BE READY TO TAKE THE CALL, WHEREVER YOU’RE CONNECTED The Voyager™ 5200 UC Bluetooth headset offers our most advanced, adaptive noise cancelling with WindSmart technology to reduce disruptive noise. IT’S READY TO WORK.
PLUG IN TO EXERTIS
IS IT STILL GOOD TO TALK?
Learn more about the channel event of the year and why you need to attend!
The future of UC platforms and why this is an exciting growth area for resellers
S P R I N G i s s u e 7.
VOYAGER™ 5200 UC
business
Your voice, your day, your way.
FUTURE
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Copyright ©Exertis (UK) Ltd 2017
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12 PLUG IN TO EXERTIS
FUTURE
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BE PART OF A CUSTOMER’S GDPR JOURNEY
DEMONSTRATING ENTERPRISE 2.0
CONTENTS 05 EXERTIS COMMENT Phil Brown introduces the spring edition of The Future Business
06 NEWS IN BRIEF A quick look at what’s happening in the technology market
08 MARKET STATS UPDATE We look at the current technology trends you should be aware of
12 PLUG IN TO EXERTIS
Find out what you can expect to experience and how you can register for the channel event of the year where we will be showcasing our technology range from consumer to enterprise
21 EXERTIS MEDIUM
Following our acquisition of Medium, here’s how you can benefit from our new look AV division with its increased technical expertise and comprehensive product portfolio
24 MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY Learn how to save time and money with the FSB’s new energy saving comparison tool
28 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS THE DRIVING FORCE FOR CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The public sector remains a hot bed of technology opportunities for resellers. Whilst the government is committed to making savings in the public sector, it has committed £billions to technology spending across the public sector which can only be good news for resellers
32 HOT PICKS
A range of best-selling products designed to make you more margin
16 UC: IS IT STILL GOOD TO TALK?
Read the thoughts of John Bird, Exertis head of UC systems and support services on why UC is such an exciting opportunity for resellers
39 HOW TO: BE PART OF A CUSTOMER’S GDPR JOURNEY What can resellers do to prepare their customers for the General Data Protection Regulation
47 DEMONSTRATING ENTERPRISE 2.0
Find out how you can benefit from Exertis’ enterprise demo suite and why it’s a big hit for resellers and their customers
51 TIME IS TICKING FOR MIGRATION TO WINDOWS 10 Exploit the opportunities in managed services with Exertis
58 MUST HAVE ACCESSORIES
Our top 10 recommended accessory products for business
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Join us at the channel technology event of the year! 11th May 2017 - Twickenham Stadium Want to discover the latest solutions and hear from industry experts specialising in your areas of interest? You can! Interested in diversifying into other technology markets that could grow your business? That’s fine too! At “Plug in to Exertis” we’ve got technology covered. It’s what we do best, distributing a technology range from consumer to enterprise with market leading vendors and teams of skilled professionals dedicated to providing expertise and support for our partners. So whether you’re a new or existing customer, this is the channel event for you!
WHAT TO EXPECT: 80+ of our leading vendors showcasing their products and solutions Technology suites with seminars on key topics from industry experts Keynotes from our UK MD Paul Bryan and rugby legend Will Greenwood on Winning in Business An evening pitch side reception with drinks and canapes
Register today:
exertis.co.uk/plugin
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk
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Publisher Exertis Editor Nerissa Tong Design Sophie Hammond Website store.exertis.co.uk
WELCOME FROM EXERTIS Welcome to our first edition of 2017. It’s a busy time at Exertis as we approach our year end, so expect lots of activity and opportunity in March. Talking of opportunity, we have launched a major channel event for our customers. “Plug in to Exertis” will showcase our technology portfolio from consumer to enterprise, featuring over eighty of our market leading vendors and five technology suites focused on AV, consumer, enterprise, mobile and print, each with a programme of seminars on hot topics from industry experts. Full details and how to register are on pages 12/13.
Technology is an enabler here and resellers can be the trusted advisor as you can find out in our How to article in this issue.
Following our acquisition, we have now integrated Medium into our business. This provides AV specialist resellers and resellers with an AV requirement with a compelling proposition bringing together a strong portfolio of market leading and emerging vendors, and most importantly an expert technical team that can support your business. You can find out more on pages 21/22.
Technology in the public sector is seldom out of the news and the government has published its Digital Transformation Strategy that continues to provide opportunities for resellers in this sector. Indeed, there is still legacy that requires updating in some areas. Our feature looks at what this means for resellers on page 28.
If you want to take advantage of the UC market, then there’s some interesting thoughts on page 16 from John Bird, our head of UC systems and support services, on how it’s possible to communicate in all ways, according to all customer preferences in a totally integrated and economic way.
Our enterprise demo suite in Basingstoke is also a great place to get advice and help. This facility is used by reseller partners of all kinds and their customers. Sessions are hands-on, interactive and tailored to suit individual requirements for server and storage solutions. Read about it on page 47 or better still, arrange for a visit.
Besides the above, we have our regular news stories, market stats, hot picks and must-have accessories as well as our regular feature article from the Federation of Small Business. Enjoy the read and thanks for your continued support.
In just over a year from now, the GDPR regulation comes into force. Whilst there is a lot of information out there on this topic, it’s still pretty evident that companies aren’t totally prepared for being compliant.
Phil Brown Sales and commercial Director, IT and Enterprise
Altham Sales: 01282 776 776 Address: Shorten Brook Way, Altham Business Park Altham Accrington Lancashire BB5 5YJ To place an order please call 01282 776 776 between 9am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday
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IT SPENDING WORLDWIDE TO GROW SAYS GARTNER Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.5 trillion in 2017, a 2.7% increase from 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. However, this growth rate is down from earlier projections of 3%. Worldwide devices spending (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) is projected to remain flat in 2017 at $589bn. A replacement cycle in the PC market and strong pricing and functionality of premium ultramobiles will help drive growth in 2018. Emerging markets will drive the replacement cycle for mobile phones as smartphones in these markets are used as a main computing device and replaced more regularly than in mature markets.
CONNECTED THINGS TO GROW Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 8.4bn connected things will be in use worldwide in 2017, up 31% from 2016, and will reach 20.4bn by 2020. Total spending on endpoints and services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017.
BREXIT IMPACTS UK PC MARKET SAYS IDC The EMEA PC market stabilised in Q4, declining only 0.2% annually, thanks to strong demand in the commercial space and a Chromebooks boom. But the Brexit vote caused a headache in the UK, prompting the local PC market to slump 6.2% year on year. Figures from IDC show that in the final quarter of 2016, total PC shipments in EMEA reached 20.7m, down 0.2% year on year. Notebooks performed well in the region, up 2.9%, and “strong demand” was triggered in the commercial space, which grew 10.1%. For the whole of 2016, PC shipments fell 6.1% to 71.6m units, said IDC, adding that Windows 10 “did not drive extensive renewals”. However, Chromebooks - especially in the education sector - led to “strong demand for notebooks” in the second half. Although the whole EMEA region performed well in Q4, the same could not be said for the UK. “As the pound has become a turbulent currency following the Brexit vote in the UK, the British traditional PC market was impacted negatively, down 6.2%,” said IDC.
The consumer segment is the largest user of connected things with 5.2bn units in 2017, which represents 63% of the overall number of applications in use. Businesses are on pace to employ 3.1bn connected things in 2017. “Aside from automotive systems, the applications that will be most in use by consumers will be smart TVs and digital set-top boxes, while smart electric meters and commercial security cameras will be most in use by businesses,” said Peter Middleton, research director at Gartner.
VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) IS A SALES REALITY VR R headsets got o off to a strong start in their first year of consumer shipments. hipments. Canalys Can predicts shipments will have exceeded 2m units worldwide iin 2016. This number is forecast to grow to 20% by 2020. The he lion’ lion’s share of 2016 shipments are basic VR headsets that rely n ot on other devices, generally being tethered by cable to a desktop PC. Shipments h of smart VR headsets, which can function independently, will reach over 100,000 units. These estimates only include VR headsets with integrated displays, so exclude simple viewers, such as Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Daydream View, which are also shipping in the millions. As expected, Sony has quickly become the VR market leader, with its affordable PlayStation VR catering to the vast PlayStation 4 installed base. For any VR requirements, please speak to your Exertis account manager today.
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IT’S NOT ALL CLOUD Gartner claims that public cloud spending alone grew 17% last year to $208.6bn (£167.4bn) and IDC reckons that by 2020, spending on off-premise IT will overtake on-prem IT spending for the first time. Speaking to CRN, Canalys’ chief analyst Alastair Edwards said that the industry ought to remember its traditional roots in products, because for many, it is paying the bills. “There is a tendency to forget that we’re an industry led by hype, and everyone is focusing on cloud and the shift to services, and so on,” he said. “On one hand, there is clearly a transition in the market that has massive implications for that legacy business the channel has relied on for growth. Areas such as storage and PCs went through a tough time last year, and particularly in 2015. “But when you look at the results of the major channel partners in EMEA in Q4 - and not just Europe, but globally - it’s important to see that the product business still represents the lion’s share of most partners’ sales. It’s a big part of the business.”
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk
FUTURE EXERTIS APPOINTS ENTERPRISE SALES DIRECTOR
Kevin Matthews has joined Exertis as enterprise sales director. In this newly created role, Matthews will be responsible for driving engagement with key value added resellers, ensuring that sales opportunities are maximised with the company’s growing enterprise portfolio of market-leading vendors, and building enterprise solutions that drive incremental business. “Kevin has extensive sales experience in the channel particularly in the enterprise sector and has built strong business relationships with major accounts. He is the ideal candidate to own our enterprise solutions sales strategy and to maximise the investment in our enterprise business which has been further strengthened by acquisition and key vendor contracts,” said Phil Brown, Exertis, IT sales and commercial director. Matthews joins from Fujitsu where he was UK sales director for the Technology Products Group. Previously, he spent sixteen years at Hewlett-Packard, latterly leading their enterprise channel business, where he accelerated the sale of HP enterprise products through the introduction of many innovative sales initiatives and strong customer engagement.
WHAT’S NEW AT EXERTIS Exertis has announced the following new vendors to its portfolio:
CARS NOT READY YET FOR FULL AUTOMATION SAYS CANALYS Canalys forecasts that in 2025, 15% of new passenger car sales worldwide will be autonomous vehicles, with either conditional or full autonomy capabilities i.e. where human intervention isn’t required. The automotive industry and many technology companies are working towards a future of autonomous vehicles. But it will take a huge effort from where the industry is today. Canalys estimates that only 1.3% of cars sold in 2016 will offer partial autonomy i.e. where a human has primary control but with some automated vehicle assistance, and the only cars with conditional or full autonomy in 2016 are for research and development purposes or being used in small public trials.
AD BLOCKERS FACING REALITY Less than a quarter of UK online adults use ad blocking software, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). The figures have remained at around 22% for the last year, it suggested. The IAB puts this down to publishers increasingly denying access to users who have ad blockers turned on. “A key reason is publishers denying access to content to ad blockers which, in effect, has created that ‘lightbulb’ moment for people who realise that they cannot access free content without seeing the advertising that funds it. The industry has worked hard on promoting this ‘value exchange’ and it’s paying off.”
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ClearOne: A market leader in the design and development of innovative conferencing, collaboration, and network streaming & signage solutions for voice and visual communications that provide unprecedented levels of functionality and reliability. Designed for both small business and large enterprises, their audio and visual solutions are simple to deploy either locally or within the cloud, highly affordable and easily scalable. Portnox: A market leader for network access control and management solutions designed to ensure security and compliance for businesses of all sizes and vertical markets. Jason Hill, Exertis, security sales director said “Portnox’s CORE and CLEAR offerings meet all levels of Network Access Control needs, budgets and deployment preferences. Their solutions can be rapidly deployed in any environment, regardless of size and scale as they do not require any appliances, agents or changes to existing infrastructure. With Portnox, resellers can reduce the security risk and improve network control of their end customers by ensuring that only approved and authenticated devices are on the network.” Ventev: Engineers and manufactures industry-leading WiFi solutions to deploy, protect, power and improve network performance in any application. Rob Leggett, Exertis sales director, wireless and mobility commented “We see demand for next wave high performance, high density wireless access growing across all sectors, especially retail, health, education, leisure, public sector and outdoor venues. Ventev’s range of antennaes, enclosures and infrastructure products are a natural fit to our existing technology solutions and whether indoors, outdoors, or both, we now have the most complete range of effective wireless solutions anywhere.” For more information on any of the above manufacturers, please speak to your Exertis account manager today.
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BUSINESS TRENDS DRIVING DEMANDS
WORLDWIDE IT SPENDING IS PREDICTED TO TOTAL
$3.5TRILLION IN 2017, ACCORDING TO GARTNER
THE UC INDUSTRY BY
2023
IS EXPECTED TO
TRIPLE TO $95BN
BY
2020 SMB’S GLOBAL SPEND ON IT HARDWARE,
SOFTWARE AND SERVICES WILL BE $668BN
WITH A COMPOUND AGR OF 4.2%
GARTNER
SAAS
GLOBEL MARKET INSIGHTS
$1 TRILLION CYBERSECURITY WORLDWIDE
CYBERSECURITY
2017 - 2021!
CONNECTED MEDICAL DEVICES STILL
SPENDING FOR THE 5 YEARS
SPENDING LOW BUT SET TO TRIPLE BY 2021 ABI RESEARCH
Altham 01282 776 776 | Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | store.exertis.co.uk
BETTER DESIGN. BETTER SOUND.
BETTER EXPERIENCE.
Customer expectations are rising and calls are becoming more complex than ever. To deliver the ultimate customer service you need the ultimate headset - the EncorePro® USB Series. This sophisticated over-the-head design coupled with a lightweight yet robust construction also comes in a choice of monaural and binaural wearing styles to match the needs of your users. Combined with VoIP-ready wideband audio for smarter customer interactions, this is the most advanced EncorePro® ever made.
EncorePro® USB Series The EncorePro® USB Series offers your users a choice of wearing styles depending on their individual preferences. With luxuriously soft foam and leatherette ear cushions and the ability to reposition the mic, you can be sure your people are ready to deliver the best possible customer service at all times.
For more information about the RIG 500E headset or any other
Call your Exertis Account Manager today for more information on the Plantronics® range
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PLUG IN TO EXERTIS Future Business caught up with Phil Brown, Exertis IT sales and commercial director on why he sees this as a compelling channel event for their customers.
WHAT CAN CUSTOMERS LOOK FORWARD TO AT PLUG IN TO EXERTIS? We have planned a day where our customers have the option to intensify their knowledge in an area in which they currently specialise or to look at other opportunities in complementary areas. Or indeed both. We’ll have over 80 of our market-leading vendors exhibiting their products and solutions across our technology areas from consumer through to enterprise. We will have five dedicated technology suites: AV, consumer, enterprise, mobile and print. Each will showcase their vendors and run a number of seminars on relevant topics from industry experts. We have a wide range of customers requiring different needs, services, products and solutions. That’s why we have chosen to adopt an agenda that works equally well for a retailer or a value added reseller. This event provides an opportunity to network with our specialist teams that have expert knowledge dedicated to each of these technology areas.
skills and expertise that help our customers win business across a wide variety of vertical markets. And to get us in the winning mentality, who better to motivate you than rugby legend Will Greenwood, who will outline the synergies between high performance in sport and business.
To end the day, there will be more networking opportunities with an evening pitch side reception with drinks and canapés. I suppose to sum up, customers should expect to come away with a greater understanding about how Exertis can benefit their business, plus, more insight into opportunities to help them grow profitable with the solutions that our vendors provide and how they might extend their portfolio into complementary technology areas. That sounds like a day well spent.
WHAT CAN CUSTOMERS EXPECT IN THE TECHNOLOGY SUITES? These suites are designed to enable our vendors to showcase their solutions and engage with our customers in an exhibition area supported by a number of relevant seminar topics hosted by industry experts. They will demonstrate our specialist expertise in each of the areas and will be hosted by our dedicated teams in these categories. We expect our customers to take advantage of these suites whether they already engage in these areas or want to find out more about the opportunities they could provide for their business.
To start the day, we will have a keynote from Paul Bryan, our UK managing director, which will elaborate on the Plug in to Exertis concept and how customers can best take advantage of a distributor that is unique in its technology coverage, yet maintains the specialist
WHAT TO EXPECT: • • • • •
80+ of our leading vendors showcasing their products and solutions Technology suites with seminars on key topics from industry experts Keynotes from our UK MD Paul Bryan and rugby legend Will Greenwood on Winning in Business An evening pitch side reception with drinks and canapés
Register today: exertis.co.uk/plugin
Altham 01282 776 776 | Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | store.exertis.co.uk
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CAN YOU ELABORATE MORE ON THE TECHNOLOGY SUITES UNDER YOUR MANAGEMENT?
CAN CUSTOMERS MOVE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY SUITES?
Starting with Enterprise, we will be focusing on solutions covering storage, security, converged infrastructure and unified communications. We have built a strong portfolio of vendors in these areas and acquired some further complementary server and storage expertise with our acquisition of Hammer. In addition, it will be a great opportunity for our resellers to understand how our ISO 27001 accredited, professional services can support their business with a wide range of pre and post-sale services from straightforward ‘breakfix’ through to a 24/7/365 complete, white-label, managed service. Exertis, uniquely, delivers all services with fully qualified engineers and support staff and from our own Network Operation Centre (NOC).
Yes, we want this event to be an opportunity for customers to see our entire technology range. So if they are also interested in finding out more about mobile in a business environment or seeing our exciting consumer offering that includes gaming, gadgets, accessories and smart tech products, they can. I’m told we will have some drones flying across the pitch at the end of the day. Customers should take a look at the agenda on our microsite so as not to miss out on what’s planned for the day.
The enterprise seminars will include sessions on: Online safety and KCSiE compliancy from experts who wrote the policies for the Department of Education; GDPR and what it means for our resellers’ customers hosted by vendor One Identity; Meeting the future with Agile IT innovation from Huawei and finally views from Microsoft on the growth of Convergence and Hyper Convergence markets. Further details can be found on our microsite.
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE EVENT AND HOW CAN RESELLERS REGISTER? It’s on 11th May at Twickenham Stadium and customers can quite simply go to our microsite: www.exertis.co.uk/plugin. We are adding content to this event on a regular basis, so they should check out the site for the latest information.
AND AV? Yes, we have a great deal to shout about and see in this area too. We’ll be showcasing the latest technology from the Exertis portfolio and from recently acquired Medium, one of the UK’s leading distributors of AV solutions for the B2B and B2C markets. Our AV suite will bring to life our concept of “AV for all sizes”. We aim to provide both large and small organisations with best of breed product solutions supported by a specialist team of technical experts that quite simply know the industry from A to V! So whether you’re a specialist AV reseller or an IT reseller with an AV proposition, we want to work with you. Our seminars currently include an introduction to CTOUCH’s exciting range of products and an industry analyst view of the UK landscape with market predictions and the best strategies for growth in the AV area. Our microsite will provide further updates.
AND FINALLY PRINT? Yes, it’s a category where we are continually bucking the trend. You could say that with our range of office/home printers, LFP, copiers, scanners and 3D printers, we are making a big impression in the print market. That’s not only due to our market leading brands but also to our significant investment in people and services. Resellers should take the opportunity to meet our team of print professionals who have the expertise and knowledge of the different demands for print services across Retail, B2B and Office Automation. If you are interested in print and document management our specialist team can help you from concept through to contract. If you are looking to add a growth area to your portfolio then we can help you with the addition of 3D print. Furthermore, we have a very successful supplies division that can add recurring revenue to a resellers’ business by offering an attach at the point of hardware sales. You will be able to meet our supplies team and hear about our exciting hardware and consumable bundle opportunities which present an opportunity for creative selling of transaction print. We will also be discussing the flexible credit options we have available and presenting an OA opportunity.
A MESSAGE FROM PAUL BRYAN, EXERTIS UK MANAGING DIRECTOR There are many reasons why you should join our Plug in to Exertis channel event. But perhaps the most important one is to gain a better understanding of what Exertis looks like and stands for today. Over the last few years, we have managed to acquire a number of businesses in very different technology areas. We have indeed become a powerhouse of technology distribution from consumer to enterprise. However, we have always maintained a specialist approach in every area ensuring that we provide both the products and solutions, and the expertise and knowledge to support you. Not just by providing the core competencies of logistics and credit expected of all distributors but also in aligning our sales and marketing teams to your specialist areas, taking into account the services that you value. We recognise that our customers are equally diverse and require different value-added services. Our focus is, and always will be, customer centric. That’s why I hope that you will also use this event as a mechanism to: provide feedback on how you want to do business with us, whether that’s in one or all of the technology areas that we cover; tell us where we can improve and how we can make it as easy as possible for you to plug in to any of Exertis’ technology areas, whether that’s through one contact or several. Being big brings economies of scale but it isn’t an excuse for not being flexible and agile. As consumerisation of IT grows, we see opportunities for our customers to look to Exertis across different technology sectors. Plug in to Exertis gives you that chance. Please take the opportunity to meet with us and discuss your requirements.
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UC: IS IT STILL GOOD TO TALK? Remember when BT took to the airwaves extolling that “It’s good to talk”? It was driven by many factors, not least being that its virtual monopoly of wires and phones was being challenged, relatively fledgling mobile operators found muscles to flex, and new technologies were challenging the voice as the given means of communication. As BT’s lifeblood at the time was talk minutes, it had to engage with its customers because, strategically, keeping customers was critical as the nascent internet world began to present many more ways of communicating. John Bird, Head of UC Systems and Support Services, remembers those heady days and believes we are on the cusp of a new wave of change, one that will transform the way organisations work and engage with customers. “Since the days when voice and speaking was the primary means of communication much has changed, written communication is now preferred by many and there is a bewildering array of media to enable this. Even humble email is still standing its ground; however, the pace of change is relentless and we now have a situation where technology has enabled a whole set of new ways we can all interact.” There is a generational divide in communication, reflecting the degree to which generations are generally willing and able to engage with technology. The so-called millennials are perhaps the most tech savvy, avoiding voice whenever they can, whereas the silver set are still happy to talk and write, often even with paper and pen.
UC COMES OF AGE Up until now unified communications (UC) has enabled easier and more efficient communication, especially for larger organisations, but voice was still voice, data still data. Innovation has moved things on apace so that “now is the time where pretty much organisations of any size or type with any need can easily and affordably tap into a range of technologies that enable them to radically improve internal communication and also get very close to customers and reflect their individual communication preferences seamlessly and effortlessly”. Enghouse is one such vendor that perfects customer interaction through technology and multi-mode media - live customer communication, whether voice or web-chat, is handled real-time, whilst offline communication (email, instant message, social media) can be efficiently managed, and all be totally integrated. The technology enables customers to determine how they interact and integration delivers the best experience possible.
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This delivers great benefits and use of technology is set to deliver more innovation: “vendors like Enghouse meet modern demands for agile communication platforms that quickly and efficiently respond to a customer from any media channel, at any time, and one that doesn’t rely solely on voice. So, yes, it’s still good to talk but the younger generation and others may no longer prefer to talk - I look at my children, ‘addicted’ to tablets, mobiles, WhatsApp, Snapchat, social media and so much more - businesses need to adapt and cater for this new generation or get left behind. It’s a very exciting market right now and opportunities are opening up at all levels.” Whilst voice may no longer be the primary communication medium of choice, ironically with future developments it may be more central. Enghouse has predicted that voice recognition use will become more commonplace in self-service interactions and speech analytics within organisations will monitor call compliance, emotional interaction and ultimately customer satisfaction.
THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS, NOT BOTH With communication choice for customers coming into play there are choices to be made for organisations too. Huge advances in infrastructure performance and capacity mean it’s not a binary choice of simply onsite or hosted. “Infrastructure technology has opened up enormous potential in what UC can deliver. Consider that SIP trunks in-situ now number well over 2m and are growing in double digits, ISDN, ceasing from 2025 according to BT, and fixed analogue lines are very much on the wane and superfast broadband is growing rapidly. What this means is a revolution is gathering pace where all the benefits of true, flexible, integrated UC are now open to all sizes of organisation, and not determined by installation type”. NEC’s Univerge 3C platform for example is a truly integrated system that can transform how a business functions in the way it connects, communicates and collaborates, whether anybody is in the office, out of the office or in-between offices. “What we now have at our fingertips are easily installed solutions that bring huge benefits to customers. A mass of expertise on-site is no longer a core requirement given all the deployment options now available, meaning cutting edge customer and staff communication and collaboration are no longer the preserve of the large and wealthy. Smaller businesses, and we are a nation of small businesses primarily, need this functionality to deliver great customer experiences and
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they will have people who wear many hats so integration really delivers for them. Unleashing UC for SMB can now be done at a much lower cost and much higher speed, all without the burdensome overhead requirement of previous technology. It’s a huge opportunity for resellers.” And what of deployment options? According to John, Exertis simply sees it as whatever suits the customers’ needs; “we are totally agnostic really, there are options to suit all, whether PBX, true hosted or hybrid. So, those who say on premise is ‘so yesterday’ are maybe being a little hasty, especially as the benefits of functionality and security (so important now) from on-site or hybrid on-site are greater. We have seen a rise in ‘traditional tin’ of over 20% in the last year, and a rise in private cloud and data centre installs, especially working with resellers whose customers are primarily in legal, health and similar sectors where security and control is paramount.” Scalability and deployment flexibility built in plays to the consultative approach of the UC team at Exertis by providing greater options for customers and opening up dialogue based on customer need. Also, John sees game changers like SIP trunks opening up a host of new possibilities and benefits. “Being a fraction of the price of traditional ISDN circuits they enable greater functionality like out of area numbering and disaster recovery; plus a huge array of applications - call management, call recording, real-time speech analytics, CRM integration among them - can be deployed on-site or in the cloud to provide vastly improved efficiencies and productivity and a healthy and rapid return on investment. Importantly, with hosted services, such as SIP trunks, being managed from a centralised web portal provided by the host, resellers and end-users are able to make rerouting configuration changes instantly and without attending site and incurring additional costs - a simple and cost effective disaster recovery solution.” Whether large enterprise or ‘multi-hat’ small business; cloud, hybrid or on-site, there are now UC solutions to suit all needs, organisation size and budget. What is clear is that customers can, according to John “have the best of all worlds now”. In the coming age of next generation UC it is possible to communicate in all ways and according to all customer preferences, in a totally integrated and economic way. It’s now good to email, web chat, instant message, video conference, file share… and, yes, still talk. Call Exertis’ dedicated UC team to talk through how the latest UC technologies can open up new opportunities.
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INTRODUCING EXERTIS MEDIUM OUR VALUE PROPOSITION
OUR PEOPLE
Exertis Medium is the brand name of our specialist AV division combining the vendor portfolio and employee expertise from the Exertis AV division and the recently acquired Medium, one of the UK’s leading distributors of interactive and large format displays, projection, digital signage, connectivity, brackets and accessories. Together, we can offer the most comprehensive AV portfolio with best of breed products from market leading vendors backed up by skilled technical support which has served the AV market for the past 25 years.
Our people are our greatest asset. Indeed, Exertis Medium has an unrivalled reputation for customer service, industry knowledge and offering the best possible support for our resellers. Both Exertis with its AV Academy and Medium with its InfoComm membership have focused on skilling their people to the highest professional standards through education and training programmes. Resellers can continue to enjoy expert pre and post-sales support from technical experts in AV. Here’s a brief introduction to two key people at Exertis Medium.
The concept of “AV for all sizes” demonstrates our ability to provide anything from a simple cable to a large format display, from a single product to a complex AV solution, from a small innovative vendor to a large commercial brand. So no matter whether you are an AV specialist reseller or an IT reseller with an AV requirement, Exertis Medium is here to help you. Whilst there are continuing discussions about convergence in the IT and AV sector, we recognise the importance in keeping the specialism of both markets but leveraging the opportunities that jointly exist. With Exertis Medium, resellers get the best of both worlds. AV systems are key to the communication and collaboration needs of organisations and the requirement for AV and IT teams to work together is likely to grow as the demand to share information increases. Many video systems today are already being integrated into Unified Communications (UC) platforms that exist on IT networks. Conversely, those IT networks manage AV technologies like large scale digital signage.
IAN AITKEN Ian joined Exertis in 2011 having spent nine years in manufacturing working for a leading AV and consumer electronics brand. He has been instrumental in establishing Exertis as a serious AV distributor, quadrupling the business over the last five years with key vendor acquisitions and building a new CTS qualified sales team alongside a hugely experienced commercial team. Ian believes this is an exciting time for the AV market and a great opportunity for the new Exertis Medium to lead the way in AV distribution.
IAN SEMPERS There isn’t much about the AV distribution industry that Ian Sempers doesn’t know. That’s what 25 years growing one of the industry’s most influential distributors gets you. After setting up Medium UK Ltd in 1991 the business grew rapidly, securing a number of exclusive distribution partnerships along the way – including the likes of CTOUCH. CTOUCH quickly became one of the most effective and successful brands in the AV market. After selling the Medium business to Exertis earlier this year, Ian is excited by the accelerated growth the merged companies can achieve over the next 12 months. Ian will be at the helm as Exertis Medium strive to become the UK’s number 1 AV distributor.
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OUR VENDORS We have long established and trusted vendor relationships including some exclusive agreements with key partners. Not only do we provide a wide range of displays and projectors but best of breed connectivity and digital signage products. Our vendor line up consists of:
INTRODUCING DYNASCAN DynaScan provide affordable, cutting edge LCD and LED display solutions with the highest brightness rating on the market. Perfect for outdoor and direct sunlight viewing, the narrow bezel LCD monitors come in a range of sizes from 32” to 84”, fully calibrated to 6500k with a brightness rating of 7,000 nits, a proprietary fanless thermal system for near silent operation and high dust tolerance, and with LED backlighting for brighter and more energy efficiency than traditional CCFL backlights. DynaScan’s digital signage products are typically used in advertising, public information and entertainment.
Exertis Medium brings some key vendors that were previously not available to Exertis customers.
INTRODUCING MATROX INTRODUCING CTOUCH Exclusive to Exertis Medium, CTOUCH is amongst the market leading interactive Flat Panel Display brandswith products designed to look great in the classroom, meeting room and public display areas. The multi-touch surface increases engagement, involvement and collaboration for audiences large or small. Providing state of the art image quality, CTOUCH displays can be connected to a PC, giving the screen network and internet access with a connectivity panel for direct connection to other devices. For collaborative use all CTOUCH displays come with free Oktopus software, providing fully featured whiteboard applications, curriculum-based interactive tools for schools, virtual voting and connectivity with smartphones, tablets and laptops. In the second half of this year, we are also excited to be able to announce the launch of the new Leddura 2Meet - the interactive meeting collaboration solution designed to create a more collaborative and accessible experience for every meeting room. This ground-breaking corporate collaboration solution is an exciting development in collaborative technology as well as an exclusive addition to the Exertis Medium portfolio.
Matrox Graphics technology helps you to connect the dots in your AV distribution and display ecosystem. Reliable, high-quality encoders and decoders enable AV-over-IP streaming, recording, and matrix switching. High-bandwidth KVM extenders provide real-time remote control over centralized computing resources. PC-based video wall processors facilitate collaboration using Matrox components for universal source capture, exceptional scaling, and intuitive control over multi-display layouts. With decades of experience contributing to reliable, high-quality AV and IT product design, Matrox has the tools to help resellers build up and work successfully within merged data and AV-over-IP environments.
YOUR NEXT STEP If you would like to find out more about how Exertis Medium can provide you and your customers with a complete AV service please contact: avsales@exertis.co.uk or phone 020 8813 5777 Exertis Medium and a selection of its vendors will be at the Plug in to Exertis event. For more information see pages 12 in this issue or go to www.exertis.co.uk/plugin
Exertis Medium offers a seven year on-site warranty for all CTOUCH products demonstrating the confidence in their high performance and reliability.
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Optimize Power Management Optimize the power of IT architecture with Eaton Modern businesses need a better response to ever-changing market dynamics and competitive pressures. This need is shaping computing infrastructure strategies and set higher requirements to IT, asking for improved business continuity, lower costs and enhanced operational efďŹ ciency. But even the most advanced computing infrastructures can´t cope when power fails. Optimize power management of IT architecture in 5 steps to fully reap its beneďŹ ts and avoid business continuity risks.
Contact your Exertis Account Manager today for more details
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MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY Despite this, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), many businesses fail to recognise the impact energy expenses have on their cost base and do not proactively shop around for an energy tariff that can save them money. In part, this is due to business energy – both gas and electricity – only being offered through bespoke contracts that lock a business in for anything from one to four years, dependent on the size and consumption habits of the business.
Managing overheads is a major concern for businesses nationwide and how effectively such expenses are managed can be fundamental to a business’s success. Overheads directly impact on profitability; ensuring they are contained can make your business more competitive in the marketplace.
Whilst a business cannot switch energy suppliers mid-contract as a domestic customer can, many businesses fail to act when they get their window of opportunity – that is, their all-important ‘renewal window’. Just as with football transfer windows, knowing when this opens is key, if you wish to switch to another ‘team’. For any business on an energy contract, the ‘renewal window’ opens six months prior to the contract’s end. It closes on your notice period’s end date. Fail to act whilst the window is open and your contract will automatically roll on, putting your business on to an out-of-contract rate that could be up to 30 per cent dearer than the rate you’ve been paying. Getting out of an out-of-contract rate takes 30 days, during which time you must agree a deal elsewhere. Being ‘too busy’, having other priorities and not understanding the world of energy tariffs are all reasons why a business may fail to act during their renewal window. The ‘hassle’ of working out where they can get the best contract offer can also prevent them getting their business off on the best footing as a start-up. So why is it so difficult?
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In part, this is because a business cannot buy a combined energy contract comprising both gas and electricity, as a homeowner can. This means having to negotiate two different contracts for the two types of fuel. Then, there is the ‘jargon’ associated with energy tariffs – the ‘unit rate’, the ‘standing charge’, the ‘VAT’ and the ‘Climate Charge Levy’ (CCL). There is also a lack of knowledge of what a business should be paying for its energy. In other words, it’s all a bit of a minefield. For this reason, FSB has launched a brand new energy comparison tool, which helps members compare prices from a wide range of trusted energy suppliers. The panel includes top companies such as British Gas, EDF Energy and npower and the contracts on offer range from one to three years. The service’s launch comes at a time when energy bills are likely to rise, after four years of relative stability. The weakening in Sterling is also likely to push up the cost of imported gas and electricity, so shopping around for business energy should be a priority. FSB Energy, provided by specialist smaller business energy broker, Make It Cheaper, has found smaller businesses can typically save £1,150 per year on energy costs, when switching both gas and electricity. That saving alone far outweighs the cost of FSB membership, which starts at just £142.50 (plus a £30 registration fee in year one), and offers many more benefits besides FSB Energy.
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Many businesses have been found to have a lack of engagement with their energy costs, resulting in them over-paying for what can be several years. Switching to a better energy deal can save a business up to 30 per cent on their energy expenditure, so it’s well worth looking into. FSB Energy includes exclusive rates for members and a bill checker service that allows a business to send in energy bills and have current rates reviewed. If a business wishes to choose a cheaper deal, the FSB broker can process the switch, completely removing any hassle. In fact, if a business doesn’t feel the service made it easier for them, FSB Energy’s ‘Make it Easy Guarantee’ will refund its commission. Whilst assisting many businesses, FSB Energy can also help FSB members switch their home energy contract, to get a better deal on domestic energy. This could save around £300. So what happens if you’ve done that all too regular thing of losing your paperwork, or not having your energy contract to hand? How are you supposed to know when your ‘renewal window’ opens? Your energy supplier is obliged to send you a letter when your contract is close to its expiry date, but to be safe, it is best to keep your own record, from the beginning of your relationship. However, you should be able to find your notice period end date on your bill. If saving money on your energy costs makes sense, it could pay to become an FSB member and take advantage of its energy service. This will help you move away from your current supplier, if you need to, when the time is right and the service can also help you become more energy efficient and assist you in a variety of other ways. Head to www.fsb.org.uk to find out more.
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HOW DCIM CAN OPTIMISE THE DATA CENTRE
Efficiently managing the assets and performance within a data centre are important considerations for companies of all sizes. Traditionally, data centre environments relied on a siloed approach to IT and facility management: facilities were typically responsible for areas such as power, air conditioning, physical security, cabling, lighting and plumbing whilst IT managed the servers, storage and devices in the racks including applications installed on those devices. Clearly both are integral to one another and working as separate entities made it difficult to optimise the physical infrastructure whilst balancing efficiency and financial demands. As data centres became more complex both in terms of size and functionality, a more holistic approach to managing the data centre was required that integrated IT and facilities. Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solutions do just that by providing a comprehensive overview, visibility and management of the entire eco-system from the physical systems and assets to the facilities and utilities that support them. These solutions help measure and monitor the data centre resources and equipment, providing greater efficiency and performance. Key benefits • Visibility: providing accurate and real time information about data centre equipment and resources in a visual and graphical format • Predictive analytics: managing and reporting on consumption of energy, power and cooling; “what if” analysis • Cost efficiency; reducing operational costs through better asset management and capacity planning e.g. identifying underutilised servers • Better decision making based on the right information
THE OPPORTUNITY Whilst DCIM deployments can require significant changes to managing a data centre, efficient management is essential to control costs and to provide a greener environment. According to a survey from Intel, 43 per cent of data centres still rely on manual processes, like Excel spreadsheets or walking the data centre with a tape measure. Additionally, over half of manual planners are spending more than 40 per cent of their time every month in capacity planning and forecasting. TMR predicts that the DCIM market will be worth $38m by 2024, creating opportunities for resellers to generate recurring revenue in software licensing and identifying additional infrastructure solutions in the data centre. There are a number of DCIM solutions on the market but StruxureWare for Data Centres from APC is a market leader, having been recognised as such in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. It offers a comprehensive range of capabilities that let you monitor, measure and optimise your data centre, perform asset management and inventory tracking, power monitoring, management of deployed devices, environmental reporting and documentation from floor to cage to rack to server. Exertis is a key partner for APC and their sales teams and product specialists can help you take advantage of this opportunity.
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Boost your bottom line with APC TM
Today, most data centre customers have increasingly complex demands on their IT environments, but have far fewer resources and internal staff to work with.
Here’s the opportunity, in a nutshell. There is a substantial opportunity to help these customers implement and obtain value from data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) solutions. Why? Because DCIM tackles many of their most vexing challenges - optimising efficiency, securing uptime, and avoiding capacity constraints - which enables them to focus on their core business rather than worrying about managing and operating their IT infrastructure. Why DCIM boosts your bottom line, too. DCIM isn’t just a win for your customers - it’s also a win for you. As your customers’ IT infrastructure expands, and incorporates new capabilities over time, with DCIM you will always have opportunities to add to the solution and improve its value. Best of all, DCIM offers you excellent financial opportunities, with both product sales and ongoing licensing as effective sources of revenue. New sales opportunities are also available, as the software identifies and documents problems with data centre infrastructure for which you can develop solutions.
Speak to your Exertis Account Manager about DCIM by APC today!
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS THE DRIVING FORCE FOR CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR The much awaited Digital Transformation Strategy, delayed by Brexit amongst other spurious reasons, was finally published in February. The strategy has five overall goals outlined in the government paper: •
Business transformation: continuing to deliver world-class digital services and transform the way government operates, from front-end to back-office, in a modern and efficient way.
•
Skills and capability: developing the right skills and culture among people and leaders, and bringing together policy and delivery to enable services to be delivered in a learning and iterative environment, focused on outcomes for citizens.
•
Enabling the Civil Service to deliver: building better workplace tools and processes to make it easier for public servants to work effectively, including sourcing, governance, workplace IT, businesses cases, human resources processes, common technology across the public sector and better digital tools for civil servants.
•
Data: making better use of data – not just for transparency, but for transformation across government that will allow us to build joined-up services.
•
Shared platforms: creating, operating, iterating and embedding good use of shared platforms and reusable business capabilities to speed up transformation – including sharing patterns and components and establishing open standards.
Announcing the strategy, Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer said “I want to see a revolution in the way we deliver public services – so that people up and down our country feel that government is at their service at every single stage in the journey.” “That is why we are publishing our Government Transformation Strategy, outlining our commitment to reshape government by ensuring millions of people are able to access online the services they need, whenever they need. We will deliver these changes while driving efficiencies wherever possible, making considerable savings for the taxpayer.” Prioritising an overhaul of the civil service, changing backoffice processes, increasing collaboration amongst government departments and the appointment of a chief data officer are seen as critical to the success of the strategy. The government wants to see 25 million people using the Gov.uk Verify online identity service and to digitise the passport service so that people can simply apply online, both by the end of 2020.
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The former will require greater collaboration, engagement and commitment from large departments such as HMRC and the Dept. for Works and Pensions. It also wants to extend access to the services connected to Verify, and is planning pilots with the commercial sector, local authorities and banks. The National Census due in 2021 is another online target. The NHS which has seen significant and much publicised criticism for its failure to implement a digital strategy across its organisations is set for another attempt at sharing data.
LEGACY IS STILL AN ISSUE IN MANY AREAS Driven by the Government Digital Service, the strategy will require common platforms and knowledge sharing with the continued commitment to move away from monolithic IT contracts and legacy technology. However, according to a recent survey by Citrix, Windows XP is still in widespread use throughout the NHS and 24 Trusts are still unsure about a timeline to migrate to a newer operating system despite the fact that it hasn’t received official security updates since April 2014. The same situation is prevalent in around 70% of London Boroughs according to another survey from disaster recovery company Databarracks which found that 63% of councils are running Windows Server 2003 with over half (51%) running SQL Server 2005. Hardly surprising then that the same survey discovered that two-thirds of London Boroughs have suffered a data breach in the last four years. Failure to upgrade creates the risk of security breaches.
WHAT CITIZENS WANT The Digital Transformation Strategy is timely because according to a survey published in December 2016 from Riverbed, the public is in favour of a streamlined digital access to government departments albeit with an easier to use digital infrastructure. It maintained that two-thirds of citizens find the amount of information they needed to provide to public sector websites “off-putting” with over 70% preferring to see greater data sharing between government departments through a single digital portal. Although mindful of security issues, some 57% favoured the convenience this would bring rather than repetitive form filling. In addition mobile friendly websites were also seen as important.
WHAT PUBLIC SECTOR LEADERS THINK Digital transformation was also top of mind for senior leaders in the public sector. An O2 Business Barometer survey, carried out by YouGov, late last year found that 32% of respondents felt that data privacy and security concerns were barriers to organisations making full use of digital and mobile technologies. Some 26% said that a lack of digital skills within the sector was an issue and 17 per cent felt their organisation lacked a senior champion. The new strategy goes some way to highlighting if not resolving both of these points. The survey also found that 45% of organisations said they expected more of their customers to interact with them through digital means in 2017 than the previous year and that two-thirds claimed that investing in new digital transformation would be important to them. In addition, the survey showed that 32% of public sector senior managers planned to invest more in new hardware and software than they had in 2016 with 39% investing the same. All good news for the IT channel. Away from central government, the annual Arvato Outsourcing Index compiled in conjunction with NelsonHall, claimed a 75% increase in investment in IT and technology in local government, reaching £463m with signed contracts up by 8%. However, the average lengths of contracts fell by 25% and the length fell by an average of 6 months. The report said that this suggested a shift from large, multi-process deals to smaller more focused contracts, a move often promoted by both central and local government leaders.
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ROBOTS IN PUBLIC SERVICES? Without a doubt digital transformation is about cutting costs whilst providing better services for citizens. But will that be surpassed by the use of robots? According to the Reform Thinktank, the use of websites and artificially intelligent “chat bots” could replace around 90% (130,000) of Whitehall administrators saving £2.6bn a year. NHS administrative posts (90,000) and GP receptionists (24,000) would also be at risk with savings of more than £1.7bn. Even some nursing and surgical roles normally undertaken by human practitioners could be replaced by machines which the report says can outperform humans at some diagnoses and routine procedures, and are more efficient at collecting information. The report also highlights the scope for increased automation in policing through crowd-monitoring drones and facial recognition, acknowledging the concerns about data privacy. Whilst some of this may seem controversial, technology in healthcare and policing has significantly increased. The report argues that public services would be better, safer, smarter and more affordable. The public sector remains a hot bed of technology opportunities for resellers. Whilst the government is committed to making savings in the public sector, it has allocated £billions to technology spending across the public sector which can only be good news for resellers. The Exertis public sector team provides resellers focused on the public sector with a comprehensive range of sales and support services. Our latest public sector guide features a more in-depth look at the vertical market opportunities in the public sector. Contact your account manager for further information. Further reading: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ government-transformation-strategy-2017-to-2020 Sources and Acknowledgements: The Guardian, The Independent, Public Technology Net, Computer Weekly, IT Pro, Gov.uk
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REMOTE CONTROL 7th Gen Intel® Core™ ™ vPro™ processors and gement Technology Intel® Active Management e IT support costs. help reduce on-site
SMART REMOTE MANAGEABILITY Help reduce on-site support costs with remote diagnostics.
WIRELESS DEVICE MANAGEMENT Execute remote high-resolution reimaging for lower TCO.
SIMPLIFY PC LIFESTYLE TRANSITIONS Wipe data in seconds from anywhere around the world with Intel Remote Secure Erase for Intel® Solid State Drives.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP Streamline productivity with the fast, responsive performance necessary for serious business compute. Get in front of security threats with hardware-enhanced security with multifactor identity protection and reduce IT operating costs with remote manageability - all made possible with 7th Generation Intel® Core™ vPro™ processors.
© 2017 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, Intel. Experience What’s Inside and the Intel. Experience What’s Inside logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
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With Intel® Stable Image Platform Program (Intel® SIPP), you can rest easy knowing you have a predictable transition from one technology generation to the next.
LIGHTEN YOUR HEAVIEST WORKLOADS Whether your workforce is crunching complex calculations, compiling precise code or manipulating sophisticated graphics, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology handles demanding applications by running multiple threads on each core to deliver cutting-edge responsiveness helping accomplish your tasks quickly.
STRENGTHEN SOFTWARE SECURITY FROM THE INSIDE Defend your business against user identity threats with Intel® Authenticate solution powered by 7th Generation Intel® Core™ vPro™ processors. This robust, multifactor solution captures, encrypts, matches, and stores user data in hardware, reducing the exposure to sophisticated softwarelevel attacks, such as password cracking, phishing, and screen scraping.
MODERNISE DEVICE MANAGEMENT Reduce on-site IT support costs and save time with Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT). It provides easy remote maintenance, wireless manageability for your mobile workforce, and secure drive wiping to simplify PC lifecycle transitions. Intel® AMT out-of-band capabilities will help keep you in control no matter if the ¡«®³²£° §± ¬ ° Þ °£¥ °¢ª£±± ¤ §²± ª¡ ²§¬ ° in case of total OS failure.
Contact your Exertis Account Manager today for more details.
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HOT PICKS
TOP 5 MOBILITY PRODUCTS
CAT S40 The CAT S40 perfectly balances durability, performance and design, setting the bar for rugged smartphones. Dust, high temperatures and drops of up to 6ft are no problem for this IP68 waterproof smartphone, designed to withstand even the harshest of environments.
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Crafted with minimalism, the Samsung A5’ss highly resistant rear 3D glass and optimal al 5.2” display fuse together flawlessly to o provide a seamless design, and is equipped d with IP68 to protect from liquids and dust. t. Also available in Blue, Coral and Gold.
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With Philips’ 65BDL3051T, a brand-new level of interactivity is available thanks to integrated touch technology. Save and play content with internal memory, ensuring that content stays up, even if the network goes down.
Dell’s XPS 13 9360 is the smallest 13” notebook on the planet with the world’s first InfinityEdge display. With a bezel only 5.2mm thin, starting at only 1.22kg and measuring a super slim 9-15mm, the XPS 13 is exceptionally thin and light.
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TOP 5 BEST-SELLING BUSINESS PRODUCTS
NEC MULTISYNC® P463 NEC’s MultiSync® P463 is packed with additional features that make it the ideal professional choice for any 24/7 retail, transportation, corporate or control room. A slimmer, lighter display that offers trusted performance, flexibility and lower costs of operation. Part Code NECP463
LENOVO V110 From the latest processing and memory, to a performanceenhancing keyboard, the Lenovo V110 meets business needs today and in the future. Affordably-priced, this light 15.6” laptop has a modern design and a hi-res screen that works great indoors and outdoors.
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Xperia XA Ultra’s 21.5MP camera is always ready with fast launch and Hybrid Autofocus to freeze the action in a bright, blur-free shot. The curved screen edge gives a seamless form that’s easy on the eye, and the hand.
PLANTRONICS SUPRAPLUS HW261N/A Working with the latest in wideband VoIP technology, the Plantronics SupraPlus Wideband headset delivers the highest level of audio performance, even in noisy environments. Users will experience greater satisfaction through enhanced intelligibility and reduced miscommunication.
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LG STYLUS 2 Big ideas need a big workspace! LG’s Stylus 2 has a large 5.7” HD display, along with a fibre tip pen, enabling users to write or draw on for creations that are bright, vivid and on point.
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Explore new worlds with Samsung’s Gear VR 2. Users can connect to their smartphone and experience a bigger field of view, smoother images and incredibly low light leakage and reflection prevention.
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Brother’s HL-L6400DW is the ideal print partner for any business, offering excellent paper handling options, superfast print speeds and the new optional ultra-high-yield toner cartridges to significantly reduce users, print spend.
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MEET THE LENOVO MID-RANGE PCs FOR BUSINESS.
Th inkCentre M series
ThinkPad E series
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Miix Series ThinkPad L series
You have a clear vision for your business – and we understand your technology requirements. Functionality and affordability. Mobility and reliability. Capability and simplicity. Whether it’s a companion for every day, like the ThinkPad E series, L series, or ThinkPad 13; a device that blends the power of a laptop with the agility of a tablet, like the Miix 2-in-1 range; or the ultimate business machine in the form of the ThinkCentre M series; you’re looking for smart technology, intelligently designed. That’s business thinking – and it’s applied to every device in the Lenovo mid-range.
CONTACT Y OUR E X E RT IS ACCOUN T
LAPTOPS
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A COMPANION FOR EVERY DAY.
MOBILE PRODUCTIVIT Y, EASILY MANAGED.
MOBILIT Y. RELIABILIT Y. CONNECTIVIT Y . PERFORMANC E .
The E series is available in 14" or 15.6" models, at a SKU to meet a broad range of requirements and budgets – *offering an HD or Full HD screen, up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of memory, for multiple choice at great value.
Let your customers manage more. Even with an eight-hour battery life, robust chassis tested to military specifications, and SCCM with deployment support, the 14" L series is thin, light and mobile.
Mobile at 19.8mm and 1.44kg. Reliability tested to military specifications. Well-connected by HDMI, USB 3.0 and Type-C, and optional OneLink+ docking. High-performing with Intel© Core™ processors up to i5.
2-IN-1 DEVICES
DESKTOPS
MI I X SERIES
THINKCENTRE M SERIES
POWERFUL LIKE A LAPTOP, AGI LE LIKE A TABLET.
THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS MACHINE.
At only 12", the Miix 510 packs a lot in. A Full HD touchscreen, rear-facing 5MP camera, all-day battery life, Wi-Fi as standard and optional LTE networking make the Miix series a true laptop alternative.
Available in tower and slim form factor models, the ThinkCentre M700 - also available in Tiny - and M800 offer Intel® SIPP support and tool-less design, enabling scalability in HDD, ODD and RAM - for ultimate processing power and performance. *optional depending on the skus available at the time of order.
MANAGER FOR M ORE INFORMAT ION.
All the power of Sony at work Seamlessly manage both your work and personal life anytime, anywhere with Xperia™ VPDUWSKRQHV IRU EXVLQHVV %HKLQG WKH UHďQHG ;SHULD GHVLJQ \RXŔOO ďQG the latest in security, access to smart business apps, and trusted Sony support. Email Xperia business smartphones and tablets support IMAP4 and POP3 email protocols, allowing most standard email accounts to be used with the Xperia Email app.
Security With the securit y of mobile devices playing a serious role in business, we ensure that X peria smartphones and tablets offer secure communication and the protection of stored data.
Service and Support Deploying and managing Xperia mobile devices in your business is made easy through a combination of Sony Mobile development and leading third-party Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions* *Support for MDM solutions can vary depending on the device.
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
39
HOW TO: BE PART OF A CUSTOMER’S GDPR JOURNEY It’s nearly a year since the starting gun was fired by the EU on the great race to become compliant with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by May 2018. Since then a torrent of advice, warnings, reports, research and forecasts has engulfed all those with an interest and role in personal data, its control, processing and protection. Perhaps not surprising given the wide-ranging scope of the regulation and its much larger, much sharper teeth ready to bite organisations that are found to be non-compliant. Whilst the central purpose of the GDPR is clear - the protection of European citizens’ personal data held by organisations that have a reason to process, store and share it - the tome itself is pretty ambiguous in many places and its wide ranging scope touches most parts of any organisation affected by it. It is not a check list exercise or a technology security issue alone, its impact is organisation wide (business process, legal, governance, people and training), something illustrated by the fact that fines can be levied on data losses caused by old-fashioned internal theft and why a data breach is not the same as a security breach if hackers are unable to get data out or decrypted, even if they’re in the network. However, plenty of research shows plenty of organisations are still pretty hazy about the regulation - in some studies up to two-thirds feel unprepared, over half are not confident of being compliant come May next year and nearly all have no formal plan to address it. Perhaps this is in large part due to its broad scope and not knowing where to start in relation to data, its definitions and responsibilities for areas like privacy by design, impact assessments and so on. After all, there is no ‘badge’ to wear, it is up to the various national supervisory authorities and certification bodies and trade organisations to develop specific certification mechanisms and codes of conduct showing an organisation’s technical and organisational compliance. So, how can resellers aid customers who are still unclear (likely a sizeable number of them) about their own approach and responsibilities around the GDPR?
It’s clear that technology doesn’t provide all the answers here, perhaps the key step to take with customers and their GDPR journey is to ask the question and get involved, if not already done so. After the flood of ‘must do now’ advice, if the majority of organisations are still relatively in the dark about the whole thing it can’t be assumed that customers are happily heading to GDPR nirvana. There’s likely to be an opportunity and resellers can play a key part in the multidisciplinary team needed on the road to compliance, especially where data protection and security technology is concerned. No doubt many will already have relationships with their customers in this area given GDPR is not too dissimilar to the existing Data Protection Act, even if its scope and implications are a significant step forward. To be a trusted adviser to a customer is to understand more about the regulation and its application. For those asking the question for the first time, where to turn to and how to cut through the noise and well intentioned advice can at first glance appear daunting, however, for an introduction the Information Commissioners Office provides a wealth of information and sign-posts further resources for those wanting to extend their knowledge - their Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 12 Steps To Take Now document (http://ow.ly/RNJe309ojjQ) is essential reading for those getting started. For those underway they will be invaluable to their customers playing a valuable role in the hardening of data protection standards in the coming years, something essential if trust in the digital world is to endure.
Windows 10 Pro means business. Hygienic You do not need to touch the infrared sensor. This makes it hygienic and reduces wear and tear. Intuitive A contactless sensor also feels less intrusive, so people feel comfortable using it. Hidden Crucially, the palm-vein pattern is inside the body. This makes it a biometric that is exceptionally hard (if not impossible) to forge.
PalmSecure adds a new level of security to our already outstanding range of tablets, notebooks and PCs. Built for business, they are reliable, stylish and secure.
Stay productive. Stay secure. Our devices work with Windows 10 - Microsoft’s most secure operating system yet. Windows 10 encrypts files and gives you the latest security updates. Combine it with PalmSecure and protect your data when it’s on your device and when you send it.
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*False Acceptance - the instance of a security system incorrectly verifying or identifying an unauthorised person.
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All in ONE Solution. All from ONE trusted provider. Just imagine... that you could make the complexity of your customers’ IT infrastructure simply disappear. Just by installing an Integrated System. A complete solution that would also enable them to cope with rapidly growing data volumes, without capacity or performance problems. Do you have any idea how much this could save them? It would be up to 40 percent in terms of time and 30 percent in terms of cost. And without the risks of typical do-it-yourself projects. Sounds convincing? If so, you should take a closer look at the benefits FUJITSU PRIMEFLEX vShape can give them. Customer Benefits: Reduced risk • Integrated Systems – designed, tested and validated • Reduced time to market • Preassembled systems for different usage scenarios • Simple, fast and risk-free implementation • One part number, one price, one support contract Reduced cost • Ideal IT infrastructure for virtualized environments based on industry standards - cost-efficient to scale • Easy administration – reduced operational costs
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FUTURE
GA B UM S I IN NE GS A SN D E N T E R T A I N M E N T
THE CHANGING FACE OF THE CHANNEL
Altham 01282 776 776 | Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | store.exertis.co.uk
Across the customer interaction and communications industries, the past twelve months have been characterised by change. With 20 years’ experience across unified comms and telecommunications, including three as VP sales director at Enghouse Interactive, a company that has delivered dynamic growth during these times of uncertainty, Gary Bennett is well placed to deliver telling commentary on the changing face of the channel. Here, he looks at the factors behind the disruption and explains how Enghouse has continued to achieve success throughout this period.
Over the last year, we have seen dislocation, trauma and turbulence impacting some of the biggest names in the industry. Much of the volatility has come from the consumer-driven move to digitisation and the advance of new omnichannel delivery models. These are disruptive forces and they present a complex blend of threat and opportunity to organisations across the communications and contact centre market. There will inevitably be winners and losers in the ensuing shake-up. If distributors and resellers want to ensure they are among the former they must not only get up to speed with these trends and their likely impacts, but also ensure they have sufficient agility to harness them for their own business advantage. Their choice of vendor partners will be key to their success. And at Enghouse Interactive, we believe the breadth and quality of our product portfolio, coupled with our stability as a business, position us well to be the option of choice. After all, throughout all the recent disruption, there has been one consistent thread. In these times of uncertainty, Enghouse Interactive continues to go from strength to strength with its contact centre offering. Our robust channel relationships have a key role to play, with our new strategic partnership with Exertis a case in point. Exertis is carrying a comprehensive range of our contact centre and customer interaction solutions, to a broad audience of resellers and end customers. And we believe their ability to scale rapidly to support large volumes coupled with the quality of support Exertis can offer will be key to driving further growth. Our investment in interoperabilty with leading unified communications and PBX platforms has also been critical to our success. We have been trusted technology partners of Avaya, Cisco and Microsoft, NEC, Mitel and ShoreTel for many years. Enghouse has achieved particularly strong success with Microsoft Skype for Business. Gartner, in its August 2016 Market Guide for Microsoft Skype for Business Contact Center Partners, listed Enghouse Interactive as a Representative Vendor for its Skype for Business contact centre solutions. Enghouse has now made over 450 deployments on Skype for Business, totalling more than 10,000 active seats.
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
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BROADENING OUT AND SCALING UP Even better, from Enghouse’s perspective is how the breadth and the scale of our contact centre installations has grown over the past twelve months. We have moved from predominantly providing customers with contact centres to often today delivering a full suite of integrated applications including the Enghouse Interactive Communications Center (EICC), Quality Management Suite (QMS); and breakthrough applications like real time speech analytics (RTSA), which we are now offering in conjunction with QMS. Together, QMS and RTSA are proving key in helping organisations achieve regulatory compliance; and deliver enhanced customer service including more effectively managing the emotional content of any given interaction. In line with this, Enghouse Interactive customer, Zinc Group, one of the UK’s leading business-to-business and consumer debt collection agencies, won two awards in 2016 thanks to the use of RTSA, the prestigious Best Technology award at Credit Strategy’s Collections and Customer Service Awards in November and Best Collections Technology at the Credit Awards, back in May. Enghouse Interactive has also proved strong in delivering mobile IVR and other mobile service applications that address the needs of the mobile consumer. The company’s Mobile IVR Navigator, for example, gives customers the mobility and access they need by visually navigating them through the organisation’s customer service options no matter whether they are using a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. Users can access account information and other self-service tools through the visual menu display without the hassle of booting up a laptop or sitting on the phone - offering a better end-user experience. Increasingly, though in this age of omnichannel customer engagement, the focus for vendors and their channel partners needs to be on delivering different application layers to create a richer solution for the client - and the sheer scope of the Enghouse capability allows us to do this seamlessly. With Communications Centre there has also been a significant shift in terms of average deal size. We have moved from wins with over 50 agent seats to regularly seeing wins of over 100 and we are increasingly being asked to bid for and win opportunities with more than 150 agents involved. In addition, we are seeing opportunities for our highly scalable enterprise contact centre which provides deep integration into third party applications and offers high level customisation.
PARTNERING UP All of the above points present a compelling case for resellers and distributors across the channel to seriously consider the many benefits they could tap into from working with Enghouse. We are a channel-centric organisation and widely acknowledged as a great company to deal with. We don’t compete with our channels, we have a good partner programme and we offer our reseller partners a strong opportunity to drive up margins. We may be living through difficult times but Enghouse Interactive has a great track record of bucking the trends and we are confidently predicting a bright future ahead. For further information about the company, please visit the Enghouse Interactive website – www.enghouseinteractive.co.uk Twitter: @EnghouseInterac LinkedIn: Enghouse Interactive
Exertis recommends Windows.
Join the Exertis Partner Programme today and start earning points on all premium Windows Pro devices! http://info.exertis.co.uk/exertis-premium-rewards/ Accumulate points through the partner programme and earn enough to get money off your future purchases!
How it Works Register for the Exertis Partner Programme at http://info.exertis.co.uk/exertis-premium-rewards/ Once signed up, you will start earning points on your purchases straight away Every Premium Windows Pro Device you purchase earns 10 points You will receive quarterly updates on how many points you have accumulated Keep an eye out for our monthly offers where bonus points can be earned Explore our qualifying devices Dell Latitude E5570
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Contact your Exertis Account Manager for more information.
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PERFORMANCE
SECURITY
SERVICES AND SUPPORT
CLOUD BUSINESS APPS
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
13 4 7 3 3
DEMONSTRATING ENTERPRISE 2.0 Since first opening, the Exertis Enterprise Demonstration Suite has seen a more than steady throughput of not only resellers, often in tandem with their customers, but also technology. Recently the suite underwent a major revamp and now is host to an impressive array of leading technologies from leading vendors such as Dell EMC, Huawei, Fujitsu, Eaton, APC, StorMagic and StorageCraft. Whilst the Enterprise Demonstration Suite provides a non-pressured environment where resellers and their customers can learn about the technologies that help define modern enterprise computing, this is only part of the story. Peter I-Bell, Exertis general manager for server and storage, explains: “It’s great to have access to this level of technology to show our resellers, but the real value is what we do with it. We place great emphasis on solution enablement and delivering hands-on, interactive learning and experiences. Yes, we will walk reseller pre-sales or technical teams through a product or feature set, but often we will use the resource to provide context and, for example, help sales people understand generic technologies, their application and trends and drivers in the market. The greatest value though is when we work with our reseller partner to a specific brief with a particular customer requirement in mind. We get great satisfaction delivering proof of concept, especially when it’s a tri-partite collaboration with the reseller’s customer too.” The facility is used by reseller partners of all kinds, and sessions are tailored to suit individual requirements. It is this adaptability that sets the suite apart from more static demonstration facilities. Whether a niche enterprise technology VAR, a locally focussed SMB partner or a direct marketing technology provider, all can benefit from the technology resident in the suite. Flexibility is enhanced by the Enterprise Solutions team being able to take technology offsite with several ‘field units’ available for reseller partners to use at their own site, out with their customers, or at reseller events used to showcase the latest technologies. Peter again: “We encourage our partners to extract maximum benefit from their time with us and the kit. We will often be training their customers at the same time and make an effort to make all sessions as hands on and interactive as possible. In all instances our goal is to enable growth of existing knowledge and skills to maximise the opportunities for resellers to secure new business, better support their customers, and for their customers to be confident they are buying the best solution for their needs.” With such a variety of uses the suite is always busy
and always benefiting someone, and its function is extended now Exertis has been appointed as Dell’s sole partner for managing its UK demonstration stock of VSAN Converged storage products. Can you benefit from Exertis’ Enterprise Demonstration Suite? Talk to your Exertis account manager about its full capability and how it can help support your enterprise business.
VENDORS CURRENTLY IN THE ENTERPRISE SUITE
THE ENTERPRISE DEMONSTRATION SUITE HOUSES OVER £500,000 WORTH OF CUTTING EDGE SERVER AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING: • • • • • • • • • •
Dell FX and VRTX Converged Infrastructure Platforms. Dell iSCSI and Fibre Channel Hybrid Storage Arrays. Dell and VMware vSAN Solutions. Huawei Flash Storage Arrays. StorMagic Software Defined Failover Solution. APC Acoustic Rack and Infrastructure. StorageCraft Backup and Disaster Recovery. Fujitsu v-Shape Out of the Box Virtualisation Solution. Huawei Enterprise Wireless and Management. AP Acoustic Rack and Infrastructure.
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
51
TIME IS TICKING FOR MIGRATION TO WINDOWS 10 Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will be the only supported platform for Intel’s Kaby Lake, Qualcomm’s “89996”, AMD’s Bristol Ridge and all future silicon releases. The change is designed to push customers to migrate to the latest operating system. According to Microsoft, there are already over 350m devices running Windows 10.
and often keep to the OS that is pre-installed when they add new PCs and other devices. So many SMBs will have a mix of Windows 7 (on older PCs) and 10 (newer PCs), with some having Windows 8 too.
Intel’s sixth generation processors, known as Skylake, will be supported with all security updates until the end of support for Windows 7 and 8.1. However, Microsoft recommends that customers upgrade these 6th Gen Intel® Core™ systems on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 as soon as possible so that they can receive full support along with the great enhancements that come from running modern hardware with modern software.
In contrast, many larger enterprises will have a standard software level, which in many cases remains Windows 7 for general deployment. Many enterprises are piloting Windows 10 as they plan their migration. Some have certain user groups that are using Windows 10 (e.g. users with detachables or convertibles, where Windows 7 does not support touch and other 10 features). According to Microsoft, they are seeing a wide proliferation of Windows 10 adoption in SMB, as it is easier for smaller companies to take such decisions and upgrade/refresh devices, as they do not have the large infrastructure challenges of large enterprises. However, Microsoft is urging corporate customers that, although they receive security fixes, they should plan to move to Windows 10 sooner rather than later to take advantage of the latest operating system.
Many SMBs will have a mix of Windows versions, especially smaller SMBs, as most do not maintain a standard company software image
Without doubt, there remains a big opportunity for resellers to help their customers migrate and Exertis is well placed to enable that.
This doesn’t mean that Windows 7 and 8.1 are no longer supported. Indeed, the two operating systems will continue to receive support until 14th January 2020 and 10th January 2023 respectively.
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BUSINESS
Altham 01282 776 776 | Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | store.exertis.co.uk
THE
To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
13 5 3 3 3
There are four fundamental principles that make up IAM:
HOW IAM CAN HELP PREPARE YOU FOR GDPR COMPLIANCE Data breaches are seldom out of the news and by May 2018, GDPR legislation comes into force irrespective of Brexit. The scope of GDPR has implications for many organisations, not least the penalty for non-compliance (up to 4% of total worldwide annual revenue or €20m – whichever is higher). With mandatory requirements for breach notifications, reputational damage may well be equally significant. Information about GDPR can be found from many sources and this article isn’t intended to cover that in detail. Indeed, GDPR is more about business process and procedure but there are aspects where technology can certainly play an important part.
KEY GDPR REQUIREMENTS • • • • • • • •
Introduce “privacy by design” to workflow Get explicit consent to use a wide variety of data Increase opt-out and data portability options Maintain appropriate data security Notify breaches Hire a data protection officer Conduct data protection impact assessments Demonstrate compliance on demand
Worryingly, research from a number of sources indicates that many organisations are ill-prepared to meet GDPR compliance
A SURVEY ON BEHALF OF ONE IDENTITY INDICATED THAT: • • • •
More than 80 percent of global respondents know few details or nothing about GDPR Less than one in three companies feel they are prepared for GDPR today 97 percent of companies don’t have a plan to be ready for GDPR Only nine percent of IT and business professionals are confident they will be fully ready for GDP
THE PRINCIPLES AND TECHNOLOGIES OF IAM Preventing breaches is by far the best way to ensure compliance. There are of course a number of common technologies and practices that can increase your data protection and enable GDPR compliance: encryption, network and e-mail security, access control and governance. Identity and access management (IAM) is one solution, pertaining to access control and governance, which by granting people appropriate access to systems, data and applications can help towards GDPR compliance.
1.
Authentication - Access to a system or device by means of a password, a smartcard, biometric means, or other identifying factors.
2.
Authorization - Determines the level of access or permission assigned to the user, often to privileged information
3.
Administration - Traditionally performed by IT to manage user authentication and authorisation, particularly in larger organisations where automation is required.
4.
Audit - GDPR requires organisations to periodically - as well as on-demand - prove that authentication, authorisation and administration are happening in a way that does not place personal data at risk or was not the culprit in the event of a breach.
With IAM, the chances for GDPR success are greatly enhanced: an organisation knows exactly who all users are, what those users are supposed to be able to access and if a breach does occur, the impact is greatly reduced. Most businesses are, most likely, already deploying the five basic IAM technologies. However, simple improvement in each of these five areas can smooth the path to GDPR compliance. Access Control Fundamental practices, such as unifying authentication (sometimes called single sign-on) to reduce passwords (and password misuse), streamlining administration through business-driven workflows and self-service. Multifactor Authentication Combining two or more independent credentials such as a password (something you know), a security token (something you have) and a biometric verification (something inherent). Secure Remote Access Enabling the same levels of control, or possibly more, for those users accessing remotely. Combine this secure access with adaptive, riskbased controls and the dangers of remote users lessens significantly. Governance GDPR demands periodic audit of the technologies and practices in place to protect covered data. If identity administration practices are tightly coupled with governance capabilities, organisations are in better shape to pass an audit. Privileged Account Management Administrative access needs to be controlled and monitored. Key privileged account management principles that help with GDPR compliance include password vaulting to prevent the sharing of administrative credentials; session audit for individual accountability and logging activities for forensic purposes; and delegation of credentials so that individual administrators only have the level of permissions necessary to do the job. Interestingly, in a One Identity commissioned survey, respondents that felt the most prepared for GDPR expressed a higher level of confidence and preparedness with the five basic IAM technologies and practices than their less-prepared peers. Improvements in the implementation of IAM can prevent the types of breaches with which GDPR is concerned and may well reduce any fine imposed if indeed a breach occurs. The One Identity family of IAM solutions can help any organisation prepare for GDPR compliance by providing the industry’s most complete and mature collection of privileged account management solutions. Ask your Exertis account manager for details and for more information download: https://www.quest.com/whitepaper/get-ready-for-may2018-our-ebook-explains-the-what-why-and-how-of-the-8118608/
CONTACT YOUR EXERTIS ACCOUNT MANAGER FOR MORE INFORMATION
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UNLIKE CONSUMER PC OWNERS, CUSTOMERS IN THE GAMING WORLD TYPICALLY DEMAND HIGH-PERFORMANCE DEVICES TO HELP ENHANCE THEIR GAME PLAY - AND THEY'RE WILLING TO PAY EXTRA FOR THEM. WHILE SALES OF TRADITIONAL PCS HAVE BEEN SLOW OR TRENDING DOWNWARD, HIGH-END GAMING PC SALES ARE THRIVING. WITH AN EYE ON HIGH-END AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE DEVICES, MSI JUMPED INTO THE GAMING INDUSTRY. MSI'S BUSINESS PIVOT IS PAYING OFF. THE COMPANY SAYS IT IS NOW ENJOYING A 13-YEAR RECORD HIGH STOCK PRICE AND SALES, WITH REVENUE HITTING $3.23 BILLION IN 2016, UP NEARLY 18 PERCENT FROM $2.74 BILLION THE PRIOR YEAR. THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR A COMPANY THAT WAS ON THE VERGE OF GOING OUT OF BUSINESS JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO. SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR.COM
THIS COMPANY WENT FROM 'GAME OVER' TO GAMING INDUSTRY POWER PLAYER, MSI WAS FOUNDED IN 1986 WITH A FOCUS ON DESIGNING AND MANUFACTURING MOTHERBOARDS FOR COMPUTERS. HAVING GONE PUBLIC TWO YEARS LATER, THE COMPANY'S NEXT BIG MOVES CAME IN 2003 AND 2008 WHEN IT BEGAN SELLING BRANDED NOTEBOOKS AND NETBOOKS, RESPECTIVELY. AT ITS HEIGHT DURING THOSE YEARS, MSI'S REVENUE HIT $3.1 BILLION IN 2008. DESPITE ITS SUCCESS MAKING COMPUTER COMPONENTS, MSI WAS A LATECOMER TO THE CONSUMER NETBOOK INDUSTRY, AND ENTERED AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS. BY 2009, MSI BEGAN TO REALISE A CRISIS OF ITS OWN: IT COULDN'T COMPETE WITH THE GIANTS OF THE MARKET, AND WITH SALES IN SERIOUS DECLINE, THE COMPANY'S STOCK PRICE BOTTOMED OUT IN 2011. MSI'S FOUNDERS KNEW SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE, AND FAST, IF THE COMPANY WAS GOING TO SURVIVE. THEIR SOLUTION WAS A GAME-CHANGER: TAP INTO THE SOARING INTEREST IN PC GAMING AND HIRE EMPLOYEES WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT GAMING.
LET’S TALK PRODUCTIVE WORKSPACES
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MOST OF US CARRY AT LEAST DEVICES TO WORK PRODUCTIVELY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
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WHAT’S THE HYDRA CABLE?
HOW DOES THE MULTIPLEXER WORK?
The Hydra Cable is a Dock adaptor that attaches 3 alternative laptop power tips to your Dock ACP71, ACP77, DOCK171 and DOCK177, enabling you to support mixed laptop estates with varying power profiles.
The Multiplexer combines power and data a ata outputs from USB-A Docking Stations 7 77) (ACP71, ACP77, DOCK171 and DOCK177) into a single USB-C connection. Simply unplug for USB-A connectivity.
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To find out more about pure USB-C Docking solutions for enterprise please contact your Exertis account manager.
USB-C
Multiplexer
Hydra Cable Attach alternative power tips to support multiple laptop brands or models at one desk
www.targus.com
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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk
FUTURE
INSIST THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS USE CLOUD BACKUP
Just because data is in the cloud, doesn’t mean your customers can’t lose it! As VARs and MSPs, you are often on the frontline of the war against data loss. You know that while Microsoft will cover most data centre issues and even prides itself with a 99.99% uptime, there are many other common causes of data loss which Microsoft cannot cover.
who in 2012 related that he had lost his calendar data due to a bad update of a 3rd party application. Most users are confident about their data being safe - this is because SaaS providers have really made a name for themselves in the software world. The truth is, there have been many documented issues with the synchronization capabilities of apps.
Here are the Top 5 causes of data loss in the cloud which you need to protect your customer from:
INSIST THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS USE A CLOUD BACKUP SOLUTION
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Human error: Once a file has been deleted or overwritten Microsoft cannot help you to get it back. The only way to get your file back is if your customer is using a cloud backup solution, allowing you to easily and quickly restore the original file in seconds or minutes.
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Ransomware: Cybercrime attacks are rampant and the Channel is familiar with the havoc they wreak with unsuspecting companies. Once Office 365 files are encrypted it could take days or weeks to get back original files from Microsoft. If your customer is using a cloud backup solution you will be able to restore their files in minutes, as they were, before the attack.
3.
Disgruntled employee: On occasion a disgruntled employee leaves a company and deletes important emails or files on the way out. The easiest way to manage this type of situation is to ensure your customers have a robust cloud backup solution that will give you, the Service Provider, the ability to restore all files quickly and easily.
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Ex-employees: An employee leaves the company, your customer deactivates their Office 365 account but down the line they need to retrieve an email, excel spreadsheet or a presentation from the ex-employee’s account. Microsoft will tell you that from the time your customer deactivated the employee’s account they held the files for 30 days and then deleted them. With a cloud backup solution, you can recover all of the files (including emails) in a matter of minutes. In fact, you can search your backups at a granular level. 3rd party software: The 5th most popular cause of data loss in the cloud is data being overwritten by 3rd party software. No one is safe from data loss. A telling tale to demonstrate this was told by none other than Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak,
One sure way to ensure you do not get the blame when your customer loses some of his Office 365 data (for any of the above reasons) is to insist that all customers using Office 365 are also using a Cloud Backup solution. You know they will lose files at some stage or another, so save yourself the headache and make sure that you will be able to easily restore these files when the inevitable happens. You know that the easiest way to grow your business is to sell more products and services to your existing customers. Selling Cloud Backup to your Office 365 customers offers not only peace of mind for you and your customer, but it is also a great way for you to sell more services and grow your revenue.
STORAGECRAFT CLOUD BACKUP FOR OFFICE 365 StorageCraft’s Cloud Backup for Office 365 is a “set it and forget it” solution. It provides complete protection for Exchange, calendars & contacts, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint and public shared folders. As a standalone product, StorageCraft Cloud Backup doesn’t require an agent or any additional StorageCraft products to protect and restore critical data. With very little interaction needed to manage your Office 365 backups, you can simply bill your customer on a monthly basis and off you go! StorageCraft Cloud Backup is great for large-scale enterprise deployments with multiple office locations and remote workers. It is equally a good choice for small business settings where cloud applications ensure work flexibility and collaboration. Cloud Backup uses state-of-the-art compression and encryption in Tier 3+ certified datacentres. The software will identify data additions or changes automatically and back up without user intervention. Users can quickly recover files, folders or an entire user account using a selfservice portal. This way, companies can minimize wait time for IT support tickets.
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FUTURE
B2B MUST HAVE ACCESSORIES
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GA B UM S I IN NE GS A SN D E N T E R T A I N M E N T
MICROSOFT ARC TOUCH BLUETOOTH MOUSE
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TARGUS 4 WAY USB FAST CHARGER
Microsoft’s Arc Touch Bluetooth Mouse curves to turn on and flattens to turn off, providing a clutter-free and reliable experience that works from up to 30ft away!
Maximise charge speeds and minimise down time with the Targus 4 way 4.8A USB charger. Compatible with all USB-A charge devices including tablets, phones and wearables.
RRP: £49.99 Colour: Grey Part Code: MS7MP-00013
RRP: £34.99 Colour: Black Part Code: TARAPA750EU
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CYGNETT URBANSHIELD CASE
Made for smartphones, tablets and USB devices, Mophie’s powerstation mini, with a 3,000mAh battery, will provide users with additional charge throughout the day.
The Carbon Fibre backed UrbanShield Premium case for iPhone 7 combines great design and premium finishes for protection from scratches and drops. RRP: £19.99 Colour: Black Part Code: CYGCY1968CPURB
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MOPHIE POWERSTATION MINI
RRP: £27.99 Colour: Black Part Code: MOP3556PWRSTIONMINI3KBLK
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MCAFEE® TOTAL PROTECTION
TARGUS CITYGEAR LAPTOP ROLLER
McAfee Total Protection provides premium antivirus, identity and privacy protection for PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets. This 1-year subscription can be used on 5 devices.
The CityGear roller is a versatile carryall with casual styling and clever capacity, able to carry laptops up to 15.6”. With distinct compartments, this is the perfect travel companion.
RRP: £79.99 Colour: N/A Part Code: MTP17UAGSSRAA
RRP: £29.99 Colour: Black Part Code: TARTCG715EU
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BELKIN QODE SLIM STYLE KEYBOARD CASE
Ultra-thin and lightweight, yet strong enough to offer a solid work surface, the QODE Super Slim Keyboard Case takes tablet productivity to a whole new level. RRP: £95.99 Colour: Black Part Code: BELF5L179eaBLK
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INCIPIO CAPTURE
Engineered for durability and superior protection, the multi-layered CaptureTM case is the ideal choice for rugged defence for Microsoft Surface Pro 4.
RRP: £59.99 Colour: Black Part Code: INCMRSF-096-BLK@MIC
OTTERBOX DEFENDER SERIES CASE
Users can take on every adventure with confidence when they equip their phone with Defender Series, the rugged case designed for iPhone 7 plus. RRP: £34.99 Colour: Black Part Code: OTT77-53907@OTT
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BELKIN SLEEVE
Belkin sleeves offer a practical, affordable solution to carrying laptops, chromebooks and tablets up to 14”. Designed for simplicity, comfort and style, these are an essential addition to every professional. RRP: £9.99 Colour: Black Part Code: BELB2B075-C00 Altham 01282 776 776 | Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | store.exertis.co.uk
McAfee Total Protection ®
Security makes everything easier online Get the premium antivirus, identity, and privacy protection you need for your PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets with McAfee® Total Protection. Award-Winning Antivirus Anti-Spam True Key™ by Intel Security Manage Your Passwords
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For more information contact your Exertis Account Manager today