It’s official! Comms Dealer is No.1!
It’s official! Comms Dealer No.1! The most requested & highest circulation magazine for the UK voice & data partner community VOL 16 ISSUE 9 FEBRUARY 2012
www.comms-dealer.com
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ADVERTISEMENT Technologies Ltd Excell Group wins Government vote to lead business project
A GOVERNMENT-backed project to create a hub that offers advice and guidance to smaller businesses is being lead by Excell Group Chairman Darren Strowger. He presented the concept at Downing Street in November last year and will present the live project
to the Prime Minister this month. Called the Trading for Good project, the scheme enables organisations to receive free expert advice and toolkits. “The Government and other trade bodies will incentivise larger organisations to choose their suppli-
ers from the directory or marketplace that we create,” explained Strowger. “The creation of the hub may not be our core business but being chosen to lead and project manage it is tremendous recognition for Excell Group as a business.” See page 22 for the full story
In this issue Industry News:
Catch up with events Company Profile:
Ethos Communications Business Interview:
Why Strowger Excells Business Profile:
Engineering an empire FCS Update:
Powernet’s good ViBEs Industry Viewpoint:
Comms sector in review Market Review:
Opportunities in mobile Comms People:
Movers and shakers CD SALES AWARDS – P42 3-18 20 22 24 26
Concerns voiced over fibre Business Profile:
Should cities take priority? Business Matters:
28 30 32 34 54
Actimax merges with NRG in move to unlock the cloud
RESELLER Actimax and IT firm Network Resource Group (NRG) have joined forces following a private equity backed merger. Operating under the CloudXL brand John Massey, CEO of the new £20m company, says he will provide no-nonsense cloud services to customers put off by the complexity of cloud adoption.
SPECIAL REPORT
Backed by Synova Capital CloudXL’s target markets include 40-50 user single site SMEs with a requirement for virtualistion and hosting and larger multi-site enterprises. Massey explained: “We are
becoming a WAN-centric busi- ness with access to more net- work suppliers and connectivity
into four data centres, offering customers greater resilience and multiple services.” According to Massey end users are often deterred from buying cloud services because they can be too confusing. “Lots of businesses know that the cloud can have a posi- tive impact but they are put off by the range and complexity of the options,” he claimed.
“We are overcoming this
by bringing together teams that understand every aspect of drawing optimum benefit from the cloud. Our team can apply the right combination for any organisation to ensure they make the most of what cloud has to offer.”
Synova Capital, which worked with Actimax on the Universal acquisition, believes
O2 champions best sales teams
COMMS Dealer has extended its event portfolio with the launch of The Comms Dealer Sales Awards (Dorchester Hotel on May 17th), designed to recognise and honour the channel’s sales and marketing champions. Also at the forefront of recognising sales excellence is O2 which quickly snapped up lead sponsorship of the event. Claire Darley, Head of SMB Sales at O2, said: “An awards process that rewards sales teams in the channel is a brilliant idea and long overdue. We are delighted to be lead sponsor of this pioneering programme.” Pictured: Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent welcomes O2’s Claire Darley. To find out more see page 42 and visit
www.cdsalesawards.com
the industry is evolving so are we.
www.comms-dealer.com A BPL BUSINESS MEDIA PUBLICATION Comms Dealer... l Was the first publication for the UK convergence channel
l Reaches more professionals in the UK Voice & Data community than any other magazine
l Continues to be the most valuable information source for the channel More readers. More resellers. More Decision Makers. More value
that cloud computing will become more mainstream dur- ing 2012, but, says the compa- ny, adoption is being held back by a lack of confidence from potential users. Philip Shapiro, Managing Partner at Synova Capital, said: “CloudXL will simplify access to the commercial benefits of services, connectivity and tech- nologies.” Continued on p13
www.comms-dealer.com
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