Comms Dealer

Cloud-based business analytics solutions provider Adaptive Planning has added three new UK partners as part of its global channel expansion.

AgencyDNA, Alui and Concentric Solutions have now joined Adaptive's global reseller network.

All three companies are specialists in budgeting, forecasting, reporting, consolidation and business intelligence solutions, it says.

Adaptive says that it currently sees a growing demand for cloud-based business analytics solutions across the UK and the appointment of the three new resellers reflects this trend.

At present, Adaptive has more than 400 partners worldwide and a customer base of over 1,700 organisations and last year it expanded operations in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Japan.

"Having a robust global partner ecosystem is essential in helping Adaptive Planning scale rapidly around the world, so we're delighted to welcome AgencyDNA, Alui and Concentric Solutions to our partner community and look forward to supporting them in growing our business in the UK and Ireland," commented Ian Preston, Adaptive Planning's Vice President of Sales for the UK & Ireland.

A new distribution business, operating as part of Exclusive Networks Group, has been launched to adddress the data centre management requirements of major enterprises.

Big Technology comes to market with a portfolio of seven top name vendors and a pedigree in creating reseller value through disruptive technologies, claims the company's MD Jason Dance, the former Sales Director at Exclusive Networks UK.

Dance commented: "Data centres are struggling with big technology demands and need to cope with the pace of data growth as well as escalating expectations for reliability, lowest cost, highest performance and optimum user/customer experience.

"That's the opportunity for the channel: To answer that need with intelligent, big scale solutions capable of bringing order to the chaos and realising the promise of the user driven, software defined data centre."

Based at new offices in Theale, Reading, Big Technology is focused on opportunities within the data centre around big data storage, virtual desktop infrastructure, optimisation and the orchestration of virtual appliances.

Its current vendor portfolio adds new distribution partnerships with Extreme Networks, Silver Peak and Tegile Systems to complement Avere Systems, Coraid, Nimbus Data and Nutanix brought across from Exclusive Networks UK.

Steve Johnson, Regional Director UKI & Benelux at Extreme Networks, added: "The data centre is becoming ever more crucial as a business asset in the age of big data, and helping enterprises to realise and exploit that evolution is a major opportunity for top level resellers.

"We believe Big Technology can stimulate and address that demand for intelligent, massively scalable infrastructure, and support our partners to create maximum customer value in their data centre deals."

Mike Hemes, Vice President Sales EMEA at leading application performance and data acceleration player Silver Peak, noted "We've bought into the skills and relationships within Big Technology and we're expecting this to yield significant market opportunities in the UK as we grow our partner base.

"Big Technology fundamentally understands the seismic shifts happening in data centre evolution, particularly around storage and virtualisation, and that can only be good for what we're trying to achieve."

US based hybrid storage array vendor Tegile Systems has appointed Big Technology as its first UK distributor.

"Working with Big Technology has opened doors for us," enthused Paul Silver, Vice President, EMEA, Tegile Systems. "When we made our debut in Europe six months ago we sought a value added distributor. By partnering with Big Technology, we've added value by helping our partners become more successful and have forged deep connections in the channel."

According to Olivier Breittmayer, CEO at Exclusive Networks Group, the launch of Big Technology is timely and the UK is best positiooned to introduce the concept with a view to extending elsewhere across the Group.

"The volume, velocity and value of data is rising exponentially, generating a complex problem that only greater intelligence - not just greater horsepower - can resolve," stated Breittmayer.

"Big Technology's bold vision is to enable its partners to address this huge market opportunity and to help enterprises build a new generation of user driven datacentres."

Logicalis Group has acquired iConsult (Jersey), a privately owned Jersey company and provider of desktop and mail hosted solutions to the SMB market within the Channel Islands.

Through its data facility in Jersey the company services over 800 users on the islands, mainly in the financial and professional services sectors.

Its main offering is a hosted desktop solution using primarily Microsoft and Citrix solutions, with managed services and user helpdesk support.

This acquisition will be integrated with Logicalis' existing Channel Islands operation, and with Logicalis' data facility based in Guernsey, this adds scale to the Group's managed services and cloud solution capabilities which can now address the whole Channel Islands.

Jon Crichard, Managing Director, Logicalis Channel Islands, commented: "Logicalis has shown its commitment to the Channel Islands by making this acquisition and enhancing our service capabilities, adding scale to our desktop solution to better service the Channel Islands in the financial and professional services sectors which are important for us."

As part of BT's mission to promote volunteering within the community, Martin Clarke, Head of BT Business Partner Sales, led a team of volunteers from BT who wasted no time in transforming the grounds of Woodlands School (which helps children with special needs) in Coleshill, Warwickshire.

Their work involved painting a shed as well as four benches, the construction of seven planters in the vegetable garden and the repair of others, the creation of new borders, a re-laid astra turf and making areas accessible for wheelchairs.

Clarke said: "Volunteering gives our people the opportunity to make a difference in the local community and build skills in a way that benefits them, the community and our business."

Iain Paterson, Head Teacher at Woodlands School, added: "It was not just the results attained by the BT team that impressed me, it was their coordination, leadership, commitment, passion and work ethic."

Former Griffin-er Dan Priestman has joined Eclipse Internet as Channel Sales Manager with a remit to drive the sales effort and educate the channel on new products and services around the growing Eclipse Cloud and Communicate portfolios.

Priestman joins Eclipse from Griffin where he was responsible for securing, managing and growing some of Griffin's largest channel partners.

He said: "I'm looking forward to meeting the Eclips partner base and supporting our partners as they are introduced to the wider Eclipse Cloud and Eclipse Communicate portfolios."

Henry West, Head of Sales at Eclipse, noted: "With Dan's wealth of experience and seven years working in the channel, his knowledge and expertise will be invaluable when bringing on board new products and services and working with our new and existing partners."

Brocade has announced the appointment of Ari Bose to the position of Chief Information Officer. Responsible for the strategic transformation of the global Brocade IT organisation, Bose will report to Gale England, vice president of Customer Advocacy and Operational Effectiveness.

With more than 30 years of experience in the high tech industry, Bose has held a number of CIO positions at networking and other tech companies. Most recently at Polycom, he served as senior vice president and CIO where he led the transformation of the global IT organisation.

He was also responsible for overseeing the company's internal global visual communications network.

Prior to that, Bose was senior vice president and CIO at UTStarcom, and he has held senior IT positions at companies such as 3Com, Bay Networks and Apple.

In his new position, Bose will leverage Brocade's portfolio of data centre networking solutions and partner solutions to create an IT function that can drive the company forward and become a showcase for the industry.

Specifically, Bose is tasked with standardising the company's internal IT systems to support cross-functional collaboration and manage information security and risk.

One major initiative is to continue expanding the company's network-centric virtualisation strategy in which Brocade currently operates at more than 70 per cent virtual workloads.

"It is fair to say that the networking market is changing at an exponential pace, driven largely by user demands and fiscal pressures," said Bose. "Brocade has almost 20 years of experience in driving data centre innovation, and I am thrilled at the prospect of continuing this heritage. I am excited about how the data centre of the future can drive business transformation. I hope that by seeing how we are embracing fabrics and a highly virtualized architecture, other businesses will understand how Brocade can empower change within their own environments."

Virtual1 and Voicenet Solutions have formed a strategic partnership under which Voicenet becomes an Elite Partner of Virtual1's Partner Accreditation Programme.

The Elite status offers a high level of sales and industry training as well as enhanced product levels and strategic support across the business. As part of the agreement Virtual1 will peer with Voicenet guaranteeing the end-to-end quality of service.

Charles Aylwin, Director Channel & Public Sector at Voicenet, commented: "Partnering with Virtual1 at the Elite level extends our core offering and reflects the commitment of both organisations to provide partners with flexible solutions supported by a customer-centric service ethos."

Tom O'Hagan, Managing Director at Virtual1, said: "Our Accreditation Programme has been successful throughout the last 12 months enabling our partners to maximise the value they receive from us. It was an initiative designed with our partners' needs at the forefront. Voicenet brings a synergy with its approach to business, offering customer solutions of the highest order."

Video solutions company Imago Group is making its cloud-based video conferencing service, VaaS-t, available in a simplified range of fixed-price monthly subscription packages for resellers to offer to customers.

A flat monthly subscription rate means that the user can deploy the service as often as needed without incurring any additional costs.

The hosted service delivers telepresence-quality video conferencing to devices including desktop or laptop PCs, tablets, iPhones and android mobiles. It is accessible through a web-link and based on video collaboration technology from Vidyo.

Resellers can offer the the new subscription packages to customers of all sizes with a range of video conferencing needs.

The three levels are: VaaS-t 8, which enables the subscriber to invite up to eight individuals into a video conference from both inside and outside their organisation, regardless of their location. VaaS-t 16, to increase the number up to a maximum of 16 people and VaaS-t 25, which is the maximum number currently supported through the subscription service.

Ian Vickerage, Managing Director at Imago Group, said: "Technology users want to know how much they are paying and don't want to experience the unwelcome added-costs scenario associated with cheap flights, or using a mobile abroad. By offering VaaS-t on subscription, resellers can reassure customers that they have the security of a retained service at a fixed price with no hidden extras, no risk of hardware failure, no requirement for in-house IT expertise and unlimited usage."

Outsourcery has unveiled a new UC2013 solution for partners aimed at their SMB customer base.

The company is introducing its latest cloud platform to offer secure Unified Lync and Cloud Mail, Outsourcery's email solution, based on Microsoft Exchange, which will provide partners with the latest unified communications solution at a low cost, claims the firm.

Offering UC2013 via a quick-to-deploy cloud platform is the logical next step to helping partners cater specifically to SMB customers, which have a need for secure cloud-based solutions, but which often don't have a large budget for IT.

A recent white paper from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) found that 71 per cent of UK businesses with 20-200 employees use at least one cloud service and 79 per cent include consideration for cloud services within their wider IT strategy.

"It is important to us to make sure that our offerings are accessible and affordable to smaller and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises," said Piers Linney, Co-CEO of Outsourcery.

"With the cloud, this flexibility is entirely possible and we have tapped into this to create a solution that is reachable for the smallest of businesses.

"With an increasing number of SMBs adopting cloud services for this increased flexibility and reliability, we want to be sure that our partners are adequately prepared for the demand so they can benefit from this opportunity, and UC2013 marks an important step for us and them in this journey."

Node4 has become a sales partner for UNIVERGE 3C in the UK, extending its strategic partnership with NEC.

Node4 is also now a key Service Partner, providing support for broader deployments of UNIVERGE 3C by other resellers.

UNIVERGE 3C is a software-based unified communications and collaboration package that can be delivered to any device - smartphone, tablet, PC, Mac or on a deskphone - as a self-sufficient standalone VoIP solution.

UNIVERGE 3C delivers a suite of functionality that can be used anywhere, anytime, and enables total control over how, when and where users choose to be reached.

UNIVERGE 3C can support the needs of SMEs and large enterprises, supporting anything from 40-50 users to over 10,000.

Node4's new role as key service partner for UNIVERGE 3C is the latest stage of the long-term relationship between Node4 and NEC.

Jim Eagers, Marketing Manager at NEC, commented: "UNIVERGE 3C is a proven solution that can deliver significant value to businesses of all sizes as 'Generation C' employees increasingly demand technology that helps them to work flexibly, how they want and where they want.

"To support our sales push in the UK we needed a strong, well-established partner, well attuned to delivering a product like UNIVERGE 3C. We have had a successful relationship with Node4, and its blend of experience and expertise means it is perfectly placed to support the broad roll out of UNIVERGE 3C in the UK."

Richard Buxton, Voice Services Manager at Node4, added: "NEC continues to be a key technology partner for Node4, and in combination with our voice, communications and networking expertise we fully expect UNIVERGE 3C to be a successful product."