the evolution of b2b buying€¦ · online has helped them to work flexibly, according to ofcom’s...

Policing Digital ProcurementPeter Smith Page 30

Putting MachineLearning intoPracticeRob Bamforth 8

CIO: Building your Digital StrategyMark Lomas Page 16

Danny Bradbury explores the growing appeal of digital marketplaces

Page 26

THE EVOLUTIONOF B2B BUYING

Mark LomasPage 48

CLOUD COMPUTING:

TIME TO ADAPT OR DIE

I S SU E 4

PROBRAND_Issue4_Book.indb 1 23/01/2017 13:32

Probrand is your digital marketplace for hassle-free procurement of IT products, services, and solutions.

We’re not like traditional resellers.

We connect buyers with our suppliers in an open and free-to-use marketplace environment that’s personalised to you, and we offer

customisation for deeper procurement control and savings. Of course, our sector and technical experts are there when you need them.

More choice300,000 products and services updated with

live price and stock every minute.

More transparencyReal-time price comparison

shows open competition across suppliers.

Digital advisors support quick decisions when you

have options.

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personalised discounts you’re entitled to but

wouldn’t normally see.

££

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Welcome

Welcome to the latest edition of Probrand Magazine As 2017 begins to unfold, we’re already seeing how the big trends in technology are impacting day-to-day working lives. Businesses are continuing to embrace the cloud, mobility and data solutions in new and inventive ways.

The change this is bringing about is now clearly visible in our buying habits – highlighted in our market review conducted by analyst Gfk (p 6-7). We’re not just seeing a difference in what businesses are buying, however. We’ve witnessed a fundamental shift in how people are buying IT, with the B2B market being increasingly influenced by online shopping experiences within the consumer market.

Whether it’s for hardware, software or services, IT buyers are now looking for a simpler, more efficient way to acquire the tech they need. This is leading to a rise in user friendly digital marketplaces, such as Azure and AWS. In our lead article (p26-27), Danny Bradbury looks at how these digital platforms are evolving and why IT buyers and procurement professionals are moving over to these marketplaces. The growth of online self-service within procurement is something Peter Smith also picks up in his column (p 30).

It’s a trend that has seen Probrand collaborating with sister company Mercato Solutions to adopt and run our business on its game-changing digital marketplace platform. Probrand is challenging the norm in the IT market, connecting buyers with our suppliers openly via a consumer shopping experience for business, and offering customisation for deeper procurement control and savings.

Our CIPS accredited marketplace connects over 40,000 registered users to 300,000 IT products and services from multiple suppliers, with price and stock checked every minute. It delivers complete transparency on

price, showing comparison across suppliers, as well as personalised discounts buyers are entitled to that often get swallowed up by the middlemen. Of course, our sector and technical specialists are there when buyers need help.

We’re immensely proud of this development, which firmly sets our sights on enhancing the way the UK IT supply and services market works, for the benefit of both buyer and supplier communities.

Always with an eye on the future, this edition of the Probrand Magazine has also reviewed several areas of emerging technology. Rob Bamforth has examined the growing use of artificial intelligence within businesses (p 18-19), while Mark Samuels talks to CIOs embracing app development platforms within their digital strategy (p16-17).

There is also practical advice throughout the magazine on how technology can be incorporated within your business. This includes a section on audio visual equipment (p12-13) and Jenny Brookfield speaking with security experts to share the latest guidance on protecting against cyber threats (p38-39).

Technology never stands still and it continues to reshape businesses – not least our own. As it does so, we continue to offer the technical expertise necessary to support businesses innovating. We’ll now also be supporting you with an expanded team and premises, with our new home in the iconic Alpha Tower of central Birmingham. So please feel free to drop by and talk to us anytime. Until then, we hope you enjoy this edition of the Probrand Magazine.

Peter RobbinsCEO, Probrand


CONTENTS

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Contact us

0800 [email protected] Magazine provides news, views, analysis and information on pivotal subjects relevant to IT, procurement and business leaders looking to thrive with technology.

Please get in touch and share your views on any of the subjects tackled or any you would like to read about.

probrand.co.uk

Products6 Tracking the market8 2-in-1s breakthrough10 IWBs rise and fall12 Audio visual advice14 Growing Pains15 MFPs in demand

Driving Innovation16 CIOs talk digital18 Machine learning

Supply Chain20 Benchmarking works22 Being a savvy buyer24 Avoid high margins

Procurement26 B2B buying evolves28 The Amazon approach29 Efficient procurement30 Policing digital

BusinessTransformation

31 Business app trends32 Enterprise mobility34 Apps in practice

Security36 Security landscape38 SMEs under threat40 Cyber Essential accreditation41 Hybrid security 42 The https attack

Infrastructure43 Infrastructure stats44 Future proofing IT45 Consultation is key46 SANs still dominant48 Cloud – adapt or die50 College breaks free

Choosing the right audio visual device

Putting machine learning into practice

How to make big savings on your tech

Get security up to speed with new tech

Bringing mobility to the workforce

Cloud computing: Time to adapt or die

P41 P18

P22

P48

P32

P12


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NEWS

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Employees value mobile working more than company carsMost employees would prefer mobile working options to a company car, research from BT has revealed.

The company’s survey found two thirds think better technology would enhance their working lives, with employees looking for improved use of mobile devices and remote network access.

“It’s important for companies to future-proof their business by investing in mobile collaboration technology to support a flexible working model. The more employees have a good experience of work on the go, the more benefits their organisations will see,” said Andrew Small, vice president of unified communications at BT.

–

Cloud computing has become a ‘mainstream powerhouse’, says IDGMore than half of business applications and infrastructure will be hosted in the cloud by 2018, according to an IDG Enterprise report.

The research found that on average 45% had already been migrated to the cloud, while IT decision makers plan to spend a quarter of their budgets on cloud services in the next few years.

“The concept of cloud computing has transitioned from being an emerging technology to a mainstream powerhouse going beyond basic storage,” the report said. “As digital enterprises continue to require agile solutions for their workforce and customers, the growth in cloud technologies has proven beneficial from speed, to cost reduction and access.”

–

Three quarters of organisations have embraced BYODAlmost three quarters (74%) of organisations have implemented some sort of BYOD (bring your own device) programme, research from Accusoft has found.

Only half of these organisations require employees to have personal devices approved by their IT department, however.

The report said this is leaving many businesses vulnerable to data breaches, either by hapless employees accidentally sharing data or by malicious cyber attackers gaining access to private networks.

–

Ofcom says improved connectivity has boosted flexible working Almost half of UK internet users think that being online has helped them to work flexibly, according to Ofcom’s 2016 Communications Market report.

The study found the distinction between work and home was becoming less distinct as more employees check emails or finish off work at home. Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed said that the internet is enabling them to adopt these flexible practices.

“For those who have jobs which involve working on a computer and communicating with others online, greater connectivity has encouraged more working on-the-go in locations outside the workplace, such as at home or on public transport,” the report said.

–

Shift to cloud computing set to impact $1 trillion in IT spendingWidespread transition to cloud computing will directly or indirectly affect $1 trillion in IT spent by 2020, according to research by Gartner.

The report said IT managers are shifting their spending priorities away from traditional IT to cloud-based services.

“As organisations pursue a new IT architecture and operating philosophy, they become prepared for new opportunities in digital business, including next-generation IT solutions such as the Internet of Things,” said Ed Anderson, research vice president at Gartner.

–

Technology news in brief



The IT business-to-business market was relatively buoyant in 2016 with the overall value of B2B markets tracked by GfK increasing by 2% compared with 2015 (NB: figures for December were not available at the time of writing). The decision to leave the European Union does not appear to have negatively impacted businesses’ investment in this sector so far, with the value growth rate in the five months since the referendum increasing to 11%.

In general, the big winners of 2016 were networking, computing and peripherals, while the value for printers, storage and software all declined.

ComputingWithin the computing market segment, laptop sales in particular have been strong, with the year-on-year sales value of these products increasing by 9%. This demonstrates the ongoing need that businesses have for mobile computing solutions. Organisations have been investing in more advanced hardware, demonstrated by the fact that the share of the laptop market for devices with 8GB of RAM grew 14%. Furthermore, the average price of laptops sold to businesses increased by 1% comparing the year-to-date, showing that the need for more comprehensive computing hardware is being recognised.

NetworkingNetworking hardware is another area that has seen positive levels of demand, registering 11% year-on-year value growth in 2016. This growth has come

TRACKING THE IT

PRODUCT MARKET

Demands of modern business culture impacted

the B2B IT market in 2016

Dominic Ashford, of leading market research

company GfK, takes a look at the IT product

market to review the latest trends and forecast the

future of product buying.

COMPUTING MARKET UP

+9%

NETWORKING HARDWARE UP

+11%


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from several areas including transceivers, routers, access points and switches. This comprehensive growth is the result of an across-the-board need for strong connectivity. Another area of growth within networking is docking stations, which links directly with laptop growth and this trend could result in IT suppliers looking to offer more comprehensive solutions

Peripherals & printers

Another area that has benefitted from the resurgent laptop market is peripherals, with both keyboards and mice seeing year-on-year growth rates higher than 40%. The average price of peripherals sold through B2B channels has also increased 21% during 2016. What is significant is that the increase in peripherals sales is much greater than that for desk or mobile computing, suggesting that these sales haven’t just been replacement or attached sales, but an area that companies are investing in independently. As mentioned earlier, however, printing is an area of the IT market that is in decline. This is understandable given the move towards paperless offices and the use of managed-print services.

StorageStorage has also seen a fall in demand in 2016. This is somewhat surprising given the amount of data and backup that businesses need. But it may well suggest that organisations are making more use of cloud storage solutions. Flash-based storage solutions are, however, an area of growth. The value of the B2B solid-state drive market increased by 21% year-on-year in 2016. There is

correlation here with businesses demanding higher specification computing hardware. It is a similar story for memory, a category which has declined in value by 22% in 2016. The value of the DDR4 market, however, has increased by 29% over the same time frame.

SoftwareThe fact that the software market declined by 2% in 2016 is surprising. As with the storage market however, there are areas where demand is evident. The value of security software sold through business-to-business channels increased by 10% comparing Jan-November 2016 with the same period of 2015. This demonstrates that businesses are recognising the need to protect their IT assets. In a similar way, the direction that companies are heading can be seen in the fact that the value of the client-server software market has increased by 14% year on year. This is software that facilitates remote working and shows how companies are moving towards more flexible working cultures.

OverallTo summarise, the B2B IT market saw a lot of positives in 2016, and Brexit doesn’t appear to have had a major effect on demand. It remains unclear how the decision to leave the EU will affect the markets when the separation takes place. What is clear is that businesses have demonstrated a clear need for more comprehensive computing hardware and networking infrastructure, as well as software that protects them and facilitates more modern working cultures.

LAPTOP PERIPHERALS UP

+40%SECURITY

SOFTWARE UP SSD STORAGE MARKET UP

+12% +10%


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Ian Nethercott, Probrand Supply Chain Director, reviews trends in the current technology products market We’ve been predicting for about 24 months that the convertible 2-in-1 is the computing form factor to follow closely – and in 2016 it appears they have finally made a key breakthrough.

In contrast to the traditional laptop where demand is waning, the popularity of the 2-in-1 is riding the crest of a wave – FutureSource predicts that 2-in-1s will grow from 6% of device shipments in 2015 to 18% in 2017.

This has been helped in no small amount by the huge sums being spent to promote these devices. You may have seen Microsoft’s recent advertising campaign with Marvel Studios, featuring the Surface Pro 4.

This increase in popularity cannot be fully explained by marketing spend alone, however. Here are five strong reasons that explain the rise of the 2-in-1.

The hybrid conceptThe key selling point of the 2-in-1 is the ability to replace two devices – the laptop and tablet – without losing functionality. Convertible 2-in-1s provide a full operating system, which allows the end user to be as productive as they would be on a traditional laptop. While the detachable keyboard means users can switch to tablet mode whenever they need to conduct presentations, collaborate with colleagues, etc. This offers convenience but it also makes sense economically, as you don’t have to buy twice.

Evolution

When convertible computers first came on to the market in the form of the Lenovo Yoga and the HP Revolve, they were more cumbersome than the models we have today. Although innovative, they were hampered by heavy glass screens which made them difficult to use in tablet mode. But as these devices have become lighter and the keyboards have become fully detachable, they have become much easier to handle.

Price

Any new technology is expensive when it initially launches on the market. You’ll pay a premium for the new functionality as R&D costs money. But as the technology becomes more standard, it also becomes cheaper to produce, hence the price will come down. Thanks to this, devices that were once considered out of reach for ordinary people are now accessible to all.

Enterprise mobilityMicrosoft was a slow starter when it came to embracing tablet and mobile technology. Business users looking for this functionality had to resort to iOS or Android powered devices. This left IT managers with the pain of connecting different operating systems within the corporate infrastructure. However, with the convertible 2-in-1, business users now have mobile functionality with the added control and security afforded by Microsoft’s operating system.

ContinuumWith Windows 10 available on convertible 2-in-1s, business users can now have continuum across devices. If you want to use the Office 365 productivity suite for instance, users can now have familiar functionality whether they want to use a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device.

PRODUCT

CONVERTIBLE 2-IN-1s BREAKTHROUGH TO THE MAINSTREAM

TECH TRENDS

CASE STUDY


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TECH TRENDS A specialist engineering company, Reliance Precision is focused on producing custom-built, highly reliable instrumentation to a range of global customers.

To ensure the smooth running of the business, the company requires more than 250 staff to have access to the latest IT equipment. The procurement team was finding, however, that kitting out the business with the most appropriate tools was taking a significant amount of time.

As the team was keen to achieve best price, they would conduct a series of price comparisons via web-based research, and have several conversations with multiple suppliers. “Even for routine, everyday items, we found we were spending a large amount of time going back and forth to different suppliers to navigate the best price,’’ said Ben Sheard, IT Administrator at Reliance Precision. “This was a labour-intensive experience and not a good use of the team’s time.’’

The procurement staff were also finding that, in some cases, suppliers would take too long to answer queries, by which time stock and price may have fluctuated. Other scenarios saw suppliers come back with equipment that was not in line with user needs.

Ben and his colleagues needed a more efficient method that would save them time while still

achieving best value. They found their answer in Probrand’s Digital Marketplace. Europe’s largest B2B IT marketplace, the platform helps save users time and money procuring IT by delivering price comparisons from multiple suppliers in one place.

Staff at Reliance Precision can also see pre-approved discounts personalised to their sector, including deals on everyday items such as laptops, desktops and servers or printers, for example.

In a fast moving market, the platform is allowing Reliance Precision to browse and buy direct from a catalogue of over 300,000 products from 2,500 brands, all updated with price and stock by the minute. With over 10 million automated price checks each day, it removes the need to call around and manually compare prices from three or more suppliers.

By using the Marketplace, Reliance Precision has streamlined the whole purchasing process and improved efficiency. The procurement team calculates that this is saving nearly three team days per month. As a result, staff can be more effective with their time, focusing on other priority tasks.

“The process we had in place previously was inefficient. We would typically spend a couple of hours each week reaching out to suppliers before collating all the information and manually benchmarking prices,” said Ben. ‘‘With the Digital Marketplace, we’re able to remove all of that; purchasing IT equipment now takes us about 30 minutes per week. I can’t imagine going back to how we were operating before. For us, it is a no-brainer!’’

A specialist engineering company, Reliance Precision is focused on producing custom-built, highly reliable instrumentation to a range of global customers.

“ Purchasing IT equipment now takes us about 30 minutes per week. I can’t imagine going back to how we were operating before.”

CASE STUDY

Reliance Precision saved three days each month on

IT procurement



The interactive whiteboard was considered a major advancement in audio visual (AV) technology 25 years ago. Yet, for all its promise and the investments made, from the education sector in particular, many were left under-used – becoming little more than expensive projectors. Analysts have suggested that this was because the target audience simply wasn’t ready for this type of technology, there was a lack of training and the software was limited in what it could achieve.

“In the early 1990s there was an initiative to get interactive whiteboards in to every classroom but problems existed. For example, if a teacher moved on you would often have someone come in next who didn’t know how to use it,” said Rob Xenos, business and marketing manager at Sahara, which manufactures flat panel displays and interactive whiteboards.

The technology did, however, enjoy a resurgence thanks in part to the prevalence of handheld devices – most people are now used to mobile and touchscreen technology and feel more at ease using interactive whiteboards too.

Yet, according to vendors, investments in interactive whiteboards are now beginning to wane in the UK as the technology has been overtaken by its glossier cousin, the interactive flat panel display. Xenos said: “People will now only buy an interactive whiteboard when they haven’t got the budget for the interactive touchscreen. Interactive whiteboards certainly have their place but touchscreens have superseded them. It’s more of an investment but you do get that investment back over the life of the screen.”

The future is flat panelInteractive flat panel displays are now expected to overtake projectors and interactive whiteboards in market share by 2019, according to interactive screen vendor Alpha Digital Networks. “The forecasted uptake is on an exponential curve upwards. Once you’ve seen an LED flat panel display you’ll never want to put a projection-based system back in place,” said Paul Vitali, managing director of Alpha.

“Extensive research and development is going on all the time and this has allowed us to use the screen as if it was a large Android tablet. We’ve also integrated Mirracast so you can cast up from a PC or laptop. In a classroom environment that means you can share information with other people, in other rooms and even other buildings around the world.”

The vendors predict that, as interactive screens become the norm, users will end up demanding even more from this technology. Xenos paints a future picture that would not seem out of place in the sci-fi film Minority Report, with multiple users displaying desktops from multiple devices, all at the same time. For the time being, however, he says anyone wanting cutting edge AV features should ensure their devices offer the high level of connectivity needed to facilitate features such as Mirracast and Airplay.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD

EVOLUTION IN AV:

Jenny BrookfieldBusiness Journalist


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PRODUCT

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The best and most productive meetings are about collaboration, brainstorming and creatively solving problems. Unfortunately, traditional whiteboards have always been something of an obstacle to inspiring true teamwork, as they tend to encourage one person to lead a meeting and the rest to follow.

Too many meetings fail to stimulate and motivate participants to contribute their ideas and thoughts, for a variety of reasons. Presentations might be dull and lifeless, or there may be few opportunities for junior team members to share their opinions.

Thankfully, interactive displays now bring a touch screen experience to your large meeting room display. They allow you to browse the web, show documents, share ideas, and collaborate on the big screen.

If you’re giving a presentation to your colleagues, you want to captivate their imaginations and engage their brains. You need your team to really think about and focus on your messages and arguments for them to respond with creative and constructive input. Otherwise, why bother having a meeting in the first place?

With the Samsung Interactive Display you can inject that much-needed energy and dynamism into your meetings. The latest interactive whiteboard software and AirScreen

wireless technology allow presenters to access and share content from colleagues anywhere in the room.

Plus, they look utterly stunning. Clear and deeply immersive displays with a phenomenal 5,000:1 contrast ratio and an anti-glare touch overlay mean that your content – whether it’s copy, infographics, videos or interactive applications – will be more eye-catching than ever before.

An intuitive PC-less “large tablet” experienceSamsung’s PC-less interactive whiteboard has a pre-installed player built on Android that offers users an experience that they are comfortable and familiar with – it is essentially an intuitive “large tablet” experience. This means no more mid-meeting lulls while you fiddle around with awkward slideshows or temperamental presentation tech.

This user-friendly nature of the touchscreen means your meeting’s participants are far more likely to interact with each other and become involved in sharing ideas. It turns a typical presentation into a two-way discussion, seamlessly merging visual content and essential data, and allowing teams to work together collaboratively.

Sharing transforms team communicationSamsung’s AirScreen app also makes sharing simple. It allows you to connect up to four Windows devices to your interactive whiteboard at any one time. This way, colleagues and delegates can get far more productively involved in group discussions – sharing documents, multimedia content and anything else on their screen with everybody in the meeting.

Overall, better collaboration and innovation in meetings gives your business the edge. Sharing and engaging with ideas is the key to improved decision-making at every level. So why not transform your organisation from the ground up with a new interactive display?

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD

EVOLUTION IN AV: Making

meetings work

properly

with creative and constructive input. Otherwise, why bother having a meeting in the first place?

With the Samsung Interactive Display you can inject that much-needed energy and dynamism into your meetings. The latest interactive whiteboard software and AirScreen

interact with each other and become involved in sharing ideas. It turns a typical presentation into a two-way discussion, seamlessly merging visual content and essential data, and allowing teams to work together collaboratively.

Sharing transforms team communicationSamsung’s AirScreen app also makes sharing simple. It allows you to connect up to four Windows devices to your interactive whiteboard at any one time. This way, colleagues and delegates can get far more productively involved in group discussions – sharing documents, multimedia content and anything else on their screen with everybody in the meeting.

Overall, better collaboration and innovation in meetings gives your business the edge. Sharing and engaging with ideas is the key to improved decision-making at every level. So why not transform your organisation from the ground up with a new interactive display?

Samsung takes a look at how the latest

interactive displays can promote creative

and collaborative problem-solving



Traditional projector and screenPerhaps the entry-level AV device, the projector and screen may also be the cheapest option. It has the advantage of being simple to control for all users but may be more suited to occasional, rather than constant, use. If you are merely replacing an existing projector and screen, there is the added benefit that the same brackets, cables and accessories from your original equipment can be reused.

Top tips: Decide on your budget and balance that against

the quality of display required.

Judge how often you will be using the projector. If you require regular use, this option may not actually be that cost effective – replacement bulbs are not cheap.

Choosing the right Audio Visual device

Audio visual (AV) equipment was once more closely associated with schools, but these products are now common throughout modern

workplaces. As teams look to collaborate and share content in group settings, interactive devices have become commonplace in offices. Yet for

many, a traditional projector may be just as effective and cost a lot less.

The question is what AV device should you choose: a projector and screen, an interactive whiteboard or the new kid on the block, the flat panel display? There are several factors to consider depending on your budget, how often you plan to use the equipment and for what purpose. We take a look at the three options in more detail in order to help you decide.

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Decide where the projector and screen will be situated. Rooms that are too bright will interfere with the quality, and it may not be practical to go around closing blinds and turning off lights before every presentation. Shadowing on the screen caused by the user should also be considered.

Bear in mind that maintenance will need to be carried out at regular intervals, with filters needing to be cleaned and bulbs having to be replaced after so many hours’ use.

Take into consideration the time and effort required to calibrate the projector before every use.

Interactive whiteboardMostly used in education but now growing in popularity for businesses, the interactive whiteboard has the bonus of having pre-installed software, which is used in conjunction with a personal computer and a digital projector. Navigation via pens or fingers allows you to write notes, drag, click and copy. Text or drawings can also be saved or shared.

Top tips: Allocate time for users to receive the training

required to use the whiteboard to its full potential. If you are not going to use all the functionality then this is perhaps not the right option.

Whiteboards are heavy and large, so work out a preferred location and assess how you will physically install it on the wall.

While this technology encourages greater creativity than the traditional projector, the interactive whiteboard is still operated via a projector so it can cause similar issues with image quality.

Although initially more expensive than traditional projectors, they can actually work out cheaper in the long run when factoring in replacement parts.

Whiteboards are not a stand-alone technology, so decide whether this will be right for all users.

Interactive flat panel displays Interactive flat panel displays are an all-in-one solution, offering high quality LED images with multiple touch points to enable several users to work at the same time. The devices are pre-loaded with software so they can be used in conjunction with mobile or desktop devices. In-built connectivity means that attaching cables is also less of an issue.

Top tips: This is the most expensive option, so consider

how often you will be using the device and what functions you will need.

Despite the initial upfront costs, low wattage and low power output could keep running costs down and should see a display lasting 10 years.

Screens are available in 4k or HD, so there is no need to alter the brightness of the room. Likewise there is no need for calibration.

Allocate some of your budget to staff training to ensure users get the most out of your investment.

Ensure your software enables all the features you require. There is no point of investing in multi-touch technology or 4k if the software is only one or two-point touch or you don’t have 4k playback technology.

Rob Xenos, business and marketing manager at Sahara, manufacturer of flat panel displays and interactive whiteboards, says that before committing to the more expensive options, buyers should be aware of some of the obstacles people encounter using interactive technology.

“Common issues include technologies not working together and the limitations of a badly set up wireless network – meaning that products cannot communicate with each other. There are a lot of new options on the market and it can be confusing. Buyers should research the brand and evaluate what they are buying. They need to look at how they want to use the product, especially the software. Whatever the customer decides, it’s vital they leave budget for training, training and more training.”

technology.


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Its success has seen its workforce increase to more than 185 staff, based in Birmingham and Devon, and supporting them had begun to create headaches for the company’s IT department. But with the brewery’s filtration and production processes also dependent on the IT infrastructure, the company needed assurance that its systems were reliable. This issue came to a head when Aston Manor’s IT manager decided to leave the business.

With the company predicted to grow rapidly, finance director James Ellis recognised that a 24/7 IT support function was required. This support needed to provide business continuity that would insure against any potential IT disasters and future proof the company as it expanded.

Aston Manor’s solution was to employ a fully managed support service from Probrand. On a foundation level this provided the organisation with a proprietary application that could identify IT issues before they could impact production, as well as the technical engineers needed to proactively deliver the maintenance needed to minimise potential incidents.

Further to this, the brewery also received anti-virus security and cloud-based disaster recovery via Probrand’s remote storage vaults in Birmingham and Manchester. A reconfiguration of IT and networking equipment on site also significantly improved internal communication speed and quality. Crucially, the company achieved all this at a fraction of their previous IT support cost.

“With Probrand, IT has become a business enabler rather than a daily distraction,” said James Ellis. “We have been able to reduce and control our IT overhead more efficiently, eliminate unnecessary downtime, maximise our IT estate and reduce cost of ownership. This is the first time we have used an outsourced and scalable IT support function and it is the best decision we could have made given our growth forecast.

“As financial director I now have peace of mind that the cost-burden and operational overhead of IT has been brought under control. Fixed IT overheads mean we can plan and forecast more effectively. We get the creative, proactive approach of a full IT department without the cost. This means we can focus our efforts more strategically on growth knowing that our IT system will support us all the way.”

Probrand was also able to help the brewery increase flexible working across the business. By providing employees with secure access to the network, staff can now work remotely.

“With our managed VPN, firewall and routing solution we have unlocked workforce capability. The remote access functionality is helping employees operate seamlessly from their desktop even if they are out of the office, opening the door for increased productivity.”

Like many expanding businesses, Aston Manor Brewery has experienced its fair share of growing pains. Formed in 1983,

the company is now the UK’s largest independent producer of own brand and labelled cider for supermarkets and wholesalers.

“ IT has become a business enabler rather than a daily distraction”

CASE STUDY

Aston Manor Brewery gets support to tackle

its growing pains


PRODUCT

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There was a time when offices had to be ready for anything, they would need to invest in several machines, from faxes to printers to copiers to scanners. A lot of time would be spent getting all these devices connected to a network and working well. However, that meant tying up IT departments and calling support lines. Fortunately, technology has made life a bit simpler. And a bit more cost conscious.

Multifunction devices are by no means new, but they are really coming into their own. This is backed up by a recently reported 30% growth in the UK MFP market since 2011.

This growth is reflected in the need for businesses to find efficient, affordable solutions that are ‘all singing, all dancing’. In addition to this, and rather practically now that office space is at a premium, space saving devices can make all the difference.

No one wants to choose between having desk space or a stack of devices. There’s an even stronger case for this with workforce mobility on the increase, leading to the creation of more home and micro offices.

Staying ahead of the gameFor decades, Ricoh has developed technologies such as office printers, production printers, duplication, conferencing devices, software and imaging. Production houses and print rooms of businesses have relied on these products, whether that’s for small companies or large corporations. As a brand

Ricoh has certainly made a huge impact with SMEs and micro offices by building functionality into a range of A4 printer copiers.

A drive to innovate, while listening to customers and the challenges they faced, led Ricoh to create the UK’s most in-demand MFP. The UK market share for Ricoh multifunction printers is 22.4%, significantly greater than their closest competitor. What’s more, 10% of the single function colour printer market space is taken up by Ricoh.

This market share has been achieved due to ongoing initiatives such as the Ricoh Quality Pledge. This pledge offers customers the chance to return their Ricoh printer, from a selected range, if they’re not 100% satisfied with their purchase.

A vision for a flexible workforceAs a business, Ricoh is at the forefront of the development of print and copy devices, with in-built innovations and technology to make life as easy as possible for the user. These versatile machines are designed to offer a fully-rounded solution for any office space, as well as home offices.

Workforce mobility has been a key part of that development in recent years, building a portfolio that extends beyond printers and copiers. In receptions and boardrooms around the world you’ll find Ricoh screens and projectors for clear, easily editable digital signage. A range of Interactive Whiteboards has also revolutionised collaborative working, allowing for real time editing and sharing.

It’s innovations such as these that are helping to make Ricoh MFPs a future-proof investment, shaping the world around us for better productivity.

RICOH EXPLAINS WHY THE DEMAND FOR THE MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER (MFP) IS INCREASING

THE GROWING DEMAND FOR MULTIFUNCTION PRINTERS

CASE STUDY



Digital transformation is the new business constant. A confluence of trends – such as consumerisation, cloud and big data – continues to have a huge impact on the way organisations operate. The scale of change during the past decade has been remarkable, yet all the evidence suggests more is to come.Half of chief executives expect their industries to be substantially or unrecognisably transformed by digital technology in the next five years, according to Gartner. The analyst says examples of digital changes include self-driving cars, the rise of blockchain in banking and the potential impact of the Internet of Things in insurance.

IT leaders, as the guardians of information technology within the business, will play a crucial role in building the digital strategy. Take Jaeger CIO Cathy McCabe, who is pushing digitally enabled change at the luxury retailer. She is running a range of transformation projects that are drawing on big data and mobility.

“Fulfilment is a strategic opportunity,” she says. “Our customers have great access to technology now and retailers must look to meet ever-increasing service expectations. People are beginning to expect next day or same day delivery. Successful CIOs will piece all of those various elements together.”

Wide scale availability of mobile devices is pushing similar rises in expectation within enterprise. Internal customers want to use their smart phones and tablets to connect and collaborate. CIOs and their trusted partners must work to develop applications that meet fast-changing customer demands quickly and cost effectively. However, meeting such demands is tricky.

Additional Gartner research suggests the demand for enterprise mobile apps will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organisations’ capacity to deliver them through 2017. So how can CIOs help the business build a strategy that meets the demand for change in an age of constant digital transformation?

Delivering on heightened customer expectations Camden Council interim CIO Omid Shiraji says it is crucial to recognise that, despite the huge focus on expectation during a digital age, customers continue to want the same things: high quality services that are accessible and convenient.

“The key change is that customers now want to access services on their mobiles or wearable devices,” says Shiraji. “Your clients don’t always know what they’re looking for, but they do want organisations to offer unique services that they can play with and create value. As CIOs, it’s our job to think about what our customers want today and to then focus on the future of experience.”

Shiraji says the key demand is often to be able to access services as efficiently as possible via any mobile device. He says this kind of accessibility can provide great benefits. Yet CIOs should not make the mistake of mixing such advances in mobility with true innovation.

How are CIOs building their organisation’s digital strategy?

Mark SamuelsTechnology Journalist


PROBRAND MAGAZINE

DRIVING INNOVATION


“That’s simply giving customers what they want – which is access to as many channels as possible in order to deliver new kinds of experiences,” says Shiraji. Real innovation comes when technology provides the tools for organisations to quickly automate their own business processes without having to invest heavily in application development.

Here low-code and no-code platforms can help. Such platforms allow non-developers to create and release business software to end-users, typically using visual, drag and drop editors. Shiraji says CIOs should lead business change and think about how their organisations can fully exploit the value of this technology.

“CIOs must think about how they can use these digital tools to build the kinds of experiences that customers might not have anticipated, such as communities of like-minded users for engagement and self-help,” says Shiraji.

“In all sectors, employees can really learn from other people’s experiences. It’s an incredibly powerful concept in social care, for example, where using technology to enable those with complex needs to connect to people who have overcome similar challenges delivers a really positive social impact.”

Understanding the role of low and no-code platformsMark Ridley, director of technology at online recruitment specialist Reed.co.uk, also recognises the potential power of shared experiences. He says low-code and no-code platforms are often held up as the next generation of application creation.

“Many enterprises have seen great success using these platforms to push applications to their staff and suppliers in

substantially shorter timeframes than would be expected with typical mobile development,” says Ridley, suggesting the speed of deployment can sometimes be days, rather than months.

He says the burgeoning low-code/no-code space offers the potential for wide scale change. Ridley says these platforms, like the cloud for hosting, offer a valuable tool when they are selected for the right task.

“Enterprises have shown great success with apps designed to collect and share information across geographically diverse and mobile teams,” he says. “Low-code platforms are also valuable in enforcing and training business processes, especially in situations where the user interface can be implemented with standardised design elements that are visually pleasing and easy to use, rather than completely bespoke.”

The rise of these platforms, however, does not mean the end of traditional developers. Ridley says consumer-focused applications, where app store ratings and satisfaction are critical, still often require custom development for Android and iOS devices.

Where customisation is required, he says other platforms – such as Xamarin and Ionic, both of which are used at Reed.co.uk – provide a great way of maximising developer efficiency. The basic premise, however, is that low-code and no-code platforms are here to stay and are opening application development to a whole new audience.

“These tools are showing us a direction that will put mobile app development within the reach of many more businesses,” says Ridley. “Low-code represents the democratisation of business logic and application development.”

“Demand for enterprise mobile apps will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organisations’ capacity to deliver them.”


MACHINE LEARNING:

There have been many grand promises that IT would automate complex business processes and boost productivity, but how successful have these actually been? What seems good on paper can be difficult to turn into reality as the automation process all too often requires a more sophisticated skill set than anticipated. So could computers learn how to do it themselves?

DO LESS

WITH MORE(BUT BE MORE EFFECTIVE)

PROBRAND MAGAZINE

Rob BamforthPrincipal Analyst at Quocirca


One opportunity to take advantage of machine learning comes from the cumulative surge in the availability of business data. However, despite the huge potential to extract more value from collections of data, the reality is again more complicated. Data mining, data warehousing and now ‘big data’ all validate the concept that if having some data is good then having more must be even better. But gaining real business value comes from the ability to act quickly and gain disruptive insights from combining different types of data, rather than simply accumulating sheer bulk.

This analytical challenge is an ideal one to address with automation through machine learning. Combined with rapid application development, it should lead to insights that can be directly applied to the business, tested for their impact and then refined.

Machine learning is not new. It is founded on principles such as pattern recognition and the idea that computers do not have to be programmed to perform all tasks, but can learn as they feed on data to hone their results. Machine learning algorithms typically provide a degree of confidence alongside any results. The more the process is repeated, through trial and error or sometimes with an element of training, the higher the accuracy and confidence will become over time.

Many forms of machine learning are already in use. Pattern recognition can be applied to all types of data, but applications where the data is ‘rich’ provide an immediate and often easily understood opportunity. For example, using images or sounds such as facial or musical recognition. There are also highly valuable uses such as spotting anomalous use of banking services for fraud detection, or when recommendation engines learn how to serve up appealing offers.

Putting machine learning into practice (and into applications) has historically not been for the faint-hearted. However, this has changed dramatically in recent years with third party data sets and cloud-based services. For example, Google’s recently announced Cloud Machine Learning makes it easy to build predictive models from scratch, but also has pre-trained modules such as its Translate, Cloud Vision and Cloud Speech APIs. Microsoft has cloud based analytics as part of its Cortana Analytics Suite, and there are machine learning as-a-service offerings from Amazon, BigML, IBM (Watson Analytics), DataRobot and FICO.

Cloud services make machine learning readily accessible and offer ever greater data sets to learn from. But it still needs to be intelligently and efficiently incorporated into business processes and applications. Organisations looking for new opportunities to exploit machine learning need to plan their approach and should consider the following key steps:

Adopt a business first strategy The technology is fascinating, but as with all new technology there is always the risk that initial attempts or pilots could resemble science projects rather than a serious investment in the business. Identify gaps in business knowledge or understanding and use these as a starting point.

Start with a real problem to model Focus on an outstanding business issue that needs to be tackled and it will be easier to get buy-in. It should be significant, but not crucial, as it might not be fixed first time. But adopting a rapid application development approach will allow for different ideas to be quickly incorporated, assessed, honed and refined or replaced.

Data science grounding Build a team to include an understanding of multiple data science subjects: statistics, machine learning, and data visualisation. It may or may not be composed of pure ‘data scientists’, but a strong understanding of statistics is critical for correct data analysis and interpretation to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions. Machine learning provides great techniques and algorithms for data pre-processing and modelling. Subsequent data visualisation then ensures that the results can be shared with external stakeholders.

Automation and rapid application development Making technical data science accessible to create insights that drive efficiency for the average user is not easy. This is where experimentation, automation and application builders will be useful. If new applications that exploit machine learning can be built rapidly, tested for their impact on user processes and then refined, they are much more likely to eventually prove of value to the business.

Measure, refine, iterate Really ground-breaking machine learning initiatives will take time. So machine learning will have a tangible impact if the adoption process starts small, addresses a real issue, incorporates rapid app building and then tests the effect on the business process. This means identifying the business intelligence gap at the outset and then measuring how much has been bridged.

Machine learning as-a-service cloud platforms offer the flexibility and elasticity required for dealing intelligently with mixed big data. Combining this with rapid application development ensures that machine learning can be effectively integrated into existing business processes and logic.

At the end of the process, IT people get what they want - a centralised, manageable and flexible system. The users get what they need - something that is responsive and immediately useful. And finally the business gets what it will benefit most from - big data insights in the quickest time possible and with the minimum cost and effort.

“Putting machine learning into practice has historically not

been for the faint-hearted. However, this has changed dramatically.”

DRIVING INNOVATION



With more than 4,000 employees and a turnover in excess of £330m, the organisation is a heavy consumer of IT products. Its procurement team decided to review spending in this area when it noticed significant discrepancies between the prices being quoted within its monthly framework and on ad hoc purchases. It found, on average, purchases made outside the framework were costing 21% more.

To help understand why this was happening, Home Group decided to adopt the benchmarking tool KnowledgeBus, which automatically reviews daily trade price guides and stock levels for more than 250,000 live products in the market.

The procurement team quickly realised that some suppliers were quoting prices with mark-ups over 100% of the trade price. On several occasions they also found that the suppliers didn’t actually know what the guide price was themselves – as

a result they didn’t know what the best price looked like.

“How were we meant to know if we could do better if our suppliers didn’t even know?” said Laura Davidson, assistant procurement manager at Home Group. “The suppliers may have been getting a good deal on laptops but we could see they were being charged a mark-up of 60% on the laptop bags.”

She added: “Before we had KnowledgeBus, we would have to accept that the lowest price submitted was the lowest available, and we couldn’t negotiate further.” This is no longer the case at Home Group. The association has been able negotiate contracts with suppliers that stipulate that the mark-up on all purchases is kept below 3% of the guide trade price.

As a result, Home Group has made huge savings. Laura said: “Our cost avoidance figures showed that Home Group saved £50,000 over the first six months of using KnowledgeBus.”

Beyond these overt cost savings, Home Group also realised that it was gaining a number of additional benefits from benchmarking. This included the time saving achieved by having easy access to live prices. The team previously spent up to a day each month checking prices before making purchases. Having this information immediately available freed up the team to perform other pressing tasks.

Furthermore, the ability to conduct spend analysis and measure that against seasonal price trends enabled Home Group to identify when prices are likely to be at their lowest. By analysing the stock levels in the market, they are now able to determine the best time to make large purchases.

“We were already buying in bulk but KnowledgeBus has given us confidence that we are getting the best price possible. We are now taking advantage of the stock level notifications to help us spot the best times to buy.”

BENCHMARKING HELPS HOME GROUP SAVE £50,000 IN

SIX MONTHS CASE STUDY

It is not easy for procurement teams to purchase IT at the lowest

cost possible. This becomes especially difficult when their own

suppliers don’t even know the best possible price on the market. This was the situation that Home Group, the UK’s largest housing

association, found itself.

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Ian Nethercott, Probrand Supply Chain Director, looks back over the last year to see how savvy buyers could have made big savings. There are several factors that affect the price of an IT product – and a savvy buyer needs to be aware of all these variables if they are going to extract the best possible deals.

New technology product launches have had a particularly big impact. Whenever new technology lands on the market, offering end users new features and functionality, it comes at a premium price. There are a few things to remember when this happens.

Firstly, people will always be attracted to latest, shiniest devices and this will move demand away from older models – effectively devaluing products already in the market. Vendors selling these older products will then be forced to cut prices or face being left with stacks of inventory that nobody wants.

For example, the release of Windows 10 devalued machines using Windows 8.1 – they are looked upon as if they are second hand but they are not. They are brand new machines that will cost you a lot less. So ask yourself, do you really need the latest model or would an older product serve your purpose just as well?

Top tip - Buy with usage in mindA second thing to remember is that in a few months’ time another new product will come along. So it’s well worth considering whether all the latest bells and whistles are an immediate essential. If you are not sure whether new functionality is actually necessary, it might be better to wait six to 12 months, when they will cost less.

The emergence of convertible 2-in-1 devices over the last year has complicated the situation slightly as they can replace two devices; your laptop and your tablet. There are savings to be made there straight away, but even here further savings are possible.

A top-of-the-range Surface Book is likely to cost you close to £2,000, but do you really need the most powerful mode? If you have a desktop in your office which you can access remotely (with a tool like LogMeIn) all that power could be unnecessary. And by choosing a less powerful model you could save yourself hundreds.

Top tip - Buy at the right timeOf course new technology is not the only factor impacting prices. Over the last year the strong performance of the dollar in the foreign exchange markets has been significant. Every component going in to a computer device will have been affected by these currency fluctuations – reducing the margins vendors can achieve in European markets. As a consequence vendors have increased their prices.

It is important for buyers to know, however, that currency fluctuations do not necessarily mean prices will increase straight away. For instance, if the vendor is at year end and there is still a sales target to hit, they may resist an immediate rise – even if it means taking a 4% hit for that month. But if that happens, expect an 8% increase in the following month to compensate.

If you know the vendor and the seasonal trends affecting prices, you will know in advance whether prices are likely to go up or down on the back of currency fluctuations. Armed with this knowledge, a savvy buyer will be able to judge the best times to buy.

THE SAVVY BUYER


SUPPLY CHAIN


January More than 28,000 product price rises took place in a single day TrendForce predicts that virtual reality technology will provide a

boost for the PC industry

February European Central Bank promises stimulus if the economy

doesn’t pick up HP launches Windows 10 smartphone featuring fingerprint

and iris recognition security IDC claims a quarter of tablet sales in the last quarter were

detachable 2-in-1s

March UK’s EU referendum blamed for plunging confidence in

the euro to its lowest level in a year IDC claims tablet sales will bounce back – due to the

popularity of detachable 2-in1s

April 27,750 new IT products were launched on to the market

on April 27 Apple records 43.8% fall in iPhone shipments in Q1 2016,

down to 42m from 75m

May The global wearable device market grows 67.2% YoY,

with Fitbit claiming 24.5% of market share TrendForce reports that Lenovo has become the top

notebook brand, surpassing HP on market share

June Britain votes to leave the EU in referendum on June 23 Probrand records more than 26,000 price rises in the

UK IT product market on June 24 Analyst firm Canalys predicts that IT spending in the UK

is set to drop by 10% in 2016

July Lenovo is one of several tech vendors to confirm it will push

up UK prices by 10% following Brexit IDC says the 3D printer market will grow at a 28% compound

rate YoY until 2020

August IDC reports that global tablet shipments fell 12% YoY for the

quarter, to 38.7m units TrendForce reports that global notebook shipments fell by

4% YoY for the quarter, to 74.18m units

September British pound hits a 31-year low against the dollar IDC forecasts that the Android operating share will reach

an 85.3% market share for the year

October FutureSource predicts that hybrid 2-in-1 devices will grow

from 6% of device shipments in 2015 to 18% in 2017 Samsung suffers biggest ever smartphone sales decline in

Q3, following problems with Galaxy Note 7

November Donald Trump achieves shock victory in US Presidential

election on November 8 Political uncertainty impacts Eurozone, and European

Central Bank considers quantitative easing Printer and multifunction shipments fall 1.5% YoY to 5.3m

units in Western Europe

December TrendForce predicts notebook shipments will fall 4.5% in

2017 due to shortages in the LCD panel market IDC predicts that global PC shipments are set to fall

another 2.1% YoY in 2017

EVENTS THAT IMPACTED PRICES OVER THE LAST YEAR


When an organisation is paying up to 11 times the trade value for an IT product, you know the procurement process has gone seriously awry. Yet this was one of the findings in the fourth annual KnowledgeBus IT Margins Benchmarking Study. The case in point, a 1095% margin, was what one council paid to procure SD memory cards. Given the political climate in recent years, it doesn’t seem believable that a local authority could agree to such an inflated price.

However, there are plenty of organisations paying suppliers similarly huge mark-ups. The study found that a telecoms company had paid a 989% on a printer product, while the NHS had paid a 962% on an IT peripheral. When set against the industry best practice level of 3%, these margins seem scandalous, but they are not uncommon. Analysis of purchases with these extreme markups also show there is a clear trend – one that every procurement professional should note.

The majority of high margins are found on the low volume, spontaneous, ‘as and when’ IT purchases. These are the memory sticks, power adapters and cables. Usually perceived to be of a lesser value than major pieces of IT infrastructure, these purchases often fly under the scrutiny radar. Yet they can make up a good 25% of the IT budget.

Awareness is filtering throughOn the whole, the IT Margins Study revealed that greater awareness of the high markups being applied by some suppliers is beginning to filter through to organisations. The average margins paid across the board came down to 17.6%, from 19.7% in the previous study. The public sector in particular has done a lot to reduce unnecessary expenditure. The NHS and housing associations have historically been amongst the worst culprits for paying high markups, but both have managed to consistently reduce their averages since 2012 – from 28% to 20% and from 36% to 19% respectively.

However, the further education sector has gone in the opposite direction, paying an average margin of 25%, up from an average of 12% in 2012.

How to avoid paying high margins to suppliers



This was not the worst performing sector however. That status fell on the utilities sectors, paying an average margin of 28% on IT products. This is in contrast to the best performing sector, retail, which paid 11% on average.

How to reduce the margins paid to suppliersAlthough the easy answer would be to increase scrutiny on each and every purchase, this is not always practical. The IT Margins study reviews more than 250,000 IT products on the market and their trade prices change on a daily basis. This is affected by numerous variables, not least by the constant arrival of new products on the market and global currency fluctuations. In April 2016, we saw more than 27,750 products launched on the IT market on just one day, while the pound hit a 31 year low against the dollar in September.

Keeping pace with this rate of change would be a full time job for anyone but there are, however, ways that companies can keep the margins paid permanently low.

1. Benchmarking Organisations can empower their negotiators, and speed up the IT procurement process, by deploying benchmarking tools, such as KnowledgeBus. This provides IT buyers with access to up-to-date and validated trade level information that will identify the exact margins that suppliers are charging.

2. Cost plus contractsCompanies can negotiate ‘cost plus’ contracts with suppliers. This ensures that no IT product purchased exceeds an agreed maximum margin level. Procurement teams can police these contracts with their benchmarking tools.

3. Monitor trendsWhen IT buyers analyse historic or seasonal trade price trends they can identify the best times to buy. When trade prices are at their lowest, suppliers often try to maximise margins so benchmarking data procurement professionals can counter that behaviour.

How to avoid paying high margins to suppliers

SUPPLY CHAIN


This was not the worst performing sector however. That status fell on the utilities

1. Benchmarking Organisations can empower their negotiators,


The internet should have been a boon for business procurement managers. After all, search engines and online catalogues offer up a universe of options when looking for products and services online. A growing glut of information (and misinformation) online has proven a mixed blessing, however. It seems that quantity is no substitute for quality.

“The internet is not without limitations as a research tool,” argues Paul Mandell, founder and CEO of Consero, a niche conference company that organises regular industry forums on strategic procurement and sourcing. “As there are no official gate keepers or ‘fact checkers’ on the internet, it can be difficult to determine whether information yielded is accurate. Moreover, when assessments are provided it’s almost impossible to know whether these are tainted by conflicts of interest.”

The emergence of the digital marketplaceAs a consequence of these uncertainties, B2B marketplaces have evolved to refine this process. They make it easier for buyers to find and deal with suppliers – and filter out bad or irrelevant information by aggregating useful contacts and product offerings in one place.

Gary Price, product and category manager at Probrand, explains that this is increasingly important as technology products and services have become more complex, creating a requirement for information to be more structured.

“Historically, picking the right product or service was relatively easy. The higher the number of the processer the better it was,” he quips. “Now the choice is harder and there are so many options; ‘cloud’, ‘virtual’, ‘physical’, ‘two-in-one’, ‘mobile’ and so on.”

Researching online can only get the modern B2B buyer so far, he explains. “You cannot beat speaking to an industry professional or vendor directly, or using guided tools that can help you make informed decisions.”

We have seen many successful versions of this approach in the B2C space, with marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, and although B2B marketplaces may not yet have achieved the same recognition, they are catching up. Analysts Frost & Sullivan anticipate a potential $6.7 trillion worldwide market for public B2B marketplaces, a prediction that puts them on course to eventually outpace B2C portals.

A more nuanced approachLarge public marketplaces don’t suit every buyer, however, especially when dealing with nuanced, complex sectors such as IT. Consero’s Mandell highlights some of the issues.

“B2B purchases are often conducted according to a ‘one size fits all’ approach to procurement,” he warned. “In addition, some B2B marketplaces require a bit more effort on the part of procurement managers to develop the supplier relationships that provide for long-term procurement success.”

Consequently, B2B marketplaces are evolving to solve some of the difficulties inherent in complex business sales. More niche marketplaces are emerging, where more intimate, higher-quality relationships between buyers and suppliers are nurtured.

The successful B2B purchasing portals will be those that provide solid, reliable information, along with direct purchasing access and personalised information. They also need to deliver complex information at a product code level in a standardised format that makes price comparison easier.

“B2B marketplaces should provide competition, information and clarity. They should allow comparison, speed decisions, and reduce lead-times and associated costs,” said John Malloch, head of procurement for the University of Exeter.

Buyer-driven B2BAccording to Malloch, there are still challenges. “[These include] ensuring sufficient competition and linking the output (and input) to corporate systems.” He adds that public sector organisations must also be careful to ensure that the process is compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which lay out specific rules for how government organisations can purchase goods and services. Buyers must also ensure the continuity of any services purchased through marketplaces. He warns: “What will happen when a service ends? How is the service transferred?”

Yet despite the challenges, Malloch sees an opportunity to establish B2B marketplaces in many UK industry sectors, such as higher education, which have yet to embrace modern, automated procurement models. As uptake increases, it will be the buyers who become the key drivers of these services,

The Evolution of B2B Buying


Danny BradburyTechnology Journalist


in contrast to the traditional large, public B2B portals which in the most part were supplier-focused. The new wave will be focused on the customer, and will give them the tools they need to properly compare and evaluate products.

As these marketplaces develop, they promise a range of benefits. Buyers will have access to more suppliers and the sales cycle will be shortened, reducing procurement and inventory costs. Newer technologies will allow a more fluid and open transfer of information. Payment processing methods will be easier to integrate, reducing the entry barrier

to small and medium-sized buyers wanting to get in on the action.

And it’s about time. Buyers are more knowledgeable about their IT than ever before but it’s been a while since the broad web has been able to provide an easy answer to the questions being asked. It’s been even longer since calling around suppliers and asking them to fax or email over their quotes has been an efficient way of working. Perhaps we are now ready for B2B marketplace 2.0.

“There are no official gate keepers

or ‘fact checkers’ on the internet.”

PROCUREMENT



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In the consumer world, online brands like Amazon allow businesses to compete openly for customers by listing product prices and specifications on their platform. Businesses are also starting to use B2B purchasing portals to connect to multiple suppliers and vendors instantly – leading to frictionless trading. But could we see similar marketplaces develop for local government?

Traditionally, government contracts are renowned for being cumbersome and mired in paperwork. Things have begun to change, however, as the UK government attempts to modernise its procurement operations. And one of the key focal points has been the use of digital marketplaces for public sector procurement.

The government has already developed an internal market for buying digital services online. Both central and local government buyers can use the Digital Marketplace as a procurement hub. It consists of three different entities, designed to replace individual procurement frameworks between public sector organisations and suppliers. These include:

G-Cloud. A cloud-based procurement framework for digital services which has facilitated over £1bn in sales since its launch in 2012.

Digital Outcomes and Specialists. This has a simplified application process designed to help smaller suppliers get on the list of approved vendors. There are over 1200 listed today.

Crown Hosting Data Centres. This is a joint venture between the Cabinet Office and Ark Data Centres for government-hosted data centre services.

When it comes to IT infrastructure contracts, things are less clear. Suppliers are still forced to search for contracts using tools such as the government’s Contract Finder service, which lists contracts currently up for grabs. Would an Amazon-style marketplace be viable for these kinds of sales?

We have already seen some shared service solutions, such as One Source, a joint venture between London’s Havering and Newham councils to provide a range of back-end services including ICT. However, shared service

sites still typically filter suppliers through a single internal service provider. The concept of an internal many-to-many marketplace, in which local authority partners can choose from a range of ICT providers, is still relatively new. Although Derek McCallan, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), believes that they are possible.

“The principle challenge is getting one up and running. That’s an attitudinal rather than a legislative issue,” he said. “If overcome, then the councils who have clustered together are well on their way.”

McCallan nonetheless issued a warning about the challenges of compliance. “Legislation and subordinate legislation can often be seen to conflict with one another in terms of procurement ‘must dos’ and ‘must not dos’.”

It seems likely that councils will continue to follow the path towards more open models of procurement. Whether they can also find ways to navigate complex sets of regulations and fully adopt the new breed of digital marketplace remains to be seen.

COULD A LOCAL AUTHORITY BEHAVE LIKE

?

CASE STUDY




Being a public sector body, West Suffolk Council’s IT department is required to follow numerous guidelines when it comes to procurement. As buying IT equipment is no small job for West Suffolk, this creates a major challenge.

The 24 staff team supports more than 1,800 users across the council and a number of service partners, which include the East of England Local Government Association and Abbeycroft Leisure. As the guidelines insist that purchases are unbiased – based purely on the requirements of the team rather than any particular brand loyalty – the team needs to compile a list of specifications for each purchase. This can require them to carry out extensive web-based research.

In order to secure the best price for each purchase, the team would historically conduct price comparisons by telephoning various suppliers. The task was often elongated by suppliers coming back with quotes for products that did not meet the exact specifications.

‘‘Typical purchases might include consumables, network cables and toner cartridges – items that are fairly routine or for everyday use,’’ said Andrew Brindle, unified communications support engineer at West Suffolk Council. ‘‘We purchase these items as and when we need to, and having to go through this whole process for a couple of network cables, for example, would be really frustrating.’’

As the process of buying IT equipment was eating up two full team days each month, Andrew started looking for a more efficient process that would still allow them to achieve best value. He realised that the answer lay in Europe’s largest IT marketplace for business users, Probrand. Its Digital Marketplace helps users save time and money procuring IT by delivering price comparison across products from multiple suppliers, and personalised discounts to the customer’s sector direct from manufacturers.

Using a unique log in, West Suffolk Council can now automatically see pre-approved framework discounts exclusive to the public sector, including deals on laptops, desktops and servers or printers, for example.

In a fast moving market, Probrand enables West Suffolk to browse and buy direct from a catalogue of over 300,000 products from 2,500 brands, all updated with price and stock by the minute. Probrand conducts over 10 million automated price checks a day and saves users time over calling and manually comparing prices from three or more suppliers.

“No longer do we spend time bouncing back and forth between multiple suppliers, sourcing and comparing prices,” said Andrew.

“Previously we would spend half a day each week compiling, emailing and phoning around; it now takes us about 30 minutes. It has also proved incredibly efficient. We no longer have to raise multiple purchase orders for different suppliers. That level of convenience, knowing we can source everything from one place, is a major help.”

Being a public sector body, West Suffolk Council’s IT department is required to follow numerous guidelines when it

comes to procurement. As buying IT equipment is no small job for West Suffolk, this creates a major challenge.

“ No longer do we spend time bouncing back and forth between multiple suppliers”

CASE STUDY

West Suffolk Council finds more efficient

procurement process


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Life is tough for an IT procurement or category manager; it always has been. Over the last 25 years the pace of change has been greater than in any other period. Simply keeping up with product and supplier knowledge has been a huge task. The need to find successful ways of working with IT managers – the key internal stakeholder group – has added an additional challenge. Something which frankly, only the best IT category managers were up to.

The “digital revolution” has brought even more complexity to the role. Previously, the internal stakeholders sat firmly within the IT department, now, every executive is potentially their own CTO. With the growth of cloud-based software and solutions, apps that can be downloaded in seconds. We also have far greater technology awareness and capability among the Millennials now rising up our organisations. These factors have combined to make life challenging.

The business user now expects the software they use at work to be as intuitive and user-friendly as the platforms they use in their personal lives; such as Amazon, eBay, Facebook, YouTube. They expect high functionality and resilience; but above all, greater usability. And if the IT department is not providing the right tools, the user of today will find, download and implement their own - and they probably won’t involve procurement.

Now this brings real issues for the wider organisation as well as for the procurement and IT functions. Security

is an obvious area of concern, as is the potential loss of consistency. We are seeing this trend in our own core area of procurement-related software; imagine if every department or business unit in our organisation started using their own local ordering and invoicing systems. Maintaining control of expenditure would be virtually impossible, and deriving spend data across the whole entity could become almost impossible.

In that particular case, we would suggest that a key role for the Chief Procurement Officer of today and tomorrow is to define the procurement systems infrastructure that the organisation will adopt, and explain to senior management why a certain amount of governance is needed to implement and police it. However, it is vital that systems also meet the needs of the user – remember, our colleagues won’t accept technology that does not match up to their expectations in terms of usability and functionality.

As to the wider questions around what we might call the “user revolution”, IT category managers need to work closely with the IT function to put processes in place that allow users some flexibility and freedom. Procurement should understand and highlight the commercial risks of “spend anarchy” – but both functions need to recognise that the world of digital is different, and it has led to a more informed user community. So IT procurement professionals must work out how they can help users get the most out of the digital genie – not try to put him back into the bottle!

DIGITAL BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES FOR IT PROCUREMENT

“ If the IT department is not providing the right tools, the user of today will fi nd, download & implement their own.”

Peter SmithLead editor of Spend Matters UK/Europe


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The emergence of new technology and changes to business culture have certainly helped mobile applications to mature within enterprise environments. There are now a number broad developments beginning to surface within this landscape. Here are five to watch out for in 2017:

Indoor location trackingLocation data to within ten metres has been available for several years on mobile devices. Now, companies are experimenting with indoor tracking using a variety of techniques. Beacon technology, as pioneered by Apple, connects with mobile phones using low-powered Bluetooth and enables organisations to know exactly where specific phones are in the building. Retailers are experimenting with it for customer engagement, but it could also be used for sensible, non-intrusive location tracking in work environments. Now, a new standard called Wi-Fi Aware will enable wireless devices to identify each other and communicate their capabilities. The result? Apps that can detect which employees are nearby and invite them into a meeting.

Developer skills in short supplyDemand for mobile apps is growing, and it is outstripping the supply of developers to build them. Gartner has predicted that demand will outstrip the capacity to build these apps fivefold this year. This will lead to mixed-sourcing approaches in which companies will be unlikely to rely entirely on their own in-house development teams for application design and coding, the analyst firm said.

Rapid mobile development will gain tractionThe lack of appropriate developer skills will drive interest in rapid application development tools with mobile capabilities. These tools will downplay traditional coding approaches with features such as drag and drop interfaces – narrowing the gap between business analysis, app design and deployment. Gartner has predicted that this will enable those with no coding skills to build relevant enterprise apps, using agile development capabilities that shorten refresh cycles.

IoT readyIntegration with connected Internet of Things (IoT) will create new opportunities for enterprise apps. A mobile device communicating with a ‘smart shelf’ sensor in a warehouse could provide employees with real-time information on what products need to be restocked, for example.

Value recognitionThe term ‘app’ has been devalued by cheap app store fodder aimed at consumers, but the maturation of mobile applications for business has altered opinions. In 2017, enterprises are finally realising the value of workforce mobility and will invest appropriate amounts to generate results.

“If you’re talking true, secure, data-intensive, enterprise-class applications that happen to be mobile, then this has a cost and a value,” said Steve Vallis of application developer Mercato. “If they don’t, no one will create them. No one will have the ability to do this in a secure and auditable fashion.”

In their modern form, the smartphones we

know have been with us for around a decade, and the mobile app for almost as long. But ten

years on, what trends are we now seeing in

app development?

Trends in Enterprise Mobile Apps




Bringing Mobility to the WorkforceWhile the first era of the web brought us websites, and the second saw the

emergence of social media sites and user interaction, the third may not involve websites at all. Welcome to the era of the mobile app.

“Many business-focused considerations can get lost in translation when dealing with

a traditional development team.”



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As enterprise mobile apps continue to develop they are digitally transforming businesses, by making paper-based processes available electronically at the time and place they’re needed most.

Until now enterprise mobile apps have enjoyed mixed success. Many employee devices are littered with apps that have failed to deliver on their promises, and often go unused by employees. One of the reasons for this stems from poor decision-making at the start of the process of app creation, explains Steve Vallis, of application developer Mercato.

“We can produce anything on mobile,” he says. “The question is not whether you can, but whether you should.”

For one thing, there may simply not be a business case for an application to be available in someone’s pocket all the time. Companies should be asking themselves who will be using it, and whether those workers will find access on the move helpful.

Some applications also don’t transfer to mobile devices very well, adds Vallis. Applications that gather and deliver copious amounts of information are often difficult to fit onto small screens, making it difficult to create phone or even tablet-based versions of them. In such circumstances, designers should consider the context in which the apps will be used. For example, filling out extensive web forms may not be possible for a field service engineer on the move.

“Is there a requirement that could be cut down? Could you have less of the application?” Vallis asks. When you have a complex insurance application process with a hundred inputs, it may not transfer well to a mobile experience. “What might make sense is to have an application that makes it easier to submit claims,” said Vallis.

Application developmentHow to manage huge amounts of information via a mobile sized app was a problem encountered by Legends, a firm of personal trainers in the UK. The company had previously been using spreadsheets to map out and deliver training programmes to clients. Developed over two and a half years, its worksheet had over a hundred interlinked sheets. Legends wanted a mobile app to take this functionality to the training sessions, where most of the data was gathered.

The application, however, had to also support users in different roles: clients, their trainers, and their back-office administrative staff. Trainers would use the app to assess and record client fitness, while clients had to be able to book sessions and amend bookings using the app – which would also automatically prompt them to book their next session.

Squeezing this business logic into a mobile app was a tall order, and attempts to develop such an application with a number of technology providers had proved unsuccessful in the past.

The weak point in the process had proved to be that the technology providers did not fully understand the requirements. Vallis explains that many business-focused considerations can get lost in translation when dealing with a traditional development team that doesn’t understand those nuances.

Legends was able to circumvent this obstacle by using the rapid application development platform, KnowledgeKube. This allowed them to quickly build an application, using an iterative process, and make adjustments as the app was developed.

Application management Astute design and development of mobile apps is crucial if any enterprise app is to succeed. The team working on the Legends app were able to draw on a cribsheet within the KnowledgeKube platform to access common design elements and reusable assets. This enabled them to design an interface appropriate for a busy gym environment with large, stylised tiles for buttons.

But there are other important considerations beyond design and development, such as deployment and management. This includes a requirement to protect the enterprise data gathered– especially information about customers.

High availability is another key requirement for business applications, as is solid performance. High-volume throughput and adherence to service-level agreements are a necessity for mature apps that companies can rely upon.

This makes cloud computing an important part of the puzzle, according to Cathal McGloin, VP of mobile platforms at open source solutions provider Red Hat.

“The cloud is where data is stored and managed for maximum performance and availability, while the mobile device is the point of consumption,” he said. “Storing back-end app code in the cloud not only allows for seamless updates to be made on the back end but also enables the scaling of mobile projects.”

Consequently, utilising platform-as-a-service providers like Microsoft Azure can be useful when deploying mobile apps. The benefits that it offers in terms of business continuity and scalability on demand makes it far easier to develop and deploy apps than it would be using an in-house development team and on-premise resources.

Using a rapid application development tool in conjunction with cloud-based mobile deployment can, therefore, remove the friction between software development and operations. This is paving the way for a DevOps culture in which the two work seamlessly together and maintain a regular, rapid upgrade cycle for mobile apps. Ultimately, bringing these processes together will ensure end users will have enterprise apps that will remain relevant and useful in the long term.

Bringing Mobility to the Workforce



People have great ideas all the time. These may well be digital initiatives that have the potential to transform an organisation. Even better, they could revolutionise an entire industry.As exciting as these initiatives might be, many remain just pipedreams if they don’t get the buy-in from the decision-makers that matter. These are usually busy people who are quick to see obstacles and raise objections. “It will prove too expensive” or “it will take too many man hours to develop” and “where are the guarantees it will work?”

Overcoming these barriers is difficult without a clear proof of concept that can remove the negativity and fill those decision-makers with confidence instead of doubts. One business that found themselves in this scenario was U.S. start-up GAPro Systems.

The company had an ambitious idea. A plan was put in place to revolutionise the insurance industry by removing the admin-heavy paper-based system required for customers to demonstrate proof of insurance.

Although this is a fantastic concept, that will benefit all stakeholders, convincing investors that it was possible would not be easy. Chester Gladkowski, CIO of GAPro Systems, said: “We could have gone straight to investors for funding but they are naturally sceptical and would have said ‘nice idea, come back when you have something working’. As a start-up we needed a cost-effective solution and could not afford any more risk.”

Proof of conceptThe problem was that the task was highly complicated and would require a sophisticated application that could integrate thousands of data sources. This included 2,500 insurance carriers in the U.S. alone. The application would also need to provide different stakeholders with varying levels of secure access so that they could view the data that would be updated in real time.

CASE STUDY CASE STUDY

How digital transformation

is helping to reshape

organisations, & industries


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GAPro burnt through two separate technology partners simply trying to build their proof of concept. To get their concept on track, the business then turned to KnowledgeKube, a no-code rapid application development platform, and within three weeks GAPro had a functional prototype.

Chet said: “KnowledgeKube allowed us to produce a proof of concept at a significantly lower cost, 90% quicker and importantly, with deeper functionality than we imagined.”

With this prototype GAPro has been able to approach insurers and investors and the feedback has been fantastic. “People are genuinely excited about this and our GAPro Systems branded solution is truly a disruptive approach,” said Gladkowski.

While Bill Wilson, VP of research at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), has gone as far as to say it’s ‘win-win for all parties’. He added: “This has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs spent compiling and verifying this information manually.”

Getting internal buy-inThe ability to quickly develop a prototype and demonstrate that current systems could be replaced by something better is now helping numerous businesses turn ambitious internal projects into a reality also. When market leading insurer in the small ship sector, The Shipowners Club, wanted to see if it was possible to replace their existing system they also turned to KnowledgeKube’s application development platform.

The company struggled for years to develop a policy management system that was both user friendly and able to keep up-to-date with changing requirements such as the need to meet new regulations. Negative experiences of bespoke software development in the past, meant that a proof-of-concept would be vital if the company’s CIO was going to get buy-in from the management board.

“If all we had was some presentation notes, a functional spec and the ability to articulate what we believed the developers could achieve, it would not have been enough,” he said. With a proof of concept, however, ‘the brakes were off’ and the company decided to push ahead with the new system.

Agile developmentWith a no-code rapid application development platform such as KnowledgeKube, amendments to the application can be made as the build develops, giving companies complete control over their project. This iterative, agile development approach ensures that companies are not relying on the interpretation of a programmer. Nothing gets lost in translation and changes can be made ‘on-the-fly’.

This ability to refine the requirements was something that digital forensics business CCL Solutions Group successfully exploited. The company needed to create a system that would ensure its analysts followed the correct processes. This was vital as their work needed to be compliant with standards required by the UK courts. However, when the company realised the KnowledgeKube platform allowed them to add extra functionality they opted to do so.

Andrew Krauze, chairman of CCL, said: “It became clear during the development phase that KnowledgeKube could create a tool more feature rich than we anticipated. Line managers and analysts could assess each job on a more granular level to see how long each process takes and identify where efficiencies can be gained.”

Commercial potential As a result, CCL has been able to create a comprehensive application which has commercial potential. The company now intends to sell their system as ‘ISO accreditation in a box’. Specialist landlord insurer Godiva, also found that their digital transformation project has opened up commercial channels.

The business originally wanted to automate its policy management system in order to reduce manual administration work. However, the digital platform created has allowed the company to form commercial partnerships, sell insurance out of hours and engage in automated cross-selling. One partnership with Property Mentor has helped the company reach 6,000 developers and lettings agents.

Barrie Roberts, commercial operations manager at Godiva, said: “With our own branded trading website we are driving business with a more customer-centric approach, writing well-articulated business whilst we sleep.”

CASE STUDY CASE STUDY



Cyber risk now encompasses more than our traditional view of computers: we’ve observed a sharp increase in

attack activity involving the Internet of Things, including cars and household devices.

PwC

Ransomware attacks increased in frequency by 35% in 2015.

Symnatec

Everything from credit card details to hacker-for-hire services are now being sold online. While law enforcement

remains vigilant, business appears to be booming, and underground forums continue to thrive.

Dell SecureWorks

THE SECURITY LANDSCAPE:

IN NUMBERS & WORDS

65% of mid-market firms are pausing mobility plans due to security reasons.Dell

2/3RDSof data breaches involve weak, stolen or default password.Verizon


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The majority of [UK] companies are not prepared to respond to a cyber security incident. Only 18% have a

well-defined cyber security incident response plan. Larry Ponemon, chairman of the Ponemon Institute

Half of UK businesses believe they will suffer from cybercrime in the next two years.

PwC

Only 36% are confident in their ability to recover from a cyber attack.

Ponemon Institute

74%of SMEs were the victim of cybercrime in 2015.HM Government

30%of phishing emails are opened.Verizon

34%Only of companies say they are fully protected from DDoS attacks.Kaspersky Lab



We’ve all heard of any number of high profile cyber breaches. Companies like TalkTalk, Sony and Tesco Bank have all hit the headlines as the victims of embarrassing attacks.

There are many cautionary tales like these but it seems that many small to medium sized businesses still don’t believe that cyber criminality will affect them. According to research conducted for the Department for Business, just 27% of small businesses deemed this a risk worthy of insurance cover.

Maybe this is because smaller businesses don’t believe they will be targeted. The same study, however, revealed that 74% of SMEs have suffered a cyber breach – and on average small businesses suffer four breaches a year.

It has been suggested that this increase is because small businesses actually present the perfect target for a certain breed of cybercriminal. The type of criminal that doesn’t fancy taking on the sophisticated security measures deployed by large enterprises when there is easy money to be made elsewhere.

This is costing small businesses huge sums. The government survey revealed that the average cost of the worst security breaches falls between £75,000 and £311,000. But simply looking at the monetary value doesn’t paint a true picture of the real impact. You also have to factor in the intangible after-effects of business disruption, the loss of potential sales and intellectual assets, as well as the potential damage to company reputation.

The growth of ransomwareOne of the fastest growing attack vectors causing this damage is ransomware – which saw a 172% increase in the first half of 2016, according to Trend Micro. This type of attack involves criminals breaching a company network and encrypting corporate data, which employees are then denied access to until a ransom is paid.

DS Gary Sirell, a cybercrime protect and prevent officer with West Midlands Police, says criminals will often use ‘spear-phishing’ emails. This approach uses personal information (often obtained on social networks) to appear trustworthy in order to dupe

SMALL BUSINESSES

ARE PROVING EASY PICKING

FOR CYBER CRIMINALS

Business journalist Jenny Brookfi eld looks into why

SMEs are often considered the ‘lowest hanging fruit’


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SECURITY


victims in to downloading ransomware. This technique claimed a number of high profile victims in 2016, including the social media company Snapchat and data storage firm Seagate Technologies.

DS Sirell claims it’s important for companies to train their staff how to spot these threats as ‘prevention is better than the cure’.

“A lot of companies think they need technical solutions, whereas often what is just as important is regular staff training around cyber threats and how to spot phishing emails,” DS Sirrell said. “Obviously the response to cyber threats isn’t just owned by the IT department, or the company directors. It has to be everyone’s responsibility, as anyone can click on the wrong email and leave the whole business vulnerable.”

regular staff training around cyber threats and how to spot phishing emails,” DS Sirrell said. “Obviously the response to cyber threats isn’t just owned by the IT department, or the company directors. It has to be everyone’s responsibility, as anyone can click on the wrong email and leave the whole business vulnerable.”

The weakest linkWith individuals often seen as the weakest link in the corporate armoury, criminals are using any number of methods to trick employees in to letting their guard down.

Tactics witnessed by IT managed service provider Probrand have included the use of cloned email addresses which can look almost identical to an internal company communication. One such incident saw a PA almost conned into believing her managing director had requested a bank transfer. Other techniques have included ‘brute force’ attacks – where hackers try a large number of password combinations to try and gain access to your system.

“Hackers are out there with very heavy resources at their disposal, looking for computers to compromise. As much as any antivirus and anti-malware software

is there to prevent these things from getting through, the criminals are adapting,” said Mark Lomas, IT consultant at Probrand.

He adds: “There’s often an attitude among SMEs that it’s not going to happen to them because they’re not a big target, but everybody is a target by virtue of them having IT and being online.

“In the eyes of the cyber criminal you’re just an internet address and if they can get in they will probe to see what they can do, regardless of the size of your business or IT estate. If your system has vulnerabilities they will find them.”

When it comes to ransomware, there are cases where companies have managed to combat this by finding relevant unlock codes on the internet, but it appears most businesses end up paying the ransom. To avoid such incidents DS Sirell advises organisations to consider the implications of any cyber attack and ensure a suitable business continuity and disaster recovery plan is in place.

“Compare it to physical security; you wouldn’t dream of going out without locking your door but in a virtual sense many people don’t do these sensible things,” he said. “It’s becoming too easy for criminals at the moment and they are targeting the low hanging fruit. We have to make it harder for them and force them to invest more time and money into hacking. Hopefully, in the meantime, they’ll be caught.”

Top tips to avoid becoming a victim: Adopt the right attitude. Accept that if you have

an internet connection you are a potential target. It is essential, therefore, to have a good firewall, anti-virus software and that software patching is kept up-to-date.

Train end users. Anti-virus can only provide so much of a safety net. It’s important that employees are aware of why they need to have strong passwords and exercise caution when it comes to suspicious emails.

Put policies in place. Do you have a bring their own device (BYOD) policy protecting the network? Think about who you are granting permissions to and what areas of network they can access.

“ It’s important for companies to train their staff how to spot these threats as ‘prevention is better than the cure’.”

“ We have to make it harder for them and force them to invest more time and money into hacking. Hopefully, in the meantime, they’ll be caught.”



When it comes to IT, however, the problems it has encountered have been similar to any business that has experienced rapid growth in recent years. This includes supporting flexible working arrangements for staff across the country, without compromising sensitive data. Given that many of the organisation’s staff work in the field, the charity specifically wanted to facilitate remote and paperless working for up to 50 users across the UK.

“We have a lot of staff out and about, often carrying physical documents. We wanted to help them go paperless and at the same time adopt simple measures that would address our security concerns,” said David Homer, finance director at The Children’s Family Trust.

To address these worries, the charity asked Probrand to carry out a Cyber Essentials assessment, which identified a number of ways the organisation could secure systems and processes. Probrand then implemented several security measures and developed a series of data security policies to be adhered to by the charity’s staff.

As a result of the changes to The Children’s Family Trust’s IT security practices, the charity has now been awarded the government’s Cyber Essentials accreditation.

David said: “We are a lot more confident in our security processes since Probrand took the lead and introduced new measures. There is of course a trade-off when it comes to the practicalities of how staff

work. For instance, our computers now require us to re-enter passwords after a short period of inactivity but we see this as a necessity when our staff are frequently out and about.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the near future, local authorities make cyber security a key requirement for all fostering agencies. Cyber security is an issue for every company, but it’s especially pertinent for a fostering agency,” David added.

After doubling in size over a four-year period, the charity also needed to upgrade to larger regional offices but needed a new IT partner to support this move. “We don’t have a lot of internal IT knowledge and had previously worked with a small IT company but we needed to find a partner that had deeper resources,” said David.

A review of the charity’s IT estate also resulted in Probrand replacing a legacy email server, that had been experiencing capacity issues, with cloud-based Office 365 – a solution which was better suited to a highly mobile workforce. “We’d eventually like to move more to the cloud and we’re working... to see what else can be done to improve the way we work,” said David.

As an independent fostering agency, The Children’s Family Trust faces a number of unique challenges. With four regional

offices across the UK, the charity works with over 100 local authorities supporting foster placements from Durham in the

north of England to Hampshire on the south coast.

“ Cyber security is an issue for every company, but it’s especially pertinent for a fostering agency”

CASE STUDY

The Children’s Family Trust gets Cyber Essential accreditation


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With organisations rapidly taking advantage of major technological trends such as cloud computing and mobility, it is vital security keeps pace. The security perimeters that traditionally protected businesses have been stretched thin by the growth of flexible working and bring you own device. Modern business are also utilising virtualised environments, often outside that company perimeter, to support new ways of working.

These developments cannot be ignored by security professionals. When it comes to virtualised infrastructures, however, you don’t see the same level of protection being applied as you do with physical servers and devices. Maybe this is because they are not as visible, or maybe it’s because they worry security measures will slow performance.

If a physical server has 20 virtualised machines with 20 security products running anti-virus, this will have an impact. As performance is already an issue in virtual environments, you can see why this might be unpopular. That’s why Bitdefender developed GravityZone Enterprise Security, which can manage all those 20 virtual machines through one appliance. This uses less resources, and we take great pride in the fact that it offers 25% better performance than any other vendor.

Furthermore, it allows security professionals to monitor that modern hybrid IT landscape – end point computers or exchange servers, virtualised servers and mobility devices – all through one console.

When IT teams are already understaffed, this type of solution is allowing staff to spend less time worrying about vulnerabilities and more time developing solutions that can provide a competitive edge to their business.

CASE STUDY

Bogdan BotezatuSenior e-threat analyst at Bitdefender

Make sure your security keeps pace with the shifting IT landscape


Https was developed to protect the privacy and integrity of the data being transferred via the internet. It encrypts data – using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) – so criminals can’t see the information you are send. This inability to see what is being sent, however, is now being exploited by those criminals.

Encryption has, in effect, created a secure private tunnel which can bypass older legacy firewalls and provide ready access to a corporate network. With https connections accounting for 64.6% of web connections , this is serving up plenty of opportunity for cybercrime. A typical phishing campaign will now entice victims to click through to an https website that, when visited, will begin downloading malware on to their computer in the background without their knowledge.

Florian Malecki, international product marketing director at Dell Security, says although the growth of SSL and TLS encryption is a positive trend in many ways, it has provided this tempting new threat vector for hackers.

“Using SSL or TLS encryption, skilled attackers can cipher command and control communications and malicious code to evade intrusion prevention systems and anti-malware inspection systems,” he said. “This tactic was used in a crafty malvertising campaign to expose as many as 900 million Yahoo users to malware by redirecting them to a site that was infected by the Angler exploit kit.”

That malvertising campaign, which tricked an automated ad network into delivering malware, found a way to target Yahoo users via vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Azure platform and was reported to be one of the largest ever attacks of its kind.

While older firewalls are not equipped to cope with this type of threat, many vendors have responded to this by producing next generation firewalls. This technology can dig deeper, scan encrypted traffic and carry out deep packet inspection (DPI) – ensuring nothing slips through the net.

Malecki advises businesses to avoid falling victim to this type of attack by making sure software is updated and security best practice procedures are followed. He adds: “In addition to this, companies must upgrade to a capable, extensible next-generation firewall with integrated SSL-DPI inspection combined with adaptive sandboxing services, to ensure their networks monitor clear and encrypted traffic simultaneously at all times.”

IS HTTPS PROVIDING CRIMINALS WITH

A SECURE TUNNEL INTO YOUR NETWORK?

The appearance of https in your web browser used to provide an assurance that it was safe to carry out a transaction on that website. Yet, in the ever-changing internet landscape we navigate, this is now often far from the case. Cyber attacks continue to evolve in order to evade security measures, and criminals have found ways to use https to do just that.

Jenny BrookfieldBusiness Journalist

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Enterprises plan to reduce the number of workloads housed in on-premise traditional and virtualised environments, while dedicated private cloud, virtual private cloud, and public infrastructure-as-a-service are expected to see substantially higher rates of adoption.McKinsey & Co’s Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure survey

Loyalties to traditional, standalone servers are diminishing in today’s IT ecosystems as managers adopt innovative technologies that eliminate multiple pain points. Innovation inherent in converged systems and in hyper-converged infrastructure in particular, is driving process efficiencies and agility that are increasingly tangible.Christian Perry, research manager at 451 Research

Virtualisation is a strategic priority, yet organisations are still not fully ready for the security challenges this environment brings. Hybrid infrastructures have become the major common architecture in the enterprise environment and CIOs have to adapt to the new world.Bitdefender

No matter the level of adoption, cloud technology is becoming a staple to organisation’s infrastructure. As both cloud and businesses evolve, organisations continue to explore how cloud computing fits into their workplace and applications while cloud vendors realise and accommodate the needs of their clients.”IDG Enterprise report

INFRASTRUCTURE REVIEWED:

IN NUMBERS & WORDS

Cloud-based IP traffic will rise from 3.9 zettabytes

to 14.1 zettabytes between now and 2020 - Cisco

of mobile workers have never used a VPN (virtual

private network) - iPass

38 %

of the UK’s IT decision makers know the location

where their enterprise data is stored - VMware

The move to cloud computing will see on-site

servers shipments

Two thirds of organisations implementing hybrid cloud

infrastructures say they are gaining a competitive

advantage - IBM

JUST 37 %

DROP 5 %

of enterprises have adopted hyper-converged

infrastructures - 451 Research

40 %

- McKinsey & Co

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As an organisation, however, it had found that the technology which was supposed to helping them deliver those services was beginning to prove more of a hindrance. The charity’s 300 employees found themselves struggling to send emails or even open files.

“It all came down to the infrastructure at the back end,” said Kashmir Heer, Swanswell IT Infrastructure Manager. “Our ageing architecture had become the cause of a major headache.”

Furthermore, the charity found these problems had started to affect productivity and morale, with employees spending an increasing amount of time on the phone reporting issues to the IT team.

Probrand was asked to investigate Swanswell’s IT infrastructure and discovered that several legacy virtual servers in the data centre were responsible for many of the issues staff were encountering. As the inherited virtual environment was proving to be unstable, it was decided to re-provision and migrate ten servers to a more robust VMWare environment. In addition, Probrand rebuilt three existing virtual servers to future proof the new infrastructure.

Probrand also replaced several network switches with the intention of removing potential bottlenecks and increasing traffic speed. The physical hardware hosting the virtualised environment was also replaced by two faster and more efficient HP servers.

These changes have proved significant, according to Kasmir. “The statistics speak for themselves, support calls have dropped by 40% per month within two months of the solution being implemented.

‘‘We have fewer team members wasting time on calls to the support desk and that clearly has a knock-on effect for productivity. People can get on with what they are supposed to be doing without the distractions created when the tools of their job let them down.”

With a large number of employees working in the field, Swanswell also needed to improve remote access. Given the nature of its work, and the data privacy requirements of its partners, it was imperative that systems were accessed securely and that data was safe at all times. “We needed a robust solution which would give access without compromising our systems or data,” Kashmir said.

To ensure remote workers can access systems safely and efficiently, Probrand deployed a Dell Sonicwall Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN). It also protected the organisation’s network with a Dell Sonicwall next generation firewall.

“Our team members can now stay out longer in the field as there is less need to come into the office – they can do most things remotely now. This is better for our team members, our partners and ultimately the people we are here to help. It has radically cut admin time and has enabled us to deliver a better service in the field,” Kashmir added.

Swanswell, a charity that hopes to create a society free of problem alcohol and drug use, provides a vital support

service to more than 10,000 people each year.

“Support calls dropped by 40% per month within

two months”

CASE STUDY

Swanswell improves productivity by future

proofing IT


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INFRASTRUCTURE


When it comes to data centres, people’s thoughts almost immediately turn to servers and storage. But it was not a lack of computing power that Icomm Technologies deliberated over during a recent data centre update at its Birmingham headquarters.As an IT managed service provider (MSP), Icomm’s range of solutions includes hosting, data storage and backup. In order to accommodate these growing services, the business was tasked with upgrading its data centre to ensure reliability, protect against failure and plan for future growth. The renovation included upgrading the fire suppression system, installing redundant air conditioning and designing a complete IT infrastructure solution to organise, protect, power, manage and connect the new equipment.

When it came to ensuring these needs were met, Eugene Muller, Icomm’s project manager, decided to seek advice rather than go it alone. He reached out to Tripp Lite, the only consultant-vendor whose experience and product offering were extensive enough to address all of Icomm’s infrastructure needs. After speaking with a Tripp Lite application specialist, Eugene gained a deeper under-standing of the potential issues he was likely to encounter during the fitting out process.

For example, each of Eugene’s racks contained 20 servers and 40 three-metre power cords. Tripp Lite pointed out that by changing to half-metre power cords, he could remove over 100 metres of cable clutter per rack and increase air flow by 70%. Tripp Lite also designed a custom expandable UPS solution which provided Eugene with the flexibility to add UPS capacity when needed. Furthermore, Tripp Lite helped Eugene overcome challenge of moving large cabinets through narrow hallways and stairways by recommending heavy duty cabinets that could be easily taken apart and reassembled in place.

Tripp Lite provided Eugene with a detailed specification that included cabinets, power distribution, UPS backup and cabling, plus a KVM console to manage all the servers. This made it easy for Eugene to plan for the budget, manpower and time needed to complete the project. This was of the utmost importance because the omission of a single part could have resulted in a costly delay. Lastly, Eugene realised the hidden benefit of utilising a one-stop-shop as he was able to avoid having multiple meetings with multiple vendors to produce the single specification.

As Eugene explains: “I was surprised by how willing Tripp Lite was to engage with us, the end user; as well as their breadth of product knowledge. Other vendors are just not willing to do that. They really knew what they were talking about and it went so well, we recently asked Tripp Lite to help fit out a second data centre for Icomm in Manchester.”

Infrastructure equipment may constitute just five to 10% of total system costs, but it is the fundamental building block of the data centre, without which nothing works. Collaborating with a multi-tiered vendor who will provide valuable advice on data centre builds can help ensure that your project runs smoothly, under-budget and without surprises.

The importance of consultation in a

commoditised world

upgrading its data centre to ensure reliability, protect against failure and plan for future growth. The renovation included upgrading the fire suppression system, installing redundant air conditioning and designing a complete IT infrastructure solution to organise, protect, power, manage and connect the new equipment.

When it came to ensuring these needs were met, Eugene Muller, Icomm’s project manager, decided to seek advice rather than go it alone. He reached out to Tripp Lite, the only consultant-vendor whose experience and product offering were extensive enough to address all of Icomm’s infrastructure needs. After speaking with a Tripp Lite application specialist, Eugene gained a deeper under-standing of the potential issues he was likely to encounter during the fitting out process.

For example, each of Eugene’s racks contained 20 servers and 40 three-metre power cords. Tripp Lite pointed out that by changing to half-metre power cords, he could remove over 100 metres of cable clutter per rack and increase air flow by 70%. Tripp Lite also designed a custom expandable UPS solution which provided Eugene with the flexibility to add UPS capacity when needed. Furthermore, Tripp Lite helped Eugene overcome challenge of moving large cabinets through narrow hallways and stairways by recommending heavy duty cabinets that could be easily taken apart and reassembled in place.

Tripp Lite provided Eugene with a detailed specification that included cabinets, power distribution, UPS backup and cabling, plus a KVM console to manage all the servers. This made it easy for Eugene to plan for the budget, manpower and time needed to complete the project. This was of the utmost importance because the omission of a single part could have resulted in a costly delay. Lastly, Eugene realised the hidden benefit of utilising a one-stop-shop as he was able to avoid having multiple meetings with multiple vendors to produce the single specification.

As Eugene explains: “I was surprised by how willing Tripp Lite was to engage with us, the end user; as well as their breadth of product knowledge. Other vendors are just not willing to do that. They really knew what they were talking about and it went so well, we recently asked Tripp Lite to help fit out a second data centre for Icomm in Manchester.”

Infrastructure equipment may constitute just five to 10% of total system costs, but it is the fundamental building block of the data centre, without which nothing works. Collaborating with a multi-tiered vendor who will provide valuable advice on data centre builds can help ensure that your project runs smoothly, under-budget and without surprises.

Brian MacnamaraVP of Sales - Europe at Tripp Lite

CASE STUDY


The importance of data is undoubtedly growing in all industries. As evolving technology finds new ways to gather and process information, data is becoming the life blood of any business.With every new tech trend that emerges, whether that is the Internet of Things or Big Data analytics, our reliance on data seems to grow. The analyst IDC has predicted that this will cause the volume of data in existence to double every two years during this decade.

The experts say that this ‘data bulge’ will create headaches for the organisations having to manage and store all this data. The much proffered solution to this is cloud computing, which can provide on-demand scalability.

However, is this realistically what is happening in UK businesses? Are they really scrambling to find a cloud partner to help them handle rapidly growing quantities of data?

A data bulge?The answer appears to be ‘no’. A survey of almost 500 mid-market organisations, by Probrand, found that just 3% of firms are having to handle data growth rates higher than 25% year-on-year. The vast majority (77%) are actually dealing with a steady growth of less than 10%.

When you consider the macroeconomic performance of both the UK, and global economies, in recent years, that finding is not actually that surprising.

“Data growth does not come out of thin air,” explains Mark Lomas, IT consultant at Probrand. “There will always be a correlation between the performance of a business and the amount of data being produced.”

For companies wanting to predict future data growth rates, Lomas claims it makes sense to simply look at the organisation’s performance in recent years and its historic levels of data accumulation, and match that against forecast growth of the business.

Cloud adoption?It is undeniable that some organisations are using cloud computing for storage. The Cloud Industry Forum estimates that cloud adoption in the UK has actually grown 75% over the last five years. The industry body expects half of businesses to move their entire estate to the cloud at some point in the future. But that point is not now.

The Probrand survey found that just 13% of firms are using cloud as their primary storage platform. The reality is that most organisations still prefer to keep their data on-premise. Almost two thirds (61%) are using SAN solutions, while 16% are still using NAS or DAS.

There may well be an element of protectionism behind why IT managers are not utilising the cloud – they might not fancy the idea of making their role of maintaining this infrastructure redundant just yet. When asked about the future of storage

STORAGE GROWTH: SEPARATING REALITY FROM THE HYPE

10%

3/4MORE THAN

STATE THAT ANNUAL GROWTH RATES ARE NO GREATER THAN



however, the number remains low – just 22% believe cloud will become their primary solution. “What is clear is that there is not a big rush to move to the cloud at the moment,” said Lomas.

Demand for new innovations?This reluctance to convert to a new storage model is also notable with the emergence of another new technology, converged infrastructure (CI). This solution seems to have a lot of appeal; lower operating costs, reduced downtime and the ability to deploy applications faster. Adoption levels also grew 50% last year, according to Gartner. However, the study found that only 29% see this as a serious proposition for their organisation, while 70% remain unsure of its value.

What actually matters most to organisations when it comes to storage is the cost (30%) and performance (20%). “Storage is often viewed from a utilitarian perspective by many businesses,” said Lomas. “They may be willing to hear about new features but they will not always be willing to pay for all those bells and whistles – especially when the FD takes a look at the cost.” In fact, just 8% said they wanted to see greater innovation from storage vendors.

Improving performance When it comes to what improvements organisations would like to see in storage, however, performance (32%) tops the list ahead of lower prices (25%). Lomas points out, however, that improved performance may actually mean paying more upfront – with the likely savings being delivered in the long term.

“If your SAN can do more with your data, you start to get additional value from storage. Features like deduplication allow companies to maximise the amount data on a SAN, and it’s not unusual to see organisations get an extra year out of a product before filling up the capacity available,” says Lomas

“Deduplication can provide positives for businesses of any size, and the bigger the capacity requirement, the bigger the savings are likely to be.”

With the vast majority of mid-market firms choosing to keep their data on-premise – at least for the typical life expectancy of their next storage product – this may be the best way forward for companies looking to sweat their assets and get maximum value out of their storage.

SEPARATING REALITY FROM THE HYPE5TH 8%

2/3

MORE THAN AONLY

OF RESPONDENTS WANT TO SEE GREATER INNOVATION

FROM VENDORS

ALMOST

ANTICIPATE CLOUD WILL BECOME THEIR FUTURE STORAGE STRATEGY

OF ORGANISATIONS USE SAN SOLUTIONS

PROBRAND MAGAZINE

INFRASTRUCTURE



IT managers can have very contradictory views when it comes to cloud computing. There aren’t many who would openly argue against it playing a future role in IT. Solarwinds has even conducted a survey which shows that 92% of IT professionals believe the adoption of this technology will be important to the long-term success of their business.

The research found that key reasons for this view include reduced cost of infrastructure, increased flexibility and agility and the freedom it provides for IT personnel to concentrate on strategic projects. So in theory, IT managers should see cloud computing in a positive light.

But in truth not everything is rosy in the garden. Gartner analyst Tom Bittman recently produced a blog looking at why some cloud projects are failing. Reasons included ‘IT protecting its turf’ and a ‘failure to get internal support’. Bittman added: “Your staff can be your biggest supporters, or your biggest roadblocks. Google the possible etymology of the word ‘sabotage’.”

The contrast in attitudes doesn’t surprise me one bit. I’ve observed far too much conventional wisdom that IT is being ‘lost to the cloud’. And there is a danger that if cloud projects

are managed in the wrong way, people will feel that they have less to do and that their jobs are at risk.

In truth, it is the opposite. As the cloud makes sophisticated solutions more accessible to business, IT managers are likely to have their work cut out.

Opportunities are being created Currently, an IT manager may spend just 10% of their day managing hardware, nursing stacks of equipment. But the vast majority of their time actually involves managing software – and that work is still going to be there in abundance.

If you look at software-as-a-service (SaaS), the big players are producing productivity boosting solutions that would be too complex to deploy on-premise but they are in reach via the cloud. As companies demand this technology, they will need IT managers to act as the administrator.

CIOs need to explain that this type of deployment does not take anything away from anyone; it is actually providing us all with more tools. This development is providing an opportunity for IT managers to branch out and be of greater value to the business.

A recent study by EMC and VMware revealed that 88% of businesses feel that they currently lack the skills necessary when it comes to cloud technology. This is clearly an area where jobs will be created and the most likely people to fill those positions are today’s IT managers.

“ There is a danger that if cloud projects are managed in the wrong way, people will feel that they have less to do.”

Mark LomasIcomm IT Consultant



The evolution of the cloudAs cloud computing evolves we are likely to see the role of the IT manager develop in two different directions, depending on the size of the organisation.

Large companies will have more budget and this will allow them to take bits of their IT workload and see what can go into the cloud. Research by JP Morgan has found that enterprise-size organisations will almost triple the proportion of their workloads being moved to public cloud services over the next five years.

The report says: “A near- tripling of the public cloud-based workload mix represents a monumental architectural shift, which shows no signs of abating and is likely to create a major ripple effect across the entire technology landscape.”

As these workloads move to the cloud, large businesses will most likely look at a model that focuses on servers. When you look at the client server model, prevalent within organisations for 30-40 years, it did begin to change 10-15 years ago with virtualisation resulting in consolidation. But all that did was to reduce the size of the footprint, while the model remained the same for IT managers. The cloud is changing this, however, as mainframes are now being created using a cluster of servers in the cloud.

By allowing the cloud to take care of the operating system, IT managers will be able to focus on company platforms and applications. This new approach is closely aligned with the concept of DevOps, as it is blending the administrative and the development side.

A different path for SMBsFor small to medium sized businesses, however, it is a different world. We are seeing the ‘engineer’ style of role – where the IT manager is concerned with keeping the lights on – move towards more of a ‘consulting’ position.

When companies are looking to deploy productivity solutions, such Microsoft’s Skype for Business or Office 365, these types of IT managers will find they have their hands full. They will need to help organisations extract maximum value from these tools, especially as new versions are released.

There may be less installation work to do but there will be more administration as companies deploy more tools. Companies will also need to identify what new software can be rolled out: what is available and what could create a real business benefit?

These tasks will need to fall to someone who will also be responsible for ensuring there is buy-in at the highest level, and that there is the appropriate level of investment. And there is a need to manage all the relevant third parties too.

If IT managers don’t step up and take on these roles then they run the risk of allowing a younger generation – for whom cloud computing will be second nature – to come along and fill these positions.

Cloud computing is the new game in town and it will become the norm. It will ensure that there is be plenty of work available but if IT managers stand still and refuse to evolve they could well become obsolete. The time has come to adapt or die.

“ By allowing the cloud to take care of the operating system, IT managers will be able to focus on company platforms and applications.”

PROBRAND MAGAZINE

INFRASTRUCTURE



An agreement, signed on behalf of Waingels by the local education authority as part of a major refurbishment of the school several years earlier, had resulted in RM Education proprietary technology being installed across its estate. This agreement also tied the school into a RM service contract. It was an arrangement from which the school’s business manager John O’Keefe wanted to break free.

“We needed to do things differently because if we ever wanted to change anything we found we couldn’t do it ourselves,” said John. “We also felt that, for the level of support we received, the costs were astronomical.”

The school wanted to end the service contract and to employ its own staff. John realised, however, that the proprietary technology installed at the school would make it difficult to recruit IT staff from outside the education sector.

The decision was taken, therefore, to replace the technology in the school with equipment more familiar to the wider business environment. Waingels partnered with Probrand and completed the work over a summer vacation – when students would not be affected. “We wanted to work with an organisation that wasn’t just more tech savvy, but who could also help us lower our costs,” said John.

The project involved the installation of a new core network, server and storage infrastructure. This work included the migration of numerous systems – from Apple learning suites to cashless catering – and the deployment of remote access and management tools.

Realising the benefitsWith the installation complete, Waingels was able to recruit a network manager and two technicians, which has allowed the school to take full control of its own IT infrastructure.

This move away from proprietary technology and the associated service contract is also helping the school to make significant savings. “We will save about £90,000 in the first year because of the transition,” said John.

“I believe this is because Probrand saw our requirements in a more straightforward, sensible way. This has enabled us to do things much more cheaply. These savings alone made the decision a no-brainer.”

Crucially, the school has also discovered that the IT network is providing a significantly improved performance, compared to the school’s previous infrastructure.

“The new network is noticeably faster, and the remote product is far superior,” said John. “Log-on times are now much quicker – and, when you often have 400 users all logging in within a couple of minutes at the start of each lesson, this makes a big difference.”

He added: “The old network was clunky and prompted a lot of complaints. Since we moved to the new network, however, I’ve not had a whisper of a moan – which is all you can ask for really!”

When Waingels College converted to an academy in 2015, the school re-examined its operations. This process included a review of its IT supplier contract.

CASE STUDY

Waingels College breaks free from proprietary technology



CASE STUDY

“Probrand saw our requirements in a

more straightforward, sensible way.”

Waingels College


INFRASTRUCTURE


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