NEWS
www.comms-dealer.com
C
David Pollock
OMMENT Reseller cuts
call costs for
Wick Hill seals
Cash is
King: It’s
g192 nance g192 rm
Samsung deal
the lifeblood of
AVAYA partner and VoSKY resell-
er AbbiTek has provided Group SAMSUNG has joined forces with
your business
Centurion, an international finan- distributor Wick Hill in a bid to
cial management service provider, catch a growing wave of demand
with the VoSKY Exchange Pro for VoIP and security solutions.
VIT1/E1 gateway, slashing the cost Wick Hill – best known as
TOP TIPS ON MANAGING DEBT
of the firm’s monthly telephone bill an infrastructure and security
by 85%, from £2500 to £400, sav- VAD – will distribute Samsung’s
ing a total of £2,100 per month. OfficeServ and Ubigate ranges,
The PBX-to-Skype gateway extending its portfolio into secure
offers low-cost Internet-based converged solutions.
Skype calls, and with offices in the Mark Ivens, Senior Marketing
UK, Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Manager for Samsung, comment-
Argentina and Luxembourg, as well ed: “Wick Hill will significantly
as 15 mobile users, Centurion’s develop sales channel opportunities
Cash is King – writes David Pollock, CEO at Chess. international phone bills were on outside the existing distribution/
It’s an old adage but it’s very true. Many a good average £2,500 per month. reseller network.
business has gone bust because it has run out of cash. Andrew Broster, head of IT “The Wick Hill team is keen
Remember, a sale is not a sale until the cash is in the for Group Centurion, commented: to extend its product range and
bank. Don’t be fooled by management accounts and “VoSKY’s Exchange Pro VIT1/E1 business development programme
profit and loss into thinking it will show your true cash has saved us a huge percentage of into areas that our products are
Mark Ivens
position. It won’t. In building your business you should our monthly phone bill, enabling positioned to fill. National Gateway Security Survey
always think in terms of cash – cash management, us to redirect resources. We expect “Convergence isn’t just some- 2008 indicated strong growth in
cash flow and cash usage. If you are going to build a the whole VoSKY project to pay for thing that happens to products, it’s VoIP and a high interest in pur-
successful business, you must have your finger on the itself in less than six months.” a process that will apply to vendors, chasing security. ”
pulse of the cash. It’s the lifeblood of your business. Read more on Skype – page 36 channels and customers. Samsung’s Kilpatrick revealed that he did
converged solution product range not expect more than 30-40 resell-
Research shows that three in five new businesses will now encompasses four OfficeServ ers to be interested initially, but a
fail after just three years and the prediction is that
SIP disti prize
platforms, three Ubigate platforms, 12-month target might be as high
one in 20 of all businesses will fail in 2009. The reality TELAPPLIANT has scooped ‘SIP a wide range of applications and a as 50 reseller partners.
is doing your best to make sure you’re not exposed Handset Distributor of the Year’ portfolio of hosted solutions.” He expects the data resellers to
to the danger and becoming part of these statistics. for the third year running by Aastra Ian Kilpatrick, Chairman of ‘almost sweep the board’ because
Making mistakes is human. We all do things sometimes, Telecom. Tan Aksoy, Telappliant’s Wick Hill Group, added: “With they ‘understand convergence’.
which we believe will move our business to a new CEO, stated: “We now see the SIP our expertise in security and our Wick Hill’s reseller base, with
level of success. Fire fighting, or juggling cash flow standard more widely adopted and knowledge around VoIP, this is an its security and data background,
is an informal and reckless way of managing debt. offering new solutions, including ideal time for us to be entering the could steal a march on voice rivals,
If it fails, the effect on business can be terminal. fixed mobile convergence.” converged solutions market. The he claims.
At Chess we have detailed daily reports from the
finance and debt collection teams that show exactly Daisy bids Dixon fond
Siptel scoops
how much money we have at any one moment
and how much has come in during the month.
farewell on retirement
a Platinum in
We compare these figures to the last three months
the enterprise
performance. My job is to look out for exceptions and DAISY’S Commercial Director
make sure the trend is our friend. We have an in-house Tony Dixon has retired. Dixon SIPTEL has achieved Platinum
legal team who handle all bad debt and related joined Daisy seven years ago as a Enterprise Business Partner Status
court cases and they give it all they’ve got. The key founding director. with Joint Service Delivery (JSD),
thing to remember is that it’s your cash they have. Dixon said: “The Daisy I knew part of the UK Avaya Business
Never give in. We all suffer bad debts occasionally. at the beginning was an office in Partner Programme.
In fact we have increased bad debt provisioning a small windowless weaving shed Steve Rasmussen, Sales Director
by 50 per cent in the last two years as the recession with water running down the walls. of Siptel, said: “We’ve been work-
bites. There’s no point in deluding yourself that you’ll It was cold, horrible and dank. ing hard towards achieving the
collect all your debts, it’s just not going to happen. “To watch that ‘baby’ grow to Platinum status. We really under-
what it has become now is quite a
Tony Dixon
stand the Avaya product set.”
If there’s one final piece of advice I can give it is to journey. There are now well over tenure at Daisy. He will always be Platinum Business Partner
look at your cash position on a daily basis. Forecast 200 people involved with this com- there as a sounding block of reason, status recognises the company’s
cash flow and make sure you are hitting it. If you aren’t pany and I am very proud to have a cool head and a person you can’t achievements in training, market-
hitting targets, cut your cloth accordingly and if that been a part of building it.” help feel proud to know. I wish ing, revenue and Avaya’s product
means making some tough decisions, make them. It’s Daisy founder and CEO, him well for the future and look specialisations such as Enterprise
more important for all your people that you do. Matthew Riley, commented: “Tony forward to receiving an invite onto IPT, Contact Centres and SIP.
n
has been at my side throughout his his boat for a gin and tonic!” Siptel in profile – page 22
10 COMMS DEALER MAY 2009
www.comms-dealer.com
10 News.indd 1 28/4/09 11:01:34
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