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A team of golfers from Nimans completed four rounds at Alderley Edge Golf Club in one day to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

They teed off at 5am and played for 16 hours non-stop, waking 25 miles and hitting circa 350 shots each to complete the challenge.

Darren Wilson, Gavin Elly, Lee Fletcher and Chris Widocks raised thousands for the charity.

"It was a gruelling day but we were determined not to be beaten," said Wilson. Sinking my final put on the final hole was such a great feeling.

"I have had personal contact with Macmillan Cancer Support and what they do is priceless. So raising funds to help so many more people feel special is the least we can do."

Anyone wishing to support the golfers can donate at: https://www.justgiving.com/THATSANUGLYFOURBALL

Cloud computing adoption is not universally driven by the need to reduce IT costs, and neither is it causing a widespread reduction in the size of IT teams, according to new research released by Six Degrees Group (6DG).
 
Contrary to the industry marketing hype, the study, conducted for 6DG by IT industry analyst firm Freeform Dynamics, revealed that only 15% of respondents were motivated purely by cost savings when adopting cloud technology. 31% said balancing cost management and value was their priority, while 23% were concerned primarily with value. 
 
Cloud is actually being delivered against a wide range of objectives, from responsiveness to change, through management of service levels and IT related risks, to making better use of external resources and generally getting the most from suppliers. IT departments using cloud more extensively are also refocusing internal resources away from routine tasks towards more specialist skills and tasks that enhance business performance.
 
Reports of cloud-driven shrinkage of IT teams are exaggerated. Over the last three years, only 6% of respondents reported some decrease in the size of their IT teams. In contrast, over 70% reported their IT teams had seen 'some' increase or a 'significant' increase in staff levels.
 
Over the next three years, while respondents are expecting a net increase in the size of IT teams overall, the growth rates are slowing (45% indicating growth, with only 7% within this expecting a significant increase). 
 
However, there is a shift in the profile of IT teams, which coincides with the adoption of cloud computing. The number of respondents declaring that at least half of their IT teams are made up of 'generalists' falls dramatically as the use of cloud goes up. This suggests that the need for generalist IT staff to take care of routine operations (provisioning, patching, etc), decreases rapidly with cloud adoption. Emphasis is switching to more specialist skills such as architecture, design, security, information management and line-of-business applications.
 
"These mythbusting findings show that cloud adoption and its impact is a much more sophisticated spectrum of cause and effect than many had previously thought," commented Campbell Williams, Group Strategy and Marketing Director at Six Degrees.

"At the same time we are also seeing increased reliance on cloud service providers, which means more will be expected of them. Almost all of the respondents said that providers who aggregate multiple services into a single integrated solution have a key role to play. For their part, service providers need to understand how to engage with highly-skilled in-house teams much more effectively than many have done so in the past.
 
"There are two key, inter-linked, correlations here: firstly, the most successful IT departments are using cloud infrastructure and platforms more extensively; and secondly, they are leveraging this to be more specialised to help create better business outcomes in an increasingly digital world. It is critical that a cloud journey doesn't just enable delivery of the same workloads in a new way, it must facilitate transformative technology adoption to power new working practices and business models."
 
The research confirms the assertion that cloud is becoming an integral part of IT delivery, with momentum continuing to build. Over 96% of respondents indicated some level of use (20% extensive, 52% significant, 24% modest).

And cloud adoption levels are increasing steadily in 56% of respondents and rapidly for 18%. Less than 1.5% reported any level of decrease in their use of cloud.
 
Tony Lock, Distinguished Analyst at Freeform Dynamics, commented: "In the early part of the cloud market, providers often delivered their services in a largely hands-off manner. This may remain appropriate in the context of some requirements, but today, where converged services make more sense, customers are making a broader commitment to individual providers. Those providers must be willing to get involved with the customer's environment. The spirit to strive for is one of a peer-to-peer partnership."

Milton Keynes has been named as CityFibre's latest Gigabit City project.

CityFibre will be making over 160km of pure fibre network available to businesses, schools and colleges throughout the city via its city launch partner dbfb and education partner Exa Networks.

Milton Keynes is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK with employment growth expected to hit 4.7 percent this year. It is also one of the recognised leaders in the developing and promoting of smart city technology with initiatives such as MK:Smart, and the development of a 'MK Data Hub' to collect and manage city-wide data in partnership with the Open University.

But Milton Keynes suffers from internet speeds well below the government's defined measure of superfast broadband.

As a Milton Keynes Gigabit City launch partner, Northampton-based service provider dbfb will be first to market with ultra-fast Internet services for businesses.

Delivered over the pure fibre network, businesses will be able to access gigabit speed services up to 100 times faster than the UK's average speed. dbfb and CityFibre will together be making a significant investment in Milton Keynes.

The future-proof network will also be made available to schools and colleges in Milton Keynes, via CityFibre's educational sector launch partner Exa networks.

Brian Kingston, MD of dbfb, said: "It's undebatable that having consistently fast access to the Internet is crucial to driving productivity and the bottom-line. Connecting to a pure fibre network will make it easy to harness business access solutions like VoIP and cloud services that may otherwise be unavailable."

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, added: "Despite leading the way in smart city thinking, this city is yet another example of those still strangled by poor digital connectivity. Our pure fibre network, now available to businesses through our partners at dbfb, will catapult Milton Keynes to be alongside some of the best connected cities in the world."

Broadband cable network transmission technology provider Technetix has raised £7.5m in strategic funding by new investor Liberty Global Ventures.

Technetix supplies headend and access transmission systems for fibre and HFC (hybrid fibre coax) networks.

Paul Broadhurst, CEO of Technetix, said: "We are focused on delivering the next generation technology platforms to market which form a key part of our customers' networks allowing expansion, better efficiency while minimising total cost of ownership.

"The funding will assist in scaling our business in all areas to meet future growth"

Colin Buechner, MD Access Network of Liberty Global, added: "Liberty Global Ventures invests in companies that provide high strategic value to our markets. Technetix is a key partner to Liberty Global delivering expertise and technology know-how."

Two key appointments have positioned Syneto for its next phase of growth across Europe.

Vadim Comanescu has been appointed CEO and Rick Dudson is the new VP of Sales with a remit to drive double-digit growth and expand the firm's channel partner ecosystem.

Comanescu replaces Marco Lorenzi who becomes Syneto's COO, a role previously occupied by Comanescu.

"We have been preparing for this geographical expansion for some time and are now in a strong position to roll out our solutions across new markets in Europe," said Comanescu.

Dudson brings more than 25 years experience and previously held senior sales positions at Infotrend and Hitachi.

He will be based in London and takes overall responsibility for Syneto's channel sales organisation in the DACH region, Eastern Europe, France, the Nordics, Iberia and the UK.

Big data and analytics firm Antuit has kicked off a European expansion campaign with the opening of a London office from where it will provide data engineering, Business Intelligence and other analytics solutions to UK and European-based clients.

"The opening of our London office means we are better equipped to serve companies in Europe," said Neeraj Bhargava, Executive Chairman. "There is strong demand for the business-enhancing, analytics-driven solutions we provide and we looking forward to capitalising on the opportunity."

Antuit has named Amit Khanna as MD for Europe. Khanna's previous experience includes leadership roles at KPMG and Accenture where he was responsible for starting up analytics practices.

He added: "We have launched operations with a strong team of experienced analytics professionals."

Rigby Private Equity (RPE) has formed Nuvias Group - a holding company for the pan-EMEA distribution business it is building - into which Wick Hill and Zycko have been incorporated and will be known as Nuvias group companies.

RPE aims to establish an EMEA-wide specialist distribution business with a common proposition and consistent delivery.

Paul Eccleston, Head of RPE, also becomes CEO of Nuvias.

He commented: "Zycko and Wick Hill form the foundations of Nuvias, a new type of international distribution company.

"We're building a distributor to meet the evolving demands of the channel. As of today, Nuvias is already serving 40 vendors and 5,000 resellers in 13 countries.

"Moving forward, we will be covering all major territories in EMEA, offering a common value proposition, consistently executed."

Excalibur Communications is the first organisation to sign up for Swindon Town FC's new Red & White Executive Business Club, designed to help promote local companies and create networking and partnership opportunities.
 
Long-standing supporters of Swindon Town FC, including the back of shirt sponsors in 2014/15, Excalibur has also been the club's official IT and Communications partner since 2013, providing managed services for both mobiles and IT. 
 
"We like to support local sport and community projects wherever possible", said Emma Carter, Sales and Marketing Director at Excalibur. "And with Swindon Town's large network, the new Red & White Executive Business Club is a great way of bringing companies together to support the club and also make some new contacts.  It's a win-win".
 
As well as the sponsorship of the back of the club's shirt and the sponsor of former manager Paolo Di Canio, Excalibur has also supported Swindon Town FC on various ticket initiatives, including 'Fill the Stand', and the Pro Red Scheme for junior football.
 
Carter added: "Joining the Red & White Executive Business Club provides numerous marketing and networking opportunities at the County Ground, which is a great venue to bring customers and business associates. We're proud to support the team and wish them luck for the season ahead".

Telematics Wireless and Pangea have joined forces to provide cellular connectivity for smart street lighting solutions.

Pangea will deliver a cellular solution for Telematics' lighting gateways over a secure private network (commonly known as an APN).

"The partnership will enhance our smart street lighting solution offerings to our customers with the necessary cellular connectivity and services needed for smart city deployment," said Eddy Kafry, Chief Executive Officer of Telematics Wireless.

Dan Cunliffe, MD of Pangea, added: "We conducted a trial that demonstrated the capabilities of our SMART Connectivity platform and explained the capabilities of the APN and real-time management to the customer.

"Leveraging the capabilities of our platform we are looking forward to support the customer's rollout in UK and expanding our global market reach in the near future."

Telematics Wireless is a specialist in smart lighting, network and energy management systems with a global presence.

Pangea is a global provider of SMART connectivity and solutions to the Machine-to-Machine and Internet of Things market.

Less than two years after CityFibre began construction on its Gigabit City network, Peterborough City Council has trebled its utilisation of the pure fibre infrastructure with an order for a further 220 new sites via its ICT Managed Service Provider Serco.

The sites comprise CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi connections and a network of Information Traffic System locations. By migrating these sites from legacy connections to CityFibre's pure fibre network the Council increases its technical capabilities and reduces operating costs.

Once connected, the new sites will enable the Council to introduce High-Definition CCTV and Wi-Fi based cameras that can be moved around in place of fixed point cameras.

With increasing reliance on CCTV for security and traffic management purposes, movable HD cameras represent an upgrade to their capabilities.

By leveraging the unlimited capacity of a pure fibre network the technology can be easily accommodated without an increase in costs.

The network architecture deployed by CityFibre in reaching the street furniture associated with the CCTV and traffic control locations is identical to that required in future 4G and 5G wireless small cell deployments.

This means that CityFibre's 37 city footprint can is able to serve as the foundation of large scale small cell deployments across a significant portion of the UK.

The Peterborough Gigabit City network now comprises in excess of 90km of pure fibre and duct infrastructure built originally to connect 107 public sector sites including schools, council buildings and health sites.

The network was made available on a wholesale basis enabling ISPs to offer local businesses gigabit speed Internet services. Hundreds of businesses throughout the city are already connected.

John Harrison, Corporate Director for Resources at Peterborough City Council, said: "This investment in extending our city's fibre network will further enhance Peterborough's reputation as a Gigabit City. These new access points will enable us to improve our CCTV and traffic management solutions while allowing for future roll-outs of citywide Wi-Fi and future proofing the city for future developments in a world of the Internet of Things and Smart Cities.

"It is no secret that we are well on our way to being one of the world's top 'smart cities' after being crowned Smart City of the Year 2015. Our partnership with CityFibre is just one of the many ways we are investing in growth, innovation, skills and sustainability with the goal of making Peterborough a better place to invest, work and live."

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive of CityFibre, said: "Peterborough City Council and the city as a whole have grasped the Gigabit City vision and made it their own. Peterborough has become a model for a true Gigabit City."