Comms Dealer

In a bid to drive greater productivity and customer uptime Calyx has extended its management services portfolio, doubling the number of services solutions it offers.

Following investment in a new automated toolset focused on the prevention or early detection of IT-related problems, Calyx has added 13 more managed services solutions.

The new catalogue has been designed to offer a modular approach, providing customers with a choice of services from which they can cherry pick according to the needs of their business.

"Businesses today are having to manage a growing volume and variety of technology," says Steve Clark, Calyx CEO.

"Many have neither the time nor the necessary skills and expertise to do this in-house. That's why outsourcing is quickly becoming the best option for many businesses. And it is that growing demand that our extended management services portfolio is designed to address."

Development of the portfolio has been spearheaded by Stuart Pooley, Calyx's Head of Service Delivery, harnessing input from across the business.

"In the past, most IT support has tended to be reactive, with the focus on getting systems back online as fast as possible to avoid loss of productivity" said Pooley.

"However, with prolonged downtime becoming less acceptable, customers are looking for providers who can prevent the majority of problems before they have an impact."

The new portfolio has a strong focus on security. Key modules include email content filtering; web content filtering; network and security services; password services and compliance management.

On-site mobility solutions are great tools for leveraging existing business relationships, but wireless solutions are not quoted as often as they should be, according to Mark Shane, Sales Director at distributor ICON.

Upselling, developing new clients and expanding into new fields are just a few of the opportunities resellers can miss out on because they are not aware of the opportunity, or the wireless solution they support lacks the required functionality. "Some resellers sell and support wireless solutions where the handsets are designed and built only for use in office or carpeted areas," said Shane. "This narrow focus means that the opportunity to place solutions in areas of the organisation such as production, service delivery and dispatch is frequently overlooked."

There is a perception among some resellers that wireless handsets are no more than a mobile alternative for a desk phone. But with enterprise quality wireless solutions the handset is frequently used as a component of a business or process solution. And in some cases, such as the Spectralink BYOD type handset PIVOT, its role as an endpoint for a PBX is secondary to its use as a device for running business apps or reporting the real-time status of an organisation's control, process or monitoring systems. "This extended capability opens up opportunities for the reseller to quote a wireless on-site mobility solution as part of a total business solution," added Shane.

He cited one particular case where a reseller proposed to install a DECT solution in a hotel. After a call to ICON, the reseller was able to expand the proposal to include the management of the hotel's fire control system using Spectralink mobility solutions. "It is this ability to see and understand the bigger picture that is key to ensuring that opportunities are not missed," said Shane. "Adding a wireless handsets to the proposal as part of a business solution will differentiate resellers from the competition, deliver greater value to the customer, and produce better margin."

Demand is strong across all traditional verticals, noted Shane. However, there is particular strong growth in on-site voice mobility solutions for real-time messaging. "This is not to be confused with the handset-to-handset text messaging solutions available on many wireless solutions," he explained. "Real-time messaging is the integration of a business' process and monitoring solutions with the corporate telephone network, making it possible for staff to be automatically informed of critical events. These internal M2M type deployments can trigger alerts to Spectralink Wi-Fi or DECT handsets whenever a state of a machine, control system or other monitored system changes."

Demand for this type of service comes not only from the hospitality vertical where these solutions are important for guest safety and service but also from retail and manufacturing sectors. The smartphone trend has also spurred growth in demand for the enterprise wireless solutions. As more and more companies look to use intelligent endpoints as part of their business process it is becoming evident that the smartphone device has some significant drawbacks. "Companies are turning to dedicated enterprise wireless solutions from Spectralink such as the smartphone like PIVOT handset," added Shane. "PIVOT runs android applications like a smartphone but also delivers quality QOS, trouble free roaming and wire line like voice quality."

Wi-Fi and DECT are no longer competitive technologies, believes Shane. However, in those cases where simple voice mobility is required the technology attributes do play a significant part in the decision about which solution to select. In these cases, issues of cost prevail and considerations usually focus on the quality of the wireless infrastructure and whether or not it will support a Wi-Fi solution.

However, when the on-site mobility solution is deployed as part of a business solution then each technology is developing its own unique strengths and attributes. "Voice over Wi-Fi is best suited to data intensive applications where voice is not the primary requirement," commented Shane. "DECT on the other hand is the better option for low data intensive messaging apps and were voice quality and extreme handset robustness is required. Only in scenarios where DECT and Wi-Fi could deliver equally does it come down to issues of deployment such as legacy infrastructure and choice of handset."

In the medium-term telecoms and IT resellers will need to offer some form of voice mobility solution that will support a range of business applications. There is a fundamental restructuring taking place in the market where voice and solution mobility is key. "Enterprise quality wireless solutions are no longer being used as mere mobile desk phone replacements," added Shane.

"They are being integrated with real-time messaging solutions to deliver critical management and control information to staff, or in the case of the PIVOT smartphone solution being used to provide an android platform on which to run business applications. The opportunity for the reseller is to exploit these new applications by selling a business solution rather than an on-site mobile handset."•

Panasonic has entered the cloud market following a link up with Radius Communications that sees the vendor offering cloud PBX and cloud contact centre services to the UK and Ireland. We got the story from Bob Mercer, Panasonic's Network Communications Group Manager.

Radius Communications has developed a bespoke cloud service - called storm - for Panasonic which is fully interoperable and works in conjunction with Panasonic's hardware, including its latest range of SIP handsets as well as the vendor's on premise PBX systems. The solution has been designed to enable Panasonic's distributors to take cloud PBX services and hybrid deployments using Panasonic CPE to their traditional SME customer base, as well as secure new business with larger PBX and advanced contact centre deployments. storm also offers inbound-outbound call routing through the cloud.

This storm cloud service is now ready for launch in the UK with a further launch in Ireland planned for later this year. Panasonic manufactures over 300,000 PBXs a year and the move is a response to declining demand for in-situ PBXs and the growing trend for cloud telephony, noted Mercer. "Though Panasonic remains committed to the development of customer premise systems, the rapid expansion of the cloud segment of the PBX market has shown us that there is increasing demand for hosted alternatives," he said. "storm is our response to this demand, and will offer our customers the same enterprise grade features that they have come to expect from our range of PBX systems."

The storm proposition represents a new addition to the Panasonic product family and a decisive move for the organisation as it seeks to expand its range of communications services. Users of the new storm services will be able to use the platform as a standalone PBX replacement from the cloud or as part of a hybrid deployment alongside existing Panasonic equipment.

"We feel the system is flexible so that users of the new storm services will be able to use the platform as a standalone end-to-end PBX replacement, or as part of a hybrid deployment alongside existing Panasonic equipment," said Mercer. "So as a simple example a user may choose to add inbound-outbound call service routing to an existing PBX solution through the cloud as a start point, then upgrade the whole estate to a hosted solution at a later date.

"Our core focus on providing PBX systems has not changed and we have new products scheduled for later this year which will continue to meet the needs of our channel partners, but the rapid expansion of the cloud segment of the PBX market has shown us that there is increasing demand for hosted alternatives. Our channel strategy is unchanged, and our key distribution partners will be central in assisting to market, sell and support the product to the reseller community."

Mercer has witnessed first hand Panasonic PBXs being replaced by rival cloud solutions. "This has been frustrating to say the least," he commented. "We can't stop the trend towards cloud so we needed to find the right answer. We took time in building our partnership as it was important that we found the correct product and the right partner to ensure that our customers could remain loyal to Panasonic and benefit from selling a Panasonic-led hosted offering."

The launch of storm is also a response to Panasonic resellers who have been asking for a cloud solution. "We have some dedicated resellers who, like the end users, were keen to remain loyal to Panasonic but could see that they risked losing business by doing so. The response from resellers, so far, has been great, so hopefully they see it as worth the wait," added Mercer.

Once the concept of cloud storage and cloud computing was proven, it was only a matter of time before telephony followed suit. The pace of change is surprising, but it's a way of saving money and that has been a huge driver for most businesses over the last five years. "The biggest problem with current cloud solutions is that they do not offer all the features that customers are familiar with on a PBX, but this is where the storm product comes into its own by faithfully replicating all PBX functionality," added Mercer.

"Our strategy is to work closely with our resellers, particularly those with an IT skill set, and to build with them initially, then roll out to the broader market," commented Mercer. "Training is the key to understanding the product and to making the sale. In partnership with Radius we have put all the tools in place to ensure success for our partners."

Several UK resellers have now contracted to use the new storm services, and Mercer is excited about the platform's prospects for 2014. He added: "Panasonic is performing well at this time and the move to a more B2B focused model will only benefit our channel partners. And our objectives are clear in the cloud collaboration model. We know the forecasts show the traditional PBX market in EMEA to be declining by around 10-12 per cent every year in favour of hosted, so we aim to fill this gap."•

Putting a finger on the pulse of megatrends driving Enterprise IT 3.0 and Industry 4.0 are top of the agenda at this year's Comms Vision Convention, writes Content Director John Chapman.

For the last nine years Comms Vision has provided the platform for industry and business experts to air their views and pass on their wisdom about the future of the comms industry and its relevance to the broader economic development of our country. This is why Comms Vision is a magnet for CEOs and senior managers of comms channel companies who gain not only the opportunity to listen to eminent speakers on important topics but also the chance to debate and discuss issues with their peers across the industry. Comms Vision 2014 will again be the highlight of the year for these important decision makers and strategists from the comms channel as we expand on our theme of 'Digitalisation - driving new enterprise and industry business models'.

The reason we are using the term Digitalisation in our theme this year is because it is what industry and business thinkers are using to describe a broad change that is happening around business structures and organisations resulting from the influence of IT and communications technologies. For once it is not the technologists coming up with another buzzword, rather business analysts trying to put a name to a phenomena that is rapidly changing the way enterprise and industry structures their operations and activities to maximise the opportunities that advancements in IT and communications technologies and services offers them.

Digitalisation is leading organisations to rethink business concepts, models and structures in such a fundamental way that many business analysts are viewing the phenomena as a new era for IT and a new paradigm for industry. This has led to the terms Enterprise IT 3.0 and Industry 4.0 as a way of describing what is happening and its importance.

Enterprise IT 3.0 describes the third era of IT. The first being where IT was a specialisation focused on technology solving specific problems and the second being the industrialisation of IT based around processes, solutions, efficiency and effectiveness. This third era of IT, based around Digitalisation, is now all about supporting business models and enabling organisations to innovate and create new types of value around the data they hold.

Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, is a term supported by many governmental and industry bodies across Europe to explain the way Digitalisation and technologies such as embedded IT, Internet of Things, Big Data, Analytics and ubiquitous communications are changing not only production processes but also the industrial ecosystem.

This Digitalisation of business and industry is not just happening because of the more obvious issues we often discuss around mobility, the cloud and the web but because there are fundamental underlining technology and IT industry trends driving the demand for ITC to support and catalyse business innovation.

In our first open session at Comms Vision we will explore these Megatrends and debate the extent to which they will shape the Digitalisation of business. Topics we will cover will include Software Defined Everything - making IT more responsive, Internet of Everything - the rise of embedded intelligence, Cloud/Hybrid IT & Managed Services - changing the way IT is delivered and, A new dawn for Telcos -less infrastructure more services.

Fundamentally, however, it is not these technology megatrends that are most important as Martyn Etherington, CMO, Mitel explains: "The biggest megatrend missing from Digitalisation is from a customer perspective. People have changed the way they buy, we have to change the way we sell. In 2013, the Sales Benchmark Index published research that found typical customers complete 70 per cent of their buying journey before contacting a supplier. The buyers' journey starting point, or where the buyers due diligence begins, is on the web and at something called the Zero Moment of Truth.

"Typically they will begin this journey by typing a key word, phrase or sentence into google or a search engine of their choice. This fundamental shift in behaviour is the result of a new breed of buyer. The new buyer is well informed, technology enabled, saturated with media, and suffering from information overload. As a result, he/she does not have the time or the desire to meet with sales people. Therefore, they self-direct their educational process in search of a solution to their problem."

With this issue in mind our second open session at Comms Vision will explore within Enterprise IT 3.0 who we will be selling to now and how the channel needs to change its approach. Many are forecasting that by 2016 the CMO will control more of the IT spend than the CIO as businesses look for IT to deliver competitive advantage. In this second open session we will explore how organisations are looking to IT to transform their operations and business models and how this will require a rethink on how the channel engages with their customers.

Etherington points out some fundamental changes that the channel needs to be aware of: "What can we do to influence the new buyer? Social selling is the practice of leveraging social networks and the associated tools within the sales function, from lead generation, to closed deal, to account management. Furthermore, social media provides salespeople the ability to engage with future customers directly without picking up the phone.

"This isn't a setback but an opportunity for salespeople and buyers. Salespeople have the tools and access to truly understand buyer needs, deliver relevant and compelling messages, find real opportunities from motivated buyers and create more meaningful one-to-one relationships with customers. People have changed the way they buy, are you changing the way you sell?"

Marc Timmermans, Director Portfolio Development, Strategy & Portfolio at BT Wholesale, also believes that Digitalisation is changing the way the channel needs to talk to the customer. "Organisations have realised that everything they have now has a value and they are all looking at how to utilise that to make money and change and evolve their business. If you cannot explain how you can assist them to exploit their assets and evolve their business then you will get little joy. Unless you can explain your business value to the customer you will also have no differentiation and will only be able to compete on price."

Our third open session at Comms Vision will explore the Digitalisation phenomena as it relates to the Unified Communications and Collaboration marketplace, particularly as we now exist in a Hybrid IT world encompassing not only on-premise systems but hosted and public and private clouds. Within this session we will discuss the future of the PBX in a hybrid IT world, how collaboration is more than just video conferencing, how we educate and focus the sales and marketing teams and how the channel needs to convince customers that UC&C can be the catalyst for innovation in a digitalised world.

Our final session will explore the structure of channel relationships in this new digitalised IT world. The channel needs to become more knowledgeable, educated and capable in order to evolve and harness the business potential of our megatrends. The impact of these core trends on the channel is already being felt, but can traditional channel structures effectively harness these tech-trends and service the new breed of ICT leaders and technology buyers?

No one supplier can deliver the total solution, so where does the comms channel go to help them educate their staff and market their solutions? Does the channel have to be more independent and less reliant on their major vendor partners, or is there a new channel model emerging that is creating a greater interdependence between traditional vendors, service providers and the channel. If so what does this new channel model look like and who is driving the change?

Pete Tomlinson, Product, Marketing and Sales Director at Eclipse, has some pertinent views on why the channel needs to evolve. "These market trends are so strong that it is not just the channel that needs to change," he commented. "Within Eclipse we have moved a long way from the pure broadband provider of old. We now offer managed services, hosted applications and services as well as a range of connectivity services, and most recently we launched the first wave of our cloud based services.

"It is no longer possible to be just a comms supplier in this digitalised and Hybrid IT world, the interdependence of all these services to the overall solution requires a more integrated approach. That is why we now offer this broader range of services to our partners."

Sara Hellon, Director Channel Marketing, International Markets at Mitel, sees education as key to success in this Digitalised and hybrid IT world. "There are fundamental changes happening at a technology and business model level but most importantly from a buyers' perspective. The channel needs to embrace the new 'Voice of the Customer' and Mitel is committed to educating and working with our channel partners to understand the implications and maximise the huge business potential.

"Comms Vision provides channel executives the ideal opportunity to understand the wider world they operate in and the challenges that brings. Through the open sessions, boardroom sessions and peer to peer networking it gives our executives a special forum to engage with our channel partners and understand better how we can help them meet their business challenges."

Comms Vision looks forward to welcoming delegates to what is expected to be the liveliest and most challenging event so far. To register your interest in attending the conference, please visit: www.commsvision.com

DMSL, the SMB-focused distributor of connectivity and cloud solutions, has ramped up its campaign to give comms and IT dealers a leg up to the next stage of their evolution, according to Managing Director John Carter.

The comms industry has entered a phase of business development that will see the approach of customers and the business models of dealers change radically, believes Carter, who urges resellers not to dilly dally in the face of urgent action. "Selling broadband is all about getting in at the start," he stated. "Securing the customer's business is vital now. It makes resellers the supplier of their link to all the hosted and cloud-based services that are now available, and which SMBs are starting to adopt with growing enthusiasm."

The company has, for more than a decade, championed broadband as a service that would provide resellers with a stepping-stone to more business opportunities. Now it is once again stepping up efforts to recruit and engage with ICT dealers as numerous factors converge to create what Carter sees as a whole new wave of potential.

He said: "If you look at the evolution of broadband, we had a massive surge of uptake as ADSL started to become available across the UK. Suddenly, a small business really could support several users all surfing the web, accessing online services and sending and receiving emails and files all at once, at a decent price.

"The next stage was to offer services that enabled you to do more. But small businesses were not ready to put their telephony and IT services out into the cloud, and when the recession came, while some upgraded to higher speed services, most businesses did not want to add to their costs at a time when the future looked uncertain."

But that reserve has now dissipated while confidence and a hunger for growth has returned, pointed out Carter. "The mindset has changed from one where keeping costs low was all that counted, to one where gaining competitive advantage and being able to take opportunities is what matters," he commented. "At the same time, business people have started to realise that they can run their telephony, backup and disaster recovery, digital security and even their office apps more efficiently and more cost-effectively, if they use hosted services.

"Three years ago, when the industry was hyping up the cloud, SMBs did not want to know. Now they are asking about the cloud and if you, as a reseller or ICT services provider, are also their connectivity providers, you are in a prime position to provide them with cloud services as well."

The trends towards increasing mobility and remote working are also influencing this surge of activity and demand from the business community, according to Carter. "While BYOD was yet another over-hyped concept, the fact remains that more people now want and expect to be able to work on whatever device they want to use, from any location," he added. "Businesses can't ignore that. They need to provide good connectivity for all remote users. That means more bandwidth into the office and decent connections at home too. They also need to make services more available to remote workers, which is why hosted VoIP and applications are now starting to make a real breakthrough."

While customer demand is driving the market from one side, supply is ramping up to meet it on the other and this is also making a big difference. "The roll-out of fibre is coming at just the right time and has made it much more attractive to upgrade to higher speed services," noted Carter. "Businesses are not afraid to make the commitment, they can afford it and they know that they will be able to make use of the additional bandwidth, so they'll get good ROI. It is all coming together for higher speed services, the cloud and for resellers that are looking to adopt subscription and services-based models."

DMSL's role is to make it easy for dealers to provide services and win business. The company has a well-established approach and a track record in generating new opportunities and then handing them over to local resellers to fulfil the business. It's following the same approach with the new wave of broadband and hosted services as it did in the early-adoption phase of market.

"For a lot of dealers, managing that whole process from the point when the order is placed to the moment when the service is up and running is challenging," added Carter. "We take all the pain and cost out of the equation, which makes it much more profitable for partners and allows them to focus on getting out there, talking to new customers and winning more business.

"Businesses are starting to move towards online services - and where the customer must go, the dealer must follow. It's even better if the reseller can lead the customer in that direction. We are on the cusp of a new phase of development in the way IT is used and paid for and dealers need to find a way of meeting those demands. It's a big opportunity. Just as end customers can't afford to ignore the benefits, so dealers cannot afford to ignore the potential that the new wave of broadband adoption and cloud-based services presents to them."•

Julien Parven, Marketing Director at Daisy Distribution, provides insights into the evolving mobile market and says the opportunity is far bigger than meets the eye.

Too many resellers are missing opportunities associated with mobile, claims Parven, from being able to add simple business voice to their portfolio to integrating mobile connectivity with their existing product set. "There is a fantastic opportunity to create greater entanglement and enhance customer loyalty," he stated. "For many, there is a misconception that mobile is complicated, too risky and somehow unsavoury. However, the reality is far from that. Mobile is the great enabler of converging markets, bringing together the previously disparate environments of fixed, ICT, hosting and services - something that resellers need in their portfolios if they want to grow."

Parven has witnessed a big shift in the market over the past two years as mobile is integrated within the ICT infrastructure and is becoming more integral to everyday business applications. "A mobile seller today can no longer be satisfied with just providing an airtime service and supplying hardware," added Parven. "They must look at how the service is being used to realise its true value. In a world of revenue share, this is what sets the successful partners apart from those yet to realise the market and channel has moved on."

As a mobile distributor, it is important Daisy Distribution has the ability to predict changes in customer demand and technology and ensure that it evolves accordingly. "The internal infrastructure and make-up of the sales and support teams will undoubtedly change to up-skill our current resource, as well as attract new skill sets from other areas within the ICT spectrum," added Parven. "The biggest change on the horizon is likely to be the appointment of Daisy Distribution as the first line support for mobile partners taking their first steps into the rapidly evolving converged marketplace."

The main issue for resellers wanting to develop a mobile strategy is their ability to adopt new technologies and services beyond their historical core business. "The three key challenges associated with this are desire, capability, and longevity," commented Parven. "Tackling these is a continual process. The desire to change needs to be addressed with a continuous reinforcement of messages around how change is necessary for partners to secure their business' future. We have found that capability can be enhanced through ongoing learning and development with the distributor. By employing specialists to guide the partners through the transition, as opposed to leaving them stranded after a single training session, you are able to instil knowledge and allow them to flourish.

"The longevity of a partner's commitment is often determined by how successful they are in the early days. We believe that the most successful way of building them up is through continual support from the distributor. They must have the depth of knowledge required to act as the partners' first line support."

Daisy Distribution's proposition is based on providing partners with freedom of choice when it comes to airtime carriers. "We look to support them in creating opportunities within their existing customer base and ensure that new complementary products are introduced as the network providers roll them out," explained Parven. "Most recently, our current areas of growth are those that straddle varying product areas. Our Microsoft Office 365 product, which is billed along with the mobile airtime, allows partners to combine traditional mobile with the hosted Microsoft solution from simple IM and collaboration to full Outlook integration.

"Similarly with Vodafone, the One Net Business solution which we offer allows partners to present a fully hosted, flexible UC proposition billed as a mobile sale with no capital outlay for the customer. This type of solution strikes a chord with organisations today that are looking to manage their overheads and control expenditure, while delivering efficiencies and productivity benefits."

Parven's mid-term strategy for delivering growth is to continue with the secondary product sales mix, to facilitate the inclusion of mobile into the portfolio of non-mobile resellers and to promote aligned sales strategies using products such as Microsoft Office 365. "The partner programme within Daisy Distribution supports resellers from all sectors of the channel," he commented. "With a purpose-built onboarding process we aim to help partners with the inclusion of mobile by upskilling their teams in sales, provisioning and management of business mobile accounts. Once established we provide support via our sales teams and product specialists."•

At times like this the ICT industry needs leadership: Collaborative relationships are replacing transactional business, new technologies are on the up and interactions with customers are taking on a whole new dynamic - small wonder comms channel leaders espoused the need to drive change during this year's Margin in Voice and Data event (Oulton Hall, June 5th).

ICT leaders working in both end user and reseller environments are today subject to two separate eruptions. One is the proliferation of new comms technologies and the other is how these innovations are sourced and purchased by customers. More seriously, it seems, it is the buyers who are most proactive and responsive to the need for change. They are becoming more knowledgeable about what's available and far more educated about their choices. Not surprisingly, resellers who baulk at the prospect of marrying their strategies and propositions more closely to the evolving requirements of end users play a risky game with little reference to actual demand. It will come as no surprise to learn that speakers at this year's Margin in Voice and Data event put their fingers on the pulse of these trends.

The long awaited 'new era' in comms no longer beckons, we have entered the next phase and the key principle of self determination has become a big issue for many resellers who find themselves couched comfortably within their comfort zones. "There has been a sea change over the past four years but people are still doing the same things," said Mark Curtis-Wood, Head of Networks at Nimans in a keynote address to delegates.

Curtis-Wood conducted a wrist watch swapping exercise among the delegates to illustrate how making changes can feel strange at first but over time wearing a watch on the second choice wrist becomes second nature. While swapping wrists was the order of the day, sitting on hands is simply not an option. "We're seeing a tipping point," added Curtis-Wood. "Nimans has a good window on the world and we have witnessed a big rise in IP end point sales. It's time to change."

Shipments from the loading bays at Nimans tell their own story and should strike a chord. Customers are surely dancing to a different tune and Pete Tomlinson, Sales and Marketing Director at Eclipse, urged resellers to chime with the growing chorus of demand for cloud solutions. "Customers are now comfortable buying solutions rather than products," he stated in a keynote address. "It's not about kit and instruction manuals. Users trust the technology.

"The majority of our customers now use at least one cloud service. Some use four. It's no longer a question of 'if', it's now a question of 'what, how and when?'. Such 'pace of change' questions have helped to bring about a tipping point, and with connectivity no longer being a barrier to adoption, combined with the significant uptake of SIP, all of this is having a big impact on SMEs."

Tomlinson's observations so far were just a warm up. "Customers know the IT stack," he added. "You cannot aggregate the solution because users understand the co-interdependency of each component. We all need to broaden our knowledge. As an industry we are often criticised for being too techie, but knowledgeable customers are more frustrated by talk of meaningless 'by the book' business benefits. We need to commit to using plain language otherwise we are in danger of the pendulum swinging from tech-talk to the vacuous and meaningless."

Despite the compulsory need for a route map to cloud territory Curtis-Wood pointed out that a sweeping cloud revolution will be kept at bay for the foreseeable future. "Cloud is not taking over the world but it is having a significant impact," he said. "PBX and ISDN sales will continue, but nonetheless we cannot stand still. Resellers have to look at counteracting the erosion of traditional services."

A potent reminder of new threats to traditional market shares is the growing band of mobile and IT VARs moving into the comms space. For these newcomers voice is purely an app in the margin stack. "As we move into more intelligent voice it's critical to get into mobility and connectivity," noted Curtis-Wood.

Tomlinson added: "All of these changes have an impact on customer relationships. We have to become part of people's habits rather than reside in the background anonymously. Make your organisation consciously part of the daily habits of users. It is also vital for resellers to know their value. They shouldn't be scared of monetising that value because customers are willing to pay for time and expertise."

The quest for expertise has become a driving force behind new industry relationships, collaborations and acquisitions, the nature of which would have been unthinkable just a short while ago. For example, Microsoft's acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business. Such acquisitions focus on capability rather than scale, a trait that characterises the growing number of channel collaborations.

"There is a perception that the only way to win is to beat the competition, but now there is an opportunity to collaborate with rivals and address a wider market," added Curtis-Wood. "We can't be specialists in everything. Collaboration and co-existence means having skin in the game together and sharing the risks and rewards. This is a true win-win position."

He cited Nimans' collaboration with Unify as a case in point. The relationship is no longer transactional, it is based on close collaboration and shared strategies. The same is true of the distributor's new GreenSky hosted proposition. "We decided where our skills were - logistics, distribution and sourcing products - and collaborated with GCI for the hosted platform and BT Wholesale for connectivity," explained Curtis-Wood. "We are currently in discussion with eight organisations that until recently we saw as rivals. But it's time to evolve, choose our partners carefully and engage."

The daily calls for static comms and IT resellers to change direction are based on sound reasoning, and could therefore force some into a straightjacket when they realise that they can no longer ignore the writing on the wall. For them, an exit may be the only option. For others, their future may well boil down to a point of view: Do they want to be part of the new world or not? Whatever the scenario, sooner or later a decision needs to be made about the future of the business. And with the industry ripe for consolidation, Margin in Voice and Data introduced a second stream of content that explored some of the issues associated with exit strategies and acquisitions.

In an address to delegates, James Palmer, CEO of Nine Group, said: "At some point you need to decide your plan, identify your buyer and determine your strategy. Companies acquire for capability or cost out. We bought Club because we wanted more capability. It had infrastructure, wholesale portals and a billing platform. We operate in a fragmented market, so sales strategies should be focused on local and/or niche markets. Don't be all things to all men because it makes things complicated for the buyer. Keep it simple and assume your buyer is an idiot. Rationalise SLAs and tariffs, and stick to the equivalent of Gold, Silver and Bronze."

Following Palmer's deftly handled presentation delegates were much wiser about some of the key aspects of selling a business. We understand how the process is likely to end, but what else do we need to know about getting from here to there? In a revealing address to delegates, Adam Zoldan, co-founder of Knight Corporate Finance, also served up useful insights into the world of exiting. Knight CF has been in operation for five years and has handled 50-plus deals. Zoldan traced the way companies should prepare for exit and he put a spotlight on some of the pitfalls that lose resellers room for manoeuvre because of bad exit planning.

"Planning is all about strengths, financials, profit, payback and cash flows," he stated. "Markets also buy into the management team. Key influencers on value include consistent reconcilable details and KPIs. There's a large pool of buyers who are well funded and confident in the market, and finding the right buyer is ultimately about relationships and creating a good perception."

This year's MiVAD event was evidence that ICT resellers have some way to go in terms of their evolution. But nobody today is immune to change, and even organisations such as Nimans and Eclipse are treading unfamiliar roads. As pathfinders they will pave the way for resellers in an environment where increasing collaboration will be key to survival and profitability.

Nimans has prepared the ground for a channel campaign based on its hosted voice service GreenSky which unites capex and opex revenue models and removes price barriers to cloud adoption. Here, we report on a round table discussion (hosted by Comms Dealer and supported by Nimans) that reinforced the need for resellers to incorporate hosted comms as part of a fully rounded customer proposition. Stuart Gilroy reports...

Although not yet at the mercy of a business model in desperate need of reform, non-cloud resellers will at some point need to realise that the PBX is not the only game in town. They should look with their own eyes at specific shifts in the comms market, large and small, and think intelligently about how to react to what is already happening. In some areas cloud already dominates and many resellers may not yet realise how far this has gone. The stable door has been open long enough for a posse of early adopters to gallop across comms territory and meet growing demand for a service that aligns neatly with the modern market. "People are asking for hosted-only," said Martin Boiles, Sales Director, GCI. "They want a product that can scale up and down, is flexible and centrally managed. It's hard to do that if you stick to the traditional model."

The rise of hosted comms has caused a conflict between traditional capex sales models and the growing trend towards opex-based ICT procurement. At this point, many of the old obstacles arise, such as incentivising sales people. Richard Carter, Group Sales and Business Development Director, Nimans, commented: "It's difficult for resellers to move from one model to another. Sales people who are used to upfront commission payments are not going to be attracted to a recurring revenue model. Even if the organisation wants to shift models the sales person could argue that it's easy to sell against hosted when the cost per seat is calculated over five years."

The trend towards cloud services has led resellers to a new challenge in terms of migrating sales staff, through incentives, towards a new mode of operation. Simon Holt, owner of Spectrum Communications, noted: "I've come around to paying people upfront, otherwise there's no incentive to sell hosted. For example, we pay 10 per cent of forecast margin on a one year deal and 20 per cent on a five year deal. This is a good incentive for a long-term commitment."

Taking a long-term view may not be an option for cash-strapped smaller resellers. It's not just about the sales person getting money upfront it's also about the business, pointed out James Lister, Channel Manager, Arrow Communications. "Cashflow for small resellers is a priority," he said. "Sales people have to be financed without the upfront revenue. Resellers must navigate the transition from a traditional reseller to the hosted model but that's not easy for those with little cash in the bank."

GreenSky provides a solution for such resellers, noted Carter, who highlighted revenue opportunities based on a traditional tin-style sales model where resellers can sell phones upfront with included licences, or they can charge on a monthly basis. The service includes a free three year hosted seat licence with every handset bought, enabling resellers to sell hosted in a different way.

GreenSky drew a consensus of opinion among the round table delegates on such issues as price point and joined up revenue models, a combination that Nimans says will overcome traditional obstacles to hosted adoption, appealing to resellers who are aware of hosted but not yet committed to a plan of action because of price and financial concerns around the opex revenue model.

GreenSky is the result of a collaboration between Nimans and GCI and aims to usher in an era of accelerating cloud uptake. The proposition hints at the significant possibilities for resellers of hosted comms, and is an example of how collaboration between companies with little in common other than a shared interest can come together symbiotically to enter new markets.

Nimans marked the launch of its hosted comms solution with a channel survey questioning the market it hopes to stimulate. According to the study, 26 per cent of resellers don't sell hosted but 91 per cent desire a mix of capex and opex revenues. These figures suggest that among a significant group of resellers there is an awareness of hosted but no commitment to adopt cloud solutions as yet. The big question is how to turn reseller awareness into strategy and action. The answer could simply be a stretch of the mind as GreenSky has already caught the imagination of hundreds of resellers.

Nearly all survey respondents don't want to commit to a primary capex or opex model. This could suggest uncertainty and a watch and see approach to the cloud. On the other hand, a portfolio blend of capex and opex is a smart strategic move, according to Mark Curtis-Wood, Head of Networks, Nimans. "If a reseller talks to a customer solely from a hosted point of view or CPE, the reseller offering both options and a broader portfolio has more chance of winning the deal," he commented. "Our sales people who are selling traditional systems are now passing hosted opportunities over because they are having open conversations."

To date it has been near impossible to construct a detailed narrative about cloud adoption in the UK. Years of industry hype have in reality yielded relatively little in terms of actual uptake, but at last there are signs that hosted comms will go some way at least towards fulfilling the promise. Boiles noted: "It's shocking how little hosted has been sold by comms firms that have been in the market for 10 years. But there's no doubt that hosted is the way to go now."

Lister put a spotlight on other factors that have stalled cloud adoption in the past. "Hosted solutions have received bad press," he said. "Unscrupulous resellers have grabbed business at whatever cost and delivered badly. But if the product behind the solution is good and delivered correctly there's no issues. As more resellers become comfortable with IT there will be greater uptake in the market."

One company ensconced in the data space is Digital Exchange Products, a traditional comms reseller that has become emblematic of a wider trend in the market. Phil Sawyer, the firm's Managing Director, predicts a tipping point in the near future. "We are now a Microsoft partner and a VMware service provider," he explained. "We've been doing IT for just four years so voice is still the biggest part of our business. We are not yet at a tipping point when data becomes the bigger part, but we're getting there with 30 per cent turnover last year purely based on IT, and 50 per cent now."

Something is clearly happening that will matter to all comms and IT resellers. Ironically, some have barely noticed the impact even as it happens under their nose. "Consumers are starting to buy services on a monthly payment basis," explained Curtis-Wood. "As a consumer I am buying cloud-based services. It's a no brainer. Inevitably for small business owners there's an expectation they'll consume their own services in this way."

Today's ICT resellers operate in a market characterised by unstructured demand and fluid buying behaviours, and the characteristics of each sale depend on who is buying the products and services. Nimans' survey corroborated this trend in stark terms. On the question 'How important is the handset and inclusive licence model?' 49 per cent said it makes no difference, while 45 per cent believe it makes hosted easier to sell.

These results point to different approaches to selling hosted. For those in the 'makes no difference' camp, perhaps their sales approach is more business-led and in line with the requirements of a new breed of ICT buyer, ie, the CFO, CMO and CEO who are in many cases driving the organisation's digital agenda in the higher echelons of the comms market. For those in the 'it makes hosted easier to sell' camp, perhaps they are selling more on price rather than strategic business change to smaller customers. And given that small businesses are the engine of growth these results bode well for GreenSky which has removed cost barriers.

According to Carter, GreenSky comes at a time when the market is about to turn on a nexus of forces that have converged to create the necessary conditions for cloud growth. These forces include consumeristion, the preferred economics of opex, greater awareness among end users about the flexibility and scalable benefits of hosted telephony, and robust connectivity. "The connectivity is critical," added Carter. "We have bandwidth requirements going up, prices coming down, and the size of the pipe needed by a small business offers resellers a reasonable profit."

There was a danger that allowing industry hype into the debate would 'cloud' judgment, but thanks to Nimans' survey the discussion was firmly grounded. Sixty two per cent of those questioned believe the cloud will not rid us of the PBX any time soon, suggesting that hosted should be seen for what it is, a necessary addition to the portfolio, not an end in itself. It is not pitting hosted voice against CPE that will pull it into a phase of greater adoption, but good old-fashioned choice for the customer.•

This month we welcome back Andrew McMillan, Principal at Engaging Service, who shares an anecdote that conveys how a simple and attentive service culture results in word-of-mouth business opportunities.

I've bought a new car since my last series of articles and the experience of doing so demonstrated all that can be good and bad about the sector along with an outcome I wasn't expecting. When I say new car, I mean new to me. I always pay cash for my cars and while the prospect of a brand new car is appealing, paying cash makes the initial year's depreciation all too visible, so I usually buy 12-18 months old. The car was for my wife to replace her Honda CRV. The replacement was to be an Audi Q3, a BMW X3 or a VW Tiguan and we would have been happy with any of those. The challenge was the specification which had to be Sport, diesel, automatic, sat nav and a sunroof - not an easy used car to find.

After a couple of months waiting we found one advertised in a franchised dealer. I phoned to make sure it was still available and arranged to travel the 40 miles to see it that afternoon. When we arrived there was no sign of the car so we walked into the showroom past three salesmen who sat at unoccupied at desks. None of them made any attempt to greet us. Eventually, I asked one about the car and was told 'it's in our service department so not available to view'. Not a great start but he offered to take us on a test drive in the demo which was the same but without leather upholstery, sat nav and sunroof.

The test drive was conducted well. When we got back to the showroom I said we would be happy to buy the car we had come to see subject to a visual inspection and asked for an exchange price on the Honda. We were told a price couldn't be given at that time since the manager was away, but we would be phoned with a price and to confirm the original car was ready for inspection the next day. Two days later and we hadn't heard, so I phoned to be told they still didn't have an exchange price available and the car we wanted had been sold all along - that's why it was in the service department. The salesman made no apology for this and tried to sell the demo model.

A month later and we saw another car while driving past a showroom just as the dealer was closing. They showed us the car but didn't offer a test drive as they were locking up. I would have thought a 20 minute delay for a potential sale of £25,000 would have been worth it. We arranged to drive the car the following Saturday at 11am. When we arrived we were taken to the car which wouldn't start. The battery was flat. So flat in fact that it wouldn't jump start and had to have a new battery fitted.

At 12.15pm we were asked to go back to the car and the salesman then discovered there was insufficient fuel in it for the test drive. The drive was pleasant enough and, against our better judgment after wasting much of our morning, we were still interested in the car. The salesman started his 'process' while his manager appraised our Honda. By 2pm his manager had still not come back to him with a price for our car so we left having wasted most of the day viewing an unprepared car and being forced through an inappropriate sales process.

Three months later and an Audi Q3 of the right specification was available in a car supermarket 60 miles away. Dreading the experience of a supermarket, but wanting the car, I phoned to see if it was still available. It was, and for a fully refundable £99 I could reserve it for 24 hours to make sure a 120 mile round trip wasn't wasted. As we entered, the car was parked in front of an immaculate customer reception area and Abbi, the salesperson I had been told would be dealing with us, was there and expecting our arrival.

The car was beautifully prepared and we went on the test drive which was conducted as well as those undertaken in the franchised dealers. We decided to buy the car and asked for a price on our own. We were warned the price might be low as they were a supermarket and that it wouldn't be negotiable - neither was the price of the Audi - all much more transparent and straightforward than the previous two encounters.

The price offered was no worse than the franchised dealers, but we decided to sell privately. We paid for the Audi and arranged to drive it home that afternoon which is when we encountered a problem - they didn't yet have the registration document as they had only just had the car in stock. Immediately, following a profuse apology, they offered to deliver the car for no additional charge in the next week.

We received two unprompted phone calls updating us on the delivery date and the car was delivered to our driveway, freshly valeted and with half a tank of diesel. Would I use them again if they had a car I wanted? Most certainly, it will be the first place I look. Would I recommend them to anyone looking for a used car? I have done so already on several occasions and know of at least one person who went on to buy from them.

So what? My point is that it isn't that difficult to impress a customer. However, two franchised dealers, charging what I would perceive to be premium prices, failed to deliver a premium service and for a £27,000 car, which is what I eventually spent, I expect some degree of interest, efficiency and to be treated as an individual - not that difficult, surely?•

Andrew McMillan
Organisations that spurn their most precious responsibility to create a remarkable customer experience will lose out to rivals who react proportionately to the high value they place on winning and keeping their customers. That's according to Andrew McMillan, Principal at Engaging Service, who specialises in customer experience and employee engagement. He is best known as the architect of John Lewis' customer-driven culture and now operates as a leading business consultant.

Philip Carse, Analyst at Megabuyte.com, examines Daisy's improving revenue mix following the Group's year-end financial statement last month.

Last month Daisy Group reported revenues and EBITDA for the year to March 2014 up marginally at £353m and £58m respectively, suggesting organic declines of approximately 7%, down from 11-12% the previous year due to growing data and other revenues offsetting voice pressures. The Lancs-based company has increased its M&A war chest to an estimated £150m, and also announced two small recent deals - ABSE and Layer 7.

For the year to March 2014, business communications provider Daisy reported small headline growth in all key measures; revenues up 0.3% to £352.7m, EBITDA up 2.8% to £57.9m and adjusted EPS up 6% to 13.85p, while the full year dividend has been increased by 15% to 4.6p. The headline operating loss increased marginally to £17.9m, including £7.1m of exceptional costs and £63.8m of goodwill amortisation. Finance costs of £6.7m contributed to a loss before tax of £24.4m, up £0.8m.

Operating cash flow of £44.2m (76% of EBITDA) was down marginally, impacted by exceptional costs and working capital requirements of large managed service contracts. This was more than consumed with acquisitions of £45.5m, dividends of £14.2m, interest of £5.8m, tax of £4.9m, and capex of £1.9m. Net debt rose by £32.8m to £114.0m, or just under 2x EBITDA.

The picture was somewhat mixed by division. Daisy Retail (£300m, 65% of revenues) suffered a 6% revenue decline, maintained gross profit in absolute terms (lifting the margin 2.7pp to 43.7%), while EBITDA fell 5% to £43m. The main culprit as ever was Networks, with revenues down 13% to £114m, while data revenues rose 25% to £59m, helped by the ex-2e2 data centre deal. Meanwhile, mobile gross profit increased marginally on revenues down 15% at £40m, reflecting new commercial arrangements with MNOs.

Daisy Wholesale (£73m, 21% of revenues) saw revenues rise 18% and EBITDA by 45%, helped by the Indecs acquisition. Daisy Distribution (mobile products) reported revenues up 11% to £50m and EBITDA up 20%, helped by MoCo.

The company noted strong contributions from acquisitions announced during the year - the ex-2e2 data centres, MoCo and Indecs - and also said that it acquired public sector focused network operator ABSE in February 2014 for an initial £7.9m (with up to a £4.4m earn out), and LAN and WiFi specialist Layer 3 for £1.8m at the end of May. M&A remains a target, with CEO Matt Riley noting that the company remains on the lookout for a 'transformational' deal. To this end, Daisy has negotiated to lift its bank debt availability from 2.5x to 3x EBITDA, giving about £150m current headroom including the potential to borrow against the target's EBITDA.

First thoughts
The broad numbers had been flagged in a trading update and therefore come as no surprise. What they do show, however, is a continued improvement in underlying revenues, with an estimated organic revenue decline for the year of just under 7% (with £23.6m contributed by the acquired businesses) and by 5% for EBITDA (with £3.1m contributed). This contrasts with 11-12% for the previous financial year and 7.8% for the first half. Broadly speaking, contributions from growth areas such as Data are increasingly outweighing market declines in calls and regulatory driven reductions in mobile termination rates. There was also a welcome improvement on operating cash flow in the second half, contributing nearly two thirds of the total for the year.

The focus on growth is reflected in M&A, with the acquisitions undertaken during the year and the two new deals (LANs/WiFi and public sector networks - the latter presumably a la Updata) being far from the distressed voice base that Daisy might once have acquired. The £150m plus firepower from the enlarged facilities gives it considerable scope for a transformational deal, though it has seen InTechnology and Updata slip by in the last year or so.•