Technology Reseller - v23

NEWS : RESELLERS 01732 759725 14 Altrincham-based digital technology transformation business inTec Business Solutions has acquired a controlling interest in Cheshire Business Services (CBS) as it continues to partner with telecoms resellers that want to expand their portfolios with cloud solutions, Office365, IT support, CRM platforms and other IT solutions. inTec’s growing partner network includes two types of partner: ‘affiliate’ partners that offer inTec IT solutions and consulting services to customers on a profit share basis; and ‘owned’ partners, in which inTec takes a controlling stake. Owned partners like Hale Communications, Vision Corporate Services and now Cheshire Business Services become part of the InTec Business Solutions group but keep some equity and their own trading identity and customer- facing responsibilities. In the case of CBS, Chris Jones will retain a shareholding and the position of Managing Director. To fund the development of partnerships with Vision Corporate Services, Cheshire Business Services and others, inTec recently secured £4m in growth capital from working capital and venture debt firm BOOST&Co. It acquired its first ‘owned’ partner, Hale Communications (Europe), in 2018, using finance from Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). www.intecbusiness.co.uk/partner inTec adds third ‘owned’ partner to growing network Two men went to row Leeds-based pure technology group (ptg) is sponsoring two Bradford friends to take part in the three-month Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, starting in December. As the two-man Hell Oar High Water (HOHW) rowing team, Chris Nicholl and James Tordoff aim to row 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean, raising money for homeless charity Centrepoint, automotive charity Ben and the Neonatal Unit at Bradford Hospital. www.hohw.co.uk/give Framework success for IPI IPI, the digital contact centre specialist, has won a place on the £5 billion Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Network Services 2 (NS2) Framework. Replacing RM1045, the four-year NS2 framework will provide public sector organisations with access to specialist contractors for telecommunications and network services across 13 lots. IPI is one of several SMEs to be chosen to deliver data access services (Lot 1) for the UK public sector and its associated bodies & agencies, the voluntary sector, charities and/or other private organisations acting as managing agents or procuring on behalf of the public sector. It has also bid for places on the IP telephony and contact centre services lots, which will be awarded in due course. GoPrint3D joins HP reseller network GoPrint3D, the 3D printing arm of Express Group, has been appointed a reseller of HP Jet Fusion 3D printers. The HP Jet Fusion 500/300 Series provide affordable 3D prototyping and production in full colour or mono, with up to 80% surplus material reusability for a lower environmental impact. James Blackburn, Sales Director at GoPrint3D, said: “The addition of HP 3D printers to our product portfolio is fantastic news for our customers. The level of control that HP Multi Jet Fusion technology offers means that our customers can benefit from greater design freedom, as well as higher quality, faster parts production.” The 3D reseller agreement builds on Express Group’s 20-year relationship with HP as a provider of servicing, repair and spare parts for traditional HP printers. www.goprint3d.co.uk Softcat takes on MPS IT Value Added Reseller Softcat has signed an agreement with Kyocera Document Solutions UK to resell the company’s managed print services and bespoke information management solutions. Mark Greening, Managed Print Service sales lead at Softcat, said: “We know that print and document management solutions are critically important for organisations as they embark on their digital transformation journeys, and this has really driven our decision to partner with Kyocera. Not only does Kyocera’s product set broaden the range of services that we can offer our clients, but its focus on the public sector was another really important factor in our decision.” The 7.5-metre HOHW boat outside ptg’s Leeds office. Left to right: James Blackburn, ptg Group Marketing Manager; Chris Nicholl, HOHW; Stephen O’Brien, ptg Group CEO; James Tordoff, HOHW Ultima gains Citrix Certification Ultima has received Citrix Certification for its IA-Connect tool for the fast, secure automation of business processes over Citrix Cloud and Citrix virtual apps and desktops sessions (formerly known as XenApp and XenDesktop). By providing a bridge between the Remote Desktop/Citrix client (where the automation engine resides) and the desktop or published application session on the Citrix or Remote Desktop server, IA- Connect enables users to ‘reach through’ the virtual session to perform automations. Scott Dodds, CEO of Ultima, said: “We had a few customers who had actively decided not to automate their business processes because they were nervous about using cloud-based RPA and the old process for automation over Citrix was so painful. Now, with IA-Connect we can securely and simply automate their business processes three times faster than previously.” www.ultima.com