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The global network security appliance and software revenue climbed 6% in 2014 to $6.9bn, driven by enterprises and network operators deploying security solutions aimed at protecting data and network infrastructure.

That's the upshot of Infonetics' Q4 2014 and year-end Network Security Appliances and Software report which tracks integrated security appliances, secure routers, SSL VPN gateways, VPN and firewall software, and intrusion detection and prevention products.

"Closing out 2014 on a positive note with strong performances by most of the top vendors, and especially Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet, the network security space has been on a roll as a result of some very large data centre and cloud projects," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research.

"By next year quarterly revenue growth will begin to slow as the industry transitions to lower-ASP virtualised security solutions.

"But it's not all bad news. Integrated advanced threat prevention security solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile networks and industrial environments will help support overall market growth."

Q4 2014 saw the worldwide network security market, including appliances and software, grow 4% sequentially to $1.9bn.

The top four network security vendors for the full-year 2014 are (in alphabetical order) Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet and Palo Alto. Juniper slipped out of the top tier according to Infonetics.

Data improvement remains a challenge for businesses despite 90% of organisations believing their data could potentially boost profitability by up to 15%.

That's the finding of a new report by Experian, the global information services group, which identified two key reasons for the discrepancy.

The first being a lack of ownership and co-ordination with almost 63% of organisations lacking a coherent, centralised approach to data quality.

Secondly, the use of outdated methods to check data accuracy was highlighted with 29% of organisations still manually cleaning their data.
 
Boris Huard, Managing Director of Experian Data Quality, said: "Getting your data strategy right is vital if you want to be successful in this consumer driven, digitalised age.

"Our 2015 Global Data Quality Research paper highlights the importance of having a complete data strategy in place in order to ensure that data is well managed and optimised for maximum benefit."

The good news is that companies are increasingly switching on to the value of their data assets, with 95% of respondents stating that they feel driven to use their data to either understand customer needs, find new customers or increase the value of each customer.

"They recognise that more emphasis on data management and strategy will enable them to satisfy escalating customer expectations," added Huard.
 
"However, many challenges persist with the number of respondents who think they have data inaccuracies up from last year, and the majority still lack a clear approach to data quality."

Purple WiFi, the cloud-based Social WiFi software company, has added Location Based Services to its WiFi solution.  
 
Location Based Services offer the host venue insights into consumer information and behaviour. It also provides opportunities to market to and engage customers directly via features such as Facebook demographic reporting, zoning reporting and vouchering.
 
Nisa Cardiff and Camden Market are already utilising the geo-fencing feature, drawing invisible lines around particular sales areas or locations.

This allows the business to gauge what purchases the customer might be considering and send information or offers in real-time to their mobile device.
 
Purple WiFi also allows the business to understand who is visiting and using the free WiFi, how long they are online, as well as their age, gender and any other relevant information that's included in their social networking profile.
 
Nisa in Cardiff have found that providing free Purple WiFi has brought more customers into the shop and increased their dwell time. As a result, sales of coffee, snacks and other products have increased.
 
Using Location Based Services allows Nisa to track the customer's journey around the store and adjust product displays accordingly.

The team has already identified corners of the shop where nobody goes, which had not been recognised previously. They have also been able to increase their social media engagement, gaining 'Likes' and 'Follows' which provide an opportunity for regular dialogue with their customers.
 
At Camden Market, the team has taken advantage of Purple WiFi's Facebook demographic and zoning reporting capabilities. This has enabled the identification of visitor's interest preferences from Facebook, which can be compared with national averages in order to show distinctive characteristics and better target marketing campaigns for specific traders.

Camden Market has found the vouchering tool to be particularly useful for photography competitions and promoting live events.
 
In addition, Camden Market has also looked at footfall in detail across the estate, identifying choke points and pinpointing common entrance and exit points, as well as how men move through the space versus women.
 
The customer has the right to opt-in or opt-out of tracking. If a customer is not opted in, Purple WiFi's software can still detect an anonymous MAC address, confirm whether that MAC address is a new or repeat visitor, and see how long that device stays.
 
If a customer is opted in, the device MAC address can be linked to personal data, such as their age, gender, name, email address, location, language, Likes, etc. meaning relevant vouchers can be pushed to the visitor.
 
David Morris, Head of IT at Nisa Retail, said: "The system is providing us with essential demographic information about consumers visiting these sites. The intention is to use this data to gain competitive advantage, drive consumer promotional activity and record the impact against sales."
 
Jac Timms, IT Manager, Camden Market, added: "Providing a large outdoor and indoor public hotspot over Camden Market had its challenges, but thanks to Purple WiFi's cloud based solution we were able to get up and running very rapidly. The set up was fast and Purple WiFi helped us to fine tune the system and increase location accuracy, it was smooth from start to finish.

"Being able to market to visitors when they arrive at specific venues combined with rich analytics has been a real bonus for us."
 
Gavin Wheeldon, CEO, Purple WiFi, stated: "From the retailer's point of view, useful customer information and footfall data can be collected and used to better target offers and in-store signage.
 
"From the customer's point of view, offers can be delivered direct to their device when they are in the location looking at a product area, meaning the offer is relevant there and then.

"But this is only the beginning. The next stage of development might include functionality such as requesting help from retail assistants, and skipping queues to pay all via the customer's mobile device."

Nimans has introduced a spring time bundle for its iQ X600i system (part of a family of iQ products), now available with four handsets at a 54% discount off RRP. The offer runs until the end of May.

The X600i Gateway is an Asterisk-based platform for up to 100 users, while the iQ TX 150 and TX 170 SIP handsets boast HD voice clarity and many features.

iQ Business Manager Judith Addison said: "The X600i and four associated handsets (two of each) represent a powerful way for resellers to maximise their margins as the combined retail price is over £1,200."

An industry survey has revealed the high costs IT managers are facing when dealing with unexpected downtime. Of those surveyed, the largest group (37%) estimated that the cost-per-minute of their downtime fell into the £10,000 - £20,000 bracket.

With 80% of those questioned giving their Recovery Time Objectives as two hours or greater, the results mean that the potential losses to UK businesses are significant.

The study, conducted by Timico, gave insights into the disaster recovery habits of IT managers in the UK, and revealed a lack of awareness despite the predicted cost of outages.

Timico's survey revealed that almost a quarter (24%) of IT managers acknowledged having an outage within the past month but despite that, over 70% admitted to never having worked out the cost of the resulting downtime.

Tom Moores, Sales Director for Cloud and Hosting at Timico, said: "It's no secret that downtime is inconvenient, but the physical cost to a business is troubling too.

"Being offline not only stops orders coming in during the downtime period - but also has the knock-on effect of damaging customer relationships, which can be even more costly in the long run.

"With our survey of IT managers estimating that the cost per minute of downtime often runs into the tens of thousands, it really is time to invest in adequate disaster recovery solutions."

The research also found that over 60% of SMEs had not yet rolled out any form of cloud-based back up within their business.

Moving to the cloud negates the need for dual site replication, an option still favoured by 18% of those businesses questioned. Shockingly, despite the risks, a minority of respondents even admitted to never backing up their data.

Azlan is helping resellers get to grips with Software Defined Networking (SDN) with the launch of a fully-equipped proof-of-concept and demonstration centre at its HP Enterprise Group (HP EG) Demo Lab facility in Basingstoke.

Jonathan Kaiser, General Manager Products and Services for the Azlan HP Enterprise Group, said: "SDN promises to re-define the way that infrastructures are designed and managed. But while it is deliverable today, most VARs and end user customers are only just starting to learn about the concept and everything that it entails.

"We have set up the SDN demo facility so that resellers can brief both their own teams on the technology and show their customers what SDN is all about and the benefits it can deliver."

According to IDC the worldwide SDN market for the enterprise and cloud service provider segments will grow from $960 million in 2014 to over $8 billion by 2018, a CAGR of 89.4per cent.

ScanSource has signed an agreement with Ruckus Wireless to act as a Pan European value added distributor for Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products and technology.

ScanSource will provide resellers with access to Ruckus ZoneFlex indoor and outdoor access points, and ZoneDirector controllers, software and services.

The expansion of the Ruckus relationship in Europe builds on the alliance between ScanSource and Ruckus in North America. Maurice van Rijn, MD, ScanSource POS and Barcode, Europe, said: "We look forward to providing these solutions to our reseller partners, along with the value added services and tools that can help them grow and enhance their business."

James Calderbank, Sales Director for Ruckus in EMEA, added: "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."

Creating everything as a service (XaaS) and delivering innovation is set to be the major driver of IT development this year as XaaS becomes the preferred consumption model for enterprises, claims IT Europa in the lead up to the European Software and Solutions Summit in London on March 25th.

In its conference sessions the summit (incorporating the eighth European ISV Convention) will feature speakers from Gartner, HP, Interoute, Oracle, Salesforce.com and Verizon delivering their visions of how this changes how users buy IT, who buys it and how it is paid for.

More and more, businesses expect IT to enable their staff to work wherever they are located and via whatever device is most appropriate, says Duncan Campbell Senior Director, EG Alliances Marketing and Business Development Hewlett-Packard Company who is one of the presenters.

"They want to have technology on-demand that can scale and is secure, PLUS pay only for what they consume. They want IT to innovate with the line of business to enable them to transform their processes and the user experience. Those IT departments that do not engage with the business will not be relevant, and their budgets will be impacted."

The impact on IT suppliers and channels is profound: "To stay competitive, ISVs, sellers and marketers must understand the new buyers, rivals and challenges brought by the Nexus of Forces, digital business and the Internet of Things," says Gartner's Errol Rasit.

Providers, facing the impact of business-model disruption on their license and maintenance streams, risk losing their revenue and their relevance. Their partners and delivery models are shifting, not least because of the cloud. Buying behaviour is embracing consumer models. New business decision makers and non-traditional users are entering the market, requiring radically different marketing. Navigating this complexity, remaining relevant and driving growth requires fresh thinking that will revolutionizse partnering, sales and marketing structures, he warns.

John Abel, Senior Director, EMEA Engineered Systems at Oracle will discuss how Oracle works with cloud channels in the "Everything-as-a-Service" era, while Melissa Di Donato, AVP, EMEA and APAC, Channel & ISV Programs at Salesforce.com reveals how to "Connect With Your Customers in a Whole New Way". The Internet of Things is a new phase of global transformation powered by technology and innovation, she says.

Other speakers include Matthew Finnie, Interoute CTO on how the pervasiveness of cloud computing, its convenience and efficiency has made buying infrastructure as a service the defacto for many enterprises and digital businesses.

Capitalising on this momentum now requires the next phase in evolution of Cloud Computing toward a fully integrated digital platform, he argues - 'one that converges sophisticated network and computing in one webscale enterprise and digital business infrastructure platform'.

Verizon will look at how, in times of technological change, the right blend of assets can help channels meet evolving customer demands, expand into new markets, and grow revenue.

www.eusss.com

Red Box Recorders has become an Alliance Level member in ShoreTel's Innovation Network, a community of technology partners.
 
Red Box was invited to upgrade its membership to Alliance Level after receiving positive feedback from ShoreTel resellers and customers about its Quantify Recording Suite solution.

Following successful validation testing between Quantify and ShoreTel's latest telephony platform, ShoreTel 14.2, both companies are now sharing knowledge and expertise to offer fully integrated voice and data recording solutions.
  
Adrian Hipkiss, Managing Director EMEA at ShoreTel, said: "Our Innovation Network provides an interactive community of technology partners with the expertise to develop tightly integrated solutions with ShoreTel. Red Box will add considerable value to our portfolio and us to theirs."
 
Will Hopkins, Sales Director at Red Box Recorders, added: "Becoming an Alliance Level member of the Innovation Network will help Red Box gain greater visibility within ShoreTel's sales, marketing, reseller and customer communities, particularly in the US which is a growing market for the business." 

Maintel's Sales and Marketing Director Angus McCaffery will experience an early summer heatwave in April when he runs the Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert, billed as the 'toughest footrace on earth'.

McCaffery aims to clock-up 150 miles in six days in aid of two charities - Prostate Cancer UK and the Stroke Association.

"I'm running in memory of John Bassett my father-in-law who died in 2013," he said. "Having never asked for sponsorship before, and with my assurances I won't be asking again, I thought I'd go large with my chosen challenge."

The event is a self-supporting 'ultra marathon' and will see McCaffery endure up to 50-degrees heat and sand storms. "Two weeks later, all being well, I plan on running the London Marathon to top it off," he stated. "The training is intense. I've completed eight marathons and ultra-marathons in the last nine months, and I have been running up to 70 miles every week.

"Barring an injury I hope to be as prepared as I can be by the time I go, and assuming I finish the Marathon des Sables and can still walk, the London Marathon should be a formality."

McCaffery's progress can be followed via his blog and the @maintel twitter account where regular updates on the race will be posted.

To find out more, in McCaffery's own words, view his pre race video here

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