Comms Dealer

TalkTalk Business is offering its first 4G SIM only business plans - packages that are exclusive to existing TalkTalk Business customers and offer unlimited texts and calls, complete with data allowance at what the company says is 'low cost'.

"We understand the complex pressures that face today's businesses as they look to manage costs and improve profitability," said Duncan Gooding, Director of Enterprise, TalkTalk Business.

"We also know how important connectivity is to them, not only to provide a faultless service to valued customers, but to support the business' next chapter as it looks to prosper in a digital-first world.

"Connectivity is increasingly the lifeblood of a business, which is why a combined mobile and broadband package has never been more important.

"By offering our customers competitive data solutions along with unlimited calls and texts, we believe that we can eliminate the complexity of multiple providers."

ISPA analysis has revealed a big increase in broadband references in Parliament, showing that political interest in broadband has risen by 75% overall from the first inner months of the 2010-15 Parliament to the first months of this current Parliament.

By comparing the number of debates and parliamentary questions in three political periods since the 2010 election, it is clear that MPs and constituents care more than ever about broadband and the Internet.

Written questions from MPs on broadband increased 59% and broadband was mentioned 63% more in the House of Commons in the nine months since the election in 2015 compared to the first nine months in 2010.

There have been six debates on broadband since May 2015, compared to none in the same period after the 2010 election. In total these three categories have seen a 75% increase in broadband discussions.

In this Parliament to date, there have been a range of select committee inquiries looking in to broadband as well as issues like the digital economy, cyber security, big data and the Investigatory Powers Bill.

New all-party groups have been established looking at the digital economy, broadband and e-crime. This in part can be explained by newer MPs more familiar with technology, a government-backed rollout programme and the increased number of constituent queries into broadband.

The backdrop to this is the ever increasing take up of superfast broadband with hundreds of providers rolling out national, regional or local networks, and others reselling these services adding expert knowledge and support.

Ofcom research shows that the average UK speed is now 29Mbps. With 85% of adults now using the Internet regularly, and the rise of connected devices, it is clear that the Internet is fundamental for all households. However, there are some debates ahead, for example on how to meet the 10Mpbs Universal Service Obligation, the future regulatory framework and removing barriers to make rolling out broadband easier.

ISPA Chair James Blessing said: "The massive investment in broadband from ISPA members has helped the Internet become an essential part of our daily lives and this is reflected in the level of parliamentary interest.

"That isn't to say broadband rollout isn't without challenges and I am glad ISPA is proactively connecting ISPs with local MPs on how to bring the transformative effects of broadband to communities throughout the UK."

Claranet has bolstered its Amazon Web Services and DevOps capabilities with the acquisition of Warrington-based AWS specialist Bashton.

The deal builds on last year's purchases of LinuxIT and Techgate and accelerates Claranet's managed public cloud drive.

Bashton was established in 2004 and works primarily with retail and media customers, helping them to run mission critical web applications on AWS infrastructure.

Its DevOps tooling expertise enables customers to deploy code updates into their web application, as well as monitor and improve performance.

Bashton has annual revenues of £1.2m and its customers include ITV, Odeon, BBC Worldwide, Liverpool Football Club, made.com and Virgin Holidays.

Michel Robert, Claranet UK's MD, said: ""Bashton was a natural company to join Claranet and follows a number of strategically important acquisitions we have made in the past year across Europe to enhance our public cloud capabilities.

"The development of managed services on third party clouds is a key focus for Claranet and the skills and experience brought by Bashton go a long way to helping us to manage more complex applications in these environments.

"As cloud adoption increases, the real value we can add as a managed services provider is in our expertise, tooling and automation capabilities.

"We are therefore focused on developing our advanced hosting capabilities to streamline our customers' operations and underpin the evolution of our managed application hosting services."

Bashton's founder and Director Sam Bashton added: "Claranet's application-centric approach to combining hosting and networking services, including its Cloud Connect service into AWS, demonstrates a solid understanding of the challenges faced by businesses today."

The expanded Claranet Group now has annual revenues of £165m, over 1,000 staff and 5,500-plus customers in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

A new programme introduced by Cobweb Solutions enables channel partners supplying Office 365 under Advisor, Open or EA licensing agreements to transfer customers onto the CSP Reseller Programme with no disruption in service and higher margins.

"Profit Tuner for Office 365 creates a simple way for Microsoft partners with existing Office 365 customers to make higher margins up to 15%," said Julian Dyer, Chief Technical Officer, Cobweb.

The automated platform also helps with customer lifecycle management and is available to Microsoft partners wanting to becoming a CSP reseller.

"Customers only see that they are no longer billed by Microsoft and their preferred technology partner is now their account manager, support and billing owner," added Dyer.

"The Profit Tuner Programme takes care of the complexity of moving customers into the CSP reselling model while managing the licencing arrangements appropriately.

"What would normally be challenging for a Microsoft CSP reseller is provided as a low overhead process to bring customers on board."

Dyer also noted that the opportunity to cross sell and upsell additional cloud services from multiple suppliers becomes technically and commercially possible. And a billing option removes the costs of customer billing and cash collection.

"The reseller can take charge of the customer relationship and offer further subscriptions or replace the existing subscriptions with their own," added Dyer.

"The market opportunity for CSP reseller partners is significant with millions of potential UK customers to sign up. It offers a way for resellers to reinvigorate their cloud services."

Spurred by stellar growth Henry Howard Finance (HHF) has secured a foothold in the midlands from where it will expand geographically and more effectively work with customers across the UK.

Following a £25m investment from Cabot Square Capital last year HHF now employs 90 staff, has generated growth of 60% in 12 months and witnessed record growth this year with its lending up by 75% to more than £70m.

The investment allowed HHF to increase its lending capacity and restructure into four divisions with HH Vendor, HH Asset and HH Retail Finance focused on leasing, while HH Cash Flow Finance provides invoice finance.

The funding boost also enabled HHF to develop its FinTech offering with the launch of HowAPP, an online credit decision and deal management tool that can give an acceptance in less than 20 seconds, claims the firm. Finance contracts can then be securely completed via Echo-sign.

HHF's just-opened Solihull office builds on its presence in London and HQ in Newport and will be headed up by Dan MacKrell who joined the company as Head of Technology in October 2015.

He will be supported by business development managers working mostly with manufacturers, distributors and vendors in the IT and telecoms sectors.

MacKrell said: "The new office will help us service our nationwide clients from the heart of the country."

HHF began trading in 1996 as a sales-aid leasing company supporting vendors using leasing to spread the cost of the customer's purchase over a term of usually three or five years. It now has a portfolio in excess of £150m which includes more than 20,000 UK businesses.

Mark Crook, COO and co-founder of HHF, said: "We have clients and staff operating across the country but this new office in Solihull will allow us to better serve the whole of the UK.

"We have seen amazing growth throughout the business in the last year and want to continue this expansion in 2016.

"Dan and his team will work hard to develop strategic partnerships with our FinTech offer. Manufacturers, distributors and value added resellers all benefit from the simple, useable quick and functional HowAPP product."

IDC says that in the last quarter of 2015 over 14 million tablets were shipped to Western Europe as the market volume declined 10.1% YoY.

In value terms, however, the decline was only 1.8% YoY, thanks to growing penetration of detachable tablets boosted by an increasing supply of devices with wide-ranging specs catering for the diverse needs of consumers and professionals.

In the last quarter of the year, 2.6 million tablets with a detachable keyboard were shipped, up from just over 800,000 units a year ago, accounting now for almost 20% of the overall tablet market.

"As the detachable tablets available on the market become more powerful and better suited to business requirements, this form factor has been successfully adopted by professionals and executives as it perfectly addresses their mobility needs and is increasingly seen as a notebook replacement," said Daniel Goncalves, research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing.

Microsoft established itself as the leader in this segment in 2015, but Q4 has seen Apple entering the market with the iPad Pro and quickly capturing a good share. "Several industry players have recently launched or announced new detachable designs that in 2016 will compete in the commercial space and leverage the large opportunity created by enterprise mobility," said Marta Fiorentini, research manager, IDC EMEA Personal Computing.

"The arrival in Europe of these new designs based on Windows 10 and a more powerful generation of processors should support commercial shipments in the coming quarters as IT departments focus on increased security features, application costs, and device and applications management."

A supply increase of affordable detachable tablets is also anticipated in the home segment where vendors have been adjusting their portfolios to counteract poor demand for slates. Interestingly, if the growing Windows detachable market is combined with declining sales of notebook PCs the client device in Western Europe, market would be flat.

A management buyout of Cardiff-based Glamorgan Telecom led by MD Kelly Bolderson has been swiftly followed by the appointment of a new management team.

Bolderson, who now owns 73% of the company shares, started her career with the firm when she was 17 and has restructured the leadership team ahead of a three-year growth push.

Following the MBO Mathew Evans has been appointed Sales Director. He has worked at Glamorgan Telecom for 17 years and owns a 22% share in the company.

Mark Bolderson takes the Technical Director role and will lead the firm's growing engineering team. He joined in 1994.

Operations Manager Hayley Jones will support the engineering and sales teams and has worked at the firm for 20 years; while Leanne Sullivan becomes Financial Controller, having joined in 2012.

Kelly Bolderson commented: "After becoming the majority shareholder there was a great opportunity for us to formulate a new, dynamic management team to ensure the foundations are laid to achieve our growth targets for the next three years.

"We have expanded our existing team with new administration and customer support staff, new telesales and new sales team members.

"Our geographical area has also been expanded to give us more presence and coverage across new regions."

Glamorgan Telecom plans to recruit six more staff in sales and customer support roles this year.

Pictured (l-r): Leanne Sullivan, Mark Bolderson, Kelly Bolderson, Mathew Evans and Hayley Jones.

BT is creating circa 1,400 new apprenticeship and graduate jobs this year in a recruitment drive that will see new employees work in a range of roles from cybersecurity and software development to research and innovation.

The roles will be spread across the company with EE and Openreach both taking on large numbers as will BT's research and development arm.

Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive of BT, said: "Technology is changing all the time and companies need to support and train young people to develop the skills required for successful careers in essential areas such as science, engineering and IT.

"The UK has been ranked as the leading digital economy in the G20 for the past five years, and our investment in these people will help this continue."

A third of the new apprentices will be recruited into Openreach to extend the fibre network.

Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: "It is vital that we invest in young people to ensure the UK remains a digital powerhouse. The new recruits will be at the heart of the company's transformation."

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: "Three million more apprenticeships by 2020 will create exciting opportunities for working people of all ages and help businesses around the country acquire the skills they need to compete.

"These apprenticeships at BT will offer people the hands on experience they need to succeed. I would encourage more businesses to follow their lead and hire apprentices."

The 1,400 apprenticeship and graduate jobs announced today are in addition to the 1,700 the company has created over the past two years.

Two thirds of UK Plc plan to move their entire IT estate to the cloud, according to new research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF).

Of those organisations already using Cloud, three quarters expect to increase their usage in 2016.

CIF has launched its latest White Paper into the levels of cloud adoption in the UK based on detailed market research conducted in Q4 2015 which polled 250 senior IT and business decision-makers from both the public and private sectors.

The cloud adoption rate among UK-based organisations now stands at 78% - the same level as the previous year, but substantially higher than when the research was first conducted in 2011 when it stood at 53%, pointed out CIF.

Of those organisations that use cloud, three quarters (77%) use at least two services and one in eight (12%) have deployed five or more. These figures represent a healthy increase in Cloud service penetration in UK businesses from the levels reported in 2014, suggesting that organisations' engagement with Cloud is deepening.

"This is the sixth major body of research we have conducted into the UK end user community, and while we are continuing to analyse and report on trends and adoption rates within the UK, we also wanted to explore the issue of digital transformation and how cloud computing is facilitating business change," stated Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF.

"It should come as no surprise that digital transformation is creeping up businesses' agendas as they seek to stay ahead of the competition. Cloud is very much part of the digital transformation agenda, and it is clear from this research that those companies with plans to digitally transform struggle to do so without the delivery model.

"The IT landscape is clearly shifting as businesses become more open to receiving IT as-a-service and arrive at their natural technology refresh cycles.

"The proportion of organisations operating on-site servers/data centres has dropped from 85% in 2014 to 76% today. This change could be attributed to the increase in those organisations that consider infrastructure refresh to be an opportunity to adopt alternative deployment models such as cloud, which has risen to 85% from 71% a year ago.

"These findings once again indicate that there are significant benefits to be had by businesses that pursue both digital transformation and cloud strategies in tandem."

Global IT distributor Ingram Micro has been snapped up by the Chinese investment firm Tianjin Tianhai for $6bn.

Shareholders will receive $38.90 per share in an all-cash transaction.

The deal, termed a 'merger', will see Ingram Micro operate as a subsidiary of HNA Group, a Hainan-based Fortune Global 500 enterprise organisation that specialises in aviation, tourism and logistics.

Ingram Micro is expected to remain headquartered in Irvine, California, and its executive management team will remain in place, with Alain Monié continuing to lead as CEO.

Adam Tan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of HNA Group, said: "After the transaction, Ingram Micro would become the largest member enterprise of HNA Group in terms of revenue, and facilitate the internationalisation process of the group.

"With the help of Ingram Micro, HNA Group would have access to business opportunities in emerging markets, which have higher growth rates and better profitability.

"Furthermore, the addition of Ingram Micro would help the logistics sector of HNA Group transform from a logistics operator to a supply chain operator, and provide one-stop services while improving efficiencies."

Monié added: "As a part of HNA Group we will have the ability to accelerate strategic investment, as we continue to capitalise on the constant evolution of technology and emerging trends by adding expertise, capabilities and geographic reach.

"Additionally, Ingram Micro will now be part of a larger organisation that has complementary logistics capabilities and a strong presence in China that can further support the growth and profitability objectives of our vendor and customer partners."

In conjunction with this announcement, Ingram Micro is suspending its quarterly dividend payment and its share repurchase programme prior to the closing of the transaction.

All Ingram Micro lines of business and all regional and country operations are expected to continue unaffected.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016 and represents a premium of approximately 39% over the average closing share price of Ingram Micro for the 30 trading days ended February 16, 2016.