Comms Dealer

Sophos has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the commercial software products business of Invincea, a developer of patented next-generation malware protection, from its existing shareholders for $100m plus a $20m earn-out.

Invincea has a strong presence in the US, particularly in the government, healthcare and financial services sectors.

The Invincea endpoint security portfolio prevents, detects and remediates zero-day and sophisticated attacks, and combines neural-network based machine learning and behavioural monitoring to enhance detection through artificial intelligence and stop evasive malware before damage occurs.

Sophos Chief Executive Officer, Kris Hagerman, commented: "Invincea will strengthen Sophos' next-gen endpoint protection with complementary predictive defenses that we believe will become increasingly important to the future of endpoint protection and allow us to take full advantage of this significant new growth opportunity."

The value of the gross assets of Invincea as at 31 March 2016 was $15.7 million. In the 12 months to 31 March 2016, Invincea recorded billings of $13.4 million, revenue of $9.8 million and a loss before tax of $11.8 million.

Claranet has expanded its footprint in The Netherlands with the acquisition of Rely, an IT provider for the Dutch notarial sector.

With the new acquisition, Claranet continues its growth strategy and doubles its size in The Netherlands.

Rely offers a range of IT infrastructure services, including public and private cloud solutions and application management services.

The firm has 50 staff and an annual turnover of 6m euros.

As well as being a primary IT partner for notary organisations, with more than 2,000 notary seats, it also manages more than 3,500 seats in other types of organisations, including those in the media, cultural, and financial services sectors.

Rely will be absorbed in full into Claranet and the company's founder, René Fouraschen, will remain in the enlarged business as Business Development Director in the region.

Fouraschen said: "Being part of a larger organisation with a similar focus on providing the total IT package gives us several advantages. It gives us the opportunity to grow quicker and gain more customers, enabling us to develop effective economies of scale."

Avnet Technology Solutions' training division, Avnet Academy, is expanding its education portfolio to include training courses for Lenovo's System x and Flex products.

Stephen Ennis, Director Education Services at Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA, said: "We're providing our partners with tools and knowledge so they can offer training for end customers to accelerate their careers.

"With our Lenovo training path, we will help guide IT professionals to ensure they have the skills, certifications and tools needed to handle real-world, next-generation technology environments."

Has your technical team got an idea around cyber security, data collection, mining or analytics to tackle modern slavery, or security innovation?

If so you could be in line for a £10,000 windfall and six months of technical expertise from BT and TechHub, the global community for technology start-ups.

BT has teamed up with the Government's Cabinet Office and TechHub to find small companies with big ideas that can help tackle the nation's security challenges. 'securing the Nation' is the latest in a series of competitions aimed at supporting the UK's best digital talent, helping them to turn their ideas into reality.

Colm O'Neill (pictured), Managing Director, BT Major and Public Sector, told Comms Dealer: "We want SMEs to join us at the front-line of security to help deliver imaginative and effective digital products and services that can keep our nation one step ahead.

"If your business thrives on innovation and has the skills and knowledge to take on this challenge we'd love to hear your ideas. This is a unique chance to contribute towards the nation's security by getting your ideas off the ground with the support of BT and TechHub."

There are three categories in the competition namely: Cyber Security; Data collection, mining and analytics; and Digital innovation.

"We're looking for cyber security solutions that can help to keep data secure and protect critical national infrastructure for both the public sector and businesses," continued O'Neil.

"We're also looking for SMEs with the digital technology experience to help the Police and the Home Office tackle modern slavery and human trafficking. And finally we're looking for innovation in disruptive digital and communication services to help make the UK a safer place to live and do business."

Entries can be made up to March 3rd 2017. For more details on how to enter see: www.btplc.com/btinfinitylab/securingthenation

Tollring's growing presence in the cloud space has prompted the company to create a new role, hire staff and promote from within.

The firm has expanded its partnerships with companies offering cloud services such as BT, Mitel and BroadSoft, and appointed Scott Ellis as Head of Cloud Sales, a new business development role.

He will be working with senior management to sell iCall Suite and iC360 to Service Providers, System Integrators and Value Added Resellers in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

Chris Slater has most recently been appointed as Head of Product and will focus on delivering a strong product roadmap as we continue to expand our Analytics Portfolio. He will be instrumental in aligning product evolution with our partner requirements.

Hilary Oliver joined Tollring in 2012 and has been promoted to Marketing Director, taking a seat on the Board. Her 20 years of B2B and tech marketing experience lay the foundation for her continued focus on channel GTM support alongside overall corporate marketing and product branding.

Tony Martino, MD of Tollring, said: "These appointments are indicative of our company's success. Both Scott and Chris have strong experience in call recording having spent several years at Enghouse Networks, formally CTI Group, and as a result we see them being able to add immediate value in supporting the business as we expand our partner reach. We continue to evolve our cloud products and services in line with customer needs and are committed to supporting and empowering our channel in all areas."

Pictured (l-r): Hilary Oliver, Chris Slater and Scott Ellis

Gradwell Communications CEO Nick Thompson is stepping down after three years at the firm, making way for incoming chief exec Simon Mewett, the former CEO of Westbourne-based ISP C4L which was acquired by Selection Services Investments for £20.2m a year ago.

Previous roles include leadership positions within INS and Easy Group.

Peter Gradwell, founder and CTO of the Bath-based business, commented: "We look forward to working with Simon and leveraging his all-round business expertise."

Mewett's remit is to drive forward the company's strategy and provide a solid platform for future growth. He said: "I look forward to building compelling customer propositions."

Bath-based Gradwell Communications was founded in 1998 and now has 70-plus employees. Its solutions are currently used by over 22,000 small businesses and partners across the UK.

IP Integration has been awarded the Avaya 2016 Strategic Win Award for the Asia region.

IP Integration was responsible for securing and fulfilling a major installation of Avaya's contact centre solution for ESL, the international gaming organisation.

Combining the Avaya solution with a selection of its own complementary tools, IP Integration specified and managed the roll-out of an omni-channel contact solution with full personalisation attributes.

Picture shows Dave Glasgow, Sales Director at IP Integration (left) and Ritchie Butters, Account Director at IP Integration with the Avaya award.

Gamma has sealed an access agreement with CityFibre to connect 15 data centres and exchanges across the UK over CityFibre's long-distance and metro networks.

This upgrade will enable Gamma to meet growing demand for its data services and enable the delivery of higher speed services to an increasing number of larger enterprises and public sector customers.
 
The agreement, which runs through to 2042, will deliver multi-terabit core and multi-gigabit access speeds using 1,300km of dark fibre in a fully resilient ring configuration, between Manchester and London.

Andy Rawnsley, Chief Architect at Gamma, said: "We are always looking to increase our capacity and the range of innovative services we can offer. CityFibre's national long distance network is an ideal mechanism for us to deliver the speed, resilience and flexibility we need in our core network. We look forward to exploring how else we might work together in the future."
 
Rob Hamlin, Commercial Director at CityFibr,e added: "We are delighted to welcome Gamma on-board as CityFibre's first partner to access our long distance network on a national basis. The project demonstrates our capability to offer unified long distance and metro fibre solutions to national service providers."

Hosted telephony provider NTA and call recording firm Oak Innovation are working together to provide fully compliant on-premise call recording for NTA customers.

The Oak call recorder for NTA includes AES 256bit encryption to safeguard recordings in line with FCA guidelines, PCI card payment suppression, and infinite storage space. The call recorder can also be used for training and monitoring staff, managing business performance, and resolving customer disputes.

"It was an obvious partnership," said NTA Sales Manager Justin Blaine. "We already had a call recorder, but it wasn't PCI and FCA compliant."

Oak CTO Phil Reynolds added: "NTA uses a channel model based on the number of extensions likely to be in use at any one time. This means that NTA resellers potentially pay less for their services, and the end user gets a high-performing system for less. It's an attractive proposition, and the addition of extension-side call recording from Oak creates a solution that ticks a lot of boxes."

Wales-based finance house Henry Howard Finance (HHF) has scooped the Finance Monthly Game Changer Award 2017.

Winners of the annual award are determined by the views of thousands of voters - including investors, analysts, C-level executives, employees and media professionals - before researchers shortlist businesses based on key achievements, including profit or revenue growth, market expansion or launching innovative products.

Mark Crook, group chief operating officer of Henry Howard Finance, said: "To be recognised by Finance Monthly for our work is a fantastic honour and is a great way for us to kick-start 2017. Industry opinion remains a core priority for us and we're pleased to have had such positive feedback."

HHF is hoping that success comes in threes, after also being shortlisted for two other awards. The company beat more than 300 other applicants in the financial technology industry to make the shortlist of Financial Sector Innovation of the Year award at this year's FSTech Awards, and has also been nominated for Asset Based Finance Broker of the Year at the Business Moneyfacts Awards 2017.

These successes follow a triumphant 2016 that saw HH Vendor Finance, a specialist lender for the telecommunications sector, scoop the title of Best Channel Business Service at the Comms National Awards, as well as a Product of the Year: Professional Services award at the Comms Business Awards.

A key ingredient to the company's recent success has been the creation of 'HowApp', a deal management portal that allows vendors to set up finance packages tailored to their clients' needs, in as little as 20 seconds.

"Since we started business more than 20 years ago, we've looked to be innovative in every market we're involved in," said Crook. "That includes developing the 'How App', which has given customers of HHF the opportunity to set up credit agreements both quickly and safely, thanks to anti-money laundering, fraud and ID checks.

"We intend to define our 2017 and beyond with further growth and award success, while maintaining and improving our emphasis on customer service."

Henry Howard Finance supports more than 20,000 UK businesses across a variety of sectors.