Comms Dealer

Swyx telephony functions are now available for Skype for Business, meaning that all SwyxWare users who rely on Skype for Business (formerly Microsoft Lync) or Office 365 for messaging and collaboration can now take advantage of Swyx's enterprise telephony functions using Swyx Connector for Skype.

As an important part of the Swyx Client product family, the Swyx Connector for Skype offers access to a range of voice telephony features via Swyx and/or SIP phones using a common UC interface.

In addition, Skype licenses for basic and professional users can be replaced in favour of Swyx's more competitive pricing model.

The direct dialling out of Skype for Business, the synchronisation of presence information with SwyxWare and the access to the Skype Directory, are some of the key features included in the new client.

Also available in the Connector for Skype is choice of hot-keys, call handling (select, call transfer, hold, routing / forwarding, CLIR, call-waiting setting) and retrieval of voice mail.

"With the Swyx Connector for Skype, we have created the framework for a consistent user experience of Skype and Swyx applications for ongoing improvement of business processes, said Kai Froese, Director of Product Management at Swyx.

"The easy installation with Swyx for collaboration and telephony and also the support for additional functions such as fax or DECT, especially for the German market, all make the Swyx Connector for Skype attractive in an enterprise environment."

In addition to the Swyx Connector for Skype for Business, the latest SwyxWare release also contains other new enhancements including support for Windows 10 and support for additional third-party applications.

Reading-based Ultima Business Solutions has appointed Scott Dodds as CEO. He replaces former CEO and founder Max McNeill who becomes Chairman, taking on a more strategic role focused on acquisitions, recruitment and overseeing the move to a new HQ.

The shuffle signals the firm's impressive growth ambitions. McNeill stated: "We have taken the business from zero to £100m in just 25 years, and this has been achieved by purely organic growth without outside funding. We aim to hit £150m turnover in two years, breaking through the £200m barrier within five years.

"Ultima has recently made a number of significant investments to create a platform to take us to the next level, and we are positive that Scott will aid, and further strengthen, our future business success."

Dodds left Microsoft earlier this year to take on the role of VMWare's EMEA VP of Channels and Alliances, is set to take the helm at the business from 20 October.

Dodds added: "The relentless focus on delivering customer value through technology supported innovation and services has enabled Ultima to grow into a strong and trusted partner for customers and vendors alike.

"I am looking forward to playing a part in supporting this incredible Ultima team to continue to grow with its customers through the application of innovative technology and services."

Ultima celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and the company is set to launch a new website in the coming weeks, and has recently opened a new city office, five times bigger than its previous premises. The company has 350 employees and has also acquired a business park in Reading which will act as its HQ from 1st April 2016.

McNeill added: "With so much going on and the advent of the cloud, we are perfectly positioned for a significant surge in growth. Scott, with his immense skills, experience and knowledge of the market, is the perfect person to guide us to greater heights."

Avaya has expanded its executive team with the appointment of Morag Lucey as Chief Marketing Officer, with a remit to lead global marketing, including marketing communications and branding. She will report directly to President and CEO Kevin Kennedy.

"Morag is a smart, innovative business partner whose career spans more than 30 years in marketing, channels and general management within the technology and telecommunications space," said Kennedy. "Her proven history of increasing brand impact is exactly what Avaya needs to accelerate our position within the business communications software and services market category."

Lucey has a proven record of executing successful marketing strategy and programs that drive growth, improve and transform global brands, build for operational scale and create initiatives to quickly and efficiently support business momentum.

She comes to Avaya from her position as CEO of VirtualCMO, a marketing consulting firm focused on generating short term profitability and long term stability.

Prior to her CEO role, Lucey held top marketing positions at BAE Systems, serving as CMO, and at Convergys, serving as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Product Management.

Lucey said: "Contextual communication between companies and customers, or within the organisation itself, drives engagement, and engagement drives employee and customer satisfaction. I'm excited to be part of the team and look forward to driving Avaya's brand into new and existing markets."

Lucey has prior Avaya experience, having spent five years with the company as Vice President of EMEA Marketing and Vice President of Global Marketing and Channel Management for small and midmarket business solutions.

Hats off to avsnet for collecting Cisco's Rising Star Commercial Partner of the Year award at the networking firm's UK Partner Awards held on 1st October.

Graham Fry, Managing Director at avsnet, said: "avsnet is delighted that Cisco UK has so publicly recognised the value of avsnet's contribution to Cisco's ongoing success. I am particularly proud that Cisco has highlighted our 'exceptional work and quality of execution' and I'd like to thank the whole team at avsnet for their hard work and commitment, enabling us to achieve this.

"More and more businesses are looking for a trusted provider to meet all their collaboration needs and this award, along with our recent Cisco Master Collaboration certification, demonstrates that avsnet is positioned to provide complete ownership of any collaboration platform and the network it resides on."

Gamma has bolstered its customer service levels with uninterrupted IT data centre operations using Zerto.

Gamma implemented the BC/DR software to protect its critical Microsoft applications (SQL Server, Windows App Servers, Web Servers, Exchange, SharePoint and Lync) while reducing power consumption and rack space.

Gamma required failover capabilities that can quickly restore critical applications within minutes of an outage. Zerto was chosen for its rapid recovery capability, ND ITS hardware agnostic approach allows seamless protection of virtualised applications with resiliency offered by rapid failover between two separate Gamma data centre sites that utilise SAN technology from different manufacturers.

Gamma is now evaluating a wider rollout of Zerto to protect additional critical parts of the business including VoIP, mobile and data services.

So called ‘moments that matter' are key to the career trajectory of senior IT leaders in UK, France and Germany, rather than day-to-day activities.

More than three-quarters of respondents (77%) believe their career success is defined by key moments that generate recognition and deliver success for the wider organisation.

Such 'moments' were identifies as new infrastructure changes; external events such as data outages and tech crisis; and responding to emerging customer requirements.

This is consistent across companies from different verticals and sizes, with 75% of IT leaders at SMEs agreeing with this statement.

The link between ‘moments that matter' and personal success is stronger for IT leaders that perceive themselves as ‘exceeding expectations' in their role (91%).

These ‘moments that matter' are also clearly identified when exploring their working relationships with suppliers. The majority of IT leaders (85%) agreed that technology issues are sometimes inevitable and that a partner proves its value when things go wrong (81% for SMEs). They understand the impact of service interruption and act accordingly.

The research shows that more than half (62%) of IT leaders believe their teams are more focused on strategic projects than keeping things running (60% for SMEs). However, an analysis of the moments that matter mentioned by respondents showed a conflict between their aspirations and the reality of their daily roles.

James Kershaw, Sales Director at Colt, said: "The results show how important it is to work with the right team - both in terms of your internal team and trusted suppliers and partners.

"It presents an opportunity for channel partners and resellers to build a closer relationship with their customers.

"What's interesting is that a similar proportion of IT leaders within enterprises and SMEs believe supplier trust is the most important element in ensuring successful outcomes, demonstrating the value of trusted partners.

"We are confident our channel partners will play a pivotal role in helping customers evolve the IT function into a strategic role - keeping their core services running in the background while they focus on what matters most to their businesses."

Azzurri Communications has launched a new Network Operations Centre (NOC) based in Burnley, already a major logistics and operational site for the firm, employing 76 people including three local apprentices who joined the business last year.

The investments in automated monitoring and management systems enable Azzurri to monitor customers' fixed and mobile networks, unified communications and contact centres.

The company's engineers can view entire customer solutions, their component parts and the performance of third party suppliers.

This enables Azzurri to manage applications and devices on a customer's network for optimum uptime, security and efficiency. Service degradation and outages on suppliers' networks can be mitigated before they affect customers' operations.

Chris Jagusz, CEO of Azzurri Communications, said: "Our collaborative approach to developing managed services means that we can mitigate the impact of component failures, specific to each customer's needs."

Nick Wilson is to head up Advanced Business Solutions (Public Sector & Enterprise) as MD, moving from his role as MD of Public Sector & Health in Capita IT Enterprise Services where he drove a £90m turnover business, overseeing 400 staff.

Wilson will succeed Dean Dickinson who led the growth of Advanced's Public Sector & Enterprise division following the acquisition of COA Solutions in 2010.

Wilson joins Advanced with 20 years management experience including stints as Director of Government, Space and Defence Outsourcing at CGI Group.

He began his career with management roles at British Airways and Deloitte and spent four years as Client Partner for BT Health. This included running the BT Acute Health Business, managing 500 staff members and generating over £200 million turnover.

Wilson said: "The public sector, in particular, is under more pressure than ever before to drive efficiencies, and is increasingly looking to work with agile software providers such as Advanced.

"My role will be to continue to deliver innovative and high quality solutions to enable these organisations to improve the services they deliver to citizens while saving money at the same time."

Gordon Wilson, CEO, Advanced Computer Software Group, added: Nick is a strategic and resourceful director with extensive experience of delivering strong financial performance and will play a key role on the senior management team."

Advanced Business Solutions is a division of Advanced Computer Software Group, a supplier of software and IT services to the health, care and business services sectors.

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has welcomed the publication of SLALOM's draft cloud contract template and urges the industry to offer feedback.

The SLALOM initiative was launched in January 2015 with the purpose to standardise the terms and conditions of cloud computing contracts and service level agreements (SLAs).

The latest deliverable discusses common areas of debate (including IPR, termination, and data migration at the end of a contract) and sets these within a contractual structure that should provide a suitable model for contracting cloud services.

The next stage of the SLALOM project is Consensus Phase, which runs from 1st October to 31st Jan 2016. During this time the initiative will be inviting feedback on the draft terms from all stakeholders in a wide-ranging public consultation designed to build consensus on the terms, which need to be covered, and taking into account the different perspectives involved.

SLALOM's approach has been to set out from both the provider and adopter perspective for each clause, with a suggested SLALOM form of wording.

Alex Hilton, CIF's CEO, stated: "We have repeatedly said that uncertainty around legal issues in cloud computing forms a barrier to adoption through perceived risk and a lack of trust.

"This is a barrier that has been highlighted time and again in the research we have conducted among the end user community. Customers must ask those awkward questions about the rights and obligations of each party and what happens when one of the parties fails to fulfil their contract, and even which jurisdiction would cover which issues of the contract.

"To date, the relative immaturity of the market has resulted in contracts being used which are not particularly well-suited to the services being provided. End users often overlook unfair terms as they are not afforded the opportunity to negotiate and they fail to assess risk properly when adopting low cost cloud services.

"I'd hope that by developing a standardised approach to contracts we can address these issues, but it's important that it remains workable for both CSPs and end users - which is why it is critical that the full range stakeholders in the cloud industry engage with SLALOM on the next stage of this project."

UC and contact centre solution provider Enghouse Interactive has scooped the 2015 European Hosted Contact Centre Price/Performance Value Leadership Award from research organisation Frost & Sullivan.

"We were impressed with how Enghouse's Contact Centre solutions compared with the competition, and especially that it matches 90% of the functionality of a leading competitor's product at 50% of the price," said Nancy Jamison, principal analyst, Frost & Sullivan.

Jeremy Payne, International Group VP Marketing, Enghouse Interactive, said: "We've always been focused on delivering contact centre solutions targeted at a range of different business sectors with a primary focus on helping customers achieve a high return on investment at a low TCO.

"We are delighted to receive this independent industry recognition for the success we have achieved in delivering price/performance value and positive customer impact."