Comms Dealer

Cobweb Solutions has been named as the first Microsoft CSP to launch Office 365 using Parallels Automation.

The CSP APS package for Office 365 provides Microsoft CSP partners with a solution for automating customer on-boarding, service delivery, bundling related cloud services and building a reseller channel.

The Microsoft CSP program aims to increase the number of Microsoft Office 365 resellers worldwide.

The CSP program requires participating Microsoft channel partners to own the entire Office 365 customer relationship including provisioning, billing, invoicing, support and administration.

"Using the Parallels Automation platform partners have already delivered more than 1.5 million Office 365 and Exchange business class email seats," said Alex Danyluk, vice president, Alliances, Parallels.

"The Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider program opens up a new opportunity for the Microsoft channel - partners who deploy Parallels Automation will be immediately ready to offer new Microsoft CSP cloud services as they become available."

C4L is deploying a network-wide DDoS monitoring and mitigation solution for its high performance Data Centre network, coreTX.

A10 Networks Thunder Protection System hardware has been combined with FlowTraq network traffic forensics software to protect coreTX customers from DDoS attacks.

Alex Cruz Farmer, Technical Director of C4L, said: "The decision to deploy a network-wide protection against a variety of sophisticated volumetric, protocol, resource and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks involved an intense investigatory process which C4L took extremely seriously.

"We wanted a protection for our customers that matched the calibre of the coreTX network itself, so that the design stays on top."

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has announced a new membership scheme targeting IT and business professionals.
 
The new membership programme is in final stage of development with some services already available. 

Due to demand, CIF is offering early access with discounted fees for early adopters.

The new scheme aims to not only provide industry professionals with ongoing resources pertinent to cloud computing, but also provide a market-recognised and respected certification and an accreditation programme.
 
Individual members will be given direct access to a range of assets including the latest market research on trends and issues affecting the Cloud computing industry, as well as Buyer's Guides, Service Guides and information on Cloud procurement and management best practices.

The CIF has also developed a Cloud Adoption Roadmap as a framework to help its members identify key milestones in the cloud adoption journey.
 
The Certification Scheme - scheduled for launch in 2015 - comprises of three levels of certification - Basic, Advanced Tech and Commercial.

The Scheme itself has been designed for those who work in IT operations, IT management and IT Directors, as well as line of business personnel such as legal and procurement and members of the Board.

The Scheme will encompass Research & Strategy, Situational Assessment, Preparation steps, Adoption best practices and cloud management.
 
Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF, stated: "We have decided to extend our membership programme to encompass individuals working in the field, and not just the vendor community.

"For us there was a missing element in the services we offer the market and educating and informing the very people who work at the 'coal face' of cloud computing was a logical next step.
 
"With Cloud computing seeing a huge increase in adoption since 2010 - by some 61.5 per cent according to our own research - what is clear is that not only is cloud here to stay, but it is now permeating throughout the overwhelming majority of organisations, regardless of whether or not they have the skills in place to manage it.

"The launch of the accreditation and certification scheme is aimed at providing a respected accreditation for those looking to reskill to take advantage of the Cloud computing revolution."
 

The Barclays Employers' Survey 2015, which questioned 666 UK businesses on a range of employment-related topics, has revealed that 72% of telecoms companies surveyed will be creating new roles (2014: 77%).

While this is a slight dip in hiring intention compared to last year, the telecoms industry remains one of the leading sectors for job creation, second only to the facilities management sector.

The sector's intention to create new jobs is considerably further ahead of the national cross-sector average, which revealed 50% of all companies plan to create new jobs this year. In further good news, none of the telecoms firms surveyed are planning to reduce headcount this year.

Despite almost half (47%) of firms in the sector claiming that wage pressure isn't an issue, 62% will be increasing wages for their staff in the year ahead.

Of those telecoms firms which are hiring, there are opportunities for new staff at every level, with 26% planning to create senior management positions (2014: 47%). 89% will be creating jobs in middle or junior management or skilled positions (2014: 96%) and 54% are likely to create jobs at entry level (2014: 60%).

42% of firms in the industry will also be taking on apprentices this year, a jump up from last year, when 32% were planning to.

When asked whether they were feeling more confident about the UK economy, compared to the same time last year, 55% confirmed they were more confident. Looking further afield at the ongoing events in Europe, 22% said they were concerned about the impact these events could have on their business.

Commenting on these findings, Andrew Skinner, Relationship Director, Barclays' Technology, Media and Telecoms team, said: "Against a positive backdrop of continued falling unemployment and wage growth outstripping inflation in recent months, it's heartening to see that a significant number of telecoms firms are planning to create new roles and increase wages for their staff."

"The uptick in intention to hire apprentices is also great to see, as apprenticeships are extremely important in nurturing and developing the next generation of leaders and can also bring significant commercial benefits.

"At Barclays we firmly believe that quality apprenticeships are fundamental to our business and we're keen to support any company that wants to tackle youth unemployment."

Other national cross sector findings:

• Almost a third (32%) of businesses gearing up to take on apprentices (vs. 29% in 2014)

• 70% of businesses in the West Midlands are expecting to increase staff levels - the highest of all the UK regions surveyed

• 78% of Welsh firms to boost wages in the year ahead , the most of any UK region (up from 57% in 2014)

• 77% of businesses still think that sales lead to job creation - as opposed to job creation leading to sales.

• 78% of vacancies in the last 12 months have been filled from within the UK. A quarter (24%) said they had hired employees from inside the EU (not including the UK) and 7% from outside the EU.

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."