Comms Dealer

Contact centre specialist Sabio has extended its network services portfolio with the addition of hosted SMS messaging capabilities.

With SMS proving an increasingly effective engagement channel for organisations of all sizes, Sabio will work with customers to not only support volume business messaging but also provide the essential services to ensure that both inbound and outbound SMS channels can operate successfully as part of an integrated customer journey.

"Context-aware SMS messaging can prove invaluable in delivering pro-active support for customers at key touch points in their engagement - saving them from having to contact organisations directly, and unlocking significant operational savings for businesses by deflecting demand from already busy contact centres," said Sabio Director Adam Faulkner.

Outbound interactions where SMS messaging can add value include customer confirmation messages, reservation reminders, dispatch alerts, delivery confirmations, delay alerts, or critical calls to action where service plan limits are about to be breached.

Inbound messaging can be used to gather customer feedback using SMS surveys, allow customers to change delivery times, communicate with staff if there have been changes in shifts, confirm patient appointments or resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently.

"Research shows that 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of being received and, with 9 out of 10 people now carrying their mobile phones with them at all times, it's clear that SMS can be an effective channel for when organisations really need to reach out to their customers," added Faulkner.

"However SMS messaging works best as part of an integrated engagement strategy, particularly as the majority of customers are now using three or more channels to engage with organisations.

"That's why at Sabio we support our customers' outbound and inbound SMS messaging requirements with an in-depth services wrap that ranges from initial analysis exercises to identify specific instances of caller frustration, right through to integration with core customer engagement platforms."

Private clouds will come to dominate in the next four years, according to research firm TBR.

Talking to over 2,000 enterprises including firms in Europe, TBR estimates that the private cloud market will grow from $45bn to $80bn by 2019.

Research also shows half of the 2,211 enterprises surveyed in the report are already using private cloud solutions. The winners in supplying private cloud solutions will be those firms with a sound business message, backed by security.

This rate of adoption is expected to grow to 85% by 2018, as respondents perceive private cloud as more secure than public cloud offerings, making private cloud the most adopted 'as a service' cloud deployment in the cloud market. Private cloud adoption is the intersecting point between hybrid outcome-based adoption and public technology-focused adoption, and enterprises are beginning to more often favour self-built cloud offerings to provide higher IT control and more centralised purchasing.

"Private cloud adoption is on the rise, but increased demand for analytics and IoT solutions and the shift toward hybrid IT buying is cannabalising enterprises' private cloud budget dollars," said TBR Cloud Analyst Cassandra Mooshian.

According to TBR's Private Cloud Customer Research report, security expertise is a key differentiator for cloud vendors, and vendors with the best security offerings are positioned for maximum private cloud growth through 2018.

Private cloud users are most concerned about security and data ownership, and almost 60% of survey respondents claim security is their number one concern regarding cloud adoption.

TBR's analysis shows leading IT vendors with tenure in software, services and security, such as Microsoft and IBM, are best positioned to capitalise on upcoming private cloud growth opportunities over the next two years and IT is involved in, if not controlling, nearly 70% of private cloud purchasing decisions due to security concerns.

"As the leading barrier to cloud adoption and also the largest differentiating factor between vendors, security is the area in which vendors must message their capabilities loudly and clearly, showcasing customer success stories," said Mooshian.

"It is not the fanciest of subjects to talk about and is often too technical for LOBs [lines of business], but vendors that can successfully relate security-driven business outcomes to LOBs will outshine the rest."

Data centre pricing has hit its peak, says a researcher, even though they will grow in size and power by 20% in the next five years.

There is a geographical inbalance with the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands accounting for half of all space in Europe - with the top six or seven providers accounting for half of power and space in France, Germany and the UK.

TCL (Tariff Consultancy) forecasts that 'Data Centre space and power in Europe will increase by almost 20% from end 2015 to end of 2020 with the UK being the largest single market in Europe', with over 150 Data Centre providers present, as shown in TCL's new Data Centre Europe Pricing - 2015 to 2020 report.

From the report, however, there are signs that Data Centre pricing has reached its limit, with average rack space and square metre pricing forecast to decline by 10% over the 5 year period to the end of 2020.

Data Centre providers are reporting increasingly competitive market pricing, which is particularly acute with the introduction of space into a new market area.

Customer Power per square metre of Data Centre also appears to have peaked. Data Centre providers such as Interxion and TelecityGroup report that power per square metre has peaked at an average of 1 kW to 1.1 kW, with further power increasing only in line with new Data Centre build-outs.

Out of the 24 European country markets surveyed, four account for half of all raised floor space and total customer power (the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands) in Europe.

These mature Data Centre markets in the UK, Germany and France are increasingly composed of a series of discrete geographical Data Centre clusters, with Data Centre pricing in London, Frankfurt and Paris being markedly higher than in other towns and cities. But more Data Centre space and power is now being developed outside of the main cities, benefiting from lower cost land costs.

Other trends include: Premium Data Centre facilities, which are defined as providing 20 kW bundles of power as standard, are changing to become more "flexible" Data Centre facilities which can provide different data halls with dedicated space, power resilience, SLA, shared use or price points. Telecoms Providers are developing new Data Centre space for cloud and hosting services, with several telecoms operators - such as Colt - now claiming that their facilities are carrier neutral in order to appeal to a wider range of users, which are separate from network users.

New data centre space is being expanded in the Nordic countries. New providers are being established in Norway and Sweden, such as Hydro66 and Green Mountain, which are capitalising on low cost power and green facilities to attract new inward user investment.

Despite the price competition present in France, Germany, Netherlands and the UK, average Data Centre rates remain stable over time, but compared with the continued price commoditisation for other telecoms services, Data Centre pricing remains stable as it is buoyed by demand for cloud, hosting & storage applications, the report concludes.

Colt Group has exited IT services to focus on its core network, voice and data centre offerings.

In a statement to financial markets, it says it does not believe the IT business can compete and grow successfully with 'a level of risk that is acceptable'.

It will take it two to three years and exceptional cash costs of €45m-€55m and non-cash impairment charge of about €90m.

The group trading performance is in line with management expectations and interim results will be reported before the end of July, it says, while conducting a detailed review to identify optimal structure and positioning of data centre services business.

Provider of cloud-based IT management software Kaseya has opened a new central London office, a move that follows success in EMEA which has become one of Kaseya's fastest growing markets, with the UK in particular outpacing new business growth expectations.

As the company continues to grow its customer base in the region, it has already made a number of personnel hires in the areas of field sales, account management, new business and marketing.

"We've seen a significant level of growth in the EMEA market over the last 12 months and moving to a new UK office provides us with the space we need to better service our expanding customer base," said Spencer Young, VP, International.

"Thanks to the additional space and more desirable location, we are now in a position to aggressively increase our team of experienced, customer-focused professionals."

Mike Tudor, Technical Manager for TSG, added: "Kaseya's ongoing investment and continued growth in our market is great to see and encouraging from a customer perspective."

Kaseya has also seen growth in its business selling to mid-sized enterprises in a number of sectors and counts customers in the airline, automotive, and technology industries among its significant new wins.

"Kaseya's continued investment in its core technology, agile product release cycle and expanded IT management portfolio, have attracted a host of new customers," added Young.

Content Guru has been selected by CIOReview as one of its 20 Most Promising Unified Communications Solution Providers 2015.

The positioning highlights the company's success in delivering cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) and Communications Integration (CI) services through its storm platform to large enterprise and government organisations.

The annual list of companies is selected by a panel of experts and members of CIOReview's editorial board to recognise and promote technology entrepreneurship.

"Content Guru has been on our radar for some time for stirring a revolution in the UC technology space, and we are happy to showcase them this year due to their continuing excellence in delivering top-notch UC solutions," said Harvi Sachar, Publisher and Founder, CIOReview.

"Content Guru's solutions continued to break new ground within the past year, benefitting its customers around the globe, and we're excited to have them featured on our top companies list."

Content Guru's CEO Sean Taylor said: "Our group of companies has been providing UC services for over 20 years, firstly via a sister company as customer-premise solutions and over the past 10 years as Content Guru via the cloud.

"Although there has always been a strong marketplace for Unified Communications, it has only been over the past three-four years that UC has moved to a high priority on the CIO's list, and we are delighted to be recognised for our breadth of complex deployments across the globe."

Annodata has restructured its senior management team in a move to to achieve its target of becoming a £100m business in 2016.

Annodata's former Group Sales Director, Rod Tonna-Barthet, has assumed the newly-created position of CEO, while Geoff Slaughter has been appointed to the role of Group Sales Director.

Tonna-Barthet has over 27 years of experience in the service provider industry and held a number of board level positions in the technology space prior to joining Annodata in 2008.

In his role of Group Sales Director, he was directly responsible for the company's sales strategy and oversaw a significant increase in the company's revenue.

As CEO, his remit will be to manage overall operations and ensure Annodata's recent rates of growth are maintained and that future growth is sustainable.

Annodata's founders and shareholders Andrew Harman and Tim Harman will be focusing their efforts on overseeing the corporate strategy, identifying acquisition targets and new growth opportunities.

Chairman Martin St. Quinton said: "The past financial year has been marked by a number of big changes within the company, not least the acquisitions of Keltec and STS.

"These changes have presented us with a significant opportunity to grow the business, but to do that in a way that is sustainable, it's critical that we've got the right leadership and management team in place.

"During his time with the company, Rod has demonstrated clearly his commitment to the company and his business acumen. I therefore have no doubt that, as newly appointed CEO, he will lead Annodata's continued success."

Geoff Slaughter has stepped into the position of Group Sales Director. He brings a wealth of sector-led sales experience at the enterprise level, and prior to joining Annodata held a range of senior management roles at Canon.

He spent the last five years building the Global Service Division for Canon Europe and was successful in winning new contracts with some of the largest global corporations.

"Geoff makes a very welcome addition to the Annodata team," added Martin St. Quinton. His significant senior sales management experience with Canon puts him in good stead to spearhead Annodata's advance into new markets as Group Sales Director and help execute our strategy to provide a wider range of services to our existing clients."

As many as 91%, or 4.6 million, SMEs in the UK are struggling to introduce new technologies to their organisation, with only one in 10 confirming that this can be done without challenges, according to new data from Solar Communications.

The research also reveals one in three SMEs (32%) are facing issues with meeting the technology needs of the workforce. Simplifying IT and operations is also a problem for 34% of SMEs, with other IT-related issues including having to juggle multiple suppliers and having numerous points of contact for billing or support.

Looking at wider business issues, SMEs cited competitive advantage, reducing operating costs and managing a more mobile workforce as primary challenges.

More than half (52%) struggle with competing with larger organisations and reducing operating costs is a challenge for 45% of SMEs. Managing a more flexible and mobile workforce was a problem cited by 40% of business decision makers.

Mark Colquhoun, CEO of Solar Communications, said: "The research suggests that many UK SMEs are finding technology to be a challenge for their business, rather than a real enabler.

"The increasingly complex nature of today's technology environments is presenting issues to today's SMEs, with multiple suppliers, technologies and points of contact to manage.

"A strategic partnership with a single supplier can deliver significant benefits, reducing administrative workloads to improve efficiency and business agility in order to create competitive advantage in the market."

Service provider Fidelity Group is claiming an industry first after announcing its first revenue share app for the channel alongside cloud-based meeting room management specialist Smartway2.

In an initiative described as ‘Applification of the Channel' Fidelity says it aims to help resellers make regular recurring profit from easy-to-use apps that simplify day-to-day business activities.

"This is a major stepping stone in the evolution of the channel into revenue share through apps and will be the first of a series we are launching this year as part of our Applification strategy," said Fidelity managing director Alan Shraga.

Fidelity has now embarked on a reseller recruitment drive for Smartway2's meeting room management SaaS solution which, according to founders Nigel Reading and Martin Hiles can be installed and working within minutes.

The pair previously established BusinessSolve, the Workspace Manager scheduling solution.

Smartway2 responds to the latest developments in cloud computing and mobile device technology, enabling today's always-connected professionals to book onsite resources wherever they are, whenever it is convenient," said Hiles.

As well as booking resources through on-premise touchscreen panels and mobile devices, Smartway2 is fully integrated with Microsoft Apps for Office as well as Google applications, including maps and language translation functionality.

A phased roll-out will initially target resellers addressing the SME market, but Smartway2's scalable architecture
will also be available for multinational and enterprise sized organisations.

"Smartway2 is cost-effective and offers a flexible and scalable licensing model," said Reading.

"Available via a SaaS subscription model, it reduces real estate costs, energy consumption and carbon footprints, and offers resellers valuable recurring revenue opportunities."

A rising tide of mobile workers plays into the hands of Smartway2 resellers, claimed Reading. "When mobile workers need to meet with their partners or customers, it is essential the right collaboration resources are available on the day, without fuss," he added. "Therefore, there's even greater demand now from companies for resource scheduling solutions.

"With Smartway2, we have created a solution based around how people work and the tools and applications they use daily, adding extra value and increased functionality to the conventional resource scheduling process."

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ITS Technology Group (ITS) has acquired the assets of broadband firm Konek-T (which appointed administrators last month), including broadband networks and contracts to provide broadband services to rural communities across South Wales.

This is the fourth acquisition ITS has made in the last 12 months which included Xwavia also based in Wales.

Roy Shelton, Group CEO at ITS, said: "ITS delivers connectivity to digitally deprived areas across the UK, and the addition of this network adds value to this proposition.

"ITS already has a footprint in Llancarfan, so these assets will extend our reach in this area.

"As a result, ITS will be able to offer access to more business and residential customers that have been struggling with inadequate broadband speeds, as well as allowing us to focus on wholesale access to our partners."

ITS is now planning a complete upgrade of the network to make sure it is capable of sustaining a reliable broadband service to its existing customers who will not be charged for their services while this work is carried out.

"Once this phase is complete, ITS will also be offering further services including VoIP and IT support services to businesses in the area across a shared network.