Technology Reseller - v14 2018

01732 759725 14 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS Jonathan Corini Following a successful partnership in Germany, France and Italy, value-added distributor Exclusive Networks and IoT security company ForeScout Technologies have signed an agreement to distribute the latter’s IoT security solution in the UK. Exclusive Networks says that by providing agentless visibility and control of devices the instant they connect to a network, the ForeScout visibility platform represents a big sales opportunity for resellers. ABI Research forecasts the number of connected devices to reach 29 billion by 2020. According to an IDC study, organisations that deploy the ForeScout platform identify 24% more devices on their networks, experience 42% fewer network-related security breaches and achieve a 392% ROI over five years. Jonathan Corini, the recently appointed ForeScout vice president of worldwide channels, said: “We are thrilled to work with Exclusive Networks for their expertise, global scale and portfolio of best-of-breed vendors and partners. We are impressed by their agility and flexibility, and we are already delivering results together.” www.forescout.com Exclusive Networks and ForeScout extend partnership to UK Meetings bundle ScanSource is to distribute the Mezzanine immersive collaboration solution from Oblong Industries in a new product bundle for the ProAV market. The bundle brings Cisco Webex Room Kit and Cisco Webex Room Kit Plus collaboration endpoints into the Oblong Mezzanine collaboration platform and uses LG UH5C series commercial UHD displays to share information, video, graphics and data from multiple sources simultaneously. www.scansource.com Scansource acquires Canpango ScanSource, a provider of technology products and solutions, has acquired Canpango, a longstanding Salesforce implementation and consulting partner, which will now be run as the Scansource CRM and business process consulting practice. With offices in Chicago, New York, London and Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Canpango provides businesses with a range of professional services, including Salesforce solution configuration and implementation, business process consulting, training and education, application development, data migration and reporting. The acquisition will enable ScanSource and Intelisys partners to expand their CRM and professional services offering without having to start their own practice, for example by using Canpango resources to integrate CRM and customer support solutions with contact centre as a service (CCaaS) and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) deployments. ScanSource CEO Mike Baur said: “As our partners continue to move upmarket into larger, more complex UCaaS and CCaaS opportunities, the requirements for CRM are increasing. The team at Canpango brings extensive experience around these technologies, as well as the professional services needed to make these solutions successful.” www.scansource.com Inspiring success Paul Fuller and Emily Dance, both from Spire Technology, were the big winners in BullGuard’s recent partner recruitment incentive programme. Running from December 1 2017 to May 31 2018, the scheme incentivised channel account managers at BullGuard’s UK distribution partners to secure as many new/lapsed partner sign-ups as possible. All participants were also entered into a raffle. Paul Fuller won a £2,000 holiday voucher for securing the most sign-ups, with Emily Dance wining a £500 holiday voucher in the raffle. www.bullguard.com CMS Distribution expands leadership team Technology distributor CMS Distribution, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has appointed three new directors to support continued growth. They are: n Tony Scully, who, as Sales Director, will lead the CMS retail business, having previously held roles at Computers Unlimited, Exertis and Tech Data; n Andrew Uden, Director of Retail Services, whose 30-plus year career has included stints with Maplin, Tesco, Walmart and the RAF; and n John Fitzgerald, who joins as Chief Information Officer, with the intention of enhancing the IT infrastructure and introducing automated and data-driven insights and forecasting. www.cmsdistribution.com Encouraging first half for Midwich Midwich, describes its performance in the first six month of the year as ‘encouraging’. The audio visual and document solutions distributor improved gross margins overall, helped by the contribution of the three businesses it acquired in 2017. Although cash generation in the first half was slightly behind the Board’s expectations, Midwich is confident the full- year figure will be in line with the Group’s long-term average performance. Overall, the Board expects the Group’s full-year performance to be ahead of previous expectations. www.midwichgroupplc.com Mentori training award Tech Data’s Mentori program was named Best Partner Training Initiative at the CRN Sales and Marketing Awards. The program was praised for delivering the education, enablement and inspiration that channel partners need in today’s market. Fiona Challis, who leads the Mentori program for Tech Data, said: “Resellers are having to transform to meet the demands of the digital era and ensure they continue to be the trusted advisor to their customers. That means acquiring or developing new skills. Mentori enables them to identify where they need to focus their efforts and attain the knowledge, capabilities and confidence they need to build predictable, profitable businesses for the future.” www.techdata.com