Comms Dealer

Addressing delegates at Unify's UK Partner Conference today, Tony Smith, Sales Director for the Indirect Channel, reaffirmed that the Siemens legacy is strong and will not be thrown away, but discarding its base of legacy kit in an upgrade migration push is now top of the agenda.

"There are 25,000 Hipath 3000 systems installed in the UK," he said. "The opportunity is ripe to migrate these to OpenScape and take advantage of SIP and UC. There are also 5,000 Hipath DX legacy systems that are end of life. Legacy based migration will deliver growth."

Torsten Raak, Global Head of Marketing and Communications, added that resellers have welcomed the Unify brand as refreshing and apt.

"Unify was three years in the making," he stated. "We now have a worldwide trademark. And following the October 15th launch we were the most talked about subject on Twitter with 36.8 million impressions in four weeks.

"We have 20,000 twitter followers, 42,000 visits to the launch hub on the 15th and 135,000 page impressions on linked in. It represented the largest single project investment ever undertaken by our organisation.

"Unify stands for transformation and moving forward collaboratively. Unify speaks differently and looks and feels different."

Following the rebrand a key concern among partners was how Unify plans to help them drive the new brand in the UK,. especially the lucrative mid-market space which MZA says is an expanding opportunity.

"We are advertising in key publications and on websites visited by CIOs," explained Sue Bowkett, Marketing Manager. "We have launched a new Unify partner portal loaded with marketing collateral and have made available co-branded e-shots that partners can broadcast to their customer base. The offices in Milton Keynes and London have also been rebranded in readiness for customer meetings and presentations. We have ramped up the Unify marketing team and recognised the importance of the channel."

Reaction from partners to the rebranding has been positive, confirmed David Dyer, Partner Account Director. "New, vibrant and exciting are the terms partners have used in response to Unify," he stated.

"The launch of our marketing campaign has been amazing but it's what you put on your websites and what you take to customers that counts. Partners must ensure that they use the assets we have made available to them."
?George Aristidou, Sales Director for HiTouch, told delegates how a listen and learn approach has helped Unify better align its strategy alongside the needs of reseller partners with a new approach to collaborative working.

"We have listened and changed our go to market model," he said.
"My team was vertically aligned and direct in commercial and public sectors. Now it's a two way strategy. We have got a team stoking up business and when we get an SMB opportunity we will invite partners in.

"Do not be afraid to engage with bigger customers too. We know how to win these deals head-to-head with our competitors. We are talking low end and high end. If we can make this work with HiTouch and channel teams working together."

The Unify brand launch was accompanied by news of a change in the vendor's distribution strategy that saw Nimans become the vendor's sole UK distributor.

Richard Carter, Group Sales and Business Development Director, Nimans, said: "It's all about investment. We will invest in tech support. We will also be employing a Unify business development manager. Unify is the largest team and largest brand we have in Nimans with 13 people working with Tony Smith's team. We will invest in lead generation and collaboration with relevant marketing."

More conference highlights:

The Unify partner channel sold 47 per cent more systems in late summer/Autumn 2013 than same time in 2012

MZA says the opportunity in 150 to 1,000 ext mid market sector is five times larger than enterprise opportunity

OpenScape Business has been sold to 8,000 organisations around the world and 105,000 users are active with 24,500 UC users

The Hipath 4000, rebranded to OpenScape 4000 v7, is positioned as solution for any Hipath DX customer with over 25 million ports installed worldwide

Reseller offer: All the basic UC applications on OpenScape enterprise offered on OpenScape Express

Unify UK partner event award winners

SMB solution of the year 2012-2013 - Corporate ICT

Mid Market solution of the year 2012-2013 - Lloyds IP

Large Enterprise solution of the year 2012-2013 - Net Connections

Private Cloud solution of the year 2012-2013 - C STEM

Public Cloud solution of the year 2012-2013 - Datrix

Reseller of the year 2012-2013 - Datasharp UK

Sales person of the year 2012-2013 - Datasharp UK Ben Shepherd

Technical person of the year  2012-2013 - Integra David Carroll

New reseller of the year  2012-2013 - IP Office

Fastest growing reseller of the year 2012-2013 - NIX Communications

Highest system volume reseller of the year 2012-2013 - Supply Group
 
 

Virgin Media Business has collaborated with Cisco to fit the final piece in its UC and collaboration picture. The Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution, which is offered as a Cisco Powered service, brings together collaboration tools including voice and video calling, presence and instant messaging.

"It doesn't matter whether you're using a desktop PC, a laptop, tablet or smartphone, one simple easy-to-use interface makes it accessible for everyone," said Duncan Higgins, marketing director, Virgin Media Business. "It's been designed with user-friendly management portal, making any changes quick and easy to complete."

The solution joins the portfolio of UC services Virgin Media Business offers through Microsoft Lync UC, 4G mobile service through EE and SIP trunking.

Higgins added: "UC is becoming more desirable in the 21st century workplace. It simplifies communications for employees and enables the growing number of companies in the UK who are embracing a more flexible approach to working practices. The shift towards simpler and more flexible communications has been a hot topic throughout 2013, a trend Virgin Media Business expects to continue in 2014."

The new service will be supported through the company's nationwide fibre-optic network and hosted in its own data centres.

Higgins added: "At the beginning of this year we set out to become a challenger in the Unified Communications market.

"Increasingly customers want more than just great connectivity. They want to transform the way they operate with tools that foster collaboration and innovation. With today's launch we're now able to offer full service UC to everyone we work with."

"IT departments spend a lot of time and money on simply running their organisations, but it's time to look beyond that. The kit that employees are using can be as transformative for a business as winning a big new contract or a change of management."

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PSU secures managed services contract with QVIS monitoring
 
PSU Technology Group (PSU) has secured a new managed services contract with surveillance specialists QVIS Monitoring.

PSU will design and support the ICT infrastructure required for QVIS' new surveillance control centre that will be used to monitor, manage and react to incidents across the whole of the UK.
 
PSU will design, implement and support a new server environment based on HP Proliant technology and protected by a high availability firewall.

Leased lines and IP-ISDN30 will handle data and voice and include built in redundancy and Endpoint Protection from Symantec. PSU will support the entire solution on a multi-year managed services contract.
 
Michael Lounton, Managing Director, PSU Technology Group said: "We are delighted to be awarded this contract and it will be great to be involved in the full lifecycle of this project, from its initial concept and strategy, right through to design, delivery and on-going support."

Flood gates open in call blocker sales

Demand for a call blocker that puts an end to unwanted communications at the touch of a button has reached an all time high.

The device, available exclusively through the channel from Nimans, comes pre-programmed with 200 numbers of the worst known offenders and has the facility to block an additional 1000. Orders are rising on a monthly basis with sales surging 100 fold in the last 12 months.

Based on smart technology, the unit is also fax compatible and has been developed by CPR Global (The Call Prevention Registry) which is the UK's leading anti-nuisance call service provider.

Nimans' Purchasing Director, Andy Winfield, said: "The CPR Call Blocker is an easy to set-up all-in-one everyday product which helps retain privacy in the home or office, providing Caller ID is active.

"Silent calls, recorded messages, harassment, malicious and calls from overseas call centres can all be stopped in an instant along with PPI calls, unavailable numbers, withheld numbers and automated robo calls.

"Call blocking technology is becoming big business and offers resellers a great way to add to their existing revenue streams. A unique 'Block Now' button is located on top of the unit which when pressed, cuts off a caller in their prime with the number logged into its memory and permanently blocked. The device can also reject any caller who withholds their number."

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KCOM IT manager highly commended at IT Industry Awards

Hats off to Lindsay Rodgers, Design and Delivery Consultant at the KCOM Group, who was highly commended at this year's IT Industry Awards for her outstanding contribution to IT in the last 12 months.

The annual event, hosted this year by comedian Jimmy Carr, was held at Battersea Park Events Arena in London, with over 1,300 guests, from businesses like BT, Virgin Media and Network Rail.

These awards focus on the contribution of individuals, projects, organisations and technologies that have excelled in the use, development and deployment of IT. Lindsay was shortlisted for the Best IT Manager award.

Chief Information Officer at the KCOM Group, Steve Humm, said: "Lindsay is a customer facing IT professional with a real affinity for our business. She has a talent for understanding what makes a great customer experience, something that is key to our Group's reputation, and consistently applies that in the effective delivery of IT solutions.

"Across our business Lindsay has a reputation for making things happen and is a great communicator and facilitator. Within IT, she is someone who constantly challenges the way we work and injects best practice, including driving the adoption of service orientated-architecture (SOA) principles, and the creation of reusable services.

"Being shortlisted and recognised in this category is a demonstration of the respect that everyone around the business has for Lindsay and was richly deserved by someone who has had a tremendous year."

PSU Technology Group (PSU) has secured a new managed services contract with surveillance specialists QVIS Monitoring.

PSU will design and support the ICT infrastructure required for QVIS' new surveillance control centre that will be used to monitor, manage and react to incidents across the whole of the UK.
 
PSU will design, implement and support a new server environment based on HP Proliant technology and protected by a high availability firewall.

Leased lines and IP-ISDN30 will handle data and voice and include built in redundancy and Endpoint Protection from Symantec. PSU will support the entire solution on a multi-year managed services contract.
 
Michael Lounton, Managing Director, PSU Technology Group said: "We are delighted to be awarded this contract and it will be great to be involved in the full lifecycle of this project, from its initial concept and strategy, right through to design, delivery and on-going support."

Demand for a call blocker that puts an end to unwanted communications at the touch of a button has reached an all time high.

The device, available exclusively through the channel from Nimans, comes pre-programmed with 200 numbers of the worst known offenders and has the facility to block an additional 1000. Orders are rising on a monthly basis with sales surging 100 fold in the last 12 months.

Based on smart technology, the unit is also fax compatible and has been developed by CPR Global (The Call Prevention Registry) which is the UK's leading anti-nuisance call service provider.

Nimans' Purchasing Director, Andy Winfield, said: "The CPR Call Blocker is an easy to set-up all-in-one everyday product which helps retain privacy in the home or office, providing Caller ID is active.

"Silent calls, recorded messages, harassment, malicious and calls from overseas call centres can all be stopped in an instant along with PPI calls, unavailable numbers, withheld numbers and automated robo calls.

"Call blocking technology is becoming big business and offers resellers a great way to add to their existing revenue streams. A unique 'Block Now' button is located on top of the unit which when pressed, cuts off a caller in their prime with the number logged into its memory and permanently blocked. The device can also reject any caller who withholds their number."

The wholesale telecoms industry will soon wake up to customers' shifting priorities, the risks posed by internal conflict between wholesale and enterprise channels, the threats posed by new entrants into the market, and signs that structural change is finally coming to voice interconnection.

This is according to Ovum's Wholesale Telecoms 2014 Trends-to-Watch report which urges wholesalers to exploit these trends by differentiating from or partnering with new entrants, minimising internal channel conflicts, becoming more responsive to customers, and exploring emerging alternative models for voice interconnection.

Wholesale 2014 Telecoms Trends-to-Watch:

• Competition will grow in national wholesale markets.Traditional wholesalers must not consider existing revenue streams to be safe.Instead they should actively compete with new entrants, differentiating their offering in terms of service reach, breadth and depth of portfolio, quality, responsiveness, reliability, or customer service. However, established players should also seriously consider partnering with new entrants that have lower costs, greater quality, or other advantage over their own capabilities.

• Conflicts between wholesale and enterprise channels will increase. We expect carriers to continue turning their standalone wholesale units into lines of business (LOBs) reporting into their enterprise counterparts. To reduce enterprise-versus-wholesale channel conflicts, carriers should clearly define and strictly enforce customer segmentations, with accounts assigned to one channel or the other.

• Customers will require wholesalers to be more responsive.Providers of wholesale services must realize that intermediaries need to be able to give their customers reliable dates for service availability. Hence, wholesalers must take action to improve systems and processes to speed up the delivery of services and the prediction, diagnosis, and resolution of faults.

• Voice interconnection will show signs of structural change. For the first time, regulatory, retail, and wholesale trends are all pushing in the same direction. 2014 will see the beginning of changes in pricing regimes for voice interconnection as retail telcos look to reset their voice cost base. However, the time has come for wholesalers to dust off those alternative pricing models and start testing which are and are not fit for purpose. Likewise, retailers that operate in markets where the trends are moving fastest should be talking to their wholesale providers to understand their options and plan for a long-term transition to new and sustainable voice models.

David James, Principal Analyst, Wholesale Telecoms, Ovum, says: "Despite its reputation for being rather traditional, unexciting, and averse to change, the wholesale telecoms market continues to evolve to meet the rapidly changing demands of retail service providers and other intermediaries. Since the turn of the millennium wholesale has transformed from a sleepy backwater that few discussed into a valuable source of revenue for many telcos. To remain effective, wholesalers must continue to respond to new developments."

Hats off to Lindsay Rodgers, Design and Delivery Consultant at the KCOM Group, who was highly commended at this year's IT Industry Awards for her outstanding contribution to IT in the last 12 months.

The annual event, hosted this year by comedian Jimmy Carr, was held at Battersea Park Events Arena in London, with over 1,300 guests, from businesses like BT, Virgin Media and Network Rail.

These awards focus on the contribution of individuals, projects, organisations and technologies that have excelled in the use, development and deployment of IT. Lindsay was shortlisted for the Best IT Manager award.

Chief Information Officer at the KCOM Group, Steve Humm, said: "Lindsay is a customer facing IT professional with a real affinity for our business. She has a talent for understanding what makes a great customer experience, something that is key to our Group's reputation, and consistently applies that in the effective delivery of IT solutions.

"Across our business Lindsay has a reputation for making things happen and is a great communicator and facilitator. Within IT, she is someone who constantly challenges the way we work and injects best practice, including driving the adoption of service orientated-architecture (SOA) principles, and the creation of reusable services.

"Being shortlisted and recognised in this category is a demonstration of the respect that everyone around the business has for Lindsay and was richly deserved by someone who has had a tremendous year."

A new mobile consultancy called Piran Consulting has launched following the merger of Piran Partners LLP and Jam ICT. The new company will continue to trade as Piran Partners.

The amalgamation brings together two mobile consultancies with specialist knowledge of mobile in the payments industry, enabling businesses to capitalise on the revenue streams that can be achieved by placing mobile technology at the heart of business strategy.

As mobile continues to emerge as the key interface for business, Piran aims to help businesses use mobile technology to solve problems, create deeper relationships with their customers and realise new revenue streams.

The Piran team consists of world leaders in the field, and works with an impressive client list including Sainsbury's, Colt, Verizon, GSMA, The Payments Council, Virgin Money and Sky. Building on their extensive track record in mobile, the business will focus on leveraging trends in MVNO development, digital identity and digital payments.

As part of the business merger, the company has announced the appointment of Andy Dewhurst as non-executive Chairman and Julian Sawyer as Managing Director.

Piran Partners' Chairman Andy Dewhurst said: "Mobile has emerged as the dominant interface for technology and is shaping the development of many technologies, so bringing together two companies whose strengths lie in this rapidly developing area was an obvious move.

?"Both companies' expertise lies in helping businesses think about using mobile technology to solve problems, creating new and game changing propositions that allow them to unlock new revenue streams and carve greater relationships with their customers."

Managing Director Julian Sawyer said: "The Piran team brings grounded and practical consulting capabilities that cover the spectrum of business strategy, customer-centred proposition design, commercial analysis and benchmarking."

Degrees alone are not enough to help jobseekers break into the IT industry, according to 60% of technology professionals.

New research from IT recruitment site CWJobs.co.uk has revealed the concerns of professionals for the next generation of technology talent.

With nearly one in ten graduates unemployed IT professionals are recommending vocational training courses as a worthy alternative to a degree (76%) and a better route into employment.

In addition to on-the-job training, professionals also believe early education could give a solid foundation for a career in IT. In line with recent department of education plans, 56% of professionals believe programming should be integrated into the curriculum for secondary education from 2015 onwards. In addition, 86% think primary school age is an appropriate time to introduce children to computing in general.

Richard Nott, Website Director, CWJobs.co.uk stated: "A shortfall in skilled professionals could have a big impact on Britain's future as a key power within the technology sector.

"While degrees undoubtedly form a solid theoretical foundation for professionals, 64% of professionals working in the technology industry do not hold a degree themselves. It's therefore important that alternate routes into the industry are encouraged, and importance of degrees relaxed, in order to provide new channels to industry for budding IT professionals."

Maintel has attained Avaya Platinum Business Partner status, a position held by only a handful of companies in the UK, and Avaya's highest designation for business partners.

Maintel has met a series of criteria that includes obtaining the highest levels of Avaya technical certifications and training, excellence in customer satisfaction, meeting or exceeding revenue attainment goals, and delivering best-in-class customer service and support as measured by an independent survey organisation.

Kevin Stevens, Chief Operating Officer at Maintel, said: ""Maintel has always maintained a commitment to technical excellence, quality service and customer satisfaction. This award will only serve to give existing and potential customers even greater reassurance about our strengths in all these areas."

Nimans is to stage two engineering training courses on Panasonic's NCP and NS1000 communication platforms early next year. 

Both three day events take place at the distributor's Manchester headquarters and are designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of all key areas of system architecture.

The first session starts on January 21st about the NS1000 system for those that have already completed KX-NCP and/or KX-TDE training.

The first day includes a complete product overview, new hardware, terminal installation and various practical sessions. Day two looks at Unified Messaging, IP Trunks and legacy gateways whilst the final day includes a questions and answers session.

The second course focuses on the NCP 500/1000 platform and begins on February 19th.

Nimans' Head of Category Sales, Paul Burn, says reseller training is a core component of the company's 2014 business strategy. "These courses provide a great platform for engineers to discover all the latest developments surrounding two very popular Panasonic platforms."