Technology Reseller v27

NEWS : VENDORS 01732 759725 14 Manchester-based Product Information Management and Digital Asset Management (PIM/DAM) platform provider Pimberly has become one of two companies from the North West to be selected for the Tech Nation Upscale programme. Upscale is designed to help the 30 fastest growing UK technology businesses achieve their potential by providing senior leadership teams with coaching and support from leaders of the UK’s most successful companies. Former alumni include Monzo, Deliveroo, Bulb, AO and Revolut. Founded in 2016, Pimberly provides a SaaS-based PIM platform that acts as a central hub for all omnichannel product data, including descriptions, specifications, sizing, pricing, availability, imagery and videos for multiple brands, currencies and geographies. With 100% year on year growth since launch, it now employs nearly 60 people in Manchester city centre. www.pimberly.com Pimberly selected for Upscale One thousand and counting Claire and Ed Hitch, who farm Devon Red Ruby pedigree beef cattle at their farm near Whatchet in Exmoor National Park, have become the 1000th customers of Airband’s superfast broadband network across Exmoor and Dartmoor national parks. To celebrate the milestone, the independent fibre and wireless broadband provider is giving the Hitches six months’ free internet service. Claire Hitch said: “When we took over the farm in September this year (2019), the previous tenants told us we should choose an Airband service, and we’re glad we did; it has worked really well for us. We use the internet for everything from cattle passports to purchasing farm equipment to basic emailing.” Broadband is also used to connect 360-degree CCTV cameras in the farm’s barns and stables to a screen in the farmhouse kitchen and to the Hitches mobile phones. Completed in September 2018, Airband’s network was built over a three- year period with support from Connecting Devon and Somerset and the national park authorities. It now delivers connectivity to more than 6,000 premises. Set up 10 years ago, Airband specialises in providing connectivity to rural towns and remote and hard-to-reach areas via government-funded and demand- led projects. This heritage is reflected in the company’s new mission statement: ‘Transforming Connectivity for people and communities who deserve better’. Redmond Peel, founder and director of Airband, said: “We started out building wireless networks for remote areas and we have now become one of the UK’s leading hybrid broadband providers, delivering both fibre and wireless broadband across at least 15 different counties in England and Wales. In our fibre delivery, our preferred method is to deliver fibre using overhead fibre. This means we can deploy full fibre broadband more quickly than traditional fibre dig alone or wireless-only deployments.” Photo: Rob Tibbles IPI and Aculab working together Digital contact centre specialist IPI is bolstering its voice biometric capabilities in a partnership with telephony hardware and software provider Aculab. The integration of Aculab’s VoiSentry voice biometric system into IPI’s ID Me speech recognition applications will enable IPI to verify a customer’s identity through their unique voiceprint, reducing time taken for identity and verification (ID&V) processes from the UK market average of 38 seconds to as little as 5 seconds. Down on the farm: Claire and Ed Hitch Insider... Only when a major event happens do you fully understand how supply chains work. The respiratory illness Coronavirus (2019- cNOV) is new in the landscape of human health. Over 900 people have now lost their lives across the world from this virus believed to have originated in the Wuhan province of China. When it was initially reported, you may not have connected this health emergency with your day to day business selling information technology. But the two are related. Many of the factories that produce the products for our industry are located in China. Currently, the Chinese government is issuing orders for factories to remain closed to reduce the risk of further spread of the virus. Global supply chains are intrinsically linked and their ‘just in time’ nature means that stock in the entire chain has been optimised to be as efficient as possible between vendor, stock on the water, goods held locally by vendors, by distributors and then ultimately by resellers (you). Already, we have seen factories shut for two weeks and port authorities requesting workers not to attend, which means a reduction in ships sailing. A report from a major logistics provider reveals that sailings of 59 container ships from Asia to Europe have already been cancelled. To put that in context, that’s the equivalent of 1.3 million 20ft containers. You won’t see the impact of this quickly as stock in the distribution channel and stocks held by a vendor locally create a buffer of up to 12 weeks, but should it go on any longer availability will decline. This emergency is a clear demonstration of the connectedness of our global supply chains and the inter- connectedness of our world when it comes to public health, sustainability and the environment. It only takes one pebble in the pond to create a ripple effect. Let’s see what the coming weeks and months brings See you out there. Phil Jones MBE , Managing Director, Brother UK @philjones40