Technology Reseller v44

01732 759725 14 NEWS : RESEllers Xperience acquires Green Duck Managed IT, cloud, ERP and CRM provider Xperience is strengthening its presence in the East of England with the acquisition of Green Duck, a provider of cloud, cyber security and managed IT services. The addition of Green Duck, which will trade under the Xperience brand, gives the combined company annual revenues £16 million, 1,100 clients, a headcount of 123 and an office in Bury St Edmunds, in addition to existing premises in Lisburn, Peterborough and Glasgow. Xperience CEO Iain O’Kane said: “The Green Duck business complements our existing cloud, cyber security and managed IT solutions and gives Xperience the opportunity to expand significantly in this area. As part of Xperience, Green Duck will be able to access investment, a broader range of technical services, our dedicated Cloud service, plus a business that serves both the UK and Ireland.” The acquisition of Green Duck follows a £1.5 million investment by Xperience in its operations in Lisburn, Northern Ireland and the creation of an additional 16 jobs. Kevin Timms (l to r) Mat Green, Chief Technology Officer of Green Duck and now Cloud and Managed IT Technical Director at Xperience; Rod Jackson, CEO of Green Duck and now Cloud and Managed IT Operations Director at Experience; Andrew Cavey, Commercial Director, Xperience; and Iain O’Kane, CEO, Xperience Marathon in forces-friendly pledge IT and managed service provider Marathon has strengthened its commitment to UK service personnel by signing the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC) and pledging to be a forces-friendly employer, for example by encouraging job applicants from the Forces and enabling employees to continue with reserve duties while working for Marathon. The signing ceremony at Marathon’s Head Office in Chessington was attended by CEO Iain Maclean and Brigadier Niall Stokoe OBE, Chief Information Officer at Permanent Joint Headquarters. Brigadier Stokoe said: “One of our key priorities is helping our men and women to transition to meaningful careers outside of the military when they decide to leave. It is really encouraging to see growing businesses like Marathon embracing the benefits that recruiting forces leavers can bring to business and we look forward to working with them.” Marathon already employs a number of ex-services personnel, notably Andy Simpson, Head of Security Practice, who joined the company’s cyber security team from the Ministry of Defence after 22 years of military service. www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/ www.marathon-ms.com Changing attitudes fuel managed services growth at eacs Managed services provider eacs notched up more managed service contract wins in the second quarter of 2021 than in the whole of 2020, following a pandemic-inspired change in attitudes to outsourcing, reveals CEO Kevin Timms. Outlining the growing acceptance of managed services, he said: “During 2020, there was little appetite to change outsource suppliers or indeed adopt managed services. There were very few procurement tenders released in the public or private sector and eacs saw clients simply renew their managed services without going to market. It was as if companies were just holding their breath, riding things out and delaying any decisions. “However, at the end of Q1 2021 things started to change and tenders started flowing again to the extent that eacs secured more managed services business in Q2 of 2021 than in the whole of 2020. It is the fastest growing area of our business this year so far.” Timms attributes changing attitudes towards managed services to the pandemic, when trusted IT partners like eacs made sure clients were able to work remotely, and to the challenges and opportunities businesses have faced since. “Clients who were forced to reduce staffing levels last year are finding it hard to recruit again, salaries are climbing steeply for good people and managed services are becoming a more attractive option commercially. An interesting motivator we see are companies consolidating properties, embracing home working as a standard and shutting offices they have occupied for decades. Also, the rise and rise of cloud technologies can ensure companies are no longer tied to bricks and mortar data centres. In effect, detaching users and datacentres from physical offices means working from anywhere is a reality,” he said. Timms suggests that we have reached the point where the question is no longer why outsource IT functions, but when. http://www.eacs.com/ Jobs boost announced by Intelligent Servers Intelligent Servers has announced the creation of an additional 23 jobs after receiving a £600,000 government-backed loan from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). The Harrogate-based reseller of refurbished servers, storage, networking products and components from the likes of HPE, Dell and Cisco has revenues of £8 million and more than 3,000 clients including the BBC, Canon and Manchester United. The NPIF investment will enable Intelligent Servers to improve its purchasing power, increase stock levels, expand its warehouse capacity and create new jobs. Managing Director Andrew Hughes said: “Due to the demand for cheaper and more affordable IT equipment, our professionally refurbished equipment is now highly desirable. This funding will allow us to grow and deliver our exceptional service to more customers and help us create 23 exciting new positions at our company.” High demand for Intelligent Server products during the pandemic, including a 1,600% increase in laptop sales has enabled the company to increase staff numbers by 50% to 50. www.intelligentservers.co.uk