Comms Dealer

The role of resellers in the success of M2M is assured providing they drill into their customer bases where big opportunities exist, according to Anton Le Saux, Head of M2M Managed Connectivity and Partner Sales at Telefonica Digital.

Many large enterprises are looking to replace existing processes and systems with smart solutions to drive efficiencies and reduce costs. And the typical SME is now seeing smart M2M solutions as a way of creating scale and competing with larger businesses in the same vertical, according to Le Saux. "The forecasted growth for M2M over the next five years is 25 per cent year-on-year for revenue and new connections," he stated. "Over the last year we have seen much bigger numbers and I believe we will continue to see a higher growth number. The scale of the market is vast with the range of verticals expanding. While this creates opportunities it also presents a challenge in terms of market positioning."

The basis of Telefonica's direct strategy is to place a few 'big bets' rather than try to conquer the entire M2M market. "Our smart metering bid worth £1.65 billion is testament to this," added Le Saux. "However, these big wins will create a hornet's nest of activity in similar solutions and sectors. As an MNO we don't have the direct reach to cover all of what is coming. Our long-term relationship with the channel and our past experience and support mechanisms will allow us to create the reach in M2M through partners to ensure that everyone is successful."

Telefonica has been selling M2M solutions through the channel for over 15 years. But up until the last couple of years M2M has been a niche marketplace. Not now. "We believe we have hit the tipping point as M2M solutions and technologies become the norm," said Le Saux. "No longer is M2M niche, it is fast becoming essential to businesses and consumers. The technology is everywhere and growing fast. We are all using smart machines and devices every day that have some form of M2M capability built into them."

Telefonica is working with a range of channel partners to monetise M2M opportunities. The company has adopted a global approach to partnering with roaming agreements covering 368 operators in 154 countries, all available on one SIM through a single platform. "Whatever our channel partners need, from just connectivity to full solutions, software or hardware, Telefonica has a medium for them to go to market," added Le Saux. "The objective is to create an ecosystem of M2M providers who could be our vertical solution partners in the future."

He intends to bring the M2M opportunity to life for all potential partners that operate in the comms and IT space. Another key objective is to make it easy for partners to move into M2M by having everything accessible via a self-serve portal such as package and solutions builders, quoting tools and step-by-step tutorials. This way new entrants can come into this space, build solutions and make money while they learn.

"Our principal challenge is waking up the reseller channel to the opportunity presented by IoT," added Le Saux. "Although we have signed up a large number of resellers already we have only just scratched the surface. Everyone knows about IoT, the only issue for debate is how many tens of billions of devices will be connected by 2020 and how many trillions of pounds the market will be worth. In spite of this, few resellers are preparing themselves to capitalise as the market continues to grow. Many resellers are unsure of the proposition, but we implore them to get on board with M2M and seize this opportunity."

Resellers wanting to take their first steps into M2M should look at their existing customer base, the similarities those customers have and identify the most accessible opportunities. "There is little sense in targeting a completely fresh vertical such as vehicle telemetry if the previous sales success was predominantly in a different sector such as retail," noted Le Saux. "The recommendation would be to add M2M services to the existing product portfolio and sell telecoms, IT, managed services, connectivity and now M2M as a joined up solution. Once resellers have done this and seen the opportunity they can start to diversify."

There are many addressable verticals within IoT such as vehicles, health, agriculture, retail, epos, buildings and wearables. Resellers can either position themselves within one or many of these market sectors or use the M2M ecosystem to offer solutions to their base that fit the needs of many sectors. Within each vertical market it is likely there will be connectivity delivered through a managed platform, powering an application sat on a particular device. "The opportunities, and the ways of going about winning in the M2M market are practically infinite," added Le Saux. "Once resellers start digging into their base and having smarter conversations about the challenges a customer faces they will find M2M opportunities in almost every one of their key customers."

As far as the customer is concerned resellers are the value chain. For many years customers have trusted resellers with the keys to the IT room and this status puts them in a prime position when it comes to M2M, believes Le Saux. "Most resellers offer more than one solution to their customers," he said. "The key to their success is not to see M2M as another, separate value chain but to see it as another product or solution that they can supply to existing customers.

"Resellers have far more value in the chain than Telefonica. As an MNO all we supply is the connectivity. For M2M to work someone has to supply the hardware, software and IT solutions that will make sense of any data that is being passed between smart machines and devices. Whether the reseller develops their own solutions and software or uses a third party, the fact that they are ultimately providing the billing and support for the end-to-end product ultimately makes them the most important part of the value chain to the customer."

Two Telefonica partners new to M2M in 2014 will write close to £2.4 million of M2M business before the close of the year. This has prompted the company to modify its strategy to ensure all sizes and types of reseller can establish a relationship with Telefonica. "We have created a partner on-boarding process which coupled with our transparent pricing model means that barriers to entry into the M2M market in partnership with Telefonica are practically non-existent," claimed Le Saux. "Early adopters who execute successfully could become increasingly aligned to Telefonica with a view to jointly targeting vertical sectors within the market."

Telefonica's channel proposition starts with a Global Partner Program that gives partners access to products and local pricing and support in other Telefonica territories such as Spain, Germany and Latin America. "The proposition that we are taking to market has also been tailored to suit all levels of experience and expertise in M2M," explained Le Saux. "For partners that have the experience and capability to supply their customers with a full end-to-end solution they can buy their connectivity directly from Telefonica, they can get access to our bespoke solutions and make sure they tailor their bid to give them the optimum opportunity to succeed. For partners that are new to M2M and perhaps don't have the same experience or ready made M2M platforms, we have created an ecosystem where they can get access to the support and services that they need from one of our fully accredited and approved aggregators."

Telefonica's principal challenge was initially managing the levels of interest from the channel. It has signed up over 100 partners already and the number is expected to more than double over the near term. Another key challenge is educating the channel. "The level of understanding around M2M varies massively among resellers," added Le Saux. "To combat this we are doing all we can to increase market awareness and presence through events and media outreach. The most critical action has been adopting a two tier support approach where we have the most experienced legacy M2M partners offering support and solutions to new entrants."

The opportunity presented by IoT is no longer up for debate, according to Le Saux. "We are seeing a growing propensity to buy M2M services from all manner of customers, from a typical SME to large enterprise customers, presenting a great opportunity for resellers of all sizes," he said. "The IoT is happening all around us and will continue to grow, with or without us. We see a huge portion of this opportunity being realised through the reseller channel, and most of the independent analysts agree. The key is to understand customers and the challenges they face as businesses. Many M2M solutions remove complexity, increase efficiency and dramatically reduce costs."

Le Saux's top priority is to educate resellers about M2M and IoT and what it could mean for their businesses. "We want to help channels understand the technology and how it can benefit them and their customers, and we also want to educate them on how to make money through long-term recurring revenues," Le Saux commented. "We want to accelerate the recruitment of M2M resellers. We see velocity as being critical to our success and the success of our partners."?

Telefónica Business Solutions is extending its m2m Global Partner Programme to Latin America throughout 2015. Since its initial launch one year ago, more than 500 registered companies in Europe and the United States have contributed to build a consolidated m2m partner ecosystem.

The launch of the Programme in Latin America is the final stage of this successful global rollout as it extends its scope to this key market which, according to Industry Analysts, is expected to grow by 20% yearly with up to 45 million connections and €1 billion in revenues by 2019.? ?The m2m Global Partner Programme is Telefónica's approach to the m2m managed connectivity business. The Programme aims to work in collaboration with the key players in the m2m value chain such as device manufacturers, solution providers and distributors, offering a simple, structured and transparent Channel Programme that boosts both the partners' business and Telefónica's managed connectivity sales.? ?By leveraging Telefónica's presence in the region, the launch will enrich the Partner Ecosystem with new players and solutions.

Companies that join will benefit from increased commercial visibility and the possibility to scale their business throughout the region using Telefónica's networks as well as more than 400 roaming agreements that allow optimal coverage on a national and regional level. While creating this ecosystem, Telefónica will also be able to identify the best solution providers in the market that may qualify to become a Vertical Solution partner in the future.? ?Alfonso de Andrés, Director, Telefónica Digital Channels, responsible for the m2m Global Partner Programme worldwide, said: "The m2m Global Partner Programme has proven to be a successful model to manage the m2m connectivity business in Europe and the United States.

"Therefore, expanding it to Latin America was the natural next step. We look forward to having the Programme fully implemented in LatAm during 2015 as we believe it will have a great impact in developing the m2m market in the region."? ?The m2m Global Partner Programme has been recently launched in Peru and Mexico and is scheduled in four additional countries (Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil) throughout the first half of 2015.
Other countries in the region will then follow suit during the second half of 2015.

Exertis has agreed a contract with iHealth to distribute the company's range of connected health products in the UK including blood pressure monitors, wireless scales, fitness devices and glucometers.

Founded as part of the Andon Health Group in California in 2009 and launched in Europe in 2013, iHealth operates in the high growth connected health market and claims over 50% market share.

Joe Officer, Head of Accessories for Exertis, said: "Health services globally are struggling with the burden of growing/aging populations and continue to put more emphasis onto patients directly to monitor their own well-being.

"And more generally, consumers themselves want to use their increasing number of connected devices to proactively stay in tune with their bodies. The potential for iHealth in the UK is vast."

Stéphane Kerrien, European Sales Director, iHealth, added: "Our partnership with Exertis is a strategic decision to help us continue our growth plans for the UK market."

More than half of ShoreTel's partners in the United States are offering cloud services just one year after cloud tiers were added to the vendor's Champion Partner Program.

"More than 40 per cent of our US partners carrying our on-premises solutions have added ShoreTel Sky to their business, and many more are joining every day.

"This uptake shows our partner community's strong desire to participate in the growing cloud segment, which we've supported with education and training initiatives," said David Petts, senior vice president of worldwide sales at ShoreTel.

Andrew Gray, Marketing Director, EMEA, added: "Cloud adoption is growing strongly in the UK and we feel the time is now right for us to launch our cloud proposition.

"Many of our partners are strong competitors in the managed service and cloud market and we've been working with them to define precisely what service they require from us.

"The platform we've built utilises all we have learnt from being innovators and market leaders in the US, and is refined to meet the UK channel's requirements around flexibility, billing, integration and most importantly, the ability to create hybrid solutions.

"We will be making announcements regarding our launch at our Partner Conference in April."

Cobweb Solutions has joined the Cloud Industry Forum's (CIF) growing roster of members.

Julian Dyer, CTO and co-founder, Cobweb, said: "Joining CIF demonstrates our dedication to the cause of educating business about cloud technologies and capabilities, and raising standards in the industry.

"I believe the cloud is an engine for liberating businesses from constraints, and that it is only just beginning to show its power, and we are focused on delivering services that our customers aren't even dreaming of, yet, from new technologies and communications to UK-based platforms."

Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF, added: "Cobweb Solutions joins CIF with a stellar reputation and a great deal of experience in hosted and cloud services. With a focus on reliability, security and support, Cobweb is a prime candidate for CIF membership."

A global study of almost 2,100 contracts covering deals worth £7.8 billion suggests that cloud-based services are failing to capture the popular imagination of UK businesses. 

It also suggests that organisations are increasing the level of IT services they outsource to improve service delivery, with many investing budgets saved over the past few years on HR, sales and finance support.
 
Published by KPMG, the 8th annual 'service Provider and Performance Satisfaction' study includes detailed analysis of current corporate IT spend in Britain, by examining more than 330 UK-based contracts. 

It reveals that 71 percent of UK organisations are spending a mere 10 percent, or less, of their IT budget on Cloud services.   

Many organisations are also continuing to rely on 'tried and tested' outsourcing models and the survey shows that favoured destinations for IT support services remain India (51 percent), Poland (8 percent) and South Africa (8 percent).
 
Asked why they are reticent about employing Cloud services, the top 3 reasons cited by UK C-suite respondents centred around data location, security and privacy risks (26 percent), concerns over regulation and compliance (16 percent) and cynicism around the ease with which Cloud services can integrate with legacy IT systems (15 percent).
 
"Despite widespread acceptance that Cloud services offer access to the latest technologies, and make IT more accessible, adoption remains relatively sluggish. 

"While concern about the security risks surrounding new technology is understandable it may also be disproportionate, as

"Cloud options are just as safe as other outsourcing solutions.  Of course, investors and stakeholders will welcome caution on the part of the buyers, but they also want to see innovation, meaning that UK plc will need to find the right balance to remain competitive," says Jason Sahota, director in KPMG's Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory team.
 
The survey goes on to reveal that, despite the economy picking up, some companies across the UK are still nervous when it comes to committing to long-term investments.  Asked about their IT outsourcing plans for the next two to three years, just 43 percent said they plan to increase spending.  This figure contrasts with 77 percent, this time last year.
 
However, where budget has been set aside for outsourcing, it is clear that organisational thinking is maturing.  When the survey was first undertaken, respondents focused primarily on cost savings as their reason to outsource - but this year's survey shows that the search for quality improvement (20 percent), access to skills (16 percent) and a desire to reduce the time it takes to 'get things to market' (6 percent) are driving the rationale behind IT outsourcing decisions.
 
The findings also suggest that satisfaction levels remain high in the UK, with 77 percent of respondents reporting that they are comfortable with the support they receive.  Worryingly, however, the research shows inconsistencies in how businesses are approaching integration and governance of the services they outsource.  The majority (70 percent) said that their IT function currently performs the role of service integrator, whilst only half (50 percent) have partially met the expected benefits of service integration and management.
 
Sahota concludes: "As IT forms an inseparable part of the wider business strategy in many organisations, technology decisions are now rarely left to the CIO alone.  It means that, with the potential for conflict over the choices being made, organisations should dedicate a greater level of investment towards governance than they may have in the past.  If they fail to do so as they move towards more complex delivery models, poor governance can impact their ability to provide quality services, increasing risks around cost, service quality and delivery."

Technology Services Group (TSG) has confirmed its sponsorship of the Westfield Health British Transplant Games, an event designed for people who have had life-saving organ transplant surgery and the families of donors.

The 2015 NewcastleGateshead Transplant Games are organised by the charity Transplant Sport and will be held from July 30th to August 2nd.

Carole Beverley, marketing and communications director at TSG, said: "TSG staff are investing a lot of time and effort into helping the organisers make sure the 38th British Transplant Games will be one of the biggest and most celebrated events in the region this year.

"We are providing expertise in marketing and fundraising along with financial support. It's been an exceptionally satisfying experience so far. It's also a great opportunity for employee engagement and we will be putting a team into the Donor Run along the quayside and asking for volunteers to help with the games.

"The organising committee contains people with tremendous energy and passion and if we can help them raise awareness of the Games and encourage more regional businesses to participate in whatever way they can then we'll be delighted."

The four day event will see competitors take part in a range of sporting activities including swimming at the Sunderland Aquatic Centre, track and field at Gateshead International Stadium, golf, tennis, bowling and around 25 other adult's and children's activities at various venues across the region.

As well as providing the opportunity for athletes of all ages and abilities from around the country to compete, the organisers hope that the games will help raise awareness of the importance of registering onto the NHS Organ Donor register and Anthony Nolan register set up to help save the lives of people with blood cancer.

Carole added: "The British Transplant Games are hugely important for giving the competitors a chance to celebrate the new lease of life that their transplants have given them.

"It also helps show the local community just how vital it is for relevant organ donors to be available especially when you hear the staggering facts that more than 10,000 in the UK currently need an organ transplant, three people die each day waiting for a transplant and only 32% of the British population are on the NHS Donor Register. The very least we can do is help raise awareness.

"So many people will be connected in one way or another to a transplant story within their family or through close friends. So this is also about showing the appreciation for all the fantastic medical teams involved around the country and especially in the North East whose hard work brings hope to all those undergoing transplant surgery."

The Donor Run is on Saturday August 1st and will be staged along the NewcastleGateshead Quayside.

Pictured: TSG founder Graham Wylie with supporters of the 2015 NewcastleGateshead Transplant Games

Despite UK businesses having a legal obligation to protect their employees, 48 per cent of businesses in the channel have insufficient measures in place to protect their staff when working alone, according to recent research.

A study undertaken on behalf of communications business Daisy Group found that over three quarters (78%) of people were required to work alone as part of their job, either regularly or occasionally, and a quarter of all of those surveyed (25%) said their employer never checked the welfare of staff when working alone.

Of those required to work either alone or off-site (for example attending meetings), 63 per cent said that the monitoring arrangements in the organisation they worked for were haphazard. Just one in eight (12%) said they were aware that they had responsibilities to let others know of their whereabouts and to 'check in' with colleagues when working alone.

If incapacitated due to an accident whilst working alone, one in seven lone workers said that they would expect it to take up to seven hours for their colleagues to notice they were missing.

The Office of National Statistics estimates that there are approximately six million lone workers in the UK, however the research suggests that the number could be much higher when taking into consideration occasional lone working, such as attending client meetings, doing site visits or making deliveries.

Marie Wheatley, Group Head of HR at Daisy Group, said: "Most businesses are very proactive about looking after their staff whilst they are on site, but it seems that there's a real case of 'out of sight, out of mind' when it comes to their lone workers.

"Whether staff are spending the majority of their time unsupervised or just occasionally going to client meetings, businesses need to acknowledge their responsibilities to educate their lone workers about procedures and to take adequate steps to make sure that, in the event of a problem, staff have an adequate support network.

"Lone worker protection used to be very expensive, but there are now a variety of options available to suit businesses' needs and budget, whether it's lone worker devices or apps, GPS tracking for staff smartphones, or simply getting a special phone tariff for inter-company calls to operate a buddy system.?
"Whilst it is good to see that some businesses make suitable provisions to protect lone workers, it is disappointing that there are so few of them. In this day and age, and with all the technology at their disposal, there really is no excuse for businesses to leave lone worker safety to chance."

Daisy Group's low-cost tips for improving lone worker safety
• Establish good practice. Most employees are unaware that they have a responsibility for their own safety. Remind staff to inform colleagues of their intended whereabouts and to check in on a regular basis when working alone or off site.
• Assess the risk. Some work situations are more dangerous than others. Identify what likely scenarios the lone worker could come up against, and what level of protection is required to mitigate the situation.
• Multi-task. Assess whether you could make use of your company's existing telecoms or IT provision, or if it could be adapted to better protect lone workers, such as through using lone worker apps on mobile phones, GPS tracking on mobile devices, or getting a better rate on intercompany calls so that colleagues can stay in touch without phone bills shooting up.
• Test the system. Check whether, in the event of a problem, staff would know when and how to report it. Are there any situations when processes wouldn't work? Could you get in touch the employee's next of kin, should you need to?
• Ask for feedback. Many lone workers will be aware of potential problems before they happen, such as areas with a poor phone signal or high instances of violent crime, so work towards solving problems before they occur. Ask staff whether they have any safety concerns and work together to alleviate them, such as switching mobile phone networks to improve signal.

Jim Sewell, who helped establish one of the most successful telecoms resellers in the UK - London-based Alternative Networks - has issued a rallying call to industry giants to put their weight behind a new charity initiative.

Sewell has left his full time sales director role at Alternative to help set up a new 'Entrepreneur Panel' though the international Restless Development charity, which he has worked with since his youth.

"After leaving college at 18 I taught English, history and maths for nine months in a rural school in Zimbabwe with a very special organisation called Student Partnerships Worldwide, which is now Restless Development. This was a fantastic formative experience and one that gave me a love of Africa, and a great respect for the people there," explained Sewell.

"Over the last few years I have had an ambition to have more time to work on the Restless side and help set up and run some new fundraising projects, as well as having more time with the family and to do more cycling events," said Jim.

Sewell cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End with a team from Alternative in 2012 and completed sections of the Tour De Force, which cycles the route of the main Tour de France the week before the professionals.

"I really believe that companies want to work closely with charities but often find it hard to know how, unless someone internally has a specific passion. One of the reasons I left Alternative was to help put a charity/business engagement plan in place which is mutually beneficial."

The idea is that telecoms and IT entrepreneurs in the UK - either individually or through their businesses - fund livelihood projects in Africa.

"I am hugely motivated by the Entrepreneur Panel, as it makes complete sense to help people set up businesses and therefore support those around them and be self-sufficient," added Sewell.

For more details see next month's Comms Dealer, call Jim Sewell on 07973 738 935 or email Ella@restlessdevelopment.org

Spencer Bradshaw has joined ShoreTel as Head of Solution Architects and Advanced Applications in EMEA.

Previous roles include stints at Central Telecom and Vodafone.

Adrian Hipkiss, MD EMEA at ShoreTel, said: "Spencer brings to our expanding EMEA business his 22-year experience in unified communications, business transformation, contact centre and mobility technologies.

"With cloud a key focus for our organisation moving forwards, he has arrived from a value added reseller which specialises in cloud solutions."