Comms Dealer

Daisy Group's Business Continuity division threw a connectivity lifeline to customer SuperBreak Mini Holidays when the River Foss burst its banks over Christmas.

The festive season Yorkshire floods disconnected the York-based holiday firm but
after being notified of the outage just before midnight on 27th December, Daisy's Wakefield Business Continuity Centre was prepared for the arrival of 25 SuperBreak employees at 9am the following day.

SuperBreak Mini Holidays CTO, Tim Wadhams, said: "It was an extreme set of circumstances that led to us having to vacate our office, but the Daisy guys made it a relatively pain-free process."

Following four days at Daisy's Wakefield-based Business Continuity Centre, SuperBreak's staff were able to return to their premises.

Daisy's MD for Business Continuity Mike Osborne added: "This is just one example of how important it is for businesses to plan for the unexpected.

"The few days after Christmas can be a busy time for the travel and hospitality industry. Without a business continuity plan in place SuperBreak would have suffered, both in bookings and reputation."

Three more of Daisy's York-based customers were placed on standby due to the threat of flooding to their offices.

Daisy Group has 18 work area recovery centres in the UK.

The secondhand smartphone market will be worth $17bn worldwide this year, 2.5 trillion photos will be shared or stored online globally, and a quarter of smartphone users in developed markets will no longer make a traditional phone call in a given week.

These are the predictions highlighted by punters at Deloitte's TMT practice in their 2016 telecoms trend analysis document.

They say consumers will sell outright or trade-in approximately 120 million used smartphones around the world in 2016.

Deloitte also estimates that 2.5 trillion photos will be shared or stored online globally in 2016, 15% up on last year. 

2016 will also see the emergence of Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) and Voice over LTE (VoLTE).

By the end of the year, about 100 carriers worldwide will be offering at least one packet-based voice service, believes Deloitte, double the amount year-on-year, and six times higher than at the beginning of 2015.

According to Deloitte, the number of Gigabit per second (Gbit/s) Internet connections will rise to 10 million, a tenfold increase on 2015.
Of these, about 70% will be residential connections, but they represent a small proportion of the 250 million customers on networks capable of Gbit/s connections that will exist by the end of this year.

Ed Marsden, Partner and Telecommunications lead at Deloitte, said: "Evolving usage patterns and increasing demand for greater bandwidth may accelerate the supply of Gigabit Internet.

"Video streaming in 4K resolution will be a key driver for improved data connectivity speeds in the coming years.

"Looking further ahead, we estimate that there will be approximately 600 million Gigabit tariff subscribers by 2020."

Cloud UC market penetration is set to triple in the large enterprise segment, grow 7-fold in the mid-market and almost quintuple in the small business segment by 2020, according to a sample of delegates who attended BroadSoft's 2015 Connections conference.

They expressed views on the adoption of cloud and mobile UC solutions, the competitive landscape and how far OTT team messaging and collaboration applications are disrupting established business productivity tools such as email.

The survey deduces that UCaaS and hosted PBX market penetration for new lines shipped could increase nearly six times to 41% over the next five years, with the shift from premise to cloud UC underway in all market segments.

UC will become increasingly mobile, according to 39% of respondents who believe that 42% of UC interactions for businesses of all sizes will occur via mobile devices by 2020, while 33% of small businesses will opt for mobile-only UCaaS/hosted PBX solutions, making desk phones redundant in such circumstances.

OTT integrated messaging and collaboration applications will disrupt the business email market, reckons 83% of survey respondents, with just 16% expecting email to remain the primary business messaging tool.

"BroadSoft believes that these new OTT solutions, when deeply integrated with UC and business applications, will offer service providers a differentiated value proposition, and access to a large and growing market opportunity with attractive margins," said BroadSoft CMO Taher Behbehani.

"Enterprise UCaaS is proving disruptive and this opportunity is not lost on service providers and industry leaders as 92% of survey respondents rate UCaaS/Hosted PBX as their preferred technology solution strategy, while only 8% are leading sales efforts with premise-based PBX."

BroadSoft has over 700 customers in 75-plus countries. According to Frost and Sullivan, in 2015 BroadSoft accounted for 41% UCaaS global market share.

NewVoiceMedia has been recognised as a top technology company to work for by the European Breakout List.

Compiled by Scott Sage, a venture capital investor focused on European tech start-ups, alongside other leading VCs including Chrys Chrysanthou (Notion Capital), Rob Kniaz (Hoxton Ventures) and Martin Mignot (Index Ventures), the list was designed to help job-seekers who want to work alongside some of the smartest and most technical people in Europe, choose a company that exposes them to the best opportunities.

NewVoiceMedia was selected for its high growth and status. The company, which now serves customers spanning 128 countries, grew its international new business by 528 percent in FY'2015.

Sage commented: "Given the growth in the number of interesting start-ups founded in Europe that have rocket ship like traction, it can be difficult for people to know which ones they should be targeting. 

"To make this list, there had to be something exceptional about the team, product, its traction and the market - and in many cases they would need to have several of these factors to make the list.

"For anybody in Europe seeking to learn in three years what the average employee learns in 10, this list will help you start your journey of landing a great position."

Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia, said: "This recognition is testament to our strong culture and the commitment and passion our employees bring to the business."

BT Broadband and BT Wi-Fi use increased substantially over the festive season and almost doubled year on year on Christmas Day, as people unwrapped and started using the new smartphones and tablets they received as presents.

BT Broadband use during December 2015 was up considerably on the same period last year, with Christmas Day smashing festive records for internet use - almost double that of the last year (a 95 per cent increase).

There was a surge in broadband demand just before lunchtime on Christmas Day - a 130 per cent jump in online usage compared to the same time last year.

The spike in Internet use around midday was driven by software downloads and video streaming to new smartphones and tablets as people unwrapped their presents and connected them to BT's network.

The festive season also saw a dramatic rise in Netflix use, a 43 per cent increase in five weeks, peaking on the evening of Sunday January 3, the night before most people were due back at work after the New Year break.

Time spent online on BT Wi-Fi over the festive period 2015 was up 35 per cent on the same period in 2014, increasing by more than 725 million minutes and more than 700 million extra megabytes (MBs) were consumed - a 50 per cent rise over 2014.

Pete Oliver, MD BT Consumer, said: "The Christmas period was a record-breaking time for BT Broadband and BT Wi-Fi usage, as people connected their new devices to the internet.

"Getting online has obviously become an essential part of the celebrations during the festive season, whether it's shopping online for presents, actually connecting those devices given as presents, or video-calling friends and family to wish them a happy Christmas or New Year."

ANS has swooped on acquisition target Eison, snapping up the £7.5m Manchester-based IT service provider with a recurring revenue base of circa £5.3m. The acquisition creates a £60m business with over 250 employees.

Eison, which was established in 2006, designs, implements and supports network, data centre and mobility solutions for organisations worldwide, and was ranked 75th in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2014.

Scott Fletcher MBE, Chairman and founder of ANS, said: "This acquisition will underpin our hybrid cloud and data centre strategy, allowing us to embrace the opportunities for intelligent WANs and Software Defined Networking.

"As user mobility and adoption of public and private cloud platforms increases, it's ever more important to understand the journey that data takes from the cloud all the way to the end user device.

"This acquisition gives us the additional expertise to ensure that our networking solutions are innovative and robust."

Paul Shannon Chief Operating Officer, added: "The operational synergies and opportunities for cross selling into both customer bases are exciting. This partnership will allow us to continue to reinvent ourselves in order to bring business value IT to our customers."

Founders and Directors at Eison, Jamie Coan and Richard Peck, will remain with the organisation.

ISP Satellite Internet is supporting the Access Broadband Cymru scheme as a registered supplier. The scheme provides grants to help improve broadband speeds in Wales.

The Welsh Government has announced revisions to its Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) voucher scheme, meaning that all homes and businesses across Wales that are currently unable to receive a superfast connection are eligible to apply for support.

Estimates suggest that more than 100,000 premises will now meet the new qualification criteria.

The scheme is open to individuals, businesses, third sector organisations and communities suffering from slow broadband connections.

Satellite Internet MD Mike Locke said: "Even in today's access-dependent age, numerous properties across Wales and the rest of the UK still don't have reliable, high-speed Internet, leaving both residents and workers unable to access vital online services.

"Satellite Internet is fully backing the ABC scheme, illustrating the viability of satellite Internet connectivity for the final 5% of properties within the entire UK."

To be eligible for the voucher scheme, a premises must currently receive broadband speeds of less than 24 Megabits per second.

The subsidy will help pay for the set-up costs of an improved service, provided that it at least doubles the current connectivity levels at the premises. The level of subsidy support available varies from £400 to £800, depending on the service selected by the qualifying property and those eligible may choose from a range of technologies, dependent upon availability at their location.

Locke added: "The beauty of a satellite-based Internet solution is that it can be provisioned at any location where there is a clear line of sight to the southern sky. This allows it to offer a fast and robust connection to reach those areas where it is simply unfeasible to deploy any other Internet delivery technology."

Satellite Internet also supports local ISPs and specialist service resellers in Wales who, if registered as suppliers to the ABC scheme, can then themselves make Satellite Internet provided services available to eligible properties under the scheme parameters.

Satellite Internet partners with SES Techcom Services to deliver high-speed satellite broadband services across the UK and Ireland.

A boardroom reshuffle including significant new appointments has positioned managed service provider GCI for an ambitious period of market expansion based on a three-year growth agenda. Former Easynet Global Services MD Adrian Thirkill joins GCI as CEO - the post previously held by company founder Wayne Martin who becomes Chairman. Thirkill was instrumental in Easynet's £402m sale to Interoute.

Martin commented: "There comes a point in every business where we need to make a leap to the next level.

"Since GCI was established in 2000 we have grown rapidly through a mix of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. The injection of fresh blood and raw energy is exactly what's needed. I am placing the business in the best possible hands for the next stage of GCI's journey upwards."

Thirkill added: "I see a huge untapped opportunity in GCI and its sales channels. It has a proven, well-invested and scalable platform."

In another telling move, Phil Hambly, previously with InTechnology and SAS Global Communications, joins GCI as Marketing Director.

According to Hambly the 'transformational impact of the millennial generation's appetite for new ways of communicating' will catalyse the cloud and the managed services market.

"Our objective is to grasp the moment by focusing our organisation without losing the agility for which GCI has become known," stated Hambly.

GCI's growth strategy is supported by the Business Growth Fund (BGF), GCI's equity partner. BGF investor Gurinder Sunner added: "Our engagement with GCI has been about providing the financial muscle and broader support necessary to ready GCI for its next growth phase.

"Industry analysts cite huge potential in the cloud and managed services sector. We believe that GCI is in the right place at the right time to benefit from the growing demand as organisations transition from legacy infrastructure to cloud-based technology stacks."

IT Europa and Angel Business Communications will jointly be staging the sixth annual UK Managed Services & Hosting Summit on 21st September 2016.

The event will bring leading hardware and software vendors, hosting providers, telecommunications companies, mobile operators and web services providers involved in managed services and hosting together with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and resellers, integrators and service providers migrating to, or developing their own managed services portfolio and sales of hosted solutions.

All indicators are pointing to the continued rapid growth of managed services, with the world market predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.5% to 2019, but the impact of new technologies and changing buyer behaviour in the face of evolving requirements is creating challenges for both vendors and MSPs alike.

Under the theme of the Digital Dividend - The Role of Managed Services in a Digital World, the Managed Services and Hosting Summit 2016 will provide insights into how the market is changing and what it will take for MSPs to succeed as it evolves.

Specific areas addressed will include the emergence and impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M, the growing importance of security, trends in service delivery and how to create value both within an MSP and for its customers.

The UK Managed Services & Hosting Summit 2016 is a management-level event designed to help channel organisations identify opportunities arising from the increasing demand for managed and hosted services and to develop and strengthen partnerships aimed at supporting sales.

Building on the success of previous managed services and hosting events, the summit will feature a high-level conference programme exploring the impact of new business models and the changing role of information technology within modern businesses.

These conference sessions will be augmented by breakout sessions within which leading vendors and service providers which will provide further insight into the opportunities for channel organisations looking to expand their managed services portfolios.

Throughout the day there will also be many opportunities for both sponsors and delegates to meet fellow participants within the Summit exhibition and networking area.

"Advances in technology, economic pressures and evolving business models are combining to fundamentally change the role of IT within businesses and the role of MSPs and other channels in delivering it," said Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa.

Jason Holloway, Director of IT Publishing at Angel Business Communications, added: "The Managed Services & Hosting Summit provides an opportunity for vendors, VARs, integrators and service providers to come together to address the issues and opportunities arising from the surge in customer demand for managed services and hosted delivery models."

The Managed Services and Hosting Summit 2016 will take place at 155 Bishopsgate, London, on 21st September 2016. For more information visit: www.mshsummit.com

The skills and capabilities acquired by Maintel via its acquisitions of Proximity and Datapoint have enabled the systems integrator and MSP to launch a new nationwide Partner Services division.

Maintel CEO Eddie Buxton commented: "The acquisitions brought together a strong portfolio of skillsets, meaning we can now offer a one-stop-shop of support to partners."

He pointed out that Maintel's channel business was the strongest performing sales division in 2015, representing circa half of the firm's overall revenue.

"In launching Partner Services we are building on this success through an experienced team focusing on our channel partners," added Buxton.

"Partner Services brings together skills and resources to help the channel win service, support and managed business across UC, contact centre, workforce optimisation and networking technologies.

"We've already seen a great response to the creation of the division, including a 10% partner increase."

Maintel Partner Services offers two main types of service across the UK and Ireland- professional services (including engineering, installation and consultancy) and managed services (including maintenance and support).