Comms Dealer

Unify's accelerating channel-centric journey is on track and building a powerful head of steam, according to Barry Tuffs, VP Channel Sales UK&I.

Fuelled by his strategic leadership and professional experience Tuffs's bid to drive Unify towards greater channel-centricity is gathering momentum. He was appointed to the role of UK&I channel chief in January, and as the new man at the centre of the vendor's partner growth campaign he brings 25-plus years telecoms experience in direct and indirect sales and management, joining from Avaya where he held a number of positions including Director of the UK&I channel team. He also played a lead role in introducing the iConnect Programme which steered Avaya into the mid-market sector. Prior jobs include stints at Cable&Wireless, Telewest and Nortel. Tuffs also spent three and a half years running his own business, Wire Solutions which traded as a BT Local Business. Not bad for someone who 'stumbled' into the comms industry.

Now Tuffs has hurled himself into the task of realising Unify's channel-centric vision sooner rather than later. "This is the core of our growth strategy, as well as moving up the market segmentation ladder and increasing partner capacity," he stated. "This involves the whole organisation - from sales to developing tools, processes and streamlining education. To match our growth, evolution has to be rapid. This means we must grow our partner community. During the last year we have on-boarded 69 partners but we need more to take advantage of the opportunity in the mid-market as well as the general move to cloud."

Unify's (the vendor is now known as the Atos brand for comms software and services following its acquisition in November 2015) strong heritage attracted Tuffs to the company while its portfolio and strategic direction 'suited him to the ground'. "This was everything I was looking for in a role," he explained. "I now see five main priorities for myself - creating a balanced partner landscape, accelerating partners' move to cloud, monetising the legacy Unify base, defining and implementing a channel-centric model for the UK go-to-market and driving a sales-led approach to the channel. With the last point, the main challenge is the shift from direct to channel as a business model, but the others are simply about execution and getting trust from the partners."

Tuffs is aiming to show true leadership and inspire the people around him with actions as well as words. "The only way to do this is to do and show, not tell," he added. "I invest time in our people, coach them every day and ensure I recognise great behaviour. It is important to promote a tight-knit atmosphere and interact with people in a personal, one-to-one manner. Your direction and strategy should also be clear to those working for you, but you must be able to break it down into achievable, bite size objectives. When I joined Unify I needed to set the direction and stop bad behaviour. This meant I had to be specific on the short-term actions I required. In any organisation there will always be some resistance to change. But the majority of the time this arises from a lack of understanding and can be resolved by talking to individuals."

To facilitate rapid growth there is a need for clearly defined processes, which Tuffs has already put in place. His current challenge is putting together a transparent set of 'Rules of Engagement' for both Unify and its partners. "While we are making great progress with this, ensuring that it reflects all sides can be a time-consuming process," he commented. "This is crucial because changes in the voice vendor market mean that it is a hugely exciting and important time for growth for us. The market is fluid with partners looking for a way to consolidate portfolios and become more cost-efficient."

In the lead up to the current inter-company developments introduced by Tuffs there have been three main changes in the Unify business over the past two-three years. The first is its move to a global channel-centric model that has led to over 55 per cent of Unify's revenue coming from the channel. Secondly, there has been the transition from hardware to software. This takes time to develop as finding the appropriate licensing models and tools to support a pay-as-you-go model can be difficult for a traditional vendor. Finally, a big change has been the move from a direct sales force to a high touch model. This is fundamentally different and new behaviours are required of sales teams and partners to meet end user needs.

"The customer, depending on the market sector, will demand that their IT or comms providers have the capability to provide services and support to all areas of their business," added Tuffs. "This should be achieved through a flexible and secure opex model. The partner community will need to decide on their core competency offering while building a value added proposition for customers. The traditional PBX VAR will be less important to the customer as the IT, data and storage channels evolve to adopt UC and voice-centric skills. Niche VARs will always have a place because they are seen as experts in their field."

One of Tuffs's top priorities is to increase market share in SMEs. Alongside this, he wants to move further into mid-market and low-end enterprises, all while focusing on Unify's key public sector verticals. "We also want to leverage Atos' sales and services line of business to increase penetration into its managed accounts," explained Tuffs. "This will be done through increasing channel capacity and capability, transforming into a high touch sales team, adopting a sales led approach with our partners and focusing on business outcomes. Finally, we want to take advantage of the Unify portfolio, including Circuit which is a differentiator."

In terms of his background, Tuffs is firmly routed in the channel having run channel programmes for vendors, worked for a channel partner and also owned one. "This has given me an insight into the market from all angles, allowing me to understand what is required to drive growth and loyalty," he stated. "We have got the vision, now it is a question of execution. In three years time Unify will have a balanced and motivated channel delivering over 75 per cent of Unify's UK revenue. Having presented our strategy and roadmaps to our local partners in May 2016's UK Partner Forum, I am more confident than ever that we will achieve this. The partners we currently have are excited and energised and this excitement will carry to new relationships. We have laid the groundwork, but it is a strong and motivated partner network that will be the true vehicle to growth."•

He's climbed a volcano to upgrade firmware, fled through jungle to escape a jaguar attack, and regularly finds himself in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time - welcome to the world of Keith Edwards, Managing Director of TES Wireless Communications.

Evading the close attention of big cats is not a regular must-do task, but the sense of job satisfaction and pride Edwards achieves, even under such extreme circumstances, is guaranteed every working day. And he is something of a conundrum: Risk averse, yet drawn towards danger and unpredictability. He's a dab hand at playing it safe, but also a lover of the wild oceans and their deep unknowns. All curiosities that can be traced back to when he first thought about a career pathway.

At the outset of his working life Edwards wanted to be a Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy. The job served two purposes - he wanted a role that carried zero risk of getting his hands dirty and a career that fuelled his love of the sea. "With so few jobs at sea I found the closest thing, working on naval communication systems for Marconi Communications," he said.

"Workshop life was great for a short while, but I wanted to be at the front end of radio systems so I became a field engineer for a national trunked radio network, National Band 3. This gave me an insight into system planning and the challenges of real RF issues to investigate and solve. Working remotely and on my own meant I had to be fully prepared before leaving for a hill top site, and I put every effort into resolving issues when on site. The Plan, Act, Check, Enable work ethos has stayed with me from those early days and remains as essential and useful as ever."

Although he sometimes finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Edwards's life story is just as much about being in the right place at an opportune moment. "In the early days we were lucky enough to be working with a local company, Fylde Microsystems in Blackpool, which had just designed the first commercially available trunked radio system," he explained. "Our strengths in deploying systems to site and maintaining them established us as their global sales and support office. This gave us access to long-term UK and international clients. Fylde Microsystems was subsequently purchased by Sepura and we have established a strong relationship supporting its existing systems."

TES was formed in 1991 following a management buy out of the Communications and Engineering Services Department of North West Water (now United Utilities). "We rented office space from North West Water and still looked after its regional multi-site radio system, and we were able to pick up commercially viable project work," noted Edwards.

"Due to organic growth in 1997 we moved to larger premises, increasing our workshop, storage and office space overnight. In our 25th year we still provide global support for radio systems, though the technologies we support now include MESH networks, DMR and TETRA digital radio and of course analogue systems such as conventional and trunked."

With military precision Edwards has developed a structured business model with defined roles for each department, allowing the skills and strengths of staff to reach their full potential. This strategy has helped TES to generate impressive growth in turnover and profit during the last two years. Staff numbers have grown circa 15 per cent over the period, partly because the firm now undertakes all of its own climbing and rigging activities.
"In most deployments a radio design is only as robust as the accuracy of its installation," commented Edwards. "Hence, a move towards taking ownership of our core offering, from design to full on-site implementation, means that we not only reduce the risks we also maximise the peace of mind the client has from engaging the with TES brand."

Radio Frequency (RF) planning (the sums that make radio systems work) is often described as both an art and a science. "While the laws of physics can define RF behaviour in a given circumstance, each individual deployment can be greatly affected by the environment within which it is installed," explained Edwards. "For example, building materials, expanses of water and flora such as trees can all impact on radio performance. Modern radio systems involve a lot of IP configuration and set up, so a true troubleshooting radio expert needs a broad range of skills."

For many years TES has been known as a high tier systems designer, but recent investments in brand, buildings, equipment and staff have opened up broader sales opportunities which are reflected in a healthy order book. "TES clients generally seek a life-time solution," added Edwards. "This means we not only design, install and commission systems, we also maintain them. While we always see maintenance as planned preventative activities, our investment in core skills and knowledge means that we can easily demonstrate the ability to trouble shoot when needed. It is only by investment in these skills that we are able to offer attractive SLAs for critical systems, such as a four-hour response."

Not surprisingly, TES has experienced a strong increase in maintenance business. Another area of growth that dovetails with TES' strengths is the provision of alternatives to leased lines. "Our recent offering of 'Leased Line Killer' brings together our RF planning, deployment, and maintenance skills," he explained. "TES has already undertaken numerous leased line replacement projects that have saved clients significant sums with paybacks over short periods. We see this as a significant growth area.

"The broader roll out of the Leased Line Killer is a priority. However, the main challenge is addressing perception. There is an established way of delivering this service and while a radio-based alternative offers significant cost savings and an equally, if not more, robust service, it is never easy to change an established way of thinking."

Point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links are the fastest growing market for TES, with its one-stop-shop offering making it a credible and safe solution for link deployments. "Our services include, design, installation and commissioning, post deployment 24/7 support and preventative maintenance," added Edwards. "Along with all the back office services such as licence management, training, and project management."

Attaining the trinity of 9001 Quality Management, 18001 Health & Safety Management and 14001 Environmental Management certification with BSI has been essential for TES to demonstrate its commitment to a higher standard of operations, especially given the corporate nature of most of its clients, perhaps more so post-recession. "In the post 2008 world it is clear that businesses need to fully research and justify purchases," stated Edwards. "So TES has evolved its strategy to more clearly offer RoI information such as the tax impactions of various ways of funding and more creative ways of achieving our client's objectives."

For example, hire of radios and systems often proves to be a cost-effective solution for more budget sensitive clients. "We have seen strong hire business over the last couple of years," noted Edwards. "Another part of our growth strategy is to use our experience to focus on certain sectors including security, transport, financial, government and petrochemical. In 2016 we have already gained or delivered systems or contracts with First Manchester, Astra Zeneca, UBS AG, Blackpool Transport and BP."

Despite the risky situations Edwards sometimes runs up against in his day-to-day activities, TES has always been risk averse, following a strategy of organic growth rather than exceeding its ability to self-fund. "This may seem like the safe option but we are as stable and commercially strong as we have ever been," he said. "Our stability is the key to the long-term relationships we have with clients and suppliers. There is little point chasing turnover if it places your company and client relationships at risk. We also cherry pick our work, aiming at the blue chip market. This is why having the internationally recognised standards for management systems and stability is crucial and encourages referrals."

TES is large enough to have critical mass and target corporate clients, but retains the fleet-of-foot flexibility common to smaller firms. "We like the fact we know everybody's name, and we have, for the last 25 years, retained a homely culture," commented Edwards. "We are often described as an external in-house communications department. This only ever works with the strongest of professional skills and experience and a culture driven by honesty and integrity.

"I am lucky to be involved with a company where every day is different and I get to work with a varied client base. To choose one achievement above another is impossible. Every system deployed feels as good as the first one many years ago. On a personal level, it's the relationships with clients and suppliers that makes my job so much more enjoyable."•

The ultimate formula for business success in the new information age is a blend of persistence, skill and belief, according to PRS Telecom Director Patrick Gill.

From selling airline tickets for BA to marketing the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong, Gill's career has always been about making things happen, and getting better at it every step of the way. A trio of inspirational figures spur Gill to always strive for personal and business improvement, namely Winston Churchill, Muhammad Ali and Prince Philip. Together they embody the three qualities needed to win at running a business, believes Gill.

"They all inspire me to be more than I am now," he said. "Churchill dealt with taking Britain through hell and winning. Running your own business can be like that, 'keep buggering on' he said. Ali knows how to be the best, the ultimate champion. Running your business is about making yourself better than the rest. And Prince Philip is a master of dedication to the cause. He has made it his life's work to make his family and their work a success. He's experienced highs, massive highs, ordinary days, hard times, lows and desperate hours, but he is always true to the cause. These three gentlemen epitomise the winning formula in business - persistence, skill and belief."

Gill put these qualities into practice when he joined Your Comms in 2002. His target then was £2.5 million. Two years later he left the business, also leaving behind a £19.5 million target. "That was the inspiration for PRS," stated Gill. "Don't work for anyone else! The original PRS Telecom model was premium rate phone calls between marketing companies and their networks. This didn't work out as the three caballeros envisaged, so Peter Crooks, Geoff Bell and I agreed to split. PRS became mine and I relocated to my new home town in north Wales to become a traditional B2B reseller.

"Make no bones about it, we started with no clients, and that, at the age of 48, took a hell of a lot to build. We now have a 12 strong team and approximately 300 customers across the UK, mainly in the north west of England and north Wales. PRS Telecom exists to provide what I would want my supplier to provide - services, solutions and advice, all carried out excellently and at great value. PRS offers the benefits of dealing with a small local business and will do all possible to manage the account, yet it's on a national level."

Last month PRS Telecom signalled big plans for growth following its partnership with the founder of gap Personnel Group. The comms provider is aiming to become a £10 million business by 2020 with 10-plus offices spread across the UK, all based on a five-year agreement with Gary Dewhurst who is now a major shareholder.

Dewhurst is best known as an entrepreneur, investor and business mentor, and under his leadership gap Personnel Group currently achieves turnover in excess of £100 million. The partnership has already catalysed the acquisition of key client accounts, the recruitment of new staff and a relocation of the HQ to larger bespoke offices. "This new relationship is all about working together to drive the expansion of PRS into a much stronger, more robust and more profitable business," said Gill.

"Our growth has demonstrated to Gary that we have a strong business model, and that gave him the incentive to take a major shareholding in PRS. His main business has 30-plus offices across the UK and it is the ambition of our union to spread PRS Telecom across the UK using the existing resource of gap. We have a five year plan to grow to £10 million and exit. The platform is in place. The suppliers are there, and the customers of group businesses are there."

According to Gill, the next 12 months is all about sustained growth in all areas and establishing itself in four strategically appointed gap Personnel branches. "Until the involvement of gap Personnel our growth was via referral, door knocking, networking and repeat business," commented Gill. "Now we have a national database of clients to run at, including some huge operations with big issues."

Having started the business with nothing and making it something that people want to either buy from or work for is a great source of pride for Gill. He believes PRS is both 'tangible and successful', despite regulatory bugbears that grate by the day and work against the industry's best interests, he believes.

"Ofcom is under performing and telephone numbering is a farce," he said. "The consumer is confused and Ofcom has little idea about numbering, evidenced by the way it managed the 084/087 numbering episodes and the 09 debacle. Furthermore, as long as Openreach sits under BT share holder ownership there can be only one controller of the UK. And it's not Ofcom."•

Inspiration and self-belief have oiled the wheels of Kelly Bolderson's fast moving career. Here, the Managing Director of Glamorgan Telecom recalls how she spread her wings as a fledgling new starter and soared.

Bolderson started her career with Glamorgan Telecom at the age of 17 and diligently worked her way up through the company ranks into the position of Managing Director. Her first task on joining the firm was to put in place processes that allowed Glamorgan Telecom to scale its operations in telesales and telemarketing, customer support and project management. "Having experience in all areas of the company has allowed me to better manage the organisation in my current position," she explained. "I've streamlined each department and created a flatter, more dynamic business."

Glamorgan Telecom has been providing telephony solutions to the south Wales and south west business marketplace since 1993. The company was established by Neal Pughe, but after a recent MBO Glamorgan Telecom is now owned by majority shareholder Bolderson and fellow Director Mathew Evans. Glamorgan Telecom was established to supply, install and maintain comms systems for SMEs in its target regions of operation, and is now one of the main providers and installers of business telecom lines and network services in the area. Glamorgan Telecom has also achieved the Platinum Enterprise Network Partner status from Samsung and is part of its 'team of empowered partners'.

Last year's MBO enabled Glamorgan Telecom to implement an ambitious growth strategy and diversify by offering customers a wider portfolio services. The company currently employees 40 people, and with a three-year expansion strategy under way Bolderson is looking to recruit an additional six employees in 2016, and is forecasting yearly growth of 35 per cent, increasing revenue by over £1 million year-on-year until 2018.

"Since 2010 our client base has grown by 22 per cent," she explained. "This has been achieved by a constant focus on customer services, a reduction in churn and a widening of our geographic territories. We have implemented a more personal and tailored approach for each of our clients, with improved customer support and better technology solutions to choose from, and we have made it easier for customers to contact us for support. Businesses now expect faster troubleshooting support and we have made a number of changes to our processes to address these requirements."

Examples of Bolderson's improved approach to managing customers include the introduction of an online help service for 24 hour support and an emergency engineering team that deals with serious technical issues outside of normal office opening hours. "But critically, it is about our staff," she emphasised. "Each member has a clear understanding of our values and is empowered to make the right decision to support the customer. We believe that our success is in our people, and we nurture each employee to enable them to give their best."

The company's primary market focus is the SME to mid-market space, along with schools, healthcare, leisure, charity and institutional customers. "In the medium term we have targeted additional services that will enhance our position as a go-to regional business support group," commented Bolderson. "We constantly scour the market for innovation and listen to what our customers have to say. Their markets are continually evolving and our agility allows us to react to those changes and deliver creative solutions.

"Glamorgan Telecom's culture is built around being open to new ideas. We listen closely to the feedback we get from clients and employees because it allows us to find better ways to deliver our services and products, and that process drives the company forward. The biggest opportunity facing any player in this market is to listen, watch, learn and take action to anticipate what the customer needs. Selling boxes is not the answer. Providing a long-term service tailored to our customers' requirements will ensure a closer customer bond."

Bolderson's current pain point is plugging the professional skills gap in the south Wales region. "We have overcome this by ensuring that we grow our own," she commented. "Through having clear development opportunities in place we are able to make each and every employee feel valued. This approach is supported by our employee turnover figures, with the average duration of stay being in excess of 10 years."

Not surprisingly, Bolderson rates her journey from a seventeen-year-old new starter to company Managing Director as her greatest career achievement to date. "If my 17-year-old self had the chance to rate my performance so far I might get an 8 out of 10," she stated. "There is always room to learn and grow. Important lessons learnt along the way include getting the facts right first time and understanding the detail, as well as listening to others and always trusting my judgement."•

In his passion for giving customers what they really want and need, Steffan Dancy, Managing Director at Rydal Communications, has built an award winning business.

Dancy owes much of his business success to the attributes he acquired during a promising soccer career that was curtailed at the age of 23 following an injury. "This did, however, instil the ethos of winning, working as a team and delivering to the best of your ability, which today exudes through the Rydal Comms office," he said.

Dancy was first exposed to telecoms through an independent mobile airtime reseller, an acquaintance that inspired him to pursue a new opportunity. Rydal Communications was incorporated in 2008 and started trading in 2009 from a bedroom where Dancy ran the operation on his own. "After two years I decided that it was time to grow," he stated. "I moved to a small office and recruited Stephen Watkins who is our Operations Director and Mark Worraker our Sales Team Leader. As a team we were heavily focused around mobile, and in 2012 we embarked on the broadband, calls and lines and hosted system market."

Today, the company has a 23-strong headcount and is a specialist at delivering unified solutions in accordance with its growth strategy. Another big turning point was gaining access to funds. "Once we understood where the market was going we invested money in expanding," noted Dancy. "This has heavily paid off and further re-investment from myself will come over the following months to position us for the next phase of growth. Our turnover run rate is currently £2.5 million, up from £1.78 million last year. We have consistently delivered year-on-year growth and our intention is to achieve £5 million turnover within the next three years and £10 million within five years."

An important part of Rydal Communications' business plan is its relationship with Ericsson-LG and Pragma. Rydal scooped their 2016 New Partner of the Year award in February in recognition of its sales and delivery success. Dancy credits Ericsson-LG's flagship products in registering high sales and he is already making inroads with the vendor's new cloud solution launched earlier this year. Rydal's target market is businesses with 10-250 extensions but it also boasts a handful of enterprise clients including Change.ORG, Multi-York Furniture store and a recent contract win from Deafblind UK.

IT and energy also feature prominently in Dancy's longer-term plans. "We already offer elements of bespoke IT services but will have a sharper focus on these areas over the coming 12 months," he added. "The convergence of comms and IT is growing stronger. Our main priority is managing the fibre pipe that goes into the business and everything that sits on it, including IT. Further growth may come from acquisitions. However, this will happen when the right opportunity comes across our path."

Following a growth plan is not always plain sailing and Dancy's biggest challenge is ensuring that the business has the right systems, processes and management structure in place to deliver sustainable growth. "Over the past 12 months we have focused on building the right team to implement our strategy," he said.

"We have been, and still are, investing in our people with a key focus on training all of our staff, including the management team. Focusing on our people has resulted in a huge improvement in the business over the last year. Service delivery to our end users is better, slicker and more organised. In hindsight, I would have invested in the right CRM systems and built a support structure around our sales team earlier. Many small businesses make the same mistake of having sales people do far too much."

How best to manage workloads is a question Dancy himself was forced to address on a personal level. "I used to work every hour under the sun, consistently 8am-8pm for three years and started to burn out," he commented. "Someone older and wiser told me to remember one thing in life, 'health before wealth, otherwise you spend your wealth getting your health back'. This really stuck with me and made me make changes to the hours I was working.

"I realised that to grow, I couldn't do it on my own. I needed to invest my time into others and allow them to spread their wings. Letting go of your business is hard to do, especially when you have built it up from nothing. For me it got to the point where I had no choice. Thanks to the people we have here it's been a blessing in disguise."•

With skills in short supply, the industry must ask what the future holds for technology businesses. The answer? A telecoms apprenticeship scheme run by the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals (ITP), explains Head of Operations Crissi Williams.

Back in 2013 we identified the need for a telecoms specific apprenticeship scheme. Having researched the idea with our members we found that 100 per cent would, in an ideal world, employ apprentices if they could. We also discovered, however, that the biggest barriers to taking on apprentices included the administration required, time constraints, staff resources and access to training. In fact, at that time it was only the larger organisations that were in a position to employ apprentices.

Since then, we have successfully created more than 60 jobs in the industry through the scheme, ranging from engineers to technical helpdesk advisors. Through this initiative we are not only offering young people a chance to start their careers, but also providing telecoms businesses a headache-free way to find the fresh new talent they need, whether large or small.

It is currently now better value than ever for employers to take on young apprentices, with the Government recently announcing the abolition of employer national insurance contributions for apprentices under the age of 25. While those perceived barriers first identified in our survey of 2013 still remain for some, they don't have to. Our scheme takes care of the time-consuming elements for businesses who are keen to take on apprentices, but are not sure where to start.

Our apprentices are supported throughout the programme with further training and development opportunities. One of the most valuable elements is the mentoring scheme. Each apprentice is matched with a mentor, giving them unique access to a senior telecoms professional. We have found this not only drives motivation, but gives them access to unique insights and networking opportunities with peers they may never have met otherwise. It has also proven to be a valuable experience from the mentor's perspective too, with many telling us that they gain a real insight into the challenges faced by young people entering our industry - something which can help with their own training and HR strategy.

With the heavy financial burden bearing down on young people going to university, opportunities to 'earn as you learn' are becoming ever more attractive. This is demonstrated in the rise of sites like www.notgoingtouni.com and more than 45k Twitter followers to the National Apprenticeship Service. What's more, during this year's National Apprenticeship Week, 30,000 employers across the country pledged to create apprenticeship roles. We are working to close the gap between education and work by offering an alternative to university, where often graduates are still not 'work ready' after completing their studies. The apprenticeship route gives young people the skills, training and knowledge they need to be work ready by the time they have completed their apprenticeship.

The forthcoming Apprenticeship Levy, coming into effect in April 2017, will undoubtedly change the apprenticeship landscape. It will install a 0.5 per cent tax on companies with a wage bill of more than £300 million, but will affect SMEs too as companies with a lesser wage bill will be able to draw from the fund. The response to the levy has been mixed. Some see it as a way of increasing the quality of placements across the country, while others argue it could force businesses to look at quantity rather than quality. Our advice would be to get ahead of the game and start employing apprentices now, and to engage with your payroll software provider now to ascertain how the money will be taken and avoid any potential hiccups.

Ultimately, apprenticeships are vital to the development of the industry. Not only do they bring fresh talent, but greater staff retention and more tailored skills. We continue to welcome two full cohorts per year to our programme, and hope to see this grow over the next few years - creating more telecoms jobs.

Awards programme

The ITP's Apprentice of the Year awards programme was launched to help exceptional apprentices stand out from the crowd, and recognise their hard work and commitment. It also gives the young people a confidence boost and looks great on their CV. Past winners have told us that it has really helped their career prospects.

An important element of our awards programme is the Chris Seymour Women in Telecoms award, launched to recognise the outstanding contribution that women make to the sector, despite still being in the minority. Women currently make up under 30 per cent of the ICT workforce, and only 15.5 per cent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce. According to a report from the Select Committee on Digital Skills, increasing the number of women working in IT and telecoms could generate an extra £2.6 billion each year.

The University and Colleges Admissions Service found that in 2014, 17,300 more men than women entered computer science, and 20,300 more men entered engineering. In both of these fields men made up over 85 per cent of acceptances. Lack of careers guidance and education are noted as the main stumbling blocks, something we hope to address in the telecoms sector. This information shows that more needs to be done to address the imbalance within our industry.

Nathalie Vafiadis, Director of Technology Delivery at EE and winner of The Chris Seymour Award for Women in Telecoms in 2015, said: "If you look at the engineering side of telecoms it is dominated by men, and many times throughout my career I've been the only woman in the room during meetings. It's a fact that women are under-represented in this industry. Yet I haven't ever focused on gender during my career and have just concentrated on doing the best job I can in whatever role I'm doing.

"The Chris Seymour Award for Women in Telecoms demonstrates that women can have successful careers in comms. My aspiration is that within the next generation, Chris Seymour's wonderful award will be changing its name because there will no longer be a need to limit it by gender. The industry will have moved on significantly and women in senior positions across the telecoms industry will be the norm.

"We absolutely need to tell young women as they're growing up that there's no reason they can't be involved in this industry. A successful career in any field should be an output of the passion and energy you put into it. That's why mentoring schemes are very important. They help to develop an individual's belief and ultimately drive the end result. It doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman. We want the telecoms industry to be filled with enthusiastic people focused on delivering an exceptional service to customers.

"We're living in a technological age and all children are growing up using technology as second nature, so there's every reason to be encouraged about more women developing an interest in technology and moving into engineering-based industries like telecoms and ultimately achieving their full career potential."•

Key points

• The ITP's apprenticeship scheme has created more than 60 jobs in the industry and continues to seek out companies and employees who wish to take part.
• Now is a better time than ever to take on apprentices before the introduction of the levy and due to the abolition of the employer national insurance contributions.
• The ITP can provide access to training, professional registration and mentoring.
www.theitp.org

The gulf between go-getting comms resellers and their more static counterparts is widening. Most industry players accept that they need to engage in product and service diversification to prosper, and business success is naturally drawn to those, like Calteq, that press ahead with these progressive strategies, according to co-founder and Director Mike Stephenson.

Stephenson co-founded Calteq with Nigel Willets in 2003. Their intention was simple - to provide great customer service with a product offering to match. "During our previous years working for shareholders we learnt the importance of taking time to understand a client's challenges and provide a bespoke solution rather than the all too familiar 'one size fits all' approach often taken by larger corporates," noted Stephenson.

Stephenson's pre-Calteq experience enables him to deal with large customers and carriers, which has been intrinsic to Calteq's success as a provider of tailored solutions to sizeable multiple site customers using Tier 1 carriers. He first entered the comms industry in 1987 as a telemarketer for sales appointments at Solutions Telecom, a telephone system dealer. After securing a number of successful appointments he was promoted to a sales role selling systems and smart boxes using Mercury Communications. He then moved to system manufacturer Tie Communications and in 1992 joined Telia UK as Sales Manager. Breaking away from this role Stephenson co-founded IDN which floated on AIM in 2000 and was sold to Redstone Telecom in 2006. During this period Calteq was established.

Today, the company has three offices, one focused on mobile, the other data services while the head office operates as an administration centre. From these secure footholds Calteq targets large multi-site customers, in particular those using traditional voice services such as ISDN30 and are ripe for migrating to hosted and SIP solutions, supported by mobile and data products. "While it's still not for everyone, with ISDN30 heading towards end of life we want to drive this message to our customers and offer them a smooth transition," said Stephenson. "We are always looking for products that can be sold into our customer base. These currently include IoT and M2M solutions which have opened up new markets and opportunities."

To expand its product and services range Calteq purchased a small, but specialised, data company two years ago. The acquired data products and Cisco expertise allowed Calteq to offer data services to its customer base, which is now a thriving part of the business and generates almost £1.5 million annual turnover. The acquisition also enabled Calteq to approach SIP and hosted IP at a much higher level, with good success having sold 2,000 hosted seats already this year compared to 400 at the same time last year.

Calteq's focus on data solutions includes private WAN, colocation facilities and advanced data products such as Sophos firewall deployment. "With security front of mind among all of our customers we are developing our portfolio to include solutions that both alert and protect from call fraud," added Stephenson. "We have also refocused on mobiles using Vodafone and O2 and achieved a 200 per cent increase in mobile connections over the last 12 months. Combined billing and account management have been critical to this growth."

Stephenson cited one company as a good example of its broad solution portfolio in action, the Timpson Group which consists of Timpson, Max Spielmann, Snappy Snaps and others. "We provided landlines, mobiles and data connections which are currently being rolled out via a private WAN to 1,500 branches," he stated. "This has saved the customer a huge amount of money and introduced a streamlined route for new shop openings and fault reporting. The core solutions include additional support products such as conference calling, automated fraud detection, automated fault logging and comprehensive engineer support for installation of lines into all of the main supermarket chains in the UK."

To bolster its sales and support capabilities Calteq has invested significantly in up-skilling its call centre and sales channels, empowering them to sell more advanced data products and supporting solutions. This approach also feeds into the company's culture which Stephenson describes as 'innovative, supportive and hard working', and he welcomes a melting pot of new ideas. "We encourage the team to input ideas because they are our greatest strength, whether it's going the extra mile in our 24/7 customer service operation or developing solutions to protect our customers from fraud," he explained. "We also like to have fun and always reward great work."•

Comms and IT marketing specialist Blabbermouth has rolled out a 'Transformation Initiative' designed to optimise the sales and marketing performance of businesses in the channel.

Blabbermouth's MD Elizabeth Sparrow (pictured) said the initiative responds to a lack of integration between the sales and marketing functions of many businesses, stunting their ability to realise their full selling potential.

To put things right, Sparrow said Blabbermouth's business transformation process begins with a company health check, strategic planning, discussions about the true nature of a company, its identity, growth ambitions and long-term goals."We then put in place a joined up marketing campaign to deliver new opportunities," she explained.

"But this is only part of the solution. No department should operate in isolation, especially sales and marketing which go hand in hand."

Blabbermouth plans to position businesses for growth by preparing them for seamless customer acquisition, and the man at the centre of the company's new campaign is incoming consultant David Sparrow who joins from TalkTalk Business where he was Head of Corporate and Enterprise Sales and played a leading part in the creation of this high performing division.

Previous roles include notable stints at reseller Freedom Communications, Virgin Media and T-Mobile. His main purpose is to help sales and marketing leaders escape from the straitjacket of siloed working by creating more scope for professional chemistry between departments.

"Business assessments can often be complex and sensitive," he commented. "But we provide a tactful and uncomplicated review of capabilities, processes, structures and strategies within the sales department before establishing best practices and integrating these with the marketing effort.

"Our aim is to assist a variety of businesses with their growth plans and help them unlock new market potential and large flagship opportunities.

"The best businesses are those rooted not in a fractured departmental mode of operation but in a unified framework based on joint targets, measurements and processes that maximise on the benefits of sales and marketing integration."

Blabbermouth's auditing and assessment know-how also enables it to report back on the complete customer journey.

Each of UC's incarnations have been stepping stones towards the ‘third phase of convergence', according to Six Degrees Group's (6DG) Strategy and Marketing Director Campbell Williams, who says it's high time we all went ‘UCeamless'.

The traditional language of Unified Communications signifies an environment where users collaborate on any device, any where. But the shift away from this application-centric realm of communications towards a more platform-centric one indicates a trend towards greater levels of integration as the technology blends invisibly into the background of everyday corporate life, while collaborative outcomes move to the fore.

According to Williams, customer demand is driving this convergence of UC, a new incarnation of the category, where the channel delivers UC software on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud platforms. "Frost & Sullivan noted that the need to support a growing mobile workforce alongside the ability to gain faster access to advanced features and capabilities are a strong driver for the market," stated Williams. "Customer demand and feedback are now at the forefront of UC&C development."

The UC discussion has shifted more towards people and the human factor rather than technology, device and location. This is a trend Williams has witnessed across ICT as a whole. "As customers insist on more from their technology, be that comms, compute, or cloud, IT has become more specialised and there has been an increase in demand for highly skilled people behind these systems," he stated. "ICT now needs people with specific and focused experience, especially in relation to cloud technologies.

"Businesses have experienced a shift in resources away from traditional IT teams, who as one IT leader put it, ‘don't have the manpower to baby sit hardware any more'. This change means that IT teams need to understand both the scope for technology to deliver the infrastructure and services their business needs, and how to use it when it's in place. IT teams also need to translate business planning and strategic product and service objectives into real world delivery, and overcome long standing barriers between IT and business."

IT leaders also need to understand that UC is more about the technologies while collaboration signifies the outcomes. "UC can do justice to the ongoing evolution of technology and services in the marketplace today," commented Williams. "However, to enhance customer services and business processes, collaboration is more important than all of the technologies available in the marketplace.

"I don't necessarily disagree with the premise that the industry has entered a post-UC era. I think of it as a third phase of comms convergence. Over the years the comms industry has seen a huge number of changes. When VoIP emerged over 15 years ago, many industry players dismissed it as a fad. Now, we don't even know we are using integrated VoIP systems. This shows how far we have come.

"VoIP was followed by ‘Voice over IT', which delivered PBXs using standard computer platforms. Despite the obvious appeal of this type of convergence many commentators were sceptical, arguing PBXs would always need turnkey hardware. Now, I believe we are entering a third phase where customer demand is at the forefront and organisations look to converge their communications and deliver cloud-based UC software on IaaS platforms."

Successful UC players, noted Williams, display flexibility and shy away from selling off-the-shelf solutions. They differentiate themselves by adding customisation and building APIs into customers' key business systems. Because of this, Williams believes that the term ‘UCeamless' is perhaps more suitable than plain UC.

"Traditional fixed line and IPT sellers will need to have a converged mobile strategy, and quickly," he added. "In the mid-market there has been a large focus on SIP and hosted IPX migration, but the mobile costs have always been associated with an independent mobile operator or service provider. The BT/EE tie up should, in time, start making more customers look to consolidate their mobile and voice to one supplier. So there is a great opportunity for the channel to increase the wallet share of their existing customer base."

Following the recent launch of 6DG's UCaaS solution with Avaya, the company plans to bolster its proposition with the CCaaS (Contact Centre as a Service) and VaaS (Video as a Service) add-on applications. "These will increase the functionality of our UCaaS platform and enable customers to pick and choose from a wider range of features," commented Williams. "We also plan to invest in further expanding our international foot print, closely aligning the next phase of our UCaaS offering with the growth plans of our customer base."

A 22% increase in SV9100 sales secured Trust Distribution the NEC Top UNIVERGE SV9100 Distributor award at the vendor's EMEA Partner Conference 2016 staged in Venice.

Terry Ambrose, joint Trust MD, commented: "Our double digit growth can be attributed in part to the wrap around resource that we have built into the brand. We have sales account managers, a fully trained technical team, two brand managers and regular marketing updates that deliver vital information, along with commercial and technical assistance to our customers.

"This means that they can confidently go out and sell the platform in the knowledge that they are kept abreast of all the latest NEC news and that they will be supported in a a pre and post-sales capacity."