Comms Dealer

More than half of UK organisations are planning to increase their cyber security budgets over the coming 12 months, according to EY's annual Global Information Security Survey (GISS).

The survey examines some of the most important cyber security issues facing business and reflects responses from 1,755 organisations across 67 countries globally.

The increase in cyber security budgets comes as 39% of UK respondents currently lack confidence in their ability to detect sophisticated cyber attacks.

The main obstacles challenging organisations' information security are a lack of skilled resources (56%), budget constraints (46%) and a lack of executive awareness or support (32%).

Mark Brown, Executive Director of Cyber Security & Resilience EY UK and Ireland, commented: "As we have seen in recent months, cyber security attacks on UK organisations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and all too frequent.

"Our survey results show that companies are worried that their cybersecurity resources, both in terms of skills and budget, are not sufficient in this current environment and that is a dangerous threat not only to their technology, but also to their bottom line."

When asked to list the likeliest sources of cyber attacks, UK respondents cited criminal syndicates (68%), followed by employees (63%) and hacktivists (56%). And, when asked about their organisations' investments in cyber attack protection, 52% said their IT security budgets should be increased by up to 25% to align their organisation's need for protection with their management's tolerance for risk.

Brown added: "While businesses, government and individuals are focusing on the significant opportunities and benefits of the digital world, they may be overlooking the necessary precautions and underestimating the long-term risks of deceptively subtle cyber breaches."

The enterprises know that their data is important and needs protecting, but don't know where to look for help.

"In another survey we conducted earlier this year, the overwhelming majority of global senior executives - 81% - said data should be at the heart of all decision-making. That includes decisions regarding cyber security," said Brown.

Looking at the global results of the survey, 36% of respondents said they could not detect a cyber breach, compared with 37% of those surveyed last year.

When asked to cite the likeliest sources of cyber attacks, respondents listed criminal syndicates (59%), followed by hacktivists (54%) and state-sponsored groups (35%).

When asked about their organisations' investments in cyber attack protection, a majority of respondents (69%) said their IT security budgets should be increased by 50% to align their organisation's need for protection with its managements' tolerance for risk.

A collaboration smart hub launched by Polycom and supplied by Nimans 'is much more than a traditional audio conferencing desktop device', according to Ian Brindle, Nimans' Head of Conferencing Sales.

"Polycom RealPresence Trio 8800 users can share concepts and images from PC or tablet in HD resolution. An optional accessory can also be used to provide cost-effective HD video calling with a USB camera to transform audio calls into an engaging video experience," he said.

"A simple to use touchscreen enables users to easily join meetings using calendar integration and notifications."

Channel supplier of Internet connectivity and hosted voice, Jola, has expanded its Ethernet service by 140,000 postcodes.

Andrew Dickinson, MD, said: "We have added several high quality second tier carriers to our stable of connectivity brands to create a portfolio of low-cost leased line products.

"Our partners enter a postcode into our online quote tool and in under three minutes the cheapest product for a variety of speeds and technologies arrives in their in-box.

"Where a partner is unable to support high-SLA connectivity, or they don't want to take the credit risk on 36 month contracts, we offer a dealer model where they set the price and we split the margin 50/50.

"At Jola we automate wherever possible which makes the normally problematic provisioning process far more predictable. This means Jola partners spend less time chasing leased line updates and more time selling."

Jola is offering an additional 10% off leased line prices until the end of this year.

Ahed Alkhatib, Head of Global Sales for Ericsson-LG Enterprise, first met Pragma's David George and Tim Brooks in spring 2012 at a time when the South Korean giant was evaluating its almost static UK business performance. Two years later, and from a standing start, Pragma was named Global Partner of the Year.

Since the meeting in 2012, despite the sad loss of David George to cancer earlier this year, Alkhatib has seen Ericsson LG's business in Britain grow significantly thanks to the legacy George left behind and the close bond he has developed with Pragma directors Tim Brooks and Will Morey and their expanding community of resellers. George was a legendary negotiator and had a long-standing relationship with the LG Group, but Alkhatib still took a gamble teaming up with Pragma after that seminal meeting. "The business model we operate is very different to that of our competitors in the market," he said. "Pragma is our only distributor in the UK market and Ericsson-LG Enterprise is Pragma's only vendor."

So what led to such investment in the partnership? It's all down to common values and an understanding of the channel, as Alkhatib explained when we spoke to him at Ericsson-LG's headquarters in Anyang, Seoul. "Pragma Distribution was brought to my attention early in 2012 when we were looking for ways to stimulate and drive growth in the UK," recalled Alkhatib. "As a newly established company I had not heard of them before, although both David George and Tim Brooks had a respected profile in the industry. We agreed to meet in Korea to hear them out and they presented an aggressive growth plan for the Ericsson-LG Enterprise portfolio centred on a strategy of doing the basic things better than anyone else was doing then in the UK.

"In essence, what they said made perfect sense. It was all about engaging with resellers as partners, listening and supporting them in all aspects of sales, training, marketing, technical support, supply and order management and, ultimately, working with them on the basis of mutual trust and respect. At Ericsson-LG Enterprise we pride ourselves on the relationship and loyalty we have with all of our distributors. While that may sound like some motherhood corporate statement, let me assure you it is not."

In three short years Alkhatib's wager has paid off. So much so that Pragma was named Ericsson-LG Enterprise's Global Partner of the year for 2014 and has set a course for bigger success on the back of a new cloud portfolio set to roll out to the channel in the next few weeks. "Our UK growth with Pragma has been phenomenal across both our SME and Enterprise sectors," added Alkhatib. "It's the strongest performance we have seen in the UK market for over 10 years. We have experienced a significant increase in global market share indicating to me that we have a product portfolio with a value proposition that is resonating in the market with our partners and customers. More importantly, we have a committed and experienced partner in Pragma doing all the right things to service and support the partner community in a way that I think has been lacking and missed."

To hear such words from the head of global sales for one of the top 10 technology companies on the planet is refreshing and will be reassuring for Pragma's partners. Alkhatib has been embedded in corporate structures since graduating with an electrical engineering degree and starting his career working for Avaya (then Lucent Technologies) in Sydney, Australia. He joined Nortel Networks in 2000 to be part of a broadband start-up business called Shasta Networks which the Canadian giant had acquired.

"I then had a variety of different roles while at Nortel Networks, all Asia Pacific and regionally focused, moving to Korea as part of the LG-Nortel Joint Venture company established in November 2005," noted Alkhatib. "Since 2005 I have had a front row seat for LG-Nortel's transformation into LG-Ericsson in July 2010 when Ericsson bought Nortel's stake in the Joint Venture and then into Ericsson-LG Enterprise."

Alkhatib has been 'thrilled' by the significant channel footprint Pragma has created in a relatively short time, but believes the foundations are being created for even greater growth in the months ahead. "Our partners in the UK market have a renewed understanding of Ericsson-LG Enterprise's vision, strategy and capability," he explained. "They know that we are committed to their success and investing in their future. This loyalty has led to an increase in business not only from our existing partners but from new partners that were handling competitive products."

Alkhatib believes there will still be long-term demand for on-premise IP PBX and hybrid products across the SME and enterprise sectors, which Pragma partners are addressing with the iPECS UC portfolio. "Our market is undergoing a significant transformation and we have invested heavily to stay ahead of the changing dynamics and evolving customer requirements," he said. "Our broad portfolio can match the right solution to specific customer requirements."

Those solutions include: the iPECS UCP platform, with on-board unified communications embedded natively into the system as standard; the iPECS eMG80 hybrid platform to address market demands for a hybrid solution; and the iPECS LIP- 9000 series IP Terminals with HD voice and an enhanced user Interface.

"There is still a clear value proposition for premise-based UC solutions which is highly differentiated from cloud UC solutions available today," stressed Alkhatib. "In general, on-premises UC usually allows for a high level of flexibility and customisation with a variety of solutions and available approaches. This option could also potentially lower the TCO as it generally requires a one-time investment rather than an ongoing outflow."

Nonetheless, Alkhatib is relishing the prospect of unveiling Ericsson-LG's new cloud-based portfolio to current and potential partners at Comms Vision at Gleneagles this month which will give them, as he puts it, 'the luxury of choice'. "We will continue to invest in our premise-based iPECS Unified Communication platforms and ancillary applications, namely mobile integration, contact centre, call reporting, call recording and network management solutions," he confirmed.

"But our approach to the development of iPECS Cloud UC gives our resellers the ability to offer customers a choice between a premise-based, cloud-based or hybrid-based UC solution, utilising a rich feature set and with complete feature parity. We have also designed the solution with five levels of administrative domains thereby allowing the system to be partitioned and resources to be allocated on multiple levels, making it ideal for a multi-tiered distribution model. The iPECS UC Cloud solution is also great news for our installed base of customers providing them with a cost-effective and simple way to evolve from their current premise-based iPECS UC solution to cloud, without having to replace existing terminals or losing any functionality.

"With our solid base in the mid-market and SMB, Pragma's partners have already demonstrated their capability in the enterprise channel with a number of large and interesting projects. We expect this to continue and our collaborative approach to developing both the technical and commercial proposition with our partners means that we are confident of strong sales from launch."

Pragma's contribution to Ericsson-LG Enterprise in the past three years is significant and Alkhatib clearly hopes the partnership will continue to flourish. "As we changed our channel to market strategy in the UK, we needed to undertake a major effort and focus to reassure our customers and partners that we remained committed to the UK market," he added. "Pragma has obviously played a big part in that initiative and as a team I believe we will continue to achieve our objectives.

"It's all about people, having a shared vision and aligned strategic priorities. I know that the Pragma team and the legacy that David George has left continuously emphasise the importance of engaging in an open dialogue. The Pragma Product Council which creates honest feedback from partners is a case in point."

If ever in the history of the comms sector there was a clear case for driving business transformation it must be now, according to Derek Nutley, Global Offer Director, Devoteam UK (and group-wide Head of Network Transformation). Rather than respond to the challenge with a token answer to 'something must be done', an all out digital battle must be planned, waged and won, he argues.

French ICT consultancy Devoteam claims to be at the vanguard of the digital revolution. The company was established in 1995 by two brothers, joint CEOs Stanislas and Godefroy de Bentzmann, in response to the deregulation of the telecoms industry in France, aware that the increased complexity of IT systems would mean telcos would need IT consulting services. "People who shared our passion for technology, our vision for its impact on business, and our energy to bring about change joined us," said Nutley. "Thus, The Devoteam was created."

Nutley's whole working life has been spent in IT and telecoms, beginning as an operator in the civil service, moving to COBOL programming, then systems analysis and design, overseeing mapping systems with the Ordnance Survey, followed by responsibility for the design of comms applications at Southern Electricity during privatisation. "I progressed to Chief Designer within Government at Logica and then project management within its Government sector projects," he explained.

From there he moved to Vodafone to develop billing systems, then into Operation Support Systems with Swedish consultancy AuSystems where he created the telecoms division in the UK. AuSystems was acquired in 2006 by Devoteam. "With my telecoms experience I was asked to run Devoteam's telecoms division in the UK," noted Nutley. "Three years ago I was asked to head up the company's offer for telecoms."

Since being appointed Global Offer Director Nutley has brought together the different practices across the group, unified skill sets to better serve its markets, and built a collaborative environment to share those skills within the group. Devoteam has also broadened its service portfolio, adopted new technologies and gained experience with new industries. "We take our average of 15 per cent growth per year, and expansion into 20 markets across Europe, as proof that we understand our clients' pains and are able to support them with good business judgement," added Nutley.

Devoteam has 3,600 staff, 443 million euro turnover (2014), and caters for over 800 clients across EMEA in all market sectors. Its portfolio of services include IT Service Excellence, Digital Enabler, Cloud Transformation, IT Transformation, Network Transformation (NT, its telecoms division) and Risk & Security. With Nutley responsible for NT, the focus is on helping traditional network operators as well as large enterprises with their evolving technology to embrace cloud and unify communications. The NT practice across the Devoteam group accounts for 50 million euros of the 443 million euros total. By the end of 2018, that stream will grow to 65 million euros.

"We will replicate in the UK the expertise we have gathered in our Centres of Excellence in EMEA," said Nutley. "Not only will we continue to develop 5G technology and beyond, we will help telecom operators to enable the cloud and bring expertise to the enterprise market through a consolidated set of services which Germany is piloting. Devoteam will be helping Tier 1 operators with 5G, and by the end of 2018 we will be at the centre of the roll out of 5G in EMEA."

Devoteam's telecoms division has developed a network evolution programme for a leading Tier 1 telecoms operator through three principal activities - the logical build of networks, interconnectivity with other operators, and migration services to new networks. The NT division has a strong presence in the UK, France, Germany, Benelux and the Middle East. In the UK NT has grown from six consultants in 2007 to nearly 100, and its principal activity is the consolidation of legacy 2G and 3G installations, the roll-out of 4G programmes as well as strategic consulting on the development and roll-out of 5G and cloud for operators and equipment vendors.

Devoteam has been fiercely independent for 20 years, and as a vendor agnostic alternative to the large consulting groups - with regard to both technology (software, SaaS applications) and sourcing (outsourcing, offshoring and public cloud) - the company is able to offer the right solution for each client, especially when the best option is disruption. "We chose not to catch the ERP wave," said Nutley. "Our strong independence extends to our management style, where each consultant is empowered to take the initiative and encouraged to go one step further in each of their projects."

According to Nutley, Devoteam's consultants see IT transformation as a digital battle. "We talk about making IT the business hero through its role of enabling people to embrace the digital revolution," he said. "The IT business heroes today are the ones who work on transforming organisations with innovative IT solutions while escaping from traditional siloed models. We believe that cloud is one of the main enablers, with its infrastructure, platform and application dimensions at the heart of this revolution, bringing agility, scalability and flexibility to businesses."

Being in services Devoteam is about people, and over the years a strong culture has developed, a culture where people speak frankly, have great respect and are united by a genuine interest in technology, a desire to share their knowledge with others and a sense of purpose when they witness society-changing projects come to life. Nutley added: "Vibrant communities have developed around key topics where information and experience is exchanged, creating dynamic expert groups to ensure that we can always provide clients with teams that are up to speed on the latest developments and best practice. Today we continue to seek out, evaluate and invest in innovation to offer our clients the best technology for their business."

Devoteam uses the latest tools like Google for Work to build its capacity to work globally, but with local depth of understanding. The company is currently taking on 500 new professionals a year and will continue to encourage technical specialisation and adoption of its shared company values of respect, frankness and passion, all of which contributed towards an internal group-wide transformation programme (kicked off in 2012) over 18 months to reposition the firm in terms of its main markets.

"The next step was to change our visual identity to reflect our new position as a strategic ICT consultancy in the digital age," added Nutley. "This coincides with our 20 years in business. Since early 2014, we have concentrated on providing innovation and value around cloud and digital technologies. In this new phase we have spearheaded a number of projects to help organisations benefit from our expertise in digital collaboration, user experience, DevOps and service management. Today, the company is going even further. As a leader in digital transformation we want to ensure our new visual identity, a clear, colourful and digital-focused brand, is recognisable across our international operation."

The rebrand also recognises that customers buy differently and that Devoteam is positioned to service this need. "People work the way they live, and the way service is delivered has changed with 'everything as a device' playing a key role," said Nutley. "Change needs to be delivered as cost-effectively as possible, and this means we need to embrace the Internet of Things to help companies build more collaborative environments that will promote future innovation.

"For some time there has been a trend across EMEA towards buying a complete solution rather than the means to build that solution. The challenge is to create the right mechanisms for service delivery as well as the KPIs to measure its success. The trend throughout IT is to embrace cloud, and Devoteam has strategic partnerships with ServiceNow and Google, for example, to help companies move in this direction.

"The role of the SI is to understand what businesses are trying to achieve, then advise them on the 'art of the possible' by removing the challenges posed by technology so that businesses can improve their ROI. Devoteam decided three years ago that this is only achievable through finely honed expertise serving specific areas of business and with a sharper focus on tailored solutions."

Having built three telecoms companies alongside long-term partner Alan Shraga, Simon Payne has helped scores of resellers make personal fortunes. Now the duo have invested in a new wholesale model to help channel players cash-in on low energy prices.

Comms Dealer caught up with Fidelity Group CEO Payne at the Comms National Awards in London and questioned him on the new Fidelity Energy project he will be introducing to potential ICT reseller partners at this year's Comms Vision. "When Fidelity Group was launched I planned on it being a group of companies offering a range of services," he said. "The Energy project is the first service to sit outside of telecoms and datacoms. Selling to existing clients is easier than selling to new ones, and I am inspired by the Virgin model that facilitates lucrative cross-selling. So we rolled out the energy service though our Fidelity Group customers. In time, I was planning to launch wholesale services in water, insurance and waste etc, but I am now motivated to do that much sooner."

As with any industry there are normally only a few industry leaders who drive the pace and direction. Payne was fortunate enough to meet one of these leaders, Paul Havell, who is now Managing Director of Fidelity Energy. "Paul knew all the right people I needed to complete the foundations of the business, and his knowledge of pricing and service delivery is critical to win end user customers," added Payne.

"Timing is everything. The energy industry is intensely price-lead because there just isn't any post-connection service required. Unlike telecoms where there are always issues on the board, we don't have any with our energy clients. So, with sales relying heavily on price, the low price today plays an enormous factor in the ability to win the client.

"Everyone knows that petrol and energy prices have fallen over the past year. They are still at an all-time low. That means almost every customer we visit is paying 50 per cent more than they could be if they changed provider. For comms resellers who have been in the industry a long time, the sale is about as easy as selling a Mercury Smartbox. It is a window of opportunity and every day that passes the window closes further."

Payne also pointed out that there have been energy dealers around since deregulation, so the business of selling energy for a commission is not new. What's new is selling energy using the existing brand of wholesale partners. "Historically, to sell wholesale energy you need a licence, and that is a complicated process that takes more time than this window of opportunity will allow," added Payne.

"Fidelity Energy has created a solution that ticks the boxes for our wholesale partners. There are variants of the solution that can still incorporate the up-front cash components that Alan and I are offering to motivate partners. I suspect the reason why no-one has tried to fill the gap is because it is quite a unique model used by the telecoms industry. My conversations with the energy companies were all similar, with them expressing surprise that there was demand for the hybrid style solution."

Any reseller adding energy provision to their portfolio will generate 'a lot of cash', claims Payne, potentially some up-front, and very quickly. Also, a cross-sold service makes the customer stickier. "We have three different offerings and they are all familiar territory for telcos," commented Payne. "Dealer, wholesale and wholesale white label. We can have a partner operating under the dealer model set-up within a day.

"We use our well proven ANVIL billing platform as the backbone engine that drives the service, commissions and data flows etc. A wholesale partner takes a couple of weeks as marketing, branding and documentation needs to be organised."

Once up and running, Fidelity Energy partners will be saving their customers money on energy bills. "Beyond that simple message, they can choose green sources and benefit from remote controls and detailed monitoring that comes as part of a smart connected world," added Payne. "We are not pioneers in this field, but none of the clients who we have connected to date are using the technology."

There is no reason why a telco with a similar size client base to Fidelity (£8 million last year) can't achieve the same results in the same time frame. Fidelity Energy will top £1 million profit in its first year of trading. That can be copied immediately by everyone, says Payne. "In the same way that traditional telcos are converting clients to hosted telephony, the same is happening with the migration towards low prices in energy," he added. "Every month more customers will renew at the new low rates, and if they haven't renewed with you then you've missed the window."

By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity and Partner Sales at O2 Telefónica UK: As the IoT continues to grow and expand its influence to more industry areas, questions are being raised as to how it can reach the more disparate and low cost businesses.

Is it really possible for m2m to be a ubiquitous technology? Some believe it will require its own independent WAN to generate further reach, which may seem an unfeasible solution. However, the development of Long Range Low Power (LRLP) networks could be the way to facilitate this.

WANs generally consume a large amount of power which makes them an unpopular choice. Newer LRLP networks provide a high performance network with wide area coverage, combined with ultra-low power use, which makes for a much more cost-effective solution for many businesses, particularly smaller companies with smaller budgets.

As more and more devices become connected there will be an increasing number of m2m solutions available, and connectivity demands will rise and become more complex. For example, any sort of remote monitoring such as parking or isolated utilities sites will require long-range, low power solutions to connect them efficiently.
The cost of traditional WANs would be prohibitive in these situations. The basic problem of network congestion will also be problematic as the number of connected devices rises. This is another area that LRLP networks can ease by simply providing more options that have the added bonus of being budget-friendly.

Ultimately for the IoT to continue its current rapid expansion, the evolution of LRLP networks is a necessity to make m2m more widely accessible to more businesses. This model will enable the predicted growth of m2m to continue unchecked.

(anton.lesaux@telefonica.com - partnersdigital.telefonica.com)

WebRTC is on course to becoming the top technology for anything related to real-time communication over the web, according to Maria Stoitsi, Marketing Communications Coordinator at 3CX, which collected the Best SME On-Premise System accolade at last month's Comms National Awards.

WebRTC is a game changer for the UC industry, offering simpler and cheaper real-time communications options, believes Stoitsi. "It has essentially transformed the web browser itself into a communications platform, levelling the playing field and thereby removing the dominance of any one operating system or device type," she stated. "This will also bring issues of interoperability and compatibility to an end as WebRTC is browser-based. This technology has the capacity to add new features to the range of UC functions, for example the click-to-call feature, which will have a huge impact on real-time communication for companies."

With this degree of flexibility, resellers will not face any big obstacles in trying to sell and implement WebRTC-based solutions. "Market insights show that end users are asking for more flexible solutions that are, at the same time, easy to use, manage and more cost-friendly. All are characteristics of WebRTC," commented Stoitsi.

3CX has always considered WebRTC to be one of the top emerging trends over the past few years, even from its very first introduction. In the past year alone the use of WebRTC has gained momentum and Stoitsi is beginning to see how the technology is disrupting the market. "Its ability to support multiple participant meetings at the click of a button, without the need for additional plugins or clients, is revolutionising video conferencing for enterprises," she added. "Solutions that depend on expensive software and video conferencing hardware will struggle immensely to keep up with this development. WebRTC will push expensive proprietary vendors out of the market."

To embrace WebRTC video conferencing on a corporate level, enterprises will need to assess which VC software or application best fits their needs. "There are just a few providers with business-fit products that have gone completely WebRTC, so finding a suitable provider won't be a laborious process," noted Stoitsi. "Everything else is easy because WebRTC is a browser-based technology. Companies won't need to purchase new dedicated hardware because existing webcams and headsets are fully compatible with WebRTC solutions. In terms of external communication, you won't need to send your customers a specific plugin or client to download in order to interact with them. All they need is their open standard browser, be it on their computer or mobile device."

However, there is one question: Does the replacement of a proprietary video conferencing solution make sense from a cost point of view? The answer, in Stoitsi's opinion, is a clear yes. "WebRTC solutions are much more cost-effective as they eliminate the need for expensive maintenance and additional overhead costs for dedicated IT staff," she added. "This means that there is a short return on investment, and with this in mind it won't take much to convince CEOs and CFOs to embrace solutions with the technology embedded."

Some of the sectors where Stoitsi sees increased potential for the demand and uptake of WebRTC video conferencing might come as a surprise. Firstly, and more traditionally keen to deploy WebRTC, are call centres. "For this line of business the technology offers the opportunity to provide real-time communications not only with audio, but with hassle-free video input as well," she explained. "For call centres with a supportive role in particular this is an exceptional new tool as customers can be assisted via video call and users can make use of helpful features such as screen sharing. This has the potential to increase customer satisfaction substantially and, as a result, increase profits."

Additionally, and perhaps more unconventionally, 3CX sees the healthcare sector as prime market for video conferencing. "Hospitals are already using video conferencing for consultations between doctors and patients, and even real-time surgery support could become standard in the future," she said. "Hospitals use video conferencing to collaborate with other physicians without necessarily sharing the same location. WebRTC-based solutions would fit perfectly into this scenario, increasing the adoption of video conferencing due to its uncomplicated use.

"The third sector that has positive growth potential is the educational system. Schools and universities can benefit from the cost-effective solution that WebRTC has to offer, delivering knowledge in an innovative way more inline with where we are today, technologically speaking, as a society."

WebRTC goes beyond VoIP and web conferencing, at least in its current form, and moves towards ultra-personalised customer interaction, believes Stoitsi. "WebRTC will be the top technology for anything related to real-time video communication over the web," she stated. "It will make the world as we know it shrink and the globalisation of businesses, which was an obstacle for many companies in the past, will have even less impact on the way organisations run today and in the future.

"Furthermore, WebRTC might develop in such a way that ultimately supports online sales platforms. It creates the perfect conditions for employees to assist in the making of sales, where traditionally the online sales process might stop due to a lack of communication and information. Amazon's Mayday button has already demonstrated this and we will definitely see further development in this direction."

In general, 3CX does not see many challenges associated with selling and implementing a WebRTC video conferencing solution. "It's a no brainer," added Stoitsi. "While Apple and Microsoft still lack cooperation towards WebRTC this has done nothing to stop its growth. In terms of adoption of the technology, Internet Explorer and Safari not supporting WebRTC has actually no impact on developers and end users. With Chrome and Firefox being widely used, WebRTC overcame these restrictions easily.

"While Skype and FaceTime might have strong branding, we don't see them taking over corporate communication beyond its current market shares. Even Microsoft's smart marketing-driven rebranding of its Lync product line to Skype for Business will not take over the video conferencing market. WebRTC is based on open standards and its web browser concept. WebRTC is not locked to a particular operating system. All someone needs is a browser that supports the technology."

WebRTC's success is driven through its clientless approach, which eliminates the need to download any additional software or plugins. Like no other technology before, users can interact with each other quickly and easily as they only need their web browser. "It puts an end to interoperability issues, as it is not locked into a particular hardware vendor, meaning the users are not limited to specific brands and models of peripheral hardware," said Stoitsi. "As WebRTC is clientless and open standards, it enables real-time communication without infrastructure boundaries and is incredibly easy to add or implement to existing ITC systems."

On the other hand, companies can be reluctant to adopt a new technology, often due to data privacy and data security concerns and the question of whether WebRTC is secure is one that has troubled many. "However, the technology comes with a set of security characteristics that are actually an additional reason to consider adopting WebRTC," said Stoitsi.

"As you don't need to install any plugins or clients, the fear of downloading malicious software is eliminated. Also, security and encryption is not optional with WebRTC. It has native built-in features that address security concerns. What's more it offers end-to-end encryption and a set of security protocols like DTLS and SRTP ensuring safe, private and secure real-time communication."

A combination of northern straight-talking, clarity of vision and cultural architects are at the root of Lily Comms's successful growth strategy, according to Managing Director Chris Morrisey, who collected three Comms National Awards last month including Overall Reseller of the Year.

Morrisey's introduction to the comms industry was an act of pure chance. Had he acted with purpose the chances are he would have baulked at the apparent complexity of comms, a myth perpetuated by the glut of confusing acronyms that Morrisey believes deters skilled people from entering the telecoms space. "There's some amazing talent in the UK, but when people look at the telecoms industry they are confronted by so many acronyms it looks too complicated," he said. "But it's a simple business. Too many people try to make it complex when it's not. I hate acronyms."

With a clear vision to keep life simple Morrisey has no doubts about the role Lily Comms plays on the industry stage. "We are a pure reseller and always will be," he commented. "We don't want to become a network or a hosted provider. Too many businesses are putting time, effort and money into developing a network and VoIP platform, perhaps taking on too much and likely to fail. Our policy is clear and simple - to be end user facing, to be the customer's contractor, to build value into our customer relationships, and to buy best of breed."

Bradford-based Lily Comms was established in 2009 by Adrian Jackson with support from Morrisey. For two years the company offered an outsourced engineering resource to the trade, and during this period it became clear that some of the firm's partners were falling short of the mark in terms of customer service. "We decided to go direct and build a sales business," added Morrisey. "Within two years we were completing up to 40 installs a day for a provider of MoH. We then started to sell systems, lines and calls, and haven't looked back."

The company employs 33 staff and has grown 100 per cent year-on-year during the past two years and has a £4 million run rate, up from £1.9 million. The goal for next year is to hit £6 million. "We are now targeting companies we sold systems to two-three years ago," explained Morrisey. "The upgrade campaign into our existing customer base has begun in earnest with our customer services and account management teams busy generating recurring business."

To reach this happy state of cross-company revenue generation Morrisey regularly does the housework, which he describes as 'dusting off the diamonds to help them shine'. It is people, and their polished management, that adds sparkle to a business. "Our priorities are growth, recruitment, development and training," he said. "When a business grows rapidly it is important for staff to grow with the organisation. We need everyone in the company to grow. Lily Comms has built a group of people who are like-minded in sales, back office and finance. We have established a young management team who share our vision. We still have a family atmosphere, and everyone buys into our key objectives."

Morrisey defines Lily's company culture as 'the way we do things' and this modus operandi informs not just how the day-to-day activities are executed but also the steerage of the business. "We're pragmatic, passionate and performance driven," added Morrisey. "Without a strong culture staff may look at the wrong people to find direction. In our business we support cultural architects, those leaders without authority who will follow you on your growth journey. We have many cultural architects who naturally support what we are trying to achieve."

Morrisey leads from the front and draws on his previous experience in the comms sector to help shape Lily Comms' future. "I got into telecoms by accident through a rugby contact," he recalled. "A friend was starting a comms company and he invited me to join and sell mobile phones. This was a fantastic opportunity. I've since held a variety of roles from sales person to Group Sales Director and Managing Director, and in all of those roles I've worked with some fantastic entrepreneurial people. I've learnt business skills, business etiquette and the value of strong partnerships."

Lily Comms is now recognised as a prominent LG reseller supported by distributor Pragma. The company also has staunch relationships with Nine Telecom and Gamma, and is gaining traction in the mobile sector as a virtual reseller following a link-up with Total. "Customers are now realising the benefits of mobility and the cloud," added Morrisey. "This trend will only gain momentum. We haven't reached a tipping point but ignore it at your peril."

Customers most certainly are taking note and their needs are vastly magnified after the deepest economic downturn in living memory. "Customer requirements have changed since the recession," said Morrisey. "We run a small business and in every part of the organisation I want more for less. I want people, and the business, to be more efficient. Every SME in the UK now has the same ethic, and the product portfolio we've developed addresses most of those areas in terms of communications. It is key for us to sell the right solution to the customer whether hosted or CPE."

Organic growth is the order of the day but Morrisey hinted at a dual strategy. "In the not too distant future we will look for an acquisition," he added. "You can grow your business organically to a point. There's a lot of people in comms looking to move on or move out, and Lily is a good place to come.

"We have a clear strategic plan - growth and more growth. Now is the time for a land grab, now is the time to acquire new customers from the larger providers. Telecoms companies that can support SMEs and provide the latest technology without being bleeding edge will win. And our northern approach works well in all regions - sell it as it is, do what you say you're going to do and deliver."

A technology takeover has begun in favour of SIP and channel-focused Paul Taylor, Sales and Marketing Director at Voiceflex, has the ISDN replacement target squarely in his sights.

Betting your farm on the next big thing can be an occupational hazard. Nobody knows that more than Taylor who, in hindsight, made a wrong call early in his career. But, his finger found the SIP pulse long before the newborn heartbeat of the comms sector was audible. "When mobile phones first appeared in the mid-80s I was offered a partnership in a mobile phone company," said Taylor. "I told the chap that at £1,500 each they would never catch on. Never dismiss anything."

Perhaps it is the missed mobile opportunity that opened Taylor's mind to new possibilities without boundaries, and his early stage recognition of SIP should be applauded, especially in the context of BT's intention to kibosh ISDN by 2025. "The biggest opportunity is SIP now ISDN is dead within 10 years," stated Taylor. "The ramifications are colossal, not only for the channel but for every business in the country using ISDN. Moving forward there will just be SIP or hosted. Every new system sold should have SIP."

In a move that illustrates the timeliness of plugging hosted gaps in a product portfolio Voiceflex built a solid bridge to the hosted market following a link-up with GENBAND to provide the Nuvia UC hosted telephony platform. "Since the beginning of the year we'd been looking for a UC hosted application," explained Taylor. "It's imperative to offer value added business services like WebRTC and collaboration, but we cannot sacrifice performance for features, so we took our time to evaluate the available options.

"We found that GENBAND's Nuvia application has a strong track record, and the company knows how to build mission-critical communications. The application has been built from decades of experience delivering carrier-grade exchanges worldwide. The launch of GENBAND within our channel partners and the channel is our near-term priority. There will be significant organic growth from our current partners but we aim to build on our channel base with GENBAND and SIP."

With 20-plus years experience in the comms industry Taylor has become adept at leveraging a combination of vision and knowledge. He started out in 1983 selling internal telephone systems, a job he sought following a stint at door knocking. "I sold insurance and pensions door-to-door and got fed up working evenings and weekends when my mates were out enjoying themselves," he recalled. "I went for an interview with Birmingham General Telephones and never looked back."

In 2005 Taylor operated as UK Manager for Swyx and was tasked with finding a SIP service provider. "I had never heard of SIP and neither had the carriers," he commented. "I'd been involved in the birth of ISDN, but looking at the SIP offering I knew from the outset that it would become the ISDN replacement technology. Frontier Systems offered first line support for Swyx and said, 'we can do SIP'. So off we went."

Starting a public voice network in 2005 allowed Voiceflex to design an infrastructure based on best practice within data, quickly converging voice. "The lack of legacy integration meant no compromise to our SIP network," added Taylor. "Voiceflex tested with every telephone manufacturer and became approved for SIP. Having more PBX manufacturer approvals than any other UK SIP provider has been an important foundation from the start."

Voiceflex claims a number of firsts - the first to provide an assured data connection, first to offer ASDL2 connectivity, and first to connect with BT IPX for in and outbound services. Six years ago, Voiceflex developed what Taylor says was an industry first online portal for ordering, provisioning and billing. "This was developed so we didn't have to talk to customers," he said. "But we've reverted back to the traditional way of account managers engaging with customers through human interaction, which has proved far more beneficial than a faceless portal. We have moved into field-based sales and away from desk-based operations. As SIP grows so does the applications it supports. Having field-based account managers has made us more aware of what the channel wants. This has won us more business, mainly from referrals."

Voiceflex has witnessed double digit growth for the last five years and the upward trend will continue. "Ten years ago we had no product, no customers and no revenue," said Taylor. "Voiceflex is privately owned and now generates a £6 million turnover. We started with one engineer and me, now we have 30 members of staff. Our route to market is channel-only, and we mean channel-only. This will not change. Our partners range from one man and his dog to million pound turnover companies. The complete cross section of the channel is important to us. We understand the needs and wants of the channel and are still small enough to adapt to change quickly."

The £6 million turnover is purely SIP and calls minutes, no ISDN or PSTN. "We want to double over the next four to five years," added Taylor." And we will continue to purely focus on the channel and bring new products to market. A land grab in the SIP market has begun with some traditional providers putting their cards on the table. Their current marketing seems to be around the commercials and not network topology, engagement and features. SIP service providers are not all the same, so channel partners should investigate a number of alternatives."

To show the differences between SIP service providers Taylor explained that Voiceflex is really a 'sIP A' provider. "Our trunks are application-based on just dial tone," he stated. "The more features you have the more benefits you can offer the customer. Gone are the days of just sell yourself, your company and your products, you need to include the SIP and ISP provider. They can all add additional benefits."

Also worth a mention is ABBA (Advanced Behaviour Based Analysis), Voiceflex's fraud application. The company lost a fraud case two years ago (the actual fraud occurred two years prior to the case), and as a result Voiceflex re-wrote its fraud process that, claims Taylor, is one of the 'best in the industry'. Attaining such high standards applies to all development projects. "We have a number of core values," said Taylor. "Whenever we look at new products or services, many of which may not be customer-facing, we look for stability, security, connectivity, features, and then price. These are the same virtues that we expect our customers to uphold."

Product education, as well as features and benefits, are key to success. Not surprisingly Voiceflex has embarked on an accreditation programme for all new partners, and the scheme is designed to offer full support and ensure partners are up to speed with Voiceflex's products and services. "Resellers who don't understand data cannot sell SIP or hosted," said Taylor. "Therefore, our online education seminars give partners the information they need to boost their confidence and ability to offer our solutions. If resellers are not selling SIP, someone else will be."