INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: THE KEY TO SECURITY Clodagh Murphy
WITH the adoption of cloud services and the ever increasing need to work remotely, on the move, anywhere, any time, it’s understandable that one of the main concerns that we hear is around security. The simple truth is that cloud services are growing in adoption and delivering positive results by those who have used them, but with news emerging of security issues, particularly in the US, protection is a
hot topic and one that is under increasing scrutiny. The recent whistle blowing scandal to hit the US highlights how security was breached from an internal source. Edward Snowden, who was a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), had admitted giving details of the monitoring of phone calls and Internet data to the press. Rightly or wrongly, the catalyst for this breach of security came from within. We need to start protection from the inside. Ensuring that access is near impossible from external factors doesn’t necessarily mean that things are protected at the source, or within an organisation. The best technology is no match for human intervention, particularly when it comes from within. To combat this risk we need to ensure that we have the right training and development programmes in place for our teams, but we must also make sure that we are staying close to our people, to what they think and how they are feeling. Generally, it’s a disgruntled employee who does something to negatively impact a business. As a technology industry we need to look at this in a holistic way – data, network, people etc. We must be mindful of all threats and ensure that we are actively mitigating the risks. This is much less about point projects and needs to become a way of working across our industry.
Clodagh Murphy, Managing Director, Eclipse Internet
Siemens set for UC drive
A STRONG UC portfolio has nudged Siemens Enterprise Communications into top spot in the UK 1,001-plus exten- sions market segment according to figures from MZA, and its prospects are just as bright in the lower echelons. The industry analyst indi-
cates that the vendor now accounts for 34.73% UK mar- ket share, up from 28.93% the previous year; and according to Tony Smith, Sales Director Indirect Channel, two additions to the UC kit bag will also boost Siemens’ performance in the 10 to 1,000 UK market segment. Fresh from the pipeline is
OpenScape Business, an out- of-the-box solution that incor- porates elements of the HiPath 3000, meaning that resellers can migrate their existing base to the new system, driving incre- mental revenues while retaining end user customers. “For customers who are cur- rently using OpenScape Office or HiPath 3000, OpenScape Business offers a simple and cost-effective migration to UC while leveraging their invest- ment,” claimed Smith. “Existing cards and hand-
sets can be-re-used, and we will migrate the licenses for
free until the end of September. This also means that increas- ingly mobile SMB employees can benefit from OpenScape Business on a wide variety of devices, giving them the device flexibility they want.” Also unveiled is OpenScape
Enterprise Express, a single integrated solution for mid-sized companies delivering VoIP, UC and contact centre capabilities. “For existing partners this is
the most important technology we’ve launched to the mid-mar- ket,” added Smith. “The OpenScape Enterprise Express solution lowers the complexity and risk of intro- ducing VoIP and UC solutions into the enterprise, increasing RoI and reducing TCO as well as offering streamlined purchas- ing options.
“Partners can protect their customer base and upsell addi- tional products and services, driving higher margins. “Partners are already realis- ing the opportunity, and we’ve put a six figure investment into driving market awareness to aggressively deliver new busi- ness for our partners.”
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SHORT CALLS
Union Street Technologies has added to its 350-plus customer base following a link-up with tier one carrier provider Cloud9 Telephony. Vincent Disneur, Head of Sales at Union Street, said: “We have signed a series of major contracts with wholesale network service suppliers and anticipate several more in the coming months.”
Gamma Network Solutions has become a telecoms and network services provider to the UK’s social housing sector. Gamma is one of just six vendors selected by Procurement for Housing (PfH) under a framework agreement aimed at delivering savings and best value to social landlords and their tenants.
Outsourcery has signed a contract with Virgin Media Business to resell Outsourcery’s suite of services for a minimum of three years. Outsourcery was selected by Virgin Media Business to provide cloud services in December 2012. The companies have been working collectively since then to integrate business processes and design go-to-market cloud strategies to enable scale.
6 COMMS DEALER JULY 2013
www.comms-dealer.com
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