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are seeking a quick response over a short time. Also, where they are using several facilities on a global basis they are trying to standardise and gain operational benefits by using singular products to address their market opportunities.“


Video products distributor Peter Nice noted: “Video-conferencing and unified communications are becoming far more important because they can save money for organisations.“ Talking to the FD or operations director about efficiency and cost-savings could often be more fruitful on the salesfront than talking technical features to the in- house IT teams, he admitted.


“These new technology products can make significant savings and, in a way, we are fortunate to be in this austere market where companies are finding things difficult. But, it‘s not just cost saving, these products will also help give them with a fresh infrastructure platform on which to invest and build their businesses. There is a double whammy here: they are getting internal savings, but also getting themselves into a more competitive position.“


Demanding customers seeking total solutions


John Cousins admitted that the core business and ongoing success of Peach Telecom (ninth fastest growing UK company in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100) was based on manageable cost- savings and operational efficiencies for its clients‘ communication infrastructures. “We are being asked now on almost every occasion to provide the total solution. Most of our clients don‘t want to have 4 or 5 suppliers each taking different profit margins out for their work.


Signs of a silver lining? Roland Dreesden


that Peach Telecom had won 10 awards in 2011 and been voted Comms Dealer Sales Team of the Year in May. “We are getting a lot of things right but still have many challenges to confront.“


Peach undertakes up to 200 meetings a week with senior directors of companies, he explained, but even so, one of its own internal efficiencies is to ensure all prospective clients are fully researched and “pre-cleaned on their finance before we even phone them, so we are not wasting our time.“


An all-encompassing cloud?


David Murray asked David Landew of Star if cloud computing was being seen as a potential new cost-saving technology by customers.


“There are savings to be made with cloud. Making the shift from cap-ex to op-ex can bring significant benefits to many organisations, not least by removing that big upfront cost associated with on-premise solutions. But cloud is about so much more and to focus on cost savings alone would be to ignore the greater benefits that can be achieved.


“It‘s about making businesses more agile, enabling them to quickly access and take advantage of new technologies. Cloud services allow companies to sharply focus on core activities and growth rather than simply ‘keeping the lights on‘.


“Star has come a long way in 17 years; we are growing because we have moved away from a product-focused transactional business to a customer focused, solution business, building long- term relationships in the mid-market.


Dan Havercroft


“It‘s not just about sales nowadays; it‘s about customer care and service.“ He highlighted a big increase in customer reactivity. “When things are tough, customers want to get their buck out of you. Two years ago, if a telecom line went down for a few hours customers wouldn‘t have been happy when they complained, but now they want compensation as well because they see tangible losses in their businesses.“


Peach Telecom, providing comms products and network services of other suppliers at the customer interface, focuses on the need to ‘keep the customer satisfied‘. Cousins proudly announced


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“Our job isn‘t just to save our customers money but to continually satisfy them by delivering what they expect and continually add value.“


Kevin Scott-Cowell, whose hosted IP communications company Voicenet Solutions also operates in the cloud, confirmed the more holistic technology benefits required by businesses. “In the past two years we have seen changing mid-market business behaviours whereby they want cloud to deliver cost savings not only on calls and lines, but also in the way they run their businesses – to cover things like home-working issues, multi-sites, flexible location working. Propositions such as ours sell as a solution, helping people with various working issues in different sectors to grow and survive in this testing climate.“


Phil Kingsland


The UK market was a demanding but valuable proving-ground for good standards he suggested, with UK companies still considered as world-leading in future technologies.


Staunton said many successful businesses were still waiting for an improved climate for growth. “But, you can only store up that demand for a limited time, before making that growth or procurement decision and actually getting on with your business. Despite the double-dip economic news, we have actually seen an upswing in M&A activity, which is a good indicator I think of the current market temperature.“


Continuing government support for technology was also helpful – Tech City in London‘s East End was “astonishing, and really taking off“ – creating sector vibrancy and new jobs.


Scott-Cowell: “At Voicenet, we are in a good place. We have seen a doubling in our user base and revenues, but the market environment is difficult; decision-making can be prolonged, people are cautious, and there are still finance issues for clients, particularly for SMEs and start-ups. We just wonder how good it could be if the economy would just turn the corner.“


Old-style selling for new emerging markets


Murray asked if technology companies were actively seeking new business overseas, particularly with emerging countries.


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Euros Evans of Airwave, which provides critical voice and data communication services to the emergency services in Great Britain, admitted that public sector cutbacks were taking their toll. “A lot of what we do now is on saving costs and managing the total service, but there are two flips to that. Firstly this will be Airwave‘s busiest year ever with the Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; and then we are involved in smart metering. That‘s not just about how the UK‘s power grids are being managed, but also about how we as individuals use power every day.


“Going forward, I see huge price pressures in some areas, but other areas showing growth. And, it will be all about using the strengths, capabilities and credibility that UK companies have developed in their markets.“


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