According to Peter Howells of 365 IT Services Limited it plans to be the ” Trusted IT Services Supplier to Corporates ” ( see more details at the end of this post - About Us ).

If you are going to trust your IT Services to a partner then you want to know that that partner has the experience and knowledge to provide that service and also you would like to think that they are going to be around for a while.

Lets take the last point first shall we ??

LMS Capital plc, the company that funded the management buyout from 365iT, supported by Peter MacLean, the Chief Executive  of 365iT plc and now the Chairman of 365 IT Services Limited aswell ( complicated eh ?? ) is actually on a break up strategy !!

Yes, that’s correct, the company that wants to be corporates ” Trusted IT Services Supplier ” will soon be broken up !

The story here is quite complicated but if you look at the LMS Capital website ( Our News section )

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

there are two relevant Press Releases:

1. The ” Concert Party Request “.

2. Proposed change of Investment Strategy and Convening of General Meeting.

The gist of these is that shareholders representing around 37% of the shares of LMS Capital don’t believe in LMS Capital’s strategy of buy and build. They want to see the company broken up and sold. These ” rebel ” shareholders are led by the ( until recently ) Chairman of LMS Capital plc, Robert Rayne.

Whilst Peter Howells is an experienced Managing Director, Peter MacLean has been a miserable failure at trying to build up first of all Impera plc and then 365iT plc. The companies in 365 IT Services were, until very recently, in 365iT, missing is Fox I.T. which still remains in 365iT but has the Sword of Damacles hovering over it’s head while Peter MacLean decides how he is going ” wind down ” 365iT.

Strangely then the ” Services and Consultancy ” business is left in 365iT whilst MacLeans, clearly lacking, hands are in both pots.

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

How long is it going to take for a company, thinking about partnering with 365 IT Services, to due proper due diligence only to find that 365 IT Services is to be broken up ” as soon as possible ” ??

It is a ludicrously badly thought out strategy that is doomed to failure. Competitors to 365 IT Services are going to have a field day. Their salespeople will cast F.U.D. ( Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt ) all over the deal and in many cases 365 IT Services Limited will fail to win business.

This does not even take into account the competitiveness of the market at the moment and the lack of investment by corporates in this type of service offering.

The world is moving towards managed services and cloud computing but 365iT shut down it’s ” managed networking ” arm and also closed it’s ” Cloud Computing ” business ( selling off the remains to someone with more vision and competence ).

About Us

365 IT Services Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

The new company, 365 IT Services Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 IT Services said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 IT Services Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

Here the “About Me ” page from the new 365 ITMS Limited website:

About Us

365 ITMS Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

The new company, 365 ITMS Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 ITMS said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 ITMS Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

For more information and background:

http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2011/10/11/365it-365-itms-lms-capital-peter-maclean-robert-rayne-5i-and-shareholders-chat/

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

If you are a shareholder in 365iT plc ( 365it services.co.uk )  , LMS Capital, South East Growth Fund or Sussex Place Ventures then it’s been an interesting few weeks for you. As you may or may not know LMS Capital just acquired 365iT companies 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks at a time when The Honourable Robert Rayne ( until recently Chairman of LMS Capital )  has led the ” Rayne Concert Party ” ( who own around 35% of LMS Capital ) in a bid to break up LMS Capital.

Following an earlier blog of mine shareholders in 365iT ( 365it services.co.uk ) have been contacting me to try to find out what exactly is going on at 365iT plc. All that shareholders have received is a letter from Peter MacLean that raises more questions than it answers. ( Particularly in the light of what is going on at LMS Capital ! ) Interestingly long standing ( long suffering ?? ) 365iT shareholders have said to me that the letter sent out late last month is typical of the sort of ” say quite a bit  but say nothing ” communications that they are used to.

We are all waiting with bated breath to see what the new company that comprises 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks is oing to be called. Maybe it will just be ” part of LMS Capital ” until , if the ” Raynes Concert Party ” have their way, the LMS Capital companies are sold off again. ( I know - you are having trouble keeping up with this already !! ).

Don’t worry ! - this blog will help keep you informed on events at 365iT plc ( 365it services.co.uk ) and LMS Capital as and when they happen. I will also report on the upcoming meeting of 365iT shareholders - it will be very interesting to hear more about the history of Impera plc. Some of the shareholders have known Peter MacLean since he was at Guardian iT.

From what we can tell 365iT is now a debt free company which owns Fox I.T.

http://www.foxit.net/pages/about/investors.shtml

Here’s the blurb for investors from the ( new ) 365iT website:

Investors

365 iT plc

“365 iT plc was founded in 2005 and now employs over 120 people. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries (365 iTechnology Ltd, 5i Ltd, 7 Global Group Ltd and Fox IT Ltd), the group provides an extensive range of IT services and solutions that address ten strategic areas of IT operations and management: IT Managed Services, Unified Communications, Business Continuity, Data Backup, IT Security, Virtualisation, Networks, Storage Solutions, Infrastructure Solutions and IT Service Management.

365 iT plc designs and delivers information and communications technology (ICT) services that help organisations enhance their IT effectiveness and ROI, enabling them to better meet their business objectives. Headquartered in Basingstoke, the company works closely with its clients from SME businesses through to corporate and public sector organisations.

Commenting on the acquisition of Fox IT, Peter MacLean, 365 iT plc’s chairman and chief executive, said: “This is a very positive development for the 365 iT group and I welcome Paul Speers and his team. I look forward to working closely with them in and in particular to helping them grow their business model substantially in the coming years.

MacLean continued: “This latest acquisition represents yet another significant step forward consolidating the group’s position in the very competitive and rapidly developing IT services market.”

Paul Speers, Fox IT’s managing director, said: “The future is undoubtedly very exciting and I believe that Fox IT’s capabilities in ITSM and ITIL strongly complement those of 365 iT plc. The combined forces of both companies will establish a new benchmark in the IT Services Sector.”

This 5th acquisition in just 4 years demonstrates the strength of 365 iT and the group’s ability to exhibit continued substantial growth at a time when many businesses are doing quite the opposite. In September, 365 iT plc was ranked the 15th fastest growing technology company in the UK, according to the prestigious Tech Track league table.”

As you can see until very recently everything was Go, Go, Go at 365iT plc !!

Meanwhile whilst there is a lot about the ” Rayne Concert Party ” on the LMS Capital website

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

there is nothing about the acquisition of 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks which is a bit odd when you consider that at the time the ” Rayne Concert Party ” were shouting for a break up LMS Capital were just spending a load of money acquiring new companies !!

At least all the creditors and Loan Note Holders of 365iT plc got paid out by the money from LMS Capital. Who were the Loan Note Holders - well you can probably guess ( !! ) but more on after the shareholders meeting

Please bookmark and share this blog because THIS is going to be an interesting story!

P.S. More on the New Company that LMS Capital just funded here:

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/about-us.php

About Us

365 ITMS Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

The new company, 365 ITMS Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 ITMS said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 ITMS Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

Following the first in the series of Fraud Squad last Friday which focused on Boiler Room Scams many people are making comments like ” Well they would not have caught me out with that scam “.

Actually the thing that might have alerted experienced stock and share investors to the scam was that firms like Anderson Munro, Milton Hayward and Westernfield Holdings gave out too much information !!

Let me explain:

In the early 2000’s I invested a lot of money in stocks and shares, particularly in high tech stocks. ( I also invested a lot of money in high tech companies directly and through I.P.O. share purchases). My reasoning was that there would  be a resurgence in the Nasdaq after the dot.com crash of 2000 to 2002. In this I was correct, see:

http://forecastchart.com/historical-nasdaq-100.html

which is a 36 year graph of the Nasdaq ( High Tech ) stockmarket.

Anyone with a ruler can see the growth trend in the Nasdaq over the last 36 years with the main recent  deviances being the dot.com boom
( upwards ) and the 2008 recession ( downwards ). Anyone who invested in the Nasdaq itself in around 2003 has had a good ride ( with a few bumps ) over the last 8 years or so.

I had 2 main share/stockbrokers at the time one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. The U.S. one being ( wait for it ! ) Lehman Bros. and the U.K. one being Merchant Securities (  http://www.merchantsecurities.co.uk/ ). As I am sure most of you will know Lehman Bros. was a main casualty of the 2008 crash ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_Lehman_Brothers ) but I am pleased to tell you that I had sold all the shares that I bought through Lehman’s before they did !!

I also had a couple of brokers that I used to a lesser extent in the U.S. and the U.K.

Was the initial approach of Anderson Munro and the other Boiler Room Stockbrokers unusual ??

No. Merchant Securities and one of the U.S. brokers that I used contacted me in exactly the same way that Anderson Munro did. They obviously all had a list of people ( a database ) that they had obtained somewhere. They bought a list from somewhere or they stole a list from a previous broker where one of them had worked. Actually some of the approaches that I had ( especially from New York based brokers ) were more aggressive than “Victoria Mayer’s approach” ( the apparent name of the person who contacted me ).

Was their ” pitch” on the initial phone calls unusual ??

No. Not only was the pitch typical but it was actually fairly refined, well researched  and focused. Typically brokers will give you some general pitch about how they are experienced, have ” unique ” access to ” hot ” stocks and a proven track record of success ( without any details ). Anderson Munro claimed that they were operating in two ” hot ” sectors, firstly the ” Far Eastern stock market ” ( which they had specialist knowledge of as a Tokyo and Hong Kong based broker ) and secondly the ” Clean/Green Energy/Technology ” market. Within this they were promoting shares in a particular company (   http://www.byd.com/ ) that renowned investor Warren Buffett had invested in (  http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/13/technology/gunther_electric.fortune/ ).

What about checks on the Boiler Room Scammers versus checks on real brokers ?

I went to Lehman Bros. because they were a ” renowned New York broker ” . This seems somewhat laughable given the events of  2008 but at the time Lehmans were right up there with J.P. Morgan and Merrill  Lynch as ” THE ” firms to be with ( not just for general stock purchases but also for I.P.O. stocks ). I did not check with the F.S.A. ( for U.K. ) or Finra ( for U.S. ) that any of these firms were “legitimate” and “registered”. Because I had not checked for the other firms ( who I traded with for years ) I did not check for Anderson Munro either. The one thing I would always do with new brokers is to make the first trade small. ( This is one thing that saved me from massive losses with Anderson Munro because one of the main mistakes that they made with me was trying to get me to  move from BYD shares, which Victoria had spent ages convincing me to buy, to other shares which did not have the same  ” support “.  They also tried to get aggressive with me when I would not move - which led to me telling them to ” get lost “).

Were their procedures unusual ?

Yes. If anything their procedures were stricter than a ” normal ” broker in that they wanted I.D. and various forms filling in ( they did not concentrate solely on ” getting the money in ” ). Many legitimate brokers that have contacted me have moved very quickly from initial pitch to ” getting the first investment/puchase done “.

They also involved a ” back of house ” function ( in my case a guy called Max Clarke ) to get the admin. work done. ( Typically you would not even speak to back of house people for some time at proper brokers - the broker dealing with you probably preferring to keep control of a new customer ).

Would you normally see the share certificates of the firms that you bought shares in ??

No. Most brokers that I dealt with held my shares in a “nominee account “. I would get a copy of a ” Buy order ” when I bought shares ( as I did with Anderson Munro )  and this would detail the name of the company whose shares I bought e.g. BYD, the price at which I bought those shares, the number of shares and the total value of those shares.  Then you would get ” statements ” showing your holdings, share price at that date and the total value of those shares. You would also be informed of dividends that were awarded for those shares.  When you sold your shares with a normal broker you would get a ” Sell order “.

Anderson Munro and Milton Hayward actually went to considerable lengths to have ( fake ) share certificates printed and issued although I did not get any. Had I done so this might have appeared unusual to me. Less ” experienced ” investors were probably comforted to have copies of these fake certificates.

So, the unusual thing about these Boiler Room Scammers is that in a couple of respects they were better than normal brokers !!!

So, How do you choose a Stockbroker ??

After getting scammed by Anderson Munro I continued to get calls from other U.S. and U.K. brokers. I advised them that it was probably not the best time to be calling me and explained why. This prompted them to explain to me how to check that brokers were legitimate using the FSA in the U.K. and Finra in the U.S.

Some people would say that you obviously would not use any broker that calls you up and says that they have a great opportunity - if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is too good to be true etc etc ( see interview with Motley Fool Director in comments below ) .

ALL stockbrokers claim to be ” the ones that have the best research and therefore are most likely to find YOU a stock that will increase in value rapidly “.

Actually most stockbrokers are pretty useless at picking stocks ( in the same way that most fund managers are pretty useless at managing funds )  and they all rely on the same information which means that lots of people actually know about the ” potential ” of that stock which means that it is already priced in which means that it will not actually rise as much as they say - probably.

So, whilst I am not saying ” go with the brokers that call you ” what I am saying is that it is actually very, very hard to find one that is going to give you really good advice.

I recently came across this post on another blog site:

” I do the SEO for a healthcare company, and I have these exact problems. ( a lack of respect due to … 1. Poor communication, 2. Department mentality, 3. Being seen to be opiniated )  The good news is that they are trying to improve their marketing. I have lots of knowledge, good ideas and excitement and I really want to help them reach their goals. The bad news- lack of understanding of my role, lack of coordination between the various types of marketing, because I am not being told about all the company goals, even if I ask.
In addition, nepotism and the boys’ bonding club is another thing I have to deal with. To make things worse, I am expected to train the web designer about what I do instead of doing my work, and I have to convince him that what I do is worthwhile (since he is design-oriented), so that we can design from a marketing and SEO perspective, all alone and without back-up from my boss (they are really chummy). This means projects are taking longer than they should, deadlines are unrealistic (the graphic/web designer calls the shots of when he is done and he is taking his time), and I can’t really show what I can do, nor can I do anything about it- since I have to keep my mouth shut (I have already been assigned the labels you mentioned in the article).
So, instead of marketing like crazy and getting the results- which is extremely fun for me and good for the company- I have to deal with things such as the ones mentioned, plus I have to do other things that I should not be doing and I get no support. So, yes, I get no respect. I did try to do the team work thing, but it seems to me that educating people about everything is a really a time-consuming task, and it needs to be a two-way street.
I think that companies need to educate themselves better on the roles of marketers and give them more support, instead of just expecting them to be “friendly” with everyone and being submissive and quiet, so that they would fit in. All these cookie-cutter ideas of how people should be all be the same are old and outdated. Part of being a marketer means being bold, free, more independent,creative, outspoken, taking chances, thinking outside of the box, being daring, competitive, a little rebellious and result-oriented. This is what I want my boss to support, because that is what gets him the results. “

and it really touched a raw nerve with me - perhaps because another marketer that I know was experiencing some similarish issues.

I told her:

1. To plot her exit

2. To screw ( use ) them whilst she did it

3. To be happy ( doing it )

Well - like I say it touched a raw nerve !!!!

SEO and more recently Inbound Marketing people are THE FUTURE but they will inevitably be held back by ” the old guard ” - traditional marketers, web designers and other ” established ” marketing and non-marketing functions.

Now this young lady may think she is frustrated but I can tell her that it is even more frustrating being an investor in a company that still has these attitudes and policies.

Remember, as an investor, you may sit on the Board ( or not ) but you will probably not have control ( which resides with the management team ) so you can actually only influence.

As an investor in this company I can imagine myself sitting in a Board meeting while they whinge about the fact that they are not going to hit their numbers.

Trying to ignore this fact slightly you ask why and they make some excuse about market conditions; failing salespeople etc etc

” How is your Internet Marketing going ? ” you ask, innocently. What are you getting from that ??

Oh we don’t get any actual business, they say.

Do you get visitors you ask ??

Well we do but don’t know how many.

Is the website being found ???

We think so.

What is it being found for ????

We don’t know.

Well, you’ve got an SEO specialist right ??

Yes.

So what have you told her to SEO the website for then ???

( Blank looks all around )

o.k. So listen - if the SEO specialist does not know what you need to be found for she will be guessing. So you need to think about it and discuss it with her and then allow her to make changes to the website to ensure that it gets found. Your design guy isn’t going to be able to help you in this.

You also need to think about giving the SEO specialist the tools to measure if her work is having an effect on visitor numbers and leads generated.

Of course by now you have ruffled LOADS of feathers - but hey - they are playing with your money !!!!!

I could make this a much longer blog !!

The news is just out that HubSpot has raised another $32 Million in Venture Finance and I think that this will probably lead to U.K. , European and indeed Global expansion.Get the inside story from Brian Halligan of HubSpot:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/10480/Inside-Story-Behind-HubSpot-s-32-Million-Investment-From-Salesforce-Google-and-Sequoia.aspx

Clare Jenkins, M.D. of FutureLine, is going to be one of the speakers at UCExpo 2011 and will have a simples message to deliver.

For Hosted Voice to become widely used it needs to be simples !

It also helps when it is supported by one of the biggest networking companies in the world - and Cisco Systems fits the bill perfectly.

At UCExpo 2011 the Cisco FutureLine stand ( 504 ) will show and demonstrate the latest in Cisco S.M.B. telephony options.

Actually there are two audiences for Cisco FutureLine - the end user and the reseller. Clearly the reseller knows all the technical jargon but the end user does not - especially the S.M.B. end user.

The message needs to be simples to both but between Cisco FutureLine and resellers it may be ok to use the jargon.

It’s about communicating in the right way - taking into account who your audience is.

S.M.B. customers don’t know all the answers to questions like ” What features do you need ? ” - they are typically growing, dynamic businesses who are changing structure and direction quite often.

What they do need therefore is FLEXIBILITY and UPGRADABILITY.

They want to know that they can get a phone system that does the job right now but can grow to suit the needs of thier business in the future.

SIMPLES !!

This is a great little blog on

http://onstartups.com/

have a read !!

In 2009 we sold 5i Limited to what became 365iT plc ( formerly Impera plc ) which is run by Peter MacLean, who helped build Guardian iT into a £110m business.

I originally invested in 5i Limited in around 2002 when finance would have been virtually impossible to raise for a Hi-tech start-up of this nature.

The original investment period was 3-5 years but I gave 5i’s management until 2009 to produce a return on my investment.

So, post the sale of 5i Limited to 365iT, what has happened ?? What does the future look like ??

365iT is pursuing a buy and build strategy - looking for suitable, complementary hi-tech companies to add  to it’s portfolio. It has raised funds from e.g. LMS Capital, the South East Growth Fund and Sussex Place Ventures.

It bought  7 Global from LMS Capital and also acquired Fox I.T. last year.

I will be posting a series of blogs on the post sale performance and my recommendations to other companies that are considering becoming part of 365iT.