www.technologyreseller.uk THE MAGAZINE & ONLINE CHANNEL NEWS & RESOURCE FOR MSPS, IT RESELLERS & SUPPORT PROVIDERS PAGE 30 DISTRIBUTION VIEW FROM THE CHANNEL E-COMMERCE PAGE 08 PAGE 32 Alibaba.com to transform B2B sourcing with AI-powered search Angus Shaw of Brigantia on the changing role of distribution With Lee New, Sales Director of F One Technologies TECHNOLOGY RESELLER MAGAZINE I N PRI NT & ONLI NE IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016 Tech Live Returns 17 September See page 22 Business Design Centre · London · 17 September 2024 ICT · MANAGED IT · MOBILE · PRINT 24 in partnership with
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technologyreseller.co.uk 03 If you no longer wish to receive Technology Reseller magazine please email your details to [email protected] COMMENT Last month I travelled up to Manchester for a graduation ceremony. The guest speaker whose name I forgot to note – apologies! – gave a short but memorable speech containing three bits of advice that he wanted to pass on to the newly graduated based on his successful business career. They were to always say yes, to build networks (professional and personal) and to fail often. On that basis I would like to advise all readers to say yes to Tech Live taking place on September 17. Online registration is now open at www.tech-live.co.uk and by attending the event you can also nurture your network. On this occasion, please don’t fail to follow my advice. Another good bit of advice can be found on page 20, courtesy of Daniel Blackman, IT Director of McClaren Construction Group, who advises young people taking their first steps in IT to stay open to new ideas from across the IT spectrum. Technology is moving so fast and in such unpredictable directions that it surely makes sense to develop as broad an interest in IT as possible. This is certainly the case for technology resellers and MSPs, who must constantly react to new developments and changing demand. On page 10, Angus Shaw of Brigantia advises MSPs to never stand still and on page 32 Lee New from F One Technologies highlights the benefits of developing new capabilities and expertise to cope with the rapid pace of change. The best place to do that on September 17 is Tech Live at the Business Design Centre, London. See you there. James Goulding – Editor, [email protected] Technology Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 7 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.technologyreseller.co.uk No part of Technology Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2024 Kingswood Media Ltd. Design: Sandtiger Media www.sandtiger.co.uk technologyreseller.co.uk Comment Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of Technology Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.technologyreseller.uk/register Read Technology Reseller online, on tablets and smart phones www.technologyreseller.uk Join us : Follow us technology-reseller-magazine Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [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 01732 759725 · [email protected] Art Director: Nick Pledge 07767 615983 · [email protected] ISSN 2632-9301 (Print) ISSN 2632-931X (Online) 04 Distributor News Giacom brings South Bank to life 08 Interview Technology Reseller talks distribution with Angus Shaw from Brigantia 12 Reseller News Flotek celebrates first two years of growth 17 Introducing CloudOlive and Megan Gower 20 60 seconds with... Daniel Blackman, IT Director of McClaren Construction Group 21 AI Exertis Enterprise and Fujitsu launch turnkey AI solution 24 Events PrintIT Reseller and Technology Reseller Golf Society 26 Document Management How AI is transforming document management 28 Managed Services Cato Networks launches Cato Managed SASE Partner Platform 30 E-commerce Alibaba.com to transform B2B sourcing with AI-powered search 32 View from the channel With Lee New, Sales Director of F One Technologies 36 Events What to see at Tech Live 2024 37 Software iplicit looks to the channel to accelerate growth 40 People New faces, new places TECHNOLOGY RESELLER MAGAZINE I N PRI NT & ONLI NE IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016
01732 759725 04 DISTRIBUTOR NEWS Healthcare boost for Exertis staff Exertis is boosting healthcare support for employees by giving all staff (and ‘plus ones’) membership of Peppy Healthcare. Its app gives users access to a wealth of services and support, tailored to each person’s needs, from one-to-one chats with qualified practitioners and virtual consultations to events, courses, blogs, articles and moderated group chats. Jo Lawrence, People and Marketing Director at Exertis, said: “Supporting our people is of paramount importance to us at Exertis. So far, our people have read over 800 articles about health issues, exchanged nearly 2,000 messages with healthcare professionals, and we’re pleased to be contacting our people who are currently on parental leave to inform them of the benefits of Peppy, enabling them to access valuable resources whilst in the new stages of parenthood.” Specialised subjects covered by the Peppy app include men’s health, women’s health, menopause, fertility, pregnancy, parenthood, nutrition, fitness, exercise and mental health. www.exertis.co.uk continued... Giacom brings south bank to life On June 27, Giacom brought almost 1,000 partners to London’s South Bank for a culinary and musical mini-festival featuring a heady mix of live music, DJs, special guests and street food. Highlights of Imagine Nation included Queen, Coldplay, Take That and Fleetwood Mac tribute acts; karaoke, or BARRIOKE, from Shaun Williamson, known to millions as Barry Evans from EastEnders; plus a surprise performance by celebrity DJ Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame. Terry O’Brien, CEO of the cloud marketplace provider, said: “Imagine Nation has been a vision of ours for years, and seeing it come to life so successfully has been incredible. We are immensely grateful to our sponsors and partners for their support and contribution to making this an unforgettable event.” Sponsors included Sky Business Wholesale, Microsoft, CityFibre, BT Wholesale, PXC, Pangea, Virgin Media O2, Barracuda and Acronis. Giacom.com Softonic acquires Appvizer Softonic, a secure software download platform, is looking to enhance its software discovery and distribution process and strengthen its position in the B2B software market with the acquisition of B2B software comparison tool Appvizer. The Appvizer platform attracts 2 million professionals every month who use its advanced recommendation algorithms and artificial intelligence to find and read about software solutions that can enhance their competitiveness. In addition to B2B software reviews, user feedback and recommendations, Appvizer organises B2B Rocks, Europe’s leading conference dedicated to the SaaS ecosystem. Farouk Merzougui, VP of Finance and Legal at Softonic, said: “Softonic and Appvizer have created a powerful synergy. By leveraging our combined expertise, resources and reach, together we will empower users worldwide to find the best software to meet their needs and achieve their goals. This adds a new discovery pillar for Softonic’s business and strengthens our position in the software market.” Founded in Barcelona in 1990, the Softonic platform categorises, evaluates and distributes over 1 million Windows, Android and Mac solutions worldwide. www.softonic.com ··· PlexusAV signs distribution agreement with onemedia Hot on the heels of its recent partnership with Rethink, audio-visual and workplace solutions distributor onemedia has signed a UK distribution agreement with PlexusAV. A new division of the Sencore broadcast production company, PlexusAV provides an AV-over-IP ecosystem of versatile and interoperable products based on the IMPX open standard, complementing onemedia’s mission to deliver total AV solutions Will Hetherington, Technical Director at the distributor, said: “PlexusAV is the first brand we have seen to offer a full line-up of IPMX-based products. IPMX is an open standard which we are confident, over time, will become the leading platform for true ‘interoperability’ across IP-based AV.” He added: “The PlexusAV product range has an impressive list of features that already sets it apart from any other AVoIP solutions we have reviewed. We firmly believe that these new Plexus products will provide system integrators with a more open and future-proof solution for their end users.” www.onemedia.co.uk ··· Paessler extends reach in UK&I Paessler is supporting growing demand for its monitoring solutions by recruiting Prianto as a distribution partner. The agreement will extend Paessler’s reach in the UK and Ireland, giving partners access to vendor-equivalent support and seamless delivery to resellers and end users. Paessler will be the only monitoring solution on Prianto’s books. David Durrant, Channel Sales Manager at Paessler, said: “We are delighted to be Watch the video... Jo Lawrence Exertis
technologyreseller.co.uk 05 AD NIMANS At Nimans, we understand that choosing a Unified Communications provider can involve many considerations. So, as the ‘go to’ people for technology, and as a channelonly distributor, we help our partners make more informed technology choices. Not only are we big on product choice and value, we are really big on knowledge and expertise. This is why our customers trust us time and time again. Think Bigger - Think Nimans Talk to our friendly technology experts to discover how today’s advanced UC technology can help your customers become their most productive and powerful selves. Think UC Think Nimans The ‘go to’ people for technology
01732 759725 06 DISTRIBUTOR NEWS continued... partnering with Prianto as we look ahead to an exciting period of growth for Paessler. We look forward to transforming the value we can offer our resellers and customers via this partnership, and setting a new standard for service distribution, now and into the future.” Over 300,000 IT administrators in more than 170 countries rely on PRTG Network Monitor to monitor businesscritical systems, devices and network infrastructures 24/7. www.paessler.com www.prianto.com/group/home ··· AppViewX now available from Westcon-Comstor Westcon-Comstor has added AppViewX to its vendor portfolio, giving partners in the UK, Benelux and DACH an opportunity to strengthen customers’ security and compliance with automated certificate lifecycle management and Public Key Infrastructure as-a-Service (PKIaaS) solutions. AppViewX already works closely with another Westcon-Comstor customer, F5, as a member of its Technology Alliance Programme (TAP), jointly promoting enterprise application security and delivery solutions focused on managing applications and ensuring cybersecurity across onpremises, cloud and edge locations. The agreement with AppViewX will enable Westcon-Comtor to support these joint solutions from AppViewX and F5. Daniel Hurel, Senior Vice President, Westcon EMEA Cybersecurity & NextGeneration Solutions at Westcon-Comstor, said: “This exciting partnership enables us to unleash the combined power and synergy of AppViewX and F5 for the benefit of partners and end-users in key markets. By seamlessly integrating cutting-edge automation and orchestration capabilities with robust application delivery solutions, and driving adoption through education, enablement and other value-added services, we will create new opportunities while driving partner success and enhanced crypto agility.” www.westconcomstor.com ··· e92plus addressing XEM with Tanium Cybersecurity VAD e92plus is meeting growing customer and partner demand for complete endpoint management by announcing a new partnership with Tanium, provider of a Converged Endpoint Management (XEM) platform that brings together security and IT operations. Mukesh Gupta, CEO of e92plus, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Tanium and can see huge potential for our partners in being able to unify security and IT operations on a single platform. We see growing demands for more automation to reduce costs, more integration to leverage existing investments, and a platform approach to support vendor consolidation – and Tanium absolutely delivers on those needs.” Tanium has more than $700M ARR and a customer base that includes more than 40% of the Fortune 100, as well as strategic partnerships with Microsoft and ServiceNow. Tanium’s partnership with Microsoft includes the ability to feed real-time endpoint data and intelligence directly into Microsoft Copilot for Security, eliminating blind spots while allowing security teams to streamline and accelerate incident investigation and response. Neil Langridge, Marketing & Alliances Director at e92plus, added: “Many of our partners work closely with Microsoft, in particular around the Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud offerings, and it’s essential that we offer solutions that support those relationships and the technology customers have already invested in. Tanium has a strong partnership with Microsoft, and that collaborative approach is hugely attractive for our VAR and MSP community.” www.e92plus.com ··· Dell award Dell has revealed TD SYNNEX as its 2024 Distributor of the Year in multiple regions, including EMEA, North America and APJ. Patrick Zammit, Chief Operating Officer at TD SYNNEX, said: “These awards are a testament to the hard work of our global teams and their dedication to delivering vital resources and innovative solutions that drive tangible results for our vendors and our partners. We appreciate this recognition of our collaboration around the world and look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with Dell.” ··· Westcon-Comstor adds Infoblox to AWS Marketplace Westcon-Comstor has extended its relationship with cloud networking and security services leader Infoblox to enable partners in EMEA to transact solutions, including BloxOne and NIOS, directly in AWS Marketplace in a complete end-toend sales process. As the first distributor outside the US to privately list Infoblox software products and solutions in AWS Marketplace, Westcon-Comstor enables partners to respond to changes in end-user buying behaviour and benefit from the accelerated transaction times, expanded deal sizes, higher win rates and shortened sales cycles offered by AWS Marketplace. Chris Millerick, VP, Global Channels & Alliances at Infoblox, said: “The rise of hyperscaler cloud marketplaces in recent years has been remarkable and this new aspect of our relationship with WestconComstor creates a huge opportunity around AWS Marketplace for both Infoblox and our partners.” www.westconcomstor.com Westcoast benefiting from boom in USB video devices Distributor Westcoast is reporting a ‘boom’ in USB-based video conferencing, with sales of plug-and-play devices rocketing by more than one third in the last year as more organisations take the simple route to collaboration success. Westcoast’s UC Business Manager Sam Armstrong says the shift to USBbased hardware is being fuelled by the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend and a desire for simpler and quicker installation and configuration. He said: “Whether in the office or working elsewhere, simple plug-and-play deployment is becoming a dominant factor in the buying process. Gone are the days of a big clunky piece of hardware sat gathering dust in the corner of a boardroom because no one knew how to use it.” Westcoast works with many UC vendors including Boom Collaboration whose business ethos is based on delivering ‘better meetings simply’. Boom Co-founder Holli Hulett said: “USB connectivity is the way forward for many and is becoming widespread across our product portfolio.” This includes UNO and HALO videobars and a dedicated Work From Home kit. boom.co David Durrant Paessler Daniel Hurel Weston-Comstor Mukesh Gupta e92plus
technologyreseller.co.uk 07 DISTRIBUTOR NEWS Westcoast extends Henley Festival sponsorship Founded more than 40 years ago, Henley Festival champions new talent through its RISE programme, enabling musicians, visual artists and technicians to take their first steps on stage (and behind the scenes). As part of this remit, this year’s Festival included the inaugural ‘Westcoast RISING Star Award’, won by singer, songwriter, producer and multiinstrumentalist KATYA. Jo Bausor, CEO of Henley Festival, said: “I am thrilled to announce that Westcoast will continue as our Headline Sponsor for the next three years. Their commitment is vital to delivering our charitable mission and the RISE programme, which is at the core of everything we do.” Taking place on the banks of the Thames over five nights in July, the Henley Festival features a world-class music programme with comedy, art displays, sculpture installations, gourmet dining, dancing and fireworks. www.henley-festival.co.uk Pax8 honoured Cloud commerce marketplace Pax8 has been named Microsoft Global Partner of the Year in recognition of its success in delivering Microsoft Cloud applications, services, devices and AI innovation. “We are honoured and humbled to be named Microsoft’s Global Partner of the Year,” said Nick Heddy, President and Chief Commerce Officer at Pax8. “Through our collaboration and our 35,000+ partners, we are enabling small-midsized businesses around the world with their advanced solutions, like Copilot, to help drive their growth.” www.pax8.com. ··· Drone in a box In an extension of its long-standing relationship with Nokia, Westcon-Comstor has become an approved distributor of Nokia Drone Networks in the EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The addition of the market-leading drone-in-a-box solution to WestconComstor’s product offering will enable Nokia-certified technology resellers, systems integrators and service providers to capitalise on growing utilisation of aerial drones for site security, machine inspection, predictive maintenance and environmental sensing. Drone Industry Insights expects the global drone market to more than double in size from $26.3 billion in 2021 to $54.6 billion by 2030. Nokia Drone Networks is a CE and FCC-certified turnkey drone-in-a-box solution made for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. It connects over public and private 4.9G/LTE and 5G networks, ensuring the highest reliability for users, while an open API framework allows integration of third-party applications for extensive customisation to expand use cases and capabilities. Antony Byford, Vice President of IoT & Collaboration at Westcon-Comstor, said: “Drones are a technology of the future, with strong and growing demand across public safety, smart cities, construction, energy and more. We are excited and honoured to be building on our strategic relationship with Nokia by bringing its market-leading drone-in-a-box solution to a wider audience of end-user businesses through our channel partners in multiple geographic territories.” ··· Lenovo double for TD SYNNEX Lenovo has named TD SYNNEX as its 2024 UK Distribution Partner of the Year, in recognition of its quarter-on-quarter business growth, and awarded it the Lenovo Circle 360 award for help in promoting Lenovo’s sustainability agenda with partners. TD SYNNEX distributes all Lenovo infrastructure solutions, including servers, storage and TruScale hybrid solutions, notebooks, PCs and mobile products. It helps partners maximise client device sales through TD SYNNEX Endpoint Solutions and smart meeting solutions through TD SYNNEX Maverick, while addressing the needs of the data centre and managed services markets through TD SYNNEX Advanced Solutions. https://uk.tdsynnex.com/ ··· TD SYNNEX to distribute Samsung Galaxy devices Samsung Electronics has appointed TD SYNNEX to distribute its B2B range of Samsung Galaxy Book business laptops, Galaxy smartphones and Samsung Galaxy tablet devices. Products available with immediate effect include the Galaxy Book4 Edge, a Windows Copilot+ PC powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor. Bridging the gap between PC and mobile, the Galaxy Book4 Edge enables users to perform everyday actions such as retrieving contacts or sending messages with natural language via Copilot voice prompts. James Reed, Managing Director – Endpoint Solutions, UK and Ireland at TD SYNNEX, said: “Samsung is a significant and valuable addition to our extensive portfolio of PC and mobile brands. It means we can offer partners even more choice and new options to take to their B2B and SMB customers.” https://uk.tdsynnex.com/ ··· Arrow Electronics excited to partner with Equinix in EMEA Arrow Electronics has signed an EMEA distribution agreement with digital infrastructure company Equinix. The collaboration will enable Arrow channel partners to resell Equinix services, invoiced on a monthly recurring basis, as part of integrated solutions for network optimisation, hybrid multi-cloud enablement and enhanced application workload performance. The Equinix Platform offers data centre co-location; private connections to major public cloud providers; and interconnections within its global network of 260+ carrier-neutral data centres that enable customers to optimise their WAN and drive digital transformation with lowlatency, cost-effective networks. Mike Worby, EMEA Head of Strategic Alliances for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business, said: “We are excited to work with Equinix to provide our channel partners with unparalleled access to industry-leading digital infrastructure solutions. This collaboration will enable businesses across EMEA to accelerate their digital initiatives, optimise network performance and achieve greater agility in their operations.” www.arrow.com James Reed TD SYNNEX Mike Worby Arrow Antony Byford
01732 759725 08 INTERVIEW With Angus Shaw, Director of specialist cybersecurity distributor Brigantia Q: To start with, please could you give me a quick overview of Brigantia. Angus Shaw (AS): Brigantia is a cybersecurity distributor. We specialise in bringing unique technologies to the UK market. We have about 17 technologies in our portfolio that we bring to around 1,400 channel partners. Those channel partners form part of the Brigantia community and range from one-man-band MSPs through to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Q: Has Brigantia always been a cybersecurity specialist? AS: Brigantia was formed through a management buyout from a much larger player called Claranet in 2016. At the time we were focused on broadband and some cloud backup and other recurring revenue streams, having been a hardware buying group in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Our focus on cyber started about the same time when our main shareholder attended an event at the Danish embassy with Heimdal Security, who are still a vendor partner today. We identified there and then the opportunity in cybersecurity, and going down that route has been very good for the business. Q: What are the advantages of being a specialist? AS: There are benefits for partners and benefits for vendors, and the main one for both groups is our focus. Having only 17 vendors, maybe 18 by Christmas, allows us to be very specialist in what we do. We can be outsourced experts for those vendors, acting as an extension of their teams. We also act as an extension of our partners’ teams because we know those vendors inside out, whereas it's not possible for channel partners to know every single vendor they might have to work with in the depth that’s sometimes required. We act as outsourced support for those channel partners. Q: You like to sign vendors at quite an early stage in their development. How do you select them? AS: We take our vendor selection process really, really seriously – it’s what we live and die by. We want the Brigantia seal of approval to really mean something, so we take vendors through quite a rigorous selection process. It is very much technology-driven, and the first requirement is that they must be a solution to a genuine problem. I was talking with someone the other day and they repeated a remarkable stat, I think from Canalys, that channel partners have 80,000 vendor partners they could work with. We want to bring to partners what we believe are genuinely the best solutions available. Our focus is to have a technology at every layer of the cybersecurity defensive system – 365 security, endpoint security etc. – and we try to avoid overlapping those vendors so that we can be really clear about what we think is the best route for channel partners to take. Once we've been through that very indepth technical and compliance process to determine whether a partner is suitable, we have to be certain that any relationship makes sense commercially for our partners and for ourselves. I'm always very open with channel partners that to provide the service that we do, day in and day out, with the investment in the team that that involves, we have to make money as well. Unlike traditional distribution, working at much smaller percentages, we need to invest properly back into our partners and into that technology expertise. Q: What do you mean when you describe yourself as a value-added distributor? AS: The value piece is really important because we don't want to just sell something and move on and the opportunities in shifting tin, for a business of our size, are limited as most channel partners can buy on Amazon more cheaply than they can from a business like ours. What we mean by adding value is having a clarity of message and the ability to articulate clearly to partners why these solutions are of benefit to them and their customers, and then helping them day to day in their business, for example by identifying new opportunities to add In June, James Goulding, Editor of Technology Reseller, met up with Angus Shaw, Director of Brigantia, to find out about developments at the specialist cybersecurity distributor. Here are edited highlights of their conversation. The video recording can be viewed in full at www.technologyreseller.uk. Q&A Joel Chimoindes Angus Shaw
technologyreseller.co.uk 09 Continued... INTERVIEW answer I give to any vendor I speak to is that we've got 1,400 partners ready to buy your technology, if it's the right fit for them. Distribution has had to evolve at some pace because cloud came and then cyber with it, so it's a very different space to what it was 10 years ago. Q: How has your reseller customer base changed? AS: It's got bigger, as Brigantia has grown, but we’ve also seen the impact of private equity and consolidation. Some of our best partners are private equity-backed MSPs and some of those are acquiring every other week, some every other month. That level of acquisition is clearly causing some stir in the channel, whether that's due to route-to-market consolidation or the fact that it can create serious churn for certain technologies. The VAR space is completely different to what it was 10 years ago. VARs have either grown to be absolute behemoths, very well advertised, big, big, big companies, or they've had to evolve and become managed service providers. There's very few highly successful sub-£20 million VARs anymore. Very, very few. With VARs it’s more about sales enablement than the service wrap that’s needed in the MSP space. Q: What are fastest growing areas of your portfolio? AS: That's an easy one to answer. Thanks to Google and Yahoo’s new rules requiring DMARC to be properly configured on sender domains, we have signed more MSP partners to our latest vendor technology, Sendmarc, since signing them on 22nd December, than in the whole first year of any other vendor. That demand's being driven by changes from these two massive technology companies and by new PCI compliance rules coming in early next year that require DMARC configuration to be done properly. Twelve months ago, the risks of not having a domain properly configured were relatively unknown and the fact that you could basically impersonate any domain in the world that wasn't configured properly. DMARC has created a whole new revenue stream for channel partners and we've got a number of case studies of partners that have created tens of thousands of pounds of profit off the back of doing an opt out campaign into their customers relating to DMARC. In the VAR space, it's a whole new area of the market that’s relevant to every single end customer. Very rarely do channel partners get the opportunity to take a solution to every single customer. Sendmarc is fantastic technology and great guys to work with. I spent a lot of time with them at InfoSec last week. It's really refreshing for channel partners to be working with an organisation like that. Q: What can we look forward to from Brigantia in the second half of the year? AS: We have our major partner event on the 2nd and 3rd of October at Twickenham Stadium. That’s always a highlight of the year. All our major vendor partners are involved and we’ll have about 150 to 200 channel partners there across the two days. Our Keynote speaker is Charlie McMurdie, the first female head of the Police National Cyber Crime Unit. It will be really interesting to hear what she has to say. recurring revenue to their business or through sales and marketing initiatives like our recently launched vendor-specific partner toolkits. These are designed from the ground up to enable an MSP to take any vendor solution to their clients in a way that's easy for the client to understand instead of relying on a product presentation from a vendor who may be too close to their product to be able to articulate its real-world values and benefits. That's something we've invested heavily in and will continue to invest in. Another differentiator is the care we take to retain staff, many of whom are world experts in the areas of the market they focus on. Our product specialist teams are at the beck and call of our channel partners, supporting them day-in and day-out with their internal training initiatives or their sales efforts with clients or by speaking at events that they're there to support. That's a huge value add that we bring to the market. Q: As, I suppose, is having that focused, curated product offering. AS: We want Brigantia to be the place that channel partners buy from, rather than focusing on one specific vendor. I was on a call three or four weeks ago with a brandnew partner and I was making just this point and off the back of that they've now engaged with five of our vendors. It makes sense for them to have the benefit of our teams’ experience and one route to market, with one point of contact if something needs to be escalated. We're happy with that and with the accountability that comes with that. Our approach is very much based on the human touch and old school customer service. If you ring our office, your call be answered within two rings. It's not a case of buying some licenses and moving on. Q: How has distribution changed since 2016? AS: It's had to find its new place, its relevance. I mentioned hardware before. It is no longer about shipping and logistics and storage space; it’s about adding value to enable channel partners to generate more business themselves. Distribution has had to find relevance for vendors as well, otherwise why would they not go direct to channel partners. The Angus Shaw, Director Watch the full interview
01732 759725 INTERVIEW 10 Events are an important part of how we work with our community and we've got various others in the coming weeks and months, as well as keynote presentations by Brigantia product specialists at partner events. If we do sign an 18th vendor before Christmas that, too, will get a huge amount of focus. We’re in final discussions with a couple of vendors but everything’s got to be absolutely right for us to bring any new vendor to market. Q: It will be interesting to see who that might be. As well as protecting their own customers MSPs need to protect themselves. Is that something that Brigantia addresses? AS: That's a really good point. MSPs have to eat their own dog food and to put it bluntly that’s something they often don’t do. How can you be a managed service provider looking after end clients if you're not taking reasonable steps to protect yourself? As a minimum, all MSPs should be working towards Cyber Essentials certification and quickly as I expect there to be more regulations relating to how MSPs look after themselves and the level of service their end customers can expect. We expect most of our MSPs to buy the services they work with us on. Some are on an NFR basis, but others are not. It's an investment every business should make. Q: Longer-term, how do you expect the market to develop? AS: It’s an interesting question. The market always changes and right now the topic of AI is almost impossible to escape. I'm sure it will continue to have an influence, certainly in marketing messages. How it impacts technologies as a whole is another conversation. We're still seeing unprecedented demand for third party patching of applications. We're seeing so many technologies claiming to do a good job in that space that really don’t provide the level or depth of service that a lot of channel partners expect. So I think that area will continue to grow. Bridgeworks appoints Nuvola Distribution as first global distributor Lymington-based storage networking technology innovator Bridgeworks is expanding its sales reach across EMEA with the appointment of Nuvola Distribution as its first global distributor. The partnership will see Nuvola expand its offering with Bridgeworks’ patented WANrockIT and PORTrockIT WAN acceleration technology for TCP/IP and block storage traffic. Bridgeworks’ high-speed routing technology is distinct from and complementary to the SD-WAN and Backup and Replication categories. It can be used uniquely or in combination with these technologies by medium and large enterprises to increase throughput across the WAN. A key differentiator of Bridgeworks’ WAN Acceleration technologies is the use of AI, machine learning and data parallelisation to increase the speed and volume of data flows over wide area networks (WANs). They are data agnostic and mitigate latency and packet loss to permit encrypted data to be sent and received over thousands of miles, while increasing bandwidth utilisation by up to 98%. David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks, says the initial goal of the partnership with Nuvola is to enable half a dozen strategic reseller partners in the UK and to expand into major European markets in year one. “We would like to establish the Bridgeworks name and portfolio across EMEA,” he said. Simon Marrion, Business Development Manager EMEA at Bridgeworks, added that Bridgeworks is committed to developing a mutually beneficial relationship. He said: “The Hyperscalers want you to buy all your technology via their low-touch online marketplaces and that includes complex infrastructure technology. It’s a real threat to the value chain of the traditional reseller landscape. We understand the value of having strong business partnerships, and Nuvola has comprehensive knowledge about the diverse array of different reseller partners, their categories and operating models.” We've talked about DMARC already. Identity theft and fraud is something that really resonates with end users, regardless of whether they're technical or not, and demand for that will continue to grow at pace. There'll be millions and millions of domains added to the fully compliant DMARC list, I've no doubt. We're not seeing any slowdown in traditional password management either, and we're looking closely at other areas I can't go into too much detail about, the dark web and a few other areas. I've got no doubt that the market will evolve and that MSPs will continue to play a massive part in the delivery of services and supporting their clients. Q: What longer term goals do you have for Brigantia? AS: I've got big ambitions for the growth of the business. There are a minimum of 7,000 MSPs in the UK and we’ve only got 1,400 of them at the moment. My ambition is for us to take a good chunk of those in the coming years. And we'll continue to invest heavily in resources to make sure our existing partners enjoy the benefits of old school customer service. Hopefully, we'll have some exciting additions to the portfolio and our growth will continue – whether that’s in the UK or beyond, we’ll see. Q: If you were to give one piece of advice to MSPs what would it be? AS: Don't stand still. One of the hardest things for MSPs is actually selling, but if you're just renewing your customers every year you're not going to grow. Good money says that private equity will come along and maybe buy one of your customers at some point or, worse, one of them might go bust. If that happens to a very large customer the consequences could be serious. So, don't stand still from a sales and marketing or a technology standpoint. It’s really important to take advice on sales and marketing, which is where we feel we can really add value and have high-level conversations. continued... Brigantia Vendors – 17 and counting n Action1 n Arista n Conceal n CyberSmart n eSentire n Heimdal n Hornet Security n ITagree n Keeper n knowBe4 n Next n Octiga n Parallels n Redstor n Rootshell Security n Sendmarc n Trillion David Trossell
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12 01732 759725 RESELLER NEWS Matrix IT achievements recognised by Channel Futures Matrix IT has been identified as the fifth best Managed Service Provider (MSP) in the UK and the top MSP in Hampshire based on its growth, profitability and innovation. The Fareham-based MSP’s position in the 2024 Channel Futures MSP 501 ranking is based on a unique methodology that assesses MSPs’ long-term financial health and viability, commitment to recurring revenue and operational efficiency. Matt Faulkner, Managing Director of Matrix IT, said: “We are incredibly honoured to be recognised as one of the top five Managed Service Providers in the UK. Our commitment to delivering exceptional service and innovative solutions for our clients remains our top priority. Being named the top provider in Hampshire and placing fifth in the UK reflect our continuous efforts to excel and grow in a highly competitive industry.” Matrix IT recently moved into a 3,800 sq ft HQ at Main Barn on the Cams Hall Estate in Fareham, strengthened its ties to the armed forces by signing the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved LOCS:23 continued... Acquisition by Pictet ushers in next period of growth for TSG Pictet Alternative Advisors, the alternative investment business of the Genevaheadquartered Pictet Group, has acquired managed IT services provider Technology Services Group (TSG) from founder owners Sir Graham Wylie and David Stonehouse. This is the second investment in the UK by Pictet’s direct private equity team, following its acquisition of facilities management business Pareto FM in November 2023. Based in Newcastle and with offices in London and Glasgow, TSG is a fully accredited Microsoft Solutions Partner specialising in delivering IT solutions within the Microsoft software ecosystem and helping businesses transition to a cloud-based IT infrastructure. It has more than 250 full-time staff and 1,300 clients across the UK. Andrzej Sokolowski, Head of UK for Direct Private Equity at Pictet, said: “TSG has an attractive and defensible business model, a high proportion of recurring revenue and customers who value its service quality and technical expertise across the Microsoft tech stack. We see significant potential to increase TSG’s growth organically and via M&A. That includes solution areas in Azure, Dynamics and cybersecurity, as well as accelerating deployment of AI tools.” Rory McKeand, CEO of TSG, said: “Pictet’s investment and hands-on partnership will catalyse the next stage of our growth. With the penetration of cloud services among UK SMEs increasing rapidly from a low base, and a new powerful generation of Microsoft productivity tools becoming available, there’s ongoing demand for our services across a large addressable market.” certification, giving clients in the legal sector reassurance that their client data is protected to the highest standard. It also has ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 accreditations. https://mtxit.com/ ··· Carbon-neutral first for LED display integrator EcoVista claims to be the first large format LED display integrator in the UK to be certified carbon-neutral after offsetting its carbon footprint via verified Gold Standard schemes, including the Cookstoves Project which reduces Ethiopian coffee farmers use of wood by 40%. EcoVista was founded in 2023 and through its partnership with sustainability certification organisation Planet Mark has implemented carbon tracking and offsetting across its operations and client projects. Managing Partner Dave Neale said: “Sustainability has been a driving force for EcoVista from day one. Achieving carbon neutral status is a proud moment for our team and a testament to the hard work we’ve put in over the past year.” In the last 12 months, EcoVista has identified over 170 tons of carbon emissions associated with its business operations and with projects for clients that have onboarded its carbon tracking software, including JCDecaux, Open Media, Progressive Outdoor, London Lites and Limited Space. Over the next 12 months, EcoVista aims to track and offset carbon from all its projects. www.ecovistasolutions.com ··· Integrity360 partners with Darktrace Integrity360 has added Darktrace solutions to its product and services portfolio in a new partnership with the provider of AIpowered cybersecurity solutions. As well as reselling Darktrace’s entire portfolio of IT/OT services, Integrity360 will offer Darktrace/DETECT and RESPOND/ Network threat detection and autonomous response solutions as part of its Managed Detection and Response (MDR) offering. This will see DETECT and RESPOND telemetry data fed into Integrity360’s Security Operations Centres (SOCs) supplemented with support services. Integrity360 plans to integrate the Darktrace/OT offering with its MDR later in the year. Eloina Pesce, VP of Channel, EMEA at Darktrace, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Integrity360 to help strengthen their MDR offering and expand the protection Integrity360 offers. Darktrace’s Self-Learning AI Engine, combined with Integrity360’s deep cybersecurity expertise and support services, can provide vital, proactive defence to customers no matter how complex their environment.” ··· Fortinet accolade for NormCyber NormCyber has been named Fortinet’s Security Operations Partner of the Year on the strength of its UK-based, 24x7x365 Security Operations Centre (SOC) and its record of helping mid-market and enterprise organisations improve their cyber resilience with Fortinet solutions. NormCyber has been part of the Fortinet Engage Partner Programme since 2019 and in 2023 became the first Managed Security Service Provider L-R Kev Penny, Louise Gascoigne, Matt Faulkner, Steve Carnell, and Nic Cronin.
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01732 759725 14 RESELLER NEWS (MSSP) in Europe to achieve three Fortinet advanced-level specialisations, in Security Operations, Operational Technology (OT) and Cloud Security. In addition to its use of Fortinet security information and event management (SIEM), security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) and endpoint detection response (EDR) solutions, NormCyber is the only UK partner to offer Fortinet’s dark web monitoring, brand protection, attack surface management and active defence capabilities. NormCyber CTO Paul Cragg said: “At Norm, we’re 100% focused on helping companies understand and reduce their exposure to risk and Fortinet’s range of advanced cyber security solutions plays a hugely significant role in making this happen.” normcyber.com ··· Digital diversifies with launch of IT and communications division Digital Office Group, with a 30-year history in the supply of business equipment and copiers/printers, is repositioning itself as a one-stop-shop for all B2B technology with the formation of a new IT and communications division, Tetra Communications. Founded by the McPhillips family and Director Jack Marriott, Tetra offers a range of telecoms and IT services, including managed IT services, Microsoft licences, business telephony, business broadband and business mobiles. Marriott said: “Our goal is to establish ourselves as the best telecoms and IT service provider in the East Midlands and nationally. We believe that our 30-year experience from Digital Office combined with my 14 years’ experience in the communications market will make our company excel in supporting all of our customers.” Jack McPhillips, Director of Digital Office Group, said: “We aim to be a leader in the B2B Managed Technology space which incorporates printing equipment, telecoms and IT by delivering exceptional value and making a positive difference to businesses across the East Midlands.” www.tetracommunications.co.uk Canon Business Centre SOS extends reach Canon Business Centre SOS, a collaboration between Canon and Platinum Partner SOS Systems headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, is marking a successful first year by extending its geographical reach with the opening of a second office and sales team in Southampton serving the SO, BH and DT postcodes. Canon Business Centre SOS combines the expertise of a trusted local reseller with Canon’s award-winning portfolio of print, document and information management products and solutions. Its expansion follows SOS Systems’ acquisitions of former Canon partner Abbey Office Solutions Ltd and legal service provider London Legal. Stuart Miller, Director of B2B Indirect Sales at Canon UK&I, said: “We’ve been working alongside SOS for many years. They’re a trusted Partner and we’re excited to see their plans to grow and are here to support them along the way. We’re also excited to see the Canon Business Centre brand spread further across the UK & Ireland, entrusted to our capable and valuable partners.” https://canonbusinesscentresos.co.uk/ ··· Juniper partner of the year Juniper Networks has named IT solutions provider Black Box as a 2023 Partner of the Year in the GSI – Global Solutions Integrator – category. This follows Black Box’s recent designation as a Global Elite Plus Partner in the Juniper Partner Advantage Program in recognition of its commitment to delivering innovative solutions on a global scale. Gordon Mackintosh, GVP of Partner Organisation at Juniper Networks, said: “At Juniper Networks, we are thrilled to recognize Black Box as the Worldwide GSI AIDE 2023 Partner of the Year. Their commitment to driving innovative, AI-native business solutions has been exemplary, and their ability to modernise automated cloud-based network solutions integrating our AI-native technologies is truly commendable. This recognition is a testament to their outstanding performance in delivering exceptional customer and user experiences while achieving their financial goals.” www.blackbox.com ··· ··· Systal enhances partnership with Coca-Cola Systal Technology Solutions has been selected by Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) as its preferred network services partner as CCEP seeks to become the world’s most digitised bottler. Under the direct, multi-year agreement, the global managed network, cloud and security transformation specialist will support more than 6,500 devices across 300 locations in 11 European countries. For the last six years Systal has helped the drinks giant transform its network through a multi-partner agreement. This new partnership will provide continued... Agilico moves to purpose-built premises in Aberdeen After almost two decades in Grampian House in Aberdeen, Agilico, a provider of workspace, IT and telecom solutions, has moved to purpose-built premises in City South Business Park about five miles from the city centre. Featuring a 2,000 sq ft warehouse, 1,000 sq ft client demonstration area and sales office, the new site was officially opened on 27 June 2024 by Bob Keiller, Former Chair of Scottish Enterprise. As well as enhancing the support Agilico is able to offer customers across the North East of Scotland, the EPC A/ A+ rated premises will support Agilico’s sustainability agenda, including the refurbishment of used multifunctional printers. www.agilico.co.uk
continued... RESELLER NEWS 15 Flotek celebrates two years of growth On July 13, IT and communication services provider Flotek celebrated its two-year anniversary with the second annual ‘FloFest’ for the company’s 86 staff, suppliers, sponsors and their families. Since being founded by Jay Ball, Dave Middleton and Malcolm Holland in 2022, Flotek has completed 11 acquisitions (with two more to be announced this summer); opened seven regional offices; increased turnover to £12 million; and grown its customer base to more than 2,000. Later this year, it will be opening a new head office in Bridgend and setting up an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme that will enable staff to have a share in 10% of the business. Flotek is aiming to double annual revenue to £24 million within the next two years and increase headcount by 50% before next year’s FloFest. www.flotek.io CCEP with business continuity across its manufacturing and distribution network infrastructure and empower Systal to accelerate CCEP’s network transformation, which is seen as essential for reducing its environmental impact and increasing product diversification across new categories such as coffee and alcohol. Systal CIO Neil Wisbey said: “We are thrilled to officially go live with our direct service as CCEP’s trusted technology services partner. Our team’s agility and dedication to providing a higher value service delivery has been the bedrock of our CCEP partnership over the past six years. We are excited to continue supporting CCEP as they innovate and transform their critical network infrastructure.” This new partnership is the latest milestone for the Glasgow-headquartered technology business, which has experienced consecutive years of strong double-digit revenue growth, most recently by 77%. In the last six years it has increased revenue from £10.3m in 2018 to more than £74.8m today and its headcount from 80 to more than 1,000. Systal, the only new entrant in Gartner’s 2023 Magic Quadrant for Managed Network Services, recently underlined its global ambitions with the opening of a new Network Operations Centre in Tampa, Florida. www.systaltech.com. ··· Node4 to the rescue Node4, the cloud-led digital transformation Managed Services Provider (MSP), has helped UK-based animal search charity Drone To Home cope with rising call volumes by implementing a sponsored Webex Calling solution that also features cloud-based meeting, messaging and team collaboration capabilities. Founded by CEO Phil James, a former Close Protection Officer, Drone To Home is the UK’s first drone-based search and rescue charity for animals including lost dogs and farm livestock. The charity’s three full-time staff are supported by a team of 20 volunteer call handlers, who deal with 40-70 inbound calls a day, and over 150 volunteer drone operators, most of whom have their own drones. James said: “We had outgrown our existing phone system but weren’t ready for a formal contact centre solution. As luck would have it, one of our volunteers, Sarah Church, works for Node4 and she put us in touch with the company’s Webex Calling specialists. “After Sarah made the introductions, Node4 set us up with a heavily discounted package and installed everything for free. This means we can keep more funds for our core work of reuniting lost animals and owners—and don’t have to worry so much about our technology expenses.” As well as ensuring incoming calls are answered swiftly from anywhere, with capacity for twice as many volunteer call handlers, the Webex Calling solution helps with call handling rotas and volunteer availability. Another key selling point for Phil James is dedicated Webex Space for each missing animal case which volunteer call handlers and drone operators can log into to view information on recent sightings, update owners and deploy drones where needed. He said: “I was particularly keen on this aspect of the solution. It keeps us working efficiently even as case numbers increase. It also ensures we remain organised with all the necessary case information at our fingertips. As a former police officer, I know these elements are essential if we’re to work methodically and logically to track down people’s beloved animals.” https://dronetohome.org.uk www.node4.co.uk ··· Sona Business enters UK connectivity market International wholesale internet, cloud and hosted UC solutions provider Sona Business is entering the UK connectivity and IP communications market with the opening of an office in Hull and the appointment of John McKindland as UK Partner Manager. The privately owned provider of integrated network communications, set up 12 years ago by founders Sonia Harjani and Walter Perris, has global operations centred on Dubai and Rotterdam and a strong market presence in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, supported by a 24/7/365 Global Network Operations Centre and data centres across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Sona’s wide-ranging portfolio includes SD-WAN connectivity, private cloud services and real-time data, video and Phil James Drone To Home John McKindland Sona
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