their customers can easily die by their inability to give customers what they want, which is likely to be increasingly complex, according to Quickenden.

"One of our customers wants to integrate LinkedIn and their CRM system," he added. "They want a system that automatically updates itself to let them know when a key customer contact moves job. Losing a head of purchasing or CFO can have a big impact in the B2B market and affect relationships. This is how analytics and system cohesion works. Not having this information could give business rivals an edge, and also bring new opportunities for companies that have strong relationships with key people who move on."

Tightly integrated systems also enable organisations to become adept at giving customers what they want first time around and draw strength from the customer experience they offer. But strengthening their ability to deal with high numbers of contacts is a different matter altogether. "You can have qualified people dealing with a small number of enquiries, but what some of our customers in the health sector face, for example, is massive volumes of demand and the only way to scale the knowledge is to automate it," said Taylor. "You can't possibly provide a knowledge-based service at great scale."

The implications of automation may seem a distraction from the personalised intelligence offered by deeply segmented analytics but it is nonetheless a direction of the industry. "There is a rise in demand for self-service automation, especially in B2B," observed Graham Harris, Product Director at Daisy Wholesale. "In B2C this has already been delivered. We can book so much online for example and it's a painless experience. In B2B we will see growing demand for self-service interactions."

Just as intriguing is the gradual development of commodity-type products. It won't be long before big networking solutions will be built via a portal with drag and drop control of routers and security apps etc. "This 'build your own' network model with auto configuration is coming through," added Harris. "That's an interesting dynamic in the VAR space, very different from vendors telling VARs to skill up and make money from professional services."

The potential shrinkage of revenue steams derived from professional services adds more emphasis to the role of analytics in generating incremental growth based on a differentiated customer experience. Whether customer contacts are automated or personalised the quality of the experience remains crucial. "If you can't change the user experience customers will move elsewhere," added Gee. "The challenge is to service multiple customers. Agents are able to conduct a number of chats at the same time rather than one phone call. It's a shift that cannot be ignored. A big finance company we work with conducts 80 per cent of contacts online and 20 per cent on the phone.

"Budgets are tightening and competition is increasing. The hospitality sector for example is super competitive and there's pressure on IT budgets to come down and be more efficient. At the same time I've got to innovate and differentiate my business. Doing better with less money is a massive problem. You can't do it just through technology, you have to work on partnerships that help to sell and apply information and data."

All of the above are issues and challenges that no channel business can realistically avoid, and they must show courage in uncertain times. "Post-Brexit fear is affecting how people make decisions," pointed out Bill Smith, Director at STL Communications. "We are seeing an over reaction in the market that puts people off making decisions. In 2008 buyers sat on their hands which didn't help us sell. This will be the case for two tough-ish years and could be a catalyst for change as organisations seek to do things better and cheaper to mitigate the effects of Brexit."

Rather than default to a defensive position and cave in to economic insecurities in the wake of Brexit, channel firms must shun uncertainty and take positive action to harness the untapped data that exists. This agenda is already set by Zen's partners, noted Martin Clarke, Head of Channel Sales. "Our partners want greater access to our data and our analytics," he said. "There's a lot of data in the business but external access to detailed analytics has been limited. Now the partner base is showing big demand for more insights to be presented to CRM systems. This is an interesting dynamic and something we're keen to exploit."

This push for more insights is symptomatic of an industry in a state of permanent flux, and signifies that whoever finds differentiation, by whatever means, is in control. "Our industry has grown accustomed to rapid change but it is increasingly difficult to differentiate against competitors and generate revenue by monetising our offerings," stated Mark Rosson, Managing Director at Connect North. "The smart organisations will embrace analytics as a means of getting closer to customers and partners, both of which are ultimately our most valuable business assets."

The rise of data analytics is a stroke of good fortune for the channel, and a welcome antidote to a number of challenges that is starting to deliver results. Sensing the way the wind is blowing, Haworth showed a determination to lead the industry. "We're investing heavily in analytics," he said. "The capability to analyse data at a granular level, understand individual preferences and drive recurring revenue will increase the value of an organisation. It's about rich data and knowing how to segment it in the right way. The challenge is working out where that value lies, how we use data, what can be charged and where that money comes from. As well as investing in the analytics piece TeleWare is betting heavily on Skype for Business. We see a massive industry shift into the IT world, away from pure comms."•

Regulator Ofcom 'took on' BT but its bigger test will be convincing a sceptical comms industry that it has gone far enough.

Ofcom's ruling not to split off Openreach from BT reflects the regulator's lack of strategic vision and its inability to take a tough decision for the better, according to Ricky Nicol (pictured), Chief Executive at Commsworld. He believes Ofcom's reluctance to break Openreach away from BT is more about the pension deficit within the Group and the financial issues this would create, rather than any real strategic play. He said: "This will be the last throw of the dice for BT to hold onto Openreach and is a result of short-sighted conclusions from Ofcom.

"It is wrong to maintain what is effectively a monopoly. This will not encourage investment in the critically important infrastructure the UK needs for prosperity and development. We have many customers still waiting, after more than two years, to get connectivity; and over 20 customers have been waiting for more than a year. The UK is desperate for an improvement and the best way is via a competitive choice for customers."

Full separation was never an option given the complications of pension fund obligations, noted Adept Telecom's CEO Ian Fishwick. "There are probably more ex-employees than employees and most worked before Openreach even existed," he said. "So if you break off Openreach how do you decide what portion of the pension issue it takes with it? Many have been under the false impression that Openreach was a separate company with its own financial accounts. It never has been and it is amazing Ofcom has allowed this for so long.

"Perhaps the biggest issue is how the cash generated from Openreach's profits is used. Should BT be allowed to treat it as Group cash and fund areas like football TV rights? Or should Openreach be forced to spend its own cash on improving the UK's infrastructure? I sit firmly in the latter camp. Whether anything changes depends on how this will be enforced. The devil is in the detail."

SAS CEO Charles Davis called on Openreach to rethink its future role in the industry. "A fundamental mind-set change is required by Openreach to show that the carrier industry can enable UK businesses rather than be seen as a limiting factor," he stated. "The status quo that BT has been able sustain has delivered little improvement to businesses and consumers. Of course there are complex issues for Openreach to resolve in a BT-exit such as who to manage the pension fund, but just like Brexit workable solutions can be found."

According to Ralph Gilbert, Director at Focus Group, there is a long way to go to level the playing field, a situation not helped by Openreach being under the umbrella of the BT Group. "I am concerned about the proposal," he commented. "It would seem the larger CPs such as BT Retail, TalkTalk and Sky will be major Openreach customers which means smaller CPs may struggle to compete if there are preferential rates on infrastructure services."

These issues ultimately depend on how Openreach operates as a distinct company and how its leaders make decisions. Under Ofcom's proposals non-executive directors, including the chair, will form the majority of the new board and be appointed and removed by BT in consultation with Ofcom. The regulator recommends that Openreach should develop its own strategy and annual operating plans within an overall budget set by BT Group.

Ofcom's CEO Sharon White added: "The new Openreach board will have to take investment decisions as a matter of law and the decisions must work for the whole of the UK. I understand why people see the attraction of selling off Openreach. It seems straightforward, but, for example, pension issues could take years to resolve. These new rules provide all the benefits of separating Openreach and can happen straight away, without delay."

Ofcom will monitor the 'new Openreach' and board level decisions and judge whether they are being taken in the interest of customers. "If this does not deliver independence, faster broadband and better service we reserve the right to revisit a sell-off," added White. "There needs to be more investment in fibre to the doorstep, with engineers arriving on time and doing the job first time."

In February Ofcom made it easier for telecoms providers to invest in competing infrastructure by improving access to Openreach's network of telegraph poles and its ducts. On 31st July new rules came into force giving telecoms providers further rights to access physical infrastructure. These measures are designed to reduce the cost of deploying broadband networks by sharing access to infrastructure across different sectors.

Ofcom also announced a range of measures to ensure that all phone and broadband companies provide an expected quality of service. Since then the regulator has taken more steps to improve services as well as boosting coverage, such as automatic compensation and easier switching. Ofcom has set out stricter minimum requirements for Openreach to repair faults and install new lines more quickly. From next year, the regulator will publish tables on communications providers' quality of service.

Ofcom's new plans followed last month's CMS Select Committee report which criticised Openreach for its poor quality of service and BT's under investment in the UK's digital infrastructure.

 Colt is targeting a new set of agents and ramping up its channel activity following a period of double digit growth via partners.

The man at the centre of Colt's channel expansion bid is James Kershaw, Sales Director for the Indirect Channel. He joined the company in 2010 and manages channel development across its northern region. Previous roles include stints at Lixxus and Claranet; and he's seen a big shift in the market with customers wanting more consultancy and independent advice before signing up to a service. "This is primarily due to digitalisation which has brought with it a myriad of companies offering a variety of services, creating more information to digest than ever before. So identifying the right partner is not always a straightforward task," said Kershaw.

Colt is hoping to attract resellers with the skills to help companies move to the cloud and digitally transform their businesses, as well as manage this process with IT services. "Colt will enable partners to have a wider conversation with customers through a consultative service around their business challenges," stated Kershaw. "And help them to scope out a project based on a business outcome, not a piece of telecoms equipment or technology.

"These new agents will be able to support the business with the right storage, IT virtualisation and mobility operations alongside other solutions. Colt's high bandwidth network infrastructure will enable these information intensive businesses."

Kershaw has witnessed, in particular, greater usage of Colt's core data and voice products. "When looking at data, 1Gb and 10Gb circuits are now the norm, and we are continuously helping more of our customers connect to cloud providers," he said. "For voice, the migration to SIP/VoIP from traditional TDM has been significant year-on-year and, as well as immediate cost savings, customers have been able to utilise a wider range of features previously unavailable to them. These were the main contributors to the double digit growth Colt saw in its agent channel last year."

Colt's portfolio includes Software Defined Networks (SDN), Direct Cloud Access (DCA) and UC services. Kershaw says many agencies have won a number of complex pan-European deals and significantly grown their customer numbers by selling services such as these. "The agent model allows Colt to collaborate with customers on every level," noted Kershaw. "We must ensure that we can offer services to both our direct, larger and enterprise customers, as well as the vast number of SME accounts.

Companies want support throughout a business project and not just to be provided with a product such as mobile working or just selling phone lines. Organisations are becoming less sensitive and loyal to a technology, but instead want a combination of solutions to their business problems. The push for consultancy is also driven by large companies moving their infrastructure into the cloud, or starting new IT projects. They understand that this can't be handled in-house."

Colt's new consultancy model draws on experiences gained in the US and Germany where a fresh channel approach has already been deployed. "The agent model is well established in these two regions, and it has shown us that if executed and supported in the right way it is an invaluable route to market for us as a supplier and the end customer regardless of their size," commented Kershaw. "The 'sell with' model gets Colt closer to the end customers and allows us to better address the business need in every account, which means we can deliver a bespoke and relevant solution."

In the UK, the SME market accounts for 99 per cent of the operating businesses so companies like Colt need to adopt these types of agent models to increase their 'feet on the street' in order to grow the customer base. "Due to the vast number of companies in the UK SME market agents will help Colt to address a far wider proportion of businesses as an extended workforce," commented Kershaw. "At almost every level a customer now has far higher expectations from vendors such as Colt. Gone are the days where providers can set the expectations when it comes to initial delivery time, support hours or communication methods.

"Businesses now need services in days, or even hours, rather than months. They want to make a change in real-time without order forms or, in some cases, talking to us. Providers that aren't evolving or listening to the new fluid generation of CTOs, CIO and COOs will miss this natural evolution."

Colt's new partners enter the 'Flying Start' programme which offers a combination of learning platforms and materials. Portals keep partners and agents informed on the latest product releases, as well as educating them about related technical aspects that complement the product range. Colt has also introduced new measures to increase customer retention and minimise churn, covering the various customer touch points and the output score is reflected in an agent's development plan. "Colt agents, or trusted advisors, only need to focus on customers, everything else is covered," said Kershaw.•

Decisive and dynamic action should be the channel's only response to the fizzing M2M market, according to Comms365 Managing Director Mike Van Bunnens.

In this time of M2M and IoT expansion it would be foolish for the channel not to play to its traditional strengths of agility and adaptability; and the biggest threat to a reseller's business is to ignore what could be their greatest opportunity for years, believes Van Bunnens. It is clear to him where the future lies. "There is a chance for resellers to grab a share of this market, add value to the existing customer base, increase differentiation while gaining a foothold in a fast moving dynamic sector," he stated. "It's time for resellers to get serious about M2M."

This is no time to be impartial, according to Van Bunnens, who two months ago instilled a bias towards M2M in the Comms365 business following the appointment of two IoT heavyweights, Nick Sacke as Head of IoT and Products and Situl Shah as Head of Business Development, all part of a push to drive IoT solutions via partners.

They bring 45-plus years joint experience including expertise in developing and implementing IoT, M2M, wireless, IT security and managed ICT solutions. The move is a clear sign of the future direction of the business, focused on enhanced connectivity, M2M and cloud solutions.

Decision time is here and there's no place for half-hearted gestures. "What is holding the reseller community back?," asked Van Bunnens. "Why are resellers not leveraging their experience in both mobile telephony and corporate communications to deliver high value M2M deployments? Even those that have dabbled in mobile data, including broadband and Internet services, are typically opting for a turnkey solution and reselling a carrier's bundle with no added value or differentiation. They should step back and consider the opportunities that exist even within their current client base. It will soon become clear that most resellers could rapidly identify mobile data opportunities, from remote monitoring and management to backup."

From smartphone enabled bike locks and talking vending machines, to remote management of water treatment works and CCTV, M2M comms is transforming life for businesses and consumers. Yet to date, few traditional telecoms resellers have addressed this market. Van Bunnens insists that M2M offers a 'fantastic opportunity' to add significant revenue and create a 'compelling and differentiated offer'. "Whether you call it M2M, the Internet of Things, telematics or pervasive Internet, the truth is that the ease, speed and security of the latest generation of mobile data technology is opening up great opportunities for innovative businesses," he said.

M2M now underpins a raft of business applications - from EPOS and ticket machines to CCTV, digital signage and parcel tracking - but the majority of such implementations have been carried out by the main service providers. Few resellers have gained traction in this market despite the opportunity. Perhaps their slow reaction is due to the practical challenges associated with entering this market.

"While M2M offers opportunities not only to add revenue but also to create clear market differentiation, it is not a straightforward transition from mobile voice to mobile data," stated Van Bunnens. "And the lack of reseller friendly education and support has without doubt constrained M2M market development.

"This is an area that has been dominated by a small numbers of players, primarily the service providers. To gain a share resellers will need to consider an evolution of the business model and some investment in additional resources. Data is certainly more complex than voice. Applications, security, hardware, configuration, support, monitoring and management are all essential components of a successful M2M deployment, and resellers can also benefit from reusing existing skills and capabilities to add value into the marketplace."

Van Bunnens emphasised that it is important for resellers to understand where value can be added and the types of applications or connectivity that can be successfully introduced to a portfolio. "M2M has been based traditionally around small packets of data and therefore relatively low cost but high volume connectivity," he explained. "How easy would it be to gear up to manage thousands of connections transmitting 1MB or 2MB of data a month and the associated support that follows a large deployment? Or, is the existing model perhaps more suited to providing larger data requirements where the end application includes Internet access, video and other more bandwidth hungry services?"

Resellers can continue to ignore M2M or simply opt for the basic reselling of a carrier's turnkey solution. But for those that want to actively embrace this rapidly developing market and gain some clear differentiation, there are a few key steps to take. Firstly, understand the opportunities. "This requires a partner with a demonstrable track record across the board in M2M/IoT deployments, from fixed IP SIMs to wind turbines, and one that can highlight potential pitfalls and wider opportunities within a deployment," stated Van Bunnens. "Also, remember that M2M requires a multi-year commitment from both sides including daily support. After all, this type of service is long-term, not just a quick fad that can be started and stopped at will.

"M2M will continue to evolve at pace and the next wave will see applications and security become prominent factors for differentiation. Right now, the market is dominated by a few companies, many of which are not always providing the depth of service required."•

Shovels in the ground attract little glamour but the UK's digital future hinges on dark fibre being available in spadefuls according to national infrastructure builder CityFibre.

Following CityFibre's Dark Fibre Symposium - held at the London Stock Exchange on July 20th and attended by 75-plus influential industry players - the UK's legacy infrastructure suddenly seems older and more tired. But digging to create a modern fibre and duct network architecture now marks a very different connected future facilitated by the highly motivated national pure fibre infrastructure provider. In a keynote address CityFibre's CEO Greg Mesch delivered a jolt of reality to the sceptics who said at the time of CityFibre's inception that it could not compete with BT Openreach. The basis of their argument was that nobody confronts head-on the incumbent monolith. It's the same argument, ironically, that underpins CityFibre's strategy. Nobody else is competing, so competition is the only response. This simple law of economics is shifting the tectonic plates and there's no limit set on CityFibre's ambition.

"We're serious about building infrastructure that's fit for purpose," stated Mesch. "It's not about the next few years, it's about the UK's future. There needs to be more infrastructure, more ducts and more fibre in the ground. The UK must be diversified away from BT.

"This is not about fibre strands. It's about ducts and sub-ducts that are capable of running thousands of strands of cable. In York we're using a two duct network sub-ducted four ways and we have enough capacity to connect every home and business, every cell site, every school, every single property on a purpose built infrastructure. That's what we mean by a new generation of future proof digital infrastructure."

CityFibre's intention is to show that unlimited fibre capacity is a national priority that rids the UK of an aging copper network that is ultimately holding back the nation. "Increased investment in digital infrastructure, primarily fibre, drives GDP growth, innovation and creativity," added Mesch. "Our vision is simple: We believe that every building should be connected to fibre. It's inevitable. We are not afraid of digging up roads and engineering a fibre infrastructure. How else can we transform the digital capabilities of citizens and businesses? Our mission is to build a next generation future proof infrastructure for the UK."

CityFibre's goal is to be in 50 cities across the UK quickly, offering dark fibre and associated products. The power of fibre is most evident in the projects already advanced by Mesch and the goal of CityFibre's endeavour is to scale those successes across a wider footprint. "We're connecting core networks and densifying more and more connections with a shared infrastructure model," he added.
Mesch's passion for fibre is also an invitation to the industry and potential partners to start thinking afresh about the UK's infrastructure. "We believe in sparking innovation," he stated. "We're preparing for 10 Gigs and terabit speeds because that's where the industry is going."

CityFibre's management share more than two decades experience in designing, building, operating and financing fibre infrastructures. They established CityFibre in 2011 after a base acquisition that helped them develop and refine a shared infrastructure model that caters for the public sector, business, mobile and residential verticals in cities outside of the M25. Those are the most needy of a new digital infrastructure, believes Mesch. "That's what we're targeting, that's what we're building," he said.

Listing on the AIM market in January 2014 CityFibre grew rapidly and late last year completed the £90 million acquisition of KCOM's national fibre and duct network assets, giving it access to 21 new cities. The company secured financing of £180 million to facilitate the acquisition and commercialise its national network. "In less that 24 months we went from a concept in a few UK cities to 37 cities and £90 million of unused facility to build infrastructure," noted Mesch. "And there's much more to come."

CityFibre's journey as a public company has been impressive, underpinned by international touchstones and learnings derived from markets more advanced than the UK. "Investors like our model," stated James Enk, Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. "The dominance of Openreach has until now meant service-based competition only, not infrastructure. Investors also bought into our strong recurring revenue yield and disciplined approach to growth. When we put a shovel into the ground there is a contract behind it."

Part of CityFibre's challenge when coming to public markets was to educate investors on its strategy, a learning process made easier by a number of international precedents that prove CityFibre's model by multiples. MetroWeb, based in Milan, provided a fibre overbuild in competition with Telecom Italia to bring fibre to the home. The company is now an astute, pioneering and adept player in the roll out of fibre in Italy.

Stockholm-based Stokab has traded for 22 years and represents the closest analogue to CityFibre's UK ambitions, providing a passive fibre network sold as a shared infrastructure and facilitating FTTP. Every business in Stockholm has a fibre connection. Four LTE networks also run off the network which has provided an overall 3x return on investment.

Like CityFibre, Eurofiber was born out of a series of acquisitions in the Benelux region. The company is focused on the business park and enterprise segment in Holland, primarily delivering dark fibre. Eurofibre has changed hands twice in recent years with handsome returns for investors. CityFibre therefore boasts a proven model backed by validation from international comparatives.

"CityFibre's here at a national scale and open for business," said Rob Hamlin, Commercial Director. "Dark fibre is available nationally from us and we are willing to keep digging because everyone should have access to dark fibre. Many have lobbied Ofcom for years to get access from BT, but challenges persist. We are ready to sell dark fibre at scale with a flexible approach and terms that work for our customers. We fully anticipate bringing in substantially more funding. We have a large financing stream in place to fund projects, with a remaining facility of tens of millions that customers can view as a capital stream to exploit for their businesses."

CityFibre is now connecting end users at volume through a growing number of channel partners. Already more than half a million school children are using its infrastructure, made possible through specialist partnerships. "The opportunity with dark fibre to flatten out the increasing costs of managed solutions is attractive in the market," added Hamlin.

"Three and EE have moved their backhaul architecture entirely to a bespoke dark fibre platform in Hull. Dark fibre is seen primarily as an engineering based product but its influence is felt right through to the user experience and improved top line performance. Public sector customers are deploying dark fibre for CCTV, traffic lights and Wi-Fi sites. We're pushing hard to challenge our design and delivery approach to start rolling out that infrastructure across our cities."

CityFibre is putting in place an architecture that is perfectly positioned to support small cells for mobile operators. The expectation for small cells playing a huge role in the delivery of capacity and reliability in the mobile networks over the next five-ten years is becoming an ever-increasing theme. "We want to anticipate that in the design of our networks and products and start to lay the ground for something that will be revolutionary - a backhaul to support the future of mobile networks at the right cost and the right scale across a number of our cities," said Hamlin.

John Franklin, Operations and Engineering Director, explained that CityFibre's 'well planned city' design is based on a ring methodology with the ability to hand off to any particular location, buildings, towers etc wherever needed as the market expands. "We think in thousands of fibres, scale is key," he said. "Getting sufficient ducts in the ground at the right location creates the flexibility to extend a capillary network off the core that drives demand.

"CityFibre is developing a tool bag of architectures to address every possible opportunity, working with data centres on how best to optimise them via our nationwide infrastructure, looking specifically at strategies to connect in, through and across data centres, and continue to drive for automation, visibility and cycle time improvement."

There is a notion that dark fibre is a niche market and difficult to commercialise to different markets. But high capacity fibre networks are driving transformations across all sectors. This compelling message was underlined by the remarkable work undertaken by Commsworld in Edinburgh which is using dark fibre to transform the city's digital future.

"Our commercial approach comes down to us following our customers' strategy, understanding where they need network, on what terms and the nature of their financial and commercial goals," added Hamlin. "We recognise different business models. There is also an idea that the infrastructure status quo cannot be changed. That's not true. That's what's holding back the UK's digital future. Digging is a challenge, but it's what we do." •

Britain won't officially exit the EU until Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered, but judging by new Prime Minister Teresa May's statements the die is cast and Brexit means Brexit. So what are the implications for the ICT channel?

The Brexit viewpoints are still pouring into our inbox thick and fast and while comments remain polarised, there is a developing optimistic trend. From an investment perspective, Knight Corporate Finance partner Adam Zoldan (pictured) believes it's important to play the long game. "There is a potential risk that M&A will be put on hold," he commented. "But given our focus is on a sector that has high levels of recurring revenues, long-term growth opportunities and has shown resilience to recession, we are quite relaxed. We have not seen any change in direction on the deals we're currently working on, and expect some interesting deal announcements over the next few months that demonstrate continued investment in our sector.

"There will clearly be a short-term negative impact, as we have already seen, due to the shock vote which most people were not expecting. This will result in some investment decisions being put on hold until there is more clarity around the way forward in terms of our relationship with the EU and its members. As long as any new agreement between the UK and EU members is reasonable for all parties, longer-term this decision could be a positive."

Nigel Cook, partner at TMT M&A specialist Evolution Capital, observed: "Investment decisions will be delayed and therefore we should be prepared for a slowdown. Price and therefore multiples are big factors for investors, buyers and sellers. In the mid-market where debt is the main source of capital, reduced lending multiples may have an impact on company values. Uncertainty can be more damaging to business than reduced performance and I am pleased we are now hearing a positive vision of the future for UK business from the new Cabinet and the role we will play in the global economy."

Stuart Griffiths, Managing Director at Dartford-based reseller True Telecom, is more pessimistic about the overall economy, but believes any recession that does materialise will be good for telecoms business. "In short, Brexit will of course damage our economy," he commented. "With the pound weakening to its lowest value in over 30 years, I imagine it will make the last recession look like a stroll in the park. At True, however, we feel we can turn a potential negative Brexit situation into a positive outcome. Our offering puts us in a position to help SMEs reduce their telecoms outgoings and cope with the unrest and turmoil a potential recession could cause."

Dave Dadds, Managing Director at channel-only Cloud Communications business VanillaIP, goes further, believing Brexit will have a 'very positive' effect on the general UK economy and his company's growth prospects, although he is concerned about skill shortages in the future. "In the medium to long-term, Brexit will be good for our economy," noted Dadds. "The ability to manage our own affairs directly and trade with all of the world's markets on an equal footing is important. We expect it to have a positive effect on UK VanillaIP business and our international Uboss brand, although it is important for the UK to continue to pull in migrant labour from all parts of the world on equal terms depending upon skills required."

Former Shoretel marketing chief Tom Perry, who now runs his own ITC marketing company Sherpa, is equally bullish. "My firm belief is that the channel has a golden opportunity following our Brexit decision to further develop and grow on a global scale," he enthused. "As the barriers to working internationally diminish we have seen the rise of the 'super VAR', and with huge political and economic change comes opportunity.

"When we exit, those companies that can think and act globally will have a fairer marketplace within which to operate and for some this will be enough to drive significant growth. For channel entrepreneurs there is a golden time just round the corner and for those companies like my own who help global technology companies expand, we just got a whole lot more to aim at."

The last word falls to Andrew Cooper, NEC Enterprise Sales Director UK&I, who urged the Government to act fully on the democratic decision taken. "The British people have spoken," he commented. "We have a moral obligation to respect their decision and to deliver the reforms required to ensure Britain remains a thriving and prosperous country. 'We're open for business' should now resonate from all sides of the political spectrum."•

Philip Carse, Analyst at Megabuyte.com, reports on the recent performance of leading companies in the comms space during the last quarter.

Currently or once-distressed telecoms assets continue to be theme of corporate activity, following the previous quarter's Maintel/Azzurri deal, with GCI taking over Outsourcery's assets and Pinnacle reinventing itself with the sale of existing activities and the acquisition of three managed services companies, including adept4 whose name Pinnacle has now adopted.

Meanwhile, private equity interest in UK telecoms and networks continues, with Lyceum backing an MBO of contact centre specialist Sabio and Livingbridge buying a minority stake in Southern Communications. Superfast broadband remains in vogue, with Hyperoptic receiving 25m euros funding from the EIB, following Gigaclear's 24m euros equity raise and similar 25m euros EIB loan earlier in the year.

Outsourcery's sorry AIM experience finally came to an end with BGF-backed GCI picking up the assets for an undisclosed sum after major channel partner and creditor Vodafone triggered a sale to protect its customers. GCI will pick up about £8m revenues at about EBITDA break-even, versus the £4m loss Outsourcery suffered in 2015, boosting its revenues by about 15%. Assuming that GCI picked up the assets for no or low cost, this looks to be a strategically sensible deal, with GCI having the routes to market to leverage Outsourcery's Cloud platform.

Another buy and build failure, Pinnacle, completely reinvented itself in the quarter, selling its softswitch-based £6.7m revenue subsidiary Pinnacle CDT to Chess for £2.8m, giving away its problem child security business RMS Managed IT Security Limited for £1, and buying two Leeds-based IT services companies (Ancar-B and Weston) for £5m and managed services provider adept4 for £5m. The rejig was part-financed by a £4.5m equity fund raise and an investment from the BGF, and Pinnacle has now adopted the adept4 name.

Private equity investor Lyceum Capital acquired a majority stake in contact centre specialist Sabio in a deal valued at £50m, or about 10x current year underlying EBITDA. New CEO Andy Roberts updated us on continued solid organic trading and how the MBO is expected to accelerate Sabio's development through the use of M&A for the first time, but still with its contact centre focus.
Business comms provider Southern Communications secured a minority investment by Livingbridge and new bank facilities to fund M&A. The firm told us that revenues were up about 30% to £30m to March 2016, mostly M&A-led, with rising margins.

Front runners
The standout results/updates this quarter came from companies focused on connectivity, including Exponential-e, euNetworks and Virtual1. For example, network and cloud specialist Exponential-e maintained its exceptional growth record in the year to January 2016, with revenues up 28% organically to £77.3m and rising EBITDA margins, albeit with the usual recycling of EBITDA into capex. More of the same is expected this year.
Redcentric reported revenues to March 2016 up 16% (8% organic) to £109.5m, driven by recurring revenue growth, and EBITDA up 21% to £25.8m as the company benefits from M&A synergies, including last year's Calyx and City Lifeline deals. However, net debt rose £18.1m to a higher than expected £25.3m due to cash collection issues, higher capex, exceptional costs and M&A. The outlook is for continued strong organic growth.

Alternative Networks' first half results to March 2016 reflected February's mobile-driven profit warning, with EBITDA down 27% to £7.5m on revenue down 4% at £69.3m. The good news is that the company seems to have stabilised the ship, with new Mobile commercial arrangements, while growth in Advanced Solutions and an overall healthy backlog point to a stronger second half. The company has also significantly enhanced its bank facilities for M&A. Alternative Networks is the main share price faller over the last year, down 51%.

TalkTalk issued an in-line first quarter 2017 update (to June), with overall revenues down 0.4% (to an estimated £447m) but good Corporate and TalkTalk Business performances, while reiterating second-half weighted full year guidance of modest revenue growth and £320-360m EBITDA. The company has also given some details of the York FTTP trial including (jointly with Sky) 12% penetration three and a half months after launch and a cost per premise below £500, which it believes proves the concept.

Adept Telecom reported a strong cash-generative, M&A-driven year to March 2016, with revenue, EBITDA and the dividend all up 30-37% to £28.9m, £6.2m and 6.5p respectively off the back of the acquired Centrix's managed services contribution. Its shares are up 22% over the last year.

In a communications environment growing in complexity it's refreshing to note that the market for conferencing solutions is not only easier to address but also growing faster than ever, according to Konftel's Regional Sales Director Jeff May.

Resellers are never happier than when market dynamics converge on a no-brainer product, and according to May the conferencing market is such a gift, driven in particular by mobility, flexibility, all things IP, wireless and UC. "IP platforms and UC clients provide low cost, high quality connectivity," said May. "Wireless solutions support the flexibility and immediacy that the market demands, and together they open up more applications and provide us, the vendors, with ever more opportunities to develop increasingly flexible and seamless solutions. Conferencing really is just an extension of normal communication and meeting behaviour."

These platforms mean that video communication is becoming universal on desktops and mobile devices, enabling remote meetings to become more interactive and widespread because participants can join from literally anywhere and on any comms device. "We need to support and enhance these devices and applications by offering audio solutions that ensure group conferences are as effective as private calls," added May.

Sound quality is the de facto consideration over video during a conference, according to 80 per cent of respondents in a survey by Konftel conducted early this year. "Sound is the basis of every meeting," noted May. "The other elements can be worked around, but if you cannot clearly hear, then the meeting is over. In our survey results only two per cent value video as the most important enabler in remote meetings and six per cent screen sharing."

Meanwhile, hosted and cloud-based services will increasingly present new deployment opportunities, believes May. "At the moment, peripheral products such as conference phones are often purchased as separate items on an ad hoc basis by SMEs, but as hosted solutions penetrate this sector conference phones will also be an obvious add-on to the bundle from day one. Cloud-ready IP conference phones give customers the same seamless zero touch installation process as their other IP devices."

Konftel's strapline, 'Get Together', reflects the ongoing rise of remote meetings in a whole range of environments from the boardroom to the bedroom. There was a time when conferencing was dominated by large boardroom solutions, but today smaller devices are used by SoHo workers, and even personal devices designed especially for people on the move. "Every business will have some conferencing need at some time and many have different requirements at the same time, so it is important that we offer a range of solutions that all provide the same service over potentially different networks and in different environments," added May.

Much of Konftel's development strategy is shaped by customer feedback and the new Konftel Unite app, which is free, illustrates this approach well. "With the increase in web-based conferencing, customers and resellers report back to us that simply joining the conferences is a major problem, with customers bombarded by pin numbers, access codes, user names and different clients to install," explained May.

"Konftel Unite is a single touch app that links to a user's calendar, sends alerts when meetings are due and in the case of webinars will automatically call the conference number and enter the user's own name and password. This way conference calls start on time, no matter where a customer is or what device they are using. We want all resellers and their customers to use the app and experience simple conferencing."

Konftel is a channel-only firm that addresses all vertical markets, supported by demo units, a 'try and buy' evaluation service and new apps designed to help customers get the best possible conferencing experience. Perhaps the biggest growth sector right now is personal conferencing devices, and Konftel recently introduced the Ego product to meet demand, functioning as a portable battery powered USB and Bluetooth conference pod that turns any smartphone or tablet into a conference quality device. "The Ego ensures that any VoIP or mobile call can now be held with crystal clear HD audio for one or several people to work hands free and efficiently around it," added May. "The LCD display shows which application is in use, and it connects to the customers' own device which is familiar to them."

According to May this tangible sense of familiarity is driving new solutions for offices and boardrooms. "We know from customer feedback that users want three essentials when it comes to conferencing," said May. "Quality and flexibility are obvious, but ease of use is becoming a critical factor, particularly as more people are using conferencing, many of whom are not regular conference attendees and therefore are unfamiliar with their operation. Ease of use is ensured if people can use the same tools and user interfaces on large group conferences as they can on their own smaller and private calls.

"With more and more individuals using personal conferencing devices we will encourage them to take the same approach in larger meeting rooms and use their own devices to convene calls for bigger groups. As such our portfolio will increasingly allow customers' own devices like smartphones to present the user interface and act as a remote Bluetooth device to a central Konftel conferencing unit.

"Calls will be initiated from the smartphone, contacts can be selected and added to a call from the phone book and the whole call control is effected from the device. Konftel will have a mix of interfaces for network and device connection so that any mix of call can be convened, be it audio, web or video, and presented to the room accordingly."

The portable nature of modern conferencing units with multiple network and device connections enables resellers to leverage the power of demonstration to the max when selling conferencing solutions, noted May. "Resellers should use them to demonstrate to their customers the superb sound quality that can be achieved," he added. "It is so much easier than referring to PDFs or data sheets, and in the conferencing world, hearing is believing."

May is also a great believer in leveraging existing assets and making them better. "In just a few minutes a reseller can visit a customer's site and connect a conference of different people across different networks," he explained. "For example, a Skype For Business call can be set up via a Bluetooth or USB connection to a laptop, and the audio channelled through a wireless unit such as the Konftel 55Wx or 300Wx.

"Any number of participants can join the call and, for example, a second group of callers on the telephone network can be bridged in. Mobile calls can also be bridged into the conference. In minutes a reseller can recreate how many business meetings are taking place in every company and demonstrate how much they can be improved."

The demand drivers in the conferencing market include cost control, reduced time away from the office, increased business efficiency, collaboration for risk sharing and education, immediacy of access to information, and the rise in personal conferencing, all of which will ensure sustained growth. "The market is growing," enthused May. "The desktop conferencing market has witnessed double digit growth every year for the last 20 years, and is forecast to continue growing by all of the analysts for the foreseeable future. The market has grown in times of recession as well as the boom years. More businesses are conferencing than ever before, and more individuals are using conferencing, so demand will continue to increase and proactive resellers can make huge sales."

Conferencing also represents significant attachment and bundling opportunities with other products and services that resellers will already be providing. "In a hosted environment conference phones can be added to a customer's check list like any other device," added May. "If resellers are selling laptops or web cams, then add a product to complete the web-video-audio conferencing capability. With every PBX CCU, include a conference phone and conference pods for different rooms. If reseller's are selling minutes, SIM cards or mobile phones, add a mobile conference phone that offers free inter-SIM conference calls and uses prepaid minutes in their call plans. If reseller's do not act on these opportunities customers will buy from somebody else."•

Sabio has become a master at marrying digital, social, mobile and traditional customer contact channels to create a seamless client experience, and incoming CEO Andy Roberts aims to double the size of the business based on its proven formula supported by new investment.

Sabio's multi-million pound Lyceum Capital investment and £30 million funding along with last month's appointment of Roberts as CEO has given a green light to the company's drive for UK and international expansion. The customer contact technology specialist currently generates £40 million turnover based on organic growth but last month's developments mark a new beginning. "We'll be looking to accelerate our growth plans, action an acquisition strategy and identify more opportunities for international expansion," stated Roberts.

"Our goal is to double Sabio's size over the next three to five years. The acquisition strategy will help to broaden our customer base and provide a greater target market for our WFO, automation, digital and multimedia solutions. Then we'll begin to build out our global presence in European and APAC markets, expanding our 24/7 support capability for those organisations seeking a single support partner for their customer contact technologies. The third part of our strategy is to investigate technologies that are adjacent to and complement our current portfolio, particularly those that help support our customers in bridging the divide between their digital and customer contact strategies."

Prior to his CEO appointment Roberts was a board director at the company since 2003 responsible for pre-sales, solutions delivery, managed services and support for the firm's UK and international operations. He also served as executive sponsor for Sabio's strategic partnerships with technology partners such as Avaya, Verint and Nuance. Roberts has been a member of the Avaya EMEA Partner Advisory Council and also served on the Customer Contact Association's CCA Supplier Council. He joined Sabio's Sales and Business Development team in 2001, and before that spent the previous ten years working in the financial services sector for LloydsTSB.

"Having begun my career in banking, joining Sabio and the communications technology sector in 2001 was a great opportunity for me to contribute directly in terms of growing a business," he commented. "As CEO of Sabio, my business development experience and background in managing all parts of the business will be critical as we drive the company through its next critical growth phase."

In recent years Sabio has grown ahead of the market, secured an increasing market share and delivered a consistently profitable performance. However, there is also a real opportunity for the company to accelerate its business plans and build out in terms of addressing broader opportunities. "Securing additional funding and putting the next generation of Sabio leadership in place will be instrumental in delivering on those plans," added Roberts. "In the short-term we're looking to accelerate how we execute against our current business plan, taking advantage of our new funding to make sure we have all the right resources in place.

"Longer-term we will focus on complementing our organic growth with a number of targeted acquisitions, both in the UK to gain a broader customer base, and internationally in Europe and APAC to support the growing number of customers with a global contact centre vision."

Sabio was founded in 1998 by Paul Began, Adam Faulkner, Sebastian Henkes and Ken Hitchen, all still engaged in the business. The firm has bases in the UK and Singapore and helps businesses to simplify customer engagement by enabling 'digital front door' strategies that create the right balance between self-service, assisted service and contact centre operations.

"From day one Sabio has always been dedicated to helping organisations deliver above-expected customer service by addressing their contact technology challenges," explained Roberts. "That's our exclusive focus area. And with over 17 years experience and a proven team of more than 200 solutions, services and support experts, we aim to be easy to do business with. It's an approach that works well for our customers as Sabio consistently achieves high CSAT support scores across our key technologies."

Sabio has been an Avaya Platinum Partner for over 10 years, a Verint Premier Partner since 2007, and a Nuance specialist since 2004. "We're also committed to high quality standards, holding both ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification for the provision of our customer contact technology strategies and solutions, as well as ISO27001 Certification for Information Security Management," added Roberts. "From our service hubs in the UK and Singapore we're able to provide contact centre technology support across multiple regions. We typically support at least three different technologies for each of our global customers, and now operate in 57 countries."

In 2015 Sabio was also named as one of the UK's Best Workplaces for the first time, and was also listed in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200, reflecting the company's performance as one of the UK's top mid-market private companies with fast growing international sales, delivering 15.4 per cent overall growth over the last two years and 25.4 per cent for the international business. "We've also grown successfully in terms of employees and now have 208 people across the business," added Roberts.

Sabio has also invested heavily in its partner technologies to deliver more flexible solutions. "For example, we've recently focused on the mid-market contact centre sector leading to the introduction of our Sabio OnDemand hosted solution that directly addresses the strong mid-market requirement for cloud-enabled contact centre technology," explained Roberts. "Investment in the Sabio business will help to accelerate the Sabio OnDemand roll out on a broader scale."

Sabio also works closely with technology providers such as Semafone, Conversocial, LivePerson, RMG Networks and Gamma to address specific customer contact requirements. "Looking forward, we will continue to investigate adjacent technology across disruptive market areas, potentially in the digital arena to support the growing number of our customers requiring a more integrated approach to omnichannel engagement," noted Roberts.

How organisations engage with their customers has never been more critical, and there's a clear international demand for a technology specialist such as Sabio that can help businesses to close the gap between digital and traditional customer contact channels. "Given that 90 per cent of customers are now looking for a seamless engagement experience, organisations can't just expect their digital or marketing teams to deliver on the omnichannel promise," added Roberts. "That's why Sabio is increasingly focused on helping organisations to optimise their 'digital front door' strategies, helping them to design customer journeys that create exactly the right balance between self-service, assisted service and the contact centre."

After effectively running parallel digital and contact centre strategies, more and more organisations are now recognising that all their different service channels - traditional and digital - have an important and complementary role to play. "For example, if your digital journey isn't performing optimally you might offer additional web chat support or use a virtual assistant to drive customers to the right self-service sites," added Roberts. "That's why we're focused on helping organisations to enable this transition, whether that involves the latest digital assistants or supporting broader infrastructure developments around technologies such as WebRTC."

In a world where the customer service and the actual experience offered is often the only differentiator, it's imperative that organisations do as much as they can to get this right. Roberts commented: "That's where Sabio can help, regardless of whether you're wanting to adjust to the demands of today's increasingly mobile and socially connected customers, want to streamline complex customer journeys to reduce customer effort, or simply need to close the gap between your digital and traditional customer contact channels.

"Whether organisations are simply looking to upgrade their existing contact centre infrastructure, evolve towards a next generation cloud architecture, or deploy a more comprehensive approach that addresses all of their omnichannel contact requirements, our challenge is to help them make sure that their customer engagement strategies are fit for purpose."•

To say that 2016 has been a milestone year for Entatech UK would be to greatly understate the nature of the key events and developments catalysed by business turnaround champion Dave Stevinson.

In February 2016 IT distributor Entatech UK settled its lengthy legal battle with the liquidators of Enta Group company Changtel and is now solely owned by Stevinson Capital, a business controlled by Entatech Managing Director Stevinson. The settlement was a long running, challenging and complex deal involving multiple firms of lawyers, and Stevinson ranks the outcome has his best career achievement to date, even bigger than growing GNR from a start-up in his bedroom to a multi-million pound European company within two years.

"The settlement eradicates all uncertainty and has the vital components of affordability and flexibility, enabling Entatech to go forward with purpose and confidence," he said. "We spent a long time working on our turnaround and transformation plan and have adopted a '4S' strategy to be delivered over four years based on the action words - Stabilise, Structure, Strength and Solutions. We have completed the Stabilisation phase in the first year and are now embarking on the Structure element. Here we have five cornerstones - the people structure, capital structure, data structure, product structure and ultimately the customer structure."

In further structural planning Entatech UK condensed its divisions from nine to four - PC Components & Gaming, Systems & Peripherals, Networking & Connected Home, and Retail & Software. "My vision with Entatech is to sharpen the focus and only compete in areas where we have a significant and demonstrable competence in the eyes of the customer," added Stevinson. "Our vision is where want to be and our mission is how we are going to get there. There are two areas where we see huge potential - the connected smart home and virtual reality for the PC gamer."

Dabs.com founder David Atherton shares Stevinson's vision and he joined Entatech as Chairman two months ago. Dabs.com was one of the earliest online retailers of IT equipment, growing from scratch to over £200 million revenue per annum. Atherton sold the business to BT in 2006. This key appointment followed the naming of Grant Thornton as auditors for the distributor in April. According to Stevinson the reputation of Grant Thornton signifies the improved governance and controls he's imposed on the business.

He says the company has come a long way since it was established in 1990 as an Anglo Taiwanese venture. Today, Entatech represents 70 brands in the UK, is 100 per cent trade only and has a base of 3,500 active resellers. Stevinson expects revenues to exceed £80 million this financial year and return to profitability following a period of decisive action that saw the entire board of directors changed. Alongside these developments Entatech has invested in new ERP and data analytics systems.

Stevinson is well qualified to drive organisational transformations and exhibited strong business and managerial skills early in his career. After graduating he joined the European branch of a Taiwanese IT company as sales executive while waiting to find a career in the City. "My initial plan was to be a stockbroker, but over time the company grew quickly and I became Managing Director, learning all of the skills needed to run a large company in the technology space," he commented.

Fast forward to today and Stevinson's current priority is focused on getting the people structure right. "We need to ensure that we have the right number and quality of people and that we have our aces in their places," he added. "Our challenge and opportunity is to be different from the big four competitors. So we are becoming more relevant to our clients and working smartly in niche sectors, using digital technology and advanced analytics as differentiators and accelerators.

"Another challenge is the lack of trade credit in our sector. We are addressing this by honing our product portfolio, reducing the cost base and improving efficiencies. These measures are augmented by our use of advanced data analytics across the company."•