Comms Dealer

The restructure of Microsoft's phone hardware business sees the reduction of up to 7,800 positions, primarily in the phone business.

As a result, the company will record an impairment charge of approximately $7.6 billion related to assets associated with the acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services (NDS) business in addition to a restructuring charge of approximately $750 million to $850 million.

The announcement follows recent moves by Microsoft to better align with company priorities, including recent changes to Microsoft's engineering teams and leadership, plans to transfer the company's imagery acquisition operations to Uber, and shifts in Microsoft's display advertising business that enable the company to further invest in search as its core advertising technology and service.

The plans were outlined in an email from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to Microsoft employees.

"We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family," Nadella said. "In the near-term, we'll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility."

Microsoft will record a charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 for the impairment of assets and goodwill in its Phone Hardware segment, related to the NDS business.

This charge has no impact on cash flow from operations and is nondeductible for income tax purposes.

Based on the new plans, the future prospects for the Phone Hardware segment are below original expectations. Accordingly, the company concluded that an impairment adjustment of its Phone Hardware segment assets and goodwill of approximately $7.6 billion is required.

Over 20 of Union Street's partners enjoyed a sensational evening of high quality cricket at the Kia Oval last month. In a 20-20 thriller Surrey needed six off the last ball to beat visitors Gloucestershire and Ashar Mahmood duly delivered smashing the ball over square leg.

"It was any amazing evening which I am sure all our partners enjoyed," said Union Street Sales Director Vincent Disneur.

"The hospitality in our box was top class and it was  a sensational ending.

"Needless to say our guests from Stroud based Connexus were gutted as they thought Gloucestershire had it in the bag!"

Disaster recovery specialist Databarracks has introduced a new pricing model for the UK channel.

The simplified model is designed to make procurement of disaster recovery easier for the channel and end users.
 
Peter Groucutt, MD at Databarracks, said: "When evaluating suppliers and buying a DR service there are a number of different factors that need to be considered.

"Understanding how the service is priced shouldn't be an arduous task but a lot of pricing models can make it overly complicated. We have been guilty of it ourselves.
 
"Traditionally, our pricing for Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) was specific but not necessarily easy to understand.

"For an accurate quote, customers would need to do an inventory of their servers, storage and compute in order to get an accurate quote.

"This presented a few problems. Firstly, it was time-consuming for the customer and secondly, there was a risk of costing based on inaccurate data, leading to a higher monthly cost than expected.
 
"We've completely streamlined our DRaaS pricing model. Costs are fixed on a per-server and per-terabyte basis.

"It's transparent and it aids conversations for buyers internally because there are no hidden costs - what you see is what you get, so it's much easier to get buy-in from other key stakeholders.
 
"Partners can now produce accurate quotes on their own and do it within minutes with just a small amount of information from the customer.

"A big part of selling cloud services and maintaining your relationship with your customers is about building trust. By providing a pricing model that works and is honest, you create a relationship built on trust, which will last."

Rick Wallis has been appointed Jabra's Channel Sales Director UK&I just seven months after joining the company as Business Development Manager - SI Channel.

He was previously Head of Sales for the VAR, SI and Mobile Specialist Reseller channels at Brother and UK Sales Director for NEC IT Platform Solutions.

In another promotion, Lee Davis takes the role of Head of Telco UK&I with a remit to grow the Telco partner base. And also in the frame is Natasha Munro who joins as Scotland Account Manager from Misco.

Nigel Dunn, MD, Jabra UK & Ireland, commented: "Both Rick and Lee have contributed significantly to the development of our SI and Telco partner bases and promoting them into strategic roles will further strengthen our existing relationships while developing new ones.

"The appointment of Natasha into the High Touch role in Scotland also provides Jabra and our channel partners with growth opportunities in this region."

Entanet has questioned whether the timer should be put on Britain's Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) system, following reports that BT has asked Ofcom to lift the obligation that it continues to place on the company to provide a traditional copper-based phone network, as well as running a digital system.

BT is asking for a 'sunset clause' that will effectively allow BT to press on with its plans to switch all users to IP-based voice over the next decade, while allowing the older analogue network to be gradually shut down and the focus shifted to supporting a single network infrastructure.

BT has also implied that this would enable further investment into the advancement of broadband and connectivity services.

But Entanet, while acknowledging the merits of the argument, also sees major hurdles.

Paul Heritage-Redpath, the company's Product Manager, commented: "While we understand BT's intentions to move to a newer technology and applaud its plans for investment into future-proof networks and infrastructure, we're not convinced that it will be plausible to fully remove the existing PSTN infrastructure within the next ten years."

"Potential problems include the fact that there may still be a number of areas in which broadband connectivity will remain quite poor, even a decade from now, and complications with emergency services.

"In addition, such a move would almost certainly prompt a backlash from customers who will resent being forced to have (and pay for) an Internet connection simply to make and receive voice calls."

Ocean Telecom has achieved Select Certification from Cisco.

To earn the Certification Ocean Telecom fulfilled the training and exam requirements for the Cisco Small Business Specialisation.

Ocean Telecom also met the personnel, training and post-sales support requirements set forth by Cisco.

"We are pleased to have achieved this accreditation which demonstrates to customers that we understand the technology and have the ability to deliver complete solutions to meet their specific business needs," commented Andrea Gibson, Product Manager - Networking Solutions at Ocean Telecom.

"It consolidates our reputation as a provider of voice, data and video solutions that deliver real and sustained value to corporate customers."

Using a third-party audit process, the programme validates a partner's technology skills, business practices, customer satisfaction, presales and post-sales support capabilities, and other critical factors that customers consider when choosing a trusted partner.

Motorola's IT6.1T office/home DECT telephone is available from Nimans which has been named an official distributor for the product.

At less than 6mm wide it incorporates many features and can work seamlessly with mobile phones.

The cordless telephone has a built in answering machine, Bluetooth connectivity and a large colour display. Calls can be transferred and received from a mobile, the device is charged via USB and also sync phonebooks.

The IT6.1T can also block unwanted calls and boasts a crystal base, metal frame, laser etch backlit keypad and studio crafted ringtones.

Meetupcall is targeting £6m turnover within three years following a funding boost from investors who have acquired a 20% stake in the business.

The investors include Ryan McCarry, founder of Sleek Networks, the Internet infrastructure provider acquired by Adapt in 2013.

As a Director and will assist with Meetupcall's ambition to become a household name global conference call provider.

McCarry commented: "We have a great team and a disruptive proposition."

Also investing is David Parkes who has run his own accountancy firm for 32 years. He joins as Financial Director.

"As emerging companies grow, there is an increasing importance on senior management and ensuring the right investment is available," noted Parkes. "I look forward to the challenges we'll face in progressing the business on a sustainable path to success."

Meetupcall founder and CEO, Simon Moxon added: "With the wealth of experience brought by our new investors the best is yet to come.

"This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth through the creation of around 10 new jobs.

"As companies look to cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint, conference calls are increasingly used as an alternative to travelling to meetings.

"With the growth of diverse and remote workforces and a move away from traditional offices the conference call industry is now worth an estimated £5bn globally."

Pictured: Ryan McCarry (left) with Simon Moxon

A shift in the focus of IT investment points towards growth in service-led models, observes the latest GE Capital Capex Barometer. This trend is also reflected in the growing popularity of leasing, suggested the company.
 
After strong increases in capital expenditure on IT hardware and software in 2014, UK SMEs appear to be shifting their investment focus towards operational expenditure to boost productivity, finds the report.

It also predicts that spending by UK SMEs on IT hardware is set to halve from £10.1bn in 2014 to £5.3bn in 2015. Capex investment in IT software is also set to drop from £7.8bn in 2014 to £4bn this year.
 
Over a third (34%) of respondents say they are not investing in new hardware or software this year because they have recently upgraded, suggesting a natural cooling-off point in the investment cycle. 

However, GE Capital's research also points to a refocusing on people and operational efficiencies as businesses look to maximise their investments. 

UK SMEs are planning to create a record 737,000 jobs in 2015 while two in five of those investing in IT hardware and software are doing so to enhance efficiency and productivity (39% and 41% respectively). 
 
For many businesses, flexible financing solutions such as leasing are also proving attractive to SMEs looking to upgrade IT systems, relative to more traditional types of finance.

When investing in IT hardware, for example, 29% plan on using a specialist lender or leasing provider as their preferred method versus less than a quarter (22%) preferring a high street bank. 
 
Gabriele D'Uva (pictured), UK MD for Equipment Finance Business at GE Capital, said: "2015 could be a watershed year as investment preferences shift towards service-led IT models. 

"We are also seeing this trend in the way technology is financed. An increasing number of businesses are looking for more flexible ways to help them keep up with the latest technologies, with the emphasis on usage value rather than ownership. 

"This explains why leasing, which offers the flexibility to maximise the value of equipment over the life of a financing agreement, is growing in popularity."

Global PC shipments tumbled to 66.1 million in Q2, falling at a sharper Y/Y clip than Q1's 6.7% and about 1% faster than expected, according to IDC. Gartner is slightly less harsh, estimating shipments fell 9.5% to 68.4 million.

Factors blamed for the decline include: Inventory reductions ahead of the Windows 10 launch (set for July 29), a strong dollar (has led to higher overseas prices), and tough year/year comps caused by the 2014 boost in business PC sales caused by the end of Windows XP support.

With tablet sales under pressure as well, tablet cannibalisation is less of a factor than before, but rising smartphone/tablet usage still appears to be taking a toll on PC upgrade rates.

Gartner sees full-year shipments falling 4.4%. IDC still expects low-to-mid single-digit declines in 2H15, before volumes stabilise in future years. It sees the Windows 10 launch going 'relatively well', but cautions that Microsoft's decision to provide free upgrades to Windows 7/8 users will limit its impact on PC sales.

Continuing a recent trend, market leaders grabbed share from smaller rivals. IDC estimates that top player Lenovo's share rose to 20.3% from 19.4% a year ago, #2 HP's to 18.5% from 18.2%, and #3 Dell's to 14.5% from 14%. Acer and Asus are respectively given 6.6% and 6.5% shares.

Near-term expectations for PC sales are already quite low, following Intel's Q1 warning, AMD's Q2 warning, Micron's June 25 results/guidance, and plenty of other negative news.