Comms Dealer

Worldwide IT spending is expected to grow 2.4% this year according to calculations by Gartner.

Analyst John-David Lovelock said: "The impact of digital business is giving rise to new categories. For example, the convergence of 'software plus services plus intellectual property'.

"These next-generation offerings are fuelled by business and technology platforms that will be the driver for new categories of spending.

"Industry-specific disruptive technologies include the Internet of Things (IoT) in manufacturing, blockchain in financial services (and other industries), and smart machines in retail. The focus is on how technology is disrupting and enabling business."

The worldwide enterprise software market is forecast to grow 7.6% in 2017, up from 5.3% growth in 2016.

"With the increased adoption of SaaS-based enterprise applications there also comes an increase in acceptance of IT operations management tools that are also delivered from the cloud," added Lovelock.

"These cloud-based tools allow infrastructure and operations organisations to more rapidly add functionality and adopt newer technologies to help them manage faster application release cycles.

"If the I&O team does not monitor and track the rapidly changing environment, it risks infrastructure and application service degradation, which ultimately impacts the end-user experience and can have financial as well as brand repercussions."

Dorset-based telematics company Trakm8 has kicked off a partner recruitment campaign to push its vehicle tracking, dash cam and optimisation solutions deeper into the fleet, insurance and automotive sectors.

According to the company resellers can help businesses overcome a number of transport related challenges such as improving fuel economy and road risk, increasing the utilisation of vehicles and reducing downtime.

"These improvements are driven by insights into vehicle whereabouts, utilisation reports, driver behaviour monitoring and vehicle health reports," said Chris Wilton, Channel Sales Director.

"Dash cam and multi-cam systems can reduce operational costs via lower insurance premiums and a reduction in accident rates."

To prove the point Wilton cited Euro Car Parts, a customer that has witnessed a 20% reduction in at-fault accident rates following the installation of cameras.

Trakm8's portfolio includes a route optimisation and scheduling system that calculates the best way to complete a company's delivery jobs using the least number of vehicles, while also achieving the lowest cumulative mileage and the most fuel-efficient route for each driver.

"There has never been a better time for businesses to introduce telematics to their product portfolio, with market trends still continuing to suggest significant industry growth over the next ten years," added Wilton.

Paula Johnston is to lead Node4's public sector push as the firm bids to become a 'major contender'. She brings 10 years experience and joins from Virgin Media where she managed the Public Sector Team across the midlands and south regions, and was named top sales performer in 2015.

As Node4's Head of Public Sector Sales Johnston will also draw on her previous experience as public sector Account Director at Airwave, where she won significant contracts to supply the Bluelight Sector with comms solutions including encrypted connectivity and UC.

Paul Bryce, Business Development Director, Node4, said: "This is an important hire as we work to position Node4 as a true end-to-end IT supplier for mid-tier, charity organisations and the public sector.

"Paula brings valuable experience in the sector, and we expect her to play a key strategic role in helping us achieve our growth plans."

Johnston added: "Now that Node4 is fully HSCN compliant and a G-Cloud 9 supplier, my priority is to build on our experience in this sector to ensure that Node4 is established as a major contender."

Advanced has acquired Hudman, developer of CentralERP, a cloud-based SaaS ERP system.

The move is expected to extend Advanced's reach into the SME business sector.

Gordon Wilson, CEO at Advanced, said: "This acquisition represents the first public step in the company's next chapter.

"Our business transformation over the last 12-18 months means we are well placed to focus on accelerating our growth and extending our delivery of solutions in the cloud, which represents the single biggest opportunity for us and our customers.

"Cloud technology is fast becoming the right choice for many organisations to drive efficiencies, manage costs, innovate and grow. It's important we help them embrace the cloud to secure this competitive edge."

David James, CEO at Hudman Solutions, added: "Our cloud first approach complements Advanced's strategy and its growth plans."

Jon Wrennall, CTO at Advanced, noted: "We're seeing an increasing number of newer businesses that either have a cloud-first strategy - in that they've never invested in a fully integrated on-premise infrastructure - or want to move quickly to the cloud to take advantage of all the benefits that make SaaS solutions so attractive.

"Integrating Hudman's technology and skill set into our existing product roadmap will ensure we support smaller organisations to positively disrupt their business and make a difference to the services they offer to their customers."

NG Bailey's IT Services division has racked up record sales for the second year running.

It's annual results to 24th February 2017 show a £76m hike in sales, up 27% on last year's £60m.

NG Bailey specialises in the design, supply, installation, management and maintenance of voice, data and structured cabling solutions to contracting, enterprise and public sector clients.

Group-wide figures rose from £408m to £500m and operating profits grew 100%, from £6m to £12m. The Group's forward order book rose by 10% to £902m.

The group attributes much of this growth to a diversification strategy that has seen NG Bailey move from a reliance on building construction to having a balanced portfolio across services (IT and facilities management), large scale engineering construction projects and traditional building construction.

CEO David Hurcomb said: "Our operating performance over the past year shows the strategy we put in place six years ago - when the construction industry was being heavily impacted by the economic downturn - was the right one.

"However, we cannot afford to be complacent. Each of our key divisions, including IT Services, performed strongly over the past year, but we are operating in what is still a challenging environment for our industry, and with a backdrop of continuing political and economic uncertainty.

"As a family-owned company, our independence provides us with the freedom to strategically reinvest our profits in areas that support future growth and enable us to be a sustainable business."

NG Bailey is investing £3m a year in staff training and development, and over the past 12 months has more than doubled the range of qualifications available in its apprenticeship programme.

Chairman Kevin Whiteman added: "Our financial strength, with no third party borrowings and net assets of £124m, allows us to invest for growth and to support the development of our people.

"We also recognise the opportunity, as a responsible business, to positively impact all our stakeholders, including almost 3,000 employees. That is why we are committed to environmental and social sustainability in order to build a better future for us all."

Luminet on track top hit 2017 reseller recruitment target?
Luminet is well on the way to achieving its 2017 target of signing up 400 partners having already on-boarded 140 resellers following the recent launch of its partner programme and automated portal, a move that refocused its strategy on market execution.

Luminet owns its own core and wireless 400 sqkm London network and has heavily invested in infrastructure, transforming itself from a wireless business broadband ISP to an intelligent managed services provider.

The firm's average revenue growth rate is 24% per annum and EBITDA has grown 16% year-on-year to circa £1.1m.

CEO Sasha Williamson stated: "Having already agreed 140 partnerships, with many more in progress, we are well on the way to hitting our target.

"With our connectivity and compute products and our partners' expertise, we have a surefire recipe for success that will enable us to have our best year to date."

Earlier this month Luminet sold its 28GHz spectrum license to Arqiva to sharpen its focus on wholesale, intelligent connectivity and computing services.

Luminet has become one of the first registered partners of the Connect Westminster Scheme, the newly launched Connected Voucher Scheme in that helps cover up to £2,000 towards an SMEs one-off connection charge within Westminster and the West End Partnership area.

Luminet is well on the way to achieving its 2017 target of signing up 400 partners having already on-boarded 140 resellers following the recent launch of its partner programme and automated portal, a move that refocused its strategy on market execution.

Luminet owns its own core and wireless 400 sqkm London network and has heavily invested in infrastructure, transforming itself from a wireless business broadband ISP to an intelligent managed services provider.

The firm's average revenue growth rate is 24% per annum and EBITDA has grown 16% year-on-year to circa £1.1m.

CEO Sasha Williamson stated: "Having already agreed 140 partnerships, with many more in progress, we are well on the way to hitting our target.

"With our connectivity and compute products and our partners' expertise, we have a surefire recipe for success that will enable us to have our best year to date."

Earlier this month Luminet sold its 28GHz spectrum license to Arqiva to sharpen its focus on wholesale, intelligent connectivity and computing services.

Luminet has become one of the first registered partners of the Connect Westminster Scheme, the newly launched Connected Voucher Scheme in that helps cover up to £2,000 towards an SMEs one-off connection charge within Westminster and the West End Partnership area.

ITSPA has broadly welcomed Ofcom's decision to limit the amount of mobile spectrum that companies can win in the upcoming spectrum auction.

Ofcom has determined that by 2020 there will be a 37% ceiling on all useable mobile spectrum that one operator can control.

ITSPA Chair Eli Katz stated: "Overall, we are pleased that Ofcom has listened to some of the concerns of industry and adjusted their plans according to the changing communications landscape. We believe this is a positive step to ensure that the UK mobile market remains competitive and open to innovation."

ITSPA had responded to Ofcom's spectrum consultation in February highlighting the need to resolve the current imbalance between the amount of spectrum being held by each of the four major mobile network operators in the UK.

ITSPA agreed with Ofcom's position that BT/EE should not bid for 2.3GHz spectrum and believe that an overall cap on spectrum is necessary to ensure effective competition.

Katz added: "While we welcome the developments as a positive move, we still believe there is a need to review the current wholesale access remedies to support the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market.

"This is a fledgling sector that needs more support to ensure the wider mobile market is vibrant and open to disruption."

TrueSpeed Communications has secured £75m funding from Aviva Investors to support the roll out of an ultrafast full fibre broadband network across south west England.

TrueSpeed was established in 2015 and provides residential and commercial customers with multi-gigabit capable symmetrical speeds through a full fibre network.

TrueSpeed already provides this service to homes connected to its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network throughout the Chew Valley, Somerset.

The partnership with Aviva Investors (the global asset management business of Aviva) allows TrueSpeed to accelerate its expansion strategy to pass up to 75,000 homes and businesses in the region.

Sean McLachlan, Senior Director, Infrastructure Equity, Aviva Investors, stated: "There is a clear and growing demand for this essential infrastructure across the country, in particular rural locations.

"The funding Aviva Investors is providing will allow TrueSpeed and its management team to accelerate its business plan and network expansion to provide world class infrastructure to users who are currently underserved."

TrueSpeed CEO Evan Wienburg said: "This investment will enable TrueSpeed to roll out the full fibre network infrastructure and services the region has needed and will provide our customers with a high-quality broadband and data capabilities for the first time.

"This brand new infrastructure will be capable of handling the speed requirements of our customers now and in the future at a competitive price and with a regional service focus."

Marcus Allchurch, Partner at Acuity, advised TrueSpeed throughout the fundraising process. He said: "Securing this funding will make TrueSpeed a major UK provider of ultrafast contiguous FTTP network services. 

"Aviva’s commitment to this investment has been admirable and is testament to the perfect storm which is being created in the global digital infrastructure market, as the demand for services makes 20th century telecoms infrastructure obsolete.\"

TrueSpeed CEO Evan Wienburg added: "Acuity helped us to build a robust business plan that made sense to the investment community. 

"This level of investment for an early stage fibre company such as TrueSpeed has not been done before in the UK and gives us fantastic certainty and a considerable commercial advantage." 

Acuity Advisors LLP has notched up decades of collective experience in the telecoms sector, working with carriers including BT, Vodafone, Telefonica, EE, Telia, Telenar and numerous mid-market sector participants.

Nuvias Group has acquired Benelux distributor DCB which will become its Cyber Security Practice for the region.

DCB has offices in The Netherlands (Veldhoven) and Belgium (Zaventem) and works with vendors such as WatchGuard Technologies, Kaspersky Lab, Trustwave and Centrify.

Paul Eccleston, CEO Nuvias Group, said: "DCB is a value-added distributor with a strong reputation and a large partner base.

"The DCB product range is fully aligned with the Nuvias Cyber Security Practice."

IT services company Firstnet Solutions has launched a 24/7 help desk support service with over 300 certified network consultants employed at its new facility in Leeds.

The team of in-house professionals is based at Firstnet's Tier 3 data centre from where they will provide round-the-clock support with first, second and third line engineers available through the night.

Clients are guaranteed to speak to a live technical consultant within 60 seconds of calling.

MD David Cusworth, said: "With threats from cybercrime spreading on a global scale it has never been more important for organisations to have immediate access to expert technical support which is capable of providing a helpful response in a timely fashion - any time of day and any day of the year.

"Our live consultants are available 365 days a year with multi-technology remote support to keep everything running smoothly and securely.

"Each client is allocated a Team Leader and Project Manager, supported by certified field engineers to make site visits when a remote resolution is not possible. Tiered service levels and custom response requirements are available. We also provide a range of web-based incident reporting and status tools for end users."