Technology Reseller - v12 2018

01732 759725 14 NEWS : RESELLERS Onecom raises £15,000 for veterans’ charity Onecom CEO Darren Ridge has cycled a gruelling 300-mile route to raise £15,000 for veterans’ charity Care after Combat. Ridge was joined by Onecom Solutions Director James Bannister and Finance Director Adam Fowler on the Pickle Ride, a three-day ride from Falmouth, Cornwall to London, with more than 20,000ft of hill climbing along the way. Donations are still being taken at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ onecompickleride Commercial supports IT Schools for Africa initiative Commercial’s managed IT services division is helping UK schools put their old laptops, monitors and PCs to good use in collaboration with the IT Schools Africa charity. Commercial IT Services collects schools’ unwanted IT equipment free of charge and transports it to IT Schools Africa’s head office in Cheltenham. There, all data is erased and computers are upgraded with Windows 10 and educational software. Disadvantaged young people from Commercial’s social enterprise Commercial Foundation help with the reconditioning process. www.commercial.co.uk An introduction to rugby Hollis Technology, a provider of business support solutions, sponsored the first ever Disability Rugby Festival for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) students held at the Twickenham Stoop on May 18, 2018. The #SendusRugby tournament, which was also supported by Orchard Hill College & Academy Trust and the Harlequins Foundation, introduced 150 young people with learning difficulties to mixed ability touch rugby before staging a rugby festival in the afternoon.  www.hollistechnology.co.uk Further education procurement group Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) has awarded a three-year tender package to Bury-headquartered communications, data and network specialist Pennine. The tender, which will run until 2021 (with a possible extension into 2022), was awarded through CPC partner, Northern Procurement Group (NPG). It covers Integrated and Unified Communications; PABX systems, PSTN lines, call packages and billing solutions; and mobile telephony including devices, airtime and services. Pennine managing director Andrew Roberts says the award highlights the company’s strength within the education sector. He said: “The awarding of this tender package reaffirms Pennine’s status as a pre-eminent provider of innovative, effective and highly cost-efficient communications and networking solutions to educational institutions. It will allow us to build further on the enviable reputation we have forged over many years whilst serving schools, colleges and universities across the country.” CPC has 5,171 member institutions. CPC success for Pennine Andrew Roberts Cliff Fox Fast-growing pure technology group opens London office As part of a strategy to increase turnover by almost 50%, from £28 million to £40 million, and service a growing number of enquiries from southern businesses, pure technology group (ptg) is to open a London office. The Leeds-based business has already recruited three experienced employees for its southern operation and plans to take on three more in the coming months. Cliff Fox, ptg Group COO, said: “With 50% of our customer base made up of national – and international – brands, the London presence will allow us to be physically closer to some of our customers, as well as the prospective organisations we’re currently in talks with. There are some game-changing innovators in the South, too, so as we look to expand our product and service offering, it’s important that we’re closer to potential partners.” Meanwhile ptg continues to expand its service offering, most recently with a new IT security testing service, including simulated ‘attacks’, which enables customers to evaluate security in a ‘safe’ setting. It has also announced ‘pure IoT’, through which it will develop data-driven solution to business challenges, and ‘pure VR’ which will focus on wearables and assisted reality in the education and training sectors. In the 2017-18 financial year, ptg achieved over £5 million of organic growth to reach a turnover of £28 million. It has more than 1,600 customers and 100 employees. Midshire updates school AV Audio-visual solutions provider Midshire has transformed learning at Barnes Junior School in Sunderland, with the installation of 12 70-inch HD Promethean ActivPanels. Featuring InGlass technology, the displays provide a natural ‘pen-on-paper’ writing experience, with no script-lag and automatic recognition of different input methods, including finger, pen and palm erase. School Business Manager Audrey Maddison said: “Before Midshire came in we were using dated Interactive Whiteboards and projectors. A growing concern for teachers was that the devices were getting a bit tired, and we found that in the time it took them to warm up students were distracted. These new screens are incredibly fast and optimise learning time.” https://www.midshire.co.uk/audio- visual/ Pupils at Wellington School in Somerset with some of the 240 items of IT equipment the school has donated to IT Schools Africa