Comms Dealer

IT Europa is to stage its ninth annual European Software & Solutions Summit on 14th April 2016 in London.

The event, which incorporates the European ISV Convention, will bring leading Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Solution Providers together with hardware, software and service organisations to explore and address the issues affecting the development of the IT Industry in Europe and to develop and strengthen partnerships aimed at supporting solution-based sales.

Over recent years ISVs and Solution Providers have been very much the driving force behind growth within the IT and Telecoms markets.

This seems set to continue this year with Gartner predicting European Enterprise Software sector growth of 7.6 % in constant-currency terms in 2015 - more than twice the 3.7% growth rate in European IT spending as a whole.
 
The European Software & Solutions Summit 2016 will build upon the success of its eight predecessors, which have been staged in Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Berlin, and attract leading ISVs and Solution Providers from all over Europe.

The summit will feature a high-level conference programme with leading industry speakers addressing the challenges and opportunities facing ISVs and Solution Providers in Europe.

Under the umbrella theme of 'Creating Solutions for the Digital Age', presentations will explore the new era of business and IT being heralded by digital technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) and examine the meaning and impact of terms such as Industry 4.0 and Enterprise IT 3.0. We will also look at the use of Big Data as a catalyst for change and the emergence and growing importance of customer experience management.
 
"Organisations across Europe are looking for solutions that will deliver real value and business benefits for their organisations. Increasingly, that means moving beyond looking for just more efficient ways of doing the same thing to finding smarter ways to capture and analyse data and integrating new cloud-based solutions with legacy applications," says Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa.

"The European Software & Solutions Summit 2016 provides a unique opportunity for Europe's Software and Solutions communities to come together to address the issues affecting the development applications.

"It also provides a framework within which major hardware and software vendors, as well as service providers and system integrators, can meet and engage with the directors and decision makers of Europe's most significant ISVs and Solution Providers to create new business opportunities."
 
The European Software & Solutions Summit 2016 will take place at the Lancaster London Hotel, London, on 14 April 2016. ISVs and Solution Providers wishing to attend the convention and vendors, distributors or service providers interested in sponsorship opportunities can find further information at www.eusss.com

IT services company CCE has partnered with TalkTalk Business and is eyeing the market for managed desktop services in the SME sector based on TalkTalk Business connectivity.

Initially TalkTalk Business and CCE will target SMEs keen to grow, but do not have in-house resources and budgets to build the right IT infrastructure to support their plans.

"In today's digital age it is critical for businesses to be available 24x7, because customers demand the same level of consistent service all the time," said Giles Thorpe, Managing Director, CCE.

"That's why it is important for CCE to partner with network and infrastructure partners to deliver the standard of connectivity our customers expect."

TalkTalk Business has installed its own equipment in more than 3,000 of the UK's local telephone exchanges, which cover 95% of UK businesses.

Alex Tempest, Director of Partners at TalkTalk Business, added: "We recognise that businesses - especially small and ambitious companies looking for growth, have the opportunity to thrive in the global marketplace thanks to the latest developments in superfast broadband and Ethernet.

"Combining our connectivity with CCE's enterprise IT know-how will enable customers to respond dynamically to fast-changing markets."

In addition to managed desktop services, CCE is also looking forward to taking up TalkTalk Business SIP trunking powered by tIPicall.

Swansea-based comms provider Siarad Network has completed a project to install all of the telecoms systems and connectivity at transportation company Frenni's base in Port Talbot.

An important aspect of the implementation was to ensure downtime and connection losses are minimised.

Garath Williams, MD of Siarad Network, said: "Using a local telecoms company can often be more beneficial for companies like Frenni, rather than a conglomerate with support services based overseas."

Nimans has marked the third birthday of its IP-based comms platform with a new two-day iQ PBX technical training course to be held at its Manchester HQ (October 20-21).

"Since its launch in 2012 the Asterisk-based platform has established itself as a firm favourite for resellers looking for a complete out-of-the-box solution at a highly competitive price point, backed by maximum flexibility," said iQ Business Manager Judith Addison.

The X600i gateway solution is supported by various products such as POE switches and iQ handsets, according to Addison who emphasised how multi-trunk call recording, call management, hotel software and an iQ softclient solution are some of the ways resellers can maximise revenues.

"The iQ X600i is a flagship feature rich product with many standout qualities - such as SIP trunk connectivity - without adding any licences," she said.

Avnet has named Sirma Ozkan as its new VP of Marketing for EMEA effective 1st October 2015.

Ozkan has worked in the IT distribution industry since 2008 in a number of roles including channel management, product management and marketing.

She joined Avnet in Turkey in April 2013 as Marketing Manager and currently holds the role of Sales and Marketing Director for Technology Solutions in Turkey.

Graeme Watt, President TS EMEA, said: "Sirma has made a significant contribution to the company's success and progress in Turkey and now has the opportunity to make the same impact at EMEA level."

Ozkan added: "Marketing is one of the key success factors contributing to business results. My focus, among other things, will be to look at the regional marketing strategy and identify key areas where we can collaborate further with Avnet sales teams, partners and suppliers."

Ozkan will relocate from Istanbul to Bracknell.

York-based IT distributor Varlink has added DataVan to its portfolio of EPoS vendors, introducing the Taiwanese manufacturer to the UK market.

Varlink will soon be distributing the DataVan Glamor and Bravo ranges of EPoS Terminal, aimed at resellers in both the retail and hospitality sectors.

Both terminals are resistant to dust and spills and the fanfree design of the Glamor series ensures low energy usage, reducing the total cost of ownership for the end user.

Varlink Managing Director Mike Pullon said: "We have worked hard to find an established manufacturer capable of providing us with reliable and well specified products backed by the commercial understanding and flexibility required to enable us to establish their brand in the UK."

Logicalis UK has appointed Ben Gale as UK Managing Director, reporting to Arnaud Spirlet, Head of Logicalis Europe.

Gale brings nearly two decades of experience in leading successful sales and growth plans in the technology industry.

He joins from Tensator Group where he was Chief Executive Officer.

Before that, he worked as Vice President of The Logic Group, having previously been Vice President of NCR Corporation where he defined the company's sales and growth strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Gale has also worked as National Sales Director for Reed Business Group and at Xerox where he was General Manager for the EMEA region.

CEO of Logicalis Group, Mark Rogers, commented: "Ben brings the industry knowledge and leadership skills required to navigate a changing UK market, where software, analytics and cloud are becoming ever more important to customers, and where Logicalis UK needs to have a strong market position."

Pulsant has appointed Chris Roberts as Channel Director, moving from from global solutions and service provider MTI.

He will oversee the growth and development of its partner programme.

Roberts brings more than 15 years sales experience to the role, with a range of expertise in selling both directly to the corporate marketplace, and collaboratively through the partner channel.

Prior to that, Roberts worked for iomart and Datapipe where he was tasked with building, promoting and delivering indirect programmes for the channel community, and his achievements included several key wins across multiple vertical segments.

At iomart Roberts helped deliver several million pounds of new annualised revenue for the company as well as assisting the iomart team to gain accreditation as an approved Dell managed services provider.

Excalibur has scored the winning goal to clinch a deal to provide Nottingham Forest FC with managed mobile phone services, supplying 60 lines to the Championship club.

Excalibur will manage mobiles for the club's players, management and staff.

Nottingham Forest FC's Head of IT Steve Dickman said: "We very much wanted to work with a provider who would take full responsibility and give us just one throat to choke. It is a big, time-saving benefit to us in the hectic and fast-changing world of football to work with a company where a consistent point of contact will respond very quickly and effectively to our needs.

"More than ever our players and management need enhanced levels of security for their phones, which Excalibur understood and sorted immediately. It was time to move away from gimmicks such as buy-backs and go for top quality instead."

James Phipps, Excalibur's CEO, added: "We are already a key supplier to two Premier League football clubs, as well as managing mobile, fixed-line and IT services to several leading names in cricket and ice hockey."

Barracuda has added CMS Distribution to its distribution line-up in the UK and Ireland

CMS Distribution is tasked with recruiting new reseller partners in the storage and security industries.

Originally founded in 1988, CMS Distribution works with over 3,000 resellers, employs over 215 staff, and has five offices spanning across the UK and Ireland.

Justin Griffiths, Group Director Software Solutions at CMS Distribution said: "Barracuda is a natural fit to our existing portfolio. Security is a space that CMS Distribution has not focused on previously, but it is an area that we will continue to invest in as we move forward towards our development goal.

"We believe this is an exciting time to position this technology to our customers, as the market is moving forward and embraces mobility, cloud and enhanced infrastructure."