The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a favourite book in the Saunders household. My two eldest sons used to love it, and more recently my two year old son now demands I read it every evening. He corrects me on most of the items the caterpillar eats (“No daddy it’s not a gherkin it’s a cucumber!”), but I’m fine with that. When you read a book so many times, you can’t help thinking about it in other contexts, and it’s occurred to me recently that most service providers involved with Internet technology (call them ISP, MSP, whatever) are going through the same evolution that the caterpillar did.

Most businesses have to deal with change, but as I’ve written before in From ISP to MSP, the MSP industry leads the field when it comes to the pace of change. Much of this is down to the rate of development of technology and the insatiable demand our customers have to consume this technology, but much of this is the MSPs own desire to broaden its portfolio and capture more of the potential spend of its customer’s IT budget.

Like the newly hatched caterpillar, most service providers start with something simple and grow by doing more of it (one strawberry, two apples), but growing is expensive, and once outside investors get involved, the hungry caterpillar develops a real appetite. This is the stage I think most of the service provider market is in right now, the innocence of the early days has gone, and the urge to grow faster and faster has resulted in many service providers branching out into non-core areas of business like building huge assets of data centres. Some MSPs will argue that building data centres is a necessary, core area, but I disagree. The clue is in the name, service is what a service provider is all about, not assets (well not of the financial/physical kind).

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Half of cloud users cite lack of in-house skills as a reason for adoption

A lack of in-house skills and experience in managing legacy systems and hardware is increasing reliance on outsourced IT. As businesses turn to cloud to supplement their workforces, providers must increasingly act as an extension of the IT department, says Claranet.

The latest research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) indicates that availability of IT skills in the end-user workforce is heavily informing technology procurement practices; the industry body found that a lack of in-house skills was a factor in the decision to adopt cloud services in around half (49 per cent) of cloud users.

Simon Bearne, Claranet’s UK Sales & Marketing Director said: “Over the last decade, there has been a shift towards data and information management in IT departments – rather than the ‘nuts and bolts’ of IT. The fact is that many organisations cannot afford to hire software and hardware specialists, so have to outsource, appointing a Managed Services Provider (MSP) in place of the latter.

That businesses are turning to cloud to plug skills gaps in the workforce is not, in itself, a problem. After all, the ability to effectively rent resources and skills is what outsourcing and cloud are all about. With the UK suffering from a skills shortage in the IT industry, it makes much more sense for businesses to focus existing internal IT staff on higher-value strategic work that maximises their knowledge of the company’s IT systems and their understanding of the business, and to leave the more mundane work to those outside the organisation. But it does create an environment where businesses are increasingly reliant on outsourced IT – making the customer-IT provider relationship critical to business success.

Bearne went on to say that MSPs should play a central role in businesses’ migration strategies, to help determine which workloads to move to the cloud and which to keep on-premise:

“The direction of traffic is of course towards cloud, but the process is gradual and one that needs to be managed carefully. It’s important to realise that with limited resource and skills, a careful balance is needed between holding on to existing systems to achieve the best ROI and the benefits to business operations from using the cloud. While there is no easy answer, end-users should look for an MSP that will take a consultative approach to developing a more bespoke solution based on a full understanding of their requirements and existing skills base,” he concluded.

Find out more:

• For more information about Claranet’s hosting portfolio, visit hosting services.
• For more information about Claranet’s communications portfolio, visit communications services.
• For more information about Claranet’s networks portfolio, visit networks services.

Extract taken from an interview by Ben Sullivan on behalf of CRB – 04 July 2014. Follow this link to read the original interview.

Claranet, a European managed services provider, recently published research that revealed that the managed service provider industry needs to increase the level of support and transparency it gives its customers.

Claranet said that although cloud computing is now in the mainstream, there are still reservations about the costs and risks of using managed services.

CBR spoke to Martin Saunders, newly appointed Corporate Development Director at Claranet, to see what he thought about the issue of transparency in the cloud services world, and what he thinks service provisioners need to do to keep up with major players such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google.

Claranet recently conducted research into how end users feel about cloud and, in particular, if they trust providers. What would you say on the issue of transparency?

I think the transparency bit is really interesting. It’s something in the last couple of years that we’ve really started to understand the value of. We have a strategy focusing on building customer trust. For us, trust has four major elements in it. It’s about being expert, being reliable, being financially strong, and being transparent.

We act as a virtual member of the IT department. That’s not to say we’re replacing IT members but because we’re working on their behalf they really need to know what is going on. As IT gets more complex, in particular with the use of public clouds like Azure and Amazon coming along, you really need to have complete transparency as to what you’re using and how you’re using it and how that works so your customers have a good understanding of basically what’s going on in the background.

But I think it’s probably fair to say that transparency isn’t something that really comes naturally to the service provision industry. I don’t know whether it’s a case that service providers feel nervous that if you’re overly transparent you’re maybe exposing your hand to your customers or whether it comes from nervousness that perhaps if you’re overly transparent then you become too easy to replace.

But in the end, if you’re going to offer a good level of service you need to be very clear about what’s going on in the background.

Sometimes transparency can be taken too far, and certainly it’s blighted the service provider industry in the past. If something goes wrong then we’re all too quick to blame whoever it is in the background. If there’s a network outage then you blame the network carrier rather than taking responsibility for yourself. In the end transparency is key if you’re going to get the trust of customers.

What business models are Claranet using to compete with the Big Three: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud?

We see the big three as an opportunity rather than a threat, and that’s to do with Claranet’s history. Claranet has never been an asset-heavy service provider. We’ve obviously had to have had some assets, but the data centres we have apart from one with the Star acquisition, are all suites of space within much larger purpose built facilities.

Partially that’s come out of necessity. We haven’t had the cash to go and build massive data centres. But actually now this puts us in a really strong position because we are asset-light, it actually makes a huge amount of sense for us to go and use Amazon or Azure or Google Cloud and not fight against it. That’s what is now very much driving the partnerships and the acquisitions that we’re looking to do going forwards. Because we have this asset-light position it’s actually a very natural conversation to have with Amazon or Microsoft or Google and say we’re very keen to use your public cloud services and we are a managed services company that can be a natural partner to them when they’re talking to organisations and they need to have a greater level of managed service that they can’t do themselves.

The market as whole is going to have quite a transformation over the next year or two. Hosting companies that really put their bet in asset-heavy builds in data centres and infrastructure are going to really struggle. They will either have to get acquired by one of the Big Three, or they’ll end up having to fairly drastically change their company direction. And they’ll find that hard because if they’ve got 15 years of data centre that they’ve got to right off, that’s not something that can be financially done very easily. There’s going to be a lot of consolidation and acquisitions happening over the next couple of years and we hope Claranet is going to be leading that from the Western Europe point of view.

What plans do you have to keep up with the constant price slashing of the bigger players?

It’s a challenge, definitely. Thankfully for us we derive a certain amount of our income from infrastructure but it’s not the be all and end all for us. The managed service piece is the most important thing. It does make it difference though, and it’s a competitive marketplace and it’s not like it’s the first time this has happened. We’ve had exactly the same thing happening for us on our network portfolio over the last five years. If you think back ten years ago, how much it would cost to get a 2MB leased line in London we were looking at 20-30 grand. You’re looking at 100MB for five-six grand now. Infrastructure will always consolidate and commoditise, but if you’re adding a good level of value and service on top and you don’t wear yourself down by making big bets on infrastructure that only last for three or four years then you’ll be okay and that’s basically what we’ve done.

Public clouds are great but they still only focus on one particular type of application and there’s an awful lot of IT workload that still isn’t that well suited to be hosted on Azure and Amazon. One of Claranet’s continued strategies is about making sure that we have what we call differentiated infrastructure. So be it higher availability, or more local services, or greater levels of transparency. There’s still a lot service providers can do to differentiate their infrastructure. But as every day and every week goes by that is getting harder. You’ve really got to fall back on the service to be your main point of differentiation.

Find out more:

• For more information about Claranet’s hosting portfolio, visit hosting services.
• For more information about Claranet’s communications portfolio, visit communications services.
• For more information about Claranet’s networks portfolio, visit networks services.

Businesses need to use cloud to develop a constant process of innovation

To date, retailers have used cloud to good effect, with cloud services facilitating greater agility, flexibility and rapid expansion into international markets. However, research from Accenture indicates that many still lack the ability to offer a seamless service to customers across all platforms, highlighting the importance of Managed Services Providers (MSPs) and the need to use cloud computing to better effect.

The Accenture Seamless Retail Capabilities Benchmark Study found that 81 per cent of retailers examined reported absent or underdeveloped capabilities in tailoring assortment, pricing and shopping occasion to customer expectations across channels.

Andy Wilton, Claranet’s Group CIO, comments:

IT systems are the bloodline to most businesses and, when these systems can no longer provide the right functionality, it can cause significant damage. Most businesses, and particularly those in the retail sector, are in constant flux, and have to adapt to changing market conditions and seek new ways to get ahead of competitors. Many have now established some of their IT in the cloud and it is important that they realise how to take advantage of its benefits to facilitate change.”

In moving to the cloud, companies have to decide how much managed support they want from their providers above and beyond the basic hosting service. At one end of the spectrum, organisations take a basic approach, just renting the IaaS and leaving the development and management of what is hosted in-house. At the other, end-users choose to have a fully managed solution. However, whatever the choice, there are two issues that need to be addressed – firstly how to migrate the existing IT services while ensuring business continuity and secondly, how to establish a continuous innovation team to take advantage of the flexibility that a cloud approach offers. Technology can keep pace with how the wider business is changing, but only if the right people are in place.

Organisations should look for MSPs that include specific support for application development, testing and deployment in a live environment, underpinned by strong service level agreements. These are all critical services for innovation that no longer have to be handled in-house.

This is necessary to ensure that any implemented service will cater to the requirements of a business and add value, whilst laying down a solid foundation that maintains control and provides flexibility. Having a bespoke design, that meets the business’s corporate requirements, will ensure minimum disruption and iron out potential problems. It also establishes a clear innovation path in partnership with the end-user.

Wilton concludes: “For many, choosing an MSP is the best option because it relieves the pressure on in-house teams as they adjust systems to changing operational demands from the wider business. Many business leaders have got used to the idea that IT will always lag behind the rest of the business. With cloud now mainstream, this is no longer the case.”

Learn more about Claranet’s retail solutions.

Find out more:

• For more information about Claranet’s hosting portfolio, visit hosting services.
• For more information about Claranet’s communications portfolio, visit communications services.
• For more information about Claranet’s networks portfolio, visit networks services.

• Martin Saunders appointed to new role as Corporate Development Director
• Neil Thomas joins company as Claranet’s new Product Director

Managed Services Provider (MSP) Claranet has announced a number of strategically important changes to the senior management team, designed to drive continued innovation within the business, and ensure market relevance for its products and services. Previously Claranet’s Product Director, Martin Saunders, has moved to the newly-created role of Corporate Development Director, while Neil Thomas has joined the company as its new Product Director.

Martin Saunders has over 18 years’ experience in the Service Provider industry, with particular expertise in cloud technologies and high-availability network services. Having joined Claranet in 2006, he has had direct responsibility for the company’s product strategy and successfully oversaw the development and launch of its award-winning IaaS platform, the Virtual Data Centre, and more recently the launch of Claranet’s communications offering following the acquisition of Star in 2012.

In his new position as Corporate Development Director, Martin’s remit will shift away from the product offering itself and will focus on the development of new acquisitions and partnerships, sales enablement and ensuring Claranet makes the most of its group-wide portfolio of services.

Commenting on his newly-created position, Martin Saunders said: “Claranet has a long-established reputation for innovation and service in the hosting industry, but we must be dynamic if we are to remain competitive. We have an ambitious growth strategy, both organic and by acquisition, and I look forward to using my extensive knowledge of the company and our strengths to support these ambitions in my new role.”

Filling the role left by Martin, Neil Thomas has stepped into the position of Product Director at Claranet. Having previously worked at Vodafone Global Enterprise as Senior Product Manager, Cloud Computing, Neil brings with him a wealth of managed hosting experience at the enterprise level that he will apply to the rapidly growing mid-market sector in which Claranet operates. Neil will be focused on driving innovation across the portfolio, especially in the managed hosting and applications services range.

Claranet has also appointed James Mitchell as Senior Product Manager for Unified Communications, an emerging service area for Claranet.

Neil Thomas, Claranet’s Product Director, commented: “The IT industry is currently undergoing a period of rapid change, which presents a number of challenges for our customers. With an already wide range of network, hosting and communications services, Claranet is well placed to respond to those changes the fast-changing IT industry, and there are significant opportunities for the business to improve and deepen the portfolio further. As Product Director, I intend to ensure that our product portfolio can continue to meet the needs of our customers today, whilst also anticipating the needs of the market five years down the line.”

Claranet’s UK Managing Director, Michel Robert, said of the new appointments: “If Claranet is to drive growth and increase market relevance, it is vital that we have the right skills in place to move the business forward. Martin has served the company incredibly well during his time as Product Director, but the time is now right to reposition his skill set to ensure that we are able to make the most of new technologies, identify new acquisition targets, and source new partners for our business. Equally important is that we can bring new blood into the business. Neil Thomas brings with him a unique set of skills, which will no doubt prove to be invaluable as we move on to our next chapter.”

Find out more:

• For more information about Claranet’s hosting portfolio, visit hosting services.
• For more information about Claranet’s communications portfolio, visit communications services.
• For more information about Claranet’s networks portfolio, visit networks services.

It seems there is a high-profile technology security problem in the news every week, and while this coverage is great for educating people, it can leave the public slightly jaded and unresponsive to internet security threats. In the wake of recent security breaches, eBay, Spotify and Office, amongst others, have called for their customers to address potential vulnerabilities by changing their passwords. Many people probably haven’t acted upon this advice, and it is this complacent ‘it couldn’t happen to me attitude’ which can ultimately result in security breaches.

This week I was asked to comment on an internet security situation which has been getting plenty of attention from the press. One publication ran with a front-page headline claiming you only had ‘Two weeks to save your computer from major cyber attack.’ Clearly the media sensationalises in order to gain attention and to sell, but do they have a point? I’ll try and explain what happened in this story and what you should do to ensure you are safeguarded.

I am the Managing Director for an internet hosting provider called Tagadab, a Claranet Group Company. Alongside many other service suppliers we worked with the FBI to help de-stabilise a botnet controlled by a major cybercrime syndicate.

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Working in the Internet industry is never dull. The rapid pace of change is relentless, with new technologies, new competitors and new customers appearing on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. Every so often though, it’s good to stop and think about where you’ve come from and how much progress you’ve made over the years.

Last week Claranet won ‘Managed Services Provider of the Year’ at the Data Centre Solutions Awards. Winning awards is always nice, but this one was particularly good because it was based on independent votes from the industry, our customers and other people and organisations. I’ve also just started my 9th year working for Claranet, so these two things combined made me stop and think about the Claranet I joined compared with the Claranet I continue to enjoy working for today.

When I joined in 2006, Claranet was well known in the industry as a pioneering Internet Service Provider (ISP), particularly for Claranet’s flat rate dial up Internet access. Sometimes I speak with people who still have the perception that Claranet is solely a provider of internet access for individuals and small businesses. In reality we offer much more, but this traditional customer group of individuals and small businesses, who take connectivity (and some other small scale services), are still catered for, though this arm of the business operates under the name of Claranet SOHO (Small Office & Home).

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This summer sees a number of high profile sporting events taking place, from the Fifa World Cup which kicks off in just under a month, to Wimbledon, right the way through to the Ryder Cup in September. While there are those who follow sport keenly every summer, the World Cup is an event that draws in football fans and non-football fans alike, and that means more people trying to stream and keep up to date with every goal, dribble, and moment of drama.

We’ve seen a number of requests from organisations bracing themselves for the impact this will no doubt have on their network, with many IT departments facing up to the inevitable fact that many of their users will (often against corporate IT policy) be using services like Sky Go and BBC iPlayer across multiple devices to keep up to the minute on their favourite sports.

So how do you ensure that this extra traffic doesn’t end up slowing your mission critical applications and processes down?

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In order to optimise their IT strategy, IT decision makers need to learn three things: firstly, generally they can’t accomplish everything they’d like using only in-house resource, secondly, they need to understand what services an MSP (Managed Services Provider) can offer, and thirdly they need to view their chosen MSP as a trusted partner for the relationship to be as fruitful as possible. If you manage to do all of these things, you become an informed consumer, and your organisation will benefit because the IT strategy supporting it will be stable, flexible, future proof and cost efficient.

By leveraging the expertise of an MSP, IT decision makers not only have access to an extended operational IT team who can take away some of the rigmarole of ‘keeping the lights on’, but also, they gain access to a consultative partner who can guide their business through the process of cloud adoption, migration, and work with them to develop technology roadmaps for the future.

The great thing about becoming an informed consumer is that you begin to understand the benefits of working with an MSP, by getting to see the processes which underpin their results. This in turn allows you to contextualise the monitoring data provided by an MSP and take these insights back to other areas of your business. It is of utmost importance that an MSP helps you in this process, by guiding and transparently showcasing its inner workings, keeping you in control.

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Claranet was named Managed Services Provider of the Year at the DCS Awards 2014 last night (15th May 2014). The award reinforces Claranet’s position as the leading independent MSP in the UK & Europe.

The DCS Awards were established to recognise product designers, manufacturers, suppliers and providers operating in the data centre arena. Now in their 4th year, the Awards have gone from strength-to-strength, recognising the achievements of IT vendors and their business partners alike.

The MSP of the Year category was one of the most contested categories of these awards, and Claranet fought off strong competition. A two-stage judging process saw entries first assessed by a panel of industry experts, before being shortlisted for a public vote.

Michel Robert, Managing Director at Claranet, said: “This award is a significant win for us and recognises the investment we have made over the last few years – in our people, in best-practice processes and in technology – to ensure we are meeting our customers’ requirements and market need. We have worked hard to drive the business forward, innovate our services and expand our product offering. So we are delighted to have won this award, and would like to thank the judging panel and all those who voted for us.”

In addition to winning the Managed Services Provider of the Year award (DCS Awards 2014), Claranet also recently won the Best Customer Service Strategy award at the SVC Awards 2013, and was a Finalist in the Quality Service Provider of the Year award at the UK Customer Satisfaction awards 2014, which are run by the Institute of Customer Service.