News

Network Infrastructure Solutions and Services

February 23, 2011 23 Feb'11
Ingram Micro beefs up UK Blackberry team

Ingram Micro has appointed Steve Hillman as its UK Telecommunications Products lead as it rolls out RIM's Blackberry mobile lines in the UK.
February 22, 2011 22 Feb'11
Ipswitch takes top level VARs direct, cuts discounts for others

The Network Management division of Ipswitch is inducting top level Gold partners into a new two-tier programme and will reduce discount levels to Silver and Bronze level dealers through sole distributor Computerlinks in a channel shake-up.
February 21, 2011 21 Feb'11
Social media options a turn off for UC buyers

Ahead of the annual UC Expo trade show in March, research conducted by the event's organisers has revealed that the number of potential communication methods available to business users is making it harder for firms to speak with a truly unified ...
February 18, 2011 18 Feb'11
Azlan hears AudioCodes call

VoIP and voice networking vendor AudioCodes has signed up with Azlan in a new deal covering the UK and Ireland.

February 17, 2011 17 Feb'11
Virgin Media Business sees strong end to 2010

Virgin Media Business, the b2b arm of ISP Virgin Media, has posted a 4.7% year-on-year uptick in fourth quarter sales after strong growth in data and wholesale revenues. The unit made total sales of £152m in the last three months of 2010.
February 16, 2011 16 Feb'11
Chinese comms firm to bid for Nortel patents

Chinese telecoms firm ZTE has thrown its hat into the ring in the race to acquire Nortel's networking patents, expressing particular interest in its LTE intellectual property (IP), according to Reuters. In an interview, ZTE IP director Wang Haibo ...
February 15, 2011 15 Feb'11
ShoreTel outlines plan for profitability, acquisitions

ShoreTel worldwide sales senior vice president and former interim CEO Don Girskis has outlined the UC vendor's evolving strategy and thrown his weight behind newly-appointed CEO Peter Blackmore's pledge to turn the firm profitable by the middle of ...
February 14, 2011 14 Feb'11
Daisy acquires competitor O-bit Telecom

Business comms provider Daisy Group has acquired Buckinghamshire-based O-bit Telecom in its eleventh acquisition since listing on the AIM 18 months ago.
February 14, 2011 14 Feb'11
Telco sector already proving M&A watchers right

The tie-up between Nokia and Microsoft is being heralded as an indicator that those predicting a large amount of activity in the telco sector are on the right track.
February 11, 2011 11 Feb'11
Chess Telecom backs off voice provision to BT

Buy-and-build comms reseller Chess Telecom will now offer voice services to its customers through BT Wholesale after inking a multi-million pound deal with the telco.

February 11, 2011 11 Feb'11
Nokia, Microsoft deal 'will disrupt' mobile market

As predicted this week, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop this morning made up with his old boss Steve Ballmer and announced a technology partnership between Microsoft and the struggling Finnish mobility vendor, with the two saying they would "disrupt" other ...
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
Alcatel-Lucent profits on the way up at last

Troubled networking vendor Alcatel-Lucent posted its first ever sequential rise in net profits during its fourth quarter, banking €340m (£288m) in the last three months of the year, after booking some substantial pre-tax gains.
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
Cisco numbers spook the market once again

Network bellwether Cisco has again frightened off analysts after CEO John Chambers said it had posted weaker margins and talked of slower public sector and consumer spending during the vendor's second quarter, which closed on 29 January.
February 10, 2011 10 Feb'11
Sourcefire plans to extend services through resellers

Web security specialist Sourcefire has indicated it is aiming to ramp up the services and support revenues for its reseller base.
February 09, 2011 09 Feb'11
Netgear posts quarterly sales record

SMB networking kit specialist Net gear has jumped to record sales for both the fourth quarter and full year after strong sales through service providers and a higher than expected contribution from a glut of 26 new product lines released during the ...
February 09, 2011 09 Feb'11
Nokia a 'burning platform' says CEO Elop

In a frank memo circulated among staff at Finnish mobility giant Nokia, CEO Stephen Elop has issued a brutal assessment of the company's current situation to staff, saying that they are "standing on a burning platform".
February 09, 2011 09 Feb'11
TalkTalk cuts 580 jobs as sales remain flat

TalkTalk is to cut 580 jobs in a "major reorganisation" of its business operations as the integration of Tiscali continues. The cuts will come as part of a restructure that should see the business save £25m per annum.
February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11
Smart phone security threats on the rise

Smart phone security threats are becoming an increasing problem as hackers target the growing number of users using their handheld devices to store sensitive information.
February 08, 2011 08 Feb'11
Antenna picks up mobile internet specialist

Mobility software outfit Antenna Software has forked out an undisclosed sum to acquire mobile internet software company Volant's systems as part of an attempt to position itself as an end-to-end mobile solutions provider for the carrier market.
February 03, 2011 03 Feb'11
BT makes progress but revenues dip again

BT has posted a slight dip in revenues for the second quarter in succession as its Global Services and Retail operations saw turnover drop.
February 03, 2011 03 Feb'11
Virgin Media Business sets sights on data centres

Virgin Media Business is extending its network into data centres to widen its potential market and is looking to the channel to help it carve out a stake in the emerging cloud infrastructure space.
February 02, 2011 02 Feb'11
New UK CEO for Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent has appointed former BT managing director of group and Open reach service operations Lucy Dimes as its new UK and Ireland CEO, replacing Lakh Jemmett, who is to take up the post of EMEA vice president of transformation in April.
February 02, 2011 02 Feb'11
Juniper adds new EMEA partner head

Juniper Networks has named its vice president of Strategic Alliances, David Helfer, to the post of EMEA partner vice president.
February 01, 2011 01 Feb'11
Extreme makes redundancies as growth slows

Second quarter profits and sales at Extreme Networks have scraped in at the low-end of previously issued guidance.
February 01, 2011 01 Feb'11
Ofcom told to look at practicalities of web site blocking

Ofcom has been handed the task of discovering if the parts of the Digital Economy Act intended to block sites providing illegal content can be blocked. One of the main anti-piracy weapons in the Act is the ability to use the courts to block ...
February 01, 2011 01 Feb'11
Network could grow productivity 5% annually, says Cisco CEO

Speaking this morning at the Cisco Live event in London, Cisco CEO John Chambers has called for European businesses to use their networks to improve productivity in the economic recovery, and warned that there is "no such thing" as a truly secure ...
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
Android vaults Symbian to grab smartphone market leadership

As predicted, Google's Android smartphone operating system has become the market leading OS, pushing rival Nokia into second place, according to the latest quarterly smartphone figures from Canalys.
January 31, 2011 31 Jan'11
D-Link adds new maintenance, support structure

Partners reselling networking lines from SMB-centric vendor D-Link will be able to add extra support, maintenance and warranty options following the launch of a new programme dubbed D-Link Assist.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
Nortel pension campaign knocked back by Canadian ruling

The Pensions Regulator's quest to make Nortel cover a multi-billion pound deficit in its UK pension scheme has received a setback following a Supreme Court verdict in Canada.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
ScanSource hits new sales record

Avaya and Extreme Networks distributor ScanSource has posted record sales and net profits for the three months to the end of January.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
KCOM forecasts Public Sector Network strength

In an interim management statement released to the City today, network integrator KCOM has revealed that its trading over the past months has been in line with market expectations and talked up the Public Sector Network (PSN) project.
January 27, 2011 27 Jan'11
Avnet posts Q2 rise in sales and profits

Avnet recorded a double digit rise in sales and profits for its fiscal second quarter fuelled by a rise in tech spending and acquisitions.
January 27, 2011 27 Jan'11
ShoreTel CEO pledges profitability by Q4

IP telephony vendor ShoreTel returned a GAAP net loss for its fiscal Q2, but an otherwise sound quarterly performance coupled with healthy revenue figures has led new CEO Peter Blackmore to say the company will be profitable by Q4.
January 27, 2011 27 Jan'11
BSkyB buys The Cloud

As predicted earlier this week, media group and ISPBSkyB has added Wi-Fi provider The Cloud to its line-up for an undisclosed sum understood to be under £50m.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
Enforce Technology buys Network SI hosting unit

Security specialist Enforce Technology has acquired the business assets of fallen managed and hosting services SME reseller Network SI in a pre-pack deal.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
Juniper pins future growth on mobile web, clouds

Juniper Networks has closed off its financial year with a record quarterly performance, booking sales of $1.19bn (£750m), up 26% year-on-year and 18% sequentially, while GAAP net profit grew 31% year-on-year to $190m. Full-year sales were up ...
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
O2 launches national Wi-Fi grid

Mobility and broadband provider O2 has this morning announced plans to deploy a free-to-access public Wi-Fi platform across the UK. The firm said that the network would be open to all customers to access for free, regardless of which mobile or ...
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
Network SI calls in corporate recovery firm to solve cash woes

Network SI has appointed RSM Tenon to help deal with its current financial instability and find a buyer, with the hosting unit likely to be sold imminently as part of a pre-pack administration.
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
BT Wholesale to cut prices for ISPs

BT Wholesale has announced a 25% cut to its Wholesale Ethernet Etherway connection charge for a six month period to the end of July.
January 25, 2011 25 Jan'11
Riverbed adds Avnet to UK distribution stable

Riverbed is expanding its reach beyond its traditional value added, niche distribution proposition with the signing of Avnet Technology Solutions in the UK.
January 24, 2011 24 Jan'11
Ericom bins Avnet, Exclusive for Computerlinks deal

Fresh from its recent signings of network monitoring outfit Gigamon and SMB network kit vendor D-Link, Computerlinks has added application access and virtualisation solutions firm Ericom to its line-up after ditching rival Citrix late last year.
January 24, 2011 24 Jan'11
Mayflex adds to networking team

Networking and security distributor Mayflex has shuffled its networking team, bringing in some new faces and shuffling some existing roles, as part of an attempt to offer more support to its dealer network.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Comstor handed Tandberg contract as Avnet leaves fold

Comstor has laughed off Avnet's parting threat to switch sell Tandberg reseller partners to Avaya, as it prepares to join Azlan in distributing the videoconferencing specialist across Europe.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Cisco names Brocklehurst as UK distribution boss

Cisco has ushered in a new head of UK distribution with regional sales manager Andy Brocklehurst stepping into the shoes of Gordon Mackintosh, who has left for warmer climes to take a senior role in the vendor's global SME sales programme.
January 21, 2011 21 Jan'11
Polycom profits soar once again

Video and unified communications specialist Polycom has posted a new sales record for the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2010, as the market for business video technology and applications continues to expand.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
Juniper benefits from exit of Windows 7 mastermind

Microsoft exec Brad Brooks has become the latest high-profile company man to jump ship after being appointed by Juniper Networks to run its global enterprise marketing efforts.
January 20, 2011 20 Jan'11
F5 drags down cloud networking market after missing forecasts

Cloud networking vendor F5 Networks took a battering on the stock market after its fiscal Q1 sales came in below expectations, and a weak forecast for Q2 did not help matters. The slump in the firm's stock price has also hit rivals such as Aruba and...
January 19, 2011 19 Jan'11
Apple owns up to iPhone 4 shortages

Apple has underestimated demand for the iPhone4 and is facing shortages of its iconic device, but has refused to commit to saying when its supply chain issues will be resolved.
January 19, 2011 19 Jan'11
Carphone raises guidance on strong US figures

Carphone Warehouse Group has raised its full-year profit guidance to between £90m and £100m as a result of a strong quarterly performance from JV partner Best Buy's American mobile unit, in which CPW has a profit-sharing agreement.
January 19, 2011 19 Jan'11
ShoreTel signs ScanSource

IP phone supplier ShoreTel has added growing networking VAD ScanSource to its distribution stable in a move it says will enable it to build momentum and capture increased market share in the IP telephony, mobility and UC markets.
January 18, 2011 18 Jan'11
Computacenter names Gooding to run UK networking unit

Computacenter has hired Logicalis sales director Duncan Gooding to push its networking business in the UK over the £100m milestone. Current incumbent Ade Foxall is moving to a new role managing CC's Cisco UCS business across Europe - a new ...
January 18, 2011 18 Jan'11
Juniper fires up global partner cloud training scheme

Juniper Networks has announced a new training and education programme built around cloud networking, security, switching, routing and mobility.
January 17, 2011 17 Jan'11
DMSL renews BT deal for two more years

Broadband, voice and data distributor DMSL has extended its BT Business contract through to 2013. The two firms have been doing business for over 10 years, in which time DMSL claims to have signed more than 30,000 BT Business contracts.
January 17, 2011 17 Jan'11
Aastra targets Microsoft, HP Networking channels

Comms vendor Aastra will be leaning on new distribution partner Westcoast to target Microsoft and HP resellers looking to branch out into telecoms sales, according to UK and Ireland managing director Alan Reeve.
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
Motorola split to ease channel solution sales

The amicable split between Motorola's handset division and its enterprise solutions and networking business will provide new levels of clarity for resellers trying to push its solutions in the marketplace, according to Motorola Solutions head of ...
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
EMEA unified comms market will double in size by 2014

The EMEA market for unified communications (UC) kit and services will double in size by 2014, according to the latest figures from market watchers IDC. With total sales in 2010 hitting $8bn (£5bn), IDC's analysts expect it to approach $16.6bn ...
January 14, 2011 14 Jan'11
Mitel names McBee as new CEO

Mitel has named Richard McBee, former president of comms and enterprise at Danaher, as its new CEO, replacing long-serving Don Smith, who stood down last year.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
Datatec CEO says customer confidence returning

Datatec reckons the IT industry is finally returning to meaningful growth, following a solid four months which tracked the high end of previous forecasts.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
Android to dominate Smartphone space in 2011, says Canalys

Android will continue to grow at more than twice the rate of its closest smart phone competitors this year, despite concerns over platform fragmentation, according to analyst firm Canalys.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
O2 and 2e2 form IT and comms joint venture

The slow march of mobile operators into the IT services market picked up pace today after carrier O2 and integrator 2e2 lifted the covers off a contractual joint venture.
January 13, 2011 13 Jan'11
ScanSource adds Avaya installation services to mix

Avaya distie ScanSource has launched a professional services offering in the UK, allowing its dealer channel to sell installation services on Avaya kit without having to invest in the resources needed to do it all themselves.
January 12, 2011 12 Jan'11
Easynet boss heads to BE Broadband

Recently-launched wholesale ISP BE Broadband - which is backed by O2 - has appointed the former head of SME provider Easynet Connect, Chris Stening, as its new managing director.
January 11, 2011 11 Jan'11
Computerlinks adds network management tools to stable

New market-based security and networking distil Computerlinks has added network monitoring kit from incoming US vendor Gigamon to its line-up in a move it says will complement its range of networking, security and virtualisation products.
January 10, 2011 10 Jan'11
Azlan launches Cisco UCS virtualisation drive

Cisco distributor Azlan has launched an on-boarding programme for partners keen to sell virtualisation as part of a UCS deployment.
January 06, 2011 06 Jan'11
Snom launches dealer IP training scheme

Comms vendor snow is to launch a Certified Engineer programme targeting resellers seeking entry to the IP telephony market, having successfully trialled a similar scheme in Italy.
January 05, 2011 05 Jan'11
Juniper team reunites at McAfee

McAfee has appointed former Juniper channel sales boss David Small to run its channel and commercial business in EMEA, after previous incumbent Georges Millet left to pursue other opportunities. Small joins just months after McAfee nabbed Juniper's ...
January 05, 2011 05 Jan'11
Griffin jettisons VoIP services unit

Business internet services provider Griffin has sold off the VoIP assets that it acquired when it bought Fused Group last October.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
Bandwidth and uptime top corporate network concerns

Keeping networks ticking over and maintaining uptime and availability will remain the biggest concerns for corporate customers during 2011, according to research conducted on behalf of Ipswitch's Network Management Division.
January 04, 2011 04 Jan'11
Daisy rebrands distribution units for New Year

Acquisitive networking and comms provider Daisy Group has formally rebranded its distribution units, Anglia Telecom and Fone Logistics, as Daisy Distribution following a lengthy integration process.
December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10
Azzurri prepares for public sector outsourcing love in

Azzurri is forging a major accounts team for the public sector in anticipation of growing demand for outsourcing.
December 17, 2010 17 Dec'10
Redstone cuts losses in H1 fiscal 2011

The divestment programme of peripheral operations kicked off by Redstone's management helped stem losses in the first half of fiscal 2011, the firm said today.
December 16, 2010 16 Dec'10
BT channel ducks wholesale price bullet

Ofcom has formally ruled that BT will not be allowed to increase its wholesale charges in order to plug a £3.8bn deficit in its pension fund, confirming the results of its initial consultation.
December 15, 2010 15 Dec'10
KCOM boss Renucci resigns

KCOM Group finance boss Paul Simpson has assumed control of the firm following the resignation of executive director Paul Renucci.
December 15, 2010 15 Dec'10
Comms reseller Arrow buys TMG

Surrey-based mobility reseller Arrow Mobile Communications has splashed out an undisclosed sum on the assets of phone systems, maintenance and network services outfit TMG.
December 14, 2010 14 Dec'10
Ingram Micro continues to expand mobility line

Ingram Micro is continuing to expand the roll-out of kitto support its growing telecommunications division, which was given full access to RIM's mobility portfolio earlier this month.
December 13, 2010 13 Dec'10
Redstone to cut jobs as business units merge

Redstone is set to consolidate its three operating divisions into one trading entity with the loss of around 50 jobs.
December 13, 2010 13 Dec'10
ShoreTel ends hunt for CEO

ShoreTel has named former president and CEO of IP networking solutions provider UTStarcom, Peter Blackmore, as its new CEO, ending a five month hunt for John Combs' replacement.
December 13, 2010 13 Dec'10
STL sells comms division to Admiral

Suffolk-based cloud and virtualisation specialist and Microsoft Gold Partner STL Technologies has sold its telecoms division to IT, telephony and facilities management outfit Admiral Group for an undisclosed sum.
December 13, 2010 13 Dec'10
Nortel loses pension fight in High Court

Nortel has lost its legal battle against the Pensions Regulator in its attempt to make the bankrupt networking vendor liable for a £2.1bn deficit in its pension scheme through a Financial Support Direction (FSD).
December 10, 2010 10 Dec'10
Walsh to join comms services firm Colt in February

Former Computacenter UK managing director Simon Walsh -who resigned his post in November in order to take his career in a new direction- will take up the role of executive vice president of managed networking services provider Colt's Enterprise ...
December 09, 2010 09 Dec'10
Ciena posts ninth straight net loss

Optical networking vendor Ciena has posted its ninth sequential net loss in the final quarter of its fiscal 2010, which closed at the end of October.
December 09, 2010 09 Dec'10
Alcatel-Lucent in on pioneering LTE trial

Alcatel-Lucent and infrastructure outfit Arqiva have teamed up to start a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless trial in a remote part of Wales, using parts of the 800MHz spectrum freed up by the digital switchover.
December 09, 2010 09 Dec'10
NTT buying up last DiData shares

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT), which acquired systems integrator Dimension Data in July for £2.1bn,is pushing ahead with the purchase of the last few remaining shares in the company. This follows the expiry of a six-week period for the ...
December 08, 2010 08 Dec'10
Calyx CEO Timothy maps acquisition path as 2011 closes in

Calyx is currently mapping an acquisition strategy but has expressed early interest in building larger economies of scale in existing operations and getting more involved in software and infrastructure management services.
December 08, 2010 08 Dec'10
Silver Peak Betz on CDG distribution appointment

WAN optimisation outfit Silver Peak is continuing its EMEA expansion with the appointment of former Expand Networks EMEA sales head Mike Betzto the post of vice president of EMEA sales, and the appointment of data centre technology distributor CDG ...
December 07, 2010 07 Dec'10
Daisy numbers show impact of roll-up strategy

After acquiring numerous businesses during the course of 2010, comms and networking reseller Daisy Group has posted a pre-tax loss of £9.84m on sales of £119.9m, up 288% year-on-year for the six months to the end of September.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
Cisco, BMC team up for enterprise cloud sales

Cisco and BMC Software have put their marks to a new strategic alliance intended to develop and market large-scale multi-tenant cloud infrastructures.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
Juniper buys into virtualisation security market

Juniper Networks has forked out $95m (£60.6m) to acquire virtualisation security vendor Altor Networks, net of shares that it already owns in the business.
December 06, 2010 06 Dec'10
Hunt outlines coalition broadband plans

The culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is today setting out the coalition government's broadband strategy, setting a tentative date of 2015 to bring super-fast fiber broadband to between 85% and 90% of the UK, with the private sector shouldering the bulk...
December 03, 2010 03 Dec'10
Channel warned over voice security neglect

The rush towards convergence among voice and data resellers means that the security of voice and VoIP installations is being neglected with potentially damaging consequences.
December 03, 2010 03 Dec'10
Nortel auctions wind down with GDNT China sale

Nearly two full years after it first went into administration, Nortel has sold its final substantial asset, China-based Guandgong Nortel Telecommunication Equipment (GDNT), to Ericsson China for $50m in cash.
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
Mitel sales hold steady in Q2

Unified comms software vendor Mitel has made total sales of $161.1m (£103m) - down 0.8% - in the second quarter of its fiscal 2011. In unaudited figures for the three months to the end of October, the firm made GAAP net income of $80.9m, ...
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
Daisy buys into healthcare services with NEG

Acquisitive Daisy Group continues to cut a swathe through the business comms space after dipping into its war chest to acquire NEG MBO Two Ltd for an initial cash consideration of £23.5m.
December 02, 2010 02 Dec'10
Brocade names ex-HP man as EMEA channel head

Brocade has named former HP Networking man Alain Valluy as its new EMEA channel director, replacing Amanda Giddins, who left the company in October.
December 01, 2010 01 Dec'10
Motorola to split in January

After a process that has taken over two years, Motorola has finally set 4 January 2011 as the date on which it will split into two firms, Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility.
November 29, 2010 29 Nov'10
Computerlinks plans satellite net services

Computerlinks has announced plans to provide parts of its Alvea channel managed services portfolio through newly-launched broadband satellite, HYLAS 1.
November 29, 2010 29 Nov'10
Government urged to push broadband investment

Broadband speeds across the EU are much faster than they were 12 months ago, say new statistics released by the European Commission, but member governments must do more to ensure their digital economies remain competitive, according to Brussels.
November 29, 2010 29 Nov'10
Astaro looks to expand channel with key appointment

Unified Threat Management (UTM) specialist Astaro has recruited a sales director from its rival to drive UK channel growth. Vinod Chamdal, takes up the post of UK sales director at Astaro with a brief to expand its channel numbers and increase ...
November 26, 2010 26 Nov'10
Networks First latest Cisco partner to trial apps

Networking support services provider Networks First has become the latest industry player to unveil an iPhone app pitched at the channel.
November 26, 2010 26 Nov'10
B2Net acquires Cisco partner Essant

Services-based storage reseller B2net has acquired small London-based Cisco Gold partner Essant for an undisclosed sum.