Comms Dealer

PUBLIC and private enterprises in remote areas suffering from poor broadband connectivity may have a solution soon if a live trial of a new technology using existing copper wire infrastructure goes to plan.
NextGenAccess, which has built its own LLU network across the UK, is set to trial the latest mBond solution – mBond Flex Enterprise - from Genesis Technical Systems.

Kenny Roberts, Technical Director at NextGenAccess told Comms Dealer: "mBond solutions are allowing us to respond to our customers’ needs and demands using our existing infrastructure and we are looking forward to this exciting new range of mBond Flex products.\"

Genesis says the new generation of mBond products offers even more flexibility for a wide range of customers, from enterprises in business regeneration areas unable to receive fibre to the premise due to historical building restrictions, to remote utility providers such as wind farms.

Mark Stukins, Vice President Global Channel Sales, Genesis commented: "By supporting any Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) and ADSL2+ the mBond Flex solution range offers service providers a cost-effective copper enhancing technology that allows operators to increase their bandwidth over longer copper distances using their existing infrastructure.\"

The NextGenAccess trial will be the first live implementation of the new mBond Flex product range anywhere in the world.

Successful NextGenAccess trial sees pioneering copper enhancing technology mBond® enhance broadband speeds for customers with specific requirements

Former Dragon Den star Piers Linney, Co-CEO of cloud computing firm Outsourcery, has been chosen as one of eight new SME representatives to sit on techUK’s Public Services Board.

The Board brings together senior leaders from technology companies of all sizes, with digital transformation of the public sector central to its agenda. Through effective and early engagement with the government and strong leadership on critical policy issues related to public services transformation, the PSB seeks to drive improved efficiencies in the public sector through the adoption of new technologies.

Commenting on his election to the PSB, Linney stated: "Traditionally, uptake of new technologies among public sector bodies has been slow. Being part of techUK’s PSB provides an excellent opportunity to use Outsourcery’s knowledge and experience to help bring positive change, in terms of technology adoption, to the UK public sector. I am looking forward to helping drive techUK’s agenda forward, by promoting better use of technology as a way of improving public services.

"Since its introduction in 2012, the G-Cloud has been an important initiative in easing procurement of technology-based services for public sector bodies, alongside initiatives likes 'Cloud First’ and 'Digital by Default’. However, uptake of cloud technology on the whole is still relatively low, particularly in local government. Plainly, the industry should be doing more to promote the benefits of cloud but also to meaningfully address the perceived barriers to adoption in the public sector, to ensure swift, trouble-free uptake of new technologies. The PSB plays a central role to helping us achieve this,\" he continued.

Linney believes that SMEs such as Outsourcery are in a strong position to deliver technology solutions to the public sector, facilitating a more flexible and efficient approach.

"In the past, it was considered the norm for larger companies to implement several bureaucratic layers when arranging service contracts in the public sector,\" he added. "

"For SMEs like Outsourcery, this is neither straightforward nor desirable: instead, smaller companies can implement services quickly and effectively, which will encourage a more consistent approach to technology adoption in the public sector.\"

RESELLERS can now offer customers Skype for Business voice and collaboration features without the need to dramatically upgrade their current PBX system following the launch of Oak Telecom’s BusinessConnect solution.

Oak says BusinessConnect only requires a Standard Microsoft Client Access Licence (CAL) for users to be able to access Skype for Business, removing the need to upgrade to 'Enterprise’ and 'Plus’ CALs and thereby also the hefty license fee.

Oak Joint CEO James Emm (pictured) told Comms Dealer: "BusinessConnect is a perfectly positioned product. It enables the exciting features that businesses want from Skype – instant messaging, group chat, conferencing, presence, desktop sharing and whiteboarding, click-to-dial and so on – whilst allowing them to keep their current platform in place.

"For Oak, this gives us a foot in significant new doors, including Microsoft for Business and Broadsoft. It also strengthens our longstanding status as a ShoreTel Innovation partner,\" added Emm.

The launch of BusinessConnect is a significant move into hosted and cloud-based solutions for Oak, which is best known for its award-winning call management products. BusinessConnect is currently available for ShoreTel, Avaya Aura, ACE and IP Office (SIP mode only), and Broadsoft,. According to Oak discussions are underway to add to this portfolio.

True Telecom now supports Apple Pay on all of its payment terminal devices. The payment solution, launched in the UK on the 14th of July, is set to revolutionise the way consumers and business owners interact in-store, by eliminating the need to hand over cash or an actual bank card.

Processed through a customer’s Apple Watch or IPhone 6, Apple Pay can now be accepted across all True Telecom terminal devices where contactless has been enabled.

Stuart Griffiths, CEO of True Telecom commented: "We are excited to be able to offer SME’s up and down the country the ability to accept Apple Pay on their True payment terminal. We welcome this new technology in business. In the grand scheme of things this could mean that SME’s get more customers through their door, more sales and ultimately more profits.\"

Headset and UC solutions provider Sennheiser Communications has appointed Terri McLean as Corporate Sales Manager for the South West.

McLean is charged with developing Sennheiser’s presence in the region and will take control of demand generation, account management and business development and is well placed to network effectively with Sennheiser’s range of resellers and distributors. Her experience in the mobile communications market includes 13 years in mobile and fixed telecommunications with O2, T-Mobile and Cable & Wireless.

McLean commented: "It's very exciting to have the opportunity to help promote a company that has such a strong reputation and portfolio of quality products in this market. I’m very much looking forward to getting involved with customers and to forging strong relationships to help improve our strategic success in this region.\"

McLean lives in Northamptonshire with her husband and is currently training to cycle from Vietnam to Cambodia to raise money for a local hospice and breast cancer care.

By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity and Partner Sales at O2 Telefónica UK: The Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M are changing the way we live, work, shop and consume. They're making connections between business processes, people, data and technology.

Products and services are beginning to be powered by the data they collect. 'Things' will have a kind of intelligence - responding to our needs, servicing themselves and sharing information with other technologies. Businesses, of course, will also be able to harvest huge volumes of data from the machines and about our interactions with them.

Although M2M comes with security challenges the world's already adapting. Privacy-enhancing technology is being improved to protect sensitive data. Governments are updating regulations to protect personal information. And other members of the 'ecosystem' are taking action to keep us protected in this world of big data. New solutions will control bigger and more critical applications like home security systems.

The IoT is beginning to take shape around us, and there are various ways in which businesses can benefit from the IoT. It will help companies create new value streams and processes that accelerate time to market and enable a rapid response to customer needs. Organisations can capture more data about their processes and products to improve operational efficiency and increase customer loyalty.

What's more, the IoT will make it easier for organisations to see the business from one end of the supply chain to the other. Lastly, access to information from autonomous 'things' will enable organisations to make on-the-fly decisions on pricing, logistics, sales and support. It's becoming a question of when, not if, businesses will join the revolution.
(anton.lesaux@telefonica.com - partnersdigital.telefonica.com)

By Elvire Gosnold, Director, Blabbermouth Marketing: Dirty databases are on the up! New research shows that an increasing number of consumers are intentionally giving false information to mess up databases.

The main reasons are that they have concerns about their privacy and are getting fed up with adverts everywhere they look.

The stats are an interesting read and some motivations for dirtying the data are rather entertaining (source: Verve). The top reason is to protect privacy but here are some of the others: ‘To track how companies are using my information, ‘To prevent online advertising', and ‘Because I like messing up company databases'. While these are primarily focused on consumer marketing it is worth keeping in mind when you carry out your own call-arounds to verify data. Whether cleaning up a purchased database or investing time in building your own, remember that one third of people admit to giving fake email addresses.

Companies need to focus more on educating or at least persuading individuals to part with their details and that of their colleagues. Why should the receptionist confirm that the IT director still works there and that their email address is still correct? What benefit will they receive from helping you validate and collect data for your own gain? Brand recognition and an understanding of your company's USPs will help with this conversation.

Clear messaging on how your company can help theirs is a starting point for building trust. Sharing information in the form of blogs and white papers further reinforces that your company is knowledgeable and that information sharing is a two-way street.

In the channel's leadership race, Tim Radford, Chief Executive Officer at Timico, could be the one to beat.

With an impressive and punchy track record under his belt Radford was fast out of the traps to set up Timico in 2004 alongside a small but ambitious team, some of whom he'd worked with previously at Project Telecom, a company Radford set up in 1987. Project Telecom shone brightly as a classic service provider reselling mobile services from the major networks but with an added personal touch to the way customers were looked after. "It was an incredible time to be in the mobile industry and our hard work culminated with the business floating in 2000, expanding into fixed line services, achieving revenues of £330 million and ultimately being sold to Vodafone in 2003," commented Radford.

The experience greatly advantaged Radford but despite the £155 million Vodafone deal he wanted Timico to be different. His strategy from the outset was to up his game further and become a leading provider of next generation Internet and comms services to businesses. "We developed and branded our own range of offerings, making life easier for customers by fully integrating fixed, mobile and Internet services and supplying the whole package as a one-stop-shop," added Radford, whose interest in comms was sparked by an encounter with an early System 4 mobile phone, a moment of truth that inspired the formation of Project Telecom. This was one of a number of 'Projects' Radford was considering as a next step having sold his first business, a hospitality and event management company in the late 80s.

Radford's dynamic backstory is a great asset and Timico's growth shifted up a gear soon after the launch of its converged channel proposition in 2006. Since then, the move towards next generation networks and greater mobility has catalysed runaway growth in data consumption and cloud adoption. "These trends continue to shape our strategic direction and our expansion aspirations," added Radford.

With his foot on the accelerator Timico burst into the Sunday Times Tech Track for four consecutive years up to 2011. The company's growth has, and will, continue to be achieved organically and by strategic acquisition, emphasised Radford. "We've made nine acquisitions in our 11 year history, the most recent being Wirebird, the IT support and managed service provider, and the telecoms interests of Coms," he explained.

The fast growing company is still privately owned, has a 350-strong team and is based in Newark with five other offices across the UK including its channel business, Timico Partners, operating out of Fareham on the south coast. The group turned over £42 million in 2014 with expectations of circa £60 million by the end of 2015.

"We've pursued a twin track growth strategy that focuses on steady organic growth complemented by strategic bolt-on acquisitions," said Radford. "I'm expecting our strategy to push us to £100 million in revenue for 2018."

Hand-in-hand with the financial gains of an acquisition comes the sometimes painful integration of various systems into the business. With an ethos of great customer service at the forefront of how Timico operates, the incorporation of those systems and business processes to ensure fast and effective service is essential. "Senior staff and a project team have been working on this for the past six months and we're committed to investing in the best solutions we can develop," said Radford.

In terms of operational structure, in 2013 Timico divided the company into four distinct centres of excellence - managed networks and connectivity, cloud and hosting, unified communications and mobile solutions - to focus its expertise and deepen relationships with technology partners. "Our range of services enables us to work with companies of all sizes, from start-ups to FTSE 250 enterprises," noted Radford. "We service more than 15,000 UK business customers including their international requirements in more than 20 countries."

Last year Timico significantly bolstered its channel business and re-branded NewNet to Timico Partners with a new, distinct brand, a bigger team and additional investment in its PartnerEye portal, all with the aim of attracting new partners. "The channel is a fundamental part of our growth plan and we're aiming to get to 150 partners on the PartnerEye by the end of 2015," said Radford. "The Coms telecom acquisition increased our partner base and gave us a new audience through which we can provide our products and services and who will also be key to the launch of our new hosted voice product, Synergy, in September. The feedback we've received during the consultation period with our partners suggests it will be a great alternative to the BroadSoft platform."

Synergy will be delivered through Genband and via Timico's Solution Builder tool which has been designed with back-end intelligence and automation to ensure partners get the order right first time. "Couple this with our aggressive pricing and a dedicated training facility to ensure partners are confident with selling Synergy and we have a great opportunity to win a sizeable share of the hosted voice market," stated Radford.

He wants Timico to be a leader in the provision of self-service through its portal, helping partners to be masters of their own destiny by managing their business from any device, at any time and from anywhere. "The development of our PartnerEye portal has been a vital part of the strategic plan for some time, and it's clear that with the new release at the end of August we're going to be ahead of the game."

Last year Timico shelved plans to list on AIM with an initial market capitalisation of about £55 million, hoping to raise circa £15 million to fund growth and increase the size of the business. But Timico remains a privately owned company with 100-plus shareholders. "The original intention with the

IPO was to fund growth by acquiring new business and double the size of the company over the next few years," explained Radford.

"The market conditions weren't favourable last year and we have a duty to our existing shareholders to ensure that the success of our IPO isn't eroded by recent IPOs performing less well than expected. Hence we made the decision to postpone our process. We decided that the shareholders would fund this growth themselves for the time being but we will be keeping an open mind on whether we use an IPO in the future."

Radford's current priorities are based on the enlargement of Timico through the on-boarding of new high growth partners and servicing them impeccably. "We are doing this in a number of ways, including the introduction of innovative new products to market, automating the self-service of those products through the PartnerEye, challenging the market with competitive pricing and providing a training programme to ensure effective sales," noted Radford.

"It takes considerable time, resource and investment to implement new products in the PartnerEye, but we know it's our differentiator. We're committed to making it easy to do business with us and that's why we're prepared to devote so much of our attention to making the PartnerEye as slick and intuitive as we can."

Potential new portal developments could involve the evolution of Timico's channel mobile proposition, M2M and IoT. "Getting services like this to work with our PartnerEye portal is important, enabling access to whatever we develop so that partners can manage everything from one place," commented Radford.

"These areas need careful thought and discussion and they already form part of our product development roadmap. Personally, I like to keep abreast of exciting new technologies and embrace conversations around them to see what we could do and where they would fit into our portfolio."

All of this neatly dovetails with Radford's passion for 'good, old-fashioned service'. "The key to good service is building personal relationships with our partners and customers," he said. "We want to be seen as a true partner that can add strategic value to a customer's business rather than just a run-of-the-mill faceless supplier. It's all about having the drive and determination to deliver on our promises, no matter what. I'm lucky to be surrounded by a talented, experienced bunch of people but it hasn't happened by accident. Having fire in one's belly is a pre-requisite to joining Team Timico."

As a mix of rugby and soccer, Gaelic Football is a fast, rough and exciting sport and Joe Murray, the new Channel Director at essensys, is as passionate about the game now as he was when he ran out at Dublin's famous Croke Park to take part in the All Ireland minor championships in front of 20,000-plus raucous fans.

Murray well remembers the adrenaline rush of that memorable day, but prefers to forget the result. "It was the semi-final and we lost - nothing worse - and it just proves that you should never take anything for granted," he said. "But I'm proud of what I achieved in the game, and playing in that team gave me an enormous sense of pride and a real understanding of teamwork and leadership."

His high level Gaelic football experiences gave Murray the mind-set to develop a successful career in IT and telecoms and he's not in the least fazed by the challenge of building a reseller channel for London-based essensys because he has the pedigree and passion, plus what he believes is a rock solid proposition to take to market.

Murray's life in IT/telecoms started when he gained a sponsorship from BT for university. Since then he worked in corporate sales at BT Global for seven years and sold undersea cable systems for Hong Kong Telecom and Telstra before becoming a founding member of Viatel's channel division where he signed and grew Vodafone as its largest reseller before taking management positions as the business grew through the MDNX, Griffin and Easynet acquisitions.

"Extensively, I have been in channel for over 10 years," he said. "Before joining essensys, my team were responsible for growing a channel consisting of over 1,000 resellers with revenues in excess of £50 million. They are all exciting businesses at different stages of development and that's what makes it a fabulous industry to work in."

Murray has known essensys CEO Mark Furness for 10 years and has '100 per cent' bought into his cloud evolution vision and giving resellers the capability to self-serve their services on a fully automated software platform. "Mark's knowledge and confidence in the channel has enabled me to push wholeheartedly into getting the proposition perfected for resellers," added Murray. "Fifty per cent of essensys staff are software engineers. Based on requests from our customers, essensys rolls out updated functionality of our software platform almost on a weekly basis.

"My previous position granted me a broad view of the market. The key aspect was joining a company that was going places and knowing I can have a real impact on the future performance. essensys works in an intelligent way, from both technology and customer focus perspectives."

Recent Gartner Cool Vendor and Tech Track 100 accolades have rubber stamped essensys' reputation and now Murray is aiming to scale up the company's outreach by taking its managed services proposition to new markets via channel partners keen to step up their game. "The deciding factor in working with Mark at this stage was perfect timing," commented Murray. "essensys has performed brilliantly over the past decade in building its proposition and is primed for the channel.
"We have now opened in the US which demonstrates how our core business is fast growing and expanding. I will also continue to drive innovation in essensys by recognising what business problems can be resolved using technologies within our control.

"The channel knows that the market is evolving. Likewise the players who will be successful in the market will evolve. essensys offers a wide ecosystem of services that is truly cloud-based, meaning that end users or resellers can self-serve their requirements on an automated platform. Resellers need to decide if their traditional suppliers are the suppliers that will ensure they can defend and grow their revenues in the next three years."

So what's the big opportunity for channel partners working alongside essensys? Murray firmly sees the mid-market as a prime goal for partners to aim at. "Medium-sized enterprises are acknowledged as being under-served," he explained. "The large service providers focus on the FTSE 250 while many resellers service the lower end of SME. Cloud technologies now allow resellers to scale in a manner not previously possible. essensys has a history of delivering to sites with hundreds of seats and we are now offering channel partners the opportunity to grow expansively using our innovation."

Murray is seeking dialogue with ambitious resellers who can change their sales mentality, understand that IT and telecoms are merging and that customers want one supplier to 'do it all'. "The sales role has changed. Customers often know what they want; they want it all and they want it now. Empowering the end user is the valued service and self-serve platforms are the enabler. Owning hardware means managing the decline of a physical asset. Resellers should now sell profitable services from the cloud. "

"We're also looking for resellers who think big. Software is most powerful when services are required across large customer estates. You do not have to target customers that have an average of 12 seats. This new way of working allows scale that was not possible previously. We have small resellers working on opportunities up to 700 seats."

Murray believes the channel should recognise that they own the digital infrastructure that enables the Internet of Things, or more specifically, the SMART Office. He added: "Why stop at telco and IT? essensys is investigating expanding our capability of delivering the digital office beyond our current core focus. Watch this space!"

Resellers would be doing themselves a big favour by working more closely with their market-making distribution partners, according to John Bird, Head of Systems and Support Services, Exertis VAD Solutions. Here, he puts forward a strong case for 'open book' relationships.

Even those comms resellers steeped most in tradition can succeed as modern day solution providers, believes Bird, but only if they ditch their transactional dealings with distributors and forge stronger links rather than persist with the antiquated status quo of a supplier-only arrangement. Encouraging this jump towards closer working partnerships is top of Bird's channel agenda, and Exertis' impressive credentials as a full blown service and support partner lend considerable weight to his argument. "If I could change anything in the industry it would be for the reseller channel to see distributors as colleagues or partners rather than suppliers," commented Bird.

Exertis is a wholly owned subsidiary of parent organisation DCC, Ireland's fourth largest company. In the UK it operates from six logistics centres but all this will change following the completion of a project to consolidate into a single purpose built National Distribution Centre. The new facility expands to over 650,000 square feet and accommodates 65,000 pallets, a 50 per cent increase on current capacity. Nor is that all: A company-wide project to update and improve the internal IT and CRM systems represents a total investment of approximately £60 million.

You would be a brave person to bet against the success of these developments. They build on years of experience and expansion - and getting things right has become a trademark that is reflected in the company's enviable growth history, a journey that began over 34 years ago. In its most recent financial results Exertis posted £2.35 billion revenues with operating profits of circa £50 million. Just ten years ago revenues stood at £500 million, but organic growth and acquisitions multiplied the numbers.

Today, Exertis employs almost 2,000 staff across 11 countries. Recent acquisitions include CapTech, the third largest distributor in Sweden, and Computers Unlimited, a connected home consumer electronics distributor based in the UK, France and Spain. Alongside these investments Exertis has been busy modifying internal structures to better meet the requirements of resellers. Much of this activity was prompted by the astute acquisition of Cohort Technology in October 2013.

Six months later Exertis introduced two B2B divisions called Volume (headed by Director Phil Brown) and VAD (led by Cohort Technology Managing Director Grahame Smee). The VAD structure is based on four areas - Network Security, Specialist Software, Unified Communications and Professional Services. Specialisation of the VAD business enables resellers to succeed and catalysed greater gains in key growth markets.

"Exertis VAD handholds resellers though the complex sales cycle," explained Bird. "The services include demonstration assistance, proof of concept, site surveys, installation and maintenance support, all underpinned by an in-house 24x7x365 technical support and network operations centre. We add real value by technically and commercially supporting our reseller channel."

In a separate but integral restructure Exertis aligned its hosted VoIP unit with the VAD Division, bringing on-premise and hosted UC solutions under one management team. The move is a response to hosted VoIP's similarity to on-premise voice - the only difference being an off or on-site server. "The expertise in our VAD team allows us to expand our hosted VoIP proposition with other cloud-based services, such as hosted PBX or hybrid-based solutions," added Bird. "Our ultimate goal is to provide an unbiased, consultative approach to all UC system enquiries. One size does not fit all: The best solution may be on-premise, cloud or a hybrid of both. Our pre-sales and proof of concept services team can recommend the most suitable solution."

More broadly, Bird has witnessed significant revenue growth across UC systems. He attributes this uptick, in part, to the acquisition of Cohort Technology that, at a stroke, added ShoreTel, Oak, ipcortex, snom and Gigaset Pro to the UC range. The core SMB portfolio has also seen significant year-on-year growth, with Samsung revenues up 20-plus per cent and NEC up 40-plus per cent. In recognition of this achievement Exertis collected the NEC Fastest Growing Distributor in EMEA award in June. As for the Devices division, new vendors have been on-boarded such as AudioCodes and Logitech, while long-term key vendors Plantronics, Yealink and Panasonic have all grown.

"Distribution is no longer a box shifting business," noted Bird. "It's essential for a distributor to offer a comprehensive portfolio of value added services that a reseller can tap into. We help resellers move into new markets and new technologies by leveraging our expertise. We also educate resellers to deliver these solutions themselves and increase order values by deploying desktop applications, CRM integration, call management, call recording and mobile integration. Applications such as these result in a clear RoI for the end user and help our resellers stand out from the competition."

Not for nothing did Exertis collect the Comms Dealer Sales Awards Distributor Channel Account Team of the Year accolade two years running in May. The reseller support offered by Exertis has also spurred uptake of desktop CTI applications and jolted a rise in mobile phone attachment rates. With BYOD, the VAD team manages mobile security and helps resellers to deliver BYOD solutions. "To succeed the infrastructure needs to be capable of supporting a BYOD strategy," added Bird. "The core essentials - networking, security, firewall protection etc - all have to be taken into account. Exertis covers these bases, and more, to make it easy for our channel to adopt and deploy BYOD."

Acquisitions of importance, inter-company structural modifications, fully rounded reseller support propositions and big investments in logistics all converge on Exertis' policy of putting resellers first in a fast evolving market. "Technology has advanced significantly over the last 10 years but many resellers have not adapted to this change," added Bird. "They should work more 'open book' with distribution and not be afraid to use a distributor to help them grow their business."