Comms Dealer

Node4, the Data Centre and communications specialist, has launched Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to help new and existing customers to recover all files and applications in the event of any catastrophe or network outage.

The new service is based on an open pricing model and provides a near real-time replication solution that can be activated within minutes should a disaster occur, said the firm.

Node4 has partnered with Zerto, provider of enterprise-class disaster recovery and business continuity software specifically designed for a virtualised infrastructure, to deliver this service via its N4Cloud infrastructure.

According to research group MarketandMarkets, the global DRaaS and cloud based business continuity markets are forecasted to grow from $640.8 million in 2013 to $5.77 billion by 2018. This reflects the increasing demand for real-time replication, particularly from small to medium sized organisations that don't have the budget or expertise to manage such a solution in-house.

Natalie Stewart, Product Manager, Node4, said: "Organisations of all sizes and in every sector rely on their technology infrastructure to service customers, compete for business and increase revenue.

"Should that infrastructure go down, successful companies cannot afford to rely on traditional backup technologies where a snapshot of their system could be hours or even days old. The fast pace of today's modern business and the 'always on' culture means that near real time replication is no longer a nice to have, it is a necessity."

The appointment of Brendan Loughrey as COO at Coms removes some of the hands-on day-to-day work carried out by CEO Dave Breith, freeing up Breith to think harder about the future growth of the company.

Loughrey is currently Managing Director for Redstone, the company Coms acquired in November 2013.

Breith said: "As the company has grown significantly larger there was a need for me to have a second in command that I can rely upon.

"Having completed a comprehensive search it became clear to my Board colleagues and I that Brendan was the obvious choice as he shares the same values and passion to grow the company that I do and brings extensive expertise of the telecom and IT industry to the wider Group.

"Brendan is already well known and respected within the company and has the Board's 100% confidence and trust that the day-to-day running of the company is in a safe pair of hands.

"This appointment allows me to devote more time to developing the overall strategy of the Group and to continue the future growth and expansion that I have planned."

The latest phase of Chess' buy and build strategy has seen the acquisitive telco bag Sandy-based Integra ICT, adding around £5m annual revenues.

Integra ICT's 37 staff (team photo above with Chess Managing Director Stephen Dracup centre) will become part of the Chess group, and the acquisition strengthens Chess' presence in the cloud and ICT space.

Chess Chief Executive David Pollock said: "Integra ICT has successfully deployed integrated communication solutions for over 20 years.

"We're delighted to welcome its experienced team into the Chess group. We will rely on its knowledge and experience to guide our growth in cloud and ICT."

Integra ICT's former owner Pas Ruggiero added: "When Chess approached me and talked through its strategy it became clear it was the right company to take over the business.

"I am confident Integra will continue to go from strength to strength working under the Chess brand."

Chess Director Richard Btesh who headed up the deal stated: "This acquisition strengthens Chess' reputation as the UK's number one consolidator for SME businesses in the telecoms sector.

"With the Integra ICT team now working under the Chess brand we see significant potential for rapid growth and development with their customer base as the additional products and services offered by Chess become available."

Integra ICT joins ebillz and The CRM Business as businesses acquired by Chess that retain their own established brand, supported by the Chess Group of companies.  

Nimans is aiming to turn the market on its hea d with a disruptive cloud deal that offers resellers free hosted voice services with every handset purchased. The move extends Nimans' proposition into the hosted space and the service, called GreenSky, is emblematic of a strategy to reach out from its box shifting heritage.

"GreenSky is a game changing expansion of our proposition that promises to shake-up the market," said Group Sales and Business Development Director, Richard Carter (pictured).

The service includes a free three-year hosted seat licence with every handset purchased; and the three handset models offer upfront margin potential of 45%, according to Carter.

The service is being rolled out this month to 1,500 resellers, supported by a provisioning and programming equipment portal plus investment in a high profile marketing campaign.

Nimans has also produced a reseller guide to spearhead the launch of its GreenSky proposition.

The 12-page booklet is part of an introductory welcome pack and highlights how GreenSky is a 'free’ hosted voice facility offering resellers either upfront or recurring revenue opportunities for the first time.

"GreenSky enables resellers to sell hosted in a completely different way," stated Carter. "Nimans is offering free hosted voice, plain and simple. GreenSky is a statement of our intent to lead resellers on a new journey of revenue generation." Carter also noted that Nimans remains focused on its core business activities and that diversification into the burgeoning hosted marketplace is a natural next step for the company.

"GreenSky puts resellers in total control," added Carter. "They can capitalise on an easy migration, sell phones upfront with licences included, or they can embrace the more modern approach of charging on a monthly basis."

Cisco's corporate venture capital arm says it will spend $150m on start-up companies over the next two to three years, accelerating its investments into areas such as the Internet of Things.

This is planned complement other Cisco investing themes such as big data and connecting mobile devices, Cisco senior vice president for corporate development Hilton Romanski told media.

The amount, coupled with $100m that Cisco said in January it would deploy to start-ups in those areas, puts Cisco Investments on par with mid-sized venture capital firms across the industry. It may have more funds available after previously committing large sums to Russia which may not now proceed at the same pace.

Most of the investment is expected to be US-based as previous ventures have tended to be in local geographies. It did take part in a $7m investment in Everything, a UK-based company that connects products to the Internet.

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.