PrintIT Reseller - issue 49

01732 759725 12 BULLETIN Tech Data launches tech-as-a-service programme Following Senior Vice President of Services, John O’Shea’s announcement that Tech Data is focused on providing channel partners a differentiated device-as-a-service offering, the company has launched its new tech-as- a-service programme in the UK. The UK is the first country in Europe to bring the programme, designed to transform the way end-users consume technology by offering the most competitive rates and residual values in the UK market, and providing channel partners lifecycle management capability, to market. The tech-as-a-service programme makes it simple, quick and easy for resellers to provide customers with hardware, software and services on subscription. This provides end-users access to the very latest technologies without having to find budget for up-front capital investment. Resellers can add their own services offerings, such as installation, training, maintenance and support, as part of the overall subscription. Matt Child, Executive Lead for Tech Data UK, said: “Many customers are moving towards a services-based, pay-as-you-go model for their IT consumption. With our programme, resellers can now offer a full technology solution in a single subscription. Technology acquisition, deployment, management and end-of-life recycling are all covered under one agreement and delivered through flexible payment options.” Working with multiple vendors, the distie has built the programme to align with vendor product strategies to ensure that resellers maximise their manufacturer rebates and end-users procure a purpose-built solution that meets their needs rather than settling for the solution they doesn’t fully satisfy their requirements. The programme is currently available to all Tech Data resellers in the UK and is compliant with education, government and corporate regulations. The offer provides end-users the flexibility to upscale as organisations grow and refresh technology more frequently than on a capital purchase. www.techdata.com Entanet gains Cyber Essentials certification Entanet has underlined its commitment to security and data protection by achieving independent certification under the government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme. The programme helps organisations protect themselves against common cyber-attacks. “With the GDPR deadline approaching in May and threats from ransomware and other forms of malware continuing to grow, it is more vital than ever for the company to demonstrate that it takes digital security seriously,” said Entanet’s Head of Products, Paul Heritage-Redpath. Entanet began its certification journey in June 2017. The process has involved a review of its policies, the completion of a searching questionnaire and an external penetration test. Achieving the certification is also a significant step towards its commitment to achieving ISO 27001 in 2018. The company has already been awarded a BS EN ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification and this latest achievement further underlines its commitment to driving high levels of customer satisfaction and performance improvement. www.enta.net Ingram Micro expands vendor portfolio Ingram Micro UK & Ireland has partnered with digital infrastructure specialist, Legrand. The new partnership strengthens its complete end-to-end enterprise solution as well as offers services specialists Comms-care further value-add solutions to its resellers. Ingram Micro’s Advanced Solutions Director Scott Murphy, said: “The addition of Legrand and their individual brands/solutions further demonstrates Ingram Micro’s vision to offer our reseller partners incremental but complementary end-to-end solutions to their existing customers. We are positive that our Ingram Micro Services (including Comms-care) ability to design and install Legrand’s connected infrastructure solution will bring incremental revenue and margin to our reseller partners both on the hardware and wraparound services.’’ Legrand is a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructure, specifically the cable management business unit brands including Cablofil wire mesh, Swifts Cable trays and Ladder rack, Salamandre Trunking and the EZ Path. These solutions will complement the Ingram Micro enterprise business unit and vendors such as Cisco, HPE and Dell Enterprise infrastructure offering for their resellers. www.ingrammicro.com DMSL to offer partners a working template for GDPR compliance The specialist distributor of broadband and hosted voice services has created a set of checklists, documents and policy guidelines that partners can use to methodically assess their own levels of compliance with the regulations. They can also call on specialist consultancy services to provide a detailed audit of their data, needs assessment and action plan. It will also make the package available to its partners on a ‘white label’ basis, enabling resellers to offer the service to their own customers. DMSL has created the service in partnership with Metanoia Partners, a specialist consultancy with its own accredited GDPR practitioners. The company has already applied the template and methodology to its own business to ensure it can meet the new requirements for the management and protection of data. Managing Director John Carter, said that it decided to offer the service to partners after realising few had taken any action to ensure they would meet the deadline. www.dmsluk.co.uk Matt Child John Carter