Comms Dealer

Dimension Data's UK expansion campaign is in full swing following a round of appointments that the company says will enable it to capitalise on growing demand for 'transformational' IT services and meet its objective to double UK revenues by 2018.

Richard Lockey takes the role of Sales Director with a remit to build long-term consultative-led relationships with customers as organisations continue to shift towards cloud-based and outsourced IT models.

He was previously Sales Director for Consumer Industries at Dimension Data UK.

Mike Morrison steps in as UK Services Director and will lead Dimension Data's managed services and professional services teams. He joins from CSC where he was Global Service Management Director.

"We've seen considerable growth in demand in the UK as organisations ditch their traditional capex-based consumption models in favour of IT-as-a-Service, which has the power to drive business change," said Calvin Goom, MD, Dimension Data UK.

"Richard and Mike's combined skills add huge credibility to our service offering. Their track records of partnering with clients to develop and deliver high quality, flexible and transformative IT services make them great assets to our UK team."

Other new appointments include Rob Dunachie, Solutions Director; Christopher Lewis, Marketing & Alliances Director; and Mark Petty, IT Outsourcing Sales Director.

Last year's acquisition of Revolabs by Yamaha has catalysed new reseller opportunities around audio conferencing innovations introduced by the parent company, according to Nimans.

"For example, the range now features technology from both brands, such as the new Revolabs FLX UC 1000 conference phone, a unified communications solution that's compact, supports both USB and VoIP connectivity and even bridges calls between the two," said Nimans' Head of Conferencing Sales, Ian Brindle.

In addition, Nimans' resellers can now source Yamaha's YVC-1000 USB microphone and speaker system. This is a scalable audio conference innovation for a wide variety of environments (4 to 40 participants) due to its ability to utilise up to five microphones 'daisy-chained' together and an advanced, built-in DSP system.

Also part of Nimans' portfolio is the FLX conference phone offering high levels of freedom by incorporating wireless microphone and speaker technology.

Last year saw the introduction of the FLX UC 500 audio conferencing solution for huddle room and small-to-medium-sized conferencing environments.

Brindle added: "Revolabs and Yamaha are two respected industry names and by joining forces, Nimans' resellers have a deeper and more dynamic product portfolio to address the needs of their customers and their increasingly mobile-centric workforces.

"Conference calls can now take place much more intuitively in a wider range of locations thanks to outstanding audio performance and all-round flexibility."

AppRiver, a specialist in email messaging and web security solutions, has posted a 30% year-over-year increase in channel revenue which is, at the same time, its largest year-over-year rise.

The growth has been enabled by improved partner management under its global programme and a growing relationship with Microsoft, it says.

Currently, the channel represents more than half of AppRiver's overall revenue and it expects this trend to continue its way up as the company predicts to see a further 40% y/y rise in channel revenue in 2015.

At the end of 2014, AppRiver saw a 21% y/y growth in a number of active partners, a 16% y/y rise in partner customers and a 350% y/y in the total number of partners selling Office 365.

As AppRiver joined the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Partner only last year, it says it significantly helped expand its cloud sales opportunities as the partners were offered a direct billing, sell combined offers and services and, additionally, provision, manage and support products and services.

AppRiver Channel Sales Manager Justin Gilbert said: "In 2014, we focused more on relationship management to ensure our partners could build profitable relationships with their customers.

"This direction is resonating. Not only are we committed to equipping partners with the right tools, but we're providing a cloud-based, comprehensive and affordable technology that protects businesses from the most sophisticated cyber threats.

"This year AppRiver plans to focus further on benefits for the partners that help them sell more efficiently, it says. This will include new diversified programmes, training sessions, webinars and campaigns and incentives."

Partners will be offered an opportunity to expand their expertise by learning from at AppRiver University as well as earn a certification in sales and support for Office 365 and Disaster Preparedness.

Additionally, the Lunch&Learn, a one-hour training sessions, provide them with knowledge of all sales and migration issues for a number of products.

Jeff Malone, VP of Sales, added: "Evolving technology trends such as cloud computing, BYOD and sophisticated advanced persistent threats directed toward businesses are driving the adoption and demand of new security solutions.

"Not only have we designed our technology to keep businesses productive and information secure, but we're helping resellers become trusted advisors to their clients."

Ruckus Wireless has sealed a new distribution agreement with ScanSource POS and Barcode, a unit of ScanSource.

The two companies have already been working together in North America and now the alliance has been extended into Europe.

Under the terms of an agreement, ScanSource will be become a Pan European distie for Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products and technology and will add to its portfolio the new solutions for the wireless networking and mobile data markets.

It will provide the resellers with an access to Ruckus indoor and outdoor access points, software and services. Also, ScanSource will offer to its resellers education and training, pre-sale support, technical support and marketing assistance.

Ruckus EMEA Sales Director James Calderbank said: "This new relationship will make it easier for specialists in the retail, warehousing and logistics space to integrate Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi technology into their solutions."

Venus Business Commuications has been selected as a finalist in this year's RICS awards in the infrastructure category having achieved significant credit for its work on 'superconnected Busworks'.

Busworks, once an old Victorian bus depot, provides contemporary office premises but Superfast broadband had not been previously available.

However, a partnership approach that engaged Busworks management and BDUK's Superconnected Cities scheme levered £30,000 from the scheme to fund the majority of the project.

Superconnected Busworks has been ranked alongside high profile projects that include Fulham Jetty, Paddington Integrated Project, and Terminal 2 - The Queen's Terminal.

Brian Iddon, Director of Venus Business Communications, said: "Many small businesses believe that superfast broadband in London is either unaffordable or not available and this project illustrates this is not the case.

"Superfast services are normally delivered using Fibre to the Cabinet technology, but we implemented Superfast Broadband delivery at Busworks using a direct connection to the Venus London Network.

"This provides a more flexible lower cost solution that avoids the need for street cabinets and utilises distribution nodes within the building.

"Working closely with Superconnected Cities Scheme, the businesses in Busworks can now compete in today's digital economy.

"We would urge network providers in the industry to think innovatively about delivery mechanisms that work for smaller businesses where FTTCis not an option."

Marion Morahan, Busworks Business Centre Manager, said: "Venus proved their experience connecting multi-tenant buildings, developing a proposition to suit all needs and budgets."

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added: "Today's markets are more competitive than ever and it is essential London's businesses have the cutting-edge technology at their fingertips that will enable them to drive our economy forwards.

"Venus' Superconnected Busworks is a prime example of a business taking full advantage of a scheme designed specifically to help our firms become super-connected and supercharged, ready to thrive and expand.

"They illustrate that superfast connectivity is widely available and affordable from a range of suppliers for small businesses in our city."

The winning project from those shortlisted in the Infrastructure category will be announced on 30th April at an Awards Dinner in the Lancaster London Hotel.

The RICS Awards showcase the achievements of the most inspirational regional initiatives and developments in land, property, construction and the environment.

Dimension Data, the $6.7bn global ICT services and solutions provider, has been named as one of a few Microsoft Skype for Business Global Elite Launch Partners.

The next version of Microsoft's communications and collaboration tool, Lync (now called Skype for Business), will be ready for sale in the first half of 2015.

When Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 the company said Skype was a communications tool for outside the firewall, while Lync was an offering for inside the firewall. Now, the next version of Skype for Business connects Lync to the Skype network which includes thousands of Dimension Data's clients, employees and partners.

"As a Microsoft strategic partner for over a decade we're excited about Skype for Business. Over 300 million people use Skype for messaging, calling and sharing. With Skype for Business, Microsoft is bringing together the familiar user experience of Skype with the security, compliance and control of Lync," said Peter Menadue, Dimension Data's Group GM for Microsoft Solutions.

Menadue said Skype for Business video calling is an advantage for organisations wanting to engage face-to-face with their on-the-move employees and customers, anywhere, anytime from their video room system, desktop, TV or mobile device.

Menadue pointed out that Dimension Data has a strong track record for deploying high volumes of Lync on a global scale. "Our teams are already beta trained and ready to deliver Skype for Business to our clients when the product becomes available in the first half of 2015."

A portal designed to help resellers seal more leasing deals (particularly in the education sector) is set to be launched by Nimans next month.

Reesellers can also use the portal to submit proposals and gain access to white label marketing documents as well as market insights.

Nimans is now authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and resellers working in the education sector are being encouraged to learn the latest 'leasing lessons', following changes in funding criteria which have had a big impact on the market.

Head of Dealer Sales, Tom Maxwell, said: "There's still a major problem with funding for local authority schools because not as many funders will support them following instructions from the Department For Education that they must include an operating lease.

"This is where the end user only pays back 90% of the value of the lease in their rentals - so someone has to take a residual value risk, which makes the lease cheaper.

"Some funders are nervous about supporting schools and interpreting the rules of the operating lease. We are dealing with big and small resellers who are having problems. But thanks to the strength and credibility of Nimans we are placed to help them and there's been a tremendous upsurge in business."

"We've got various funders in place and are getting lots of proposals from resellers - especially in the run up to April's budgets - who can't get finding from their normal channels."

Nimans has its own in-house financial services arm and is reporting brisk business in other areas, as Maxwell highlighted: "We've got some strong residual value funding which allows the end user lots of different options such as a five year rental that can be extended to seven years without any additional interest costs."

In a further boost Nimans is embracing an e-signature solution to speed up the paperwork process and ensure resellers receive payments as quickly as possible, without trailing to customers with hard copy documents.

René Svendsen-Tune (pictured) is to take the reins as Jabra CEO following the resignation of Niels Svenningsen who cited 'family reasons' as the reason for his departure.

Svenningsen joined Jabra (the GN Netcom brand) in December 2013 and was a prime mover in progressing the firm's innovation and growth strategy.

"We are sad to see Niels leave as he made great contributions to the company during his tenure," said GN Store Nord Chairman Per Wold-Olsen.

"Niels secured a strong launch of our new products and positioned the company well for even stronger results in the future."

Svendsen-Tune joins GN Netcom from Nokia Networks where he was President and member of the executive board with responsibility for Europe and Latin America. Prior to this he was president and CEO of Teleca.

"To have such an experienced professional as René with detailed knowledge of GN Netcom take over the leadership at this time will secure continued smooth operations and continued flawless execution of our 2014-2016 strategy," added Per Wold-Olsen.

Svendsen-Tune has more than 20 years of management experience in the technology sector and knowledge in GN Netcom's key business areas, including information technologies and telecommunications.

Hundreds of Softcat staff from regional offices across the UK made a heroic effort for Comic Relief, dressing as superheroes and cartoon characters and participating in various fundraising activities, raising over £10,000 for poor and disadvantaged people in the UK and the world's poorest countries.

Sporting activities included bike and golfing challenges, a dance competition and a crossbar challenge. More relaxed fundraisers included a charity retro gaming competition and a FIFA competition, where staff flaunted their gaming prowess.

Staff also raised cash by nominating people for a dunking - in ice-cold water. The dunk tank was filled by Marlow Fire Brigade.

A raffle raised £7,000 for Comic Relief, with raffle prizes including iPads, signed Arsenal FC shirts, an extra day's holiday, and a shopping experience with sales director Matt Jones. Prizes were donated by Softcat's staff and business partners. Softcat's Red Nose Day antics were filmed by US TV channel NBC.

On Friday evening many Softcat staff stayed late to help operate as a call centre for Comic Relief, helping to take thousands of pledges from generous donors across the UK. Softcat partners Dell, Snow Software and Trend Micro all stepped in to take part and keep the volunteers fed and watered.

Charles Harman and Michael Walker organised the day of fundraising and the call centre.

Harman said: "Softcat staff always come out all guns blazing for fundraising days and Friday's event was no different - the office was packed with cartoon characters and superheroes and everyone got really involved in all the fundraising activities."

To date Softcat has raised over £1.2m for various causes. Its next charity event will be its annual May Ball which last year raised £250,000 for charity Dreams Come True.

Rainbow has gone full throttle with a sponsorship deal that will give the  Kent based reseller some high octane TV coverage on Sky Sports and exposure across the UK's major race circuits.

Rainbow has signed the main sponsorship deal with the British GT Championship for 2015, and will also sponsor the Aston Martin entered in the championship by communications partner DCB.

To learn more about Rainbow's involvement in the championship
see https://vimeo.com/122207475