Comms Dealer

VoIP distributor ProVu Communications has added Sangoma's PBXact UC systems to its line up of IP phones from the vendor.

The extended product range builds on a four year partnership and according to Sangoma's Director of Product Management and Product Marketing, Simon Horton, 'IP-PBX deployments can now be completed quickly and easily'.

"Previously this was a complex task but developments to our deployment wizard and zero touch provisioning of phones makes it a more seamless process," he said.

The UC systems offer fully featured solutions for 10 to 5,000 users and incorporate an enhanced user interface and a simplified dashboard.

ProVu Sales Director Ian Godfrey (pictured) said: "With our recent launch of the Sangoma IP phone range, the PBXact systems are a seamless option for users looking to easily manage their communication solutions."

HPE Cloudline servers, built on the Open Infrastructure based on Open Compute Project specifications, are being offered across Europe by distributor Azlan, along with access to demonstration units and pre-sales and technical support to service providers.

Steve Cant, Director, Enterprise, Infrastructure and Communications, Azlan, said: "HPE Cloudline servers have been built on an open design philosophy to increase adaptability and make integration easier. They are designed to be scalable and resilient. HPE also offers a fast turnaround on build-to-order, so they can be deployed at relatively short notice.

Several models are available with different designs suited to cloud, web caching and search workloads, providing hosting and Big Data capabilities.

Avnet partners can bundle services from different cloud suppliers, combine them with Avnet's IT services and offer one-stop-shop solutions via their own branded cloud shop front following the launch of the distributor's Cloud Marketplace across the UK and France.

The Marketplace offers products from Amazon Web Services, Avnet, Brocade, Cisco, F5, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, SoftLayer and VMware; with payment options through a consumption or subscription-based model and tools to monitor cloud consumption and optimise cloud solutions.

Michael Fischermanns, VP Cloud Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, EMEA, said: "We've designed the Marketplace based on our insights across a range of public, private and hybrid cloud environments, creating a one-stop-shop for partners to deliver solutions that help organisations make the transition to a cloud-based business model."

Rollout to additional countries including Germany, Netherlands and Poland will continue through 2016/2017.

Cindy Rose has joined Microsoft UK and will take over UK leadership as Chief Executive Officer from Michel Van der Bel on November 1st. Van der Bel will move into a new role.

Rose joins from Vodafone UK where she was MD of the Consumer Division. She will be responsible for all of Microsoft's product, service and support offerings across the UK.

Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International, said: "Cindy brings a real strength in driving complex, customer-focused businesses and a deep understanding of the digital space. As we continue to transform as an organisation and support our customers' digital transformation, Cindy's experience will be invaluable."

Rose has served in a variety of regional roles throughout her career.

Prior to being MD of the Vodafone UK Consumer Division she was Executive Director for Digital Entertainment at Virgin Media and Senior Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA at Disney Interactive Media Group.

She also held Senior Vice President & Regional Managing Director (UK, Ireland, Southern Europe & Middle East) and Vice President, Legal & Government Relations at The Walt Disney Company.

Rose said: "I'm excited by the possibilities of our mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more, and I look forward to working closely with our customers, partners and employees to do just that."

The new world of platform-driven communications takes centre stage at this year's gold standard Comms Vision Convention, and while the growth opportunities are significant, challenges must be overcome to realise the market potential, writes Content Director Paul Cunningham.

In May the World Economic Forum predicted the digital economy to return one hundred trillion dollars by 2025, disrupting the known industrial economy in the process. The numbers are mind-boggling, so how do they translate for comms channel businesses that could and should be at the heart of this transition? That will be the focus of our speakers and delegates at Comms Vision 2016, Gleneagles Hotel, November 9-11th.

To become and remain competitive, today's enterprises must design and equip their business to create value, and the concept of a Business Platform can play a critical part in achieving this. A Platform can usefully be thought of as an integrated and open business model, not necessarily a specific technology, that determines how an organisation engages with its stakeholders, promotes technology innovation, designs its business processes and develops an effective culture and brand.

We are currently witnessing the inexorable rise of technology-enabled platforms for businesses, and their corresponding impact on the business communications marketplace is also keenly felt. Emerging software-based platforms for business communications, integrated with common business applications and complemented by new technologies such as sensors, analytics and machine learning, are leading a drive towards contextual communication and are changing the game.

The innate ability to serve the most appropriate communications medium (and supporting information) automatically to an individual or a team according to the real-time context of their location, activity or expertise is already established. In the imminent future this will encompass factors such as our reputation, our health status, proximity to problems or opportunities, or a myriad of other external human and technology factors.

IT TAKES VISION TO BE A LEADER
Comms Vision is the leading annual leadership forum for CEO, MD and CTO delegates representing the premier league of the UK partner community. Places are limited: If you would like to join us this year, please register your interest to attend at www.commsvision.com

Last month Microsoft agreed definitive terms to acquire LinkedIn, the world's biggest professional social media platform for $26 billion, at a premium, making it the third largest acquisition in the history of the tech industry. Notwithstanding the ongoing debate about this valuation and Microsoft's motives, this is clearly a 'Platform' play intended to parlay LinkedIn's 430 million global subscribers (and significant expertise in data analysis) into a value generator across Microsoft's solutions in CRM, Unified Communications and Office Productivity.

Closer to home, Vonage recently spent $230 million on Nexmo, an established but niche communication platform business that most UK comms channel players will be unfamiliar with. Cisco's recent launch of the Spark collaboration platform brings it into this fast expanding territory, with a just-revealed but well advanced API collaboration with Apple bringing it rapidly to the attention of professional smartphone users.

What does this mean to the comms sector and its channel models? Service providers, vendors, system integrators and applications developers must quickly determine their role and opportunity in the new world of platform-driven communications, and they may be facing an existential challenge. This will be decided in the battle to make communications relevant to the customers' current and future workflows and culture, redefining business processes and disrupting markets via innovative business models.

The future will be based on building, buying or borrowing (renting) platforms that customers, partners, suppliers and employees can integrate with and develop on to collaboratively solve business problems. This is having a major impact on established ecosystems and supply chains as they are reconfigured or supplanted, with business leaders recognising the inherent and growing value of being in the platform business.

Traditional vendors such as Cisco and Microsoft are walking a difficult line between partner and competitor by pitching themselves and their more innovative collaborators against their existing service provider customers. Meanwhile, SIs and ISVs have become essential to the building of and access to scarce data management and application development resources. In the ensuing scramble for position, new providers such as Slack and Twillio have emerged, offering opportunistic and agile business solution developers a compelling platform.

How can the channel respond? The comms channel has long been recognised for its ability to sell, assure, bill and deliver business comms solutions. To this can now be added the need to either own development resources or offer access to them, while providing global or regional delivery and support for customers. Channel players must translate customer business requirements into real life solutions with the ability to integrate to multiple platforms. The fundamental service the channel can deliver is network connectivity, with a major part of the opportunity focused on simplifying the often complex and challenging nature of dealing with service providers.

Many channel players identify the provision of ICT services as a natural extension of this current core business and a way of adding new revenue streams, and as these migrate to the cloud new opportunities will emerge. The channel is well positioned to offer cloud services, the performance of which is highly dependent upon a foundation of network availability and quality. However, if they are to be more than just the plumber laying the pipe they must develop and offer relevant bundles for their customers, differentiated by understanding the impact of these on the network and sustaining end-to-end quality of experience from design through deployment and operation.

Although comms solution providers have identified a range of cloud services they can bundle - including enterprise apps, storage, analytics, CRM and billing - according to Ofcom research only 23 per cent of UK SMEs report using cloud services. This leaves considerable headroom for market growth as businesses are educated about the impact of these services on business performance, and as key enablers such as superfast broadband are deployed.

If the key to success in the Platform Age is building a focused but flexible offer based around the needs of customers, the channel has to rapidly develop infrastructure and services that in turn can be quickly adapted for their target markets.

The platform that will support this future must be applicable to a diverse spectrum from consumer to higher end enterprises. This represents a reversal of the traditional industry view where SMEs and consumers were at the foot of the pyramid that always got the attention of the incumbent product development and marketing teams. So what is needed to meet this oncoming opportunity? Three key areas of potential development come to mind:

A Converged Platform: A mix of mobile and fixed services that match the needs of the customers' business is essential. The customer will decide and the platform must be flexible enough to allow mixing and matching of services to fit the business. The channel's ability to offer an optimum blend of networks, devices and applications to improve business performance and save the customer money is a critical success factor.

Cloud: Being alert to the potential impact of cloud-based services on their business and that of their customers (and their networks) is essential to the channel. This will embrace ICT services such as storage and computing as well as UC services and informal contact centres.

Analytics: Data doesn't have to be big to be important. Analytics are not just for the very largest business clients, SMEs can and should benefit from the power of data analytics generated from the core of the network, across service bundles and directly from their existing billing, CRM and operational systems as well as those of their vendor and distribution partners.

So why a Platform again? Digital platforms provide a foundation that others can build on, providing an architecture of participation. The most successful digital businesses have recognised that intrinsic value lies in the network the platform enables, not within the platform alone. The World Economic Forum's digital economy forecast is massive, and every business, even the largest global player, is dwarfed by it. But what if you could plug the power of that network into your business? This is what the Platform concept offers by being highly scalable, applicable to diverse business models, and acting as a sustainable, cost-effective multiplier of inputs and outcomes.

Your customers will require increasingly sophisticated services as they seek to compete with larger or more established businesses, leveraging the digital economy and services available to them from many sources. Comms Vision 2016 promises to play a key part in achieving this.•

IT TAKES VISION TO BE A LEADER
Comms Vision is the leading annual leadership forum for CEO, MD and CTO delegates representing the premier league of the UK partner community. Places are limited: If you would like to join us this year, please register your interest to attend at www.commsvision.com 

Communication platforms are centre stage and undergoing constant evolution. Here, we take a behind the scenes look at the technologies that are top of mind for R&D experts.

The cross-disciplinary nature of communications platforms is a driver for multiple, disruptive or semi-disruptive changes in the market; and technological developments in areas such as radio technology, computational hardware and security will all feature prominently in the future look of comms platforms. "With the 4G evolution, and even more with soon-to-be 5G, mobile radio technology takes a big leap onto higher frequency spectrum with advanced concepts such as massive MIMO and cooperative transmission," commented Björn Ekelund (pictured), Research Director, Device Technology and Ecosystem, Ericsson.

Ekelund highlighted that computational hardware continues to beat Moore's law using new interconnect topologies and advanced parallel architectures. "With the development of new semiconductor technology, radio hardware becomes dramatically more broadband and more digital," he added. "Security technology faces the challenges of not only quantum computing but also the rapidly growing value of data and massive system complexities. On top of this, new concepts are making their entrance on the industrial scene such as block chain. And software continues to demonstrate higher and higher levels of intelligence making it possible to use it in new areas and on bigger data sets."

As an ICT company with both product and service offerings, Ericsson's focus is broad, but the advent of 5G communications technology is one of its main areas of R&D investment. "Since 5G is targeting both humans (smartphones and mobile broadband) and non-humans (the IoT) we also invest in applications for the industrial and societal use of ICT technology," added Ekelund. "But to make a world class communications platform you need to excel in all disciplines - hardware, software, interconnect, transmission, mechanics, energy, antennas and so on. And we invest accordingly."

Ericsson also places a high priority on sustainability. This drives further innovation in virtually all technical areas. Another area of interest is 'wonder material' graphene. "Being a member of the Graphene Flagship we of course have big hopes for this exciting new material," added Ekelund. "We can see applications in many diverse areas such as photonics, electronics and antennas, but we also have realistic expectations. It will still be some time before we see graphene in such products."

ShoreTel is primarily a software company, but graphene could be used in its electronics, such as switches and endpoints for thermal dissipation, according to Eugenia Corrales, Senior Vice President for Product at ShoreTel. "Of great interest is the fact graphene has a 95 per cent solar efficiency, so maybe solar applications are the most immediate priority," she said.

Graphene will surely play a critical role in future communications, just as open source is becoming an integral part of business applications today. For example, Linux and Hadoop are revolutionary, and multi-vendor solutions can ensure interoperability with key functions such as CRM and ERP, noted Corrales. "We will continue to see increased adoption of cloud-based technology to create greater flexibility and cost-effectiveness for our customers," she said. "Furthermore, mobile-first development leverages the fact that mobile devices are now the dominant vehicle for businesses, changing the way we do transactions permanently."

Corrales also noted that innovation is being seen in modular design, which allows a customer to select only the functionality they need today while having the flexibility to build new capabilities later. "Real-time improvements enable customers to get new features and capabilities faster," she commented. "Added to this, a rich community of contributors from different industries, regions and specialities will enable customers to integrate best-in-class capabilities."

There are four broad technology areas that are shaping the future of communications, according to Peter Kim, Vice President Research and Development at Ericsson-LG Enterprise. These are 5G mobile connectivity, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual or Augmented Reality and the IoT. "5G offers over 100 times faster speed than 4G and enables 4K/8K Ultra High Definition (UHD) transmission and Virtual Reality services including 3D hologram," he said.

"Artificial Intelligence can be converged with communications, and Virtual/Augmented Reality makes it possible to share richer information and enable tele-experience communications. Furthermore, the IoT widens the scope of communication from human-to-human to human-to-machine and machine-to-machine. This will have a profound change on the way we live our lives both professionally and privately."

In terms of Ericsson-LG's R&D the shift from hardware to software is mostly complete and the focus now is on virtualisation and the cloud. "We have adopted a cloud-first strategy in that everything we now do is prioritised for cloud deployment," added Kim. "From a client perspective our focus is on WebRTC which forms part of our mobile integration strategy. We are also investing in developing technologies that can help make the mobile device a seamless part of the enterprise ecosystem. Security is increasingly a concern, and another area we are investing in is of course IoT."•

We have reached a seminal moment in the comms channel's history and it's time to take your business, and SME organisations, to the next level. That's the upshot of this year's Margin in Voice and Data event that urged delegates to help UK SMEs build their future on an optimised networked foundation.

The SME connectivity opportunity is a gift to comms resellers able to give the market what it wants. And the demographics of this vibrant sector also run in the channel's favour. To understand the market you need to think of the network as the foundation where nothing pre-digital exists. And a high degree of success awaits astute resellers. Not surprisingly, the SME opportunity featured prominently at this year's Margin in Voice and Data event (9th June, Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club), which urged the channel to help UK SMEs leverage their network to the max.

The size of the opportunity is gargantuan. Paul Cunningham, Content Director, told delegates that SMEs represent 99.9 per cent of the UK's 5.2 million businesses, and they contribute over £1.6 trillion (47 per cent) of private sector turnover to the national economy. Nor is that all: Seven per cent of UK businesses are high growth small enterprises and account for 60 per cent of new jobs being created. Not surprisingly, SMEs are now considered to be the engines of growth, and communications is critical to these organisations with even the smallest micro-business spending an average £1,000 per annum on comms. Small businesses spend circa £4,000 and medium sized companies invest around £11,500 a year, which all tolled represents a sizeable market opportunity.

Another upside, the SME network experience is improving. In 2014, 56 per cent of SME premises were connected to 30Mbps-plus, rising to 82 per cent in 2017 (Ofcom figures). But 42 per cent of SMEs report Internet connectivity problems and 29 per cent complain of service availability, which, in a growth market, is not ideal. But it's a daily scenario that must be managed.

Glitches aside, the network is the foundation of a growth orientated business model, underlined by SMEs that are categorised as high users of online services. "They grow much faster so there is a clear need for an enhanced network experience," said Cunningham. "You've got to build value to make the network effective for SMEs."

Amid these converging factors there is much opportunity to grip. More intriguing is that 83 per cent of SMEs in the UK consider communication services to be fundamental to their business (2015 figures cited by Ofcom), so there is a requirement for enhanced network experiences based on availability, service reliability, service guarantees, SLAs, monitoring and reporting.

Cloud applications also have significant value but despite the current focus of many providers only 23 per cent of SMEs report using cloud services (Ofcom 2015). "There is potential for considerable market growth with greater SME awareness and adoption," commented Cunningham. "But a recent study by BCSG found that just under half of SMEs in the UK are willing to purchase cloud services from their telecoms supplier, while 40 per cent said they were willing to buy software and other tools from operators to help grow their business."

Here's the question delegates loved - how to effectively address this shifting market? "Verticalisation into SME markets is an important way of approaching this sector," added Cunningham. "Bundling ICT products and services with price plans and offers that meet the needs of a particular industry can be effective. There is a niche opportunity for smaller channel players that are able to add specialist market knowledge."

Harnessing data is also an important aspect of building a long-term business model and understanding the opportunities at hand. There are various ways to harness data, but these methods are mostly viewed as challenging and complex. That said, smaller businesses can exploit day-to-day data that's being drawn from billing and CRM systems, for example, offering valuable insights into their own business and their customers' operations.

As a shining example Cunningham cited Union Street's Benchmarking service which is based on opted-in data from its customers. The subsequent reports compare and contrast their performance against peers. "This is an example of how business analytics can be simplified and integrated to serve the needs of customers," stated Cunningham.

But the overall picture can be complicated and a way to break down complexity into simple building blocks must be found. Enter the 'business platform', a foundation slab that underpins the building stones of a future business model. "When breaking aspects of the market down into their component parts not all of them will be relevant to a business, but there will be some elements of each of those business blocks to think about," noted Cunningham. "For instance, adapting to the cloud, and it's crucial to be analytical and think about data, as well as energising sales teams, motivating markets and building value into your business."

The strategic outcome of this year's Margin in Voice and Data event ought to be a grand initiative to elevate the network as the foundation of SME businesses. The immediate job is not to reflect on market possibilities but to get down to work, with the onus on cloud applications, analytics, marketing and sales growth, all building blocks addressed by this year's main sponsors, including keynotes from NFON UK Managing Director Rami Houbby; Mark Curtis-Wood, Nimans' Head of Network Services; and Adam Zoldan, Director, Knight CF. Other speakers included Andy Grant, Managing Director of Bowan Arrow; and John Donohoe, Partner at sales development firm Believe.•

Turning businesses into places fit for today's empowered clients is a matter of complete control over the customer experience. Anything less is a doomed exercise in outdated communications and obsolete work practices, according to Comms Vision Platinum sponsor 8x8 which aims to deliver a consistent and sublime customer experience based on the right technology.

Impeccable service has a unique potency in the customer's mind, it demands loyalty, while turning your back on clients and prospects is a recipe for strategic collapse. Fall short of the mark and you will surely be held accountable as disgruntled callers seize on opportunities at their finger tips to contact competitor companies and broadcast their dissatisfaction on various media, even in real-time as they experience poor service.

It is beyond argument that providing an immaculate customer experience is a boon to all businesses, but research by 8x8 has revealed the extent and impact of widespread customer interaction breakdown. The survey results show that just 22 per cent of callers ringing a business get through first time, and 35 per cent of the calls that went unanswered were made by new customers looking for information on products, how to open an account or make a purchase.

It goes without saying that when customers call a business they hope to quickly receive the benefit of a knowledgeable mind, trained to assess their requirements and offer helpful conclusions. A failure to deliver this basic response can result in swift retribution according to the survey that found 12 per cent of callers have searched for competitors online during a badly handled call.
This statistic rises to more than a quarter in the 25-34 age group which displays a lower tolerance of bad service. Even worse, if callers turn 'anti' where no formal safeguards are in place, fierce reactions can be let loose as bad experiences are broadcast on social media and review sites. Over 90 per cent of survey respondents cited a poor experience on the phone and they are far more likely to shout about bad service than a great experience.

8x8's study also deduced that 11 per cent of callers have, during a badly handled call, named and shamed a company live on social media (rising to 26 per cent of those aged 25-34). To contain such outbreaks of customer dissatisfaction a business communications management regime is urgently needed, and helping companies to improve their customer experience is a big market opportunity for the channel, according to Kevin Scott-Cowell, UK Managing Director for 8x8.

"A business only has one chance to make a great first impression and getting off on the wrong foot can destroy the customer relationship from the outset," he said. "It's crucial to make every interaction count, and that starts by making sure new customer calls are answered first time and directed to an appropriately skilled agent. This stops them being passed to multiple agents and becoming frustrated by the whole experience. With the right technology in place it can be easy for businesses to make sure calls are routed to a manned phone and appropriately skilled agent so new customers are never exposed to rivals."

The role of Enterprise Communications as a Service (ECaaS) in delivering an enhanced customer experience to the collective benefit of all cannot be in doubt, enabling companies to foster client loyalty and move into an unassailable lead over rivals. But too many businesses are missing a large number of inbound enquiries from potential customers.

Scott-Cowell's message is clear: "Make sure someone picks up the phone when a customer calls," he urged. "It can be tricky in a busy office or contact centre, but having the right technology in place will ease the strain. This would help route calls to the first available person who can deal with the enquiry, whether they're based in another office, another country or even another continent."

He emphasised how cloud contact centres improve the client experience. They give customers a choice of channels and callers can get in touch via most devices. This new dynamic has been labelled 'customer empowerment' and makes the customer experience a key differentiator. 8x8 argues that cloud-based contact centres enable companies to more readily advance their customer care strategies and best practices by engaging with clients in a personalised way through multiple channels and applications. Customer contact routing based on historical case resolution data also improves the customer experience. This technology makes it easy for customers to receive a service by reducing the effort required to contact a knowledgeable agent while increasing agent productivity and performance.

According to research, SME contact centres deployed in the cloud outperform on-premise solutions across a number of KPIs, including a lower cost of customer care. Cloud solutions also show stronger 'first contact' resolution rates and drive customer satisfaction more cost-efficiently while generating greater chemistry between a business and its customers and more revenue. "We all want our customers to engage with us," added Scott-Cowell. "But too many fail to get through and are lost to competitors. Customer empowerment is defined by their experience, which can be impeccable if the right technology is deployed."•

The market for hosted telephony is no longer new or emerging and early doubts about its success have become a non-argument, but large numbers of resellers are yet to go hosted. Here, we canvassed the views of some key channel suppliers who urge all resellers to join the hosted telephony rolling campaign convoy.

The principle reason to sell hosted VoIP is because it's inextricably linked to the growing influence of the cloud in general. "The chances are that a reseller's clients or prospects will already have some IT services in the cloud, or will be considering moving to the cloud," said Adam Crisp (pictured), Managing Director for Firstcom. "Resellers need to offer hosted voice to keep up and stay ahead of the curve."

As well as keeping up with tech trends a hosted VoIP solution enables resellers to address demand for mobile communications. "We have seen a huge shift in personal communications, and the younger workforce expects to communicate inside the office in the same way as they do outside," added Crisp. "Gone are the days when being away from the desk means being disconnected from voice or data."

The business case for selling hosted telephony is plain and simple, noted Crisp, citing ease of adoption, installation, management and configuration as key market drivers. Nor is that all. Seasoned comms and IT resellers already own the skills needed to enter this market. "Adding hosted to their portfolio gives them the opportunity to increase revenues by doing what they already do," added Crisp.

When pitching hosted VoIP to a prospect resellers should focus on the way modern communications can drive a business forward. "Unified communications and convergence is much more than a PBX in the cloud," noted Crisp. "It's about bringing the client's daily communications together and enhancing productivity."

One of the most obvious benefits of cloud-based VoIP is that users are not bound by geography. Many businesses have a mobile workforce and function as multi-site organisations, so it makes sense for them to adopt a cloud-based system that seamlessly connects remote and home workers. "Today's always-on culture and constantly connected world means that businesses need to be available and responsive wherever, whenever," commented Crisp. "Businesses that do not adopt technology to facilitate this will inevitably miss out to the competition. Inherent flexibility and agility is a driving factor. Today's agile workforce demands a system that adapts to their needs and eases the pain of scaling up or down."

A key point of interest noted by MyPhones.com Managing Director Dr Stuart Marsden (pictured left)is the growing number of hosted telephony providers in the market, creating more choice and an environment where resellers can more readily sell to sub-resellers. Alternative options have also emerged such as Skype for Business. Furthermore, prices for hosted are starting to come down and that trend is certain to continue given the increased competition in the market, he believes.

Against this backdrop, early adopters are now coming to the end of their first contracts. "They've gained knowledge and experience and aren't afraid to switch to different systems and new providers," commented Marsden. "While telephony features are important, price is clearly a key factor. Therefore MyPhones.com's policy has always been to be competitively priced with a simple pricing structure."

Staying true to its policy, MyPhones.com's prices have not increased since the launch of Altos and according to Marsden there are no plans to change the pricing strategy despite ongoing investment in new features to improve the customer experience. In fact, things can only get better, he says. "The improvement in connectivity and broadband speeds hasn't just improved the quality and reliability of calls via hosted telephony platforms, it is also making integration with other services easier and more successful," he added.

"Through the Altos hosted telephony platform end users can do far more than just make and receive phone calls, pick up their voicemails and twin their office and mobile phone. They can also make and receive video calls, access their internal contacts directory, personal contacts directory and corporate contacts directory wherever they have access to a computer and Internet connection, as an example."

Developments like video calling, video conferencing and presence features all provide additional ways for businesses to communicate with staff and customers. And because social media plays a role in everyone's personal communications now, it's not surprising that businesses would be interested in ways to bring these into the workplace. "Hosted telephony systems can help to make these accessible to businesses of all shapes and sizes, not just large corporations," stated Marsden.

He said that MyPhones.com's Altos product is especially popular because it is fast, easy and cheap to deploy, and it's more flexible than traditional PBX systems. Resellers can easily upgrade, downscale and even change a system completely whenever they need to. "More people are considering or using cloud-based services in their personal life," said Marsden. "Hosted telephony isn't as niche as it used to be, and with improvements in security and broadband speeds delivering better quality and reliability there's less resistance to the adoption of cloud-based business services.

"It's safe and easy to dip your toe into the pool of modern cloud-based services. Hosted telephony integrates well with other services and it's a good way to explore different communication systems and how they can be combined to improve engagement with staff, customers and stakeholders."

BT's strategy to move customers off ISDN services in 2025 is a significant hosted market opportunity. And as connectivity becomes more readily available and commercially more attractive to consumers, it is only natural that hosted telephony sales will continue to increase, observes Sean Blackmore, Hosted Sales Specialist at Gamma, who has witnessed strong uptake of Gamma's Horizon platform.

Like other hosted solutions Horizon helps resellers move from a capex to an opex-based model, removing the need for up-front costs and maintenance, and ensuring the customer only has one monthly cost for the service. "This enables resellers to shift the focus of sales conversations from price to features and benefits," added Blackmore. "We are rivalling traditional PBX manufacturers for functionality and the platform is updated on a regular basis. Features like 'one number anywhere' integrate fixed and mobile capabilities so that end users never miss a call, enabling more productive and flexible working."

Horizon is based on the Broadsoft call controller platform that provides a range of fixed and mobile telephony capabilities via a portal. Channel partners can configure Horizon through the portal in real-time. And within 24 hours the chosen handsets will be delivered, fully pre-configured and ready to go.

With this proposition Gamma targets the sub-500 seat market. "At one time the hosted product set was attractive to customers with multiple sites and a low number of users per site, but we are now seeing large single site offices taking hosted as a result of the commercials available, the appeal of an opex model and access to a rich feature set," said Blackmore.

Nimans has witnessed strong take up of its own GS-hosted proposition that allows resellers to move into hosted in a 'choice way'. They can maintain their upfront margin model or opt for a monthly income. Selling hosted is simply a de facto case of giving customers what they want, reckons Paul Burn, Head of Category Sales at Nimans. "One of the biggest reasons resellers should be selling hosted is because their customers are demanding it," he stated. "So there is a danger of being left behind if customer requirements are not met. Resellers need to grasp the nettle because hosted is no longer in the early adoption phase. Its reliable and established technology with high potential."

New conversations with customers should be about what they want and need, along with the business benefits, pointed out Burn. But he believes that such conversations are all too often digressing into discussions about delivery and how hosted solutions enter a building. "It should always be about business benefits," he emphasised. "Applications is where resellers should be focusing, particularly the mix of on-premises and off-premise products. For example, door entry and call recording can still be on-site alongside a hosted telephony platform. Hosted is not an all or nothing conversation. Businesses can have their cake and eat it."•

A razor sharp focus on the public sector has given Farnborough-based Skyscape Cloud Services an almighty boost, and that's just the start of a bigger story according to CEO Simon Hansford.

Skyscape's mature and disciplined approach to a rich seam of opportunity has paid off in spadefuls. The company is focused on one product, one market and has no distractions. Immersed in constant innovation Skyscape is prepared to disrupt current products, services and costs at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, Hansford never takes his eye off the ball and brings rare experience to the game plan. Prior to co-founding Skyscape he was the CTO and VP of Service Strategy of Attenda, one of the UK's major MSPs which he also co-founded in 1997. Previous positions include senior technical, sales, product and marketing roles at Novell and Dell Computer Corporation.

It was the Government's ICT strategy to boost efficiency and reduce costs within the public sector that caught the attention of Skyscape's founders in 2011. The G-Cloud Framework fuelled the adoption of cloud-based computing capabilities by easing the ways in which public sector bodies could buy and use ICT services from small and medium-sized businesses. After building and selling a previous business, Hansford set about connecting with a group of like-minded people to drive forward a new concept. What followed was Skyscape Cloud Services, the brainchild of Jeffrey Thomas, Jeremy Saunders, Phil Dawson and Simon Hansford.

The company's share holders invested approximately £25 million to create a cloud platform specifically to address IT procurement and security issues within the UK public sector. The firm has been on G-Cloud since its first iteration and secured early big wins with organisations such as the Home Office, HMRC and DVLA, earning it recognition from Gartner and Deloitte. "Our cloud services have been designed to be easy to adopt, use and leave, without any start-up or exit fees," said Hansford. "Skyscape charges by the hour, allowing departments to scale up or down based on their needs, and only paying for what they use."

In November last year the company announced its eighth successive price drop, made possible by growing economies of scale which have led to storage costs falling by 90 per cent this past year alone. In the years ahead, the company aims to more than double its size and accelerate growth in the public sector based on a proven formula. "Skyscape doesn't serve commercial customers but chooses to invest its expertise in understanding the digital transformation challenges affecting the public sector, and how our cloud platform can be used effectively by customers," added Hansford. "This enables the us to provide an environment that puts customers in control, delivering value and ultimately benefitting UK citizens and businesses."

Skyscape's headcount currently stands at circa 130 and revenues have increased almost nine fold in two years from £3.7 million to £32.1 million this year, a compound annual growth rate of 195.8 per cent driven by high consumption of compute hours. In its next financial year Skyscape is forecasting strong growth in both revenues and profitability as new customers, additional partners and more workloads transition to the platform. The company now has over 100 customers, 200-plus workloads and partners with a 60 per cent direct and 40 per cent partner split.

Hansford's main challenges are recruiting and retaining appropriate technical, operational, commercial and leadership talent in the face of a national skills shortage. "Despite having a recruitment and human resources management programme to identify, recruit, develop, motivate and retain talent, we have over 30 roles to fill but finding and competing for people is a challenge," he said.

Another challenge is bidding for and winning large scale contracts on a G-Cloud platform that has a vast and complex legacy estate. The solution? Enabling a robust risk management strategy with a formal bid review process, and certified service delivery with simple terms and conditions in line with G-Cloud.

"I genuinely see the market moving in our direction," stated Hansford. "Cloud adoption remains low, less than eight per cent, and is forecast to be over 30 per cent within the next four years. It's about focus, getting to scale and delivering a quality service at the right price point. We're doing something that makes a difference in terms of services delivered to citizens and saving taxpayers' money."•