Technology Reseller v26

01732 759725 08 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS Andy Brown Tech Data is unifying its services portfolio to provide customers with a consistent and coherent portfolio of services and additional capabilities and options to take to end-user customers. The programme brings services that were already available in the UK and propositions developed by Tech Data’s central services team in Europe into a single portfolio. In addition to professional services, such as installation, technical training and pre-delivery configuration, Tech Data will now be offering additional consultancy, support and managed services, chiefly in the areas of datacentre, security and the cloud. Andy Brown, Services Director of Tech Data UK, said: “We are bringing together a consistent and coherent services value proposition that our UK reseller partners can draw on to meet the needs of their customers and to develop and grow their business. We have offered a limited range of services for some time and we are now filling in the gaps and giving resellers access to a full portfolio from a partner they know they can trust.” He added that Tech Data services will always be delivered with and through partners, helping them to fill gaps in their own service offerings. “For partners, the cost of developing services and investing in full-time technical resources to deliver them is often prohibitive. It also entails a degree of risk as they are expensive to employ, so there needs to be plenty of work for them to do and that might not always be the case while resellers are building up their own services practice. “We see it as our role, as a trusted advisor to our channel partners, to provide the services that they may not be able to develop independently or invest in swiftly enough to take the opportunities that are available. We are effectively making that investment in skilled resources, so that our partners can access the expertise and services they need to add value to their customers. It is all about supporting partners in their development and growth, enabling them to deliver more and thus drive customer satisfaction and profitability.” Tech Data unifies its services portfolio TIG holds Crestron Elite Partner event in Dubai Technological Innovations Group (TIG), the exclusive sales agent for Crestron technology in the EMEA region, recently welcomed more than 65 AV industry representatives from the Nordics, East Europe, Russia, Middle East and South Africa to the Crestron Elite Partners Summit in Dubai. AV integrator partners in attendance heard about TIG’s sales strategy and Crestron’s strategic product roadmap from TIG CEO Robin van Meeuwen, TIG Crestron Vice President of Sales Dirk Hendrickx and Crestron Director of Technology Stijn Ooms. www.tig.eu A confident employer Exertis has gained Level 2 Disability Confident Employer status after carrying out a self-assessment and measuring its practices against a set of statements about recruiting and retaining disabled people. Disability Confident (DC) was set up by the Dept of Works & Pensions to encourage employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Exertis Recruitment Manager Samantha King said: “We are delighted to have secured Disability Confident Employer status. This accreditation will help us recruit and retain great people, drawing from the widest possible pool of talent and securing high-quality staff who are skilled, loyal and hard working.” So far, approximately 15,000 organisations in the UK have gained Level 2 Disability Confident Employer status. The accreditation lasts for three years, during which time companies can work towards Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status, which requires independent validation of the judging criteria. DCC acquires Bconnected DCC Technology, parent company of Exertis, has strengthened its range of end-point management support services for resellers and vendors with the acquisition of Bconnected Limited, a provider of Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions based in Maynooth, Co. Kildare. The company, which reported revenues of € 1.9m in its last financial year, will become part of DCC Technology’s white label technical support services business, Macro Evolution Services Ltd. (MacroEv). MacroEv provides a range of support services to the vendor and reseller channels on a white label basis, from staging configuration and deployment to in-life and end-of-life support services. Beyond Connectivity reveals the future of connectivity Nimans has given resellers a valuable insight into the future of connectivity at a series of nationwide roadshows organised by Beyond Connectivity, the new name for Nimans Network Services, a provider of mobile, connectivity, hosted, M2M, mobile device management, support and SIP services. Beyond hit the road to highlight three forces revolutionising the industry – full fibre, 5G and the cloud – and to outline its vision and strategies. Working in partnership with EE and TalkTalk Business, it held events at the BT Tower in London, the TalkTalk Business HQ in Manchester and BT Adastral Park in Ipswich where it revealed details of its 3-7% connectivity discounts and free of charge monitoring (until March). Beyond Head of Sales Graham Wilkinson said: “We are facing the biggest industry changes since the advent of broadband. It’s important to think beyond today and prepare for the connectivity journey of tomorrow.” He added: “Beyond Connectivity is an exciting new rebrand of Nimans Network Services and promises to ‘go further’ to make connectivity even simpler. The roadshows enabled us to demonstrate how we are thinking beyond today by offering next generation services based on our Simplified network services proposition, including bureau billing and extensive marketing support such as white label templates. It’s an exciting new era and a bold vision for the future.”