Comms Dealer

With demand squeezed by PC weakness and SSD cannibalisation, Gartner forecasts global hard drive shipments will post a 2.9% CAGR from 2013-2018, growing from 552 million units to 635.1 million.

High-capacity business-critical drives as used by web/cloud service providers are expected to fuel much of the industry's growth by delivering a 25.1% CAGR.

Western Digital's new Helium drives are aimed in large part at this segment.

The market for high margin performance optimised drives, where Seagate has a strong position, is expected to see a -4.9% CAGR, Gartner says. In addition, the segment's ASP is expected to fall 17.1% annually.

PC drives are a mixed bag as sales of 3.5" desktop drives are expected to see a -7% CAGR, but 2.5" mobile/notebook drives are seen growing at a 4.2% annual clip. CAGR forecasts for 2.5" and 3.5" consumer electronics drives are respectively at 4.4% and 2.4%.

Though both Seagate and Western Digital have launched SSDs, WD has been more aggressive at increasing its flash exposure, as evidenced by the sTec, VeloBit, and Virident deals.

Seagate is looking to strengthen its hard drive position through the just-closed Xyratex acquisition. Both firms are pitching 5mm-thin ultra-slim hard drives as an alternative to notebook SSDs.

Telefonica has sealed a deal with electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla to provide M2M connectivity for the Tesla Model S in Europe, including Germany and the UK on Telefonica's O2 network, in Spain on Movistar, and in the Netherlands on KPN.
 
Telefónica's global M2M solution, powered by Jasper, will enable connectivity for Tesla's in-car infotainment telematics including navigation, online music and Internet browsing, and remote vehicle diagnostics that relay information about the car's safety, security and performance to the driver and Tesla service in real-time.
 
The Tesla Model S is an award winning five-door sedan, launched in 2012, with deliveries beginning in Europe in 2013. Its features include remote driver support and a connected infotainment control centre.

The 17 inch touchscreen puts rich content at the fingertips of drivers and passengers, seamlessly integrating media, navigation, communications, cabin controls and vehicle data.
 
The agreement, which establishes Telefonica as Tesla's largest European connectivity partner is supported by KPN in the Netherlands and Belgium as part of the M2M World Alliance, simplifying Tesla's deployment of connected cars.
 
The ability of Telefónica and KPN to work together locally will further improve the customer experience by maintaining a smaller pool of suppliers with a common M2M service.

Jose Luis Gamo, CEO at Telefonica Multinational Solutions, said: "As we accelerate our transformation into a digital telco we see lots of opportunities to empower consumers.

"Connected cars that provide drivers with more information and a better and safer driving experience is a perfect example of this.

"Tesla is one of the world's most forward thinking and exciting businesses. We share their passion for innovation and are thrilled to be working with them to deliver a superb connected in-car experience to Tesla drivers across Europe."

Peter Carlsson, Vice President of Supply Chain at Tesla, added: "The full Model S experience requires reliable and flexible connectivity solution. Tesla looks forward to our partnership with Telefonica to provide our European customers with a whole new class of connected car."
 
The Connected Car market is expected to achieve mass market penetration in the next few years. The number of vehicles with built-in connectivity will increase from 10 per cent of the overall market today to 90 per cent by 2020, according to the Telefonica Connected Car Industry 2013 report, which features contributions from eight of the world's largest car manufacturers.
 
Jimmy Wind, Managing Director M2M/New Business of KPN said: "This is a great example of how the M2M World Alliance delivers simple and effective solutions to major multinational customers."

UNIT4 Business Software, the UK subsidiary of UNIT4, has appointed Helen Sutton as its new UK Commercial Sales Director.

Sutton joins from SAP where she was responsible for UK and Ireland partnerships and she was also a member of the SAP UK and Ireland Extended Leadership Team.

During her career, Sutton also worked at a number of software vendors including Baan as well as she partnered with systems integrators such as Accenture, IBM, Deloitte and CapGemini.

In her new role at UNIT4 she will be in charge of the group's cloud development as well as vertical and partner strategies within commercial sectors, the company says.

Anwen Robinson, Managing Director for UNIT4 Business Solutions in UK and Ireland, said: "2014 will be a year of big transformational change for UNIT4, on a global basis, as our subsidiaries align to José Duarte's new strategic vision and our potential new ownership.

"In the UK, we have already implemented significant business transformation and consolidation over the last few years and have successfully moved away from a product selling approach to delivering full vertical sector platform solutions supported by specialist partners.

"Our objective is to build upon the significant and positive progress already made with customers, partners, cloud and key solution selling. So Helen joining us represents another key step along this transformational path and having worked across most commercial markets and industries, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience which will be of huge benefit as we invest further in the success and development of our commercial sector sales and marketing strategies."

ZTE has extended its presence in the UK handset market following an exclusive mobile device contract with distributor Exertis Micro-P which will manage the UK distribution of its latest range of handsets and mobile products.

As the sole channel distributor for ZTE in the UK, Exertis Micro-P will play a key role supporting fulfilment for UK operators, as well as offering tailored support services for retailers large and small.

Chris Edwards, ZTE European Marketing and Business Development Director, said: "The UK mobile device market is of strategic importance for ZTE in Europe. We want to improve access to affordable smartphones across the UK and with its distribution network Exertis Micro-P is perfectly placed to support."

Simon Woodman, Sales Director, Mobile at Exertis Micro-P, added: "We expect ZTE to be popular with the UK retail channel and our aim is to accelerate ZTE's brand penetration in the UK handset market."

Sigma Software Distribution has linked up with Red Gate Software to cover its UK and Ireland software reseller network.

Red Gate has produced software tools since 1999 which it claims are used in 100,000 organisations worldwide.

Founded in 2003 and based in the UK, Sigma's portfolio includes Intel Software, Dell Software, SAP, Flexera and Mindjet.

"We look forward to supplying our products to more and more resellers through Sigma," said Simon Johnson, EMEA Sales Manager at Red Gate Software.

Capita plc, BPO and integrated support service solutions specialist, has acquired Updata Infrastructure, a UK-based IT network services provider, for a cash consideration of £80m.

Both companies have been business partners in Scotland since 2011 when they began working on contracts for the public sector. This cooperation also includes a recent business partnership aimed at delivery of Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) which will see a single public services network for all public service organisations across Scotland.

Updata is a specialist in networking connectivity services with an expected turnover of £41.8m (€50.4m) in a financial year to June 2014. It serves mostly the clients in the public sector. The company has also six offices across the UK where it jointly hires around 160 people. It will become a part of Capita's IT Services division.

"Updata has a strong reputation across the public sector as a provider of IT networks that help schools, councils and health bodies deliver improved services. As part of Capita, Updata will strengthen our network capability and ensure we continue to meet the needs of our clients across the UK," commented Capita chief executive Andy Parker.

Preparations for Softcat's fourth annual charity ball are well advanced and according to Charlie Harman, head of Softcat's charity team, the firm has big plans to beat last year's £200,000 total.
 
Already 630 attendees are confirmed for the event to be held on May 23rd at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, in aid of national children's charity Dreams Come True.
 
Harman said: "We've worked with charity Dreams Come True for years because we've seen first hand what a difference they make to terminally ill children's lives. 

"In 2014 we raised enough funds to assist in reducing the waiting time for a child's dream to be fulfilled from 18 to 6 months, and now we really hope to reduce this waiting time down to a month. We hope that the proceeds from this year's May Ball will go a long way towards achieving this."

Auctions and a raffle will also take place throughout the evening with entertainment from Britain's Got Talent winners Spelbound, comedians Stewart Francis and Lee Nelson, DJ Charlie Hedges. FISH Percussion (Britain's Got Talent contestant), and auctioneer Jonny Gould.

Colin Brown, Softcat's MD, said: "This is our fourth May Ball and having raised a staggering £200,000 last year the pressure is on, but we're confident that this year will be the best one yet.

"Our charity team has worked incredibly hard to bring together some class acts, a raffle and an auction, all in one of the grandest venues in London."

Larger screen phones, better video quality and 4G networks are the three most important factors for driving greater consumption of video content on mobile phones, according to Strategy Analytics. 

The study - conducted across the US, China, France, Germany, Spain and the UK - revealed that 42% of mobile phone owners report larger screens would make them watch more video on their mobiles. Better quality video (35%) and having a 4G network (29%) are the next biggest drivers.

Currently, almost three-quarters (72%) of consumers watch video on their mobile phone, however, only 44% do so at least once a week. Less than 1 in 7 (15%) watch mobile video on a daily basis. The Chinese are the heaviest users, 59% watch mobile video every week, compared to 40% of Americans.

Mobile video penetration may be approaching its peak. Only 8% of mobile owners that didn't currently watch video on their phone indicated a desire or intent to do so in the future.

Among mobile video users, 40% report watching less than 30 minutes per week, 22% between 30-60 minutes and 21% between 1-3 hours, while 14% watch over 3 hours a week - the equivalent of a full movie and more.

"Turbo-boosting mobile video use is primarily about improving the viewing experience ahead of cost issues," says Nitesh Patel, Director of Wireless Media Strategies at Strategy Analytics.

"Although free, ad-supported videos and bundling premium video into the current tariff were also cited as factors, operators need to focus on improving the regularity and length of viewing to get consumers onto higher tier data plans."

Seven in 10 mobile video viewers report streaming video content through their mobile browser compared to 35% from apps. Over in 1 in 5 (22%) watch a video they've transferred to their phone from another device - known as "side-loading."

Mobile video consumption is almost three times more likely to be done via WiFi (68%) than via a mobile network (24%). The share of streaming over 3G/4G was highest in France (33%) and the USA (30%).

Among current and intending mobile video users, 64% rated YouTube as their preferred supplier of mobile video, followed by Google (49%), their mobile phone manufacturer (27%), Apple (26%), Amazon and their operator (both 22%).

David Kerr, Senior Vice President, Global Wireless & Digital Consumer Practice concludes: "Although existing Internet brands, such as YouTube, are the most preferred suppliers of video content, a significant share also ranked their phone brand and mobile operator favorably too.

"Consequently, providers of video content must continue to see handset vendors and operators as key partners in the effort to drive mobile video consumption."

Mitel has unveiled MiCloud Enterprise UCaaS for channel partners seeking to offer business communications solutions via a subscription-based UCaaS model.

MiCloud Enterprise UCaaS is available immediately in the United States and will be rolled out in several international markets throughout 2014.

The white label solution allows channel partners to integrate the MiCloud Enterprise UCaaS services as part of their own customer offering, under their own brand.

"Mitel is helping partners capitalise on the industry shift toward cloud-based business communications with MiCloud Enterprise UCaaS," said Jon Brinton, EVP and GM, Mitel Cloud Services.

"For many channel partners, this solution is their bridge to being able to deploy and support their own cloud service while creating recurring revenue streams and providing their customers attractive services for business communications in the cloud."

The solution connects employees, partners and customers with flexible communications channels that are designed to boost productivity and amplify collaboration.

This includes phone service with business-critical voice quality, chat and telepresence as well as audio and videoconferencing capabilities, said the vendor.

IT solutions specialists TSG has been recognised for its achievement in integrating 27 acquired businesses in ten years leading to the creation of a successful national company.

TSG now has 12 offices across the UK and all were investigated as part of its assessment to achieve the international quality management standard ISO 9001:2008.

Since it was established a decade ago, the business has grown through a strategy of acquisition with its regional bases developed from combining 27 smaller IT companies around the UK.

CEO David Stonehouse said the award of ISO 9001 was a clear indication that TSG had successfully integrated the businesses into one efficient national organisation.

He said: "ISO 9001 is a fantastic achievement that will continue to benefit the company internally as well as strengthening our competitiveness all over the UK. TSG is committed to providing the best quality of experience possible to our customers and this certification will ensure we continuously tune our processes going forward as our business develops."

TSG offers IT services, telecoms solutions and IT security and is a provider of CRM software, cloud computing and specialist services such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Sage Software, SharePoint and Pegasus business software.

Its regional bases include Newcastle, Teesside, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Solihull, Loughborough and Southampton.

Sonya Johnson, quality manager at TSG who drove the accreditation process, said: "Through attaining group certification we've successfully demonstrated that all elements of the business, across all of our products, in all of TSG's offices, can operate to the same high quality standards.

"This means that our customers can expect to receive a seamless experience regardless of whether they are dealing with one of our 300 specialists or a member of our centralised business support teams based at head office."

Chief operating officer Steve Cox, who is responsible for the group's service and support, added: "Our industry is hugely competitive so to be independently recognised by a third party for the high standard and quality of our work is hugely important.

"We have invested heavily in building the systems to remove any complexity from delivering great customer experience. We have worked hard to make sure we have the best relationships possible with the perfect mix of technology partners so we can deliver complete end-to-end service across a full range of ICT products.

"Having the right procedures in place underpins our customers' experience. Customers increasingly require these certifications as an essential to conducting business. They want to know that TSG are committed to quality control.

Making sure that we offer our customers the best possible experience is exactly what we strive to do."

In ten years the company has worked with more than 4,500 businesses across the UK to deliver end-to-end technology solutions.

Pictured: TSG's chief operating officer Steve Cox, quality manager Sonya Johnson, business process manager Rob Symonds and CEO David Stonehouse celebrate the company achieving an international quality management standard