Comms Dealer

When a teenager, not for nothing was Gamma's CEO Bob Falconer described as 'the wee hairy boy that goes steaming in'. Such characteristics have not been outgrown and their influence is strongly felt as the driving force behind Gamma's evolution as a listed company.

In October 2014 Gamma confirmed a successful IPO on AIM, with 50 per cent of shares being sold to institutions at 187p per share for a £165.2 million market capitalisation. An attractive dividend yield and strong organic growth formed a springboard for Gamma as a public company. And its successful transition from private to listed company, despite a difficult market, was recognised in May this year when it won Management Team of the Year at the Thames Valley Deals Awards. Investors don't just look at what businesses do, they look at the people who are driving the business forward - a factor that also came to the fore pre-flotation.

"On the 25th presentation of the business to City institutions my CFO Andrew Belshaw and I presented to a particularly young pair of investors," recalled Falconer. "As we came out I quipped, 'how did they manage to get out of school for the day?'. Andrew replied, 'funny you should say that, because as we were leaving I heard them ask how did that guy get out of the care home?'. Investors and management are two sides of the same coin - different, but complementary."

Perhaps one of the most encouraging aspects of the many discussions Falconer held with the investment community is that, providing you explain clearly what you are doing, they are not as short-term in their outlook as often portrayed. "They are highly intelligent people entrusted with pension funds and the like, and look for businesses with a track record, decent management and a clear strategy with competitive differentiation," stated Falconer.

The decision to float was straightforward, he pointed out. Although no new money was raised there were three primary reasons for the move: These were to give long-term liquidity to shareholders who've been with Gamma for over 12 years, to incentivise employees and also raise the public profile of the business. "For the CFO and me, this brought a marked change in the nature of our jobs," commented Falconer. "We have a new investment constituency to look after and that takes time and sensible handling. We also have a more formal board structure with clear governance frameworks. Although this took some getting used to, we found it to be constructive."

One of the downsides of public markets, noted Falconer, is not being able to be open about financial prospects both internally and externally, with a restriction on forward looking statements. "That's frustrating, but necessary," he added. "There was also a fear that we might lose our open, highly delegated culture where people are trusted to do the right thing. But that looks to be quite safe. We've no plans to become a faceless corporate."

The impact of Gamma's flotation on most staff has been negligible, aside from the introduction of a tax efficient company-wide share incentive scheme that has been well received. The company is just as popular with partners, working with them to identify the products that will move the dial in their markets, avoiding the niche, the consultative and the labour intensive. "That's not for us," stated Falconer, who aims to keep things simple and work with the channel to gain volume in high growth new, or displacement markets. "Essentially, we bring services from the core of our network that can be wrapped up with, and enhance, the partner's proposition. And we need to be quick at deploying such products into the channel with a high level of quality."

Gamma is focusing on bringing more integrated fixed, mobile and data services to the market and late last month launched its Converged Private Network service (MPLS-based). "We plan to help our channel partners expand by providing an easy-to-order capability for integrated comms, enabling the channel to focus on broadening its portfolio," added Falconer.

The trick is to take new or significantly differentiated products to the business market, particularly products that change the way a business operates, not just reduce its costs, believes Falconer. "It will be increasingly difficult for all but the very largest players to compete in the high volume commoditised service game where price is all," he said. "The days of 'it's BT (or Vodafone) minus 20 per cent' are largely behind us, and both growth and customer loyalty are difficult to achieve with that sort of model."

The channel is driving growth in Gamma which notched up 2014 revenues of £173 million and now has a headcount of circa 600-plus staff. "Last year we signed up 155 new partners and this year will beat that," noted Falconer. "Gamma has been targeting a number of areas - the IT partner market, Microsoft partners, Systems Integrators, and of course we receive a huge amount of new partners that come from within existing partners who may have sold out or are starting up their own businesses."

The biggest trend witnessed by Falconer is for businesses to buy all of their comms (and perhaps their IT) from a single trusted supplier. "This is well established in the consumer market with triple play and the rush to quad play including mobile and sports content," he said. "There aren't many resellers that still compete in the consumer market. The quad play argument is purportedly part of the reason for the BT purchase of EE, creating a huge monolith with much control over the UK infrastructure, and also some content.

"In response, many in the channel have done a paint job on their website and offer 'full comms and IT services'. However, providing a real value add ICT solution is much more difficult than just reselling the parts. Once services become more functionally integrated - think single directory, voicemail etc - buying in the bits and reselling them isn't going to cut the mustard."

Therefore, Gamma's focus is to take the burden of building and supporting integrated voice, data and mobile services off the backs of the channel, enabling each partner to focus on their own additional services and particular differentiation. "All of our thought goes into the product and support structure that enables Gamma and the channel to grow together," commented Falconer. "You will see more from us in that space."

Despite all he's achieved in his famous career, Falconer believes even more high points are yet to come. "I've certainly not finished yet! I'm proud of what we've built at Gamma, and it's been great to oversee a business that's grown based on its reputation, quality and sound ethical principles where 600 people tell us they are happy to work," he commented. "It's not rocket science, but it just works."•

By Elvire Gosnold, Director, Blabbermouth Marketing: Case studies are an area that I and the Blabber team are being asked to produce at an increasing rate. This growth area is great for the agency and a marketing activity I fully support as I believe it to be very helpful for the comms industry.

In particular, we are seeing an increasing number of our reseller client base wanting to focus on verticals. Case studies are a perfect way to demonstrate how they understand the requirements and indeed feel the pain of the comms challenges these specific industries experience.

In an industry that is driven by technology, and therefore sometimes difficult for key stake holders to understand or indeed get excited about, a case study can cover the areas that do pique their interest - most often money saved and client satisfaction. With fresh and relevant content being so important for SEO, case studies deliver the requirements for informative content on websites and encourage site traffic.

Traditional case studies are popular but we are also seeing an increase in video case studies. Again, adding in movement to your website improves your Google rankings. Video case studies further encourage the viewer to engage in the messaging as the visual story-telling is often easier to digest, and the addition of music and voice-overs also increase the chances of prospects wanting to know more.

As always though, it is important that you not only have great case studies but that you promote them. I find lots of people have thought hard about the content of their case study but give little thought about how they will push it out to their target audience. There is no point in having a great case study if no one knows it exists.

By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity and Partner Sales at O2 Telefonica UK: As more businesses start to discuss M2M technology, improved employee productivity and reduced operational expenses are moving up the agenda. But where's the truth in all this talk?

Every day, a new M2M technology has the potential to transform business. Although all industries stand to benefit from M2M, it's in global manufacturing, construction, engineering and agriculture that we're seeing the biggest changes today. Businesses can now track cargo and vehicles, and monitor and eliminate inefficiencies in processes, service programmes and technology.

As businesses automate reporting and get more intelligence, they gain insight into what needs doing and when it needs to be done. They can then deploy the right skills to the right place at the right time. So 'just in time' production becomes 'just in time' servicing, repair and control.

M2M technology can integrate and automate any number of physical assets in locations around the globe: Low cost cloud-based data storage, global roaming SIMs, the availability of guaranteed local pricing for data roaming agreements, web-based interfaces that allow precise control of data plans and SIM deployment - these all combine to create highly controllable and scalable opportunities for all businesses, no matter how big or small.

Intelligent devices can improve processes and resource management. And contrary to fears, with security apps and systems improving all the time, M2M can add another layer of safety and security to businesses, their people and their assets. Although still in its infancy, M2M is starting to revolutionise the way we work. At O2, we believe now is the time to invest.

(anton.lesaux@telefonica.com - partnersdigital.telefonica.com)

Managed services provider Claranet has enlarged its disaster recovery and Linux capabilities with the acquisitions of Techgate and LinuxIT. The acquisitions broaden Claranet's existing service portfolio and sees the Group grow to 850-plus employees with over 5,000 customers and operations in six European markets. The newly enlarged Group will have annual revenues of £150m.

Techgate specialises in business continuity, disaster recovery and back-up services and has offices in London's Docklands and Chelmsford in Essex.

It operates two data centres, employs 27 staff and has more than 200 customers including BLM, Capita, Carestream Health, DS Smith and FSL. Revenues for the year ending 31st December 2014 were £4.9m.

Bristol-based LinuxIT provides professional and managed services for Linux-based applications. Its 20 members of staff serve over 200 customers including ITV, Hopkins Architects, Euro Car Parts, Liz Earle and CAE. Revenues for the year ending 31st December 2014 were £2.6m.

The management and employee structures of both companies are being maintained and the companies will continue to trade under their respective brand names.

Charles Nasser, CEO and founder of the Claranet Group, said: "These acquisitions present a good opportunity for our customers, and those of Techgate and LinuxIT, to take advantage of our expanded suite of services.

"It is our ambition to continue to grow in our existing six markets organically and by acquisition, and in acquiring Techgate and LinuxIT we have taken another step forward in terms of our growth and capabilities, expanding our reach into new territories in the IT services sector."

The acquisitions have been funded through debt and supported by Claranet's partnerships with The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Ares Capital Europe, Goldman Sachs and Abry Partners.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has called for radical changes to the emergency '999' call service to reflect the digital age, where more people are communicating by text or social media, rather than making a voice call.

In a report, 'Contacting Emergency Services in the Digital Age', the IET sets out the case for emergency services to keep pace with the increasing move away from landlines to smart phones, and from voice to data.

It argues that in a world where smartphones, text and social media are becoming the norm, creating a new cross-platform, data-based emergency service with a standard interface for consumers should be a priority.

Such a move may not only save lives but also enable calls and messages to be better filtered in order to receive more appropriate and faster responses, probably at lower cost.

Launching the report at a meeting supported by the Cabinet Office, the IET is bringing together representatives from Government, the emergency services, BT, Ofcom and the mobile phone industry to agree how best to work together to bring the emergency service into the digital age.

Professor Will Stewart, Chair of the IET's Communications Policy Panel, said: "Communications has changed drastically since the '999' service was designed in 1937, so there is a critical need to update the service.

"Ofcom figures show, for example, that 94% of communications from 12-15 year olds is text based. Given that young people are statistically more likely to be victims of crime or accidents, it is a concern that making a voice call to contact the emergency services is not something that would feel natural to them.

"A girl alone in a mini cab who becomes worried about her personal safety might feel unable to make a call on her mobile phone - but could send a text or alert someone over social media. And in the case of certain crimes, such as abduction or a break-in, a silent text or app-based alarm system would be more appropriate and instinctive than the current voice-based one for everybody - irrespective of their age.

"Much of the technology we need to update our emergency service is available today. But we need a shared, cross-party strategy to create a common and user-friendly interface for all service providers to connect to - and one that the general public will be happy to use. And it's important we do this before different parties go off and do their own thing - confronting the public with too many options and no universal emergency service."

Superintendent Mark Nottage, who works on the Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme at the Home Office, agrees that ensuring increasingly data-based public services, including the Police Service, are in the best possible position to use advances in digital technology is a priority.

He said: "Many people, particularly young people, are using a range of social media applications to communicate, and many rarely make voice calls in their daily lives. This means that we need to adapt and be responsive to ensure that when people need to contact the emergency services or other public services they can quickly access the right information and the most appropriate service first time, and in the way that they choose and are familiar with."

A data-based emergency service would allow people to text alerts via any appropriate app on a chosen easy-to-remember special number, such as 999 - and these alerts would then be passed to the human emergency operator.

The main engineering challenge would be to set up priority routing of alerts to this special number in order to avoid delays at busy times. This needs to be arranged in consultation with the main mobile and app-based text providers.

There is also considerable opportunity to improve the existing emergency service with, for example, the latest GPS technology available on smart phones. An automatic software system could scan texts and pass on any known user information, approximate handset location and any recent issues with the handset, such as if it has been reported stolen.

It could also check whether the message contains any alert keywords such as 'sOS', or 'release' use of the camera  or voice recording functions on the phone to the human operator, resulting in a much more accurate and rapid assessment of the level and nature of the threat involved.

Some apps for smartphones are exploring even more novel possibilities, such as peer-to-peer help systems for emergencies.

A week after rival Exertis signed up with Dell to be its retail champion, distributor Tech Data UK has decided to place more focus on retail and introduce new services and processes designed to meet the 'omni-channel' needs of customers in the sector, making it 'easier and more efficient for retailers to do business'.

The company is aiming to drive significant growth in the retail sector and has formed an autonomous retail board, headed by Group Sales Director Martin Boyce, to focus on developing the company's retail strategy and driving higher awareness and activity across the business.

Boyce said: "We have a strategic plan and we are making a long-term commitment to growing our business in this sector. We are introducing new services and processes to meet the specific, diverse and rapidly changing needs of retailers. These services, along with the investment in people and resources we have made, will provide a strong focus and support for retailers, make it easier for them to do business with us and keep control of their costs."

The company is also aiming to form new partnerships with key retail vendors. It already works with consumer brands and is presently talking to a number of a number of other major names about adding their product lines to its portfolio.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) has introduced a new channel partner programme for partners selling voice, UC, networking and cloud services.

ALE became an independent business in October 2014 and has since revamped its traditional distribution model.

The Value for Partners (V4P) programme has three goals: To cut the total cost of partnership using automation and simplification; to increase partner revenues using Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions through new opportunities and boosting customer adoption; and to co-invest in joint transformation through training, automation and go-to-market investments.

Peter Tebbutt, Country Manager UK&I, ALE UK, said: "By focusing on the proximity, the competencies and the efficiency of partners we can work to understand the customer needs, master the automation tools and deliver on the expected shared outcomes. Collaboration with our partners is the heart of how we will be successful."

VIP hospitality during the England versus Australia clash at this year's Rugby World Cup awaits the winners of an incentive launched by Nimans and Unify.

Based on highest sales growth the initiative runs until September 25th andwill see eight resellers take their places at Twickenham for the sell-out clash in October.

"The match includes five star hospitality and some of the best seats in the house," said John McKindland, Head of Systems Sales at Nimans.

"The competition is open to all partners and they have been given individual sales targets so everyone has an equal chance of winning. It's not just based on who generates the largest volume, but highest growth."

Technology Services Group (TSG) has appointed Andy Hayward (pictured) as MD for the southern region.

Before joining he was MD of Microsoft Dynamics Gold Partner m-hance, formally Calyx Software, since 2009.

TSG CEO David Stonehouse commented: "Andy brings a wealth of technical and sales experience with Microsoft's CRM and ERP products.

"He also has an impressive track record of managing complex mid-market strategies and business growth in the sectors we currently focus on which will be invaluable as we move the business forward."

Hayward added: "I've seen many businesses in the industry claim that they can offer the complete end to end service. From what I've already seen at TSG I can see that our huge breadth in expertise and capability makes us one of a small number of companies that can actually deliver this."

TSG has also appointed three account directors in the southern region and is recruiting a number of business development managers for the London office.

IT lifecycle management firm Network 2 Supplies (N2S) has been awarded CAS-S (CESG Assured Service Sanitation) accreditation for data destruction at the highest levels within government departments.

The Suffolk-based company has CESG is the information security arm of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the National Technical Authority, which is considered the definitive voice on the technical aspects of information security in the government.

N2S will now provide government approved onsite data sanitisation and recycling of IT equipment at the end of its life. The accreditation will also allow N2S to specialise in the destruction of Government Security Classified data bearing assets in accordance with CESG policy.

N2S can shred or disintegrate all IT equipment including computer hard drives, tapes, mobile phones and associated cabling.

All N2S engineers are security cleared. N2S can also offer onsite data wiping and carry out secure moves from one customer site to another.

Andy Gomarsall, N2S director, said: "Obtaining the CAS-S accreditation is part of the ongoing N2S strategy to make us the most secure IT data destruction company within the UK. This accreditation will complement the range of services that N2S provides to its client base and one which will be required by our global business partners."

Pictured: Redundant IT equipment at N2S ready for destruction and recycling.