This week in the IT Channel...

Every Thursday morning, IT Europa compiles the week's most significant news from the channel.

In this week's news...

Avepoint channel push continues with cross sell focus

Following 50% growth in its UK channel business last year, AvePoint ’s latest priority is to encourage its 280-300 strong UK-wide partner ecosystem to leverage its distribution pathways, diversify and do more with the vendor. During the Avepoint’s OnPoint event, held in Manchester on the 19th, Chris Shaw , Channel Director, Elements UK&I and SA, told IT Europa: “We want more net new partners, but a large focus of our investment financially and in terms of knowledge modelling is currently directed towards helping our partners see the broader ability to sell multiple things to the same customer."

Integrity360 continues its cybersecurity services expansion with French acquisition

Continuing its global expansion, Integrity360 has acquired cybersecurity services specialist Holiseum , headquartered in Paris, France. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will help Integrity360 to accelerate its growth in France and continental Europe, and provide a new services practice focused on operational technology (OT) and the Internet of Things.

Communicate makes another acquisition to target ￡17m sales

Communicate , a Rockpool-backed provider of cybersecurity and IT network solutions, has acquired Blaze Networks Ltd , a security-focused managed service provider. Blaze is a specialist in SD-WAN and advanced networking solutions. This marks Communicate’s fifth acquisition and its second since securing private equity investment from Rockpool Capital Limited in June 2024.

First guest speakers at UK Partner Week Summit announced!

Jason Bevan - responsible for the creative development process at Warner Bros working on some of the biggest films in 21st century cinema, will unlock the secrets of the creative process behind blockbuster films and shares the secrets of Hollywood’s creative power and how any industry can harness it.

Karen Blackett - former UK President of the giant global advertising company WPP and recognised as one the UK’s most influential business leaders. Karen will share practical insights and experiences on what leadership in the modern business world.

To hear these great speakers and develop your skills, register now for the UK Partner Week Summit in London on the 9th July at www.partnerweek.uk

Oracle ups support for cloud service providers with $5bn UK investment

甲骨文 is spending $5 billion over the next five years in the UK to help meet the growing demand for cloud services. The investment will expand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s (OCI)

footprint in the UK, and better serve the needs of managed service providers, enterprises, and the public sector, across segments like sovereign AI, multi-cloud services, and generative AI innovation.

Wireless Logic strikes IoT connectivity services deal with Thales

Wireless Logic Ltd has been selected by 泰雷兹 to enable secure and scalable IoT connectivity

across diverse regions worldwide. Under the partnership, Thales Adaptive Connect – the advanced GSMA SGP.32-based eSIM solution for IoT connectivity management – will integrate with a Wireless Logic bootstrap profile of its carrier-grade IoT network, Conexa.

Jobs Board 14 March: Big channel players make key hires

NashTech , a global technology solutions player, has appointed Robert Ziegler as its new chief commercial officer (CCO). Daljit Rehal, chief digital and information officer for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has been announced as the new president of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Sarah Winmill , who is head of software products at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), has been named as BCS’ deputy president. Andrew Beaumont has made the decision to step down from his role as managing director of Exertis Supplies. He will be leaving the business on 30 April.

Immersive , the “people-centric” cybersecurity firm, has announced the appointment of Mark Schmitz as its new chief executive officer. Expel , the managed detection and response (MDR) provider, has named Scott Fuselier as chief revenue officer. Claroty the cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection company, has appointed Amir Preminger as chief technology officer. Celerity Limited , a provider of hybrid cloud and IT managed services, has appointed Ed Brookes as chief financial officer.

Markets round-up for the week: 19 March

A mixed set of results from two leading VARs, with Computacenter seeing sales edging up, but profits down for the full year, and Bytes Software Services experiencing solid growth on both fronts. For the 12 months ended 28 February, 2025, Bytes delivered double-digit growth for gross invoiced income, gross profit, and operating profit. Over at the larger Computacenter, the full group sales for the year ending 31 December, 2024, were up 0.6% to ￡6.96 billion, but the operating profit fell 11.5% to ￡237.9m. And the profit before tax slumped 10.1% to ￡244.6m.