NEWS
Public Sector cuts to spur cloud adoption
A NEW wave of cloud adoption has been predicted, driven in big part by expected Public Sector cuts, ringing the death knell for business investments in ICT infrastructure, according to Piers Linney, joint CEO for Outsourcery. Chancellor George Osborne’s
predicted cuts of 25% in Public Sector expenditure will have a big impact on all UK businesses, believes Linney. “As businesses wait in trepi- dation for the 20th October announcement when swingeing cuts – feared to be the biggest in a generation – are expected to be announced, there is a refocus on how to lessen the impact by increasing efficiencies and reducing costs still further,” he said. One strategy that has proved
attractive to the Public Sector is the adoption of a new wave of cloud-based computing and com- munications solutions, which are generating significant interest from many government departments and their suppliers keen to benefit from the potential of streamlining and cost savings. As part of the government’s efficiency drive there is the addi- tional directive for Public Sector organisations to offer more con- tracts to smaller private sector sup-
Piers Linney
“Through the cloud model the smaller supplier can punch above their weight”
pliers rather than opt for the large companies that have hitherto won the lion’s share of contracts. “These potential supplier org- anisations are finding that the new wave of cloud-based solutions are helping them to win the business,” commented Linney. “Through the cloud comput- ing model they now have access to powerful technologies they previ- ously could not afford, allowing them to compete on more equal terms with the larger companies.” The next generation of cloud- based solutions championed by Outsourcery incorporate integrated communications, and the increased
Britannic scoops novel Avaya marketing prize
A NOVEL incentive scheme from Westcon Convergence and Avaya, and sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, saw Brit- annic Technologies scoop an Avaya Marketing Excellence Award. Under the new scheme partners
were invited to submit entries out- lining their Avaya marketing cam- paigns, demonstrating innovation and RoI around SME, enterprise or data solutions. As the winner Britannic Techno-
logies received a campaign worth $5,000 from Avaya’s marketing ser- vice programme, MarketLeaders, which will go towards creating more Avaya opportunities.
Runa Macleod Runa Macleod, Marketing
Director at Westcon Convergence, said: “Britannic implemented an impressive programme which included newsletters, direct mail, an updated website, seminars and a convergence summit event.”
pressure to make savings and pro- tect frontline services will force organisations to reconsider their strategies and take a serious look at what the new wave of cloud can offer, notes Linney. “This is great news for the smaller supplier. Through the cloud model they can now punch above their weight and take advantage of technologies and skills that prior to cloud were unaffordable,” he said. “Interest in the cloud is by no means limited to smaller enter- prises. We are finding that larger organisations in the sub-corporate and larger categories are also look- ing to benefit from the savings and efficiencies that are possible from cloud technologies.” Gartner expects 20% of busi- nesses not to own their IT assets by 2012, a trend driven by cloud adoption, and the underlying trend will be accelerated by predicted Public Sector cuts that will have a ripple effect through many of the UK’s private businesses which sell to it, whether directly or indirectly, observes Linney. “It now makes absolutely no sense for a small or medium-sized business and even many smaller corporates to invest in and main- tain IT and communications infra- structure,” he added.
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Azzurri drives for innovation
AZZURRI Communications has combined its software development arm with its systems integration and consultancy capabilities under the banner of Azzurri Innovations. The move aims to plug the
gap between mainstream telecom vendor offerings and the needs of organisations that want to integrate comms technology to support the specific way they do business. Rufus Grig, Chief Technology
Officer of Azzurri Communications and Head of Azzurri Innovations, said: “I never cease to be amazed by just how creative and innovative the organisations we work with want to be. Azzurri Innovations provides us with the ability to develop products in-house and enhance the products we offer from the major vendors. “We can now plug the gaps to
allow our customers to be innova- tive in the way they operate, so they can offer a more compelling experi- ence to their own customers.” An example of a recent Azzurri
Innovations project involved a combination of integration and bespoke development, alongside consultancy on how a contact cen- tre could effectively engage with a teenage audience. Grig explains: “This customer’s
target market thinks that telephone calls were something their grand-
Rufus Grig
parents did and email is something their parents do. “Teenagers communicate using
IM, Facebook and SMS, so our team implemented custom connec- tors on top of our existing multi- channel contact centre product, bringing web 2.0 technologies into the contact centre platform. “This made it genuinely state of
the art with IM, chat forums and video chat.”
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Swiftnet creates channel focused arm in reseller recruitment push
SWIFTNET is on the hunt for more resellers and a key plank of its strategy is a new reseller-focused business division called Swiftnet Network Services.
The man at the centre of
Swiftnet’s big reseller recruitment drive, John Burton, has a clear plan to target market segments that the bigger carriers overlook or find hard to reach. He commented: “Our strategy is not to compete head-to-head against the large network operators supplying the channel. Instead, our model is to be faster and more flex- ible and to fill the niches they do not want to address.
John Burton
“A good example is network- based call recording on CPS lines, which the larger networks have stated they will not support. We’re also able to develop customised fea- tures and services on request.” With group sales of around £15m, Burton believes that Swiftnet
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is well placed to drive his strategy, being small enough to be flexible and big enough to be capable. “Our current resellers have been successful in winning business by differentiating themselves from those resellers simply competing on price,” added Burton. “We’re now looking for more resellers who want to offer their customers a more responsive service.” Swiftnet, which is debt-free,
profitable and wholly owned by its management team, has been run- ning its own switches and network since 1990. The company’s existing 65 resellers will be looked after by the new division.
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