This week in the ICT Channel...

Comms Dealer magazine rounds up the top channel news that broke during the week.....

Channel Champion top teams celebrate

The industry’s top teams were celebrated?at this year’s Channel Champions Awards, held in the sunshine at Regents Park on July 4th and taking centre stage over Independence Day and the General Election.

The ceremony followed a celebratory garden party and was hosted by Final Score host and radio and television presenter Jason Mohammad.

The event recognises the often-unseen teams in channel organisations across the business and management spectrum including sales, marketing, technical, sales support, finance, executive leadership and culture.

There were also special awards to recognise excellence in event management, apprentice schemes and charity work.

Core Technology Systems scooped a hattrick of gongs on the day with its Reseller Marketing Team named Overall Team of the Year.

Big winners also included Fidelity Group who swept four awards and ANS Group and ProVu Communications Ltd who each secured a brace of commendations.

BPL Business Media MD Michael O’Brien. “Thank you to all of our entrants, judges and sponsors for making such an event possible, namely Headline Sponsor Giacom .”

See full list of winners

Awards entry deadline approaching...

The Comms National Awards, the channel’s most coveted awards extravaganza, will be accepting entries until 10th July 2024.

The event will take place at the Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster, on 26th September 2024, celebrating stand-out MSPs, channel partners, vendors, carriers, service providers and distributors?.

With expanded categories recognising commercial successes, technology innovation, engaging cultures and meaningful initiatives, the?Comms National Awards?2024?will once again provide a vast range of opportunities for companies to showcase their achievements among the very best the industry has to offer.

Entry is free and the recognition and benefits are enormous.

To enter your company for the 2024 Comms National Awards, visit: https://www.cnawards.com/enter

Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 sign network sharing agreement

Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 2 have extended their UK network sharing agreement for more than a decade, with the inclusion of a provision for the proposed Vodafone UK and Three UK merger.

Subject to the approval of the merger by the CMA, the deal provides a basis for the combined businesses’ (MergCo’s) network to participate in the agreement. Virgin Media O2 will acquire spectrum from the newly created MergeCo

The agreement extends benefits from MergeCo’s committed ￡11bn network investment plan to customers of Virgin Media O2 and to MVNOs with wholesale partnerships.

Ahmed Essam Shelbaya , CEO of European Markets at Vodafone said: “The proposed merger, together with this agreement, will boost competition by establishing a strong third player in the UK mobile market and will improve the balance of spectrum holdings, levelling the playing field between the UK’s mobile operators.”

Lutz Schu?ler , CEO of Virgin Media O2, added: “We believe that this new agreement addresses the issues we have voiced and the CMA outlined in its initial decision, and will now continue our engagement with the regulator in this spirit.”

ANS named Microsoft UK Services Partner of the Year

ANS Group has been named Microsoft’s UK Services Partner of the Year for 2024 to recognise its strategic alignment across Microsoft Cloud users.

The company will accelerate momentum with Microsoft by focusing on the benefits of AI and innovative solutions by building upon cloud, security and digital foundations.

ANS has six Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), a Fast Track Recognised Solution Architect and one MVP Regional Director. Its utilisation of Microsoft’s funding and programs has led to 26% year-on-year growth for its Azure business.

Richard Thompson , CEO at ANS, added: “Collaborating closely with Microsoft is one of the many ways we deliver value to our customers and make innovative technology accessible to all.

“By addressing the needs of tomorrow today, we are creating a tech movement that everyone wants to be part of.”

Job losses and security lead AI fear factors

Job loss fears top the list of worries that IT decision-makers have about AI use within their organisation (37% of CTOs), according to Node4 ’s Mid-Market IT Priorities Report 2024

Results also highlight concerns over the potentially negative impact that AI could have on IT security as 30% said that AI represents a top cyber security threat over the next 12 months.??

Furthermore 28% believe AI could expose their organisation to new cyber security risks?and 25% think AI could accidentally reveal sensitive corporate information.???

Node4’s suggests that most mid-market organisations intend to seek help from third parties in addressing their lack of security, as well as other key AI adoption barriers.

In regard to dealing with a lack of security, most respondents said they would rely on a mix of cloud providers (50%), retained consultants (40%), and MSPs (34%).

A similar proportion would opt for third-party support to deal with a lack of data availability (cloud providers, 50%, MSPs, 42% and retained consultants, 36%) and data quality (cloud provider, 57%, MSPs, 35%, retained consultants 32%).??

Geoff Barlow , Product and Strategy Director at Node4, said: “We know that great leaps in technology create new roles and opportunities.

“IT leaders should take a proactive stance by educating themselves and their organisation, evaluating the scope, scale and speed of their own AI adoption, putting the right processes in place to facilitate upskilling and engaging the necessary third-party support.”?

KubeNet supports Children Sports Dinner

KubeNet has sponsored the Action for Children Sports Dinner for a third consecutive year, helping raise over ￡90,000 to support vulnerable children and families throughout the UK.

The funds raised at this year’s event will go directly towards mental health programmes and educational opportunities.? Last year, Action for Children helped over 765,000 children, young people and their families through 426 services across the UK.?

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the annual fundraising event, which saw the charity reach a total of over ￡1m.

KubeNet wrote: “By sponsoring, purchasing tables, donating auction items, or participating in auctions, the business community can continue to play a crucial role in supporting these essential causes.”?

Liz and Eilish McColgan joined the event as guest speakers, sharing stories about their life and athletic careers.

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.