This week in the ICT Channel...
Comms Dealer magazine rounds up the top channel news that broke during the week.....
Former Gamma Business MD Daryl Pile joins SCG as CEO
Former Gamma Business MD Daryl Pile has joined Southern Communications Group as CEO in a move that sees Paul Bradford – SCG’s Chief Executive Officer since 2002 following a management buyout – double down on strategy around product innovation and future acquisitions as Executive Chairman.
Pile, who is one of the comms channel's most prominent figureheads, exited Gamma following a 21 year stint at the firm where he held several senior roles covering wholesale, dealer and public sector business units.
“To have secured someone of Daryl’s experience, credibility and standing in the comms industry is fantastic for the group," stated Bradford (pictured left). "His energy and drive are exactly what SCG Connected requires as we continue to take the business to the next level.
Channel Event News...
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Funding boost propels Fidelity Energy into new growth phase
An investment boost from PE firm Blixt Group has accelerated Fidelity Energy Ltd 's expansion ambitions into a new trajectory as the firm seeks to drive organic growth supported by acquisitions across the UK and Europe.
The funding will also enable Fidelity Energy to augment its service offering to a wider range of energy, net zero and sustainability advisory services.
The company will continue to be led by CEO John Haw and Sales Director Sean Dixon , supported by Chairperson Guil Hastings and Non-Executive Director Kevan Walsh .
Haw stated: “Since being founded nearly 10 years ago Fidelity Energy has grown rapidly and with this investment we are further developing our service offering to partners and customers.
“Blixt brings strategic expertise and the addition of Guil and Kevan to the team will significantly strengthen our leadership given their experience in business scale-up and energy brokerage.”
London headquartered Blixt operates across Europe and has access to over 250m euros of committed long-term institutional investor funding. It has particular expertise in professional and advisory services with growing platforms in insurance broking, legal, accounting and wealth management.
Blixt CEO Carl Harring added: “We have worked closely with Fidelity over recent months and look forward to a partnership that takes Fidelity to the next level of growth, addressing the ever-evolving energy market with an increased focus on efficiency and sustainability.”
The shareholders of Fidelity Energy were advised by Knight Corporate Finance .
MSPs continue shift to recurring services model
UK IT service providers expect 45% of revenue to come from recurring managed services in 2024, up from 35% in 2023, according to research from Barracuda . This will be driven by businesses scaling back their in-house IT and relying more on MSPs.
While the survey showed that growth is expected in 2024, MSPs cited their top challenges as increased competition in the MSP market (56%), and 72% of respondents are concerned about helping customers comply with government regulations.?
Barracuda also found that most UK providers are planning to introduce around 5 new services on average, with survey respondent stating that their successful products are security related.
These included security awareness training (53%), Cloud-based applications, e.g. SaaS (44%), and security operations centres (40%).?
Conversely, MSPs have concerns about their own security as 81% of UK MSPs believe they need to improve their internal security posture. This may be a factor in why 91% of UK MSPs say they are outsourcing more security functions compared with last year. ?
Jason Howells , VP, MSP International Sales, Barracuda, said “The impact of the cyber skills shortage is being passed from companies on to MSPs. Although providers are well placed to help, the findings show they face their own struggles to recruit and retain staff.”
The survey also found an appetite for AI knowledge with 79% of MSPs saying they need either significant or notable improvements in their knowledge and application of AI products and services.
Howells added: “The need to adapt to customer demand for AI products and services such as SOCs places additional pressures on MSPs but also offer immense potential.”
Xelion celebrates growth with record partner day attendance
Xelion saw record attendance for its latest partner day, held at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire.
At the event, the team shared news of increased investment in R&D and the launch of a training academy to bolster and formalise technical training for partners. ?It also previewed the development roadmap for the upcoming version 8.5 and discussed future enhancements to its contact centre functionality.
Attendees were treated to expert talks and tours by museum staff, as well a ‘treasure hunt’ where guests broke into teams to identify aircraft, with the winners taking ￡7,000 worth of Xelion licences.
UK MD Dave Reynolds said: “It was great to connect with partners and give them a different experience to the events they’re used to. The museum in Duxford is close to my heart, so it was a pleasure to share that with partners.”
CEO Thijs van den Ende , who also attended, added : “The UK channel is hugely important to us, and it was wonderful to see so many people take the time to attend.”
Wavenet enhances billing practice with Symbiant buy
Wavenet has acquired Symbiant Technologies Ltd to add CRM, billing, mediation, provisioning, and ASP service expertise to its offering.
The additional staff and resource will enable Wavenet to develop new features such as additional self-service capabilities and an improved customer portal.
Venetia Cooper CFO, Wavenet, said: " This acquisition will allow us to continue to provide a flexible and scalable billing process that can now be more easily modified to accommodate the particular needs of our customers.
Billing is vital for us and our customers. It’s a complex area and welcoming new team members to the business will strengthen our efforts."
Thanks for reading, enjoy the break and we hope to see you back here next Friday for the latest news update. Be sure to subscribe at the top of this newsletter to get your copy.