Comms Dealer

Logicalis Group is to buy Inforsacom, a German IT services and solutions provider of database, storage and back-up solutions and services with operations in the major economic centres of Germany, and works with partners including Oracle, EMC, IBM, HP, HDS and Symantec.

Logicalis' existing operation in Germany will be significantly boosted by the acquisition which will expand its presence in the German IT market and provide it with the business to scale the operations in that geography.

Mark Rogers, President and COO of Logicalis Group, said: "Storage and database are two segments that are showing rapid growth in Germany, and we view this acquisition as the best move towards broadening our IT solutions and services portfolio and position us as a significant player in the German IT market."

Gigaset pro has unwrapped its first IP-based video telephone with a touchscreen display designed for business users and sold exclusively through the channel.

Designed for professional and vertical market applications, Maxwell 10 integrates telephony and video conferencing solutions for either hosted or traditional IP-based PBX and collaborative tools.

The new product is available exclusively through UK channel partners served by four distributors including Nimans, Nuvola, Provu and Corptel.

"Our research suggests that for want of a better alternative, sectors such as hospitality and front desk services are using PCs and tablets that are not designed for heavy duty telephony usage and lack traditional call management features," said Jonathan Beatson, Head of Sales and Marketing for Gigaset pro.

"Running on Android 4.2.2, Maxwell 10 offers the core call management features found across the Gigaset range with the additional benefits of accessing the wider range of Android applications via Google Playstore.

"With this new product we are opening up more opportunities for our channel partners to sell into new markets and build exciting services that are designed for business usage without the compromises imposed by consumer grade tablets."

The Maxwell 10 is also suitable for meeting rooms. It comes with a front-facing HD camera (720p), an integrated microphone, three speakers - one bass and two tweeters - and HD audio to reduce delays and echoes.

The Maxwell 10 is also equipped with technologies such as Bluetooth, HDMI, USB, WiFi and Ethernet to allow connection of external devices such as an extra conference loudspeaker, headset or access control equipment.

Manchester-based developer of telephony applications for business, Xarios Technologies, has extended its OEM partnership agreement with Mitel Networks to supply the Xarios Phone Manager with all future shipments of the Mitel MiVoice Office 250.

The new product will be called Mitel Phone manager.

Xarios Phone Manager improves the user's interaction with their telephone to the point where they don't need to touch the telephone to make or receive calls: The result is improved productivity by delivering the right information to the desktop in a manner that requires minimum training.

Xarios has been supplying the Phone Manager application with UK shipments of Mitel MiVoice Office 250 (formerly Mitel 5000 and Mitel MiVoice Office) since 2007 and this new arrangement extends the reach of this supply agreement to all shipments of MiVoice Office 250 worldwide.

The existing arrangement has proved to be a successful partnership for the two vendors with more than 4,000 sites deploying Xarios Phone Manager in the UK to date.

Chris Harris, Managing Director, Xarios, commented: "The supply of the Mitel Phone Manager is the first step in an ongoing programme to add further components of the Xarios application portfolio as fully integrated components of the Mitel Mivoice Office 250 product range.

Xarios products are designed to help organisations drive up efficiency and performance and delivery."

A poll of attendees at Cloud Clarity, a cloud-focused educational event for end users run by Node4, found that over half of IT decision makers plan to move to a fully cloud-based IT infrastructure within the next five years. But a significant minority of 27% said cloud would be unlikely for their business.

The survey also found that managing email is a key driver for cloud adoption with 47% of attendees agreeing that it would benefit their business to host mail applications in the cloud.

Data storage and file sharing were also cited by over a quarter of attendees as key applications that would benefit from being moved to the cloud. Telephony and voice communications was the other critical business application that the decision makers would like to see in the cloud.

"More and more businesses are evaluating cloud services as a tool for reducing costs, limiting risk and providing the flexibility they need to run their businesses in a fast paced, technology driven workplace," commented Steve Denby, Head of Sales South, Node4

"Rather than a risk, cloud services are now mostly viewed as an IT solution that gives organisations of all sizes access to the latest and most up to date technology, enabling businesses to gain competitive advantage."

Daisy Wholesale has launched Partner Services, a division solely focused on the provision of end-to-end technology services to the channel.

Bringing together the expertise and scale of three previously acquired businesses - Indecs, Netcrowd and Servasssure - Daisy Partner Services offers a maintenance and professional services capability for partners to support their customers' technology platforms including server and storage, networking and unified communications.

Headed up by Managing Director Jason Spring, Daisy's Partner Services will be able to provide the channel with a range of services that can be used to augment their own core offerings.

Spring said: "While our partners will be helping their customers to develop an IT and communications strategy that sees them focus on the centralisation of intelligence, Daisy Partner Services will provide them with the expertise and scale to offer an end-to-end service solution.

"While cloud spending is growing at five times the rate of other areas of IT spend, in five years time it will still represent less than 10% of the whole IT domain. The demand for on-premise services will continue and the channel's ability to rely on a partner services provider means this is a growth opportunity for Daisy.

"We are offering our partners the operational capabilities, so they can focus on their customer relationships whilst we keep things running in the background."

Terry O'Brien, Managing Director of Daisy Wholesale, added: "The union of these three agile businesses has combined a wealth of experience and skills to allow us to offer our partners an all-round effective support service.

"We have come a long way from our roots as a simple lines and calls wholesale provider. We have invested heavily in all product areas to ensure that we can offer the channel the support and services that it needs. This extension to the Daisy Wholesale offering means that our resellers have access to more opportunities, keeping them happy and profitable."

Virtual1 is ranked 28th in the 2014 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the UK.

The rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over the last five years, with Virtual1 notching up 929% growth over the period.

This is the third consecutive year that Virtual1 has maintained a ranking within the Deloitte Tech fast 50. 

Tom O'Hagan, CEO, said: "It's a fantastic achievement for everyone at Virtual1 to see that we are England's fastest growing telecoms company.

"Over the past year we've expanded our network, increased our head count and increased our partner base by a third. Our growth, at a time when we've continued investments is testament to the talent and passion of our people."

The ranking, finishes off a hugely successful year for the wholesale cloud and network services provider, who scooped a total of six awards in 2014.

"In 2015, we plan to build on our recent successes with the launch of new services, the forging of strategic partnerships and plans for a significant office expansion. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and employees for contributing to such a successful year."

Openreach is certain to garner CP plaudits following the introduction of additional resources and service enhancements that reference actual demand from CPs.

At the heart of developments is the re-launch of WLR PSTN Premium, an Optical Spread Connection offer and the Enablement Library, designed to make information relating to Openreach's products and services more accessible.

The Enablement Library is already a big hit having gained widespread approval from beta users, according to Caroline Hughes (pictured), GM Portfolio Marketing at Openreach.

"The feedback so far has been phenomenal," she said. "We are planning to expand the content and expect the site to become a critical resource for our customers."

WLR3 PSTN Premium now offers three in-tariff features (Premium Business Helpdesk, Business 2 Plus and Smart Divert), plus two bolt-on options (available at exclusive premium line discounted prices).

"Businesses rely on connections and being out of touch with customers is something they cannot afford," said Hughes. "WLR Premium offers fast, prioritised repair times, call divert capabilities, dedicated service management centre support, tighter appointment slots and named engineer services."

The Premium service is available on a per-line basis and according to Hughes it offers better value for money compared to buying individual service enhancing bolt-on products separately. She also noted that the Premium Business Helpdesk offers CPs a dedicated team of experts who will case manage complex or problematic jobs through to resolution.

This team of UK-based WLR service experts are available at all times and CPs can deal with the same person. The Premium repair service, Business 2 Plus, prioritises faults over other faults with the same SLA. "Repairs are made within two days and if Openreach fails it will pay CPs one month's line rental for every day or part day beyond this (for total loss of service)," added Hughes.

"With Premium, CPs also get our call diversion service for free. They can forward to any UK fixed or mobile or 0800 number, and some overseas numbers, so no call is missed."

As well as the in-tariff features CPs gain discounted access to two bolt-on options: More Focused Appointments (64% cheaper as part of WLR Premium) that provide access to two hour early morning or late afternoon appointment windows; and Named Engineer (50% cheaper as part of WLR Premium) which identifies the engineer that will attend the appointment slot, 48 hours in advance. This information is increasingly required by secure and sensitive sites.

Openreach's round of enhancements also proposes an Optical Spread Connection offer, launched on 1st November, enabling CPs to spread the upfront cost of an OSA Optical circuit over 12 months with no additional charges. The scheme runs until 31st March 2015.

"This offer is driving serious interest among smaller CPs," noted Hughes. "It helps them to take their first step into the optical space and compete with bigger companies.

"It makes the investment decision to adopt our highest bandwidth services easier than ever, and helps to ensure no customer is locked out from meeting the latest market needs.

"With optical products now more accessible CPs can win new business and meet growing bandwidth requirements."

In more good news that will also bring predictably positive results for CPs, Openreach has unveiled an online tool that makes customer facing collateral, educational material and training resources easy to find.

"The Enablement Library allows anyone to quickly locate, save and share brochures, fact sheets, videos and other resources on our range of products and services," commented Hughes.

"With over 130 product, service and solutions pages on our website it can be time consuming for customers to find material or notice additions. The eLibrary provides everything in one place and has a powerful search capability along with other features requested by CPs."

O2 Business has adopted a new partnership approach for its direct and distribution network that marks a big departure from its familiar modus operandi. From 1st April next year O2 Business will work with fewer direct partners, those who are more likely to win and retain high value business. The O2 Direct Partner Network will replace the existing Centre of Excellence programme, and the move reflects 'the need to evolve in an increasingly digital marketplace', said the firm.

The new programme will see O2 Business focus on developing deeper relationships with selected direct partners and key distributors.
Jason Phillips, Head of Partners for O2 Business, said: "The new O2 Direct Partner Network marks the biggest change to our partnership approach in the last five years and we're excited to bring this initiative to market.

"I am confident that this programme will give O2 Business and its partners the agility and flexibility to deliver mobility and digital solutions."

The O2 Direct Partner Network has four key components: O2 Exclusivity (new extended five year contract with additional revenue share and a range of benefits for exclusive partners); Excellence Awards (£8m investment in incentive payments over the next three years for the best partners, with two new annual awards focused on the customer and digital excellence; new commercials and a bigger dedicated support team.

Softcat has broken the £500m barrier with growth achieved entirely organically.

In its full financial results for the year ending July 31st 2014, turnover increased 28% to £504.8m, up from £395.8m the previous year. Operating profit increased 30% to £35.5m, while EBITDA improved 31% to £37.3m.

In the last four financial years turnover has increased from £146m to £505m and operating profit has grown from £10m to £35.5m.

Softcat has now delivered 36 consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth.

"We were delighted to break through the £500m barrier," said CEO Martin Hellawell.

"These exceptional growth rates have been achieved against a backdrop of a market estimated at single digit annual percentage growth.

"We have taken significant market share to achieve these results."

The growing popularity of NCONNECT's cloud telephony proposition has forced a staff recruitment campaign that aims to double the current headcount to 20 by the end of January.

NCONNECT, the UK subsidiary of Munich-based NFON AG, set-up just a year ago in west London and has already partnered with more than 30 channel companies, become accredited to the UK Government's G-Cloud framework and added tens of thousands of seats to its service.

"Our reseller recruitment has been successful for the last two quarters, and we're on track to finish our first full year in the UK with more partners than we expected and a significant in-house team with all the skills and resources to support them," said Rami Houbby, MD.

NCONNECT's parent company has operations in 12 European countries. Its founder, Marcus Otto, stated: "We see a big opportunity to invest in the UK market with more people and support for more partners.

"2015 will be a pivotal year in our continuing international expansion as we look to start and scale up in more countries."