CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
BYTES...
SYNERGY
Sharp Business Systems UK have
announced the Synergy Technology
Group, managed print provider, as its
inaugural Connect Partner of the Year
2019/20.
LEAP
Extreme Networks is supporting the
operational vitality of their channel
partners and the customers they
serve through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Extreme will offer LEAP – the Lending
Enablement & Assistance Program, to
provide preferential fi nancial terms for
qualifi ed channel partners.
DEFERRED
CityFibre is deferring billing on new
Gigabit Ethernet installations for up
to 90 calendar days in a bid to help
partners deal with the impact of
COVID-19
JABRA LAUNCHES EVOLVE2 RANGE
JABRA HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of its Evolve2 range, designed
specifi cally to support digital transformation in the modern workplace.
The Evolve2 85, Evolve2 65, and Evolve2 40 headsets are engineered to
help businesses navigate the growing challenges of today’s
workplaces in driving adoption of UC&C, while ensuring concentration,
collaboration and fl exibility remain a priority for employees.
Evolve2 will integrate with several software/monitoring vendors to
allow IT Directors and other decision-makers to analyse the
performance of every Jabra headset and quickly identify the root
cause of poor call quality – whether it is due to Wi-Fi router, UC
infrastructure, or the individual user’s headset settings through the
Jabra Xpress software.
Holger Reisinger, SVP, Enterprise Solutions at Jabra, said: “As the
importance of digital transformation grows, UC adoption and
productivity is climbing the ranks as a key challenge for enterprises
globally. We are seeing a growing demand for such solutions from
businesses and the channel community. In this scenario, tech can exist
as both the problem and the solution. The right tech can help eliminate
the hurdles, drive positive user experience and elevate productivity.”
Openreach engineers only to serve critical premises
IN RESPONSE TO PM Boris Johnson’s lockdown
measures Openreach is to limit its engineers
visiting customer premises. Work will be limited
to ‘essential’ services and limited to:
• ·Self-install activities (i.e. where there is no
engineering visit to the end customer
premises)
• ·Service to vulnerable end customers (in-home
and carried out safely, only where essential)
• ·Those end customers who have no other form
of broadband or telephony available – and we
will look to deal with these via escalation
channels jointly with the CP to fi nd a solution
that doesn’t require a home visit
• ·On-premises work for critical national
infrastructure customers (NHS, pharmacies,
utilities, emergency services, retail and
wholesale food distribution outlets, fi nancial
services businesses and other categories
defi ned by the Government).
No new orders will be accepted until June 1st
according to the latest reports.
IT PARTNERS
SCRABBLE FOR
SURVIVAL ACROSS
EUROPE
ACCORDING TO CONTEXT
the Enterprise market has
been slower to react to
the coronavirus crisis
than the PC and AVsystem
markets – as early
as February, resellers
were stockpiling products
in anticipation of supply
disruption.
Network management
and security – the
category that includes
VPNs, gateways and
fi rewalls – is on the up as
businesses update their
networking infrastructure
to enable their employees
to work from home. This is
especially true of SMBs,
many of which did not
previously have the
infrastructure in place to
allow remote working. The
change is even more
noticeable given that this
segment of the market
had been in constant
decline throughout 2019
and into January 2020.
“The current situation is
also proving positive for
the Enterprise software
segment, with
virtualisation and security
software benefi tting”,
said Gurvan Meyer,
Business Enterprise
Analyst at CONTEXT. “The
need for more endpoint
security licenses,
networking security
licenses, and virtual
machines is pushing up
sales in those
categories.”
12 | Comms Business Magazine | May 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk