Comms Dealer

After seeing a rising percentage of specialist servers starting to appear in analysts' research on server sales, HP and Foxconn are working on a joint venture deal to create their own class of cloud-optimised servers for service providers.

According to IDC, service providers will continue to break new ground in search of both performance gains and cost reductions as they expand their cloud architecture implementations. Additionally, the hosting-as-a-service model will continue to transition away from traditional models toward cloud-based delivery mechanisms like infrastructure as a service, spurring hyperscale growth in servers used for hosting (15% to 20% AGR from 2013 to 2018).

But in many cases, the requirements of the provider are non-standard, often confidential, as they aim to squeeze more from datacentres. It is not clear how the new class will offer customisation to meet these needs, other than a fast time-to-build, perhaps build-to-order.

Cloud computing requires a new approach to server design that brings together cloud solutions expertise, quick customer response and volume manufacturing, they say. 

The new product line will specifically address compute requirements of the world's largest service providers by delivering low total cost of ownership (TCO), scale, and service and support. The line will complement HP's existing ProLiant server portfolio, including Moonshot.

"With the relentless demands for compute capabilities, customers and partners are rapidly moving to a New Style of IT that requires focused, scalable and high-volume system designs," says Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer, HP.

"This partnership reflects business model innovation in our server business, where the high-volume design and manufacturing expertise of Foxconn, combined with the compute and service leadership of HP, will enable us to deliver a game-changing offering in infrastructure economics."

The non-equity joint venture, in the form of a strategic commercial agreement, will take effect on May 1st. Details on pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

Voiceflex has gone live with a new website (www.nebulaIP.com) dedicated to its hosted communications solutions, Nebula.

Voiceflex developed Nebula to be as user friendly as possible with a user, admin and installer interface. Nebula is installed within Voiceflex's SIP trunking platform.

Paul Taylor, Sales Director of Voiceflex, said: "The Nebula IP website is part of our continued efforts to improve customer experience, streamline product information to enhance the quality and availability of information on hosted communications and share our knowledge and expertise in the field of voice and data communications."

ebillz is calling on corporate clients and larger resellers to trial its ebillz Enterprise platform following a £500,000 investment in research and development and a successful early roll out period.

Arvind Meghani, MD, commented: "The feedback for enterprise has been outstanding and we want other larger resellers to consider upgrading to show them the business benefits ebillz Enterprise can offer.

"We believe that with its operational improvements, it will lead to considerable time and cost savings for resellers."

ebillz Enterprise is used by the likes of global engineering and telecoms corporation NG Bailey, with ebillz looking specifically to grow enterprise in the IT sector with larger companies who want to add telecoms to their revenue stream.

Unify has appointed Liliana Solomon as the company's global Chief Financial Officer, effective May 1st.

"As we continue the transformation of Unify into a true software and services leader, strong and experienced financial stewardship of the company will be critical to our success," said Dean Douglas, CEO of Unify.

"Liliana has demonstrated financial leadership at some of the telecommunications industry's top companies, which combined with her experience working in businesses undergoing transformation makes her ideally suited to join the Unify leadership team."

Solomon most recently served as European CFO at the Vodafone Group, and previously as CEO of the company's operations in Romania. She also served in financial controlling and CFO roles over her 20 year career at leading brands including Cable&Wireless, Deutsche Telekom and O.Tel.O Germany.

Solomon said: "From my industry experience, I know that Unify's customers value their trusted partnership with us, and I look forward to contributing to the company's success."

Billing solutions provider ebillz has got big plans for the reseller market in Scotland, recently hiring industry veteran Kenny Neill to spearhead a growth push north of the border as Business Development Manager.

ebillz currently provides billing services to over a third of the UK reseller market but has gained significant growth in Scotland over the last 12 months.

Yasin Qadir, ebillz Sales Manager, said: "We have a massive opportunity with Kenny on board to help resellers across Scotland streamline their billing solutions. We're particularly interested in the new breed of IT companies looking to enter the telecoms sector that keeps growing year-on-year."

Neill, boasts 10 years telecoms experience, added: "I'm excited to work with growing, ambitious resellers in Scotland. I'm confident that ebillz have the platform and the people in place to make a positive difference for the Scottish telecoms market."

ebillz is also reaching out further afield, signing up Alicante-based San Pedro Wi-Fi to its billing platform, taking the international business to over 10 countries.

Former EMEA Service Development Manager for BlackBerry Nick Rumsby has joined Exertis Micro-P's mobile team as Business Manager for Samsung Mobile, reporting directly to Ewan Davies, Head of Mobile Devices at the distributor.

Rumsby's remit is to help drive Samsung sales by more tightly integrating available resources and bringing the Korean vendor's UK potential into sharper focus.

He stated: "Exertis Micro-P is a great fit for my skills and experience, and everyone has been welcoming. I hope to add to the expertise here at Exertis Micro-P and increase sales of Samsung's mobile devices across the channel."

True Telecom has appointed Lee Sutch as Head of Channel Sales. He moves from XLN following a four year stint at the company, bringing his total comms experience to 21 years.

Sutch commented: "We aim to grow True Telecom to become one of the top three providers in the UK, giving our partners a safe, secure home for their customer base.

"In addition, we help businesses looking for an assisted entry into customer ownership within the voice and data marketplace. With our growing client base we are fast achieving this."

True Telecom offers a complete wraparound service for resellers, where clients can utilise its branded billing platform, credit control, experienced UK customer service and debt management teams, freeing resellers to sell and operate more efficiently, according to Sutch.

He added, "True Telecom is going from strength to strength because it's a young, agile company."

TIBCO Software has bought Jaspersoft Corporation, effective immediately.

Jaspersoft is now a product group within TIBCO and the name will continue in this form. TIBCO's Spotfire product line provides visual analytics and data discovery capabilities while Jaspersoft offers embeddable reporting and analytics, being strongest in the mid-market BI (both on-premises and in the cloud).

Tibco expects that our combination of strengths can build a diverse product portfolio in BI, able to support a wide set of analytics use cases. During the next few weeks and months, Jaspersoft will convert some of its systems and processes over to TIBCO.

All subscription software licence and services agreements, customer support, outstanding price quotes and current pricing model are unchanged. Jaspersoft's product team continues to execute on its current product roadmap, working on a new release coming soon.

UK tech sector companies are in a buoyant mood in terms of future job hiring and business activity, with employment trends in the tech sector outstripping those seen across the UK private sector as a whole, according to the latest KPMG/Markit Tech Monitor UK Report.

Almost half of tech companies (49%) expect to employ additional staff over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the PMI Employment Index shows that current job hiring by UK tech companies is close to its strongest for three years, and faster than the UK private sector average.

Tech sector business activity growth in the first quarter of 2014 was only marginally slower than the ten-year high reached at the end of 2013, supported by steep rises in incoming new work and the lowest rate of cost inflation for over four years.

The headline UK Tech PMI index measuring UK tech sector business activity posted 60.0 in March, well above the crucial 50.0 no-change threshold and close to the ten-year high of 60.9 recorded at the end of 2013, indicating business activity growth in the tech sector outstripped that of the UK economy as a whole (Markit's UK Composite PMI was 58.1 on average in Q1 2014).

Commenting on the latest Tech Monitor UK results, Tudor Aw, Head of Technology at KPMG, said:b"Recent falls in share prices of technology stocks have led some to question the health of the tech sector but all the data in this report point to a UK tech sector that is in rude health, and increasingly optimistic in its outlook on business activity and recruitment plans.

"Our data also shows the positive impact the sector has on the UK's economic performance as a whole and the important role UK tech companies up and down the country play in the burgeoning recovery. It is time the sector received the recognition and support it deserves.

"There are some fantastic advocates in government and business for the UK's buzzing start-up scene but we must not neglect the wider tech sector. We should ensure that the sector as a whole gets the profile and support that it needs such as focused government policies that help develop and encourage education in STEM subjects, and ease access to tech talent on a global basis.

"With the increase in IPO activity, I would like to see the strong performance of UK tech companies translate to a mainstream technology company floating in London to help boost the sector and cement the UK's position on the map of global tech hotspots."

An improved domestic economic outlook, increased investment spending and buoyant client demand were all key factors behind the latest rise in tech sector business activity, according to survey respondents.

Latest survey data show that tech sector firms also benefited from a combination of higher selling prices, weakening cost inflation and rising new business volumes during the first quarter of 2014. The index measuring average input costs faced by tech sector firms posted 53.9 at the end of Q1, down from 56.2 at the end of 2013 and consistent with the slowest rate of input cost inflation since late-2009.

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at Markit, added: "UK tech companies clearly punch above their weight in terms of contribution to UK GDP growth. The latest survey results will be reassuring to policymakers given the importance of the sector to the sustainability of the economic recovery.

"The health of the tech sector and its ability to deliver productivity gains across the wider economy are key factors that will determine how quickly the UK economy can recover without hitting growth constraints.
"Strong figures from the tech sector add to a recent flurry of positive news on the UK economy, which has prompted substantial upward revisions to the 2014 growth outlook from institutions such as the IMF and Office for Budget Responsibility.

"Tech companies stand to benefit from two key domestic economic tailwinds this year, which are rising business investment as confidence in the recovery takes hold and improving household spending power as wages finally start to climb more quickly than consumer prices.
"The latest survey suggests that the tech sector again outperformed the UK economy in terms of job creation, reflecting widespread optimism that workloads will continue to expand over the months ahead.

"Moreover, a buoyant mood among tech companies about future job hiring intentions bodes well for growth in the year ahead and is a further signal that the UK economy is set to continue its upward ascent over the course of 2014."

Riverbed Technology's Q1 showed sales up 8% yr/yr, driven by good channel and European performance.

The network optimisation and app performance company showed total GAAP revenue for Q114 was $265m up 8% compared to the first quarter of 2013, as data centres look for maximum performance.

"Our first quarter results are a strong proof point supporting our strategy to bring value to our customers by optimising the delivery of applications and data on a global scale and to deliver profitable returns to our shareholders," says Jerry M. Kennelly, chairman and CEO.

"Year-over-year revenue growth was led by WAN optimisation and strength in enterprise and international sales. We are also encouraged by our performance management business with increasing revenue from channel partners and significant growth in Europe.

"As customers increasingly adopt the full breadth of our Application Performance Platform, we expect to achieve higher than industry growth across all of our product lines and deliver non-GAAP earnings per share growth that exceeds revenue growth.

"In a world where nearly every business runs on applications, Riverbed improves business performance by improving application performance. We see tremendous opportunity ahead of us."