Comms Dealer

TalkTalk chief exec Dido Harding is to stand down in May after seven years in the job, paving the way for the return of company founder Sir Charles Dunstone who moves into the position of Executive Chairman when he leaves the Chair of Dixons Carphone role on 1st May.

It is reported that Baroness Harding will be replaced by MD Tristia Harrison. 

In October the company was fined £400k for glitches in website security.

ShoreTel's global expansion campaign is accelerating with the UK launch of ShoreTel Connect CLOUD and ShoreTel Connect Contact Center for CLOUD solutions. The UK data centre is production ready and the launch follows the introduction of cloud-based solutions as a partner managed service in the UK in 2015.

The move also signifies a big step forward in the vendor's transition from a maker of products to a globally focused software and services business.

ShoreTel Connect CLOUD has been available to US customers for 15 months and, according to Don Joos (pictured), president and CEO, the time is right to expand into more theatres.

"This geographical expansion better positions us to serve the needs of global customers of all types and sizes, while helping to drive cloud growth in EMEA," said Joos. "Our channel is ready and excited to offer Connect CLOUD to their customers."

ShoreTel can now provide UC ready-made 'as-a-service' with 'clear and simple' customer pricing, enabling a wider range of businesses of all sizes to benefit from voice, video, mobile, conferencing, messaging and contact centre communication services.

These new UC cloud services are sold through ShoreTel cloud partners who can also offer their customers a range of professional services for more complex environments.

Adrian Hipkiss, EMEA VP and MD of ShoreTel, added: "Our aim is to make cloud-based unified communications simple for customers with a no risk pathway to cloud-based purely on their requirements and needs.

"This may include some elements that are not yet suited to a cloud-only approach. ShoreTel remains committed to providing choice and flexibility, so ShoreTel Connect CLOUD and ShoreTel Connect Contact Center for CLOUD are welcome additions to support a wider range of customer communication requirements.

"The ShoreTel Connect client app makes collaboration simple and consistent across various deployment types. With one click, users can easily escalate a conversation from an IM to a call, to an online meeting, and then to a web desk-top share and video.

"Browser-based, the app allows seamless collaboration among internal teams, while also enabling external users to engage and collaborate in the same experience without the need for plug-ins, multiple application windows, passwords or complex set-up."

Proofpoint has named Nik Churchley as its new Director of EMEA Channel Sales. He has held similar roles at FireEye, Verisign and RSA Security with a particular focus on security and networking across cloud and managed service environments.

In his new role, Churchley will lead Proofpoint's relationships with partners, distributors and vendor organisations across Europe and the Middle East, with an emphasis on new business sales within the region.

Proofpoint specialises in protecting organisations against email, social and mobile threats. 

The company claims more than 3,000 enterprise customers including many of the world's largest companies, with over 100 million end users.

Several companies have set up a consortium to work on how blockchain can be used to secure and improve Internet of Things applications, as sectors beyond finance seek to benefit from bitcoin's underlying technology.

The group, which includes Cisco, Bosch, BNY Mellon, Foxconn and Gemalto will collaborate to develop a shared blockchain IoT protocol.

Europe is the most malware-impacted continent says a new study into cybersecurity by Malwarebytes.

Examining data from more than 200 countries and almost one billion total malware detections/incidences between June 2016 and November 2016, it found that Ransomware became a favourite attack methodology used against businesses in the US and Europe, and that ad fraud has also emerged as a primary threat, at times outpacing ransomware.

Europe saw 20% more infections than North America and 17 times more than Oceania.

The countries hit hardest by malware in Europe are France, the UK, and Spain - although the Vatican City saw the steepest rise with a 1,200% increase in all malware.

The UK saw almost twice as many incidents as Russia, and Russia was not in the top 10 of countries hit by ransomware, despite its size and population.

To better understand just how drastically the threat landscape evolved in 2016, Malwarebytes examined data taken from Windows and Android devices running Malwarebytes in more than 200 countries.

Both corporate and consumer environments were studied and data was collected from June 2016 through November 2016.

In the six months studied, nearly 1 billion total malware detections/incidences were reported. Data was also obtained from Malwarebytes' internal honeypots and collection efforts to identify malware distribution, not only infection.

"To protect users from cybercriminals, we need to intimately understand their methodologies and tactics," said Marcin Kleczynski, Malwarebytes CEO.

"Our findings demonstrate that the frequency and variety of new cyberattacks has crashed into people and businesses at an alarming rate.

"The last year involved an onslaught of ransomware, a surge of pernicious ad fraud and new, dangerous uses for botnets.

"These threats have the potential to erode many of the gains that computing is providing global society. Both consumers and businesses need to better understand how these new attack methodologies may impact them."

Like vultures, elements of the press and a section of Avaya's rivals circled low above the vendor when it filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. With the scent of blood strong in their noses they sniffed an opportunity and grasped at it with both talons.

Naturally, outright opportunists do not baulk when it comes to stirring things up to grab a sensational headline or unsteady the ground beneath resellers loyal to their troubled brands.

Ironically for the disrupters, perhaps in its perceived 'death throes' Avaya has pursued a course of action that, if anything, will breathe new life into the business which, by the way, is profitable.

No doubt there is uncertainty in the market following the move and investments in its technology may be brought into question. But is Avaya's future any less certain than the day before it decisively set about sorting out the restructuring of its debt?

For years speculation and rumours have created a storm of uncertainty around Avaya, but the business continued to do well and retained the loyalty of a staunch band of resellers and customers.

Even with the dial turned up on the hype around Avaya's Chapter 11 move, we can only see the vendor ringing up more of the same as it evaluates its options in terms of selling off assets and securing new funding, while repositioning as a software-focused company and achieving the flexibility to invest in innovation and growth.

Adept Telecom CEO Ian Fishwick noted, 'Avaya will continue as a brand and as a business. US companies that successfully entered and emerged from Chapter 11 include General Motors, American Airlines, Texaco, Macy's and Bloomingdale's'.

So, you don't need to be Mystic Meg to predict where all this is likely to end up. For the industry's sake, Chapter 11 will hopefully signify the turning of a new page and the start of another episode in Avaya's ongoing story.

Ericsson-LG champion Intellia has marched into Edinburgh waving the Korean vendor's flag.

Its mission is to firmly establish the brand in Scotland's capital having secured a new operational base in the city, according to Directors Tony Whelan and David Fisher.

"After a long time being based in the Falkirk and Stirling area we have opened a new branch office in Edinburgh," explained Whelan, Business Development Director.

"Intellia has many customers in Edinburgh but for a long time, with no incumbent dealer, I've felt the Ericsson-LG brand has been under-represented in Scotland's capital city.

"We intend to create a much stronger profile for Ericsson-LG in this commercially important part of Scotland; and use this office as a springboard to scale by around 20 per cent."

A new study from Juniper Research has calculated that the consumer migration from operator voice and text services to OTT messaging services and social media will cost network operators nearly $104 billion this year, equivalent to 12% of their service revenues.

The new research - Mobile Operator Business Models: Challenges, Opportunities & Strategies 2017-2021 - reached its conclusions by analysing the scale of operator traffic decline together with the uptake of OTT VoIP and message services. The research pointed out that the success of several platforms had substantially impacted on operator margins, with WhatsApp alone now generating nearly three times as much daily traffic as SMS.

Furthermore, it argued that with most leading OTT messaging platforms now incorporating or trialling multiple communication options, including group voice or video chat, operators would see continued erosion of traffic levels in the future.

However, the research highlighted a number of measures that operators could introduce both to arrest the decline in core revenues and to develop new sources of income.
These include:? Big data and analytics packages for both consumer and IoT devices; carrier billing payment options; mobile money services; and mobile identity services.

In each case, the research explored the strategic options offered by these measures and quantified the scale of the revenue streams they would provide.

The research also argued that with mobile increasingly deployed within the context of a quad-play offering, it was essential for telcos to provide consumers with attractive, original content to differentiate themselves from the competition.

According to research author Dr Windsor Holden, "With mobile devices now regularly used for primary consumption of video content as well as snacking, operators providing popular film, drama and exclusive sports events over multiple channels are at a distinct advantage."

So the hiring year has started briskly. The first new vacancies started coming in just before Christmas and then the real flood arrived during early January. The candidates are back too, as applications and CV registrations reach a peak and the first placements of 2017 have already happened, writes Clive Jefferys, Managing Director of recruiter JMA Network.
 
It's clear that just one word is leading people's desire for a career change - money.
 
I think we all know why: Rising prices, rising uncertainty, rising expectations - everything is going up. Earning more hard cash is the number one 'reason for looking' and it's been top of the hit parade for six months running.
 
So should employers lament, should they fret about decreasing profits and spiralling costs?
 
Well they shouldn't be in business if they do, as rising prices also bring greater opportunities. If you take a straw poll of your own top clients, they will tell you they thrive by not being the cheapest in their sector and it's no different for your best new recruits too.
 
Service delivery, features, advantages, benefits are the keywords of selling, business and hiring.
 
A year ago I proclaimed this was a Bull Market and it's no different today. Everyone says they are short of staff, yet UK recruiters place hundreds of thousands of people in new jobs every year. Our clients ask us to send every candidate that possesses the right skills, even if their salary needs are higher than the original budget for the job.
 
Just like the post referendum economy - despite the concerns ahead, business and hiring are carrying on as normal.

Northamptonshire County Council has signed two contracts with ultrafast broadband provider Gigaclear to deliver Stage Three of the Superfast Northamptonshire broadband project, which will concentrate on providing the broadband infrastructure to rural areas.

About 6,300 premises are set to benefit from the fibre-to-the-premises technology after Gigaclear was awarded the contracts following a competitive procurement process.

A total of £6.58m of public money is being invested in Stage Three, with £4.9m from the county council and £1.68m from the Department for Culture Media and Sport as part of its Superfast Britain programme. Gigaclear will be investing £3.65m in the county.

Cllr Ian Morris, whose county council cabinet portfolio covers the Superfast Northamptonshire project, said: "Having a county with excellent broadband infrastructure is essential if we want to be able to compete economically with other areas.

"The contracts awarded to Gigaclear will enable local businesses to benefit from some of the fastest broadband speeds available which is good news for data hungry operations and will to help boost the bottom line, while access to ultrafast broadband at home means the whole family can get on-line to take advantage of all that the internet has to offer."

Joe Frost, Business Development Director at Gigaclear, added: "Winning the Superfast Northamptonshire contracts means that we can now set the wheels in motion for providing a future proof, pure fibre network to people living and working in the most remote corners of the county."