Exertis Future Business

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RANSOMWARE, GDPR, IOT AND THE CLOUD

PLUG IN TO EXERTIS

Security concerns remain high on the IT agenda

The channel technology event.

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FUTURE

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Copyright ©Exertis (UK) Ltd 2018

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FUTURE

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39

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MILLENNIALS SET TO PUSH SUSTAINABLE IT, HIGHER UP THE GRADE

TECHNOLOGY IS AT THE HEART OF ACTIVITY BASED WORKING

AT YOUR SERVICE

CONTENTS 05 EXERTIS COMMENT Phil Brown introduces the spring edition of Future Business.

06 MARKET STATS UPDATE We look at the current technology trends you should be aware of.

21 PARTNERING IS THE SOLUTION TO A CHANGING LANDSCAPE Working together, both IT resellers and Pro AV specialists can provide a complete solution for their customers.

32 HOT PICKS A range of best-selling products designed to make you more margin.

08 NEWS IN BRIEF A quick look at what’s happening in the technology market.

37 HOW TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

13 FSB

New FinTech platform aims to fund small business growth.

Part two looks at tools which can help provide return on investment data.

16 RANSOMWARE, GDPR, IOT AND THE CLOUD

Topics that are seldom out of the news with security concerns as the common denominator.

39 TECHNOLOGY IS AT THE HEART OF ACTIVITY BASED WORKING The big levers for moving to an ABW environment are collaboration and mobility.

41 AT YOUR SERVICE 24 PLUG IN TO EXERTIS

The not to be missed channel event is back. Don’t miss the read or the opportunity to be there.

28 MILLENNIALS SET TO PUSH SUSTAINABLE IT, HIGHER UP THE GRADE

Values like sustainability and social responsibility could well provide a competitive advantage for companies as millennials dominate the workplace.

Services are a key enabler of technology deployment and maintenance. Here’s a rundown on what Exertis can provide.

43 WORKSTATIONS SET FOR CONTINUED GROWTH

There are more opportunities to selling workstations than you think.

46 B2B MUST HAVE ACCESSORIES Our top 10 recommended accessory products for business.

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05

Publisher Exertis Editor Lucy Hall Design Sophie Hammond

WELCOME FROM EXERTIS We’re now entering yet another busy period for us at Exertis – our year end. It’s always a special month with lots of activities on the sales floor and promotional opportunities for you to take advantage of.

Our second Plug in to Exertis channel event is being held on 19th April at Silverstone circuit. It promises to be a great day. Our technology range for business is broad and it’s your chance to make sure that you are making the most of the opportunities that exist at Exertis. You might well be surprised. Of course, we’ll have a showcase of the latest products and solutions from our vendors, a number of seminar topics from industry experts and a couple of guest speakers who are well versed with the venue. You can find out more on page 24. Don’t forget to register and bear in mind we’re adding vendors and showfloor features right up to the event so keep an eye on our Plug in to Exertis website www.exertis.co.uk/plugin - for the latest news.

We’ll also have our professional services team at Silverstone, but if you want to find out a little more about what they can provide to support your business, then you’ll find page 41 of particular interest. Incidentally, we’ll have something new to share with you from our services team at the event as well as some interesting use cases from our services portfolio.

You only have to look around to see that Millennials are becoming a key section of the workforce. It’s a generation that has lived through rapidly changing information technology and communications. Much has been written on the subject but it’s clear that they expect technology to be part of their work and lifestyle.

Perhaps more importantly for companies, they place a premium on corporate social responsibility, something we discuss in our thought-provoking article on page 28.

Furthermore, Millennials are also instrumental in driving

Website store.exertis.co.uk

activity based working practices which we also feature in this issue on page 39.

Of course, hardly a week goes by without security being in the news. Whether that’s ransomware, GDPR, IoT or the Cloud and that’s discussed on page 16.

Basingstoke

The first quarter of the calendar year sees some of the biggest industry exhibitions with CES, the BETT Show, ISE and MWC. Our newly appointed head of AV for Europe, Warren Lewis, was a keynote speaker at ISE and you can read his message on page 21 about the importance of partnerships as the convergence of IT and AV continues.

Address: Ashwood Chineham Business Park Chineham Basingstoke Hampshire RG24 8EH

If you thought workstations were just for CAD and scientific applications, then our look at the workstation market on page 43 illustrates how these appliances are being deployed in many other areas. This could well present another sales opportunity for you.

For those active in social media, and there’s certainly a place for it in business, we have the second part of our feature which this time focuses on how to measure its effectiveness.

Once again, this is a bumper issue so don’t forget to take a look at the offers and information from our vendors, our regular look at market stats, our hot picks and must have accessories, and the latest news from Exertis and the industry.

Thanks for your continued support and enjoy the read.

Phil Brown Sales and commercial director, Business

Sales: 01256 707 070

To place an order please call 01256 707 070 between 9am – 6pm Monday to Friday

Burnley Sales: 01282 776 776 Address: Technology House, Magnesium Way, Hapton, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 7BF To place an order please call 01282 776 776 between 9am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday

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BUSINESS

BUSINESS TRENDS DRIVING DEMANDS BY

2019

SHARE OF SMBs

WORLDWIDE WITH

MILLENNIALS IN SENIOR MANAGEMENT WILL EXCEED 50% IDC

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BY

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AS THE MAIN SEARCH

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WILL GROW 21.2%

OVER THE NEXT 4 YEARS IDC

BY 2021,

SPEND ON CLOUD WILL DOUBLE TO OVER IDC

INPUT METHOD CCS INSIGHTS

GLOBAL IT SPENDING TO INCREASE BY 4.5% IN 2018 GARTNER

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

The channel technology event of the year is back!

19th April 2018 - Silverstone Circuit Come and discover the latest solutions and hear from industry experts. See what’s trending, what’s emerging and what’s right for your business.

At ‘Plug in to Exertis’ we’ve got technology covered, it’s what we do best. One day, one great location, bursting with technology solutions for the living room through to the datacentre. So whether you are a new or existing customer this is the channel event for you!

What to expect: 80+ of our leading vendors showcasing their products & solutions Keynotes from our UK MD Paul Bryan & Formula One legends David Coulthard & Mark Gallagher Technology suites with seminars on key topics from industry experts Champagne reception in the pit lane

Register today

exertis.co.uk/plugin

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NEWS IN BRIEF

BUSINESS

TIMELY RESPONSE FOR GDPR Requests for personal information may well prove more of an issue for companies than a breach by hacking. Under GDPR, it will be free for individuals to request what information is being held providing the same individual doesn’t abuse this through excessive or repetitive requests. Currently, there is a small cost to do this. The time limit to respond is thirty days and the information must be provided in a commonly used electronic form. Companies will need to ensure they are prepared to handle these requests or fall foul of the GDPR.

POWER SHIFT 14” laptops seem to be the size that users are opting for as more employees work remotely or use their device at home and at work.

Exertis has noticed a decline in sales of 15” but a rise in the smaller screen size. Steve Hewins, business manager in our computing division said “End users are getting more savvy about the kit they want nowadays. Mobility is key – businesses can save on overheads if employees can work remotely – this has driven the need for mobility and smaller devices in PCs. 15” laptops are too big to move around easily as they have a bigger screen and keypad. By reducing laptops by 1.6” off screen size this has reduced laptops by 10-13% in size and weight but there is no difference in performance. Optical drives are not seen as essential which means vendors can make them thinner and smaller.” Context data seems to back-up his theory, showing a steady growth in 14” laptops, although 15" still holds a healthy market share.

FORECAST IS GOOD FOR SECURITY

LEWIS TO SPEARHEAD AV IN EUROPE

Analysts, Gartner forecasts worldwide ldwide enterprise se security spending to total $96.3bn in 2018, an increase ease of 8% from 2017. Organisations are spending more on securityy as a result of regulations, shifting buyer mindset, awareness of emerging merging tthreats and the evolution to a digital business strategy.

Warren Lewis has joined Exertis as head of AV for Europe from LG Electronics, where he held several leadership roles in a career spanning more than 10 years with the vendor, most recently as vice president Europe B2B – Information Displays.

"Overall, a large portion of security spending is driven by an organisation's reaction toward security breaches as more high profile cyber-attacks and data breaches affect organisations worldwide," said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. "Cyber-attacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya, and most recently the Equifax breach, have a direct effect on security spend, because these types of attacks last up to three years."

In this new role, Lewis will focus on leading the overall sales and commercial proposition for the Exertis Group’s professional AV business by driving the vendor and customer strategy across Europe.

“As the geographical reach of Exertis continues to grow, it’s important that we leverage our combined strength, deliver solutions across territories and promote a strong message across the retail, home, education and public sector. Warren has the experience and knowledge to build and scale our Pro AV presence in Europe providing benefits for our vendors and the right support for our customers.” said Niall Ennis, DCC Technology, managing director.

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

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EXERTIS SECURES ACCREDITATION

NEW COURSEWARE Exertis has been chosen and authorised to run NETGEAR accredited training for our resellers and their customers. We’ve added NETGEAR LAN to our educational courseware and will initially run quarterly training days enabling customers to identify, configure, manage and maintain NETGEAR ProSAFE Smart Managed Switches.

Ian Gilbey, Exertis, technical services director said “NETGEAR switches are well-known for their value, performance and reliability.

Their smart switches are typically targeted at small to medium sized businesses and this course will enable resellers to confidently deploy and service their customers’ networking infrastructure with a NETGEAR product. The one-day course offers both theory and practical guidance delivered by an Exertis technical training consultant with real-world experience of deploying, configuring and supporting the NETGEAR portfolio.”

Contact our Professional Services team on 01256 707070 or email ees.services@exertis.co.uk for more information.

A CAPTIVNET AUDIENCE Exertis has signed a distribution agreement with Airangel for its Captivnet guest WiFi and analytics platform particularly suitable for the hospitality, retail and other guest-heavy environments. Captivnet provides a complete value-add solution that sits on top of any wireless network giving customers a simple login method for their guests, a complete reporting and analytics package, including presence and location data, and a comprehensive collection of marketing and engagement tools.

Gareth Bray, Exertis head of commercial for Enterprise said, “Demand for guest WiFi solutions, which go beyond simple guest internet access, is on the rise and businesses are looking for new and innovative ways to use WiFi to gain a competitive advantage and generate revenues. Captivnet represents a great opportunity for resellers to implement wireless networks that can provide a tangible return on their customers’ investment by creating revenue streams through monetising the wireless access and gathering vital data from visitors that can be used in future marketing campaigns.”

Contact our Wireless and Mobility team on 01256 378620 for more information.

Exertis has gained Cyber Essentials PLUS certification and for our professional services division and has completed IASME governance which demonstrates that a company has prepared for the introduction of GDPR by focusing on how data is collected, maintained and protected.

Ian Gilbey, Exertis technical services director said, “Cyber Essentials PLUS provides independent assurance that you have the proper protections in place to help prevent the vast majority of cyber-attacks. That provides our resellers with confidence to use our range of white label support services for their customers. With the deadline approaching for the GDPR to come into force, we need to ensure that we have taken the necessary measures to comply with the regulations.”

The five technical security controls under the Cyber Essentials scheme cover: firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection and patch management. Cyber Essentials is a governmentbacked, industry supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber-attacks.

Contact our Professional Services team on 01256 707070 or email ees.services@exertis.co.uk for more information.

HYPER-CONVERGED GOES HYPER-AFFORDABLE Exertis has announced the availability of new low-cost, hyperconverged appliances from StorMagic®. Exclusive to Exertis, the two new Dell EMC appliances come fully configured. Each model includes server and storage hardware, Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere hypervisor, StorMagic’s SvSAN software and includes three years of maintenance and support.

“Many of our partners are SME focused and their customers often struggle to find a solution that is easy to use and fits their IT budget,” said Kevin Matthews, Exertis enterprise sales director. “These appliances enable our StorMagic and Dell EMC partners, and their customers, to consume a more simple and cost-effective alternative to traditional vendor hyper-converged solutions.”

Speak to your Exertis account manager for further details on the appliances, or call our Solutions Sales team on 01256 706920.

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Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

Rugged Technology Built for Success

Tough and reliable, Cat® phones provide a solution no matter where people work, wherever they go and no matter what they do.

Robust yet affordable, these phones are perfect for industrial and public sector markets.

We’re now stocking the Cat® S31, Cat® S41, Cat® S30 and Cat® S60 smartphones and the Cat® B25 and Cat® B30 mobile phones.

Want to Capitalise on selling Cat? Win £1,000 worth of credit to spend on ANYTHING at Exertis when you buy Cat phones.* *Terms and conditions apply. Offer valid 19.02.18 to 13.04.18. Minimum spend each week must be £250 or over to enter that week’s draw. No cash equivalent available. Exertis reserve the right to amend or withdraw the offer at any time.

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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk

FUTURE

13

NEW FINTECH PLATFORM AIMS

TO FUND SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH Access to finance is crucial to the growth of the small business sector. A sector which accounts for an annual turnover of £1.9 trillion a year; that’s 51% of all private sector turnover in the UK. Traditional banks should no longer be the only path to finance for SMEs. The amount of finance sourced from the alternative finance (AltFin) market by SMEs has doubled in the last two years, however, it still remains lower than that sought from traditional lenders. Women entrepreneurs have traditionally been even less likely to seek alternative finance than their male counterparts.

Access to finance is fundamental for a thriving small business sector and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is stepping up its work to support its members in this area. While FSB successfully campaigned for the establishment of the British Business Bank (BBB), it has now also launched a new FCA regulated FinTech platform. The funding platform gives its small business members simple access to a wide range of alternative finance lenders, matched to their unique business needs.

FSB believes that the low take-up of alternative finance by SMEs to date has been, in part, due to an overly-complicated FinTech landscape, with small businesses not having trusted brands offering access to AltFin. Added to this, most AltFin platforms require the business to fill in different funding applications for each and every lender they wish to approach. A process that can be overly time consuming for people who are running small businesses with already huge day to day demands on their time.

Technology has made funding platforms possible, however, FSB believes that most entrepreneurs value bespoke advice from experienced and knowledgeable advisers when it comes to what will work for their unique business needs. The platform also enables access to regionally focussed lenders because FSB believes that local or specialist knowledge is welcomed by SMEs.

Dave Stallon of FSB explained: “Despite the use of matching technology, FSB believes the human element is still important in order to have an understanding what the business is all about and what its financial requirements are. The platform is a good example how Automation and AI can be utilised as a tool that increases efficiency, because it allows getting the “right human being” in front of the customer at the right moment.

Technology is a great enabler, rather than a substitute for human involvement.”

Developed with partner Finpoint, a pilot of the FSB Funding Platform in three UK regions showed that the average amount of finance a small business applies for from an alternative finance provider is £39,000 – half the amount sought from banks, ‘traditional finance’.

Dave Stallon said: “It will transform the business funding market and is a real step change for small businesses.”

FSB Funding Platform, powered by Finpoint, is regulated by the FCA and offers free access to over 120 lenders with AI technology matching entrepreneurs and businesses wanting funding with the best lenders for their circumstances. The platform also provides access to finance advisors.

ABOUT FSB As the UK’s biggest business group, FSB is member-led and notfor-profit. Its focus is on successfully lobbying Government to make important policy decisions, whilst offering effective tools, advice and benefits that have a positive impact on the day-to-day business lives of small business owners and the self-employed.

For more information visit FSB.org.uk

Introducing the Dell Precision T3620 Workstation

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Part code: S10184697, S10184714

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Performance ce ahead of the curve Discover onee of the world’s first 34 inch 21:9 curved monitors with a panoramic view, cinematic WQHD resolution and superb sound. A new wrap-around viewing experience with a 21:9 ultra-wide curved screen that offers more display area and enhanced viewing comfort.

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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

RANSOMWARE, GDPR, IOT AND THE CLOUD Topics that are seldom out of the news with security concerns as the common denominator.

Let’s start with ransomware. Industry experts predict that this will continue to be the malware of choice for cybercriminals and that variants will continually evolve. Indeed, just recently, a new strain of ransomware was reported that was able to escape detection from the majority of anti-virus engines and well-known cloud applications including Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365. With the rise of ransomware-as-a-service, it gives more opportunities for would-be hackers to try their luck. By deploying these malwares that encrypt files, they pay a percentage of the funds they collect to the author. No wonder then that ransomware continues to be big business in the criminal world – even vying with drug dealing in terms of its revenue according to some analysts.

There are, of course, conflicting reports on how much revenue is generated. Some say that the percentage of ransomware bitcoin payments has declined but, in any event, payment is only a small part of the real cost of entrapment, particularly for business. The total cost of damage includes not only the potential loss of data (bearing in mind that there is no guarantee that files will be returned even if payment is made), but also disruption to business, investigation and restoration, additional employee training and most importantly, reputational damage that can impact the brand.

Jon Rayment, managing director at security solutions provider NetThreat, a customer of Exertis, maintained that 70 - 80% of security conversations with their clients included the topic of ransomware.

“Initially, it was SPAM, then ID theft followed by phishing and now ransomware is the biggest single concern. Fortunately, our portfolio of vendors allows us to provide appropriate security solutions enabling our customers to address the risk. Prevention: which includes training and filtering; Detection: through deployment of recent client software tools and Restoration by deployment of suitable backup technology, are all key parts of the solution” The WannaCry attack last year, which affected high profile organisations like the NHS, has increased awareness of the problem and the media has played an important role in highlighting the issue.

However, even now the NHS has struggled to meet the required cyber security levels with their digital deputy CEO admitting in February that all 200 NHS trusts that had been accessed had failed to reach the Cyber Essentials Plus standards. Most of the failures were worryingly down to a lack of patching of systems – one of the main reasons the NHS was so badly affected by the WannaCry attack. Whilst the “WannaCry lessons learned” report, just recently published, pointed out that more funding was required for the NHS, it also called for them to have sufficient quality and capable IT technical resources to manage and support their local infrastructure, systems and services.

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

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protect their data. Gartner has predicted that by 2019, 80% of web traffic will be encrypted. Net Threat’s Rayment highlighted the issue this has caused for some organisations “With increasing encrypted traffic, malware can go undetected. Whilst encryption enables online privacy, it has provided the opportunity for cybercriminals to hide malicious content that can go undetected without the right security solutions in place. There has been a rise in hackers leveraging SSL/TLS encryption to hide attacks. Inspecting encrypted traffic is key to preventing any number of threats and the percentage of organisations that have deployed the necessary solutions to inspect encrypted threats remains low. It’s likely that more sophisticated malware inside encrypted traffic will be deployed by cybercriminals and organisations will have to increase their protection and their security expenditure to match it.”

Of course, data loss will become an even greater concern for companies in the coming months with the GDPR on the horizon.

GDPR isn’t prescriptive in terms of what technology to deploy although it advocates the deployment of security practices. It only suggests: "The pseudonymisation and encryption of data; ability to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of processing; the ability to restore data after an incident; and a process for testing, assessing and evaluating effectiveness of security".

Preventing threats is important but often it’s human error either willingly or unwittingly that poses the biggest issue. Vendors like SonicWall provide firewalls that are able to inspect encrypted traffic and detect, block and provide incident reporting to prevent such a breach.

Whilst conversations about GDPR per se haven’t been that widespread with NetThreat customers, Rayment believes that it has helped companies understand the need to deploy the right security solutions in the first place to prevent a breach with multilayered protection that includes: firewalls, end point security, e-mail security, remote access management and disaster recovery. “GDPR has provided a framework for discussion on security and we have been running some educational webinars on the subject. Historically companies have been collecting huge amounts of data that in the future they won’t be able to hold.”

The report also highlighted the need for employees within organisations to receive sufficient training on cyber security. Phishing attacks, leveraging social engineering techniques, have been the most common forms of attack using emails, social media, instant messaging and SMS to trick victims. Designed to create curiosity and urgency and appearing to come from a trusted source, they aim to obtain sensitive information or entice the recipient to open an affected attachment or visit a compromised website to infiltrate their systems.

NetThreat’s Rayment also concurred with the need for training “As part of our security offering, we can determine the vulnerability of staff in an organisation and then deliver training courses for companies as part of an ongoing solution. Employees are tested on their ability to spot phishing and other forms of communication that contain malware. This includes identifying whaling attacks that focus on higher profile contacts within an organisation that are much more profitable for the criminal.”

Whilst the media has been influential in highlighting ransomware, there has also been a lot of noise surrounding encryption. It seems that encryption has become the holy grail. Whilst it has enormous benefits, it has also highlighted a further security concern. Much of the internet has become encrypted and as businesses increasingly look to cloud solutions, they rely more on encryption as a means to

Some of this data has inevitably moved to the cloud. Rayment believes that some companies have moved to the cloud first and considered security second. “We are beginning to see questions being asked about cloud security. Security vendors have been rather slow in their approach to securing the cloud.” With GDPR both the data owner and the cloud service provider will be equally held responsible for compliancy. Companies will need to ensure that their provider is indeed compliant and inevitably some are better than others.

No doubt reputable CSPs will be able to demonstrate their GDPR capabilities but companies should look to seek clarity, supported by a detailed services contract.

You can take your pick on the number of connected devices that analysts believe will be in place by 2020: 30, 50 or 75bn. The number is so big it’s hard to comprehend. Clearly IoT is going to play an increasing role in our home and workplace. Inevitably that poses a security risk for both consumers and industry. One which cybercriminals will be keen to exploit. In their 2018 predictions, SonicWall believes that more devices connected to the internet will result in more compromises with DDoS attacks via compromised IoT devices continuing to be a main threat for IoT attacks. In addition, as more data is collected by these devices, they will become a more lucrative target. It will be up to manufacturers to ensure that security is a key part of the product specification to maintain the trust of the users and that the right security is in place wherever they are deployed.

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FUTURE

PARTNERING IS THE SOLUTION

TO A CHANGING LANDSCAPE Technology moves at a frantic pace, affecting every type of business and changing the channel landscape as distributors, vendors and resellers evolve their services to meet the needs of their customers.

Commoditisation leads to lower margins and the need to add value in areas other than product supply. AV is no exception.

At the beginning of the millennium, a 15” LCD monitor would set you back £2,000, now we are under £60 for a 20” widescreen. The channel landscape has changed and continues to evolve. Distributors are combining traditional services of product supply, credit and logistics with more high value services that provide not only presales support but post sales management and monitoring, training and technical support, enabling resellers to utilise those services to supplement their own propositions.

AV AND IT CONVERGENCE Much has been written about the convergence between AV and IT. If ever you needed an indication of the convergence, then ISE is a great example. Once specific to AV, it also features security, collaboration and mobile working. This brings both opportunities and challenges.

Technology has been the catalyst for this integration with the rapid expansion of networked AV solutions meaning both now share a common infrastructure. Whilst IT departments are increasingly responsible for AV equipment including video conferencing and collaboration equipment, it’s increasingly important for both groups to work together and understand each other’s needs. This applies to Pro AV resellers, systems integrators and IT resellers. Whilst, they don’t have to be experts in each other’s area, a closer working relationship can pay dividends, ensuring there is a seamless and successful outcome for the end customer. IT resellers are in a great position to exploit an AV solution as they usually hold the relationship with the end user’s IT department.

USERS EXPECT A COMPLETE SOLUTION Exertis is also in a great position to take advantage of how the market has changed. There is much discussion about the distinction between different distribution models. Being broadline enables you to provide the solutions that end customers demand across multiple categories. In this case AV, IT, data storage, Unified Communications.

Adding value in distribution is the support that your resellers can take advantage of with the technical expertise and on-going services you can offer. With Exertis Medium, we have that expertise in abundance for AV solutions and for IT, we have an enterprise division that has dedicated experts in security and UC, and a professional services team that can add an on-going revenue stream to a sale. It’s clear that both sectors and both models need each other to provide a complete solution and to be able to add chargeable services to the sale.

Adding chargeable value also requires a more focused approach.

Verticalisation of the market enables you to dig deeper into opportunities by understanding specific needs of the customers. The AV requirements of an airport project are very different to a fashion retailer, likewise the needs of a restaurant aren’t the same as a GP’s surgery. By looking at the market in this way, vendors, distributors and resellers can share knowledge and work in partnership to create solutions that provide profitable opportunities for the channel.

As technology evolves, we need to ensure that we do as well. If you aren’t enhancing your solution portfolios, innovating your propositions to include billable services, or embracing opportunities to collaborate in areas outside of your expertise and comfort zone, then you risk getting left behind. Opportunities exist not only in enterprises but increasingly in the SMB space with millennials demanding a more visual and collaborative working environment.

Extracts from Exertis head of AV for Europe, Warren Lewis’ speech at ISE 2018.

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FUTURE

PLUG IN TO EXERTIS

19TH APRIL 2018 - SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT

GA B UM S I IN NE GS A SN D E N T E R T A I N M E N T

Silverstone is used to big names, excitement and top performers. So, it’s fitting that we should be bringing our second Plug in to Exertis channel event to this location. On the 19th April, we’ll be transforming the circuit into a technology showcase with our world leading portfolio of vendors, gathering to show off what’s new, what’s emerging and what’s hot. If you sell to SMBs, enterprises or the public sector, it’s the not to be missed channel event.

What’s more, we’ve just announced an exciting line-up of keynote speakers fitting for our choice of venue. Mark Gallagher and David Coulthard will be presenting the business lessons that can be derived from creating winning teams in today’s competitive world – one where performance is everything. You’ll also have the chance to meet them over lunch.

The business sector, there’s also a consumer one for retail too, will be bigger and better than ever with focused areas covering AV, Computing, Components, Print, Mobile and Enterprise. The line-up of exhibitors is already very impressive and we’re continually adding new ones in the run up to the event.

Visitors will have the chance to come and meet the vendors leading the way in providing business products and solutions across a range of technologies, discuss opportunities with our expert teams dedicated to specific categories, join our seminars on key industry topics and participate in other show-floor activities.

A QUICK GUIDE TO THE FOCUSED AREAS

What to expect: • • • •

80+ of our leading vendors showcasing their products & solutions Keynotes from our UK MD Paul Bryan & Formula One legends David Coulthard & Mark Gallagher Technology exhibitions with seminars on key topics from industry experts Champagne reception in the pit lane

AV Come and meet the professionals in AV with a line-up of best of breed vendors that covers everything from A to V including a portfolio that encompasses: LFD, Interactive, Commercial TV, Projection, Screens, Brackets & Accessories, Connectivity & Control, VC and Audio. Our Exertis Medium team is highly regarded for its technical expertise and knowledge. The Pro AV market is growing. There are plenty of opportunities and we have the best team to help you. So, whether you’re an AV specialist or a reseller looking to take advantage of an AV opportunity in a converging market, we will be pleased to talk to you.

Computing Computing remains a key focus for businesses moving forward. From traditional desktop to the lightest, thinnest 2in1 devices, Exertis’ portfolio delivers a PC solution for every requirement. Visit the PC technology area to explore the growth of specialised computing sectors in the market providing fantastic margin opportunities in rugged computing devices, workstation and Virtual/Mixed Reality developments.

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

Components When it comes to stocking the components that make up a PC, you’ll find it hard to find a better range than the team at Exertis has to offer from its dedicated business unit. Indeed, it’s the one stop shop for any reseller or systems integrator needing any component: from the operating system and processor to the cases, power supply units, motherboards, graphics cards, memory and storage as well as a range of gaming keyboards, mice and headsets.

Print The UK market delivers 80 per cent of its unit sales via A4 printers whilst 80 per cent of the value is driven by A3 printing devices.

Come and discuss how we can help you expand your business into innovative and profitable areas which include document management, large format printers, high-end and A3 printing solutions, and complementary services.

Mobile Get your hands on the latest smartphones on the market from all the leading manufacturers, fresh from announcements at CES and MWC. Find out more about our new value-added services that can support resellers with life cycle management programmes and device as a service (DaaS) offerings. Come and meet us, and we’ll tell you how you can get on board with these opportunities.

Enterprise Whether it’s protection against ransomware, compliance with GDPR, taking advantage of hyperconvergence, utilising the cloud, deploying wireless networks, making the most of collaborative communications or providing best of breed servers and storage, we have the expertise, product portfolio and range of professional services that can help you build solutions for your customers. Come and meet our dedicated teams in server and storage, converged infrastructure, security, wireless mobility, UC systems and services.

How can I attend?

Register now at www.exertis.co.uk/plugin where you will find further details and we’ll keep you up to date with the latest developments.

David Coulthard David Coulthard is one of Formula One’s most successful drivers, winning Grands Prix on 13 occasions including twice winning the prestigious British and Monaco Grands Prix. During a 15-year career he drove for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing, establishing a reputation for combining speed with intelligence. He now presents the Formula One on Channel 4.

Mark Gallagher During his Formula One career, spanning 30 years, Mark has worked in senior management roles at Jordan Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing and Cosworth. Today he is co-commentator and Formula One analyst for the BBC, ESPN and Sky Sports in the UK as well as founder and CEO of Performance Insights.

Register today exertis.co.uk/plugin

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FUTURE

A MESSAGE FROM PAUL BRYAN, EXERTIS UK MANAGING DIRECTOR A day well spent with technology. A day that strengthens relationships.

That’s what you can expect when you join us at our second Plug in to Exertis channel event. Whatever type of customer you sell to, be it enterprise, SMB or consumer, we’ve a range of technologies that can be deployed in the living room through to the data centre.

This event presents a real opportunity to get to know the breadth of technology that we can offer you at Exertis. You can focus on a technology sector in which you already play or take the opportunity to diversify your interest into a complementary area that can add to the solutions that you already provide. Or you can do both.

For business, we have focused areas in AV, PC, Print, Components, Enterprise and Mobile. For consumers we can offer you Smart Tech and Networking, Premium Audio & TV, Gadgets & Accessories and Gaming. Each area will host: an exhibition space with a plethora of solutions and products from our leading range of vendors; a seminar programme on hot technology topics delivered by industry specialists and a number of show-floor features.

However, that’s not all. Services are becoming an increasingly important part of what the channel can offer customers and we’d like you to take advantage of these for your business. Just like the breadth of technology we provide, Exertis has a wide range of services that are helping our retailers and resellers win lasting relationships with their customers. From financial and logistical to category management and professional services, we can enable you to offer these as part of your own value proposition. We’ve some great use cases that we’d like to share with you on the day.

This year, our event is being held at Silverstone Circuit, the home of British Formula 1 Grand Prix. This is a great facility with good access and we hope that this will encourage even more resellers from both north and south of the country to join us. What’s more, who better to be our guest speakers at such a venue than Mark Gallagher who has worked in senior management roles at Jordan Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing and Cosworth, and David Coulthard, one of Formula One’s most successful drivers, winning Grands Prix on 13 occasions including twice winning the prestigious British and Monaco Grands Prix. If you have ever wanted to know about the inner workings of Formula One and to understand how these lessons can be applied to business, and hear first-hand experiences of what it takes to be a winner, then this is another great reason to join us.

Also, please take the opportunity at the event to tell us how we can serve you better. We will have members of our senior management team available on the day and so over lunch or at the end of the day, we’d be more than happy to get your feedback.

I look forward to meeting with you on the 19th April. Don’t forget to register at www.exertis.co.uk/ plugin and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest information on our Plug in to Exertis event.

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MILLENNIALS SET TO PUSH SUSTAINABLE IT,

HIGHER UP THE GRADE

GA B UM S I IN NE GS A SN D E N T E R T A I N M E N T

ATTRACTING MILLENNIALS WILL BE INFLUENCED BY A COMPANY’S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY According to a 2017 study by research company Lightspeed on behalf of Rubbermaid Commercial Products, a brand’s commitment to sustainability is an important concern to Millennials and will be crucial in attracting and retaining employees. The findings make interesting reading:

MILLENNIALS PLACE A PREMIUM ON SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSIDER IT A CORE VALUE IN RELATION TO THEIR CAREER • • •

9 in 10 Millennials say it is important they work for a sustainable company.

36% of Millennials consider a company's reputation as a sustainable business when choosing their next job.

Nearly 1 in 10 Millennials would quit their jobs if they found out their current employer was not sustainable.

MILLENNIALS ARE EMPOWERED TO INSPIRE CHANGE IN THEIR WORK ENVIRONMENT • •

82% of Millennials look for opportunities to help their company become more sustainable.

67% feel they have enough influence in their workplace to make an impact on matters such as sustainability.

MILLENNIALS WANT TO DO MORE AND BELIEVE RECYCLING SHOULD BE AN OBLIGATION FOR THEIR EMPLOYER •

•

Whatever the industry, companies need to respond to their customer demands and expectations if they want to survive. The millennial generation is now becoming increasingly important to consumers and more dominant employees in the workplace. Studies have shown that in general, Millennials place a higher value on social responsibility which influences the brands they want to consume and the companies they want to work for. Values like sustainability and social responsibility are much higher on their agenda than any previous generation.

A well reported global study back in 2015 by Nielsen maintained that almost three-quarters of Millennials would be willing to pay more for sustainable products. Equally, companies that respected sustainability and could demonstrate strong social responsibility would be preferred in terms of employment even to the detriment of securing a higher salary. A Brookings Institute research survey conducted in the US reported that 89% of Millennials surveyed were more likely to buy from companies that support solutions to specific social issues, up twenty three percentage points from the original survey run in 1993, in which no Millennials participated. Together with an increased awareness of environmental issues, it’s apparent that Millennials are going to be more discerning in their employment and consumer choices.

•

Over 80% of Millennials whose employer does not have a recycling system in place believe employers have a responsibility to encourage recycling in the workplace.

77% of Millennials say they recycle at work, but 83% say they recycle at home, suggesting recycling at work is more challenging.

62% of Millennials say they would recycle more in the workplace if their office provided more recycling points.

"The findings of our recycling study show a tangible commitment to sustainability is a requirement for the next generation of workers," said Anna Whitton, vice president of marketing, Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP). "Millennials are ready to make a difference and willing to turn down jobs that don't align with their beliefs.

Sustainability may seem a somewhat incongruous value to those Millennials who have an obsession with the latest gizmos, flagship products and technologies. Indeed, the IT industry is renowned for its desire to refresh products as quickly as possible. Equally, technology has had a positive effect on the environment. Green initiatives are best when they have both business, operational and environmental benefits. Take video conferencing as an example. It not only provides better collaboration between remote teams, it also has the added benefit of being a greener, more eco-friendly way to conduct business, saving considerable amounts on the CO2 emissions from travel.

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

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To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk

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SUSTAINABILITY IS MULTI-FACETED Of course, Green IT has been around for years. According to a study

by Global Action Plan, a UK-based environmental organisation, the IT industry accounts for 2% of human greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. However, sustainability is already a dominant trend in the sector and Millennials will be instrumental in continuing this drive. There are many factors to consider in terms of sustainability.

Greenpeace recently relaunched its 2017 guide to Greener Electronics, an analysis of what seventeen of the world’s leading consumer electronics companies are doing to address their environmental impacts, focused on measuring a number of critical factors tied to product design and supply chain management: • • •

Energy: Reduction of greenhouse gases through efficiency and renewable energy.

Resource Consumption: sustainable design and use of recycled materials.

Chemicals: Elimination of hazardous chemicals from both the product itself and manufacturing.

Indeed, these are areas on which many companies focus their attentions. Delivering products and technologies that improve people’s lives and are kind to the environment has to be top of mind.

In order to achieve that organisations need to address a number of issues:

ENERGY Improving the energy efficiency of a product is a key factor in determining a product’s lifecycle environmental impact by reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint. Energy ratings are common on many products.

PACKAGING Recyclable and lightweight packaging helps to minimise resource consumption and thereby reduce carbon footprint.

MATERIALS Products are made from a range of materials and substances which may have an impact on the environment. Eliminating or minimising the use of hazardous chemicals and the use of precious metals can reduce the ecological impact.

RECYCLING & DISPOSAL The recovery of materials and their re-use in new products as well as providing refurbishment and access to spare parts also contribute to reducing consumption of resources. Where necessary, the disposal of obsolete or irreparable products needs to be carried out in accordance with legal requirements.

LIFETIME Extending the lifetime of a product reduces consumption and the need to manufacture and transport new products which all contribute to reducing emissions.

In addition, the tech sector’s commitment to sustainability extends to practices of global sourcing and supply chains. Tech sector companies have been behind promoting regulatory initiatives to establish best practices.

CSR CAN BE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR THE IT CHANNEL By almost any measure, Millennials place a premium on corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts by companies. What’s more as they move up the career ladder, they will begin to exert more dominance over IT decision making. That’s why vendors are increasingly mindful of their corporate responsibility in terms of the products they develop and the suppliers they choose in the production. Independent sources like the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good select and rank companies based on defined environmental, social and governance criteria, so there is transparency. Major OEMs like Lenovo, Dell, HP and Samsung are qualified with TCO’s sustainability certification which covers displays, PCs, smartphones, projectors and headsets. Products are independently verified to meet all criteria at the product, factory and brand level. Key criteria cover hazardous content, energy efficiency, product lifetime, conflict minerals and social responsibility in the manufacturing supply chain, which has been an issue for some manufacturers in recent years.

Resellers can take it a step further by offering more sustainable IT services to end customers by introducing initiatives around re-use of systems and components, and take-back of equipment. Exertis will be providing some new initiatives in these areas (see page 41) and our acquisition of MTR, a leader and specialist in 2nd generation lifecycle extension of mobile, wearable and tablet devices provides further opportunities. MTR offers a complete repair and refurbishment process including data cleansing and when required an environmentally friendly disposal service.

CSR can increase brand loyalty, raise awareness and build powerful reputations which will inspire Millennials to consider a company either to consume their products or to seek their employment. The channel would do well to take both sustainability and Millennials seriously. Those that do could well end up with a real competitive advantage.

Sources and acknowledgements: Greenpeace, Business Insider, Brookings Institute, Forbes, Nielsen, ITIC

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Plantronics’ Signature Audio • PC wideband audio with noise-cancelling microphones for high-quality PC telephony • Dynamic EQ automatically adjusts audio settings between voice calls and music

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BUSINESS

EXERTIS BUSINESS

HOT PICKS

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SSAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE8 G Give your customers the bigger picture in a whole new way with the Galaxy Note8. The S Pen's thinner tip and N greater pressure sensitivity allows users g to express their creativity and the dual ccamera gives great low-light capabilities.

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CAT S41

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Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

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TOP 5 BEST-SELLING BUSINESS PRODUCTS

NETGEAR N300 WIFI RANGE EXTENDER Keep mobile devices connected by giving existing WiFi coverage a boost. This small, easy-to-install wall-plug WiFi range extender also creates new WiFi connectivity for up to 1 wired device.

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SAMSUNG FLASH CARD 128GB EVO PLUS MICRO-SD W/A More space and higher speed. Free up your customers' devices with the largest capacity and highest read/write speeds in its class, perfect for 4K UHD video. With astonishing performance and reliability, EVO Plus lets users save and treasure the richness of life.

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Part Code S10153622

Featuring increased storage space, extended battery capacity, highperformance camera. Special edition sku available with 128GB memory card.

PLANTRONICS BLACKWIRE 3200 SERIES If your customers like the simplicity and reliability of corded headsets, they’ll love the Plantronics Blackwire 3200 Series.

Comfortable to wear, easy to use, and simple to deploy, these UC headsets will keep their users productive throughout the day. They deliver top notch UC features at a price they can afford.

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MICROSOFT WIRELESS DISPLAY ADAPTER V2 Share what’s on any tablet, laptop, smartphone or Surface onto an HDTV or monitor with Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter. Stream films, view photos or display a presentation on a big screen—all wirelessly.

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BELKIN USB-C™ EXPRESS DOCK 3.1 HD The dock links user's USB-C laptop to the rest of their world through a single cable, and powers it all at optimal speeds.

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13 3 7 3 3

HOW TO MEASURE

THE EFFECTIVENESS

OF YOUR SOCIAL

MEDIA CAMPAIGNS product of your objectives but it shouldn’t necessarily be seen as the priority. There are other marketing activities better placed to fulfil that. However, measuring your social media goals provide information on where you might need to improve your efforts and which social media channels are performing better.

In the second part of our discussion on B2B social media, we look at how you can measure the effectiveness of your social media campaigns. As mentioned in the first part, there is often debate as to whether social media is an effective marketing tool for B2B businesses. Measuring ROI is probably the area which causes the most concern for marketing folk, simply because measuring the effectiveness isn’t so black and white as measuring a pay per click advertising campaign. Determining the revenue your last LinkedIn post or Tweet made is harder to determine.

Indeed, results from a Trust Radius survey highlights some of the dilemmas faced by marketers with 60% reporting that “measuring ROI is one of their top three social media marketing challenges” and 40% of B2B marketers admitting that they were not sure whether any social channels had generated any business revenue. Herein lies the issue. What exactly are you measuring to calculate your ROI? Whilst ROI is important, it may well depend on what stage you are at with your social media strategy. In the last issue, we pointed out the importance of determining your activity, identifying your audience and then stimulating engagement with the right content. The ROI should therefore relate back to the initial goals you have set. While B2C companies are driven to influence customers to buy something, it could be that your B2B objectives are set on becoming a recognised authority in your industry or a particular topic. That doesn’t mean however that your goals can’t be quantifiable. Examples could include: filling out a contact form, establishing preferences, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a whitepaper, views on a video, clicks on a website link or engagement in social media interaction (shares, likes, followers). The latter may well be nice to have and are certainly quantifiable but too often they are used by companies as the only measurement. Social media analysts refer to these as engagement, amplification and affinity rates. Of course, positive likes and shares demonstrate an interest and provide a useful sanity check on your content. Extending your audience through a share can be valuable and endorsement through an influencer can be extremely helpful.

Equally, leads that can be converted into sales may well be a by-

TOOLS TO HELP YOU Keeping track of your goals is vital. Setting goals that can be measured and are based on your customers or potential customers taking actions enables you to use measurement tools. For instance, Google Analytics records conversions that are being generated from social media. These can be anything from buying a product to signing up to a webinar or downloading a PDF. There are many tutorials on the web that can help with this and other reports available from Google Analytics. It’s a good idea to find out what analytics tools are available from whatever social network you are using - which Tweets are performing best, what time of day do your Instagram posts achieve most engagement, what results are you getting from your LinkedIn posts. Many of the tools are free and have some useful dashboards that you can use and customise. In addition to these, there are now a plethora of social media analytics tools vying for your business. With these, you can measure performance across most social media channels within a single platform. This makes it much easier to track and compare. Hootsuite or Klipfolio for instance. Or you can use an independent tool that measures a specific platform.

Naturally, there is a cost associated to these.

Of course, all of these analytics are great but to truly get a picture of the effectiveness of your social media marketing, the most important and often forgotten part to measure is the investment that you have made. ROI = (return-investment) / investment. Whilst it’s free to use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, the major investment is probably going to be in your time, along with any paid for analytics tools. If you also pay for social media advertising that would need to be included as well. Probably one of the most difficult parts is monetising the values you attribute to some of your goals: how much is a new customer worth, how valuable is keeping an ongoing relationship to your business or registering a customer to an event.

Every business will be different but if you can attach a £ sign to it, then you can calculate a true ROI. Of course, it’s easy if you are using one channel with one specific offer linked to a sale but that’s seldom the case as most marketing campaigns tend to adopt an integrated approach. No-one said it would be easy, hence why it’s often the part that’s neglected.

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TECHNOLOGY IS AT THE HEART OF

ACTIVITY BASED WORKING In today’s modern workplace, technology has not only allowed employees to work from anywhere, but has also changed the purpose and function of some modern offices by providing different work spaces designed for different activities. As a result, employees don’t have a designated workplace but have access to a variety of areas where they can best carry out specific tasks often focused on collaboration activities. Referred to as “Activity Based Working” (ABW), these areas are likely to comprise isolated working areas, conference rooms and huddle spaces where employees from different functions can work, share ideas and solve problems collectively. Whilst ABW has unassigned seating, it differs from hotdesking in that it includes a number of other work settings, not found in traditional offices and it focuses more on the experience the employee has whilst in their office environment.

Organisations rarely fully utilise their office space and typically it’s their second biggest cost. Allocating workspace to when and where employees need it and reducing energy in terms of lighting, heating and air-conditioning provide both financial and environmental gains for companies and improve sustainability, something that is important to an employer to attract and retain talent (see page 28). There is some debate as to the productivity gains that can be achieved but here we are focusing on what technology can be deployed in this type of working environment rather than discussing its merits.

EXPERIENCE FROM EDUCATION SECTOR CAN BENEFIT CORPORATES The education market is recognised as being leading exponents of understanding how groups can build and share knowledge, so perhaps it isn’t surprising to find companies like CTOUCH and Philips applying the lessons of developing interactive technology in education to the corporate office. Collaboration tools cannot be just about better knowledge sharing, they need to improve the speed and effectiveness of people’s efforts. The launch of the CTOUCH Leddura

2Meet solution comes at a time when ABW is becoming an important consideration for organisations who are making significant design and architectural changes to their workspaces to accommodate a shift in working style. Traditionally, meeting rooms were in a fixed location in a corporate office. Now organisations are focused on better utilisation of space to accommodate multiple collaboration spaces and meeting rooms. CTOUCH has used its experience in developing technology for high-agility classrooms to create a simple plug-and-play touch screen which can be moved around the building on wheels. The CTOUCH solution aims to support distributed working through immediate screensharing capabilities, note sharing, and integration with popular work tools such as Skype for Business.

The system allows internal and external parties to screen share and annotate the screen together, which enhances the ease of remote collaboration. Interactive whiteboards are being deployed in a variety of industries from architects to manufacturing.

The use of collaborative technology isn’t a passing trend. IDC predicts that global sales of collaborative applications will increase from $13.3bn to 20.1bn by 2020. Millennials will make up two-thirds of the workforce by 2030 according to Forbes Magazine. They have grown up learning and adapting to new technologies. Consequently, they expect immediacy, seamless connectivity and technology that just works.

The big levers for moving to an ABW environment are collaboration and mobility. Therefore, delivering reliable technology that enables this is paramount. Notebooks and tablets rather than desktops; docking stations that support devices and monitors; IP telephony and unified communication; multi-function central printing and OCR technology to reduce paper dependency; the cloud and social networking, audio visual equipment; interactive displays; meeting room scheduling systems, wi-fi points to provide ubiquitous wireless connectivity and networking infrastructure are just some of the examples of technology that can be deployed. In addition, ABW extends to multiple sites as web conferencing allows employees to collaborate with anyone, anywhere and reduce the need for travel.

Whilst businesses embrace the need for collaborative technology, it presents a great opportunity for the channel to help organisations transition to a more modern workplace. Exertis has products and solutions across all of the technologies mentioned above, so contact your account manager for further information.

Sources & Acknowledgements: AV Magazine (Jeremy Myerson), ComputerWorld, Service Futures, TRA, IDC

www.swann.com

Security Made Smarter with Swann Defence in the Digital Age! CCTV isn’t just for public places, shops, pubs, car parks and big businesses anymore. There is a wave of new, affordably priced technology that is available for smaller premises like homes, and businesses. Not only is securing your home now as simple as the swipe of a smartphone screen, it’s also using state-of-the-art technology to safeguard loved ones and deter unwanted activity.

Swann has been at the forefront of DIY CCTV solutions, consumer electronics and other securitycentric solutions for over 30 years and is proud of the work it has done to make communities safer across the globe.

Wireless Smart Security Camera Swann has launched its new wire-free Smart Security Camera equipped with 1080p full HD video and Swann’s trademarked ‘True Detect’ heat-sensing technology.

The camera offers 100% wireless operation with convenient and economical rechargeable battery power, indoor/outdoor video streaming, reliable heat-triggered push notifications and recording to local memory and secure cloud. It’s wire-free and worry-free home security.

Swann is also tapping into smarter integrations, wireless connectivity, and heat sensing technology coverage to provide a seamless user experience.

With a wide selection of innovative monitoring technologies such as professional-quality super HD (5 MP) and 4K Ultra HD wired recording systems and standalone 1080P HD wire-free cameras and doorbells, there is a Swann security solution to suit all.

Contact your Exertis account manager for more information

THE

To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk exertis.co.uk

FUTURE

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AT YOUR

SERVICE Services are a key enabler of technology deployment and maintenance. Exertis has a range of services that enable you to strengthen your customer service offering and increase your in-house knowledge, skills and support levels according to your needs and without the need for expensive investment. Our aim is to fully support and equip you to confidently recommend, sell and service the leading enterprise networking, unified communications, security and software solutions. Furthermore, we’re adding even more to our professional services portfolio in the areas of cyber security, GDPR, recycling and refurbishment.

So, here’s a quick rundown on the services you could be using to win new business or increase opportunities with your existing customers.

All of our services can be white labelled. That means we’re simply adding some extra engineers or support staff to your existing teams as and when you need them. Often deployment of new technology can reveal gaps in in-house skills and resources. Exertis can plug that gap until you have had the time to gain that expertise internally but not delay the deployment of your solution. Of course, you can also decide to defer that investment altogether, in which case Exertis can continue to help you to maintain the technology. Furthermore, as your distribution partner, you are safe in the knowledge that we aren’t a competitor to your business.

PRE AND POST-SALES SUPPORT Our pre-sales services are there to help you scope your customers’ requirements and deliver a proof of concept that secures the opportunity to win the business. All of our pre-sales services are free. Post sales our Exertis services are modular so you can choose what you want when you want it. Exertis Deploy services accelerate implementation and deployment to get your customers operational in the optimal time and with minimal disruption.

Exertis Maintain offers ‘break-fix’ support contracts that cover all possible requirements with different levels of cover according to what’s required. The speed and quality of response when help is needed is critical to avoid potentially expensive downtime. Exertis Manage allows you to deliver a comprehensive managed service to your customers without you incurring the time, costs, staff and risk involved in setting this up in-house. Modular based, Exertis Manage covers: firewall; intrusion prevention; network access control; authentication and unified communications. For those times when requirements are new and outside a request-for-change of an existing Exertis Maintain and Exertis Manage service, Exertis Assist provides for the purchase of additional service credits. Purchased by the hour, Exertis Assist can cover one or all of your customers and

once used minor changes are allowed via an RFC. Finally, we also offer Exertis Monitor, an additional post sales service that provides a basic level of monitoring on any vendor’s solutions across the entire IT infrastructure. Resellers can take advantage of device monitoring on switches, servers, virtual hosts, storage and UPS. Outside of these core areas, any other IP enabled device can be monitored to provide, at a minimum, availability reports. Exertis Monitor provides availability monitoring and reporting with a notification process on outages or performance issues.

ACCREDITATION BREEDS CONFIDENCE We operate our own Technical Assistance Centre, our professional services are ISO27001 accredited and we have recently gained Cyber Essentials PLUS certification and IASME governance. The five technical security controls under the Cyber Essentials scheme cover: firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection and patch management. Cyber Essentials PLUS, a higher level of assurance, requires a qualified and independent assessor to examine the same five controls, testing that they work in practice by simulating basic hacking and phishing attacks. Cyber Essentials is a government-backed, industry supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber-attacks.

Ian Gilbey, Exertis technical services director said, “Cyber Essentials PLUS provides independent assurance that you have the proper protections in place to help prevent the vast majority of cyberattacks. That provides our resellers with confidence to use our range of white label support services for their customers.”

NEW SERVICES In addition, we have undergone IASME Gold qualification. This demonstrates compliance with the international standard for cyber security and enables us to assist our resellers in getting their customers the Cyber Essentials qualification. From April, we will be providing cybersecurity and GDPR audits that resellers can offer their customers.

Finally, we can offer repair and refurbishment of smartphones, wearables and tablets from MTR, a company we acquired last year.

Their team of highly trained technicians offer a complete repair and refurbishment process including data cleansing and when required an environmentally friendly disposal service.

For more information on our professional services, contact your Exertis account manager.

THE

To buy online: store.exertis.co.uk

FUTURE

WORKSTATIONS

SET FOR CONTINUED

GROWTH Whilst the PC market has been through a difficult period in terms of growth, one area that has managed to buck the trend has been in the workstation market. Indeed, a recent study by Future Market Insights has portrayed a market that is flourishing and set for continued growth at a CAGR of 4.3% in terms of volume and a CAGR of 9.8% in terms of value during the forecast period of 2016 to 2026. There are a number of product segments for workstations (tower workstation, mobile workstation, blade workstation, rack workstation, and all-in-one) and perhaps not surprisingly a growing range of applications. Traditionally, thought of as the province for computer aided design, scientific and technical areas requiring number crunching analysis, there is growing interest in 3D animation software, digital content creation, video editing, virtual and augmented reality, gaming, and graphics. In line with increasing applications, there is more scope across a number of vertical markets in both industry, commerce and the public sector.

Even some office power users could find an entry level workstation with its small form factor, a smart investment as systems can be tailored to suit most budgets.

FMI maintains that the workstation market is likely to witness several big trends in the next 10 years including migration of PC and Apple Mac users to workstations, an increase in the global demand for virtual workstations, a rising preference for mobile workstations in oil and gas exploration applications, a growing demand for tower workstations in digital content creation applications, and a high demand for mobile workstations in software engineering applications. Diversifying applications beyond engineering and into the field of digital content creation (DDC) opens up new revenue opportunities for the channel.

Features such as powerful CPUs, faster graphics processors and added memory are meeting the demands for high performance, lower redundancy, increased productivity and reliability for heavy workloads. Vendors operating in this market are expected to target and innovate in features such as mobile screen size and the type of processors that can offer speed and reliability.

ADVANTAGES OVER TRADITIONAL PCS Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Research, leading analysts in the workstation sector concurs with the market opportunity: “With a solid nine percent growth in 2016, and an annual growth rate of five percent for the past five years, the workstation market is thriving. Workstations like Fujitsu’s CELSIUS series can have almost 70x the performance of those we used in 1995. The need for that kind of performance is primarily driven by the increasing use of 3D animation, digital content creation, multi-screen scenarios and advanced networking and graphics. We’re seeing a significant boost in performance to deliver these immersive experiences, alongside a reduction in size, and Fujitsu is a technology leader in the field.”

Workstations have several advantages over the PC. They can support one or more professional grade graphics cards ensuring faster rendering for complex graphics. They can be configured with more powerful processors for demanding applications such as CAD, animation and DCC. They provide additional memory capacity with large hard drives designed to support terabytes of internal storage.

For end-users workstations have the additional benefit of longer product lifecycles and despite a higher initial outlay, an improved ROI from traditional PCs. Companies such as Dell EMC, Fujitsu, and Lenovo are amongst the leaders in this market and will continue to stay ahead of the curve with an impressive product portfolio that spans the workstation product segments. Exertis is well placed to help resellers take advantage of this growing market. For help and advice, please contact your account manager.

Sources and Acknowledgements: Intel, Jon Peddie Research, FMI,

43

Hard at work The Tab Active2 is dust and water resistant, so it can stand up to challenging work environments.

Durability Its rugged, anti-shock design means it can withstand the effects of being dropped XS WR P WHVWHG RQ D É«DW VXUIDFH ZKHQ HQFDVHG LQ LWV SURWHFWLYH FRYHU 3OXV ZLWK ,3 ZDWHU GXVW UHVLVWDQFH DQG WKH DELOLW\ WR VWDQG XS WR H[WUHPH WHPSHUDWXUHV IURP q WR q LW LV UHDG\ WR WDNH RQ DQ\ W\SH RI FKDOOHQJLQJ ZRUN HQYLURQPHQW Productivity 6WD\ SURGXFWLYH ZKHUHYHU \RXU ZRUN WDNHV \RX ZLWK LQQRYDWLYH IHDWXUHV VXFK DV WKH 6 3HQ DQG 0XOWL :LQGRZ WKDW KHOS \RX ZRUN PRUH HIILFLHQWO\ Security 3URWHFW EXVLQHVV GDWD ZLWK GHIHQFH JUDGH .QR[ PRELOH VHFXULW\ DQG VXSHU VHFXUH ELRPHWULF VFDQQLQJ LQFOXGLQJ ILQJHUSULQW VFDQQLQJ DQG IDFLDO UHFRJQLWLRQ Usability 5HPRYH HYHU\GD\ IUXVWUDWLRQV IURP FKDOOHQJLQJ EXVLQHVV VHWWLQJV ZLWK IHDWXUHV VXFK DV :HW 0RGH DQG *ORYH 0RGH

The Samsung rugged range is available from Exertis - contact us today!

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Wireless

Security

Edge Computing Servers

Monitoring

Power Infrastructure

Switching

Whilst the agility of cloud computing is great, it simply isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough.

Edge computing provides the networking framework that allows immediate access to time-sensitive data on the edge, while pushing refined data to the cloud for further processing. By performing analytics at the edge, data is processed at the source of data generation, reducing the communications bandwidth, decreasing application latency and lowering storage and maintenance costs.

In turn, edge computing delivers real-time insights that can enable a clear path for scaling IOT applications.

Supporting you on the Edge of your Network.

Make your Edge Computing deployments more reliable and grow your revenue with up to 12% off physical infrastructure components such as Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), racks and PDUs. Contact your Exertis account manager today!

FUTURE

B2B MUST-HAVE ACCESSORIES

THE

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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

2

CHERRY MC 4900

Perfect for workstations that are used by different users within a company, government agency or institution. Secure and fast authentication, whether through 'single sign-on' (one-time registration) or several log-in stages in the appropriate software.

MICROSOFT OFFICE HOME & BUSINESS 2016

Coordinating work and home life can be challenging. With Outlook email, shared calendars, and task-list tools, users can manage their home and work schedules together. Use the templates from Word or Excel or a new wide-screen PowerPoint template to turn ideas into impactful, professional presentations.

RRP: £100 Colour: Silver Part Code: JM-A4900

RRP: £129.00 Part Code: MST5D-02826

3

4

SAMSUNG SSD 860 EVO 2TB SSD 860 EVO 2TB

The newest edition to the world’s best-selling SATA SSD series, the Samsung 860 EVO. Specially designed for mainstream PCs and laptops, with the latest V-NAND and a robust algorithm-based controller, this fast and reliable SSD comes in a wide range of compatible form factors and capacities.

Ventev’s TerraWave 2.4/5 GHz 6 dBi Small Form Factor Micro Patch Antenna delivers outstanding Wi-Fi performance in a very small package and is ideal for space constrained environments or environments that place a premium on aesthetics.

RRP: £175 Colour: White Call for more information

RRP: £634.29 Colour: Black Part Code: S10187039

5

VENTEV MICRO-PATCH ANTENNA

TARGUS UNIVERSAL USB-A DUAL VIDEO DOCKING STATION

6

MICROSOFT LIFECHAT LX-3000 HEADSET

Targus Dual Video Universal Docking Station creates a productive dual monitor experience for the workspace and ensures current and future hardware fleet compatibility.

Your customers can sit back with the LifeChat LX-3000 and enjoy the quality digital sound, made even better with totalcomfort leatherette ear pads. With the USB connection, they can get plugged in fast.

RRP: £163.99 Colour: Black Part Code: TARDOCK120EUZ

RRP: £47.58 Colour: Black Part Code: KENK64697EU

7

CHERRY MW 4500

An extremely ergonomic mouse that relieves wrist tension and allows fatigue-free work. With its unique shape, the hand rests on the mouse at a 45-degree angle. This results in a more natural posture that prevents discomfort of the joints and tendons.

8

KENSINGTON PORTABLE COMBINATION LAPTOP LOCKS

Users can protect their laptop and private information that’s on it with the Portable Combination Laptop Lock.

The push-button design offers one-handed engagement for easy attachment of the T-Bar™ to the industry-standard Kensington Security Slot™.

RRP: £30 Colour: Black Part Code: JW-4500

RRP: £34.99 Colour: Black Part Code: KENK64670EU

9

10

BELKIN NEOPRENE SLEEVE FOR NOTEBOOKS UP TO 15.6 INCH

Designed to fit and complement user's notebook, the sleeve offers plush-line fabric notebook compartments to keep notebook secure and free from scratching.

Its unique, asymmetrical zipper design makes it ideal for easy access to user's notebook from the top or the side.

RRP: £17.99 Colour: Black/Red Part Code: BELF8N160EABR

MICROSOFT LIFECAM HD-3000

This true HD camera gives users bright and colourful video, and makes it easy to post to their favourite social sites. TrueColour technology automatically delivers bright and colourful video, in virtually all lighting conditions.

RRP: £18.60 Colour: Black Part Code: MST4H-00004

Basingstoke: 01256 707 070 | Burnley: 01282 776 776 | store.exertis.co.uk

R E A DY F O R B U S I N E S S , R E A DY F O R A N Y T H I N G .

L EVO VO ™ Th i n kPAD L Se ri e s .

M A I N S T REA M L A PT O P S If it's productivity and price that matter most, these laptops fit the bill.

The L Series boasts legendary reliability, Lenovo's award-winning, spill-resistant keyboards, security options, and superior web-conferencing at cost-conscious pricing.

Features • • • • •

Up to 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Windows 10 Pro 15.6" FHD display Up to 32GB RAM, up to 1TB ROM Up to 11 hours battery, RapidCharge

Fo r m o r e i nformat i o n, p l ease contact your Ex e rtis account m a n a g er t od ay