INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: CLOUD TALK David Ellis
“Real value added distribution comes into play when it’s time to respond to a specific sales opportunity.”
FOR many resellers and solutions providers, the next step in making the cloud a reality for their business is where their distributor can make the biggest difference. In my last two columns I touched on the role a disti can play in educating its channel partners on the benefits and technicalities of cloud and in aggregating solutions to make them a realistic and low risk proposition to adopt. Real value added distribution comes into play when it’s time to respond to a specific sales opportunity. I’m talking, of course, about pre and post-sales support. One of the biggest costs
associated with the introduction of new technology is not just the initial, but also the ongoing training of technical and sales staff, often one of the main barriers for entry into cloud computing. By drawing on the skills of a distributor’s trained pre-sales specialists, resellers can configure and implement cloud computing solutions without having to fully invest in the skills themselves. Pre-sales consultants can be brought in on a project-by-project basis and introduced as part of the team to provide technical advice and expertise to complement a reseller’s commercial skills and understanding of their client’s business. Then, once the deal is done and the solution is in place, resellers need to be able to rely on their distributor to deliver a support package and Service Level Agreements tailored to their client’s particular needs. The new world of cloud computing means bringing resellers even closer to their distribution partners. So make sure you know yours well before you tie the knot.
David Ellis, Director of New Technology & Services, Computerlinks
Datasharp in Cisco accord
DATASHARP Group is now a key part of Cisco’s strategy to replicate its Enterprise market success in the SME space. Following a new partnership deal with Datasharp, Cisco is aiming to achieve 20% share in the SMB (under 100 extension) market in 2011.
Andy Brocklehurst, UK Lead for Small Business and Distribution at Cisco, said: “The team at Datasharp offer us the insight and solutions for SMBs in the UK that is so critical to our success and such a major part of our strategy in growing market share in this segment.” A shift in Cisco’s go-to-mar- ket strategy sees the networking giant swing its focus away from local data capable partners who typically sell voice as an ad hoc component into their customer base, to develop the existing voice business partner market with a programme designed to attract the top voice resellers. John Wyatt, National Bus- iness Account Manager, Cisco, stated: “Datasharp is a long- term voice player with a deep understanding of the voice mar- ket. We have been pursuing it for a number of years. “With Datasharp’s network of offices offering nationwide
Andy Brocklehurst
“The team at Datasharp offer us the insight and solutions for SMBs in the UK that is so critical to our success and such a major part of our strategy in growing market share.”
coverage, strong technical capa- bility and a culture of self-suf- ficiency, I predict a bright future for our partnership.”
Paul McIntosh, CEO Data- sharp, added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Cisco as one of their select partners for the SMB range.
“This complements our already strong portfolio of prod- ucts, which include Siemens, ShoreTel and LG, and allows us to provide our customers with a complete end-to-end offering for their voice and data needs.”
intY unveils UC service in the cloud
CLOUD and SaaS specialist intY has launched its new cloud UC service for partners. The solution, available as a white label service, brings together Microsoft Lync hosted telephony into a single integrat- ed voice, data and collaboration solution billed on a per user, per month basis.
Chris Baldock, MD of intY, commented: “Demand for inte- grated business tools that enable users to communicate from any- where in a cost-effective and secure manner is huge.
“Add to this the econom- ic drive toward opex and on- demand IT services, and UK businesses are clearly cloud- ready. In launching this new service, we are helping to make sure our channel partners have the solutions in place to meet current and future demand.” intY claims that the new service opens up the UC-as- a-Service model to mid-sized enterprises, increasing the mar- ket opportunity for the channel. “At the same time the inte- gration of best of breed technol- ogies will enable end users to further consolidate their infra- structure and simultaneously realise greater collaborative and efficiency benefits as a result,” added Baldock.
Vodafone specialist targets data channel
VODAFONE One Net special- ist Redsquid Communications has extended its reach into the data VAR channel and the man at the centre of a new reseller recruitment campaign, incoming Head of IT Reseller Channel, Ryan Neale, is aim- ing to build on the company’s 30% Q1 2011 increase in profits by helping IT resellers capture additional revenues from their customer base. Neale said: “With the con-
vergence of IT and telecoms, this is an opportunity for IT
Ryan Neale
resellers to offer their custom- ers Vodafone One Net and One Net Express. “Working with Vodafone we have managed to build a channel where non-tra-
ditional resellers can refer the business to us while retaining full upfront commissions.” Borehamwood-based Red- squid has secured Vodafone Platinum Partner status for the second time in a row, and dur- ing the last year the company’s headcount has grown by five with further plans to boost staff numbers by five more this year. Neale commented: “Over the next 12 months Redsquid plans to double in size, either by recruitment or by acquisi- tion. We have purchased a small
2011
Marriot St. Pierre, Chepstow,Gwent. 16th June 2011
12 COMMS DEALER JUNE 2011
dealer in Oxfordshire and would like to continue down this route by acquiring other dealers.” Neale is looking to work with 30 partners in the first instance. “We may then recruit another Channel Manager to enable us to double our partner numbers,” he added.
Redsquid was established in
2006 by Vince Mignacca and Sohin Raithatha. Collectively they have over 20 years experi- ence in the mobile phone sec- tor. They opted for the name Redsquid because it could be
adapted to other businesses and also stands out.
Redsquid Communications has been working with Vodafone since 2006. The company is so confident in its service that it offers a money back guarantee. In a recent customer satisfac- tion survey carried out directly by Vodafone, Redsquid scored 8.5 out of 10, which, says the firm, is 30% more than the industry standard.
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