www.technologyreseller.uk THE MAGAZINE & ONLINE CHANNEL NEWS & RESOURCE FOR MSPS, IT RESELLERS & SUPPORT PROVIDERS PAGE 14 Hammer and Stormshield make the case for sovereign IT DISTRIBUTION A new chapter. The same trusted distributor. Technology, expertise and support built for the channel. elovade.co.uk IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016 PAGE 25 CompareIT, the new matchmaking platform for MSPs MARKETING PAGE 33 Distology CEO Hayley Roberts plots path to £200m milestone INTERVIEW IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016
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03 CONTENTS technologyreseller.co.uk ISSN 2632-9301 (Print) ISSN 2632-931X (Online) Technology Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 7 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.technologyreseller.co.uk No part of Technology Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2026 Kingswood Media Ltd. Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [email protected] Publishing Director, Social Media and Web Editor: Neil Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 · [email protected] Events & Commercial activities: Paul Johnson 01732 759725 · [email protected] Account Manager: Jeff Root 01732 759725 · [email protected] Designer: Brian Cloke 07484 288189 · [email protected] If you no longer wish to receive Technology Reseller magazine, please email your details to [email protected] Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of Technology Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.technologyreseller.uk/register Read Technology Reseller online, on tablets and smart phones www.technologyreseller.uk Join us : Follow us technology-reseller-magazine technologyreseller.co.uk 04 Distribution News APFN expands Aquila offering 06 Q&A With Michael Conway of Renaissance and Sally King of Scalefusion 08 Communications Eclipse Wholesale hosts second annual partner event 10 Reseller News inTEC sells commercial division to Tela 14 Distribution Why Stormshield is not just another firewall vendor 17 Distribution Giacom introduces partners to Huntress. And Peter Pearson returns to network cabling 18 Cover Story New name, same values for Elovade UK&I 20 MSPs From phone lines to AI: 25 years of change at Armstrong Bell 24 60 seconds with Josh Evans, UKI Channel Manager of GCX Managed Services 25 Sales & Marketing CompareIT launches match-making platform for MSPs and SMEs 28 AI Automation How Build Concierge is helping AGS One spend less time on paperwork 30 Distribution Why steady growth suits Paul Burn just fine 33 Interview Hayley Roberts plots path to £200 million milestone 37 Tech Digest The latest solutions and services for MSPs and their customers 41 People New faces, new places IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016 IN PRINT & ONLINE SINCE 2016 A new chapter. The same trusted distributor. Technology, expertise and support built for the channel. elovade.co.uk
01732 759725 DISTRIBUTOR NEWS new opportunities for resellers and customers throughout the region.” Ian Harbar, Sales Manager – Enterprise B2B at Ci Distribution, added: “Plustek’s portfolio is recognised worldwide for its quality, innovation and reliability, making it a valuable addition to our product offering. We look forward to helping partners address the growing demand for document digitisation, workflow automation and professional imaging solutions.” https://www.cidistribution.com/vendors/ plustek/ … TD SYNNEX expands IBM distribution to 50-plus countries TD SYNNEX has expanded its 30-year-plus relationship with IBM and added 20 nations to its IBM distribution footprint in Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, bringing the total number of countries covered to more than 50. The expanded footprint gives more partners access to TD SYNNEX’s Select Blue initiative created with IBM to help partners move from opportunity to execution faster through SaaS and consumption-based models and specialisation in high-growth areas like AI, data and automation. Partners also benefit from TD SYNNEX’s end-toend capabilities spanning enablement, financing, pre-sales support and go-to-market execution. https://www.tdsynnex.com/na/us/ibm/ select-blue/ … CMS Distribution to distribute eSentire in UK&I CMS Distribution is partnering with eSentire to bring the latter’s multi-signal Managed Detection and Response (MDR) capabilities, 24/7 Security Operations Centre expertise, threat hunting, incident handling and response services to resellers, MSPs and MSSPs in the UK and Ireland. Protecting more than 2,000 organisations worldwide, eSentire combines agentic AI, engineered human-judgement controls and experienced security analysts to detect, contain and neutralise cyber threats at speed. Huw Jones, Chief Business Officer at CMS Distribution, said: “Cybersecurity has become a board-level priority for organisations of every size, and partners need proven solutions that are simple to position, easy to adopt and trusted to deliver outcomes. Our partnership with eSentire expands the capabilities available to our channel community and helps partners address one of the most urgent customer challenges in the market.” … Tenex.AI partners with Infinigate for EMEA push TENEX.AI, a fully agentic, human-led security operations provider, has appointed Infinigate Group as its first distributor in UK&I, ahead of further expansion in EMEA, as it looks to accelerate growth across the region following a $250 million Series B funding round. APFN expands Aquila offering with addition of SOGEA service and its own full fibre network AllPoints Fibre Networks (APFN) has expanded services available to wholesale customers via its Aquila platform with the additions of its own full-fibre network and a new SOGEA offering that enables partners to migrate customers away from traditional landline-based services ahead of the PSTN switch-off in January 2027 without having to wait for full fibre availability. APFN’s own fibre network, now available on the Aquila platform alongside existing wholesale options from Openreach, CityFibre, BT Wholesale and Sky Business Wholesale, covers 370,000 consumer premises in areas previously under-served by full fibre, including Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire. It offers symmetrical speeds, integrated ordering, automated provisioning and full in-life service management. APFN Chief Commercial Officer Nisreen El‑Kaloush said: “Our network was built for getting full fibre out to more homes, through partners who know how to sell it. Bringing it onto Aquila means we can do that at speed, without adding any complexity for the partners already using the platform. It’s available through the same platform, the same ordering journey and the same commercial model as everything else on Aquila.” APFN’s second new service, a SoGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access) offering, gives APFN partners a single-order route to connect customers in areas where full fibre has not yet been built, bringing a further 9.3 million UK premises within reach of the connectivity wholesaler’s Aquila platform. Combined with FTTP, it expands Aquila’s footprint to 32.9 million premises. Designed for simple, largely remote activation, the SOGEA service has already been successfully trialled with partners including Meraki, Triangle, F One Technologies and Nu Fibre. Alongside these new additions to Aquila, APFN has opened early access to Aquila Pulse, a new visibility tool that allows partners on the Aquila platform to check network and service status without having to contact APFN directly. allpointsfibre.uk … Ci Distribution adds Plustek scanners to portfolio Specialist technology distributor Ci Distribution has added Plustek document, book, film, mobile and network scanning solutions to its product portfolio after being appointed the scanner manufacturer’s distribution partner for the UK and Ireland. The strategic partnership strengthens Plustek‘s channel presence in UK&I and gives resellers, retailers and system integrators expanded access to Plustek professional scanning and imaging solutions, backed by enhanced product availability, local expertise and dedicated channel support. Shooping Lin, UK Sales Director at Plustek UK, said: “Ci Distribution’s strong channel relationships, market expertise and customer-focused approach align perfectly with Plustek’s commitment to delivering exceptional solutions and support to our partners. We look forward to working closely together to expand our presence and create 04 Midwich to host Kramer roadshow On October 8, Midwich is hosting a Kramer Roadshow at the Midwich AV Hub in Edinburgh, giving AV professionals the opportunity to explore practical approaches to creating smarter, more manageable AV environments. The Kramer Roadshow will include interactive demonstrations, workshops and real-world discussions focused on the technologies and challenges shaping today’s professional AV deployments. Mike McHale, UK and Ireland Country Manager for Kramer, said: “We want to create a relaxed, practical environment where integrators, consultants and technology professionals can explore new ideas, discuss the challenges they are facing on real projects and see how the latest Kramer technologies can make AV systems simpler to design, deploy and manage.” The event will showcase Kramer’s extensive product offering including 1G and 10G AV over IP solutions; signal management technologies (matrices, switchers, extenders and distribution amplifiers); connectivity, including the latest USB-C and HDMI cables; collaboration solutions; Kramer’s Panta Rhei platform for centralised AV management, monitoring and automation; and Ashton Bentley by Kramer integrated AV technology, furniture and room designs. For the full agenda, event details and registration, visit the Kramer events page. https://www.kramerav.com/about/events/ Nisreen El-Kaloush
DISTRIBUTOR NEWS technologyreseller.co.uk technical expertise and services, we help accelerate partner adoption of HPE Networking technologies and support HPE’s ambition to shape the next era of networking.” Infinigate UK will support HPE Networking partners with logistics, partner services, professional and lifecycle services, partner enablement, and pre- and post-sales support. www.infinigate.com Westcoast to build on unique HPE heritage Westcoast is to continue as an HPE distribution partner for the UK&I, following unification of the HPE, HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Juniper Networking portfolios. Building on its heritage as the only UK&I distributor with teams focused on all three portfolios prior to their unification, Westcoast is expanding its HPE team and investing in enablement, support and the resources partners need to unlock opportunities across infrastructure, networking, hybrid cloud, AI and services. … Nord Security partners with QBS Software QBS Software and Nord Security have entered into a strategic distribution agreement that will give resellers and MSPs across Europe access to Nord Security’s cybersecurity portfolio alongside QBS Software’s enablement, technical support, marketing resources and commercial expertise. The partnership covers the NordLayer toggle‑ready network security platform, the NordPass password manager, the NordLayer Browser and the NordStellar threat exposure intelligence platform. QBS Software continues to expand its cybersecurity portfolio in response to growing customer demand and in line with its commitment to provide channel partners with best-in-class technology vendors. QBS Software is supporting the partnership with a comprehensive enablement programme including partner onboarding, technical training, marketing campaigns, webinars and sales initiatives across Europe. www.qbssoftware.com AI-assisted development, using a Guide-Verify-Solve approach to guide AI agents with the right context and constraints; verify their output through fast, multilayered feedback loops; and resolve issues before they become a production risk. With strong upsell and cross-sell potential, short sales cycles, fast time to revenue and attractive margins, Sonar enables partners to broaden customer relationships and create new recurring revenue streams. Adam Davison, Senior Director, Vendor Acquisition at Westcon-Comstor, said: “The rapid adoption of AI-assisted software development, combined with the shift-left movement, is creating new openings for partners as software quality, governance and security become board-level priorities. At the same time, many organisations are looking to consolidate fragmented development and security toolsets onto a single platform. By combining Sonar’s market-leading solutions with our enablement capabilities, technical expertise and international reach, we’re empowering partners across EMEA and APAC to win new customers, expand existing relationships and drive sustainable revenue growth.” … HPE appoints Infinigate UK as specialist distributor for combined networking portfolio As part of the unification of its distribution model following its acquisition of Juniper Networks, HPE has appointed Infinigate UK as a specialist value-added distributor for its networking portfolio in the UK. The partnership will enable UK channel partners to access HPE Networking solutions, including HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Juniper Networking, through Infinigate’s specialist distribution, technical support and partner services. Daniel Dickson, Group Business Development Director at Infinigate, said: “Our experience in supporting HPE Juniper Networking, combined with our specialist focus on AI Networking and Security, uniquely positions us to help partners capitalise on growing demand for leading-edge, secure networking solutions. Through enablement, Founded by the engineers behind Google Chronicle (now Google SecOps), the American cybersecurity company’s fully agentic, human-led security operations platform pairs AI agents that triage and investigate 100% of alerts in under a minute with US-based human analysts who govern every escalation, enabling organisations to respond to threats in minutes, not hours. Tenex works alongside the Microsoft and Google security platforms organisations already use, helping customers strengthen their cybersecurity, cloud and network security without replacing existing investments. The partnership with Infinigate is part of a channel-first international go-to-market strategy developed by Piers Morgan, Senior Vice President & GM, International Growth and Alliances, and implemented by a regional leadership team of Phil Keeling, Enterprise Sales Director EMEA (formerly of HPE, Cato Networks, Fortinet and F5); John Quinn, Director EMEA, Channels & Partnerships (formerly of Mastercard Cyber Intelligence, Fortinet and F5); and Mark Draper, EMEA GTM Lead, Channels & Alliances (formerly of Cato Networks, Gigamon and HPE). Morgan said: “Security teams everywhere are facing the same fundamental challenge: attacks are moving faster and generating more work than human teams alone can realistically manage. Our partnership with Infinigate gives organisations and channel partners a new path to fully agentic security operations while building on the technology investments they already have.” www.Infinigate.com … Westcon-Comstor to bring Sonar code verification to partners in EMEA and APAC Westcon-Comstor is helping partners meet rising demand for secure, AI-driven software development by entering an EMEA and APACwide partnership with AI code verification and governance vendor Sonar. Sonar’s automated code verification platform SonarQube helps development and security teams identify and remediate security vulnerabilities, exposed secrets and other code issues before software reaches production. The recent acquisition of Gitar adds AI code review, giving organisations the benefit of AI-native code review and code verification. Sonar claims that SonarQube users are 44% less likely to report AI-derived production outages and that maintaining code quality with Sonar allows users to reduce token usage by 7-8%. Sonar gives partners a framework for helping customers build security and governance into 05 Samsung Galaxy XR headset available from TD SYNNEX TD SYNNEX has expanded its mixed and virtual reality portfolio with the addition of the Samsung Galaxy XR mixed reality headset. Available in the UK and Ireland exclusively via TD SYNNEX, the headset is ideal for applications that simulate real-world environments for training, demonstrations and digital twinning, as well as for demanding design and rendering solutions. Piers Morgan Adam Davison
01732 759725 specialist training or certification, so partners can bring services to market faster. By combining endpoint management, Zero Trust access and device-level compliance in a single platform, it can also help MSPs simplify their technology stack, improve operational efficiency and reduce the cost and complexity associated with managing multiple point solutions. TR: Scalefusion already has distribution partners in the UK. What are the benefits of extending your partnership with Renaissance to this side of the Irish sea? Is it just a question of reach or does Renaissance have capabilities that existing distributors don’t? SK: Every distribution partner brings something different to the table, and Renaissance has been particularly valuable because of the strength of its relationships and reputation in Ireland. That has given us a strong base in the market and helped us build credibility with partners. Extending the relationship into the UK is about more than simply increasing reach. Renaissance takes a highly relationship-led approach, investing time in understanding individual partners, their priorities and the challenges they are trying to solve. Its UK team brings the Technology Reseller (TR): Scalefusion presents itself as a challenger brand. How is it competing with bigger US vendors and with what success? Sally King (SK): As a relative newcomer to the UK UEM market, we have an opportunity to compete differently rather than follow the established playbook. A big part of that is how we support the channel. We offer partners much bigger margins than many of our competitors, alongside practical training and enablement that helps them start selling and delivering quickly. We’re also focused on building strong relationships, whether through structured partner events or more informal experiences such as dinners and race days. The platform itself is another key differentiator. Scalefusion brings device management, security and compliance together in one place, with support across different device types and operating systems. That means partners and MSPs can avoid the complexity of managing several separate tools. It is also designed to be straightforward to deploy and use, without requiring lengthy certification programmes, helping partners get up to speed faster and deliver value to customers sooner. TR: What is the opportunity in the UK and why is now a good time for MSPs in the UK to partner with Scalefusion? Michael Conway (MC): The scale of the UK market creates a significant opportunity for Scalefusion and its partners. The UK channel is 12-14x larger than Ireland’s, with a greater number of end-user organisations, larger businesses and a much broader MSP ecosystem. At the same time, the two markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, particularly as consolidation and M&A create more MSPs with operations across both the UK and Ireland. That means the momentum we have built in Ireland can provide a strong foundation for growth in the UK, as our relationships will help to cross-pollinate. For MSPs, the timing is also right. Scalefusion is designed to be quick to adopt, without the need for extensive Back in March, Renaissance, the Northamber-owned, Dublin-based value-add distributor specialising in cybersecurity and compliance, entered a strategic distribution agreement with ProMobi Technologies’ flagship unified endpoint management platform Scalefusion. That partnership is now being extended to the UK, where Northamber recently rebranded its cyber security and infrastructure business as Renaissance Distribution to create a unified specialist cyber security technologies brand across the UK and Ireland. The logic of that move is highlighted by Renaissance and Scalefusion’s decision to bring a model that has worked well for them in Ireland to a market that is 12-14 times bigger but with enough similarities for its personalised approach to succeed on this side of the Irish Sea. Here, Michael Conway, Managing Director of Renaissance, and Sally King, Channel Business Manager for the UK&I at Scalefusion, explain how the Indiaheadquartered challenger is competing with incumbent UEM brands and why now is a good time for UK MSPs and MSSPs to take a closer look at the platform that brings together endpoint management and zero trust security. 06 Distribution continued... With Michael Conway of Renaissance and Sally King of Scalefusion Q&A Michael Conway Sally King
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01732 759725 for me has been the level of commitment and proactivity on both sides, and the fact that there is a clear sense of mutual value in the relationship. Looking ahead, our focus is on sustainable growth rather than simply increasing partner numbers. We want to work with MSPs that are genuinely invested in the platform and in building services around it. Renaissance plays an important role in that because the team understands our target markets and can help identify the partners that are the right fit. Over the next year, we want to deepen those relationships, build confidence in the platform and help MSPs deliver strong outcomes for their customers. MC: Working with Scalefusion has been refreshing because there is a clear commitment to making the partnership work on both sides. Our approach is straightforward: when a vendor invests in us, we invest in them. As we expand into the UK, the priority is to help more MSPs understand where Scalefusion fits, build sustainable services around the platform and create long-term growth for everyone involved. www.renaissance.ie https://scalefusion.com TR: Are the technology markets in the UK and Ireland merging into one or are there still significant differences between the two countries? Either way, what does the prevailing trend mean for Renaissance? What opportunities does it present and will you be extending more partnerships to the UK? MC: The two markets remain distinct, despite the M&A trend I mentioned earlier. Ireland is typically more relationship-driven and has a strong Microsoft influence, while the UK is more diverse and can be more transactional in certain areas. For Renaissance, that creates scope to take successful partnerships into both countries, but not through a one‑size‑fits‑all approach. We need to retain the local knowledge and relationships that matter in each. As we grow, we’ll continue to look for opportunities to extend suitable partnerships into the UK where there is a clear fit. TR: The partnership between Scalefusion and Renaissance is still very new. How successful has it been so far? Any notable highlights? And what are your plans/targets for the future? SK: It is still early days, but the partnership has started strongly. The biggest highlight same depth of experience, alongside an established network of contacts. We see those capabilities as an important driver of our growth ambitions in the UK and look to build the same kind of long-term partner relationships that have worked well for us in Ireland. TR: Was expansion of the partnership to the UK always part of the plan or has it been brought about by the alignment of Northamber/Renaissance’s UK and Irish cybersecurity businesses? SK: Expanding the relationship into the UK was always something we were considering, and the closer alignment between Northamber and Renaissance helped create the right conditions for it. But the most important factor was the trust we had already built through our work together in Ireland. Without that strong foundation, we would not have taken the next step together in the UK. MC: We knew the relationship with Northamber was likely to evolve this year, but the real driver has been our cybersecurity expertise. That specialist knowledge is central to Renaissance’s proposition and has given us the credibility and capability to support Scalefusion as the partnership expands into the UK. 08 Distribution ...continued Eclipse Wholesale hosts second annual partner event Gateshead business updates partners following year of double‑digit growth Telecommunications wholesaler Eclipse Wholesale has welcomed telecommunications providers, channel partners and industry professionals to its second annual partner event, following another year of growth. This included a 22% increase in turnover and a 21% expansion of its partner base, as the Gateshead-based business advances its ambition to become the UK’s leading Connectivity and Communications Aggregator for Small to Medium‑sized Channel Partners. Sponsored by 8x8, ITS, KCOM, Tekton Billing and Zen Internet, the event at Live Theatre on Newcastle’s Quayside brought together experts from across the industry to discuss opportunities and challenges facing the channel. Highlights included: an in-depth partner success story from Lincoln-based reseller Bluecube, which highlighted the relationship between Eclipse Wholesale and its channel partners; a live recording of Elevate Wholesale’s ‘Chewing the Channel’ podcast with Jamie Snaddon, GVP Managing Director, EMEA at 8x8; and business updates, portal plans and previews of what partners can look forward to in the months ahead from Eclipse Wholesale’s leadership team of Managing Director James Drake, Sales Director Matthew Begg and Technical Director Adam Franklin. The conference was followed a social event at Pitcher and Piano on Newcastle’s famous Quayside, where guests enjoyed food, refreshments and further opportunities to network. James Drake said: “Our Annual Partner Event is a fantastic opportunity to bring our partners, suppliers and the wider channel together in one room. Following the success of our inaugural event last year, it was brilliant to see so many people join us in Newcastle once again.” As a channel-first telecommunications provider, Eclipse Wholesale purchases wholesale services from the UK’s largest and most reliable communication providers and enhances them with its in-house sales, support, maintenance and billing teams, providing customers with a seamless, end-to-end experience. www.eclipsewholesale.co.uk
10 01732 759725 RESELLER NEWS processes, reduce complexity and ultimately deliver better experiences to their own customers.” In particular, the acquisition will strengthen Celerity’s ability to provide solutions for customer onboarding, complaints handling, case management and regulatory compliance, connecting content seamlessly to improve service delivery and accelerate customer-facing operations. www.bgf.co.uk … L8 Solutions a ‘natural fit’ for Part Four Warrington-based IT and telecoms specialist Part Four has acquired networking consultancy Level 8 Solutions in a deal advised by KBS Corporate. Founded in 2005 and based in Wolverhampton, L8 Solutions provides a range of IT network and cybersecurity services to SMBs, including MDR, XDR/MXDR, network monitoring, email security and onsite and remote support. Part Four owner Les Mitty said: “This is a natural fit, bringing together Part Four’s managed IT services expertise with L8 Solutions’ strong networking capabilities. Combining these complementary strengths should enable the business to deliver even greater value, broader technical expertise and enhanced support for customers.” www.kbscorporate.com … Acrisure UK and ESET work together to boost cyber resilience Reflecting the growing alignment between cybersecurity and insurance, global security provider ESET and retail insurance broking platform Acrisure UK have partnered to help businesses manage cyber risk. Their partnership brings together Acrisure’s cyber insurance capabilities and ESET’s cybersecurity expertise and services to help clients strengthen resilience, manage risk, secure appropriate protection and respond effectively when incidents occur. Tim Wiltshire, Director at Acrisure UK, said: “Good cybersecurity and effective cyber insurance should work hand in hand. Organisations are increasingly looking at cyber risk as a business issue rather than simply an IT issue, and that requires a combination of prevention, resilience and specialist insurance support.” ESET provides next-generation threat prevention, detection and response capabilities, via the ESET PROTECT platform, as well as 24/7 MDR (Managed Detection and Response) services providing advanced threat detection and proactive threat hunting without the need for in-house security specialists. Steven Connolly, Product Partnership Manager at ESET UK, said: “Cyber threats continue to evolve at a pace that many organisations struggle to keep up with. While technology remains a critical part of the solution, businesses increasingly recognise that effective cybersecurity requires a broader risk management strategy. Other accreditations held by Team Metalogic include Cyber Essentials, IASME and the CompTIA Accredit UK Trustmark+. https://assurix.com/directory …Insight 2 Value acquired by Celerity BGF-backed Celerity, the Manchester-based managed IT services provider, has acquired Insight 2 Value (I2V), a specialist in intelligent automation and enterprise content management, taking its headcount to 107. The acquisition, Celerity’s second of 2026, brings together I2V’s specialist expertise in IBM FileNet and Cloud Pak for Business Automation and Celerity’s scale across infrastructure, cloud, security and managed services. Craig Aston, CEO of Celerity, said: “This acquisition means our customers can now benefit from even more powerful solutions combining intelligent automation and content-driven workflows with our cyberresilient infrastructure. Together, we can help organisations streamline their most critical Assurix validates first MSP in Wales Caerphilly-based Team Metalogic has become the first MSP in Wales – and one of nine in the UK so far – to be awarded the Assurix Trustmark, a new programme introduced to provide continuous, independent verification of an MSP’s cybersecurity and operational standards. Founded in 2003 and employing 13 people, Team Metalogic has an annual turnover of more than £2 million and 120 customers across the UK, ranging in size from 5 employees to more than 1,000, with many working in highly regulated industries such as finance, law and healthcare. Founder and CEO Mike Parfitt said: “Becoming the first managed service provider in Wales to earn the Assurix Trustmark is a proud achievement for our entire team. We chose to undertake the assessment voluntarily as part of our commitment to greater accountability and transparency against the backdrop of proposed new legislation and we would urge others in the industry to do the same.” He added: “The IT industry has gone unregulated for too long, and the standards offered by different providers can vary enormously. We believe that greater accountability and professionalisation can only be positive for customers and the industry as a whole.” Viatel acquires EDNX to expand enterprise networking capability Irish-headquartered Viatel Technology Group is continuing its expansion in the UK technology sector with the acquisition of Shropshire-based enterprise networking specialist and Cisco Premier Partner EDNX, just two months after acquiring Scottish cybersecurity specialist FullProxy in July. Founded in 2017, EDNX designs and supports secure, high-performance networks for organisations operating in demanding and regulated environments with expertise spanning SD-WAN, SD-Access, wireless infrastructure, secure IoT and campus networks. Its acquisition brings together two established Cisco practices and gives EDNX customers access to Viatel’s wider capabilities in connectivity, cybersecurity, cloud and managed services. Viatel customers will gain access to EDNX’s specialist network design, deployment and optimisation skills. David Ratcliffe, CEO of EDNX, said: “Over many years, we have built EDNX around deep technical expertise and a commitment to delivering network infrastructure that supports critical outcomes. Joining Viatel gives our customers access to broader capabilities while preserving the technical excellence and customer focus that have defined EDNX. The combination also creates exciting opportunities to bring our specialist enterprise networking, infrastructure, secure IoT, campus network and Cisco capabilities to organisations across Ireland while supporting continued growth throughout the UK market.” Paul Rellis, Chief Executive of Viatel Technology Group, said: “Reliable networks are the foundation of secure digital services. As organisations adopt AI and move more data between sites, systems and cloud platforms, network performance, visibility and resilience become even more important. EDNX brings specialist enterprise networking expertise and a strong record in demanding environments. Its capabilities complement our existing connectivity, cybersecurity and managed services portfolio, giving customers access to a broader set of skills through one group.” www.ednx.co.uk www.viatel.com left to right, Wojtek Siodelski - co-founder & CTO (EDNX), Paul Rellis - CEO (Viatel), David Ratcliffe - co-founder & CEO (EDNX), Damien McCann - managing director (Viatel). Craig Aston
RESELLER NEWS technologyreseller.co.uk 11 continued... production, combining modern engineering practices, agent-led delivery models and access to Microsoft investment programmes that accelerate adoption and measurable business value. At a time when many organisations are still struggling to realise returns from their AI investments, our focus is simple: helping customers turn AI ambition into AI outcomes.” Godel is dedicated exclusively to AI and data engineering and has chosen to build deep, independently validated expertise in that one area rather than collecting badges across multiple disciplines. Godel has recently become a Bronze Partner within the Databricks Consulting and Systems Integrator Partner Program. By providing a clear route from fragmented data estates and isolated AI initiatives to enterprisescale platforms and AI services that create sustainable business value, the Databricks platform enhances Godel clients’ ability to modernise their data estates, accelerate AI adoption and transform trusted data into production-ready AI solutions that deliver measurable business value. … Phoenix Software tastes success at Rubrik partner awards Public sector IT specialist Phoenix Software has continued its strong partnership with cloud data management and security company Rubrik by winning Rubrik’s 2026 EMEA Partner Award in the Pipeline Contributor category, one year after achieving Transform Elite Plus Partner status. Alok Agrawal, Chief Solutions Officer at Rubrik, said: “Building cyber resilience starts with trusted partnerships, and Phoenix Software has shown exceptional dedication to helping customers navigate an increasingly complex Microsoft’s Agentic DevOps with Azure and GitHub Advanced Specialisation. Unlike accreditations based largely on self-assessment, the specialisation requires independent auditing of real-world technical and delivery practices, including engineering practices, technical governance, customer outcomes, live demonstrations and customer references, with validation by a third-party auditor and Microsoft. Leah Russell, Head of Strategic Alliances at Godel Technologies, says this distinction is becoming increasingly important as organisations try to separate genuine agentic engineering capability from unverified AI claims. She said: “As AI investment accelerates, the market is crowded with providers claiming expertise in agentic engineering and AI-powered delivery. The difference is proof. That is what makes this achievement significant. This recognition reflects the depth of our focus on AI & Data Engineering and our belief that the future belongs to specialists, not generalists.” She added: “Working closely with Microsoft UK, we’re helping organisations move beyond experimentation and pilot purgatory into Partnering with Acrisure allows us to introduce customers to specialist cyber insurance expertise from a trusted adviser that understands the challenges businesses face today. Together we can help organisations bolster both their technical defences and their overall resilience.” Acrisure.co.uk www.eset.com/uk … CyberIAM to form new strategic services practice within Integrity360 Cybersecurity company Integrity360 has added a strategic Identity cyber services and solutions practice to the group with the acquisition of CyberIAM, an established cybersecurity identity services company with offices in Chester and London in the UK and Cape Town in South Africa. The deal brings approximately €18m in revenue and 120 employees to Integrity360, increasing the cyber security group’s revenue run rate to approximately €230m and its headcount to 900 people across three continents. Founded in 2016, CyberIAM focuses on all aspects of Identity including IAM (Identity Access Management), IGA (Identity Governance and Administration), PAM (Privileged Access Management) and CIAM (Customer Identity and Access Management). It has deep expertise and accreditations in all the major Identity platforms including CyberArk (now Idira from Palo Alto Networks), SailPoint, BeyondTrust and Saviynt. Ian Brown, Executive Chairman at Integrity360, said: “Identity is now the primary control plane for cybersecurity, and by strengthening our Identity capabilities we are helping customers build the secure foundation they need to embrace AI with confidence. We are looking forward to working closely with the team to rapidly expand their operations, capability and global reach over the coming years.” Integrity360’s existing Identity services and resources will be integrated with the CyberIAM team in a new strategic services practice within Integrity360, sitting alongside the group’s seven other practices (Offensive Security; Governance, Risk and Assurance; Incident Response and Forensics; Payment Compliance; Operational Technology; Security Technology Consulting; and Managed Services and Managed Detection and Response services). … The future belongs to specialists, not generalists, says Godel Godel Technologies has reinforced its ambition to become the UK’s leading AI & Data transformation partner by becoming one of 40 Microsoft partners in the UK, out of more than 30,000, to hold inTEC simplifies group with sale of commercial division inTEC Group has completed the sale of its commercial businesses in Cambridge, Manchester and Newcastle to Tela, as it makes the strategic decision to focus on its managed services base in education and to grow its telecoms operations, following a period of acquisition-led expansion. Melissa Rambridge, CEO of inTEC Group, said: “Over recent years, inTEC has built a widereaching group with strong capabilities and talented teams across several distinct markets. We’ve now reached a point where the best route to sustainable growth is to simplify the group and concentrate our resources and investment on opportunities within education and telecoms, markets in which we have an established reputation and see significant longterm opportunity.” As part of the transaction, Mick Satiar will join Tela as CTO, providing valuable expertise and leadership continuity as inTEC’s commercial division becomes part of the Birmingham-headquartered managed IT services, connectivity and communications provider. Rambridge added: “Tela is a strong strategic home for the commercial division. It has complementary capabilities, a growing national footprint and a clear commitment to customer service. We will work closely together to support our people and customers through the transition.” Melissa Rambridge Ian Brown Leah Russell
RESELLER NEWS 12 01732 759725 ...continued headquartered in London with additional offices in Bournemouth, Tamworth and Tewkesbury. Prime Networks delivers IT support, security and managed services to approximately 500 SME customers who will now gain access to Focus Group’s wider capabilities in AI and automation, IT, communications, connectivity, cyber security and energy. Focus Group CEO Neil Hall said: “With AI, IT and cyber security now making up more than half of everything we offer, we’re building the expertise to help more SMEs use technology with confidence, not just adopt it for its own sake. Bringing Prime Networks into Focus Group strengthens that mission, giving even more businesses access to specialist support they can rely on.” Tony Mole, Managing Director of Prime Networks, added: “We’ve built a strong business around providing a great service and looking after our customers, and becoming part of Focus Group gives us the opportunity to build on that through a wider range of expertise and capabilities. Prime Networks will continue to operate as normal while the two teams integrate over coming months.” www.focusgroup.co.uk organisations still need a secure, reliable way to reach the right people, issue clear instructions and evidence what has been communicated. Shadow-Planner Alert gives teams that capability, helping them maintain control when pressure is at its highest.” www.shadow-planner.com/ www.wavenet.co.uk … Prime Networks acquired by Focus Group Focus Group, an independent provider of business technology with 1,300 experts and more than 20 offices across the UK, has acquired Prime Networks, an IT managed service provider threat landscape. Their ability to identify opportunities, deliver value and champion Rubrik’s vision has been instrumental to our shared success.” https://www.phoenixs.co.uk/sectors/. … Helping teams stay connected during disruption Managed service and security provider Wavenet has launched a secure mass communications solution designed to help organisations reach employees, suppliers and response teams in the event of cyber incidents, outages and operational emergencies. Shadow-Planner Alert operates independently from an organisation’s primary IT environment, enabling resilience, security and IT teams to issue urgent updates via email, SMS or both, even when core systems are compromised. The platform combines multi-channel delivery, pre-approved message templates, structured contact management, realtime delivery tracking, a comprehensive communications audit trail and a secure, airgapped document repository, ensuring critical information remains accessible during incidents when core systems may be unavailable. Paul Colwell, Chief Information Security Officer at Wavenet, said: “During an incident, communication can be the difference between a controlled response and a wider operational crisis. If core systems are unavailable, Synextra awarded all Microsoft Azure Solutions Partner designations Synextra has become one of a select group of UK partners to hold all Microsoft Azure Solutions Partner designations, after being awarded the Microsoft Solutions Partner designation for Digital & App Innovation. The Warrington-based Microsoft Azure partner, which works with mid-market and enterprise businesses as an embedded technology division, already had Azure Infrastructure and Azure Data & AI designations, as well as the Microsoft Solution Partner Security designation. Dean Murray, Senior Platform Engineer at Synextra, said: “Earning the Digital & App Innovation designation is a reflection of the advanced platform engineering we deliver every day. We’re increasingly working alongside enterprise development teams, moving beyond foundational infrastructure to drive genuine cloud-native transformations. Whether it’s containerising legacy applications, automating infrastructure as code or establishing mature DevOps cultures, we’re building the environments that large-scale organisations rely on to operate with agility.” https://www.synextra.co.uk TCS joins Vodafone Business partner network Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has become a strategic partner of Vodafone Business, the enterprise arm of VodafoneThree, as it looks to help customers in healthcare, education, financial services, manufacturing, retail and critical national infrastructure build the secure and resilient digital foundations needed to deploy emerging technologies at scale. The partnership brings together Vodafone Business’ expertise in connectivity, cyber security, cloud and digital services with TCS’ global capabilities in technology, consulting, cloud transformation and migration, AI, sovereign and systems integration. Nick Gliddon, Business Director of VodafoneThree, said: “UK businesses are looking for partners who understand their market, their customers and the pressure to modernise quickly. The challenge for many organisations is not ambition, it is execution: making the right technology choices, integrating them properly and turning investment into measurable impact. We are pleased to welcome TCS to our growing ecosystem of strategic partners, helping Vodafone Business deliver the services, expertise and digital experiences customers need to move faster, reduce complexity and grow with confidence.” Areas in which the two companies aim to collaborate include cloud transformation and migration, AI and automation, cyber security, network modernisation and digital infrastructure, data and analytics, IoT and connected business applications, managed services and operational transformation. Paul Colwell Neil Hall, CEO of Focus Group, with Tony Mole, MD of Prime Networks
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14 01732 759725 TR: What attracts you to the UK market now, and why is this a good time for Stormshield to expand its presence in the UK and Ireland? JP: In the UK as well as in the rest of Europe, there is great concern about relinquishing control, not having sovereignty and being subject to decisions that powerful foreign countries may make to suit their own agendas, which might be inimical to UK or European interests. Today, there is a more pressing need to have a European sovereign solution accessible to UK government bodies, the public sector and private organisations. TR: You mention sovereignty as a growing trend. Please, could you explain in what ways Stormshield firewalls assist with that. JP: We assist with that on different levels. First, our own code, embedded in our products, is developed by our R&D, which is based 100% in France. The external code that we also include in the product is mostly open source. So, we have very good control over the code we put inside the product and the external code that we bring in through technology partnerships, mostly with European vendors. We have a very, very small dependency on non-European organisations and vendors. This is very important because with the American Cloud Security Act even if you use something on European soil someone I’m not saying we have never had a vulnerability or that we never will, but we have a strong continuous process of hardening the firewall through security by design, at the conception level, in the general infrastructure of the code and the different modules within the product, and in how the product is coded. The fact that the code is audited by third-party national agencies as part of our products’ certification and qualification process is quite a differentiator for us. Regarding the OT sector, we are not just a firewall doing some network segmentation between the different zones of the network. We are able to perform deep packet inspection, what we call DPI, allowing us to analyse network messages in depth and choose which to accept or reject. Lastly, I would say we are not just another firewall vendor because we don’t only provide firewalls. We also have a Stormshield client to protect users and assets wherever they are, especially when they are not behind a firewall but in a home office or mobile, or where devices are spread over a large area, like IoTs. We have another product range, Stormshield Data Security, which is all about protecting data with encryption anywhere – within emails, on user devices, on file servers, in the cloud, especially in cloud collaboration platforms like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. In May, Hammer Distribution and Stormshield formed a strategic partnership to distribute the European cybersecurity leader’s range of Next Generation Firewalls in the UK and Ireland. In this conversation with Technology Reseller Editor James Goulding, Dominic Ryles, Director of Cyber and Cloud at Hammer, and Julien Paffumi, Head of Product Management at Stormshield, explain why the company’s firewalls are such an interesting proposition for MSPs and resellers at a time of escalating cyber threats and greater focus on IT sovereignty. Technology Reseller (TR): Julien, please could you give a quick introduction to Stormshield for those who don’t know the company. Julien Paffumi (JP): Stormshield is a European trusted cyber security products provider. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of the cyber division of Airbus Defence and Space Cyber Programmes (formerly Airbus CyberSecurity) and for more than 20 years our mission has been to ensure cyber serenity for our customers. We protect traditional IT infrastructure for diverse organisations, public and private, large and small. In addition, we have a dedicated product line to protect OT (operational technology) in industrial environments, hospitals, utilities and the like. We protect nationwide public infrastructure, like communications for the emergency services, and do projects in the defence sector. For example, we have an extra ruggedised firewall product with very specific connectivity designed to be put into helicopters and planes. TR: In what ways are you not just another firewall vendor? JP: The first thing that differentiates us is European sovereignty. We are the largest and the most experienced European firewall vendor, which makes us a great alternative to technologies that come from, say, the US or Israel. Then, there is the matter of trust. More and more cyber-attacks are getting into organisations through the firewall because of a vulnerability in the firewall at the conception level or at the implementation level. Not just another firewall vendor CYBER SECURITY Dominic Ryles Julien Paffumi
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