Comms Dealer

Mobile solutions specialist CWSI, has signed a strategic alliance with Apple Authorised and Premium Reseller Compu b, to deliver Apple devices and Device Enrolment Programmes to large and medium scale enterprises in the UK.

"With more enterprise customers migrating to Apple technology as their mobile platform, CWSI and Compu b are ideally placed to offer complete solutions combining our hardware, support and training with CWSI’s industry leading mobile device management expertise and systems,\" said Ciaran McCormack, CEO at Compu b.

Ronan Murphy, CEO at CWSI added: "We have been working with Compu b in Ireland and are delighted to be able to deliver the same hardware, software and services solutions to the UK market.

"The partnership will appeal to existing as well as potential Compu b and CWSI customers seeking to build their mobile enterprise on Apple technology. Many companies struggle with DEP (Device Enrolment Programmes) and don’t understand Mobile Device Management (MDM). Together we can provide competitive solutions along with ongoing support to ensure the seamless integration of mobile workers within client businesses to improve efficiency, increase productivity, mitigate risk and add value."

EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation which champions manufacturing and engineering in the UK and the EU has joined forces with Oracle to get UK manufacturers fit for the 4th industrial revolution (4IR).

The organisations claim that 4IR is being driven by digitisation, big data and other rapid advances in technology. Eight in ten manufacturers (80%) say that this next industrial transformation will be a business reality within the next ten years.

This new industrial age is widely expected to open up new opportunities, as well as challenges, for UK manufacturing. As a result, collaboration between the technology and manufacturing sectors will gain in strategic importance, particularly in driving productivity, innovation and growth.  

Critical to this is identifying manufacturers’ experience with and understanding of 4IR, what they want to achieve for their business and how they think digitisation and new technologies will support them.

The collaboration will kick off with a series of focus groups with manufacturers around the UK and will culminate in an Executive Report that will help industry leaders to identify the key barriers, enablers and drivers of 4IR.

Above all, however, it will provide practical guidance on how manufacturers can adapt and implement new technologies in a way that suits their individual businesses.

Terry Scuoler, Chief Executive of EEF, says: "This collaboration is an important step forward in providing our sector with thought leadership and practical support and guidance ahead of the biggest industrial transformation of our time.

"It is vital that British companies are able to fully realise the opportunities and stay at the forefront of 4IR. This will require increasing levels of collaboration between our two sectors, so I am delighted that Oracle will help us engage and inform manufacturers on this crucial theme.\"

Mark Newton, VP of Applications at Oracle UK, says: "The British manufacturing industry has always kept up with the pace of innovation, but the advent of the fourth industrial revolution marks one of the biggest technology-driven shifts in modern times.

"Working together with EEF, we seek to provide manufacturers with both the information and practical paths they will need to successfully navigate the changing technology landscape. This represents a significant opportunity for manufacturers to transform their operations and harness the benefits of digital cloud technologies in both the UK and in global marketplaces.\"

To find out more about UK manufacturing and 4IR, visit: www.eef.org.uk/fourthindustrial.

Now here’s a cool idea for some extra revenue. The next time you are in a customer’s office see if they have a cooler.  Better still if you have retail, leisure, hospitality or catering sector customers ask if they’ve ever seen a cooler that has digital signage integrated into the unit.

Distributor Exertis, has announced availability of the LG Smart Hybrid Cooler that innovatively combines a built-in transparent signage display with a cooler. The 49\" HD that renders brighter images for a vivid digital content. Messages can be managed and displayed remotely with content distribution via the internet or an USB.

By eliminating air gap between the door glass and the transparent LCD panel, the LG Smart Hybrid Cooler displays accurate image and colour. Built-in speakers can add to the experience. Proximity sensors automatically switch the display from advertising mode to transparent mode enabling a see-thru view of the cooler contents.

Ian Aitken, Exertis, general manager, AV said: "The LG Smart Hybrid Cooler has a great many applications. For end users, it not only provides the functionality of a cooler that can display product or brand imagery but also the opportunity to generate advertising income.\"

The Exertis AV Enablement Suite provides resellers and their customers with a showcase for digital signage and interactive technologies, highlighting the IT infrastructure and control environments required to enable them.

ICT distributor Exertis has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Airangel, the UK based provider of venue based, value-add Wi-Fi systems and services.  It means resellers will be  able to sell and support Airangel’s Wi-Fi technology and services for the first time.

Rob Leggett, Exertis’ sales director for wireless and mobility solutions said: "Airangel is the perfect complement to our wireless infrastructure portfolio. We already provide a choice of Wi-Fi infrastructure solutions to fit organisations large and small, centralised and distributed, Airangel enhances our offering in public facing Wi-Fi adding next generation customer connection,  engagement and insight solutions.\"

Exertis claims the Airangel solution will enable resellers to help their customers extract the maximum value from their investment in Wi-Fi, providing the best connection experience for the guest or public, delivering customer analytics to the Wi-Fi provider and enabling personalised, targeted communication during a visit; a real value-add for both parties. MyAirangel, the cloud managed platform at the heart of the solution integrates with third-party Business Intelligence Systems, PMS, CRM, and other platforms delivering additional benefits to the customer.  It is used by hotels, retailers, apartment buildings, large public venues, and outdoor leisure facilities all over the world, including The Ritz, Mercedes Benz, Hilton Hotels, IHG, and the NHS.

David Weston, head of channel at Airangel added: "We have had great success enabling venues to maximise their on-property guest value and customer satisfaction with MyAirangel.  Exertis’ expertise in wireless networking, knowledge of the UK channel and ability to help recruit, train and nurture the right resellers will mean we can grow together and provide a significant new strand of business for those partners who want to add value to their customers with a need for next generation venue and value based Wi-Fi.\"

Sennheiser UK netted over £15,000 for Make-A-Wish foundation at its 21st annual charity day at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club in Berkshire.

With over 100 people in attendance, including customers, Sennheiser staff and other guests, the range of fun-filled activities included mountain biking, a Go Ape ropes course and Segways, with guests also able to relax in the spa or take to the golf course.

"The support we received was staggering and as you can see from the amount raised everyone was very generous with their time and their donations\" said David Brisden – Director of Operations at Sennheiser UK. "We’d like to offer our warmest thanks to everyone who attended and helped to organise the event.\"

Payment specialist NetPay Solutions Group, has been shortlisted for the Technology Provider of the Year and Most Disruptive Payments Technology in the Payments Awards.

Carl Churchill, Managing Director of NetPay, said "We are extremely proud to have been selected as finalists in these two categories. We have been working hard to keep ahead of payment trends, developing new and innovative technology that delivers business efficiencies and provides vital business intelligence. For us, the ability to process the payment is the commodity element of our job – that isn’t what makes us special, that is what makes us the same as everyone else, it is what we do around that commodity element that makes us unique.\"

The winners will be announce on October 20th.

Fidelity Group has teamed up with Pangea to secure an £80K contract that is helping Visit Sweden maintain optimum connectivity during an office relocation.

Located in the Swedish Embassy building, Visit Sweden is the face of Sweden’s official Tourism Board. Due to refurbishments taking place in its current office, the company needed to relocate temporarily to the ground floor and required connectivity during the relocation. A solid connection was essential, as Visit Sweden consistently need to upload high resolution images to their website.

Fidelity and Pangea provided SIMs to enable a temporary mobile connection delivering a 4G speed of nearly 30mbps download and 10-15mbs upload. Most importantly, the latency was sub 50ms, as a direct result of the efficiency of the Pangea network.

Tim Holway, Sales Manager at Fidelity Group, explains "The Speed and ease of deployment for Visit Sweden enabled by Pangea added a key element of winning this large refurbishment contract for Fidelity Group\"

Dan Cunliffe, Managing Director of Pangea said "We are delighted to see another Pangea partner able to increase their revenue from an existing client.\"

SME cloud collaboration solutions provider sipsynergy, has announced the appointment of Toby Gold as Chief Executive Officer and Tom Kelly as Chairman.  Taking up their positions with immediate effect, the duo are charged with accelerating the company’s growth and customer base, following a £2.75m investment from YFM Equity Partners (YFM).  

Toby Gold has spent the last 25 years in the UK IT industry and has held management and executive roles at a number of hardware, hosting and cloud services companies. Gold joins sipsynergy from Dell Software where his most recent role was Director of Northern Europe.

Commenting on his appointment, Gold explained, "I can’t wait to put all of my experience to great use as we continue enabling our reseller partners. As Tom and I take up our positions at the company, this new round of investment from YFM will enable sipsynergy to further expand its products.

"Through its unique partnership with Cisco, working through resellers into SMBs, sipsynergy has created one of the first white labelled UCaaS 'Business in a Box’ solutions. This has enabled partners to deliver their own branded Enterprise class collaboration solutions to small to mid-sized businesses.\"

Industry veteran Tom Kelly has more than 30 years’ experience in the UK IT and communications channel, during which time he has held senior management positions in a number of organisations. This included a 10-year stint as Managing Director of Logicalis UK where he helped transform the company into one of the UK’s largest Cisco Managed Services partners.

Tom Kelly, newly appointed Chairman of sipsynergy, added, "The company has its sights firmly set on conquering the SMB space. We’ve created a cloud hosted solution that provides a range of great communications technologies at an aggressive price point, which we’re taking to market through a growing partner base of IT and telecoms resellers and managed service providers.

"It’s a great time to be joining sipsynergy alongside Toby, there’s excitement running through the organisation as it enters what we’re looking to be a period of sustained growth, following this substantial new investment from YFM.\"

The Federation of Communications Services says it has has lined up a range of expert speakers for its annual Comms Provider event to take place at Eversheds in London on Thursday September 8th.

Tim Cowen, from commercial law firm Preiskels will discuss the Digital Single Market, post Brexit; Grant Forsyth from  Plum Consulting  will investigate Digital Cable Radio; and Mike Millar, from IMVNOx, the global trade association for the MVNx ecosystem, will look at Liberalising the Mobile Market.
 
Overall, the seminar programme at the event will explore  Regulation & Markets, The Growth of Fibre and Customer Expectations. To register for the event email fcs@fcs.org.uk

Cradlepoint, the global cloud-based network solutions business, is expanding its presence in Poland and the Czech Republic in partnership with Midis Group, a pioneer in operations management, to gain further market reach.

Cradlepoint provides innovative solutions for cloud-managed business continuity, primary and parallel networking, mobile, and M2M/IoT networking.

George Mulhern, CEO of Cradlepoint, said: "We are at an exciting time in Cradlepoint’s geographic expansion. Central and Eastern Europe have seen a migration to high-speed mobile networks enabling our unparalleled cloud-based solutions across market verticals.

"Establishing in-region support for our channel partners will provide local knowledge, expertise and experience to deliver our sales programmes and will be key to the continued success of our customers.\"