Comms Dealer

Lindsay Miller has joined Red Box Recorders as Operations Manager for the APAC region.

He arrives on the back of a record sales quarter in the area after securing a number of major deals for its Quantify voice and data recording solution in the finance, contact centre and public safety sectors.

Based in Hong Kong, Miller will assume responsibility for the management of all regionally based Red Box engineers and technical support teams that have now enhanced their service to provide 24/7 support across APAC.

He will also work closely with the company's key partners and customers in the region to ensure that operational issues are dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Miller joins from BT Global Services where he held the position of Senior Projects & Service Manager.

"The financial results for APAC achieved in the first quarter of this year are a fantastic reflection of the work we are doing to improve our presence and infrastructure within the region," said Lee Anstiss, Sales Director APAC.

"As our client and partner base continues to grow it is vital for the company to maintain its first-rate level of service and support. As a specialist in project management and customer service delivery, with significant experience in the region, Lindsay is a great addition to the team and will be instrumental in helping to shape our ongoing success."

Early this month Comms Dealer was sad to report the death of comms industry stalwart John Massey. John's funeral arrangements have now been made and his partner Jean has invited friends and colleagues to attend (details below).

Perhaps best known as the founder and MD of Essex-based Actimax, Massey's channel roots reach back 30-plus years and his experience enabled Actimax to deliver impressive results ahead of the acquisitions of Universal Office Automation and Network Resource Group, and the relaunch of Actimax under the Cloud XL brand name in 2011.

Latterly Massey was Director of Acquisition at Arrow Business Communications.

Nigel Sergent, Editorial Director Comms Dealer, commented: "John Massey was one of the 'nice guys' of the industry and he will be sorely missed by all that knew him.

"I first got to know him as the owner of Callback Communications in the mid-nineties and was a long standing industry friend and advisor since then.

"As Managing Director of Actimax he was often featured in  Comms Dealer and, through his leadership, Actimax were regularly a finalist or winner at the Comms National Awards.

"In his 'retirement' from frontline industry roles he served as a  judge for the CN Awards and his professionalism, attention to detail and determination to be fair and honest in his appraisals summarised his life and career. Our thoughts are with his family and his partner Jean."

John's funeral will be held at Harwood Park Crematorium, Watton Road, Stevenage, SG2 8XT, on Thursday 18th June at 11.45am, followed by a celebration of his life at John's family home in Hertford.

Jean has requested family flowers only, and donations can be made to the Isobel Hospice which looked after John so well.

TWL Voice and Data has acquired Bridgend-based JVH Communications in a deal that boosts TWL's turnover by 22% to £2.2m this financial year.

The acquisition brings TWL's customer base to 450 and is a precursor to more strategic buys according to MD Andrew Nicholson who is targeting small mobile and telecoms firms in South Wales.

"Acquiring smaller businesses with healthy client bases allows us to grow as a company while consolidating our strong position," he said.

JVH Communications is TWL's second purchase following Danwood Telecoms in 2012. "As well as bringing JVH staff and clients on board, this deal will allow us to make a huge stride towards dominating the telecoms market over the next five years," claimed Nicholson.

Trimble has extended its FieldMaster suite of mobile applications with a Supervisor app that enables managers to leave the office and keep visibility into their fleet and mobile workers from their smartphone or tablet.

"Mobility is an increasingly valuable tool for field service organisations," said John Cameron, GM of Trimble's Field Service Management (FSM) Division.

"It allows a traditional office role to move into the field and still access up-to-date information about the performance of the field operation. The result is a more effective operation where managers in the field have the information they need at their fingertips."

FieldMaster Supervisor is available with Trimble Fleet Management and Trimble Work Management solutions.

Logicalis has achieved NetApp International STAR Partner Status across its European operations, the highest authorisation for the design, implementation and support of NetApp enterprise solutions.

As an International STAR partner Logicalis has met the most stringent requirements on sales, pre-sales and post sales competencies around the entire NetApp product portfolio.

Arnaud Spirlet, Head of European Markets at Logicalis, said: "The International STAR Partner status not only demonstrates our ongoing investment in our partnership and our people, but stands as testament to Logicalis' growing position as a major force in the European enterprise IT market.

"The NetApp partnership plays a critical part in our delivery of enterprise-class services that enable our customers to transform their businesses through IT.

"As we continue our strategy to drive accelerated growth in the European region, we look forward to working closely with NetApp to deliver on our shared strategy of providing scalable, flexible and agile services and efficient cloud architectures for our customers."

Comms and collaboration firm MeetingZone has augmented its channel partner team with the hire of Scott Somenthal who joins the Skype For Business team as Channel Manager, and Darren Anderson who becomes a pre-sales consultant.

Both report to Andy Clark, MeetingZone's General Manager, Skype for Business.

Somenthal's recent posts include stints at Westcon and Westcoast where he was responsible for driving UC strategies with an emphasis on Lync.

Anderson joins from AlwaysON where he specialised in hosting, collaboration and cloud services.

"It's great to have Scott and Darren on board as we continue to grow and strengthen our Skype for Business Group," said Clark.

"With their proven track records working in the IT and telecoms market, both bring first-hand understanding of the channel and customers, as well as business acumen."

ShoreTel's VP and MD for EMEA Adrian Hipkiss has urged non-specialist cloud suppliers who fall short of customer expectations to become better educated on the issues surrounding cloud migration. His call for action is a response to research by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) that revealed 35% of IT leaders were under serviced by their cloud suppliers during the migration process.

"It's clear to us that education in the marketplace is still needed, and businesses are still looking for expertise in terms of cloud services," said Hipkiss.

"It's not just about supporting the migration to the cloud though, it's important to offer the flexibility and choice customers need to scale up and down when business growth and capacity demands it.

"This starts with investing time in understanding the needs of customers and the channel and then creating a solution that is tailored to those needs. Simply taking a solution developed for a country or market and launching it in another often leads to problems during or post implementation.

"Cloud solutions address many business challenges but it is equally important to understand that choosing the correct cloud solution and implementing correctly is key to ensuring it meets the original expectations.

"Failing to identify challenges and issues and to invest in solution design and project management are the most common mistakes new entrants into this market make."

Global mobile satellite comms provider Inmarsat has signed an agreement with Globecomm, appointing the specialised managed satellite services provider as a VAR for Global Xpress (GX), serving the maritime market globally.

The agreement completes Globecomm's Global Xpress offering, having previously been appointed as a GX VAR for the Enterprise and Global Government markets.

Global Xpress is a global Ka-band broadband satellite network providing high bandwidth services to a range of land, maritime and aero terminals. Integrated with Inmarsat's current L-band network, Global Xpress will ensure reliable communications in support of mission critical operations in the most challenging environments.

Globecomm specialises in the design and integration of satellite communication systems and has a global network.

"Having GX in our portfolio is a central part of serving our Maritime customers with increased performance," said Keith Hall, Globecomm CEO.

Pennine Telecom's first outing in the Salford Dragon Boat Festival didn't end in victory but the team are all winners having raised £1,200 in aid of Bury Hospice - a figure matched by Pennine Telecom bringing the total amount raised to £2,400.

Pennine Pirates captain and Enterprise Account Manager Nick Simister said: "We may not have emerged as victors but the festival was great fun and gave us the opportunity to raise much needed funds for Bury Hospice."

Retailer of pet food, accessories and services Pets at Home has selected Claranet to supply and upgrade its WAN to more than 400 retail locations and around 340 veterinary surgeries in the UK.

Claranet will also provide 3G MPLS connectivity as a back-up, meaning that the business can still process transactions securely in the event of a network outage.

Jamie Lowe, Infrastructure Manager at Pets at Home, said: "As a business we have undergone, and are still undergoing, a significant amount of change as we look to broaden the services we offer and improve our customer's experience.

"Connectivity in our retail estate is an essential commodity, and customers have come to expect a seamless experience when transacting with us, be it on our website, in our retail outlets, or in combination through click and collect.

"Having the right network in place to support us is critical. Moreover, we need the right support structures and mechanisms in place so that, as and when issues arise, they can be rectified straight away."

Simon Bearne, Claranet's UK Sales Director, added: "Shoppers can be unforgiving of down time so we have placed an extra emphasis on reliability and uptime."