Comms Dealer

Channel Telecom has held its end of year 'Reward and Recognition' evening for channel partners and suppliers at the prestigious Mayfair Hotel in London's West End.

The evening celebrated and rewarded those helping Channel Telecom to another year of growth and success. The Awards sponsor was Union Street Technologies, supplier of billing services to Channel Telecom.
 
Top honours for Overall Partner of the Year went to Vivo Telecommunications, based in Coventry. The award for Supplier of the Year was presented to BT Wholesale.
 
Clifford Norton, Managing Director commented: "It's great to share and celebrate our success with our channel community because their efforts make it all possible.

"We have had an exceptional year and the prospects for 2014 look even better. As ever our plans include an exciting series of partner incentives to motivate and reward the success of our channel."

Pictured: Ajit Jadeja (centre), Voice Sales Specialist for BT Wholesale accepting the Supplier of the Year Award from Matt Donaldson, Channel Manager and Clifford Norton, Managing Director of Channel Telecom.

New Zealander James Matthews has joined Westcon to drive the Virsae service management proposition as Business Development Manager. His previous experience includes stints at Telstra, NSC and Avaya.

Westcon is currently the exclusive distributor for Virsae in the UK which delivers a proactive management platform across Avaya's communications systems and applications, and will soon extend to other vendor portfolios.

Matthews said: "The Virsae solution identifies the things that directly impact and improve business performance, and is gaining significant traction among channel partners who have identified the revenue opportunities it creates and the ability to differentiate the service through white-labelling."

Ioan MacRae, General Manager UK & Ireland, Westcon Convergence, added: "The level of interest in the Virsae solution has been overwhelming as partners can see the solution fills a gap in the market and they can increase their bottom line.

"We are delighted to have James on -board and with his wealth of experience he will bring skills from a vendor, partner and end user perspective. He is the right candidate to drive the Virsae business forward."

Nimans and Unify have embarked on a training campaign to help dealers get to grips with OpenScape Business, Unify's UC solution for SMBs.

Webinars, online and face-to-face training give dealers an overview of product developments and installation techniques. Basic set-up, programming, licensing and configuration formed part of one four-hour course at Nimans' Manchester HQ.

Paul Burn, Nimans' Head of Category Sales, said: "As the official UK distributor for Unify we want all our customers to have the knowledge to maximise sales opportunities.

"Training is a key area for Unify and ourselves whether online or as part of classroom style courses. It's imperative resellers have the sales and engineering support to succeed and migrate into new areas of product innovation."

MDNX Group is to acquire the entire issued share capital of Easynet, a global provider of managed networking, hosting and cloud integration services, from LDC. The merged operations of the two businesses will operate under the Easynet brand.

The combination has been backed by Equistone Partners Europe, the mid-market private equity manager, which will hold a majority stake in the newly formed Group.

LDC has reinvested in the newly formed Group to acquire a minority stake alongside MDNX management.

The new group is focused on delivering network, cloud, applications management and hosting services to public and private sector customers.

All countries within the Easynet Group will be part of this transaction, with the exception of the business in Germany. The newly group will create a new company in Germany into which all the dedicated network assets from the former German branch of Easynet will be transferred.

Mark Thompson, Chief Executive and founder of MDNX, will also lead the new Group as Chief Executive, supported by Wayne Churchill as Chief Operating Officer and Mike Mulford as Chief Financial Officer. Former Easynet Chief Executive, Greg Clarke, will take up the role of non-Executive Chairman of the group.

Clarke said: "IT is driving huge transformation in businesses across the world, with data, cloud and applications management finding a place on the board's agenda.

"Now more than ever, these organisations need a reliable, customer-focused organisation with innovation at the heart of its business, integrated with a compelling carrier integration business model and back-office systems.

"Bringing together Easynet and MDNX has created scale in skills, knowledge and operational excellence.

"Combining forces with Easynet enables MDNX to benefit from the Easynet brand and to develop its business outside the UK, establishing a strong footprint in Europe. At the same time, Easynet benefits from the strength of MDNX in the public sector market in particular, as well as its structured back office automation, business systems and carrier integration business model."

Thompson added: "We can change the way in which global businesses experience and interact with data, information and applications. Easynet and MDNX are aligned in terms of customers, products and service strategies, so the coming together of the businesses creates a dynamic collaborative organisation. It's fantastic news for our customers."

Three charities are to share much needed funds raised by Rainbow during a Christmas telesales day. The effort raised over £2,230 for the The Brain Tumour Trust, Prostate Cancer and Save the Children.

To raise money Rainbow staff dressed up in Christmas clothes and took part in games during the day. "Even one or two key suppliers who were visiting us on the day took part by dressing up," said MD Dave Corgat.

"I was overwhelmed by the staff response and the money raised. All of the causes have a personal significance for our fantastic team at Rainbow."

After 15 quarters of double-digit year-over-year growth, WLAN equipment growth fell below the 10% mark in the third quarter of 2013, due to the 802.11n transition nearing completion and 802.11ac not yet having a significant effect on the market says market research firm Infonetics. 3Q13 marks the first full quarter in which 802.11ac products were widely available, and 3% of access points sold were based on this new standard.

Infonetics has released excerpts from its 3rd quarter Wireless LAN Equipment and WiFi Phones report, which tracks access points, WLAN controllers, and WiFi phones for the enterprise.

Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research: "We consider this a temporary slowdown and expect growth to reaccelerate in the coming years as buyers focus on their WLAN infrastructure to support the growth of wireless devices and enable BYOD and employee mobility."

Worldwide enterprise wireless LAN equipment revenue edged up 1% sequentially in 3Q13, to $1.2bn; North America and Asia Pacific WLAN growth slowed sharply in 3Q13 but EMEA is doing well despite relatively weaker economic conditions.

Top vendor Cisco's WLAN revenue share is up a half-point in 3Q13 from 2Q13, and up over 4 points from 3Q12, but this may be because after a tough couple of years, WiFi phone shipments are growing again on a year-over-year basis.

Paul Barnett, Director of ICUK, met with Chancellor George Osborne and MPs Matthew Hancock and Chuka Umunna on December 7th as part Small Business Saturday, an initiative designed to encourage people to use local or small businesses.

As a member of the Small Business Saturday 100 Club ICUK joined 99 fellow small business owners at Number 11 Downing Street.

Barnett said: "We hope that Small Business Saturday was a success for others as it was for us, and we look forward to the initiative building over the next year."

This is the first time the scheme has run in the UK, after four successful years in the USA. American Express run the event on both sides of the pond, and shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna was a key player in its introduction to the UK.

There are around 1.7 million small businesses (a business with 11-50 members of staff) which account for 53% of all employment in the UK.

Small Business Saturday was hailed as a success across the UK and saw Labour leader Ed Miliband visit shops across Croydon.

ICUK has given its backing to Small Business Saturday as well as other small businesses with a series of articles on their blog including tips on starting up as a reseller.

Mark Roberts has been named as ShoreTel's new Chief Marketing Officer. He brings more than 20 years technology marketing experience, his most recent role being VP of Marketing Americas for Mitel.

Don Joos, President and CEO of ShoreTel, said: "Mark has an impressive track record of success and brings a wealth of UC market knowledge that complements our strategic plans."

In particular, Mark has expertise in lead generation, company positioning, product marketing, and strategic planning and will be an instrumental member of the management team. His energy and drive for results are also a great fit with our company culture."

Nimans has produced an introductory guide to its data proposition, highlighting opportunities around mobile data, direct Internet access, LAN extension services and MPLS/VPLS-based Wide Area Networks.

Head of Networks Mark Curtis-Wood said: "Selling data may seem daunting to some but it's more about identifying opportunities by having new conversations about how businesses operate now and how this will change in the future."

Abzorb has revamped its website in line with a new branding initiative that forms part of the firm's long-term growth strategy. The website also encompasses the Abzorbplus+ Partner Initiative and a new look Abzorb Shop.

Mike Walsh, MD, hopes to grow the reseller base from 280 to 500 by the end of 2014. He said: "The rebranding sends out a clear message that we are current and can offer a full turnkey solution to any businesses."