News

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Microsoft realigns partner cloud training, competencies

  At its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston Texas, Microsoft has shared details of how it will change training and competencies to help partners make the most of the cloud

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Microsoft rallies partners to build hybrid Azure

  At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas, Microsoft announces a major push to attract businesses to use Azure through a “cloud first” strategy

• July 04, 2013 04 Jul'13

  UKFast strikes in M&A campaign with BurstNET UK buy

  Just days after appointing an M&A director cloud specialist UKFast has snapped up the British arm of US hosted specialist BurstNET for an undisclosed sum

• June 20, 2013 20 Jun'13

  SMEs making moves to adopt cloud email services

  The latest Spiceworks survey of the cloud market has revealed more SMEs are planning to use hosted email and file-sharing services

• June 18, 2013 18 Jun'13

  Operating losses widen at Daisy in otherwise strong year

  Daisy Group sees operating losses widen but bosses are confident the business will stay the course

• June 17, 2013 17 Jun'13

  UKFast hiring M&A team to support acquisition plans

  Cloud specialist UKFast is hiring finance specialists to staff an M&A team as it looks to make acquisitions

• June 12, 2013 12 Jun'13

  AVG acquires Level Platforms

  AVG has boosted the management and monitoring options it can deliver through CloudCare as a result of a Level Platforms acquisition

• June 12, 2013 12 Jun'13

  Box targets G-Cloud growth with Softcat

  Duo claim Box’s collaboration solutions will fill an important strategic gap for many public sector customers

• June 10, 2013 10 Jun'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 7 June 2013

  Our regular look back at the biggest channel stories from the past seven days, as selected by MicroScope readers

• June 05, 2013 05 Jun'13

  IBM's SoftLayer buy should increase reseller cloud options

  IBM's move to buy cloud infrastructure specialist SoftLayer should provide resellers with more options to pitch to SME customers

• May 31, 2013 31 May'13

  Reddin latest addition to growing channelfusion team

  Former Avnet man Grant Reddin heads to storage start-up to add partner, vendor management nous

• May 29, 2013 29 May'13

  Iomart sees annual profits soar by 56%

  Glasgow-based cloud computing company Iomart has reported a pre-tax profit up 56% to £10.7m for the year ending March 2013

• May 29, 2013 29 May'13

  Microsoft partner Core picks up Parative

  Microsoft service providers hook up to take advantage of Windows Azure Infrastructure Services launch and build Office 365, UC business

• May 23, 2013 23 May'13

  Newcomer Zayo warns over cloud competition as it woos MSPs

  Infrastructure provider Zayo believes an old-school approach to infrastructure sales in the face of growing cloud demands will win channel hearts and minds as it seeks to build out a UK MSP community

• May 21, 2013 21 May'13

  Channel suppliers line up for G-Cloud III

  The latest phase of the government’s G-Cloud project once again includes a good number of channel stalwarts

• May 20, 2013 20 May'13

  Azlan shows off cloud services portfolio, billing, white label options

  Azlan has launched its cloud services portfolio and signed up to distribute white-label IaaS solutions from AirVM

• May 20, 2013 20 May'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 17 May 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important IT channel news stories from the past seven days, as selected by MicroScope readers

• May 17, 2013 17 May'13

  Computacenter backs the Cloud Industry Forum

  Computacenter has signed up to the values and aims of the Cloud Industry Forum

• May 15, 2013 15 May'13

  Veeam aims to rekindle channel spark

  Veeam is looking to strengthen its channel and encourage more to embrace cloud storage solutions

• May 13, 2013 13 May'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 10 May 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important ICT channel stories from the past seven days, as selected by MicroScope readers

• May 10, 2013 10 May'13

  Customers investing in IT for growth not to cut costs

  Users are looking to invest in technology to drive growth rather than cutting costs according to the latest IT Index from Pearlfinders

• May 09, 2013 09 May'13

  Redstation datacentres to deploy Virgin 100Gbps network

  Datacentre specialist claims UK first following new agreement with Virgin Media Business

• April 30, 2013 30 Apr'13

  Intrinsic, Logicalis bag spots on Welsh public sector framework

  Award will help public sector buyers in Wales bypass complex procurement procedures

• April 29, 2013 29 Apr'13

  MicroScope cloud survey highlights reseller worries

  A MicroScope survey on cloud computing has revealed that resellers are worried about vendors and many are not yet convinced it's time for them to make major changes

• April 29, 2013 29 Apr'13

  EVault launches cloud disaster recovery service in EMEA

  Seagate-owned disaster recovery and backup specialist EVault has brought its Cloud Disaster Recovery (CDR) service across the Atlantic for the first time

• April 29, 2013 29 Apr'13

  CloudSense bolsters vertical reach with Impactive buy

  CloudSense has acquired financial and telecoms IT consultancy Impactive as it looks to continue its growth

• April 25, 2013 25 Apr'13

  Catbird flies into UK datacentre market

  Incoming software-defined security specialist opens UK base, cosies up to VMware channel

• April 23, 2013 23 Apr'13

  Alvea gets Cloud Industry Forum certification nod

  Badge will increase partner and customer confidence in Alvea cloud platform, firm says

• April 10, 2013 10 Apr'13

  Ball and Betz to build Veeam virtual infrastructure biz

  Beefing up its channel and sales teams is high on the agenda as Veeam recruits a new channel manager and regional director for the UK

• April 05, 2013 05 Apr'13

  Branson advice sparks UKFast enterprise division

  A chat with Virgin founder Richard Branson has sparked some changes at UKFast as it split into two distinct operations

• March 25, 2013 25 Mar'13

  Rise finds cloud demand changing reseller approach

  The growing demand for cloud and managed services is forcing a significant number of resellers to change their approach to customers

• March 19, 2013 19 Mar'13

  Claranet warns cloud ROI argument must be broader

  The cost justification of making a move to the cloud is being too narrowly assessed by many customers according to Claranet

• March 15, 2013 15 Mar'13

  PEER1 Hosting seeks Olympian talent

  Cloud specialist PEER1 Hosting wants to give a leg up to some of the many Team GB athletes looking for work after London 2012 and has embarked on a novel recruitment drive

• March 14, 2013 14 Mar'13

  CDG picks up Scalable asset, device management contract

  CDG and Scalable say their new UK distribution contract will enhance their partners’ ability to cut costs for their customers

• March 06, 2013 06 Mar'13

  Comms disties join forces to host Vidyo services

  Telecoms distributor NeoWave has teamed up with some of its overseas peers to form a joint venture dedicated to offering hosted video collaboration services based on Vidyo software

• February 28, 2013 28 Feb'13

  Six Degrees warns against cloud confusion

  Channel cloud providers are causing confusion by using too much jargon and not providing enough education according to the results of research from the Six Degrees Group

• February 25, 2013 25 Feb'13

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 22 February 2013

  Our regular look back at the most important channel news stories from the past seven days

• January 16, 2013 16 Jan'13

  Juniper adds services, cloud support to VAR programme

  Juniper Networks has used the opening day of its worldwide partner conference, currently underway in Las Vegas, to add new services and cloud specialisation options to its VAR programme

• January 08, 2013 08 Jan'13

  SICL keeps Yorkshire Air Ambulances flying

  SICL has renewed its services and support agreement with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) to provide £170,000 worth of hardware and services to the charity through 2018

• January 07, 2013 07 Jan'13

  NGD teams up with Next Connex to boost service capabilities

  Datacentre provider Next Generation Data (NGD) has teamed up with fibre network owner Next Connex to improve the quality of service it is able to offer to its channel customers

• January 03, 2013 03 Jan'13

  Former SCC staffer lands services role at Bull

  Bull UK and Ireland has recruited a new sales and services director as it looks for more growth in the year ahead

• December 11, 2012 11 Dec'12

  Redstone celebrates first ever pre-tax profit

  Despite a slip in revenues, managed network services provider Redstone booked its first ever profit before taxation of £200,000 in the six months to the end of September, reversing a loss of £1.5m in the year-ago period

• December 06, 2012 06 Dec'12

  Magirus, Avnet TS first to claim VSPEX assembly badge in EMEA

  Magirus, and by extension its new owner Avnet Technology Solutions (ATS), has become the first European distie to bag the EMC VSPEX Assembly Services Capability badge

• December 03, 2012 03 Dec'12

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 30 November 2012

  Our regular look back at the biggest channel news stories from the past seven days

• November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12

  ANS half-year numbers reflect growth trajectory

  Datacentre and cloud services specialist ANS Group has announced a 13% uptick in its six monthly sales figures to 30 September, with revenues hitting £20.3m and net operating profit up 18% to £1.3m

• November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12

  UK SME cloud market heading for £2bn revenue

  The UK SME market continues to invest in cloud computing with the latest resarch into the market from Parallels indicating its just a few years away from being a £2bn market

• November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 23 November 2012

  Our regular look back at the most read stories on MicroScope.co.uk from the past seven days

• November 23, 2012 23 Nov'12

  Claranet buys Star to build £120m MSP

  Internet service provider turned managed services specialist Claranet has forked out £55m to acquire managed technology services outfit Star with the intent of building a £120m MSP business in Europe

• November 23, 2012 23 Nov'12

  Changing culture key to unlocking managed services

  A managed services specialist that has made the journey from break-fix urges others considering a similar journey to appreciate the internal challenges

• November 21, 2012 21 Nov'12

  Cost and complexity fears hold back cloud adoption

  MicroScope research of the SME customer base has found security, cost and complexity fears are holding back wider cloud adoption

• November 20, 2012 20 Nov'12

  SME cloud opportunity still sizeable

  A decent chunk of the SME market has yet to embrace the cloud, leaving the door open for resellers

• November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12

  Imago, Vidyo team up to offer VAR cloud video service

  Video solutions VAD Imago Group says it has become the first European hosted video distributor after signing a new compact with telepresence software specialist Vidyo

• November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12

  Vendors undermining reseller services ambitions

  Brocade has found that its partners services ambitions are being undermined by the general failing by most vendors to provide innovative and flexible solutions

• November 05, 2012 05 Nov'12

  Embotics expands distribution line-up

  Cloud management specialist Embotics has added a couple of distributors to its channel line-up as it looks to increase the business generated by resellers in the UK and Benelux

• October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12

  Emulex launches new channel promotions

  Converged networking vendor Emulex is launching a number of channel promotions to bolster sales of its datacentre and cloud infrastructure performance-boosting kit

• October 26, 2012 26 Oct'12

  Government launches next phase of G-Cloud project

  The second phase of the G-Cloud project has gone live with hundreds of new suppliers, including a substantial number of resellers, named to the public sector cloud buying programme

• October 24, 2012 24 Oct'12

  VMware profits dip as expenses rack up

  Although it booked growth across the board in licence and services revenues, VMware’s profits failed to keep pace with the runaway growth in virtualisation and cloud infrastructure in Q3

• October 24, 2012 24 Oct'12

  Datacentre traffic will grow four times by 2016, predicts Cisco

  Global datacentre traffic will grow four times by 2016 to reach a total of 6.6 zettabytes annually, Cisco Systems’ Global Cloud Index has forecast

• October 22, 2012 22 Oct'12

  BT highlights cloud momentum

  BT and Ovum has revealed that there is a swing in favour of cloud computing thanks to buying patterns changing with networking and IT coming under the same roof

• October 18, 2012 18 Oct'12

  Cisco and Citrix close in on mobile cloud

  Citrix and Cisco are looking to build on their technology relationship to ensure they can improve the options for cloud computing users

• October 09, 2012 09 Oct'12

  VMworld Europe: Colt adds backup, disaster recovery services to vCloud

  Cloud and network provider Colt Technology Services has added backup and disaster recovery services to its vCloud services platform in response to channel and customer demand

• October 02, 2012 02 Oct'12

  Cloud Distribution sets the Ball rolling

  Value added distie Cloud Distribution has named network veteran James Ball as its technical manager as it seeks to capitalise on its recent growth and move up “to the next level”

• September 26, 2012 26 Sep'12

  Cisco reacts to cloud changes with Master certification

  Cisco has introduced a Master Cloud Builder specialisation as it looks to generate more resellers capable of selling a wide ranging solution to meet customer needs

• September 26, 2012 26 Sep'12

  Ingram celebrates a year of channel transformation

  Ingram Micro has marked the first anniversary of the Channel Transformation Alliance by outlining its plans to increase reseller support in year two

• September 25, 2012 25 Sep'12

  Rise appoints channel head to support reseller cloud moves

  Rise has appointed Sue MacDermott as head of channel with a brief to help more resellers make the transition to the cloud as it looks to get more business through existing partners

• September 24, 2012 24 Sep'12

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 21 September 2012

  Our regular look back at the most read stories from the past week on MicroScope.co.uk

• September 21, 2012 21 Sep'12

  Oracle sees hardware decline, SaaS shine

  Oracle has once again seen its quarterly hardware sales tumbling, and the decline only looks set to continue as the vendor struggles to turn around its Sun business

• September 21, 2012 21 Sep'12

  Phoenix calls for closer scrutiny of cloud SLAs

  With cloud sales on the rise the potential for confusion over delivery has also increased leading to Phoenix to call for greater understanding and clarity around SLAs

• September 19, 2012 19 Sep'12

  Cloud growth a wake up for the channel

  Recent figures showing strong growth in adoption of hosted applications and services in recent months should spur reseller activity in this area

• September 18, 2012 18 Sep'12

  Alvea launches IaaS programme

  Cloud platform and service provider Alvea has unveiled a partner programme aimed at increasing the profile of its infrastructure service

• September 14, 2012 14 Sep'12

  HDD or SSD debate heads to the cloud

  The appeal of solid state drives is something that cloud providers are going to have to start thinking more about as customers look for quick performance options

• September 12, 2012 12 Sep'12

  Salford City Council offers cloud service to local businesses

  Salford City Council will offer a private cloud service to local businesses through a partnership with ANS Group

• September 11, 2012 11 Sep'12

  Public cloud spend to hit $40bn this year, says IDC

  Global spending on public IT cloud services is set to hit over $40bn (£25bn) this year on its way to a $100bn high four years from now, according to the latest statistics from the industry-watchers at IDC.

• September 11, 2012 11 Sep'12

  Six Degrees signs up to Interxion carrier community

  Acquisitive cloud services and UC provider Six Degrees division Datahop has signed up to offer network services via carrier-neutral datacentre provider Interxion’s new London facility.

• September 03, 2012 03 Sep'12

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 31 August 2012

  Our weekly run down of the top 10 most read stories on MicroScope.co.uk.

• August 29, 2012 29 Aug'12

  ANS proclaims i3 FlexPod architecture massive success

  Manchester-based services provider ANS Group has proclaimed its Infrastructure 3.0 (i3) proposition a rip-roaring success after powering to record profits and sales during the financial year ending 31 March.

• August 28, 2012 28 Aug'12

  VMware kills vRAM licence scheme at VMworld

  In his first act as incoming VMware CEO, Pat Gelsinger used a VMworld keynote on Monday to ditch its controversial vRAM licensing scheme.

• August 20, 2012 20 Aug'12

  Level 3 boosts UK datacentre capacity

  Comms services provider Level 3 is adding to its UK enterprise datacentre capacity to support international business requirements.

• August 16, 2012 16 Aug'12

  Melbourne gives iomart Manchester base

  Cloud hosting specialist iomart Group has acquired Manchester-based hosting firm Melbourne Server Hosting, giving it a physical presence in north-west England for the first time.

• August 14, 2012 14 Aug'12

  Admiral bosses jump ship in SilverBug merger

  Admiral IT and two of its sister firms are to merge with outsourcer SilverBug to create a new managed services player.

• August 07, 2012 07 Aug'12

  Cloud driving outsourcing market growth

  Gartner figures show the growth in the IT outsourcing market is coming from cloud related services

• August 02, 2012 02 Aug'12

  intY looks for channel growth post acquisition

  Following its acquisition by Weather the cloud specialist intY is looking to grow the number of resellers it works with in the channel

• August 02, 2012 02 Aug'12

  Microsoft appoints Ingram and Westcoast as SPLA disties

  Microsoft has concluded a distribution review awarding Ingram Micro and Westcoast with the right to service SPLA partners selling cloud services

• July 24, 2012 24 Jul'12

  SAP highlights a rising position in the cloud

  SAP has revealed that cloud revenues have climbed sharply in its Q2 results giving it the chance to talk about taking a market leading position

• July 17, 2012 17 Jul'12

  EMC shuffles management pack to back cloud commitment

  EMC has made a couple of senior appointments in its channel team to support its ambition to get more resellers selling cloud products and services

• July 13, 2012 13 Jul'12

  ElasticHosts offers resellers white label cloud service

  ElasticHosts has taken the wraps off a white label cloud service that resellers can brand as their own as they look to keep customers from migrating to alternative providers

• July 09, 2012 09 Jul'12

  Cloud driving 2012 IT spend growth, says Gartner

  Gartner has raised its worldwide IT spending forecast by half a percentage point as enterprise buyers get cloud fever.

• July 08, 2012 08 Jul'12

  MicroScope's top stories, week ending 6 July 2012

  Our weekly round-up of the top 10 most read stories here on MicroScope.co.uk

• July 06, 2012 06 Jul'12

  NGD to fill South Wales datacentre with hosted VARs

  Datacentre operator Next Generation Data (NGD) has hired former Mitel and VegaStream man Steve Davis to spearhead recruitment of channel cloud service providers and hosting specialists.

• July 06, 2012 06 Jul'12

  Citrix joins Cloud Industry Forum

  Citrix has signed up to the Cloud Industry Forum, joining the likes of Microsoft and VMware.

• July 05, 2012 05 Jul'12

  Morse swells revenues but profits still elusive at 2e2

  2e2 releases its financial results for 2011 revealing that the business is cutting its losses and its transition to an industry vertical approach is paying off

• July 04, 2012 04 Jul'12

  Arrow ECS takes wraps off ArrowSphere

  Distributor becomes the latest to unveil cloud strategy with an aggregation and brokerage platform ArrowSphere launching to UK resellers from next week and then across Europe

• July 04, 2012 04 Jul'12

  Cloud spending set to rise as users seek savings

  TechTarget research into customer buying intentions reveals that almost three quarters of customers are planning to roll out a cloud investment in the next two years seeking efficiency gains and cost savings

• July 04, 2012 04 Jul'12

  Smith steps back as Redstone losses narrow

  Redstone chairman Ian Smith has stepped back from the role he took on in 2010 as the IT and networking integrator consolidates its recovery.

• July 02, 2012 02 Jul'12

  Avnet polishes off Magirus

  Five years after it bought its enterprise IT distribution business, Avnet has returned to the table to acquire the remainder of datacentre solutions distributor Magirus.

• June 26, 2012 26 Jun'12

  Comstor plants flag in Cisco, NetApp FlexPod environment

  Cisco-specialist Comstor has revealed it is to sell Cisco and NetApp's FlexPod datacentre architecture in EMEA after being handed distribution rights to the converged networking, server and storage solution.

• June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12

  Magirus gets prescription for new VSPEX

  Magirus is to offer EMC's midmarket-focused VSPEX cloud infrastructure product alongside its own SME vBundle offering after extending its partnership with the firm, and will be launching two new channel-enablement programmes to help boost sales of ...

• June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12

  Alvea adds DNS functionality to cloud portfolio

  The Alvea cloud platform continues to expand its services for resellers with a DNS managed service being added to the list of functions it can provide the channel.

• June 15, 2012 15 Jun'12

  ANS among first to nab elite Cisco NetApp FlexPod badge

  Networking and cloud integrator ANS has become one of the first Cisco and NetApp partners in the UK, alongside DiData and Logicalis, to be named to the vendors' joint FlexPod Premium Partner Framework.

• June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12

  Daisy launches CloudSelect offering at Cloud World Forum

  Daisy Group has become the latest services player to plunge headlong into the increasingly crowded pool of cloud providers, launching its CloudSelect offering at the fourth annual Cloud Computing World Forum in London.