Comms Dealer

According to a new market report the market for predictive analytics software is forecast to reach $6.5bn globally by 2019. The market growth is driven by increased demand for customer intelligence and fraud/security intelligence software. Cloud-hosted predictive analytics software solution is seen as an emerging market and is expected to drive growth in the near future.

The study, The Predictive Analytics Market, (including Customer intelligence, Decision support systems, Data mining and management, Performance management, Fraud and security intelligence, Risk management, Financial intelligence, Operations and Campaign management) is published by Transparency Market Research.

Globally, the predictive analytics market was valued at $2.08bn in 2012 and is forecast to grow at 17.8% CAGR from 2013 - 2019. End-use sectors such as banking and finance services, insurance, government, pharmaceuticals, telecom and IT, and retail, are seen as key demand drivers during the forecast period. Collectively these segments accounted for 71.8% of the marker share in 2012.

Among all, companies under BFSI (banking, finance services, and insurance) sector are expected to account for the largest market share throughout the forecast period. However, retail and manufacturing, are expected to record faster growth as compared to any other segment. This is largely due to fast growing consumer driven digital data and the subsequent need to extract strategically critical information from the same.

The rise in incidences of frauds, payment defaults, over or under stock inventory levels, and stringent regulations regarding GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), have pushed companies to adopt predictive analytical models, so they can gain futuristic insights and take preventive measures.

Demand for industry specific software solutions has caused customer intelligence, fraud and security intelligence, and campaign management to emerge as leading segments. These segments together accounted for approximately 50% of market revenue in 2012.

These different software solution types are used for supporting organizational functions/applications such as sales and marketing, customer and channel management, operations and workforce management, and finance and risk management. Among these software solutions for finance and risk management applications accounted for 40.9% of revenue share in 2012. The demand has seen a surge amidst the restraining impact of current global economy, where companies have been looking for measures to effectively manage their finances and associated risks.

Most of these software solutions are currently delivered through on-premises installation, and such installed solutions alone accounted for more than three-fourth of revenue share. Demand from companies with strong financial arms has been a key contributor to their high revenue share. However, with rise in awareness pushing the demand up from small and medium businesses, cloud based predictive analytics software solutions and services are expected to emerge as an alternative. Low cost, ease of switching the vendor, and scope for upgrade as per requirements, are some of the factors supporting demand for cloud hosted software solutions.

North America, which has been at the forefront of generating big data in large quantities, is expected to remain the largest market for predictive analytics software solutions. This is due to demand for advanced business intelligence being directly affected by need to analyse big data. The growth of the predictive analytics aspect of Business Intelligence has seen a revival ever since big data gained popularity and has been growing exponentially. As a result, big data vendors too have been entering the market for predictive analytics, making the competition intense. Currently players such as SAS Institute Inc., SAP AG, Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Teradata Corporation, and Tableau Software, are among key players in the market. The top five players accounted for 80% of the global market in 2012 making it challenging for the new entrants to establish themselves in the market. Other vendors in the market are Fair Isaac Corporation, TIBCO Software, Inc., Information Builders, Alteryx, Inc., QlikTech International AB, and MicroStrategy, Inc., among others, it says.

While total revenues for Europe's main software firms were up by 10% for 2012 at €41.1bn, (€37.2bn in 2011 and €30.9bn in 2010) profitability fell as they grew investment, moving to SaaS and mobile/cloud.

European private equity firm, Truffle Capital's eighth edition of its ranking of the top 100 European software companies shows pressure on profitability from rising investment and R&D. The vendors are targeting a growth rate between 5 and 15% (for 72% of them versus 43% last year). Cloud computing is perceived to be the industry's high-potential trend for 2014 (80%) followed by Mobile Applications (55%).

The Truffle 100 Europe has been drawn up with the support of Neelie Kroes (European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda), in collaboration with analysts IDC and CXP Group, who performed the survey on which the ranking is based, and Essec Business School.

"The European software industry is thriving. Revenue and growth figures in the sector show the importance of its contribution to the European economy at a time of fierce global competition. We should all the more commend the achievements of the software industry, and acknowledge that the impact of those achievements go much beyond the sector itself. When looking at the bigger picture, we realise that software, has become a key enabling technology underlying all economic sectors and activities. Software services and applications are a major contributor to competitiveness: it greatly improves operations and services, and it also allows for the creation of new businesses and activities that would not exist without it," says Neelie Kroes.

"The European Cloud Strategy is articulated along three axes: application interoperability and data portability standards for reducing the risks of lock-in; safe and fair contract terms and conditions for easing the take-up of cloud services; and the European Cloud Partnership for defining common cloud procurement requirements for the public sector. You can count on me to bring continued Commission support to entrepreneurship and further developments in the software sector, especially at a time where major technological changes like the cloud are creating new challenges and opportunities",

Of the top 100, 42 vendors posted revenues of over €200m, 62 vendors had revenues of over €100m (60 in 2011) and 97 vendors earned over €50m (90 in 2011). All Truffle 100 Europe companies had revenues of over €46m (40 in 2011). However, profits went down from €6.6 billion in 2011 to €5.8 billion this year (an 8.7% decrease).

"This latest edition of the Truffle 100 Europe, the 8th, shows that the European software sector remains a force to be reckoned with, regardless of the economic environment. Despite an 8.7% decrease in profits, vendors invested more than they earned, showing faith and optimism in the future. As a result, R&D investments went up 20% and the number of R&D jobs rose by 6%. With 63,000 qualified jobs, low outsourcing numbers and 6.8 billion€ invested for development works on future products, the software industry remains an unwavering catalyst for innovation, a key driver of European economic growth, and plays a critical role in job creation policies for generations to come. Due to rising global competitiveness, the software industry needs more support from public authorities especially through tax relief, tax incentives for venture capital and the famous yet ignored "European Small Business Act".

European software entrepreneurs foresee a 5 to 15% growth in 2014 versus 10% last year, an optimistic view despite changing business models that push vendors to perpetually reinvent themselves in the age of cloud computing, Saas and Mobility", commented Truffle Capital co-founder and CEO Bernard-Louis Roques.

"We are currently experiencing a historical turning point: the global adoption of SaaS, a revolutionary software marketing model. SaaS is now riding the wave of Cloud and forms the third pillar alongside infrastructure service (IaaS) and the development service (PaaS): it constitutes the information system's application layer. The entire reasoning behind the construction of information systems is questioned with this new model. As cost-efficiency is now inevitable, the concept of outsourcing has spread to all companies, including key accounts who no longer consider SaaS as a mere experiment but who are looking to apply it to their most commonly-used management applications which will hopefully become the future's most strategic applications. Software Vendors are becoming more aware that the SaaS/cloud phenomenon is a real chance for economic growth, which has led to the model's upward trend. Thanks to Cloud, promising new markets are being conquered, especially on an international level" said Laurent Calot, CEO, CXP Group.

"The European software industry is in growth mode despite the difficult economic climate in the region with more than 10% revenue growth. A recent study by IDC confirms this trend as software demand in Europe has increased by 4%. European organizations are starting to embrace the idea of subscription-based business solutions delivered over the Internet. IDC believes that it is the ability of European vendors to transform their offerings and align them with the 'Third Platform' (a new technology platform for growth and innovation characterized by technologies such as cloud computing, smart mobile devices, social networks, and real-time analytics) which will determine the future competitiveness of Europe's software industry," said Bo Lykkegaard, research analyst, IDC.

The global carrier router and switch market (IP edge and core routers and carrier Ethernet switches) totaled $3.6bn in 3Q13, an increase of 7% from the year-ago 3rd quarter.

Europe/EMEA declined 10% in 3Q13 from 2Q13, but European service providers are expected to carry out a decent budget flush in the 4th quarter. Market research firm Infonetics Research has released vendor market share and preliminary analysis from its 3rd quarter 2013 (3Q13) Service Provider Routers and Switches report.

"The third quarter is normally slow for the carrier router/switch market, so a 10% sequential drop isn't overwhelmingly bad, especially with the expectation of a good 4Q13 and an improving year-over-year outlook," says Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research. "All three main IP router/switch categories - edge routers, core routers, and carrier Ethernet switches (CES) - are up from a year ago."

Cisco maintains its lead with 38%, Alcatel-Lucent regains 2nd place, Juniper holds #3, while Huawei drops to #4 on the 3Q13 global router/CES revenue share leaderboard. Infonetics forecasts the service provider router and switch market to grow at a 7% CAGR from 2012 to 2017, when it will reach $20.2 billion.

Easynet Global Services, managed cloud infrastructure provider, has announced a partnership agreement with Zscaler, security cloud for the mobile enterprise specialist. Under the terms of a deal, Easynet will add Zscaler's cloud-based security offering (Direct-to-Cloud Network) to its managed security service portfolio and will offer the new services to its customers in the EMEA region.

The new services will include consultancy, implementation of security policies and ongoing support.

"Enterprises are challenged to secure employee access to the Internet from multiple devices and locations. The Cloud has become the solution of choice to protect enterprise users and their data against Advanced Persistent Threats, so we are looking forward to broaden the reach of our Direct-to-Cloud Network with the help of Easynet in EMEA," states Craig Stewart, Vice President EMEA of Zscaler.

To say that Nimans has turned a new page in its just published 2014 Voice and Data Book would be to greatly understate its Everything Connected narrative, according to Group Sales and Business Development Director Richard Carter.

"The directory reflects the company's strategy where resellers can find all of the components they need to complete a job from start to finish, backed by a solid service and support structure," he commented.

"The 2014 catalogue details 7,000 products across 500-plus pages. The world of communications continues to develop and Nimans has evolved into much more than a traditional comms distributor. The company has £10m worth of stock ready for next day delivery."

As the year draws to a close it looks like it's going to a fabulous time for job seekers in 2014. A recent survey by the CIPD reveals that over a third of workers in the UK are not happy with their current job and want to move employer next year.

After five years of pent up frustration about working hours, little or no increase in salary and the higher cost of living,  people are running out of patience with their financial lot. Now that the general economy is doing well, the stock market is soaring and companies are posting better profits, employees are saying - 'me next!'.

The signs of this can be found right across our world of telecoms recruitment. Over the last six months we have received ever more calls from candidates getting back in touch after a five year silence. Conversely, advertising response is at an all-time low. In 2007 a good job in comms would garner thirty applications whereas today you'll be lucky to receive half a dozen, and most of them will be pretty poor.

So what is driving recruitment activity? The big change in our market has been the rise of business social networking websites, and everyone is trying to link up with everyone in a desperate attempt to generate new candidate connections like a game of career conkers. However, an accepted invitation to connect does not constitute a motivated job seeker and employers have discovered that 'having a chat' does not automatically lead to serious interest in a job offer.

The RoI on networking is dramatically lower than working with people who have already taken the decision to seek a new role.

Meanwhile, the candidates that are actively looking with us are enjoying unprecedented choice as everyone fights for their attention. We've seen telecoms people garner six offers of employment in as many days, and the average salary we have secured for candidates has risen by 18% this year alone.

My analogy is that the recession has acted like a huge dam, full right up to the brim with a five year backlog of candidates wanting career change.

Fear of redundancy and fear of making the wrong decision has held back the natural flow of our river of candidates. Hirers and recruitment agencies have gotten used to relying on the very few candidates that have brimmed over the top of this dam, but I think it's all about to change for the better.

Peak flow in recruitment is always the first half of the year as 75% of actual job moves take place before the summer holidays.

Whether my candidate dam bursts or we just open the sluice gates wider, I predict there will be a lot more people on the market after Christmas.

It will be a lot easier to hire new staff, particularly if you raise the salaries you offer to get the attention of the best candidates. Certainly our client base is issuing new job orders daily in anticipation of this rush.

So here's how to make 2014 your best year yet for hiring: • Always be on the lookout for new staff
• Talk to everyone - online, agencies, referrals
• Meet candidates quickly and make decisive offers
• And never delay start dates

Report by Stuart Gilroy: Cloud communications integrator Content Guru in conjunction with Comms Dealer has hosted a working lunch for industry leaders with an agenda to assess the state of the UK cloud market and highlight why the channel must get fully prepared for this growing force in business communications.

Cloud evangelism no longer emanates from a fanatical corner of our industry, today the preachers are setting the standard in a dynamic market. And according to Content Guru's gospel, the cloud is here to stay and can do no wrong. Sean Taylor, the company's Managing Director, is driving the cloud debate with conviction and he believes that the coming two years will be a 'make or break' period. He predicts that up to six big players will emerge to dominate the cloud space over the next ten years and his intention is for Content Guru to be part of this elite group. Taylor aims to create a £400 million company by 2020 and strategic channel partnerships are a key component of his growth strategy.

But why should comms and IT resellers build new business models when they see no need? Because without a cloud strategy they will have no control over the future of their organisations. And according to Taylor, resellers who harbour a grievance against new technologies are likely to sink without trace. His conviction was bolstered by insights gained at Gartner's Symposium event held in Barcelona last month, attended by 6,500 CIOs all driving in the cloud direction. "After years of expectation the cloud has taken off," stated Taylor.

The market for cloud communications is forecast to grow 20 per cent per year between now and 2018, meanwhile PBX sales have entered into a tailspin. True, there is a deluge of predictions about the future of cloud-based comms, all positively glowing, but these predictions risk being wrong-footed by nitty gritty issues such as selling to the end user. A tension between the push to productise cloud solutions and the equally strong requirement to take a consultative approach in order to effectively sell them appears to be a sticking point for many providers. However, Content Guru has devised a method that side-steps this issue.

"Focusing on business outcomes can be a challenge for traditional resellers," commented Taylor. "In the volume SME market we have productised and given customers what they want. Many resellers do not understand culturally how to consult. Therefore we engage with them at a commodity level and introduce a process of education that virally works through their business, enabling them to ultimately add value around our cloud propositions."

Productisation and consultancy selling are a blazing contradiction in terms, and therein lies the challenge within a SME market ripe for growth but served by resellers who are loyally wedded to product selling techniques. "The issue is how we educate sales people," said Grant Picknell, Head of Sales at Griffin. "Initially, a consultative sales person is needed. The consultation piece is critical to inform customers about the benefits to their business. But as people become more familiar with the market we can start to productise and 'box shift'. Our focus is to take people away from transactional sales, but not all sales staff are capable of this journey."

Michel Robert, Managing Director at Content Guru partner Claranet, has successfully addressed the need to transition away from traditional dealer selling methods in favour of consultation. "Pay plans have to work holistically and reflect the behaviours that you want to drive," he commented. "This process needs to be ongoing to ensure that sales staff are aligned to their markets. It isn't easy and requires continual investment. Closing deals is a team effort."

Cloud utopias are more likely to match the future requirements of business organisations than traditional comms, and the 'born in the cloud' builders of this new world order include Content Guru partner Vapour Media. Its Managing Director, Tim Mercer, noted a big push from customers who desire an end-to-end solution based on a cost-per-head format. "Our mantra is 'cloud made easy'," he commented. "We offer three product sets and control the network access so everything else that runs over it is just an app. The cloud market must be made easy to understand. Partners also want control and flexibility."

Resellers value their flexibility to pick and choose whether they adopt the cloud, but this has to be balanced against the interests of their customers who, with the boot on the other foot, can also roam at will. Here lies the road to defeat for comms providers who turn a blind eye to the 'cloudisation' of business communications sought by a growing body of end users.

If you’re not convinced yet, perhaps the following news will raise an eyebrow. Vendor giant Panasonic has seized the cloud opportunity by teaming up with Content Guru’s sister company Radius Communications to sell its storm Cloud PBX and Contact Centre services. While CPE is by no means a lost cause the coming years offer fertile ground for growth in the cloud market believes Warren Bone, Distribution Sales Manager at Panasonic. The vendor’s link-up with storm is a clear sign of the times and serves as a warning to all cloud sceptics who think cloud 'froth’ is here today but will be blown away tomorrow. The truth is far more substantive and to ignore it is a great miscalculation, noted Taylor.

Bone, however, conceded that convincing a significant PBX vendor to shift direction was no easy task. "It's been a battle but we are bullish about the need to change," he said. "Panasonic recognises this imperative and we have strong backing from Japan. The cloud initiative is being led by the UK and it represents a huge opportunity for Panasonic and our resellers. All eyes are on us because we have a very traditional channel. But the move to cloud is ultimately driven by the end user."

Diversification into the cloud as a means to growth is turning traditional business models on their head, enabling organisations to become more agile and cost-efficient because they have access to virtualised resources that are delivered as a service. Enterprise companies are at the vanguard of this change and are deep into the adoption phase. Meanwhile, in the SME market companies that have spent time contemplating the merits of hosted comms are now on the cusp of adoption. Now is a critical point for comms providers when policies must be finalised that will define and fix their forthcoming cloud campaigns, according to AlwaysON Managing Director James Byles who says now is the time to show true leadership. "If you are not doing cloud your competitors will be," he stated. "Cloud is on the verge of mass adoption because people are buying into it."

Cloud providers have two powerful weapons in their armoury - the ability to offer unprecedented levels of scalability and flexibility - and these are assets upon which campaigns should be built. At the top end of the market enterprise customers want all of the features and functionality cloud offers and in this sector there are resources to flex and bespoke solutions, observed Phil Grannum, Managing Director of Griffin. "But for SMEs it's about dumbing solutions down because they need to be pre-packaged and simple to sell," he said. "This is the biggest challenge."

The choice for traditional communications and IT providers with their back against the wall is to throw up their hands and run elsewhere or step up to the plate. And according to Steve Palmer, Product Market Director at Azzurri, a simplified view of cloud comms will demystify and unlock the potential for resellers with an ambition to survive. Cloud, after all, is no 'grand project'. "The cloud is a good levelling tool," he stated. "It's just a delivery mechanism that customers use as part of the overall solution. The blend between managed services and cloud over the coming two years will be critical. Our managed services portfolio incorporates a series of productised components that build together and provide different business outcomes."

It's puzzling how we can have a government tightly wrapped in the G-Cloud flag while at the same time debates about a SME wrap rumble on in apparent perpetuity. Clearly, the cloud is a viable option that may eventually push out traditional technology. Edward Winfield, a SaaS specialist, played what he believes to be the cloud's trump cards: "The cloud scales up and down according to demand and has created a revolution in the charging mechanism," he said. "The cloud is inherently flexible and offers the ability to mix different products seamlessly."

Despite convictions such as these some things are ultimately beyond our control, like predicting with absolute certainty how the comms landscape will look in the years to come. However, being prepared for 'come what may' is the only strategy and any form of cloud investment makes more sense than none at all. After all, there is no argument wafting in the clouds against it. "Cloud is growing and you've got to get in there," added Taylor. •

Ian Millward did not flap around like a fish out of water while working as a lifeguard that can't swim, he simply thrived in the shallow end. Fast forward to today and the incoming Head of Channel Sales at Node4 is doing swimmingly, sending ripples through the channel as he presses ahead with a refreshed growth strategy.

Millward rates his time as an unlikely lifeguard at a summer camp in the US as one of his proudest achievements, instilling the notion that nothing is impossible. His can-do attitude is already making itself felt at Node4 having wasted no time in advancing the company's growth strategy. "Node4 has seen significant growth in its channel business and my role is to build on this success and to develop our partner programme," he explained. "I want to ensure that Node4 is easy for our partners to do business with, allowing people to make informed decisions about the solutions they are purchasing, and enabling them to maximise their sales."

Following a 17 year stint as a sales leader under his belt Millward has gained experience working with partner organisations of all shapes and sizes. "This will help Node4 shape its long-term channel sales strategy as we look to attract more partners as well as larger ones," he added. "My first big job has been to get the refreshed partner programme off the ground. While Node4 has always taken care of its existing partners, our method of attracting new partners needed a slight rethink."

With a new online portal and reward scheme the enhanced programme now offers greater incentivisation and support for partners. "It simplifies our service offering and buying process," noted Millward. "Many organisations are poorly served by vendors with confusing technology offerings, complicated delivery or rigid commoditised solutions. We don't just want to be another supplier. Our new partner programme has streamlined and bolstered the process already in place and I feel this is crucial to ensuring that our partners see Node4 as the point of least effort."

Millward embodies a genuine passion for sales and it disappoints him that sometimes, particularly in the UK, sales people get a bad name. "I see sales as an education process as much as just selling products and solutions and it's something I take great pride in," he commented. "Furthermore, sales is crucial to business growth and having a culture and process in place that partners and customers buy into, as well as good people, is half the battle won.

"The IT and channel industry also gets a bad name sometimes, and for somebody who has worked in this area for 17 years it's not difficult to see why. Enterprises often get a raw deal from vendors and partners that over promise and under deliver. There is room for an IT vendor that talks in plain English to its customers and provides genuine advice rather than simply recommending the most lucrative option for them. For somebody passionate about the impact new technologies can have on a business, you want to see IT deliver genuine value at a reasonable price."

Node4 has invested heavily and owns all of the infrastructure in its four regional data centres. The firm supports its services fully and has the in-house expertise to advise end users and partners on the most appropriate IT solution. "An added advantage is that we can be as flexible as we wish with our solutions," noted Millward. "This is attractive to partners and end users because we can customise solutions to maximise their investment. Another area Node4 can maximise its channel opportunity is by increasing the services we provide. If a partner wants to use the same team and same sites to deliver multiple services at once, we can support a whole range of integrated solutions as well as any one in isolation."

Millward's first job in telecoms was with a company called Imminus which was acquired by Telewest. "After just three months in the role I became sales manager, mainly due to the fact I built good relationships and people seemed to like me," explained Millward. "While daunting at first, managing seasoned sales professionals despite having such limited experience was a real boost for me."

Node4 has witnessed growth in the number of partners and customers requiring more cloud-based solutions. While flexibility has always been a key selling point the firm is seeing more demand for customised hybrid solutions the are easily scalable and cost-effective. "With our product portfolio covering what we term 'the four Cs' (colocation, cloud, connectivity and communication) there are a number of opportunities within our existing partner base where we can offer more services," added Millward. "Although we don't have an all-or-nothing mindset and we're happy to let the partner use as many of our services as they like, we can support integrated solutions with best-to-breed infrastructure and high quality support, so there is an opportunity for us there."

While Millward's broader channel aims and objectives are to attract more partners through a refreshed partner programme while looking to increase the services it provides, growing the business brings new challenges. "The most pertinent is maintaining the culture of high quality, proactive and flexible service we have at Node4," he said. "It's essential that we maintain this culture at the same time as driving business growth through partner relationships."

Millward explained that Node4 has instilled a friendly here-to-help culture geared towards providing customers and partners with 'genuine counsel based on real experience and knowledge'. "We don't invent problems and say we can solve them," he said. "We collaborate closely with our customers and partners to find out exactly what their IT challenges and priorities are. That way we can deliver true value to their businesses. We support our customers every step of the way and if a particular solution isn't quite the right one for them, we assess the situation and change it."

According to Millward there is a significant opportunity for good suppliers offering a high quality data services with a flexible attitude towards their customers. "Data centres are only increasing in importance," he added. "Data is becoming a more important tool for businesses every day, in almost every industry. Smaller businesses are using bigger data and the market for storage, collaboration and information management tools is on an upward curve. Companies like Node4 that have all the infrastructure and technology in place need to work with partners to educate businesses on the best ways of managing, interpreting and storing these increasing levels of data."

Recruitment is also a big part of Millward's growth plan. "We have to be scalable and ensure that while we increase the number of partners we have and the number of services that we provide for them, we maintain high levels of customer service," added Millward. "To do that you need headroom. Part of my role is to recruit more people to deal with our growth and to get the right people takes a certain level of investment. Our capacity isn't dictated by how many pairs of hands we have. Services such as the portal and defining a clear structure for how we service partners can increase our efficiency and make us an easy provider to work with. The future for Node4 in terms of working with partners is simple. Through our partner programme and by adding talent to our business development team we want to be exactly what our partners want us to be." •

VCOMM Managing Director Steve Harris has got used to seeing double having fathered twin girls, but a spell of heady growth at the UC distributor has continued the theme, doubling revenues and staff numbers ahead of a significant market push.

VCOMM has doubled its 2012 annual sales revenue this year and at the same time increased staff numbers twofold, prompting the firm to move into larger office and warehousing facilities in Newbury. And with his mind fixed on driving this growth curve Harris, with clarity of vision, pointed out three focus areas for 2014. "We will continue to work closely with resellers and partners," he said. "Through SIPHON we have access to a strong customer base with specialisations in cloud telephony. We expect the recent rise in CPE sales into this sector to continue growth, and Microsoft Lync enterprise voice deployments will also be in the frame."

VCOMM has invested time and resources into developing product bundles and engineering services around the support of Lync and has started working with Microsoft partners. "This brings strong growth potential as Office365 users look to expand their service into voice and move to full Microsoft Lync," he added.

VCOMM was established in 2004 as a UC distribution company and acquired by SIPHON Networks in December 2012. Great synergy between the companies enabled the united force to help hosted providers and resellers drive UC innovation supported by technical support and engineering skills to sell, deploy and manage the technology. "SIPHON had been working with VCOMM prior to the acquisition and the similar philosophies between the two companies were evident," noted Harris. "We are solely focused on UC technology and providing extended technical support to customers rather than just reselling or distributing products.

"Our belief is that customers require more from a UC distributor than simply product stocking and shipping. They want a distributor that helps to drive innovation as a technology enabler. Several of our existing SIPHON customers asked us to provide extended support in deploying CPE based solutions and the acquisition immediately gave us these distribution capabilities."

SIPHON supports VCOMM's customers by building cloud applications in the data centre while VCOMM supplies the CPE requirements. All VCOMM technical support and engineering services have been integrated with SIPHON to create a services capability within VCOMM. This, pointed out Harris, is key to sales growth. "This sets us apart from catalogue-based distributors," added Harris. "Resellers and service providers come to VCOMM for support and technical knowledge in the UC space."

VCOMM currently has 60 cloud telephony providers and over 300 reseller customers. The company is developing its relationships to launch new services around UC technology. "We have a platform to scale the business and we're confident we will see growth in the adoption of cloud voice applications," added Harris. "Much of this year has been taken up by the integration challenges that an acquisition brings. Now we are focusing on driving operational efficiency between the two companies and also settling into our new office and warehousing facilities. We have also completed a significant new investment into our order and management and CRM system; and we aim to finalise our ISO27001 certification by the end of this year which is a strong reflection of the improvements we have made to our platform."

Harris' achievements draw on many years working in the comms industry and his long stint began while at University. "I completed a year's work experience with Nortel and following graduation worked full time at the company for eight years," said Harris. "This proved to be a great introduction to the industry and I was one of the original employees in Huawei UK, having the opportunity to be involved in launching and establishing its UK and Ireland sales team."

During this time Harris helped the company grow from three employees to over 300 and brought in over £100 million in sales revenue. Since 2006 he has been involved in a number of VoIP and UC companies including running the European sales teams in NexTone and Convergence (which was acquired by Acme Packet) before starting up SIPHON in 2009. Harris noted: "My biggest achievement is starting and establishing SIPHON with minimal outside investment during the middle of a recession, at the same time as having twin girls!"

Across both SIPHON and VCOMM, 50 per cent of the staff are hands-on engineers, skilled team members with real-world experience and certifications across a range of vendor systems and services. "We treat the more traditional logistic requirements of distribution as a baseline and something our customers should receive as standard," noted Harris. "Our knowledge and experience in the UC market enables us to understand our customers' service offering and then deliver extended technical support."

Harris is confident that 2014 will bring cheaper and more reliable IP connectivity to the channel. "The increased delivery of applications from the cloud are already driving huge buying changes among enterprise customers, so I predict further developments in this area next year," he commented. "The IT and comms industries will continue to merge and the forecasted growth of Microsoft Lync Enterprise will be a topic to watch." •

During the past three decades Britannic Technologies has followed a policy of not standing still and has evolved into an IP communications, systems integration and managed services specialist. Managing Director Richard Dendle explains how a long-term strategy has translated into continual growth and long lasting customer relationships.

Britannic Technologies now employs more than 70 staff and has witnessed ten per cent growth in its last financial year and is ahead of this year's target. Founded on a philosophy of attaining high levels of technical excellence, innovation, predictable delivery and customer service, the company has built a mature customer base which grows in size by the month. "Our customer partnerships are in the main long ones, some of which are in excess of 25 years," said Dendle. "We directly support over 800 organisations across the depth and breadth of the UK and many countries worldwide, across the public and private sector affording us a wealth of experience and best practice."

The secret to this success is to work in partnership with customers, ensuring that technology and services accurately support business requirements, customer expectations, and enable future business strategy and vision. "We focus on the medium to long-term, but recognise the need to deliver good value for money, especially in today's economic climate," added Dendle.

"This approach helps our customers to profit from integrated communication technology, supported by personalised and intelligent customer care and a clear and achievable roadmap for the future. We focus on helping customers to maximise efficiency, productivity, service experience, support new ways of working, enhance management visibility and control, support business continuity and demonstrate a clear return on investment. Importantly, we work with customers to free up their time to focus on innovation and take their business forward instead of worrying about keeping the lights on."

According to Dendle, Britannic is technology-aware and knows how best to use it. "I have always been interested in technology," he said. "In the 1980s I had an opportunity to go to the most technically advanced country at that time from a telecoms perspective, Saudi Arabia. A lack of infrastructure in the 1970s plus a great deal of buying power was a recipe for the best to be made available. I gained tremendous experience in all aspects of not only technology but every aspect of management in the four years I was there. On returning to the UK, BT liberalisation was taking place and I saw the market as an investment opportunity."

Britannic has, not surprisingly, gained a firm foothold in the fast evolving telecoms marketplace by partnering with household name manufacturers, software and infrastructure providers. "Our operation is complemented by a blend of cloud applications, services and middleware applications that enable us to provide our customers with tailor made solutions to meet their specific business requirements with appropriate and agile roadmaps for the future," added Dendle. "We invest the time in truly getting to know our customers so that we may give intelligent and considered advice."

The move into the cloud is a natural progression for the company, noted Dendle. "It is cost-effective and offers a great deal more resilience for business continuity," he added. "We see exponential growth in private cloud for the medium sized enterprises, a core focus of Britannic's, as well as public cloud for the smaller enterprises. We have presence in three data centres offering private and public cloud hosted services. Integration has always been and remains key. We are well positioned to provide this using our technologies which include netCONNECT and our netX SIP trunking business continuity for voice platform.

"We have an ongoing technology and development process that adds services to our platform. This year we have delivered netPCI - PCI DSS compliance - onto our netX SIP trunking platform. There are more modules planned for delivery this financial year. These will enhance the options and services we provide to our existing customers and those that join us. We have also added Lync as a private cloud offering as well as a hosted Wi-Fi cloud-based service."•