M & A Rainmaker

There are more and more options for acquiring a hosted Cisco voice and unified communications ( UC )  solution but Cisco FutureLine is one of the most viable for SMB’s to start with. The SMB is able to start with a very low cost, but flexible and upgradeable Cisco Futureline Hosted Voice/VoiP solution and then add to this as and when required.

The whole point of the Cisco FutureLine solution is that the SMB does not have to do all the thinking ( about the future and the requirements ) up front. A system can be acquired that meets most of the obvious telephony requirements and can then be upgraded in a seamless and inexpensive way as more features and facilities come to mind or are experienced during the course of business.

FutureLine maintains a regular dialogue with it’s partners and clients to ascertain if additional features or facilities are required.

Some clients may require full unified communications at the outset but this is typically not the case.

Contact Cisco FutureLine here

http://www.futureline.net.uk/

The Cisco FutureLine Hosted Voice solution proved popular at the Cisco Small Business Workshop held at the Heritage Motor Museum on Tuesday.

FutureLine ( http://www.futureline.net.uk/ ) appears to be a timely addition to the Cisco portfolio addressing quite neatly the lower end of the SMB market. A Cisco spokesperson said :

“We are seeing an increasing demand for managed and hosted solutions in the voice space and this is especially the case for smaller businesses with less than 20 employees. FutureLine have a refreshingly new approach by addressing the key fundamentals of quality, security and ease of use and deployment. This is all underpinned by partnering with Cisco who fully understand how to manage different media provided by the various consumption models.”

Andy Brocklehurst
RSM Cisco Small Busines

Supplied via existing and new Cisco resellers FutureLine enables them to provide customers with a low cost voice solution that grows and changes as the SMB grows and changes without there being any costly re-investments in voice infrastructure.

Previously Cisco small SMB prospects would have only been offered a UC500 based premises solution which was often too costly for the smaller customer.

Globally, solutions that combine Cisco end points with a Hosted Voice platform have been extremely popular.

Cisco phone systems provider Poundbury Systems ( http://www.poundbury.com/ Telephone – 01305 259849  ) is providing futuristic phone and video conferencing systems for Dorset based Small and Medium Businesses under the banner ” Futureline “.

Awareness of the installation of High Speed Fibre Optic networks in Dorset has been raised by eg http://www.dorsetforyou.com/broadband and http://www.teamdorset.org.uk/Business/Broadband-Survey?pgid=153 and Poundbury Systems is building on this awareness by offering local businesses low entry cost phone and video conferencing systems from Cisco Systems
( N.B. BT and Cisco are sponsors of the 2012 Olympics ).

Poundbury Systems are offering a package that will provide Small and Medium Businesses with a phone and web conferencing facility starting at

only £99 per month.

Cisco and Poundbury are thinking ahead to the time when Dorsets roads will be full of people heading to and from Weymouth and Portland and the Sailing Olympics and also thinking back to the recent winter months when snow prevented travel around Dorset.

For many reasons we need to ensure that we can conduct business irrespective of whether we are physically at a place or not. Of course there is always a need to meet people in person but many of the business discussions that we have can be conducted via email, phone, video conferencing and the Internet.

If we prepare for extreme road or weather conditions then this is a basis for a high speed, resilient, reliable communications system.

It is also the basis for a ” Digital Dorset ” which will encourage inward investment and migration.

Poundbury Systems phone and video conferencing systems is flexible and scalable – phones can be added incrementally – one or two at a time and at very low cost.

Call Clare on 01305 259849

to discuss your requirements in more detail.

In February the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Games will run video over Cisco Networks. In 2012 Poundbury hopes to do the same in Dorset.

Cisco Systems will be providing the video and all-media network that will allow NBC to broadcast the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

See the official Cisco Systems Press Releases here:

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2010/prod_010610.html

http://blogs.cisco.com/sp/comments/nbc_leverages_cisco_video_network_at_2010_olympic_winter_games/

Poundbury Systems is already promoting the use of Cisco Systems for communications during the sailing section of the 2012 Olympics based in the U.K.

The company is also developing video conferencing and remote networking
technology, to reduce the need for local businesses to travel during the Games.
‘We see video conferencing as the next big thing for businesses,
especially those outside London. We’d be developing it even if the
Games weren’t happening, but the event gives everyone an extra
push. I think it will be a catalyst for Dorset in many ways.
‘It has already given Dorset a short-term motivational boost. In the
long-term, the benefits of improving the area’s infrastructure will be
enormous.
‘Team Dorset is not about opting for a quick fix; it’s about building
long-term business relationships and improving the environment.
We all stand to benefit from the exciting and demanding challenges
the Games will bring. Dorset is a wonderful place to live and work
and we want it to remain so for many more generations”

Team Dorset is the lead agency in Dorset for promoting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Weymouth and Portland. Thier website is here:

http://www.teamdorset.org.uk/

Poundbury Systems Limited, Dorchester
Poundbury Systems Limited (PSL) is an award-winning computer
and telephone systems integrator based in Poundbury, Dorchester, which provides
forward-looking technology solutions for SMEs across all sectors.

Since starting out 2001, PSL has enjoyed rapid growth and won numerous
awards including the British Chamber of Commerce’s South West Business
of the Year in 2007.

Director Clare Jenkins is in no doubt about what makes PSL special: ‘Our staff
are exceptional. They are highly skilled, but able to translate a technical issue
into everyday business terms.’

PSL runs an active community relations programme and gives time and
resources to local education establishments, including The Thomas Hardye
School and Weymouth College, as well as donating to Dorset charities.
As the 2012 Games approach, Clare and her team are aware they’ll need
extra staff and are increasing their interaction with schools as part of a futureproofing
recruitment drive.

As a founder investor in 5i Limited ( www.5i.co.uk ) which is now owned by the rapidly growing and  expanding 365iT Group ( http://www.365itechnology.com/ ), where I am a shareholder, I like to keep abreast of developments in the Unified Communications world.

This No Jitter article

http://www.nojitter.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222001106&pgno=1

points out that Google may well be the big dark horse of Unified Communications.

It also talks about Skype ( which I use ), Digium’s Asterisk ( I moderate a Voip and Asterisk Club here http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=club&c=3145 ) , Microsoft ( 5i is also a Microsoft UC specialist ) and IBM ( 365iT is an IBM VAR – although mainly in the virtualisation area ) as being the other parties of interest.

Cisco ( in whom 5i specialises ) is for me the main player to watch in this area and always has been since we first installed a Cisco ( it was actually Celsius then ) voip solution at Voyager in the late 90’s. My investment in 5i was predominantly based on the belief that Cisco would dominate this convergence/UC space.

Skype,Digium,Microsoft and IBM are all growing thier influence in this area but I agree that Google is the one to watch now and look forward to part 2 of this article.

I am always searching for ways to describe how new media marketing works to the business people that I talk to.

My latest thought was that you could describe it’s implementation as a sort of whirlpool effect where your potential customers are out on the calm sea and you want to catch thier attention at  the outer influence of the whirlpool and then draw them gently in and then steadily down towards you – the supplier of products, services or information.

One of the main features of this type of marketing is that it is about ” Pull Marketing ” and not ” Push Marketing “. You are drawing potential clients very gently into the whirlpool and not pushing them in !!

We live in an increasingly self service world: We like to be in charge of who we buy from and deal with and we don’t much like things being pushed at us or people being pushy.

The numbers of people using the Internet to find what they want are increasing all the time. The types of things that they search for are growing all the time.

The old ways of marketing are not necessarily dead but they are suffering from a terminal disease.

Traditional ( Push ) marketing is still happening – advertising, PR, mailshots, telemarketing – it’s all still going on and it’s all still effective to some extent but more and more and every day Internet and Word of Mouth Marketing ( accelerated by the Internet ) are rising to the ascendancy.

I also think that in catching peoples attention at the periphery of the new media whirlpool you think more about people’s problems, needs, desires, objectives and questions and you lead them gently to solutions, fulfillment, destinations and answers. There is tremendous subtlety, patience, intelligence, kindness and humour in this new media whirlpool approach. Generally speaking the ladies are good at it because they often have these traits in spades. It is natural for them to deal with people in that way.

Thinking about the old Features, Advantages, Benefits sales approach you are again thinking about the potential benefits and advantages to people rather than hitting them with almost meaningless features.

You certainly need to have thought through what your core offerings are and who your target markets are. However then, you need to think laterally about what people might be thinking about or searching the Internet for and what might strike a chord with your target market. Definately you need to put yourself in the mind of the person who might be your client.

So, the way that you might attract people at the very edges of your whirlpool might be by posting a video on YouTube. Maybe something funny or shocking or maybe something informative. You might also post thoughts and useful information in  your blog. You might post a Press Release on an Internet Press Release site. ( By the way all the time that you are doing these things you have at the back of your mind the key words and phrases that your target market will be using to find someone like you ). You post things on Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter and again some are funny, some light hearted, some are informative and some are serious. Of course you still try to get into various publications and press ( many of these have online variants now ).  You list on relevant directories. You publish white papers ( as you did before ). You make your products and services clear ( as you did before ). You maintain a clear and consistent brand ( as you did before ).

Floating out at the edges of the whirlpool each of things are having thier own effect in terms of attracting peoples attention and drawing them closer to you. The YouTube video gets it’s own YouTube audience but also signposts the way back to you or your company. The blogs, PR’s, Social Networks etc all do the same.

Each of these things link back to your main website and to your email, phone number, fax number and ultimately to you.

Literally as people come within the sphere of your whirlpool the current gets steadier and stronger. Not in an unpleasant or imposing way but in a friendly and helpful way.

By the time they meet you they know quite a bit about you. They know what you believe, what you stand for and what you believe. They have, to some extent, a relationship with you.  They may even have exchanged Facebook messages with you briefly before they have spoken to you.

Then we consider that when there was only Traditional Sales and Marketing we always did our best to empathise with our potential clients – to make our advertising relevant; to make our telemarketing about creating a relationship; to tailor our mailshots and letters to our target audience; to have our salespeople ask questions and listen.

It always was and is about walking in thier shoes and understanding how they they think and feel and what they are likely to want and need. It is just that now we have this amazing thing called the Internet to communicate with our potential customers in words, pictures and videos.

The news that 365iT recently acquired IT Managed Services and Computer Hosting company 7 global gave us the opportunity to experiment with getting listed on Google NOT for the names of the companies eg 365iT, 7 global and 5i, but for the products and services that they offer.

As we have mentioned before the only people that are going to search on 365iT, 7 global and 5i for news about this acquisition are the people that already know about it ( because they have been told about it in some way and just need a bit more information).

Actually what we want is for people that are searching for terms like ” IT Managed Services Provider ” or ” Computer Hosting Services ” to come across the news that eg there is an IT Managed Services company that has just become a sister company to a unified communications company and could therefore provide a managed hosted unified communications solution as a ” one stop shop “.

This is actually what the potential customer wants ( assuming that this is what they were looking for ) and what the supplier companies involved want aswell ( ie they are looking for potential customers who want a combination of IT managed services, computer hosting and unified communications ). So, this is truly a win-win situation. In addition since Google wants to provide it’s searchers with the most relevant information for thier search it is a win for them aswell.

So, the first thing to understand is that we are not seeking to promote the company names involved in the acquisition but what the acquisition does for the potential clients. This leads to a re-prioritising and re-wording of the Press Releases and other communications  and it assumes that we have already worked out what keywords and phrases we want to promote. 

In this case for example 365iT, 7 global and 5i make way for IT Managed Services, Computer Hosting and Unified Communications. THESE are the things that we want to promote into the search.

The original Press Release

http://www.365itechnology.com/images/content/press_releases/365_iT_plc_acquires_7_Global_Group_Ltd.pdf

is therefore modfied to this Press Release

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/365-it-plc-acquires-it-managed-services-and-computer-hosting-specialist-7-global-group-ltd-127184.php

http://www.prfire.co.uk/press-release/365-it-acquires-it-managed-services-and-computer-hosting-specialist-7-global-group-4212.html

where one emphasises the names of the companies and the other emphasises what they do. ( This thinking reminds me of the Feature, Advantage, Benefit sales philosophy – a Feature is like the company name, an Advantage is something that the company can do and a Benefit is something the customer needs and the supplier can provide and will lead to a cost saving or improvement in service ).

I chose a paid ( I paid $20 ) Press Release through 24-7 Press Release.com particularly because it is one that I have had a lot of positive experience with and I know that not only does it rank high but also it lasts some time in this ranking. ( Some Press Release sites posts appear briefly and then disappear ).

24-7 PR is also easy to upgrade so that, for example, you improve the SEO and the analytics as you go. I noted that PRFire was one of the websites that got good rankings when we were investigating boiler room brokers in an earlier post.

So it was a calculated assessment that by using the right PR sites with the right wording we would get appropriate rankings and this has indeed proved to be the case ( at the time of writing ) with the search as follows

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2ADBR_en&q=IT+Managed+services+computer+hosting+&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

 achieving a top of Page 1 listing and another front page listing

and subsets of this search eg

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2ADBR_en&q=computer+hosting+services&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

also getting onto Page 1.

It should be noted that this is within hours of the Press Release actually being released ( it was released today ).

As soon as it was released we have supported the PR with comments and posts on eg Facebook and Twitter and links from these sites.

It will of course require further work to maintain these Page 1 listings but ” Objective achieved ” for the moment.

This is an interesting review from Icon Corporate Finance of Q2 M&A activity and mentions 365iT as being on the acquisition trail which it is for selected companies that fit the portfolio, such as the acquisition of 5i earlier this year and the very recent acquisition of 7 global.

http://www.iconcorpfin.co.uk/NewsEvents/M&ATechnologyReviewQ22009.pdf

The news that 365iT has acquired IT Fully Managed Services company 7 Global this month along with 5i earlier in the year is a Christmas present to all those involved with 365iT, in my opinion!

Since Peter ( Howells ) and I were at Voyager Networks where we had a national IP network to complement our data networking and Internet skills and expertise we have long harboured the desire for 5i to work closely with a forward thinking Managed Services and Hosted Communications provider.

The areas of ICT that 365iT covers include IT operations and management,IT Managed Services, Unified Communications, Business Continuity, Data Backup, IT Security, Virtualisation, Networks, Storage Solutions and Infrastructure Solutions.

These are some of the hottest areas in the ICT world at the moment and for the near future. They encompass other hot sectors like ” Cloud Computing ”  and ” Software as a Service “.

One of the great attractions to 5i of being involved with 365iT and Peter MacLean was his experience of putting together powerful, advanced communications companies. Don’t forget, he is doing this in one of the most difficult economic periods of our lifetime.

Where there’s a will there’s a way and now LMS Capital is also an investor in 365iT.

The story unfolds …….