Comms Dealer

Predictive monitoring platforms have proved difficult to develop but John Pepper, Managing Director at Managed 24/7, claims to have innovated an industry breakthrough.

Despite the hype not a single application has hitherto delivered the level of predictive monitoring that a next generation MSP needs, according to Pepper, but following a six year period of working on the problem he claims to have developed a 'special recipe' consisting of six networks and application monitoring systems, layered with one of the most advanced Business Intelligence tools available. And as someone who does not ever sit on his hands, Pepper's efforts to build on this innovation mean it will continue to evolve.

"I have always been passionate about technology and business," he said. "It all started as a boy when I was given a Spectrum 48k for Christmas and a book on how to create games. From that moment I was struck. I attended business college and always wanted to own my own company. The passion started early and I love the daily changes that happen in the IT industry."

He founded Managed 24/7 in 2009 after working for and owning a VAR. "I bought into the idea of creating a managed services provider that had predictive monitoring at its heart," he explained. "This is different from traditional MSPs who see an alert when something goes down. Achieving our goal took a lot of personal investment, commitment and time, but those foundations and our passion have remained resolute. Our aim is to improve on our core services while evaluating the latest trends and working closely with partners such as Cisco, Microsoft, VMWare, HP, Nimble Storage and many more. No day is ever the same and we will never stand still - a week on holiday and you come back to see the world has moved on a year."

Managed 24/7 covers traditional IT, cloud, collaboration, Internet provisioning and disaster recovery for many household name brands. The company has doubled year-on-year in revenue, profits and staff numbers. "We now have a great portfolio of fantastic clients that we work closely with and our attrition rate is low," added Pepper. "We gain more business from referrals than we do from any marketing campaigns, something I could have only dreamed about when setting up the business."

On founding the company Pepper aspired to owning one or two of his own data centres, but the demise of 2e2 changed all that. "To have a service provider that is offering both the managed service and the data centre doesn't make sense to end users any more," he stated. "If the service provider goes they lose everything. Customers are wise to this and keen to separate the service from the ownership of data centres. I'm pleased we didn't commit to anything."

Customers are choosing long-term partners who understand them and can become part of their growth strategy. Managed service providers offer this, and the VAR model is dead in Pepper's opinion. "To shift tin, then send an engineer to install it and wait for the next order goes against anything 'value added'," he said. "Next generation MSPs are working with their customers to identify, budget and plan IT and communications procurement years in advance if you are a predictive MSP, or weeks in advance if you are pro-active.

"The role of the VAR is becoming irrelevant as customers become more technically aware. You only have to look at the number of VARs and SIs that are attempting to become MSPs. The problem is they have a five or six year journey and even then may end up becoming only pro-active MSPs, which by that time will also have become irrelevant. The message is simple: Transform and be relevant or stay where you are and become irrelevant."

That's why Pepper always looks a couple of years ahead of the market. In 2009 he invested in predictive monitoring using Big Data concepts and trend modelling, and in two-to-three years time he has no doubt that this will become the norm for traditional MSPs. "We have to keep ahead of the curve so we invest our profits back into the business to continually evolve," added Pepper. "This year we have committed over £1.5 million into a new predictive monitoring operations centre in Milton Keynes. There will be over 16, 4K projectors seamlessly working to deliver at a glance next generation predictive monitoring.

"Why? Because we believe our customers are tired of proactive managed services. They don't want to be told when they are down for an engineer to go out. Customers expect IT and communications to just work. The new centre will allow us to spot the smallest of trends a year to six months before an issue occurs. Significantly, the planning processes for the next stages of this are already on the drafting board."

Key to all this is getting the right people on board. "When I come up with zany ideas it's great to have a team that works out if the ideas can be put into action," said Pepper. "This is key for any business owner. We were committed to providing 24x7x365 predictive support from day one - with no outsourced option. Therefore, I've spent my fare share of time working through the night building the teams and building the processes to allow us to do this. Managed 24/7 is a community of like-minded individuals from many different backgrounds that come together to work towards a common goal. We all own the company and strive to work harder for our customers and be a leader within the industry."

Finding the talent to grow is a core priority and Pepper believes this issue will be just as hot in 2020. "We offer competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, including EMI schemes and private healthcare. But it doesn't stop there. We have invested heavily in on-demand training platforms to nurture talent and have an incredible atmosphere across all of our offices. Investment in people will always be top priority for us and our responses to date have always paid off."

Pepper acknowledges that developments in communications and IT are changing at a more rapid pace than at any other time in his career history. Companies are consuming IT and communications in new ways and using innovative strategies to deliver. "There will, therefore, always be areas in our portfolio that we can expand, but it's important not to believe the hype," he stated. "We always look for vendors and exciting opportunities, but they have to be stable, proven and better than any existing technology we have. You can never stand still in IT."

One area of developing interest that fits this outlook is the Internet of Things which applied correctly, is 'incredibly exciting', enthused Pepper. "When I say applied correctly I mean there has to be a need for it," he explained. "What use is a toaster reporting to my smartphone how many slices of bread it has toasted in the last month?

"But a Rolls Royce engine being predictively monitored for vibrations 24x7 enables parts to be shipped to the aircraft's destination prior to the aircraft landing. This is preventive, intelligent and exciting. IoT is something to watch as it starts applying to businesses, and we will be ready when it arrives."

In October 2016 Pepper will officially own Managed 24/7 longer than any other business he has founded. "We have a strong set of people, systems and strategies to execute and these are great foundations," he said. "I am more excited about the next 10 years than I have been about any business at any point in my career. I truly believe that my biggest achievement to date is creating a relevant proposition and company before the curve with Managed 24/7, and putting my heart and soul into it."

Rising through the ranks can only take you so far, but the sky's the limit when you buy the company, become CEO and multiply revenues tenfold. Not content with this remarkable achievement, Incom Business Systems' David Hughes is pushing ahead with even bigger plans.

Hughes expects this year's revenues to hit his £11 million target and he is confident that during the next three years the company will almost double the takings. To say his pedal is to the floor would be to greatly understate the rate of Incom's accelerating growth and he has no intention of slowing down. However, with a glance into the rear view mirror Hughes recalls when the journey began. He's only ever worked at Incom, joining the firm in 1989 as a sales exec who became inspired by his mentor Sales Director Malcolm Kilvert, a man who made a lasting impression.

Hughes bought Incom alongside Malcolm's son Jason Kilvert in 2004. They gained ISO 9001 in 2009, acquired Yorkshire-based IT and telecoms firm Worth Communications in 2010, and moved to a new HQ in Manchester during the same year. Two months ago Incom linked up with Complete Network Services (CNS) in a collaboration that extends their geographical reach to five offices. The organisations have pooled their skills to better address demand for UC and contact centre solutions that incorporate multimedia, social media capabilities and workforce optimisation. "At the time of the MBO in 2004 there was just 18 of us and we hit the £1 million revenue goal we'd set for ourselves," said Hughes. "Now we have almost 100 staff and the next big revenue goal is to achieve £20 million within the next 36 months."

Ahead of Incom's mission to nigh on double revenues by 2019 the company has been busy building and maintaining a strong recurring revenue model. "We are ideally positioned to meet growing demand for cloud solutions and we are already successful in this area," added Hughes. "The benefits are numerous, which is why we've been deploying cloud solutions since it was called hosted telephony! The way our customers consume business services and technologies is undergoing a massive transformation, and it's our job to ensure we guide our customers through these changing times. It's an important new chapter for us and good news for organisations looking for a partner who can simplify the design, delivery and management of all their communications requirements."

The Incom growth strategy is defined by three strands - organic growth, acquisitions and strategic partnerships. "Joining forces with CNS is a prime example of a successful partnership," stated Hughes. "We work together for the greater good of our customers by leveraging our expanded support, technical and marketing capabilities, and it allows us to extend our reach into important verticals such as the public sector, professional services, consumer and housing."

Hughes recognises that his customers are digital so he is exploring ways to make it easier for them to engage with Incom using the channel of their choice. "This could change the way we deliver support services as more customers want faster responses using smart devices," he said. "Our number one priority remains delivering an excellent customer experience. Our goal is to be the business communications provider of choice for our target markets and we plan to achieve this by offering best-of-breed products, services and solutions, operational excellence and customer intimacy. The latter is really important to us because we want every customer to be an Incom advocate."

Hughes's focus on customer service is unwavering and he enjoys longevity in his relationships with them. "Having been in business for 26 years and with a large number of customers loyal to us for over two decades, we still conduct a customer satisfaction survey after every implementation, no matter how small the deployment, which is discussed at our weekly management team meeting," he commented. "This enables us to deal with any issues rapidly. More importantly, every department within our business is aware of, and focused on, the client's need. We all own customer satisfaction. Customer referral remains our number one source of new business."

Word of mouth referrals come thick and fast because Incom has built a reputation for understanding its customers' organisations, their markets and how they communicate with their own customers and suppliers. "We have considerable expertise across vertical markets and business processes, so our standpoint is to understand the challenges and organisational goals before assessing how the communications and supporting infrastructure can deliver a quantifiable solution," added Hughes. "Tangible ROI and lifetime value are the critical metrics demonstrated by our solutions."

It is just as important to attract and retain the best people and provide career opportunities for the team. "We focus on recruiting people who want to develop and we give them first rate training to help them progress through the ranks," explained Hughes. "This ethos has enabled us to retain exceptional talent for well over ten years. We have a supportive team culture and I'm proud that we all pull together for our customers. We can also enjoy a beer or two outside of work."

Buying the company and then grow it to ten times the revenue is 'incredibly satisfying', said Hughes. "However, we had to create the right culture, develop our staff and nurture an environment that enables the team to drive Incom's success," he added. "It's the Incom team and their achievements that makes me most proud."

Since its inception in 2005, Comms Vision has closely tracked the evolution of business communications technology and the role of the channel in bringing it to market successfully.

Here, four of this year's keynote speakers provide insights into the key themes and messages that will be considered and debated at this year's gold standard event, writes Comms Vision Content Director Paul Cunningham.

Strong leadership and close customer engagement are key to the future success of the comms channel. Why? Because the current rate of innovation and disruption in technology-led marketplaces is dizzying to the point of distraction. Furthermore, the move towards a cloud-based virtualised and rented comms platform means that customers no longer 'own' the products supplied by the channel, and the channel may no longer 'own' the services they offer. But is something bigger and more disruptive happening behind the scenes? Andy Lippman, Associate Director of MIT's Media Lab and Comms Vision opening keynote speaker, observed: "Today's disruptions such as Uber, AirBnB, Bitcoin and Kickstarter are challenging deeply rooted social and commercial institutions by transforming heavyweight social practices into massless and weightless viral phenomena.

"Viral systems are grassroots ideas that start small, scale and gain value in scaling. They can be a programme, a hardware design, a communications system or means of social interaction. A characteristic of many of today's explosive ideas is that they are striking deeper at the heart of social and business institutions than they did in what you might consider the 1st Internet revolution. Uber is more than a new way to hail a cab. It challenges transportation at every level, from the organisational and regulatory to the operational."

Ironically, pointed out Lippman, most disruptions are not based on any great technical invention. Instead, they are a combination of societal readiness and rapid growth. At Comms Vision we will ask the question - what other technologies can move from being rigid to becoming viral? Keynote speaker Matt Griffin of 311 Institute observed: "If you ask a customer what product they'd like you to create they'll more than likely make reference to an existing product suffixed with 'er' - faster, smaller, bigger, cheaper etc. None of these customers would have considered creating an iPad. Therein lies the innovator's dilemma because customers simply aren't innovative or creative enough to be much help. Customers don't buy products because they want to, they buy products because they fulfil particular needs.

"By focusing on and understanding outcomes that drive customer behaviour, teams can create powerful and compelling products. However, outcomes take on many forms so you have to identify the outcomes that the majority of customers want, that have not yet been met by a solution. For example, consider customers who want to reduce their energy bills as well as wanting integrated communications and content. Once you understand what the common outcomes are you can design solutions like the Connected Home using intelligent sensors and systems to help reduce energy consumption combined with unified, on demand Over the Top (OTT) content in a single experience."

The digitalisation of our society, economy and industry is leading to a significant transformation in the way that organisations research, evaluate, acquire and manage technology for business. In a world where the ratio between the cost of acquiring the customer and their lifetime value is a key metric, there is less time available for the discovery process, making it essential to lead with discovery. This change can best be characterised by the question, 'how can customers who need what we have find (and engage) with us?', rather than 'how can we find customers who need what we have?'.

Comms Vision keynote speaker Richard Robinson of customer engagement specialist Turn commented: "As businesses get larger and more mature, it is hard for them to remain agile. Responsiveness is something that you have to build into all of your processes so that the willingness to adapt and experiment does not get lost. You have to be prepared to go the extra mile to compete. You have a lot of information readily available and you need to learn to gather and filter it wisely, so that it provides your business with the advantage it needs to succeed.

"There is no excuse for not knowing who your audience is, or what your competitors are all about. Use the information that is available to make your business stand out. When you have the opportunity to present your proposal, be prepared and know that those to whom you are presenting have also fully researched the solutions to their business needs online. It is easy to be sidetracked and to start expending hours of your valuable time on tasks that do not add any value or income to your business. We all need a reminder that we need to stop and take stock of what we are doing, so that we can refocus those efforts if necessary."

A primary example of potential distraction in the current marketplace is the prevalence of cloud-based messaging and content pouring into the average business user from a huge number of service providers, vendors and media. Factors such as organisational structure, geographic distribution, security, capital investment policy and the need for advanced software functionality all play their part in determining whether a business might make the move to the cloud for their communications needs. What seems likely is that the successful comms channel player will soon (if not now) need to offer a blend of on-premise, cloud and hybrid solutions, matched to the needs of their customers.

Communications technologies are taking a leap forward with the advent of software defined and virtualised solutions at a carrier level. For the business customer traditional software applications are being challenged by web and app-based solutions and the Internet of Things is about to revolutionise how devices, processes and people interact based on context, location, status and many more previously unattainable factors.

There is also a strong consensus that channel businesses will only succeed and survive by building and sustaining a culture of excellence and innovation. This requires the identification of cultural values, technologies and processes that represent the best opportunities to change and excel in channel business operations.

Leading global business coach, author and Comms Vision keynote speaker Darren Rudkin commented: "Leadership teams in top performing companies spend significantly more time getting aligned than 'ordinary' companies. Leaders in these businesses see it as their job to create the heart of the company and then create the conditions and culture that both brings this to life and invites others to step forward and bring it to life for themselves. They see culture as a driver for competitive advantage. A leadership vision isn't credible if it's stuck on a wall in the office. You are a role model whether you want to be or not."

Business leaders wanting to take their first tentative steps towards the cloud while retaining a hardware presence on site are prime targets for resellers of ShoreTel Connect, a new solution launched to the UK market that offers a single platform with three deployment options and a common user interface.

ShoreTel has mid-market firms in its sights and according to a top industry analyst the launch enables UK resellers to more easily approach businesses with an all-embracing UC&C solution that allows customers to readily migrate to the cloud in their own time or continue with a CPE-only solution.

Rich Costello, Senior Research Analyst at IDC, noted: "The new common platform enables ShoreTel to offer customers what they want - a choice of premises, hosted or hybrid solutions with a consistent user experience across a common software stream. The common platform also makes UC&C easier for channel partners to deploy and support as well as for customers to migrate from one model to another as needed. With its fully integrated solution, ShoreTel eliminates the need for customers and partners to piece together complex solutions from multiple parties."

When ShoreTel had garnered feedback on the business challenges faced by its partner ecosystem the vendor set about creating something special, according to Adrian Hipkiss, VP of EMEA (pictured above), who says the new Connect platform is an industry first and a disruptive channel force. The undertaking was significant. ShoreTel developed four million lines of additional code and employed 300 extra software engineers to create the Connect platform. "With this roll out we're addressing the mediocrity of enterprise communications," claimed Hipkiss. "We've turned the UC industry on its head having invested time and people into creating solutions that deliver flexibility and choice. Our common platform and user interface answers issues such as poor user experience and the lack of integration with CRM apps and back office systems."

ShoreTel's strategy for the UK market is 'growth', emphasised Hipkiss, and in Europe the sweet spot is the mid-market space, 50-5,000 employees. "Occasionally we'll go below for premises deployments, and of course we'll go above," added Hipkiss. "Connect enables our channels to support organisations of all sizes, with on site, virtualised, cloud or hybrid solutions."

The Connect platform and user interface is available to all accredited ShoreTel resellers, and distribution channels that offer value added services will be able to support all aspects of Connect, including design, installation and support.

According to Hipkiss, training is easier and more cost-effective. "Connect is a single common operating platform that was designed to be intuitive and fun to use, so you only need to get trained once and can pass on that training to others," he explained. "The user experience is exactly the same no matter which model is deployed. It's also a simple model for selling: One common platform for UC, three ways of deploying, two methods of consuming."

In closer detail, ShoreTel Connect Onsite is an end-to-end UC solution that customers own, maintain and control. ShoreTel Connect Cloud is a fully hosted and managed end-to-end UCaaS solution. And ShoreTel Connect Hybrid enables Onsite customers to have applications delivered via the cloud. Hybrid apps such as ShoreTel Fax and ShoreTel Scribe (voicemail transcription) are also available.

With hundreds of software developers on the case you would expect Connect to incorporate new features. ShoreTel partners will not be disappointed. Personalised call handling and call routing for both office and mobile devices have been introduced, along with collaboration tools including IM, audio and web conferencing, point-to-point video and desktop sharing. Other new features include integration and collaboration apps for smartphone, tablet and wearable devices, integration with CRM systems, and apps like voicemail to text, emergency notification, integrated call recording and enhanced paging.

ShoreTel's President and CEO Don Joos said: "ShoreTel Connect helps customers determine how and when to move communications to the cloud by offering hybrid options along the way, no matter how many sites or employees. Whether customers prefer to subscribe to a managed cloud service, invest in an on site system or deploy a combination of the two, there is a single UC solution that delivers the same user experience and capabilities to the entire team."

The new ShoreTel Connect client is consistent across the three deployment types. With one click, users can escalate a conversation from an IM to a call to an online meeting, and then to a web desktop share and video. The browser-based app also facilitates collaboration among internal teams and enables external users to engage and collaborate without the need for plug-ins, multiple application windows, passwords or complex set-up.

As part of the ShoreTel Connect roll-out the vendor also introduced a contact centre solution scalable to 1,000 users for ShoreTel Connect Cloud and ShoreTel Connect Onsite. ShoreTel Connect Contact Center introduces multiple interaction channels including inbound and outbound voice (with the ability to incorporate campaign dialling and automated call backs from queue), web chat, web call back requests and email routing.

"The new browser-based interface, called ShoreTel Connect Agent Interaction Center, combines the easy management of multiple contact channels, deep contextual transaction information, agent and service KPI information, supervisor/agent interactions, web chat and agent controls within a single pane," commented Eugenia Corrales, Senior VP of Product.

She noted that the solution provides support for up to 1,000 concurrent agent logins for both cloud and on site deployments, offers real-time and historical reporting including statistics on call centre activity, detailed agent activity and call-by-call details on outbound calls.

Also in the package are enhanced customer self-service capabilities with customisable interactive voice response (IVR) scripting; as well as deep integrations to workforce optimisation and CRM solutions including support for real-time adherence. Corrales added: "The ShoreTel Connect common platform enables partners to deliver a feature-rich cloud contact centre solution that meets the needs of today's multi-channel, multi-site organisations."

Databarracks stands proud as an emblem of simplicity in an industry renowned for making things complicated, according to Managing Director Peter Groucutt.

The 'Databarracks' name signifies clearly the function of the organisation, which is to provide DR, backup and infrastructure services from UK-based ex-military data centres. Just as transparent is the channel engagement philosophy behind its partner programme which strips down traditional modes of operation to their most basic components, claims Groucutt. For this reason it's called the Partner (de)Programme, designed to unravel confusing complexity and red tape, and was rolled out in February 2014.

"Databarracks launched the Partner (de)Programme to shake things up," stated Groucutt. "We think traditional partner programmes don't work. It's called the 'de-programme' to highlight its different approach, stripping out all of the red tape traditionally associated with partner schemes. We don't ask partners to complete 100 hours of training or become gold certified before we work with them. We treat them all equally and adapt our approach to fit the partner rather than force them to fit into a predefined category."

Groucutt would rather work with a handful of trusted partners who share his beliefs and who understand the cloud than 500 partners who 'just don't get it'. "This programme is about providing personalised partnerships that support the strengths of the individual," he commented. "Access to resources, support and market development funds has been streamlined to make the whole process of acquiring and executing on new business much simpler."

The de-programming initiative is not a one-off event, its launch set the scene for another disentangling move made two months ago when Databarracks launched a new, and simpler, pricing game plan for the channel. This unscrambled model is designed to make procurement of disaster recovery much easier for resellers and end users. "When evaluating suppliers and buying a DR service there are a number of different factors that need to be considered," added Groucutt. "Understanding how the service is priced shouldn't be an arduous task, but many pricing models can make things over-complicated.

"We have been guilty of this ourselves, so we streamlined our DRaaS pricing model. The costs are fixed and on a per-server and per-terabyte basis, and the model is completely transparent. What you see is what you get, so it's much easier to gain buy-in from other key stakeholders. A big part of selling cloud services and maintaining relationships with customers is about building trust. By providing a pricing model that works and is honest you create lasting relationships built on trust."

Groucutt established Databarracks in 2003 with two other directors. They saw an opportunity for automated backup at a time when bandwidth first enabled businesses to backup over the Internet without a requirement to purchase additional connectivity. But their biggest turning point came five years ago when Databarracks made the move from a pure play backup provider to offering disaster recovery and infrastructure solutions, as well as more diverse services such as AWS consulting. "We were early to cloud computing, before backup was called 'cloud backup'," noted Groucutt. "We wanted to build on our expertise and the strong reputation we had earned within the industry."

The shift to cloud computing has also redefined the role of resellers and SIs. Many of them are transitioning from significant hardware sales to reduced, but ongoing recurring revenues based on cloud services. "Many have resisted this evolution but developments like Office 365 are starting to catalyse the transformation," commented Groucutt. "In some cases cloud computing brings the risk of disintermediation, so the challenge for resellers is to add value in different ways, be that consultancy, management or becoming a broker of cloud services."

In these times of great technological change and advancement Groucutt is particularly excited by developments in the use of hyper-scale clouds. "It's not just AWS dominating that space any more, Azure and Google are also investing and innovating," he said. "In the future we expect to see organisations deploy a combination of on-premise IT and cloud solutions from local and niche cloud service providers like us, combined with hyper-scale clouds such as those from Amazon or Microsoft."

The scale of Databarracks' achievements to date belie its size and UK focus in the context of a global market. So much so that it was named in Gartner's first Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service earlier this year, a rating that Groucutt counts as a 'huge accomplishment' for the company. "Compared to many of our competitors in the disaster recovery area we're considered a fairly small organisation," he stated. "As a UK-only provider, we were ecstatic to be recognised in a report that is globally revered. It's proof that our hard work and drive for simplification is paying off."

MeetingZone has officially disclosed its ambition to be Europe's leading provider of UCaaS solutions and heading up its Skype for Business practice is General Manager Andy Clark who revealed the company's ambitious channel growth plan.

Set-up in 2002 by current CEO Steve Gandy, MeetingZone first operated as a provider of high quality audio conferencing services. Today, the independent global business has headquarters near Oxford and offices in Germany, Sweden, USA and Canada, and offers UC, conferencing and collaboration services. Its portfolio and service wrap are available to partners to re-sell either under a referral model or as a wholesale white labelled solution.

MeetingZone provides Skype for Business, Cisco WebEx, Glance Screen Sharing as well as its own audio conferencing services - all augmented by a neat service wrap that includes account management and training. In March 2013 the company bought Atia Communications, a Microsoft certified Skype for Business/Lync specialist with more than 400 supported Microsoft Server UC deployments across the world. MeetingZone's international expansion is significant with a two year average sales growth of 72 per cent, placing the firm at number 30 in the Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100 2015.

MeetingZone also achieved 11 per cent compound annual growth over the last five years and forecasts £21 million this financial year. The company's 110 staff support 5,000 customers globally, including many of the FTSE 500 companies in the financial, retail, IT, pharmaceutical, not for profit, business services and legal sectors.

The main development in the business during recent years has been its shift towards providing a broader range of conferencing and collaboration services through reselling Microsoft's Skype for Business and Cisco WebEx. "We're also moving towards a recurring monthly licence revenue model that will benefit partners by providing a regular secure revenue stream," said Clark. "This has been introduced as we foresaw the customer demand for more integrated, easy to use conferencing and collaboration tools."

Target partners include system integrators and telecoms providers. "Resellers are a key component, and our partner programme has been designed to align with different business models to encourage growth," explained Clark. "Partners allow us to increase our reach, so we provide them with the latest sales support, marketing materials and other collateral. This can be MeetingZone branded or white labelled - either way these services are available alongside billing and regular communication. We also provide partners with a portal that allows them to manage their customers and access resources quickly and easily."

With the launch of its new Skype for Business as a Service platform, MeetingZone is focusing on partners who want to offer hosted Microsoft UC solutions without the need for capital investment. "Our priorities are to help partners achieve their goals by guiding them on what they need to succeed," added Clark. "As a UC, conferencing and collaboration specialist, MeetingZone offers Skype for Business and WebEx and full integration with our audio conferencing solution. This enables us to offer the full range of UC services from IM and presence all the way through to enterprise voice and PBX replacement."

According to Clark, more companies are embracing UC because it improves the effectiveness and efficiencies of their organisations. He's witnessed this interest first hand and noted that IM is becoming a popular feature, although there is still an increasing impact on audio, video and content usage with access via a UC client. "Our strategy is based on liberating people and enabling them to connect, communicate and collaborate," he stated. "Our service wrap differentiates us for both direct customers and our partners as we focus on training and support, while all of our technology is deployed with a dedicated account manager."

The role of resellers and SIs has been evolving for several years. However, many resellers have not yet embraced new technologies and business models, while others are mid-journey. "I see the evolution happening in a number of different ways, with many resellers and SIs reviewing their go-to-market strategies around UC&C and working to understand their role and how they can provide customers with a raft of different solutions," added Clark.

Weighing up which technologies to take to market is all well and good but resellers also need to offer different methods of deploying them, according to Clark. "While on-premise still provides great opportunities, cloud and hosted deployments are growing in popularity and most analysts suggest that this growth will only continue," he commented. "Therefore resellers need to understand how to drive a cloud strategy. Many resellers will need to re-invest or potentially find a good partner that specialises in the complementary technologies they want to drive to market."

A reseller's approach to providing UC&C solutions could also be the defining factor of their future path, inextricably linked to the single vendor versus hybrid solution debate, and central to the look and feel of their integration capabilities over the long-term.

UC&C is an especially important area where complexity and productisation are, in some respects, converging. But despite this apparent convergence these two distinct approaches - sophisticated solution delivery and pretty much off-the-shelf - are poles apart, dividing resellers into one of two camps according to their strategic go-to-market choice - single vendor or hybrid. That said, it could be the middle ground where the battle will be won and lost.

Selling individual products will rarely deliver a solution that covers every aspect of real and non real-time communications, according to Content Guru's CEO Sean Taylor pictured above), who argues that the best approach to UC&C is for organisations to implement a core multi-channel, multi-functional communications platform that's capable of operating within a broader standards-based IT environment. "This strategy not only enables users to access key communications applications such as office telephony, audio conferencing, call recording and voicemail, but also link seamlessly to external systems and databases to create the additional features and content that individuals require," he said.

One of the most important goals of any UC&C project, noted Taylor, is to create an environment that is cost-effective, flexible and delivers a unified user experience. "A true hybrid UC&C solution seamlessly integrates on-premise systems and cloud services to deliver a whole greater than the sum of its parts," added Taylor. "A hybrid approach to UC&C is invaluable when clients wish to retain previous investments in comms systems rather than rip-and-replace. It's a logical strategy. The challenge for UC&C strategists is how to seamlessly integrate their core UC&C platform with these resources to fulfil the broader UC&C vision. At this point, the success of a project often comes down to the skills and capabilities of the supplier to carry out these integration tasks."

A single vendor approach may best fit a customer's requirements for UC&C if they just need IM, presence, audio, video conferencing and an IP voice platform. Skype for Business, for example, delivers this functionality while also supporting an ecosystem of third party applications from contact centre to billing, IVR and recording. "For a robust cloud-based telephony platform that also supports a broad range of contact centre functionality, online card payment handling and integration to a broad range of CRM and back office systems, then a platform such as storm at the centre of a UC&C ecosystem will better fit the bill," added Taylor.

Organisations that best utilise UC&C to drive their business agenda use a multi-vendor or hybrid approach, according to Darren Pattie (pictured left), EMEA Channel and Distribution Director at ShoreTel. "This is the best way to provide a best-of-breed solution along with the essential commercial flexibility and business agility," he said. "Critical in this approach is to work with vendors that have an open strategy to integration and a rich development of third party integration."
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Hybrid could mean a mix of different vendor technologies to provide the best infrastructure to power a business, but it could also mean one vendor's portfolio delivered in multiple ways to meet the changing customer and market requirements. "ShoreTel's goal is to offer true choice and flexibility to customers," added Pattie. "This is achieved through offering not only a UC solution for on-premise, but also as-a-service through the cloud or a hybrid combination of the two, such as a UC platform on site with contact centre or mobility solutions as a service from the cloud. This means the customer has one platform and one user experience and can choose the model that fits their business."

Resellers offering a consultative approach and an integrated hybrid solution can add value. The vendor, for their part, must be able to support them through a rich integration set of services and an agile engagement model that helps resellers stand out. "A channel will need to consider how a single vendor can develop multiple solutions that deliver value to the customer, and also consider the vendor's commitment to research and development across all areas of their portfolio," said Pattie.

"The other option is to look for a vendor that can focus on providing a rich, seamless integration to third party solutions, delivering a best of breed solution and a great customer experience. When you combine that flexibility with a suite of professional services that can be tailored to meet a customer's specific needs, the channel and end user can be confident they have a solution that gives them what they need today, and has the agility to change and meet the needs of tomorrow."

When it comes to UC&C, noted Charles Aylwin (pictured left), Channel Sales Director for 8x8 Solutions, end users are best served by a single vendor with expertise in creating a safe and seamless communications ecosystem. "Separate third party applications can bring the added complications of additional passwords, subscriptions, updates and re-works to keep operational after each separate vendor's upgrades," he stated. "Keeping on top of all this can take time, and crucially for businesses, cost more. They may find a single vendor works better for them as long as all the features they're looking for are available."

Customers might see hybrid as important for their UC solution because they want a variety of features across cloud and on-premise, or they need to retain some legacy on-premise systems for operational or cost reasons. "While it is true that hybrid solutions are sometimes seen as a relatively painless midway point between a true UC solution and a customer's investment in previous generation technology, often the result is a compromise which can't deliver the real world competitive advantages of a properly scoped and planned move to a full cloud solution," added Aylwin.

Creating fully featured UC platforms that integrate with a variety of applications will be the future for UC, believes Aylwin. Customers will no longer choose product A or B, but instead choose the features they need and won't have to pay for what they don't use.

It's also useful to think of hybrid in terms of the mode of consumption - opex cloud-based services working in conjunction with on-premise systems - the simplest example being the use of secure cloud backup for on site servers or hosted telephony working with local CRM integration, pointed out Stephen Ashley-Brian, Converged Product Manager, Gamma. He expects to see the simplification of integrated hybrid services to the point that they become productised. "Customers may well benefit from such integrated solutions, but only when they can be consumed in a manner that makes them comparable with many of the services now regularly used via the cloud," commented Ashley-Brian.

He advocates a frank comparison between the complexity, cost and ongoing support required between these two approaches, and observes that resellers can vary tremendously in terms of their ability and appetite for new services. "A sanity check on their own support model should heavily influence the final decision," he said. "Simply put, single vendor is great if you want to sell the most common user cases; but go hybrid if you have the need, customer appetite and ability to do more."

MeetingZone has the ability to deploy Skype for Business Enterprise Voice in a hybrid offering, mixing cloud and on-premise to deliver a single solution. "A hybrid solution offers the customer a balance of having on-site control while gaining the advantage of low capital investment for the cloud-based element of the solution," explained Scott Somenthal (pictured left), Channel Manager for MeetingZone's Skype For Business team. "To be successful when taking hybrid technologies to market, many resellers will need to either re-invest in new technologies or find a good partner that specialises in the complementary technology they want to drive to market."

MeetingZone works closely with a number of partners without the ability to deliver Skype for Business Enterprise Voice as a cloud or hybrid solution. "Technology is fast evolving and customers are demanding seamless end-to-end collaborative UC&C solutions," added Somenthal. "The starting point is to understand the customer's needs and then work out the best solution to meet their requirements. If it can be done with a single vendor that's great. However, as complexity increases the reseller will need to invest or work with another partner with the ability to deploy the solution."

MeetingZone goes into each customer opportunity with an open mind to understand their environment. "We would not force a hosted or Skype for Business Enterprise Voice solution on someone that wishes to keep their PBX," added Somenthal. "However, they may wish to integrate the technologies to take advantage of IM, presence, audio and video conferencing. Therefore, resellers need to have an ability to deliver a number of technologies due to the diverse nature of UC&C."

From a reseller's perspective, according to Paul Burn, Head of Category Sales at Nimans, a single vendor solution is preferable, up to a point. "In an ideal world this is the best fit, but it's probably unlikely everything the customer wants will be there, depending how deep you go into their business," he said. "At that point the hybrid model has to be adopted. Resellers must be realistic and they may need more options in their kit bags."

Berry Telecom's success challenges the widespread ideology that 'business is business', according to co-founder Simon Langford who stands by his conviction that 'business is people'.

In many ways Berry Telecom is a reflection of the people who have most influenced Langford. His parents instilled the core values that he abides by day-to-day - honesty, friendliness and a positive instinct to always look for the best in people. In business life, Langford's role model remains the late Phillip Edmonds, former Managing Director of Pro-Voice. "He taught me that a company is nothing without its people," explained Langford. "Phillip always made sure that everyone was looked after, valued and appreciated. These values underpin Berry Telecom's beliefs and practices."

This ethos extends to customers who are also front and centre at all times. "We have a rapidly expanding customer base so our focus has shifted slightly from a sales environment to a service one," explained Langford. "We have put in place the support structure and internal processes to ensure customers, throughout their Berry experience, receive the same high level of service."

Finding good staff to provide this support is a challenge. "We've broadened our recruitment methods by using social media and new media channels," said Langford. "To promote staff progression and retention we have also implemented clear promotional paths and developed a motivational working environment with effective incentive schemes. We also ensure that knowledge is disseminated throughout the organisation and we empower staff to act. Our smooth processes and monitored workflows mean that everything we do keeps the customer in mind and informed along the way. I get great satisfaction knowing that we're providing a rewarding and dynamic environment for our staff."

Langford started out as a trainee telecoms engineer for Pure Telecom. He gained an appreciation of the needs of customers, their expectations and concerns when updating their telephony systems. Fast forward to 2011 when he worked alongside fellow Berry co-founder Paul Hallam at a previous comms company, and Berry's seed was sown during conversations about how they would do things differently. "I was the joint Sales Director and Paul was Technical Director, so between us we almost had it all covered," said Langford. "We needed someone to help with the numbers so we spoke to a friend, Jo-Anne Udy, who was working in finance for B&Q and later joined us as Finance Director."

The conversations became more serious and after some fundraising from family and friends they quit their jobs on the same day. "We were asked to leave the premises immediately and our company cars were taken away," noted Langford. "I remember calling my friend Chris to come and pick us up from a local pub. It was liberating, a real Jeremy McGuire moment, but scary.

"After recruiting one of the industry's best telemarketers we started making outbound sales calls from Paul's kitchen, sharing a laptop and a couple of mobile phones. Since then we haven't looked back. I have a copy of the first Berry sales invoice in a frame in my bathroom at home. We hired more staff, rented an old barn as our head office and began to expand."

In the space of four years Berry Telecom now employs over 40 people, has relocated to bigger premises three times and is turning over almost £5 million a year. The company was named by Samsung as the vendor's fastest growing UK reseller and was then awarded the Comms Dealer Sales Team of the Year 2015.

"Refining our internal processes as we expanded was a big challenge," added Langford. "Things started to grow organically, but there comes a time when you get to a certain size and have to work more efficiently. We're currently rolling out a series of work streams to ensure every department is heading in the same direction. We're also implementing initiatives to ensure customer satisfaction can be measured."

Berry Telecom has several key partners, chiefly Samsung. "Our relationship is truly two-way," explained Langford. "Samsung supplies us with the latest technology and we function as a sounding board for new releases and product developments. Our Technical Director, Paul Hallam, was recently invited to meet the Board from Korea to discuss upcoming software developments."

Other talking points of interest include the speedy uptake of SIP and VoIP and the death of ISDN. "There will be a shift in expertise from one technology to the other and Berry needs to handle and manage this transition," commented Langford. "We're assessing how much focus should go onto this now. It's a balance between jumping the gun too early or getting left behind. But it's important to fully understand different industries and their unique needs so we can tailor our products appropriately and target customers."

Sales will always be important, but retention and adding value to customers is also fast becoming a priority. "We don't treat customers like a number," added Langford. "Each and every one is important to us and many become personal friends. We believe in working together and helping each other in any way possible. Our industry must not lack the customer engagement typically seen in utilities. We need to get consumers excited about telecoms and the benefits on offer."

To say that Langford is a 'people person' would be to greatly understate the value he places on staff and customers and their well-being. "We're a friendly and happy team," he commented. "We have a strong sales and customer-focused culture which is backed up by a fun, vibrant and youthful working environment. Two years ago we took the whole crew to Ibiza. Later this year we're heading off to Marbella - if we meet our targets."•

By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity and Partner Sales at O2 Telefónica UK: M2M is increasingly being adopted by smaller companies as it becomes more established and more affordable.

While M2M technology does bring with it numerous benefits - from enhanced reporting to remote management and monitoring, as well as boosting efficiency and convenience through automated processes - it is important to ensure that your business and your market are ready for this step.

Sufficient planning is a must and should include all parts of the business so that you can map out exactly where M2M will fit in strategically and operationally. It could impact more areas than you realise, from the control and monitoring of assets through to customer experience and ultimately brand perception. This will enable you to identify exactly how you want M2M to work for you. Part of this is also identifying who, within your organisation, will be responsible for managing the process.

Your selection of M2M supplier is crucial as there is a wide choice available, from off-the-shelf packages to more bespoke and supported solutions with designated account managers and help desks. Some M2M suppliers, such as O2, are hands-on and can help you navigate the IoT to your best advantage. With the right partner on board that fills in the gaps in your own team, you can utilise their expertise and experience to take care of project road mapping to maximise results.

Stepping into the world of M2M is a big decision and it could also be one of your best decisions. The key is not to rush. Do your research and planning and make sure that when you make the decision to move to M2M, your business will reap the optimum return. (anton.lesaux@telefonica.com - partnersdigital.telefonica.com)

By Andy Grant, Managing Director, Bowan Arrow: We all rely on mobile devices to access information while on the move or outside of the traditional office environment. We are consumed and connected, always wanting access to information that will help us navigate our way through work and help our business decision making.

With this in mind, is your website optimised for mobile devices?

The importance of a mobile-optimised website was underlined recently by an article in B2B Marketing Magazine stating that out of the world's total population of seven billion people, close to six billion own a mobile phone. Roughly 2.5 billion are using the Internet and about 1.8 billion are active on social networking platforms (approximately 66 per cent of the global Internet population).

In a recent Business Decision Makers Online study, 77 per cent of respondents said the web is the place to find out about new products and companies, more than twice as many as the next highest medium. That is not a statistic that your business can ignore. So how do you and your company achieve a consistent approach to social, digital and mobile?

Firstly, make your content easily accessible and relevant to your target market. Provide information that decision makers can use to form opinions while conducting their background research. According to Marketo, 57 per cent of B2B lead generation comes from SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), and 55 per cent of businesses have closed deals from social media leads.