www.printitreseller.uk PRINT, MFP, SOFTWARE, SERVICES, DOCUMENT & CLOUD NEWS & INFORMATION FOR VARS, CONVERGED RESELLERS & MFP DEALERS SEE PAGE 24 Winners Revealed 10 years · I00 issues 2022
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01732 759725 4 10 years · I00 issues SOGEA: CONNECTIVITY TO TRANSFORM BUSINESSES Take advantage of the all-IP transition opportunity by selling SOGEA and preparing your customers for the biggest change to communications in over 30 years CONTACT US TODAY t. 0330 100 1233 | e. [email protected] digitalwholesalesolutions.com Connectivity | Mobile | Voice | IP Communications Software Marketplace | Product Supply SOGEA – the Single Order Broadband Solution Available to over 28 million UK premises Bandwidth options from 0.5Mbps to 1Gbps at competitive price points Simple to sell, deploy and support with flexible terms Biggest trending Broadband product in 2021
Welcome to the final issue of 2022 – our 100th issue. It’s hard to believe a decade has passed since we launched PrintIT Reseller, a sister publication of our end-user title Managed IT, which many of you will know. It was indeed positive feedback from trade readers that inspired us to launch a reseller version of the magazine and here we are ten years on still going strong. Throughout next year we will be celebrating a decade in print, and I will be inviting industry veterans to share their experiences, what they’ve learned, and the highs and the lows of our unique and challenging industry. If you’d like to take part, please get in touch. On December 6, we were delighted to host over 550 guests at the PrintIT Awards evening held at the Royal Lancaster in London. You can find out more about the 2022 winners on page 24. Congratulations to all of the winners and the companies who received a highly commended award. We also feature part two of the annual print predictions feature (page 50), this time some of the sector’s leading print OEMs, ISVs and channel services providers, share their thoughts on what 2023 will hold for the print and IT sectors. Chris Gaskin, Technical Pre-Sales Consultant, ORdigiNAL, picks the work tools he uses every day and couldn’t do his job without (page 20). This month’s Q&A is with Andy Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer, Aurora and PITR spent 60 seconds with Philip Sansom, Director Business Development and Alliances, Barracuda MSP. If you’ve got any news about your business to share, would like to be included on our monthly VOX POP panel, have a compelling business success story or simply wish to comment on any industry issues, please get in touch with us at: [email protected] Michelle Ryder, Editor PRINT.IT Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 10 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.printitreseller.uk No part of PRINT.IT Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2022 Kingswood Media Ltd. Design: Sandtiger Media www.sandtiger.co.uk 06 Bulletin What’s new in printers and printing 18 People A round-up of new hires 20 I couldn’t do my job without... Chris Gaskin, ORdigiNAL, picks the tools he couldn’t do his job without 22 Research Ecosystem benchmark report 24 PrintIT Awards 2022 winners revealed 28 Focus on: What’s New A round-up of recent product launches 30 Events Integra celebrates 25 years 35 Interview Shaun Wilkinson, Managing Director at UTAX 38 One-to-one One-to-one with Epson’s Richard Wells 46 Workplace Work is headspace not a physical space 49 MFPs Optimised for MPS 52 VOX POP Print Predictions: part two 60 View from the Channel Andy Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer, Aurora 62 60 seconds with... Philip Sansom, Director Business Development and Alliances, Barracuda MSP 2022 printitreseller.uk Comment Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of PrintIT Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.printitreseller.uk/register If you no longer wish to receive PrintIT Reseller magazine please email your details to [email protected] Read PrintIT Reseller online at: www.printitreseller.uk Join us : Follow us @PrintITReseller Issue 100 ISSN 2055-3110 (Print) ISSN 2055-3129 (Online) Group Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [email protected] Editor: Michelle Ryder 01732 759725 · [email protected] Publishing Director, Social Media and Web Editor: Neil Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 · [email protected] Account Manager: Jeff Root 07976 950285 · [email protected] Art Director: Nick Pledge 07767 615983 · [email protected] COMMENT 5 .UK 10 years · I00 issues 10 years · I00 issues www.trawards.co.uk 10 years · I00 issues
BULLETIN 01732 759725 6 Organisations rely on legacy security protocol dating back to 1999 A new study conducted by Tenable has illuminated for the first time ever the immense challenge organisations face identifying and protecting their internetfacing assets. An inventory of the external attack surface of 22 of the UK’s largest organisations [as listed by the FTSE top 50] were examined on Friday, October 29, 2022. The results show how complex, geographically dispersed, and hybrid these environments have become, and illustrate the sheer scale of the cybersecurity architecture that needs to be secured. Of the companies examined, most have a sprawling expanse of internet-facing assets, with an average of 76,600 to identify and protect. One organisation alone has over 500,000 such assets. One striking observation is that 100% of organisations had web-based assets that still support TLS 1.0 [a security protocol first defined in 1999 for establishing encrypted channels over computer networks] that was disabled by Microsoft in September [2022]. Over half (12 companies) had instances of SSL 2.0 – the predecessor to TLS. In addition to the risk of eavesdropping on sensitive internet traffic by adversaries, this is just one example demonstrating how challenging it’s become for organisations with large internet footprints to identify and update outdated technology. “The infrastructure that underpins organisations today is only vaguely recognisable from three years ago, especially pre-COVID. Internet-facing assets are not just commonplace, but essential for organisations in the modern business world,” said Jeremiah Grossman, Security Strategist, Tenable. “The flipside of this is that any one of these assets is a potential entry point for an adversary into the organisation. Threat actors are probing these openings, looking for any single one that is left insecure, so they climb through. As defenders, security professionals need to know what assets they’re protecting in order to secure themselves.” www.tenable.com Inflation and rising costs to slow down DX 58% of healthcare industry professionals globally believe that digital transformation initiatives – involving the implementation of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, application programming interfaces (API) and others – would be slowed down due to inflation and rising costs, according to a survey by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. The survey, which was published in GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Digital Transformation and Emerging Technology in the Healthcare Industry - 2022 Edition’, reveals that 63% of healthcare and pharmaceutical industry professionals in North America expected a disruption to digitalisation initiatives in their business units due to inflation. The same opinion was expressed by 55% of industry professionals in Europe and 47% in the Asia-Pacific region. However, more than 20% of respondents believed that inflation may actually serve as a catalyst for digital transformation efforts, most likely due to technologies’ ability to drive cost reduction. www.globaldata.com IT reseller confidence remains resilient IT resellers across much of Europe and beyond are largely positive about the future despite strengthening economic headwinds, according to the latest ChannelWatch report from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. The annual CONTEXT report polled 5,308 B2B and B2C resellers of all sizes and across a range of core businesses in Europe, Turkey and South Africa. It found that 62% expected their business to perform better over the coming 12 months, marginally down on last year (67%). Around a quarter (27%) said there would be no change in the next year and just 10% expected worse performance. Those sentiments are doubly positive considering the answers were gathered in April to July, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and at a time when rising inflation and energy costs were already clear to respondents. For B2B resellers, cloud products and services will be the number one area of investment in the coming year, with close to 50% saying they plan to spend here, as they have done over the past four years. However, there was a notable increase in the number of respondents saying they plan to invest in networking, cybersecurity and managed print services versus last year. In cybersecurity, the growth follows the trend observed in the CONTEXT sales data. In the B2C space, over 65% plan to invest in PCs in the coming year in spite of softening consumer demand and stock issues: a reassuring sign of confidence in the market. Other areas seeing a rebound in popularity from last year are components, HDDs/SSDs and printers. www.contextworld.com Improving sustainability In response to the global climate crisis and the recent energy crisis, Nutanix has sponsored an in-depth report to help business decision-makers not only minimise energy costs but radically cut the carbon footprint of their datacentre assets. Key findings include: n Measurable benefits could be achieved across a range of organisations from large scale hyperscalers and managed service providers to large enterprises and small businesses. n In comparison to traditional 3-tier IT platforms, next generation hyperconverged infrastructures (HCI) could potentially reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint by roughly 27% per year. n Across the EMEA region HCI transformation has the potential to reduce energy consumption by 56.7 TWh and cut emissions by 14.2 million tonnes of CO²e over the period 2022-2025. n Large-scale co-location datacentres offer a much lower PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) factor than typical on-premise facilities. Switching these to HCI architectures could potentially boost energy saving towards 30-40%. www.nutanix.com 10 years · I00 issues Winners – see page 24
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BULLETIN Apogee sponsors the Imps Apogee has become a bronze sponsor of the men’s and women’s teams for Lincoln City Football Club - affectionately known as ‘The Imps’ – in an effort to take a more active role in supporting its local communities. As Britain’s first ever community-owned football club, Lincoln City FC enjoys a very active relationship with its supporters across social media, online forums, and face-to-face events. Dom Gryszan, Marketing Director for Apogee Corporation said: “Apogee has been actively looking for opportunities to support our local communities and supporting a football club so close to our National Operations Centre was the perfect fit. We hope to see our relationship flourish over years to come, alongside the progress of the team.” Adam Chantrey, Head of Commercial at the Imps, added: "We are pleased to join forces with Apogee. Their experience will be valuable to us, and we look forward to working closely with them throughout the season ahead.” www.apogeecorp.com FDM Group partners with ServiceNow FDM Group, a professional services provider with a focus on technology, has joined the ServiceNow Placement Partner Program, part of the RiseUp with ServiceNow global program designed to skill one million people around the world on the ServiceNow Platform by 2024. FDM Group trains over 3,000 consultants each year, making them well placed to train and place hundreds of specially trained consultants in ServiceNow Application Developer, Application Specialist, Implementation Specialist and System Administrator roles every year. FDM will offer their consultants official ServiceNow training and certifications across a broad spectrum of courses that cover the entire ServiceNow platform, enabling them to progress as experts in ServiceNow development, implementation and administration Andy Brown, Chief Commercial Officer, FDM Group said: “FDM Group, in partnership with ServiceNow, is introducing net new talent into the marketplace. Skilled in ServiceNow application development, integration, and administration, with up-front and continuous training and support, FDM consultants are able to customise the out of the box product to fit businesses' unique ways of working.” www.fdmgroup.com 01732 759725 8 20 years in partnership Somerset-based photocopier and print solutions supplier SDS (Southwest Digital Systems) is celebrating 20 years of success as a Konica Minolta partner. With a team of nine, SDS is focussed on delivering exceptional customer service (and has been recognised by three Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards) and the best business solutions for its customers. Sales Director Nigel Gass said: “Working exclusively with Konica Minolta gives us a highly reliable and effective route to market and means we can focus our product stocks and technical training to deliver the best sales and support service to our customers.” Cameron Mitchell, Business Leader for Indirect Channel at Konica Minolta added: “SDS is the perfect partner for us, combining local expertise with an excellent knowledge and understanding of Konica Minolta’s range and virtually an extension of our business, but with the essential local agility and responsiveness that customers demand. We are delighted and proud to be celebrating 20 years of close and trusted partnership and look forward to our continued relationship.” www.sdsltd.uk.com Woodbank wins new contract Woodbank Office Solutions has been awarded a print and document management contract for Robinsons Brewery. Installations included the Brewery in central Stockport, a packaging plant in Bredbury and Robinsons’ managed houses across the whole of the Northwest. Simon Fuller, IT Infrastructure Service Manager at Robinsons said: ”As a family run business, we wanted to partner with someone with the same values and ethos. The process was very easy and straightforward. Operationally no issues and integration was great. Woodbank technical guys are very experienced, and they knew what they were doing. We just left them to it. They do all the liaison and the training. Very efficient, very smooth.” For Janet Bowden, owner of Woodbank, having Robinsons as a customer is a dream come true. “I moved into Woodbank House Friday 30 May 2003. The day is emblazoned into my memory. It was a beautiful hot day, I looked across from my office, smelt the hops from the brewery and thought to myself, one day that account will be mine.” Bowden’s long-standing relationship with Konica Minolta came into its own with both businesses pulling out all the stops to make sure the order was fulfilled so Woodbank could deliver on time. www.woodbankoffice.co.uk Aurora expands Hertford HQ Aurora recently held a grand opening of its new offices and warehouse at its Hertford headquarters. The new premises provide a much-improved working environment for all of Aurora’s staff, as well as a welcoming hub for guests and visitors. Customers can see first-hand the range of products and services that Aurora has to offer in ICT, telecoms and print management, as well as personally meet with the sales team, who are always on hand to provide their expertise and advise for any business’ needs. www.weareaurora.co.uk 10 years · I00 issues Janet Bowden
BULLETIN Datech partners with iOFFICE + SpaceIQ Datech Solutions has signed an agreement with iOFFICE + SpaceIQ, a leader in the digital transformation of workplace and asset management, that gives Autodesk partners access to iOFFICE + SpaceIQ’s Archibus integrated workplace management system (IWMS) solutions throughout the EMEA region. The agreement enables Autodesk partners to provide an integrated building lifecycle solution – comprising iOFFICE + SpaceIQ’s all-in-one workplace management platform, Archibus, and Autodesk AEC Collection – that will enable building operators to analyse and optimise all aspects of their real estate, mission-critical assets and space management “This new relationship between Datech and iOFFICE + SpaceIQ comes at a time when enduser organisations are facing new challenges in re-configuring their environments for hybrid working, to meet sustainability goals, and provide the flexibility to adapt to sudden and unforeseen change”, said Séamus Hurley, Vice President, Europe, Datech Solutions. eu.tdsynnex.com/ TD SYNNEX on hunt for new partners TD SYNNEX is seeking additional partners to take Hitachi Vantara’s EverFlex offering to market, after completing what is thought to be the first deal for the hybrid cloud solution in Europe. Another even bigger contract is in the pipeline and as the word spreads, more opportunities are expected to emerge. Launched earlier this year, EverFlex is a portfolio of hybrid cloud offerings, with consumption-based pricing, that automates and simplifies management of IT resources. With Hitachi’s strong pedigree in assured data availability, EverFlex storage as a service (StaaS) options are especially appealing to organisations requiring certainty of data integrity. With EverFlex, customers can have the storage on-premises, flex capacity up and down on a monthly basis – and only pay for what they use. The distie has been working with Hitachi Vantara and its partners to take EverFlex to market and the initial sale (for a significant six-figure amount) has been made to an MSP that is using the platform as the foundation for its UK-based data centre. It is believed to be the first sale of the solution in the EMEA. A separate, seven-figure deal should be completed soon. This will provide flexible StaaS for a well-known online leisure services provider, which sees significant peaks and troughs in usage. uk.tdsynnex.com/ 9 Exertis extends enterprise offering NGX Storage is the latest vendor to be added to Exertis Enterprise’s portfolio, bringing a unified storage space offering of up to 20 petabytes under a single namespace, to businesses throughout the EMEA region. NGX eliminates the need for multiple systems for different workloads. With NGX, the same system can be used for multiple protocols – block, file and object – as well as across a wide range of performance requirements. These include demanding transactional workloads that are extremely performance-sensitive, to archival applications that are highly sensitive to density and cost. Beyhan Çalıskan, Founder and CEO at NGX Storage, said: “Exertis has a great track record of storage solutions sales and delivery. Partnering with Exertis will allow us to reach the large distribution network of Exertis and present our next generation technologies to its customer base. Our collaboration will push the digital transformation boundaries with NGX Storage’s scalable, flexible and high-performance solutions to meet the challenging business requirements of enterprises.” www.exertis.co.uk Easy rental service SYNAXON has launched a new service in the UK that enables partners and their end-user customers to rent hardware then combine it with software and managed services, without needing to make any upfront investment. With Managed Workplace, partners and their customers benefit from access to excellent availability on a wide range of products. These can be combined with SYNAXON Managed Services to ensure all customer needs are met. Every Managed Workplace configuration can be rented for a 36-month term and is tailored to that customer’s particular requirements. An extensive selection of top-selling notebooks, workstations and all-in-one PCs, along with various accessories, are available via SYNAXON Hub, and can be included in the rental agreement. Miguel Rodriguez, Managing Director, SYNAXON Hub said: “SYNAXON Managed Workplace is a great way for partners to move away from having to compete on price and concentrate on meeting the needs of their customers. They can thereby offer a genuine and risk-free alternative to one-off purchases. By adding SYNAXON Managed Services into the mix, or their own services and support, they add additional value, get even closer to the customer, and build the long-term relationships that will bring stability and profitability to their business.” Mike Barron, Managing Director, SYNAXON UK, added: “Managed Workplace is simple, secure, and worry-free for both partners and their end-user customers. It’s ideally suited to the way that businesses now want to consume IT solutions and services, namely via subscription. For end-users it means zero upfront investment or long-term commitment - and they can also take full advantage of the managed services options that SYNAXON and its partners provide. It’s a fantastic opportunity for SYNAXON partners in the UK to gain a competitive edge and drive their sales.” https://synaxon-services.com/ .UK 10 years · I00 issues 10 years · I00 issues Mike Barron Beyhan Çalıskan 2 0 2 3 Four events in 2023 For more information please email [email protected] or call Paul on 07887 944433
BULLETIN Strategic partnership KOMSA AG and Westcoast (Holdings) Ltd are establishing a close strategic partnership. With a combined turnover of more than EUR 5.5 billion, KOMSA and Westcoast will become the largest private sales, marketing and service partner for global brands in the technology industry in Europe. In the course of the merger, Westcoast will take over the shares from KOMSA’s founders. The deal will see KOMSA strengthen IT competence and gain access to markets in the UK, Ireland and France, where it has not been significantly active to date. “The main driver is the convergence of the IT and telecommunications infrastructure, which opens up completely new applications and productivity gains for companies,” said Pierre-Pascal Urbon, CEO and CFO of KOMSA. Commenting on the deal, Joe Hemani, Chairman and founder of Westcoast said: “We will bring our know-how from the highly competitive IT market to the world of telecommunications, which will improve the customer experience and range of available services. With access to the German growth market, where we have not been significantly active to date, we are also strategically expanding our market position.” www.westcoast.co.uk 01732 759725 10 Powerful partner promotions CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has now launched a brace of special promotions aimed at supporting partner sales of ethernet services into 2023. The first offers zero installation cost on new 12-month national or internet access contracts for ethernet connections. Under the second, partners can offer CityFibre’s ethernet flex service that provides assured rates up and down of 200Mbps with a burstable option of up to 1Gbps, for the price of a standard 100Mbps service. The offers are available immediately and will be in place until at least 31 March 2023. “As well as giving customers more reasons to invest without delay, they will help partners to have the best possible end to the year – and hit the ground running in 2023,” said Andy Wilson, Sales Director – Wholesale Channel at CityFibre. “We’re all about doing things better. Providing better services and support and giving our partners a better chance of winning more business. These promotions give partners an even stronger value proposition to take to market. It’s a great opportunity for them to close more business before the end of the year and to get 2023 off to a flying start.” Partners can find details of the offers and place orders for these services in CityFibre’s partner portal – synergi. https://cityfibre.com/ TD SYNNEX extends reach of Red Hat solutions TD SYNNEX has announced an expanded collaboration with Red Hat, a leading provider of enterprise open source solutions. The collaboration focuses on extending the reach of Red Hat’s solutions among independent software vendors in Europe. TD SYNNEX will enable ISVs to fast-track their Red Hat offerings with a standardised process for program access and consistent, streamlined execution across the region. TD SYNNEX partners can accelerate their ability to invest in business growth through the extensive finance and credit solutions offered by the company. Anthony Greenhalgh, Vice President, Data Centre, Europe, TD SYNNEX said: “Red Hat is a leader in its field and this extended collaboration brings a great opportunity for our partners to increase the pace of technology change in their markets, building cloud native applications on robust and innovative open source solutions. We look forward to leveraging our team’s deep expertise to extend the reach of Red Hat open source solutions across our extensive partner ecosystem.” https://uk.tdsynnex.com/ Rate my apprenticeship TD SYNNEX has seen its apprenticeship programme ranked sixth in this year’s Rate My Apprenticeship poll. The national scheme rates employers based on marks provided by apprentices themselves. “At a time when skills are at a premium, our apprenticeship programme is helping to bring more confident and talented people into the industry,” said Sandie Jackson, Apprentice Programme Manager at TD SYNNEX, UK. “Our apprenticeship programme is something we are honoured to provide. Our ethos is to build careers not just jobs for young people who feel that college or university is not for them. Being rated this highly by Rate My Apprenticeship is a privilege, as students decide it themselves.” https://uk.tdsynnex.com/ Exertis partners with CT4 Exertis has partnered with CT4 to distribute the company’s SaaS solutions in the UK. CT4 offers data protection services to simplify data control and safety processes. The Australian firm has expanded its distribution efforts, most recently with Exertis. CT4’s Cirrus backup software – a trusted, cost-effective Microsoft 365 backup solution – makes CT4 a reliable provider of protection for clients’ data from accidental deletion or ransomware. Exertis Cloud Services Director, Rik Hubbard, said: “We are thrilled to be distributing CT4’s data backup services. The Cirrus Backup service forms a key part of helping our partners protect their customers’ Microsoft 365 data against accidental loss or malicious actors. The all you can eat value of the service makes this a simple bolt on to any user licence.” www.exertis.co.uk 10 years · I00 issues Andy Greenhalgh Andy Wilson Sandie Jackson Rik Hubbard
KYOCERA Document Solutions (UK) Limited Pocket friendly, planet friendly. Kyocera's ECOSYS range is the result of a long-term commitment to green innovation. Our devices' low power consumption is perfect for a time of soaring energy costs, keeping customers’ bills and carbon footprints in check. They're also 99% recyclable with 100% recyclable toner cartridges, making ECOSYS a more sustainable choice too. To learn more about Kyocera's ECOSYS range of printers and MFPs, scan the QR code or visit: www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk/ecosys-tco Discover more: kyoceraduk @KYOCERADUK kyocera-doc-solutions-uk • +44 (0)333 015 1855 [email protected]
New distribution agreement Northamber plc has signed an agreement with ViewSonic Europe to distribute the complete range of ViewSonic workspace, portable and gaming monitors, interactive displays, large format displays and projectors. Peter Dosanjh, AV Director at Northamber, said: “The new distribution agreement will deliver significant benefits to our reseller partners, combining the quality of ViewSonic’s product portfolio with our high level of technical, finance, logistics and marketing support.” www.northamberav.com Exertis launches electric bike brand Exertis has unveiled its own electric bike brand – Peddle. The Peddle range provides accessible, easy-to-use electric bikes that come with a selection of ‘in the box’ extras to get customers riding quickly and safely. Peddle electric bikes can enhance a huge range of leisure activities as well as supporting physical and mental health, while also helping the planet by embracing sustainable travel. Ranging from commuter-friendly city bikes to extra long-range, adventure-ready off-roaders, the new Peddle range (at launch) includes four models: the Peddle Go, Peddle Step, Peddle Ride, and Peddle Pro. Building upon Exertis’s charity partnership with Mental Health UK, the distributor has also pledged to donate £10 to the mental health charity for each bike sold, until summer 2023. www.exertis.co.uk Pax8 opens Bristol HQ Cloud marketplace Pax8 is continuing its two-year push into Europe with the opening of a new EMEA headquarters in Bristol. The new multi-million-pound office in The Distillery, Bristol reinforces its commitment to the city and the talent within the region which helped it achieve 800% growth within one year of setting up operations in the city. CEO and Founder, John Street, said: “It’s such an exciting time for Pax8 as we continue to expand across EMEA. Our presence in Bristol has opened so many doors to our success, and those prospects will only continue to grow with our fantastic new office. We also look forward to welcoming our partners and vendors to the space, which will generate further opportunities for collaboration and creativity in the channel.” www.pax8.com 01732 759725 BULLETIN 12 Higher EcoVadis rating TD SYNNEX has recently taken another step towards its sustainability goals, qualifying under the Bronze category and falling into the 50% of top performers in the EcoVadis Ratings for environmental, social, and governance (ESG). “The higher ranking has resulted from the extensive work going on right across the TD SYNNEX organisation,” said Kevin Wragg, Director, Environment and Quality Compliance, UK. “The whole business is putting a lot of effort into making everything we do more sustainable and more ethically and socially responsible. That’s been reflected in our higher EcoVadis Rating and in many other ways. There is still more to do and in 2023 we will continue our efforts to enhance our status and standing as an environmentally and socially responsible organisation.” www.TDSYNNEX.com Exclusive to drive international channel expansion and partner enablement A new agreement which covers the APAC and EMEA regions, sees Exclusive Networks become Cymulate’s first multi-region distribution partner. Following its $70m Series D funding in September, Cymulate is investing in scaling its global channel operations across international markets. Exclusive will drive partner recruitment, development and enablement to stimulate market awareness and customer demand for its leading cybersecurity risk validation and exposure management platform. “Today, more than ever, it is imperative for organisations to have full visibility across the entire cyber kill chain to protect IT and cloud environments, and safeguard critical data from attack,” said Denis Ferrand-Ajchenbaum, SVP Global Business Development and Ecosystems at Exclusive Networks. “We are excited to be adding Cymulate to our portfolio and introducing them into our partner ecosystem across APAC and EMEA. With the Cymulate platform seamlessly integrating with a number of our existing security vendor solutions, including XDR and SOAR systems, partners will be able to generate cross-selling opportunities within existing customer accounts to drive incremental revenues.” www.exclusive-networks.com • www.cymulate.com Lyreco to support micro businesses and social enterprises Lyreco UK & Ireland is relaunching its Microbusiness Support Programme under the new name of the Lyreco Goodness Support Programme. The scheme is aimed at businesses, including social enterprises for the first time, that align with Lyreco’s CSR and environmental credentials and provide products and services in a similar field (PPE, hygiene, catering supplies, office furniture, workplace technology and general office supplies). After awarding ten companies support packages with a combined value of £250,000 in 2021, it is now opening applications to the 2023 programme from micro businesses and social enterprises in the UK and Ireland. Winning applicants will each be offered a business and marketing support package worth £25,000/E29,000. https://why.lyreco.com 10 years · I00 issues Kevin Wragg Denis FerrandAjchenbaum
01732 759725 14 BULLETIN Security validation Ten A3 MFP Kyocera devices in the TASKalfa 3554ci series have passed Keypoint intelligence’s rigorous BLI Security Validation Test program. Group Chief Information & Strategy Officer, Andrew Smith, said: “Organisations are facing a new wave of cybersecurity threats, and there is no room for complacency. Kyocera will continue to innovate to give our customers’ data the best possible protection. Receiving such recognition from Keypoint Intelligence is extremely pleasing, and it tells us we are doing a lot of things very well with our TASKalfa devices.” To further help organisations best prepare for cyber security threats, Kyocera has enhanced its managed cyber security solution and released M-EDR, which builds on the standard capabilities of EDR while leveraging advanced analytics, providing real-time visibility into the health of all endpoints. This service will provide a suite of technology to maximise protection in an ever-changing IT landscape, reducing the risk of security breaches. www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk Digital transformation tool Ricoh UK has announced the successful rollout of its new digital transformation tool, the ‘Digital Services Maturity Indicator’ (DSMI). This new software will enable companies to sharpen their competitive edge in the digital space, through a comprehensive review of current capabilities in agility, resilience, security and longevity across operations, IT, finance, HR and facilities sectors. The DSMI allows organisations to ascertain their current digital maturity and, in turn optimise the value of digital investments and new opportunities. Following a short, free survey of their current capabilities, a personalised results report is generated with an assigned digital maturity score based on five critical elements of the workplace. Research by Ricoh found that two-thirds (65%) of UK office employees expect amplified capabilities through intelligent tools as standard working practice and would even welcome some element of AI or automation into their role. According to the follow up research, this has a direct impact on employee experience and, ultimately, on staff retention. www.ricoh.co.uk Five year contract win The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has selected Xerox to help drive forward its vision of a more sustainable future, through the implementation of Xerox’s managed print services. The new five-year contract will see Xerox supporting the MOD with its aim to meet Government greening targets for net-zero carbon emissions before 2050, and a reduction in paper consumption. To realise these goals, and as part of a broader move to a circular economy model for its ICT, Xerox will deploy its managed print services to reduce device numbers, energy consumption and the volume of printed and photocopied material. The service will provide management information and analytics on service consumption, allowing more informed decisions to be made over the whole contract period as information is centrally collated. In conjunction with the partnership and to ensure enhanced social value, Xerox will also enrol the MOD in both its PrintReleaf reforestation program and its Eco Box service that provides for the return of used imaging supplies. “This win marks a continuation of Xerox’s 10 year plus relationship with the MOD and it’s a true testament to the team that we are now seen as such a trusted advisor,” said Darren Cassidy, Managing Director, Xerox UK&I. “As part of the new contract, Xerox take over services supporting 35,000+ print devices, for over 200,000 users, across 866 locations and 21 countries.” The transition process will begin in Spring of 2023 and continue until Spring of 2024. www.xerox.co.uk Bitdefender and Sharp partner to boost threat prevention Bitdefender and Sharp Electronics have announced a new partnership, enabling the integration of Bitdefender antimalware technology into Sharp’s new range of Future Workplace A3 multifunction printers. The partnership strengthens cybersecurity threat prevention in Sharp’s new range of business MFPs available across Europe at a time when cybercriminals are increasingly targeting endpoint devices – including printers – to plant malware, steal intellectual property, and launch espionage campaigns. “Sharp is delighted to partner with a global leader in cybersecurity and threat prevention to better protect our customers,” said Jason Cort, Director of Product Planning and Marketing, Sharp Europe. “This partnership with Bitdefender enables Sharp to further extend our security capabilities and demonstrates our commitment to keeping our customers’ data, devices, and networks secure.” Integrated into the new Sharp Future Workplace A3 line of MFPs, the Bitdefender antimalware engine performs real-time scanning of all input and output data from the devices, alerting users, IT or security teams when threats are detected. Sharp’s newest A3 MFP Series extends its ecosystem of smart office tools to help businesses seamlessly adapt to meet the demands of the hybrid working. The new MFPs, with speeds of 26ppm to 90ppm, offer users effortless connectivity and state-of-the-art security without compromising commitment to sustainability. www.sharp.eu 10 years · I00 issues Winners – see page 24 Andrew Smith
01732 759725 16 BULLETIN 10 years · I00 issues Partnership to drive digital transformation Kodak Alaris and Encodian, a multi-awardwinning company with proven expertise in helping businesses of all sizes to maximise their investments in Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Power Automate, PowerApps and Azure, have announced a strategic partnership. The partnership will combine Encodian’s expertise in information, document and records management, with Kodak Alaris’ experience in document capture, to drive customers’ digital transformations and facilitate faster decisionmaking based on data-driven insights. The two companies will collaborate to deliver comprehensive end-to-end, flexible customisable solutions that will enable organisations to digitally transform. Kodak Alaris’ intelligent information management solutions leverage advanced automation technologies including robotic process automation and artificial intelligence, to digitise, read and classify physical documents, while Encodian advanced electronic document and records management solutions organise and store digital files, providing powerful and fast access to information anytime, anywhere. Graham Etherington, Northern Cluster Solutions Sales Director, Kodak Alaris, said: “This new partnership will deliver best-in-class digital transformation and automation solutions to drive digital business. Our joint focus is on helping businesses to transform paper-based information into intelligent, actionable digital data that can be searched for and accessed anytime, anywhere from any device.” www.alarisworld.com UK launch for ZaveIT European technology startup ZaveIT, has announced the UK launch of its pioneering IT reseller service platform and the appointment of Andy Palmer as its Director of International Sales. ZaveIT has built the world’s first virtualised service platform for IT resellers and managed service providers, enabling them to transact digitally and automate the deployment and delivery of any IT service. It already provides access to a range of simple, affordable services, including security and data protection services, and enables service providers to build and deploy their own customised services. https://www.zaveit.io PaperCut secures HP partner excellence award PaperCut was awarded the HP Partner Excellence Award at the OEM’s partner conference, hosted in Boise, Idaho. PaperCut was singled out by HP for its delivery and engagement, in the context of a Workpath application PaperCut created for PaperCut Hive, its cloud-native print management solution. The company was also praised for the flexibility in its ordering processes. In particular, HP called out PaperCut’s ability to continuously work with it to create experiences that are unique for HP’s customers. HP praised how PaperCut combined its software with HP devices, as well as PaperCut’s commitment to providing support for all HP business strategies such as Workpath, HP3S and Beta programs. Steve Holmes, EMEA Regional Director, said: “We’re thrilled to be recognised by these awards, not least because HP has extremely high expectations of its partner community. PaperCut has the agility and nimbleness to act swiftly to partner requests to ensure that we’re delivering the solutions that businesses need today, as they grapple with challenges ranging from cloud migration to hybrid working. This award is an endorsement of our willingness to listen to all of our channel partners and engineer solutions that are truly fit for purpose.” www.papercut.com Nutanix accelerates Kubernetes adoption Nutanix has announced new features in its cloud platform to accelerate the adoption of Kubernetes running both at scale and cost-effectively. The company announced broad support for leading Kubernetes container platforms, built-in infrastructure as code capabilities, and enhanced data services for modern applications. These new features allow DevOps teams to accelerate application delivery with the performance, governance, and flexibility of the Nutanix Cloud Platform, while allowing customers to maintain control of their IT operating costs The Nutanix Cloud Platform, with the built-in AHV hypervisor, now supports most leading Kubernetes container platforms with the addition of Amazon EKS-A. This builds on a large ecosystem including Red Hat OpenShift, SUSE Rancher, as well as Google Anthos, and Microsoft Azure Arc for edge deployments, along with the native Nutanix Kubernetes, Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE). www.nutanix.com Cohesity and Lenovo expand partnership Cohesity and Lenovo have teamed up to deliver pre-tested and certified solutions bringing Cohesity’s modern data security and management platform on Lenovo’s ThinkSystem servers. It’s designed for seamless interoperability The initial global reselling relationship, which started in 2021, has evolved into a strategic collaboration to make purchasing frictionless. The expanded partnership delivers validated solutions designed to protect enterprise data from on-premise to the cloud and address three of today's highest-priority business issues - security, cloud, and data management. Customers will benefit from simplified ordering processes and a faster time to value, as the integrated solutions and their technical interoperability have been certified. The solutions can be ordered globally and directly from the Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC), which provides one-stop purchasing for the Cohesity SKUs, including support and services for all phases of the solution lifecycle. “The certified solutions of Cohesity’s software on Lenovo's best-of-breed ThinkSystem product lines bring the assurance of compatibility. It helps partners like me to focus on addressing customers’ data security and management challenges from client to workstation, to edge, to on-prem infrastructure, and to hybrid cloud,” said Daren Bland, Managing Director, Recarta IT. www.cohesity.com Steve Holmes
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01732 759725 18 BULLETIN : PEOPLE Exertis unveils newly-appointed AV leadership team Exertis has revealed a new line-up of AV talent heading up the Exertis Pro AV division. The new team, who all report into Director of Exertis Pro AV, Jamie Brothwell, consists of Al Coyne, Commercial Director; Tim Fox, Head of Sales; Jon Grundy, Head of AV Solutions; and Mark Sanderson, Commercial Manager. A wider external team is also part of the new structure, employing Mandeep Jabble and Joe Finn who both report into Head of Sales, Tim Fox. Jamie Brothwell said: “Having responsibility for restructuring and rebuilding the UK Exertis Pro AV business is the best project I’ve ever been a part of. Building and establishing a new management team, setting the strategy for growth, working with our geographical siblings around the world, and bringing to life and telling the story of Exertis Pro AV has been a joy to be part of. Working at Exertis gives the freedom and entrepreneurial spirit that leads to fantastic innovation and growth. I’m incredibly proud of our business, our culture and our people, and I’m really excited to see where we go from here.” www.exertis.co.uk Former VMware leader joins Cohesity Karen Egan has joined Cohesity as Chief Customer Experience Officer. Based in Cork, Ireland, Egan has global responsibility for the company’s customer experience, including professional services, success, and support teams. The technology and support veteran brings more than 27 years of experience in the software and IT industry, with 20 years in technical support. In addition, people and culture are always at the top of Egan’s mind and she is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. Before joining Cohesity, Egan served as a SVP of Global Support at VMware, where she was responsible for global support of new and strategic products, all customer escalations, and customer success for VMware’s solutions. www.cohesity.com BCN Group appoints new chairman BCN Group, the Manchester-based IT cloud and managed services specialist, has named Mark Braund as its new Non-Executive Chairman. In his new role, Braund will primarily support the board to define, align and meet the business’ strategic goals over the next four to five years. Having experienced a successful year for growth in 2022, with BCN’s recent acquisition of Evosoft, a leading Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central specialists, Braund will focus on evolving the strategic direction of the group, reinforcing its strong organic growth and advising on future development plans. https://bcn.co.uk/ Adarma expands executive team Independent cyber threat management company Adarma has announced the expansion of its executive team to support the business at a time of rapid growth. The additions to the company include Niall O’Sullivan, Chief Finance and Operations Officer; Sarah Coleman, Chief People Officer; and Dan Baker, Chief Delivery Officer, all of whom bring valuable experience in driving business transformation. The appointment of these three critical roles is indicative of the growth journey Adarma has been on to transform the shape of its business. While it continues to drive an aggressive innovation programme to remain at the forefront of the UK cybersecurity market, it also aims to ensure a sustainable and profitable growth trajectory, accelerated transformation of its people strategy and the seamless delivery of its services to ensure maximum value for its customers. https://adarma.com Barracuda strengthens channel leadership team Barracuda has announced Jason Beal as its new Vice President, Worldwide Partner Ecosystems. Beal brings more than 20 years of channel leadership experience, with a focus on channel ecosystem launch, and development and expansion in cybersecurity businesses. He will lead global channel strategy and development with a strong focus on driving growth across the Barracuda global partner ecosystem. In this new role, Beal will also help Barracuda partners further capture opportunities in the market with its innovative technology solutions. “I’m thrilled to join the Barracuda team and help drive the next phase of growth,” said Beal. “I look forward to the impact I can bring to the team as we execute our growth plans while meeting the needs of partners and customers with our integrated suite of advanced security solutions.” www.barracuda.com Antalis Ireland promotes from within Antalis Ireland has appointed Brian Breheny, who joined the firm 28 years ago, to the role of Print and Visual Communications Sales Manager. Breheny will now lead a team to help bring innovative and exciting new opportunities to print, sign and display customers across Ireland. Managing Director, Eoin Heagney, said: “We looked internally and externally to find the best candidate for the role, and it’s very pleasing when home grown talent proves to be the perfect fit. Brian is extremely knowledgeable and has vast experience in both the print and visual communications sectors; he also has a great understanding of what the market needs right now, so we’re looking forward to supporting him in delivering further value for our customers.” www.antalis.ie 10 years · I00 issues Jason Beal Mark Braund Karen Egan Jamie Brothwell Brian Breheny
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01732 759725 20 WORKPLACE Chris Gaskin, Technical Pre-Sales Consultant, ORdigiNAL, picks the tools he uses every day and couldn’t do his job without I couldn’t do my job without... a welcome addition and was quickly adopted internally. Printix is a true SaaS, serverless print management solution which allows me to manage printers in a cloud-based portal from anywhere. With a high proportion of our users being home-based and mobile, ensuring everybody had access to print regardless of their location could be a challenge, but after implementing Printix it is now managed automatically saving me endless hours; locally available printers are deployed to laptops and smart devices when colleagues walk into an office or home. And with the Printix Anywhere printer, documents can be printed on-the-go and securely held until released at a printer using an ID card, code, or smartphone app. 3 Kofax Power PDF and SignDoc In my role, compiling information and building documentation is a daily occurrence so having a powerful document editing tool like Kofax Power PDF Advanced is a must. Power PDF allows me to quickly and easily combine multiple documents, created in various applications into a single, editable PDF. Once merged I can reorder or remove pages, edit text and objects, create bookmarks and add a table of contents prior to finalising the document for distribution. If I need any end-user input, or I create a questionnaire, the FormTyper tool allows me to quickly convert the document into a static form allowing the recipient to easily complete the relevant fields. And, if the document requires sign-off or is contractual, I can use the inbuilt digital signature tool to insert a signature field or the integrated Kofax SignDoc feature to create an e-signature approval workflow via the cloud. 1 Microsoft Teams Telephony I know Teams is a frequent nominee in this feature, but I guess that goes to show how well adopted it is, and how much the majority of us rely on it. Aside from the usual meetings, video calls and instant messaging, which I use day-in-day-out, I find the telephony functionality invaluable; being able to quickly add associates to a meeting on their telephone has on numerous occasions prevented the need to reschedule a discussion and saved me countless hours. On top of that, being a mobile worker with customers and contacts worldwide, having the ability to make international telephone calls from anywhere with an internet connection saves the worry of mobile phone reception dropouts and the hassle of organising call plans. 2 Kofax Printix Having acquired the responsibility of managing print within the business, the introduction of Printix to ORdigiNAL’s products and services portfolio was 4 Google Translate Working with a team of European colleagues who all speak English, I admire and envy their multilingual abilities. Unfortunately, I don’t have the same grasp of their languages so, when working on international projects, it’s extremely beneficial having Google Translate to quickly translate any foreign language documentation that falls upon my desk. It’s bookmarked in my browser and always on hand when needed. 5 The Home Office A comfortable, functional working environment is crucial for a productive day so, being a remote worker, having a dedicated home office is a blessing. I have a high-specification HP ProBook laptop which allows me to run multiple line-of-business applications alongside tools for developing and testing customer solutions. Connected to that are two 24-inch screens enabling me to have Outlook and Teams open on the laptop screen while using the other two for the task in hand – how I ever managed with a single small screen, back in the day, is beyond me! As important to me as the technology are having a large desk area to keep everything to hand and a posture supportive chair for comfort. As nice as the home office is though, it’s always good to get out to meet our partners and clients! 6 Team ORdigiNAL Working alone in a home office shouldn’t mean not feeling part of a team and it certainly doesn’t at ORdigiNAL. We have a great bunch of friendly, talented people from sales and support through to the back-office and management teams who are always on hand to offer support, guidance, or just an ear when needed. It’s always nice though when we get the opportunity to meet face-to-face, especially on a visit to HQ in the Netherlands for both business and pleasure! https://ordiginal.com 10 years · I00 issues Chris Gaskin
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