Comms Dealer

With a growth rate of 1,250% Virtual1 has again been recognised in the top five for the telecommunications sector in Deloitte's UK Fast 50 (which acknowledges the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK based on revenue growth over the last five years).

Tom O'Hagan, Virtual1's MD, said: "What a great year we are having. It's so satisfying when the management teams plans come to fruition. This recognition is testament to the hard work of my team and we could not achieve this without our amazing customers. The current plan is for more success and progress in 2014 and beyond."

A10 Networks has signed a distribution deal with value-added distie Espion. Under the terms of this deal, Espion will act as A10 Networks' distributor of its application delivery controllers in Irish and Scottish markets.

Espion has been selected due to its knowledge of new markets and strong-track with emerging vendors, A10 says. The company will also provide commercial and technical support to the A10's product portfolio. Espion will offer A10 Thunder next-generation application delivery controllers.

In addition, A10 will help expand Espion's portfolio in the area of security, storage, virtualization, wireless and networking technology solutions, the company says.

"In choosing Espion, we recognise their strong pedigree in best in class security technologies combined with a heavyweight sales engineering team and exceptional technical expertise to deploy our solutions to the Irish and Scottish markets," says Andre Stewart, VP EMEA, A10 Networks.

Europe is lagging the US in software R&D, but there may be some rising stars among small EU companies. The European Commission's 2013 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard showed that overall, EU-based firms (527 companies) stepped up R&D investment by 6.3%, just above the average of the 2000 firms in the Scoreboard (+6.2%). However, like last year they lagged behind their US counterparts (+8.2%).

EU companies also showed a mixed performance depending on the sector, with strong R&D growth in some but stagnation or decline elsewhere. EU Scoreboard companies surveyed expect to increase their R&D investments by 2.6 % on average per year for the period 2013-2015, a fall in expectations over the previous year.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science said: "The EU still lags behind its main competitors in business investment in R&D, and there are some worrying signs in these latest reports. Despite the positive results of top EU companies in important industrial sectors such as automobiles, we are still too weak in high tech sectors such as biotechnology and software."

The 6.2% increase on average in R&D growth of the Scoreboard companies came despite a slowdown of net sales growth (+4.2% vs +9.9% in 2011) and a 10.1% decline in operating profits in 2012. The EU's overall positive results were largely driven by the R&D growth rates of German companies, particularly in the automobile sector.

Results of EU companies in the ICT sector were mixed, with Software and Computer Services performing well (+14.2%) but showing a decline in IT Hardware (-2.3%). In contrast, US-based companies performed well across both sectors (+12.6% and +14.8% respectively).

An analysis of trends over the last 10 years shows that the US continue to increase its specialisation in R&D intensive sectors such as ICT and health (70% share of the total R&D investments made by US Scoreboard companies in 2012 vs 64 % in 2004).

Despite the strong US lead in these highly R&D intensive sectors, a closer look at the lower ranks of the EU companies shows a significant number of good performers in sectors such as Software and Biotech, companies which might become leaders in the future.

G3 Comms Group Sales and Marketing Director Niall Anderson has taken on two non-executive positions having completed his assignment for the business.

Anderson joined G3 at the start of 2012 tasked with identifying opportunities for growth, capitalising on new technologies and exploiting changing market conditions.

During his tenure he managed the integration of G3 Telecommunications and sister company G3 Network Services, directing the transition to G3 Comms and putting the business on a path to profitable growth.

Central to this achievement was the recruitment of a new sales force and creation of partnerships with some of the world's most progressive technology providers.

"The potential for G3 was clear from the start and I was able to focus on driving change throughout the business to give it a new focus and new direction," commented Anderson. By fully integrating the business, developing its technology partner relationships and embracing next generation connectivity, I am confident that G3 Comms is now better placed and better equipped to fully capitalise on its potential."

As well as Anderson's achievements with G3, it is his work on the international stage with the Aura Alliance, the largest global alliance of Avaya partners that has given rise to his next challenges.

After helping to grow the multinational reach of the Alliance, he has been instrumental in building the sales and traction that have helped the business transition to the next stage in its evolution.

He now takes on a non-executive directorship at the forefront of the Aura Alliance and a similar position at the head of the MCD Alliance - the global alliance of Mitel partners.

"I'm looking forward to continuing my work with the Aura Alliance and taking on new responsibilities with the MCD Alliance," said Anderson. "As business goes global in search of growth, this is an exciting time to be focussed on international comms opportunities."

Anderson will also be continuing his work with business change management consultants, Positive Momentum, where he remains a partner.

At G3 Comms, Anderson's former responsibilities will be fulfilled by Jonathan Harris, former Pre-Sales Manager who will move to Head of Sales, and Tony Parish who will drive marketing within his current role as Managing Director.

Parish commented: "Niall has done an outstanding job at G3 Comms and I have no doubt that the two global alliances will benefit similarly from his unique approach to building growth. His move is part of our planned progression towards building G3 into a more streamlined operation offering integrated solutions drawn from cloud-based services and applications.

A Halloween fundraiser saw Exeter-based Eclipse Internet's entrepreneurial Million Makers team raise over £3,000 for The Prince's Trust (the first of many events to be hosted across the city).

The Eclipse Million Makers Halloween Masquerade Gala was held at Exeter Southgate Hotel, compered by local Heart FM breakfast presenter Caroline Cook, and saw local business people enjoy an evening of networking and entertainment.

The event included a host of charitable auctions, raffles with an up-close magician and Halloween themed gargoyle living statue. Guests enjoyed bidding for prizes kindly donated by local businesses, including signed Exeter Chiefs memorabilia, X Factor final tickets and sporting events.

Youth charity The Prince's Trust aims to help 58,000 disadvantaged young people in the UK this year, giving them the confidence and skills to turn their lives around. Three in four young people on Prince's Trust schemes move into work, training or education.

Clodagh Murphy, Managing Director at Eclipse, said: "The Eclipse team never cease to amaze me! From across all areas of the business a team have come together to raise money for The Prince's Trust as our Million Makers team.

"The passion, energy, ingenuity and downright hard work being demonstrated by the team is brilliant. Not only are they raising money for this fantastic cause, they are using the opportunity to develop and grow their skills. It really is exciting to watch the team as they embrace the challenge and achieve their goals. I am very proud of them all."

The Eclipse Million Makers team aim to be responsible for making a real difference to young people's lives, while also gaining the opportunity to exercise their own entrepreneurial skills, and following the success of their first event, will be leading the charge with more fundraising in the coming weeks.

Openreach CEO Liv Garfield to step down

Liv Garfield is to step down as CEO of Openreach during Spring next year to become CEO of Severn Trent, the FTSE 100 water company. As CEO of Openreach Garfield has overseen BT's £2.5bn commercial roll-out of fibre broadband and she played a key role in building the business case for BT's commercial fibre investment in her previous role as BT's Group Strategy Director.    
?Garfield said: "It is a huge wrench to leave Openreach but I feel the time is now right to take on a fresh challenge. Our commercial programme to bring fibre broadband to two thirds of UK premises is almost complete, while BT's public sector broadband partnerships are making good progress."

Gavin Patterson, CEO, BT Group said: "Liv has made an enormous contribution to BT over the past 12 years and she'll be greatly missed. With her leadership we have taken the company's commercial fibre roll-out from conception through to delivery. We wish Liv every success in her new role."
?Since Garfield assumed the Openreach position in April 2011 the availability of fibre over BT's network has risen from around 4m premises to more than 17m. Meanwhile, the number of customers adopting fibre has increased steadily from just over 100k in April 2011 to more than 2m subscribers today.  ??Garfield's successor will be announced by BT in due course.

M12 Solutions expands footprint with new London office
 
M12 Solutions is opening a new London office as the business moves into its next phase of expansion.

MD Andrew Skipsey said: "After employing two new business development managers and benefiting from their associated additional sales we are now opening a new London office because this makes commercial sense.

"The office is located in a central location close to London Bridge. Not only will we be able to better serve our existing London based customers we expect to take advantage of the opportunity to secure new clients in the commercially vibrant capital.

"There is an excellent opportunity to represent both Shoretel and SpliceCom in London, which when coupled with our low cost Ethernet connections available in the city means we can always propose an advanced and best value solution."??Technical sales manager Matthew Skipsey, who will be heading the new office, has moved to London and has already recruited a new office manager who starts in December.

The plan is to grow organically because M12 has a proven formulae which, is expected to mean the office will be supporting a strong sales and marketing team.

M12 has grown by over 50% through the last 18 months. Our investment in talented people to help fuel growth is a proven approach to expansion.

Skyrack Telecom launches wire free PBX

Skyrack Telecom and Tecdesk have joined forces to offer a wire free PBX system using the latest Tecdesk phones and Mobile-X SIM cards.

Skyrack Telecom has launched the Mobile-X SIM in April 2013 to enable a company's mobile phone portfolio to work as a fully functioning business phone system, integrated to the PBX.

After seeing the Mobile-X SIM, Tecdesk saw the opportunity to enhance the product by combining it with their latest fixed wireless office phones, the Tecdesk FWP range.

Gavin Sweet, Managing Director of Skyrack Telecom, said: "Using Tecdesk hardware with our Mobile-X SIMs we have created a wire free PBX system, which will enable businesses to get new sites up and running with a complete telecoms solution and nothing more than mobile phone coverage required.

"The combined system will allow businesses to set up their office phone systems within minutes, eliminating the need for set up and infrastructure costs."

Tecdesk CEO Jay Pau added: "The combination package of a Tecdesk FWP on a Mobile-X SIM card will allow companies the potential to remove the expenses of time-consuming wired installation and maintenance costs and replace these with a quick and easy-setup wire-free Virtual PBX solution."

Damovo recognised as a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer

For the third consecutive year Damovo UK & Ireland has been recognised in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list which is compiled annually by the National Apprenticeship Service in partnership with City & Guilds, and recognises excellence in businesses that employ apprentices.

The list was announced at the National Apprenticeship Awards which took place during The Skills Show in Birmingham on 14th November.

The Skills Show has City & Guilds and Edge Foundation as its premier sponsors, and is a celebration to inspire people with exciting opportunities in further education, skills and apprenticeships.

Since Damovo re-introduced its apprenticeship scheme in 2009, it has taken on 21 local apprentices into a three-year programme, which includes studying at Northbrook College in Worthing. The company gives all apprentices the opportunity of permanent roles and a number have already been promoted.

Alex Williams, Operations Director at Damovo, said: "Damovo has a long history of investing in apprenticeships and indeed many of today's senior employees, including myself, are former apprentices.

"Employers are increasingly struggling to find candidates with the right IT skills to meet their requirements. Apprenticeship schemes offer an excellent solution with the combination of college study and practical experience with real business projects in a corporate working environment."

Writing to Damovo the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said: "I would like to take this chance to congratulate Damovo on its success at this year's National Apprenticeship Awards. Apprenticeships are at the heart of our drive for a stronger economy: equipping people of all ages with the skills employers need to help their businesses prosper and compete in a global market.

"As we work to increase the opportunities for hard-working young to people to achieve their ambitions through high-quality apprenticeship training, it is vitally important that we celebrate the achievements of employers like you, who go the extra mile to help their apprentices and succeed."

Telindus appoints Stephen Macpherson to head up channel partner programme

Telindus has named Stephen Macpherson as head of its brand new Telindus Solution Partner Programme.

He comes to Telindus with 18 years of IT experience in professional services and sales leadership.

Telindus aims to launch a new route to market with pre-packaged, managed and bundled solutions.

The intention is to productise the offerings supporting major vendors' solutions such as Cisco, Juniper Networks and MobileIron, and offer these to a channel network to resell.

Marek Lowther, Managing Director of Telindus UK, commented: "By leveraging our portfolio of solutions, partners will be able to sell additional services to more customers, thereby increasing their market share."

The new partner programme is set to launch in late November 2013, signing up the first partners before the end of the year.

European CSPs must not be subjected to private copying levies, warns CIF
 
The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) and its legal sub-group CILF have voiced concern over proposals to impose a levy on Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to account for private copying.

Such a move, warns the industry body, threatens to make European cloud services less competitive in the global market.
 
In a draft report on private copying levies for the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, French MEP Francoise Castex said that copying within the cloud environment should be subject to levies.

In the report it states, 'Private copies of protected works made using cloud computing technology may have the same purpose of those made using traditional and/or digital recording media and materials'.

The report goes on to say that these copies should be taken into account by the private copying compensation mechanisms.
 
Echoing views from industry body Open Forum Europe, CIF has warned against such a levy on the grounds that it would damage the European cloud industry, and by extension, limit the projected economic benefits of cloud that are set to be enjoyed by the continent over the coming decade.
 
Andy Burton, CIF's Founder, said: "Cloud computing has proven, and will continue to prove, to be an important catalyst for economic growth both here in the UK and across Europe. The European Commission estimates that cloud computing will add €1,000 billion to EU GDP by 2020[1]. But subjecting cloud services to additional levies will add an additional and, in our view, unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that will in effect dampen its transformative effects. These levies will see increased costs for end users, making it more difficult for European CSPs to compete with their American counterparts."
 
Conor Ward, partner at Hogan Lovells and Chair of CILF, stated: "Castex' proposals seem to work from the premise that all content hosted in the cloud has been produced for commercial distribution. In truth, the vast majority of content is used for professional or personal purposes, and importantly, not traditionally protected by copyright. This frankly out-dated, broad-brush approach would, for example, see a levy improperly imposed on emails and personal photographs.
 
"It is also difficult to see how a levy would work in practice. Whilst copyright levies currently apply in some Member States, they relate to tangible storage media and devices sold in the relevant countries. How would a levy apply where cloud storage is spread across jurisdictions including those, like the UK and Ireland that currently do apply levies? 
 
Furthermore, legitimate users are increasingly permitted by the licences granted to them, to store copyrighted material on multiple devices and in cloud storage so there is a real risk that rightsholders will be doubly compensated. In this context, private copying levies are a sledgehammer to crack a possible nut," he continued.
 
Julian Heathcote Hobbins, General Counsel at the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and member of CILF, added: "From memory, the computer software industry, even from a rights holders' perspective has never been in favour of the concept of 'blank tape' levies and I fail to see why that view should change especially as business models continue to evolve at a pace. Levies are too broad an instrument limiting rights holder flexibility and being an analogue measure in an era of products, whereas a cloud services environment enables more accurate allocations through commercial agreements. Copyright law will continue to adapt for this technology driven age. Levies on cloud are certainly not the place to start."

Peach Telecom wins 2013 UK technology fast 50 ranking

Hampshire-based telecoms reseller Peach Telecom is one of the country's 50 fastest growing technology companies, based on revenue over the past five years. B

ecoming a winner of the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 for the second year running is recognised as a significant achievement by Peach Telecom. In its sixteenth year, the awards programme highlights both established and emerging technology companies in the UK.

Ranked 8th in both the telecommunications sector and south east region, and 39th overall, Peach Telecom recorded five years revenue growth of more than 500% from £1.2M (2007/2008) to £8.1M (2012/2013).

In 2012, Peach Telecom was placed 13th in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 and also ranked among the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Europe, the Middle-East and Asia (EMEA).

Peach Telecom Managing Director Darren Scott-Healey said: "It's all down to the sustained efforts of our loyal staff and valued partners and being progressive as both a business and an employer. Recognised as a winner again this year not only underlines the company's consistent track record of growth but shows that by listening to customers, expanding channels to market and providing the most cost-effective solutions that meet the varied communications needs of companies large and small, that we are among the sector's best for service and quality."

London and the south east account for half of all the jobs advertised in the UK but according to Scott Fletcher, chairman and founder of cloud infrastructure specialists ANS Group, the north-south divide favours the north in the high-tech industries.??

"Work in High Tech industries is not as concentrated on London as in other sectors," he said. "High rents can force new companies out of the capital and more and more IT companies of all sizes have been migrating to the North West where Manchester is rapidly developing itself as the UK's high-tech hub."

A reported 0.6% increase in gross domestic product has improved hopes for the UK's employment market but there are fears that new jobs are being created disproportionately in the south east.

"The biggest increase in new jobs have been developed in the manufacturing sector and they do seem to be concentrated in the south east which makes it more important than ever high-tech industries continue to gravitate to the north west," said Mr Fletcher. 

The BBC has moved a major part of its operations from London to MediaCityUK complex at Salford Quays where they will shortly be joined by ITV's Granada Division.

Manchester is already home to many globally trading companies such as PZ Cussons, The Co-operative Group, Umbro and the Peel Group (key developers of MediaCityUK). Multi-nationals like Kelloggs, Adidas and Siemens also have UK headquarters in the city.

"Such a density of global companies fosters a burgeoning digital sector and the North West boasts the second-largest 'digital cluster' in Europe and is probably the fastest growing industry sector in the UK," added Fletcher. 

IBM is adding 11 more educational establishments to its 200 partnerships with universities around the globe, focusing on collaborating to bring cyber security skills into the classroom.

With demand for cyber skills set to rise by over 20% by 2020, the push is for more people with experience in cyber security. As part of IBM's Academic Initiative, the company is launching new curriculum and programs focusing on cyber security in the US, at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Germany and Wroclaw University of Economics in Poland as well as other places around the world.

Hosting company Intermedia has named Ed Macnair as managing director EMEA and Eric Weiss as senior vice president of marketing.

Intermedia says it is investing heavily in its EMEA operations, with plans to double headcount at SaaSID's UK sales and research and development centres. Intermedia currently has more than 90,000 business customers and 13,500 resellers worldwide, it says.

Macnair is the founder and former CEO of SaaSID, the UK-based vendor of single sign-on (SSO) and web application security software, which was acquired by Intermedia in September. He is responsible for driving Intermedia sales, marketing and product development in the EMEA region.

Having worked within the technology and cloud security industry for more than 25 years, Macnair has held senior management positions with MessageLabs, Symantec, IBM and Xerox. Prior to founding SaaSID, he was CEO of UK-based email and web content security vendor Marshal, a company that he merged with US-based 8e6 Technologies, after tripling Marshal's international revenues within three years.

SaaSID provides organisations with centralised control over employees' access to cloud services, business applications and social media, while giving employees the convenience of SSO for all their cloud services. Intermedia has announced that SaaSID's existing cloud service will be integrated into its HostPilot control panel in the first quarter of 2014.

Eric Weiss, Intermedia's new SVP of marketing, brings over 18 years experience gained primarily in rapidly growing SMB and cloud services.

He has a strong track record of branding, launching and growing businesses internationally in Intermedia's key categories of IT services and telecommunications. Prior to joining Intermedia, Weiss led marketing at Axcient. As SVP of Marketing at GreenRoad, Weiss implemented rebranding and marketing strategies that led to growing the company's booked revenue from $1m to more than $30m in two years.

"Intermedia is rapidly increasing headcount in the EMEA region to support our existing customers and partners, as well as extending Intermedia's services to SaaSID's customers," said Phil Koen, Intermedia chairman and CEO.

"At the same time, we're building a global brand and marketing it to hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. We welcome both Ed Macnair and Eric Weiss to our team and look forward to working with them and the SaaSID team to grow our company across the US, EMEA and the world."

The BYOD trend has been followed up with a new concept, Choose Your Own Device (CYOD), which it is claimed offers many of the benefits of BYOD but without some of the drawbacks.

With the growth of the 'always on, always connected' work culture, the adoption of smartphones, tablets and notebooks that facilitate the trend is also growing. Forrester predicts that in two years time, 350 million workers will use smartphones, 200 million of whom will take their own devices to the workplace. It is estimated that 90 per cent of organisations will have to support BYOD by 2014.

However, there is an alternative - CYOD. The concept is simple. By offering employees a choice of approved devices, IT managers can retain more control over their IT estate, as compared to the free-for-all BYOD. Though CYOD strategies may mean less freedom for employees and may not provide the high staff-satisfaction rates reported for BYOD, they can prevent IT managers from feeling overburdened while still providing the desired functionality, mobility and flexibility.

Hardeep Singh Garewal, Europe President, ITC Infotech, said: "With the huge range of tablets, smartphones, operating systems and platforms available, it is no wonder that IT managers are feeling overwhelmed. Windows, iOS, Blackberry RIM, Android and the growing list of other operating systems pose a real challenge for organisations to provision all necessary business applications across all these platforms. By limiting the number of options available to the staff, this complexity can be reduced significantly without losing the benefits of increased staff mobility, higher job satisfaction and improvement in efficiency and productivity."

The growing popularity of BYOD and now CYOD, has opened up a new range of opportunities for service providers like ITC Infotech. The BYOD and CYOD trends have thrown up the challenge of provisioning business resources and applications seamlessly across all available operating systems.

JMC IT hosted more than 200 senior IT professionals for its annual IT Strategy Briefing (ITSB) at Manchester's Concorde Conference Centre on 12th November.

During a series of practical presentations and break-out sessions, speakers outlined their predictions for a future of 'business technology without boundaries'.

Microsoft's head of technology for partners, James Akrigg, delivered a keynote speech offering a preview of new and yet-to-be released products to delegates, as representatives from across the region filled the centre to capacity in order to discuss the latest emerging trends.

Attendees also had the opportunity to receive advice and hands-on demonstrations of the latest devices and software from experts representing leading industry suppliers, including Microsoft, Dell, Symantec, Citrix and Metronet (UK).

Andrew Burgess, managing director, JMC IT, said: "We were thrilled by the high level of interest in the event, which was created in response to business' demand for a more strategic approach to IT. It has proven so popular with the region's professionals that we had to introduce a waiting list and we have already had many register interest in coming to next year's ITSB. The interest just goes to show how vital IT strategy is to businesses in the North West.

"Increased technological integration and mobility in the home is leading to rising expectations of what business IT systems should be capable of. As the line between home, mobile and office work blurs, the scope for reducing operating costs, increasing efficiency and improving working conditions is immeasurable. The powerful new approaches presented at ITSB can support the trend towards the convenience of remote, flexible working and many of the delegates we spoke to are keen to include this in their future strategy."

James Akrigg, head of technology for partners at Microsoft, expanded on the theme of remote working. He said: "Faster delivery of information allows people to respond more quickly to business needs. My office is now an internet connection. I have the freedom to no longer be tied to the office, yet still be connected to the organisation."

A shift towards this model is, he explained, not just a technological transformation, but a fundamental reimagining of the business.