Comms Dealer

Gamma leaders and partners took centre stage at the comms provider's theatre themed 2017 roadshow branded 'Much Ado About Gamma'.

Over 600 partners descended on iconic theatre venues across the UK to catch up with Gamma's latest developments including a new partner marketing portal called Accelerate, and Academy, an online training portal. Gamma also revealed this year's product releases including new cloud and converged services.

Gamma MD Daryl Pile said: "We've hit the ground running in 2017 with a quicker pace on development across the product portfolio."

RHM Telecommunications MD Nick Thomas welcomed Gamma's product development roadmap. "Horizon enhancements fill the gaps in areas such as hot desking and UC, enabling RHM to kick on with this product," he stated.

"The planned launch of shrink-wrapped AWS through the Gamma portal is interesting for us as a traditional voice partner. It may enable us to have an easy entry into providing cloud computing.

"And the new marketing portal will be an asset in our marketing plans moving forward."

Previous themed roadshows have been hosted in stately homes, museums, universities and castles. This year's events were staged at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow (28th February), The Lowry in Manchester (1st March), The Hippodrome in Birmingham (7th March) and London's The Barbican (8th March).

Pictured: Gamma CEO Bob Falconer on stage

On the one hand, doom-mongers ply their gloom in the wake of the B-word. On the other, the economic outlook is bright, we have plunging unemployment and growth in consumer spending, writes Clive Jefferys, Managing Director of recruiter JMA Network.

Despite these positive vibes, some people are never happy, saying that it's no more than the calm before the B-word storm, .

Against this backdrop - according to most recruitment pundits there aren't enough applicants, there's a shortage of skills and costs are going up. Well, this may be true if you try to recruit in old-fashioned ways, but you'll be pleased to know that the fleet-footed still thrive.

Sitting around waiting for a candidate to apply to your advert never solved anything.
 
Some people say what we do is 'headhunting' but that's just a cover for when someone leaves, or you want to impress your mates down the pub.
 
I've been in recruitment for over 25 years and I've never headhunted one single person. Instead, I network the people I know today to set a foundation for the future. It's not rocket science: I simply get to know my clients, my candidates and how to bring them together.
 
Sometimes recruitment strategies feel like a huge game of chess.
 
You must study all the pieces on the board and where they are likely to move to. Then think about the implications of each move, who will go where and it will all fall into place, check-mate. So if you're stressing about your next job move or how to fill your most essential vacancies; take a deep breath, take another and then pick up the telephone.
 
Just don't mention the B-word.

Leeds-based Firstnet Solutions has added colocation, cloud platforms and disaster recovery to its services portfolio following the opening of its first purpose built data centre facility in the city.

A key feature of the launch is Firstnet's own cloud solution, powered by Nutanix and targeted at SMEs.

Firstnet Solutions MD David Cusworth said: "The opportunity to expand and invest in this building to create a certified Tier III facility was too good to miss.  

"Our customers now have access to the latest technology in managed services and a host of additional support, including office space with over 100 desks designed specifically for workplace recovery and relocation needs.

"We envisage that this data centre will create more than 100 new jobs, providing an important source of local employment." 

Lyceum Capital-backed Sabio has acquired SaaS analysis specialist Rapport, extending its reach deeper into customer experience management.

Rapport's SaaS software and analysis services provide insights into potential performance and process bottlenecks that might lead to poor customer experiences and lower conversion rates.

A dashboard delivers daily, weekly or monthly insights into KPIs, Customer Effort and First Call Resolution performance, while proactive Success Management analysis also helps organisations to optimise potential inbound call traffic issues.

"Adding Rapport to our portfolio will help Sabio to unlock more value for our customers while contributing directly to improvements in operational performance as well as lower Customer Effort scores," said Sabio's CEO Andy Roberts (pictured).

"This is also an important first step in Sabio's acquisition strategy as we look to strengthen our customer engagement proposition with adjacent technologies and solutions."

Sabio's Vice President for Go-To-Market, Michael Andrews, added: "We have the ability to help our clients understand and quantify their customer experience by highlighting and ultimately eliminating repeat calls, failure demand, incorrect messages and out-of-hours contacts that can do so much to damage brand experience.

"Having access to this level of granular data will prove valuable in terms of eliminating customer journey bottlenecks, while also giving our customers new insights into the performance of ongoing campaigns.

"Being able to monitor and report on all of the calls coming into a business will also prove invaluable for highly regulated organisations such as utilities that increasingly require an objective external view of their service performance."

The acquisition follows Lyceum Capital's recent investment in Sabio and is part of an ongoing acquisition plan to drive double digit growth.

The Government intends to clear the legal path for the separation of BT and Openreach by maintaining existing pension protections for employees.

An amendment has been tabled to the Digital Economy Bill introducing a power to maintain the Crown Guarantee for BT workers who become part of the separated Openreach.

The move follows Ofcom's announcement last week that a deal had been struck to see telecoms infrastructure arm Openreach become a distinct company with its own staff, management, purpose and strategy.

At the time Ofcom highlighted the importance of maintaining the Crown Guarantee to implementing the agreement.

When BT Corporation was privatised in 1984 the Government wanted workers' pensions protected in the unlikely event the new BT PLC became insolvent.

The Government therefore assumed responsibility for the liabilities associated with those in the BT Pension Scheme at that time, through backing the Scheme with a 'Crown Guarantee'.
 
The Government is now legislating so that the existing Crown Guarantee on BT pensions can be amended to apply to affected members of the relevant BT pension scheme who transfer to the new Openreach company.

This will be subject to the satisfactory progress of Ofcom's proposed legal separation of BT Openreach.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley said: "The legal separation of Openreach is important for delivering better broadband for consumers throughout the UK.

"A more independent Openreach which treats every broadband provider fairly should increase investment, bolster competition, and help give the country the connectivity it needs.  
 
"This amendment clears a hurdle identified by Ofcom by allowing the Government to maintain pension protections for BT Pension Scheme members who transfer to Openreach.

"It will help secure the voluntary separation of BT and Openreach and provide peace of mind to affected workers."

A team of 25 from Telford-based Entanet are limbering up to compete in the Midlands Tough Mudder Half challenge to raise money for Sands (the stillbirth and neonatal death charity) in May.

The mud-run (13th May 2017) comprises a five mile, 13 obstacle course involving a combination of hills, woodlands, water and mud.

Sally Littlefair, Marketing Executive, said: "We've chosen Sands as our nominated charity because they do vital work in supporting bereaved families after the death of a child.

"The UK has one of the highest stillbirth rates in the developed world and by raising awareness of the charity we will hopefully do our bit to change that.

"Getting everyone around the course will require a lot of teamwork and determination - and we've hopefully got plenty enough of both to see us through."

To support the team please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/teamenta

In its results for the year ended 31st December 2016 Computacenter has posted a revenue increase of 6.3% to £3.25bn (2015: £3.05bn), while Group adjusted profit before tax decreased by 0.6% to £86.4m.

The Group reported annual services revenues of over £1bn for the first time in 2016.

In the UK, strong second half revenue growth was unable to prevent a 1.1% full year adjusted revenue decline.

Supply Chain margin challenges and services revenue decline contributed to a 21.1% reduction in adjusted operating profit.

Mike Norris, Chief Executive of Computacenter, commented: "2016 was a year of mixed fortune with the UK business profitability reducing materially, but the overall Group performance showing resilience due to the strength in Germany and the turnaround in France.

"The Group should have a year of progress in 2017, with a rebalancing of profits between the first and second halves of the year towards the historical pattern.

"We expect the UK to see modest improvements due to professional services and supply chain helping the overall performance.

"New technologies and the drive to digitalisation within our core customer base is driving our customers to invest capital in new projects which is unlikely to abate. However, this is coupled with a resolute desire to reduce run rate operating costs.

"As a business we have to step up to this challenge and improve our competitive position by focusing on productivity gains and automation."

Unify has announced integration for Plantronics headsets with Unify Circuit to boost collaboration among users.

"At a time when the workforce is becoming increasingly dispersed it's vital for team collaboration to be reliable and intuitive across devices," said Luiz Domingos, Head of Product House, Unify.  

"Our integration with Plantronics audio solutions helps teams easily collaborate anywhere, anytime, from any device."

Plantronics' APIs, integrated with the Circuit platform, create an extension in Circuit that communicates with Plantronics Hub.

This integration enables call control and synchronisation between Circuit and Plantronics USB audio devices.

Plantronics Hub also provides multi-device and settings management. The integration works across desktop and web clients.

A string of annual revenue increases have qualified ProVu Communications for recognition in a listing of the top 100 fastest growing tech companies in the north during 2017.

The full list of rankings will be unveiled at the Northern Tech Awards (an event supported by technology investment bank GP Bullhound and sector champion Tech North) in Newcastle on 30th March.

Commenting on ProVu's third appearance on the trot in the listing, MD Darren Garland said: "To have achieved this in three consecutive years is testament to the ProVu team's hard work and determination and the levels of growth we have achieved."

The emergence of Openreach as a separate legal entity may be long overdue for Gamma CEO Bob Falconer (pictured) but he nevertheless strongly welcomes the news.

"I agree with Ofcom CEO Sharon White that legal separation should produce results far more quickly than a full structural separation," he said. "It gives the CEO and Board of Openreach a clear remit to get on with the job and not be distracted by BT Group requirements for cash or favour. All very welcome."

Chair of ITSPA Eli Katz agrees that this is the right move at the right time and should satisfy the competition concerns that were raised within the Digital Communications Review.

"Legal separation, rather than a more time-consuming and complicated structural separation, is the right approach and should deliver significant improvements with relatively little disruption," he said.

"The focus now for Ofcom must be to set up this new structure as quickly as possible and to then closely monitor its performance to ensure Openreach provides the necessary support to industry in order to meet the ever increasing demand for high quality communication services."

According to Lorrin White (pictured left), MD, Bamboo Technology Group, it is the responsibility of network providers to work together with peers and ensure the new independent Openreach delivers real improvements to the industry.

"Openreach must double down on fibre investment if the UK is to remain competitive - especially post-Brexit," she stated. "So we look forward to hearing more from Openreach on its investment strategy and working with it to achieve a better service for all."

For Mark Collins, Director Strategy & Policy at CityFibre, that means plugging the 'fibre gap'. "While it is welcome that these time consuming negotiations seem to be at an end, there is nothing in this announcement to suggest Openreach will now start to build the fibre infrastructure this country needs," he stated.

"Ofcom's focus needs to shift towards encouraging alternative fibre builders to do the things that Openreach can't or won't do, regardless of its legal status."

Whatever the nature of Openreach's investment decisions the company is 'better placed' to make them and deliver improvements, but under the sharp eye of the regulator, observed Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk Group.

"This deal will require robust Ofcom monitoring and enforcement to ensure it delivers the improvements the regulator expects," she stated.

"We hope this is the start of a new deal for Britain's broadband customers who will be keen to see a clear timetable from Openreach setting out when its services will improve."

Metronet UK CEO Lee Perkins recognises the improvements made by Openreach under the leadership of CEO Clive Selley but, like CityFibre's Mark Collins, he does not believe that legal separation goes far enough to bring about improvements to the UK's Internet infrastructure.

"There will always be a need for specialist providers to step in and fix the problems that the big providers don't fully understand," he said. 

"This is a positive first step, but to create the open competition and choice that UK businesses really need we want to see a fully independent Openreach."

Against a backdrop of mixed reactions to today's news industry commentator Adrian Barnard applauded the regulator's chief exec for getting things done. "Under the leadership of Sharon White the regulator has been more active than for many years," he said.

"Now we must all act together and push Ofcom and the Government to help make UK PLC a better connected economy."