Technology Reseller - v29

technologyreseller.co.uk If you no longer wish to receive Technology Reseller magazine please email your details to [email protected] COMMENT 03 With lockdown fatigue starting to manifest itself and an exit strategy finally being debated, many businesses will be planning their return to the office. Or perhaps not. The relative ease with which employees have taken to home-working and the obvious environmental benefits of reduced road traffic, not to mention time and money saved, especially by those who normally travel by train, have caused Sir David Attenborough amongst others to call for more home-working in the future. Many employers will be tempted to heed his call. In doing so, they should not gloss over the shortcomings of existing arrangements. A survey of 3,000 office workers by Newcastle-based Atlas Cloud highlights a range of security and productivity problems people have had to contend while working from home, from poor quality internet connectivity and inadequate computing tools to a lack of access to the files and documents they need. As we report on page 6, more than half of office workers (57%) believe bosses should be doing more to help them work productively from home, with 38% saying their employer needs to invest in longer-term solutions if home-working is to carry on into the future. Buying shiny new laptops when they become available, or shiny refurbished ones until then, is one option (see page 43). However, on its own, this is unlikely to appease home working employees. Nor should it satisfy business leaders who have the chance to implement a more secure, productive, flexible and economical home/remote working IT infrastructure that will serve them for years to come – perhaps using IGEL technology (see page 47). Clearly, resellers have a big role to play in explaining the different options available to customers and prospects. Ideally, these won’t be limited to ICT solutions but will also address remote working models that take in the rich mix of ‘third places’ where people can work, meet and interact with fellow workers. One thing coronavirus has in common with the financial crash of 2008 is the disproportionate price paid by poorer members of society. It would be unacceptable if anyone was unable to take up a job, or even discriminated against, because their housing made working from home difficult. James Goulding Editor, [email protected] Technology Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 10 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.technologyreseller.co.uk No part of Technology Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2020 Kingswood Media Ltd. Design: Sandtiger Media www.sandtiger.co.uk 04 What’s New A selection of the month’s new products and services 06 Tech Trends Businesses must invest more to prepare for long-term homeworking 08 Distributor News QBS acquires AlphaGen 09 Working Together This month’s round-up of new distribution agreements 14 Reseller News Memset and eacs strengthen ties with strategic alliance 18 Vendor News Panintelligence celebrates first deal born in the USA 22 Security Florian Malecki explains how MSPs can protect themselves and their customers from ransomware 31 Insight The importance of an integrated portal 32 Billing Union Street wins plaudits for customer service 36 Opinion Cherryl Pressley on why resellers should become MSPs 42 Technology Live Profiles MyPhones prepares for further growth 43 Sustainability Circular IT benefits from homeworking boom 44 Networking Part II of our guide to SD-WANs 45 Comment Sharon McDermott makes the case for a little give and take 47 Cloud Workspaces Why IGEL is confident of becoming a $1 billion company 50 View from the Channel... With Stuart Dickinson, COO of IT services provider EACS 51 People New faces, new places v29 · 2020 technologyreseller.co.uk Comment Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of Technology Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.technologyreseller.uk/register Read Technology Reseller online, on tablets and smart phones www.technologyreseller.uk Join us : Follow us @techreselleruk www.facebook.com/TechnologyResellerMag technology-reseller-magazine Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [email protected] Publishing Director, Social Media and Web Editor: Neil Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 · [email protected] Group Sales: Martin Jenner-Hall 07824 552116 · [email protected] or [email protected] Art Director: Nick Pledge 07767 615983 · [email protected] Advertising Executive: James Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] ISSN 2632-9301 (Print) ISSN 2632-931X (Online) The Convergent Technology Event for IT Resellers & Providers Business Design Centre · London · 13 Oct 2020 2020

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