Technology Reseller - v13 2018

01732 759725 08 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS Industry recognition for Entanet Entanet, a provider of full fibre communications services, has won the Best Wholesale Broadband category at this year’s UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) awards, as it launches a new partner programme to drive full fibre business growth. The THRIVE! programme has been developed to help partners capitalise on the emerging full fibre market by providing them with everything they need to market, sell, provision, install and support connectivity services. Elsa Chen, CEO of Entanet, said: “This industry shift represents a huge opportunity for partners to become change-makers, stand out from the crowd and grow. Entanet is in a unique position as a one-stop-shop for all connectivity needs. As part of the CityFibre Group, we are ideally placed to help partners maximise their opportunities whenever the full fibre journey becomes relevant to them.” Entanet is currently encouraging partners to drive sales of Gigabit services in Bracknell, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Nottingham, Peterborough, and Reading, where more than 19,000 businesses are located within reach of a full fibre infrastructure. Stephen Barclay, Entanet Sales Director, said: “Central and eastern England contain some of the most rapidly growing and innovative towns and cities in the UK and the continued prosperity and growth of the whole region is dependent on fast and reliable full fibre connectivity. This is why we’re confident that our products and services will be of real benefit to our partners and their customers.” Entanet was also a finalist in the ISPA 20th Anniversary Award, which recognised businesses that have made an outstanding contribution to the industry over the last two decades. www.enta.net New focus for Exertis and Hammer James Ward has been appointed Managing Director of the combined enterprise businesses of Hammer and Exertis, now operating under the brand name Exertis Hammer. Commenting on the changes, Paul Bryan, Exertis UK Managing Director, said: “With the integration of the Hammer and Exertis enterprise commercial and sales teams, we will provide even greater value to our customers by offering an enhanced vendor portfolio, with an extensive professional services wrap and significant employee expertise that can address the differing requirements of our customers and their vertical markets.” James Ward said: “This is an opportunity to refocus on our customers and core strengths to deliver a more comprehensive and compelling offering to our customers. This customer focus will see Exertis Hammer focus on vertical markets and Exertis’s enterprise division focus on VARs.” www.exertishammer.com MARKET SNAPSHOT CONTEXT Commercial demand drives PC growth in early Q2 2018 The number of PCs sold by Western Europe’s largest distributors increased by +2% year-on-year during the second quarter of 2018 as commercial PC demand remained strong, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. The UK outperformed the Western European average and posted a +7% year-on-year increase in volumes, albeit on the back of a soft performance one year ago. ​Volume sales of commercial PCs were up by +22% in the UK during Q2 2018 compared to the previous year, following a return to growth in the first quarter of 2018. This positive performance was across all commercial PC categories: sales of notebooks were up by +27%, desktops by +14% and PC workstation sales by +31%. While growth came on the back of a weak prior-year performance, sales in Q2 2018 also benefited from a genuine pickup in commercial demand, driven by Windows 10-related hardware refreshes and upgrades to an ageing installed base. Ultrathin mobile PCs, characterised by a z-height of less than 20mm, were important growth drivers in the notebook category, while desktop sales benefited from rising demand for mini PCs. Sales of consumer PCs, on the other hand, remained weak and fell by -10% compared to last year. Demand for traditional mainstream PCs remained soft, and growth in some segments, including ultrathin mobiles, gaming notebooks and Chromebooks, was too small to reverse the overall trend. This pattern is expected to continue throughout 2018. While the consumer segment is likely to remain challenged, CONTEXT expects commercial sales to stay strong as more companies upgrade to Windows 10 and refresh their ageing hardware. DCC Technology, parent company of Exertis, has acquired Stampede, a value added ProAV distributor of integrated AV and IT solutions from more than 150 vendor partners. Stampede employs 210 people in offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia and has a global network of 20,000 resellers. Its subsidiary, Just Lamps, offers the world’s largest selection of replacement projector lamps. The acquisition will further DCC Technology’s strategy to drive global growth in ProAV and provide the company with a strategic presence in North America. Tim Griffin, recently appointed Divisional Managing Director of DCC Technology and Managing Director of the Exertis Group, said: “The acquisition of Stampede adds an exciting new brand to our portfolio that complements our Exertis brand in Europe. The combination of Stampede’s expertise in value added distribution and our resources is going to unleash a new wave of opportunity for our partners in ProAV around the world.” Kevin Kelly, Stampede, President and CEO, said: “Supported by the resources and long-term commitment of DCC, our employees, resellers and vendor partners will see an exciting evolution in how we go to market and the level of investment we can now make to grow our business. For our vendors, this means greater reach and scale. For our resellers, it means more investment in inventory and more product categories than ever before.” www.exertis.co.uk Exertis parent acquires Stampede Elsa Chen Stephen Barclay www.contextworld.com