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Annodata has become a key sponsor of the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF), supporting its CSR programme. The company will help to further the GSF's aim of helping supporting some of the UK's top fledgling athletes.

GLL is a charitable social enterprise that runs sport, leisure and cultural facilities around the UK. The largest operator of accessible sports and leisure centres in the UK, it is committed to promoting sport in the community and aims to foster sporting success amongst British athletes.

Central to this aim is the GSF, which has key objectives to help reduce the financial burden facing young people as they progress within their chosen sports.

Since it was established in 2008, the Foundation has supported over 6,500 athletes with funding and training grants totalling £3.8million.

GSF ambassador and Captain of the Great Britain national basketball team Drew Sullivan explained: "The GLL Sport Foundation is a big partner to us as a club, to us as individual players, and is important to sport across the UK. Their support enables players to train at world-class venues and provides much-needed financial and sport science support."

Joe Doyle, Marketing Director at Annodata, added: "Annodata has a long history of supporting charitable causes and we are delighted to be able to support the GLL Sport Foundation to help give the country's athletes the best chance of success in their respective fields.

"Although a very small number of athletes are able to secure lucrative sponsorship deals, it is not the case across the board, and for thousands the GSF provides the lifeline that they need to continue to sporting success.

"We hope our support will help and we look forward to taking an active role in the GSF's fundraising efforts to help our athletes replicate the success of London 2012 next year in Rio."

Mark Gliddon, Manager at the GLL Sport Foundation, added: "Our continued ability to help our country's athletes succeed rests heavily on the support that we get from our sponsors. GLL has a strong working relationship with Annodata, so we are extremely pleased that they are able to lend their support to the Foundation."

IT Europa has announced the winners of the European IT & Software Excellence Awards 2015 - the pan-European awards event for ISVs, Solution Providers and Systems Integrators and their vendor and distributor partners. The finalists were honoured last night at a celebration dinner at the London Lancaster Hotel.

The 2015 European IT & Software Excellence Awards saw a return to confidence in the industry, with some of the highest scores ever recorded by the judges. Now in its seventh year, there were notable triumphs for companies from across Europe with projects ranging from an open-source solution saving money in the UK's NHS to automatic fare collection in Minsk. Winners were chosen from 83 finalists who represented 32 countries.

Cloud technology figured strongly, particularly when projects had to consider global operations such as a notable win for a recruitment specialist project. Many of the projects were able to save considerable amounts of time and money for clients, such as the winner who sorted out unstructured data at charity Save The Children.

"There were some absolutely terrific solutions among the winners, and really, looking at the quality of the hundreds of entries we received, these were just the tip of an iceberg," says John Garratt, chair of the judges panel.

"The European IT industry should feel proud of what it is offering clients in a time of great change in terms of available technologies, range of solutions, and in how it is selecting from the vast array of solutions out there."

Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa said: "The overall quality of entries, from what was a record entry this year, was extremely high and demonstrates the depth of talent in the ISV and Solution Provider communities across Europe. I congratulate all the winners and wish them and all the finalists every success in the year ahead."

Pictured above: EMC collects the Technology Vendor of the Year Award

Solution Provider Category
SME Solution of the Year - Enterprise Study
Enterprise Solution of the Year - Green Fields Technology
Datacentre Solution of the Year - TechMahindra
Vertical Solution of the Year - IBA Group
Public Sector and Utilities Solution of the Year - BJSS
Managed Services Solution of the Year - Interoute
Connected/Mobility Solution of the Year - AirWatch by VMware
Storage/Information Management Solution of the Year - BrightStarr
Big Data, Business Intelligence and Analytics Solution of the Year - Northdoor
Networking Solution of the Year - Bell Integrator
Security Solution of the Year - SoftServe Inc

ISV Categories
ERP/CRM/Relationship Management Solution of the Year - LIFE IS HARD
Information & Document Management Solution of the Year - DocLogix
Big Data, Business Intelligence and Analytics Solution of the Year - Kazoup
Connected/Mobility Solution of the Year - Arkessa
Vertical Market Solution of the Year - PureNet
Government/Utilities Solution of the Year - UNIT4
SaaS Solution of the Year - Vecta Sales Solutions
Software Innovation Solution of the Year- Sequel Business Solutions

Supplier Categories (recognising the support provided to channel partners)
Connected Technologies Vendor of the Year - Emulex
Technology Vendor of the Year - EMC
Finance/Support Provider of the Year - BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions
Security Vendor of the Year - Centrify
Service Provider of the Year - Genius Networks
Software Vendor of the Year - Nexenta Systems
Distributor of the Year - Avnet

Grass Roots, the provider of employee and customer engagement solutions has appointed Simon Mitchell as Global Account Director.

Mitchell will be responsible for leading the growth of many existing clients and for seeking out new business opportunities within the telecommunications arena.

Previously with Google (Motorola) as Head of Network Operators, Mitchell's experience spans over 20 years and he is well known in the telco space, having also worked for brands such as Samsung, Telefonica O2, Orange, Three, Reliance Globalcom and Vodafone Group.

John Bunting, Chief Commercial Officer for Grass Roots commented: "I look forward to growing our accounts with existing telco clients, under Simon's leadership, and to winning new business within the fast-moving sector."

Polycom and Microsoft have announced an expanded relationship through which Polycom plans to deliver a new series of video collaboration solutions purpose-built for Skype for Business called Polycom RoundTable.

The first device in the new offering is the Polycom RoundTable100, an affordable and easy-to-use video solution for huddle rooms that will allow small to mid-sized businesses and teams with Skype for Business and Lync 2013 to enjoy rich collaboration experiences, including voice, video and content collaboration, simply by logging into their Skype for Business account.

The companies have also announced that the Polycom CX series of video collaboration solutions will become part of the Polycom RoundTable series of products.

"Together, Microsoft and Polycom have a joint vision to deliver collaboration experiences that help our customers defy distance. We are now expanding our solutions to allow SMBs, as well as large enterprises, to reap the benefits of video collaboration," said Polycom President and CEO Peter Leav.

Free public Wi-Fi has been made available from over 100 locations in Cambridge and beyond following a partnership between Virgin Media Business and Cambridgeshire County Council.

As part of the Connecting Cambridgeshire the Wi-Fi will extend to public buildings across the city of Cambridge and surrounding areas and will also be accessible from open public spaces such as parks and streets. 

Vendor Unify has announced enhancements to Circuit, its next-generation communication and collaboration platform.

Improvements include Circuit Enterprise Integrator which integrates the Circuit cloud service seamlessly into on-premise infrastructure such as any Unify or third-party telephony system or corporate identity management solution.

Circuit also now enables users to share files on a Box drive seamlessly inside a Circuit conversation.

Finally, Circuit has extended its single-pane-of-glass experience to encompass external team members, more devices and media, including an Android app, enabling the many enterprise users of Android devices to now take full advantage of Circuit while mobile.

Leonard Pascual, Chief Executive Officer of Circuit user A Sound Look, Inc. commented: "Prior to Circuit, we were using multiple separate apps in order to do so, such as Skype, Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, and texting.

"With Circuit, we now have one app to collaborate, enabling us to connect instantly via video conference at any time of day, and we can move conversations with us between devices."

Chess Partner Services dealers will receive up to 45% revenue share on all their O2 mobile connections following a new airtime agreement with the carrier announced this week.

Chess says the fee is instantly payable on a partners' existing customer base from April 1st. This means partners can benefit from an instant uplift in commissions, regardless of any re-signs, from April 1st onwards.

Other deals under the agreement include a new connection bonus with partners receiving up to £230 bonus for all new voice connections; full advance revenue share for up to 36 months on all new connections and re-signs; 50% revenue share for re-signing contracts that have less than 12 months remaining; and an additional £20 per connection, plus revenue share, upon activation of any digital product, regardless of any re-sign taking place.

Also announced is the '125 Club' which offers O2 approved partners a £5,000 quarterly bonus by achieving 125 new voice connections, 125 customers Re-Signs, 125 Digital connections, and less than 8% churn on O2.

Combined with the newly announced Elite Partner Programme, allowing partners to earn an additional £16,000 per annum, the new commercials are said to form an integral part of Chess Partner Service's 2015 'Year of Growth & Opportunity' promise.

John Pett, Sales Director at Chess Partner Services, said: "With our technological expertise and our new O2 commercials, our partners have even more tools to go out and do what they do best, to win and retain business and enjoy fantastic commissions."

Jason Philips, Head of Partners at O2, said: "Our relationship with Chess Partner Services continues to be strong and we look forward to working even closer with them as we launch our new Direct Partner Programme, supporting our partners and their customers."

Chess Partner Services was formed in August last year from the merger of Chess Wholesale and Avenir Telecom's Airtime division.

Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of operator Three, has agreed terms to buy Britain's second largest mobile operator O2 for £10.25bn, creating a giant that will have 40% of the market.

The deal follows BT's £12.5bn takeover of EE, and with both BT and Hutchison having now reached definitive agreements to acquire EE and O2 respectively the focus turns to getting the necessary regulatory approval, according to Matthew Howett, Practice Leader, Regulation at Ovum. 

"The exact timing and next steps in each case remain somewhat unclear given the complexity of what lies ahead, but approval could take up to a year and will almost certainly be fraught," he said. "The UK's competition authority, the CMA, has already invited stakeholders to comment in relation to BT/EE.

"A full investigation will begin once formal notification takes place. In the case of Three/O2, European authorities will probably take the lead, but they will likely need to remain in close contact with the CMA over issues coming out of BT/EE.

"In both instances the battle lines have been drawn, and it's becoming clearer what concessions might be offered in an attempt to get things through, or what potential remedies might be imposed from above. These will almost certainly focus on mobile backhaul, spectrum holdings, and the current network sharing agreements between Vodafone and O2, and Three and EE."

A number of uncertainties remain, believes Howett. "First, how will the CMA consider Three/O2 as it works its way through BT/EE? EU competition authorities are unlikely to want to hand over control of the Three/O2 approval, but the CMA might try its luck and ask for jurisdiction," he added.

"Which leads to the second uncertainty - how EU competition authorities will view further consolidation (the now-familiar cases of Germany and Ireland were approved under the previous Commission) and what concessions they might accept.

"MVNO access has been a popular choice, but the UK already has a vibrant MVNO scene and so that is less relevant here. Instead, competition authorities will want to preserve the 'challenger' behavior in the market we've seen from Three. What could that look like? Will Vodafone's bullish statements about moving into broadband and TV be enough?"

Plowman Craven, a chartered surveying company and 3D laser scanning specialist, has adopted a new solution from VIA, the business telephony and communications specialist, to better connect its field-based employees with those working in the company's offices in London and Harpenden.
 
VIA provided a Microsoft Lync application with added VIA bespoke functionality to improve communications across the business.

Now Plowman Craven operates from a single complete system that brings together voice communication, instant messaging, email, video, and audio, across a variety of devices, such as landlines, smartphones, PCs, and tablets. The VIA package also includes free calls to UK landlines.
 
David Norris, Technical Director at Plowman Craven, said: "The VIA solution has paid dividends from day one by bringing together our remote workers with those working in our offices.

"Wherever our employees our based, they can use the interactive whiteboard and document sharing features to proficiently discuss and evaluate our latest projects.

"The system has allowed Plowman Craven to increase efficiency across the business and it will play an integral role in our plans for future growth."
 
Alex Tebbs, Sales Director, VIA, added: "By providing a Microsoft Lync system plus utilising our in-house expertise to develop a range of additional features, VIA offers a cost0-effective and efficient alternative to a traditional telephony network."

Chess has snapped up IT systems provider Compwise Systems.

The acquisition will see Compwise Systems become part of Chess Corporate Solutions, adding three new people and an additional £400k annual turnover to the group.

The business will be combined within the Chess Partner Services team at the Chess office located in Borehamwood.

Chess Chief Executive David Pollock said: "Compwise has flourished as a total IT solution provider since 1992, possessing a wide and varied knowledge base."

This move complements our continuing expansion into being a one-stop shop, and we will bring the best out of Compwise's IT expertise via its wide, varied base of network and technology capabilities."

Compwise joins ebillz, Integra ICT, Avenir Telecom, Parachute IT and The CRM business as companies acquired by Chess to extend the group's portfolio of services, and takes Chess' acquisition total to over 90 companies to date.