Countdown to Channel Live!

Later this month, Channel Live will bring the channel community together. Resellers, MSPs, and VARs connect with vendors, distributors, service providers and expert speakers from across the industry.

It is the place where people get together to do business, discover the latest technologies and products, and gain insights and knowledge from expert speakers and panelists.

Between 29 and 30 March, our industry will gather at Birmingham’s NEC and many are excited about coming together to plot a path to the future. As the event’s media partner, Comms Business caught up with exhibitors and speakers about what to expect at this year’s event.

Anna Campagnoli, event director of Channel Live, discussed the preparations for the show. She said, “As the UK’s largest ICT Channel event, Channel Live attracts a range of visitors from across the UK and provides the best opportunity for them to seek new products and services in an environment that thrives on connections and networking.

“The Channel community is at its best when brought together, and we look forward to seeing you in March.”

This year’s show will feature three conference theatres including, new for 2023, The Channel Workspace, where select exhibitors will demonstrate their key products and solutions to visitors.

The other two theatres will focus on the evolution of the Channel and the speaking programme has been designed to trigger insightful conversations, educate the channel community about the latest issues impacting the industry, and provide practical business advice.

Larato will be chairing the conference, with Dr Lucy Green, the company’s founder, and David Bailey, COO, supporting and guiding the wealth of great speakers and panels presenting and discussing key topics with visitors.

The PSTN switch off will be key to the Channel Live conference programme. On day one, there will be a panel session that examines preparations for the PSTN switch-off, with Charlotte Hathway, editor of Comms Business, diving into the topic with Itret Latif, CEO of FCS, Steve Blackshaw, IP migration director at BT, Dan Cunliffe, managing director at Pangea, and James Lilley, director for all IP at Openreach.

James Tickel, regulatory policy and strategy director, Openreach, will be speaking on day two about how connected the UK’s full fibre rollout is, and the importance of regulation given the increasing number of providers.

Another key session will be Diversity in Digital, with BT’s head of planning, Bridget Woods, talking to Charlotte Goodwill, CEO of the ITP, and Simon Cuthbert, founder and CEO of VARChannels about what the channel is doing right and where more can be done.

Elsewhere, there will be a panel session that explores the channel ecosystem and how it is adapting to meet the needs of businesses in the future. Adam Wilson, director of strategic partnerships at Vonage, will join together with Philip Lee, head of channel, ITS, Matt Mimo, co-founder of 7ardis.co, and Greg Gundelfinger, CEO of Telna.

Meaningful connections

New for 2023, Channel Live will be provide a smart event experience with “ContentCapture”. Visitors will be able to capture digital content throughout the exhibition hall by scanning QR codes.

These codes will be on exhibition stands, products and conference theatres and will help visitors keep a library on of content that they can then review after leaving the show. This is free and available for all visitors.

This year’s event has been made possible by sponsors Digital Wholesale Solutions (DWS), headline sponsor, BT Wholesale, showbag sponsor, Freedom Fibre, Theatre 1 sponsor, Comms 365, Theatre 2 sponsor, NFON, lanyard sponsor, and Atmoso, registration sponsor.

Terry O’Brien, CEO, DWS, said, “The team is excited to return to the NEC for Channel Live 2023. This year, we are proud to say we are headline sponsors to show our commitment to the event and the Channel community. Across the two days, we invite representatives from across the Channel to join us, network with our product experts, and explore the latest trends and developments in wholesale mobile, connectivity, IP voice, cloud, hardware and billing.”

On the exhibition floor

On the exhibition floor, the Federation of Communication Services (FCS) will be updating visitors on the many ways the organisation is currently supporting the industry, including the latest on switching off fixed voice, broadband and infrastructure, and the move to All-IP. FCS also wants to hear about the issues that are currently impacting your company.

Connectivity infrastructure projects and the upcoming PSTN switch off are expected to be hot topics at the show. Openreach will be ready to chat to visitors about getting prepared for the PSTN closure and the company’s full fibre broadband rollout. Openreach can also advise about all its offerings and how it serves the channel.

Dan Cunliffe, co-founder and managing director, Pangea, discussed how his company is getting ready. He said, “2.4m businesses still use PSTN lines and yet the switch-off process is already underway, threatening over 200 various applications with a lack of network access. I’m excited to be at Channel Live to share and guide partners through the tricky and complicated process of replacing this legacy tech to keep these applications connected.

“We’ve taken it upon ourselves to show why intelligent mobile connectivity is the best replacement—and how you can turn threat into opportunity. If you’re a reseller or MSP hungry for growth, you need to come find me at the show—you’ll walk away knowing exactly where to find your next big intelligent mobile data deal, and how to easily win it. And if you come to our stand, you can be one of the first to get hands-on with our all-new intelligent unlimited 5G products.”

BT will be spotlighting its new EE mobile connectivity offering, all IP, and will explain how the company can help channel partners transition their customers to a digital future. Gavin Jones, director of wholesale channel, BT, said, “No one does it quite like us, thanks to a market-leading portfolio, a track record of innovation since 1846, and in-depth knowledge across the entire team – from engineers to marketers. Visit our stand to discover what’s new!”

ITS is a full fibre wholesaler with a focus on business connectivity. At the show, the company will be sharing how it gives partners straightforward access to the most advanced XGS PON fibre networks in the UK. Partners can access the entire network footprint as a layer 1 (dark fibre), layer 2 (wholesale), or as a layer 3 (internet) connection. Visitors can hear about the company’s Faster Britain programme, as well as its partner portal and API.

Elsewhere, Giganet will be showcasing how it can enable transformative business connectivity for partners. The company said Channel Live 2023 is where new partnerships can begin, with the team onsite ready to take the time to understand your ambitions, challenges and objectives.

Neos Networks will be sharing detail on how it has been heavily investing in its network reach. The company now operates a 34,000km telecoms network with services in 676 PoPs and over 90 data centres nationwide. This provides access to almost 750,000 UK business postcodes. Visitors to the Neos Networks stand can find out what partnership looks like.

Gigabit Networks will highlighting its incentives, fibre only connectivity and how the company has structured its partner programme. Tim Loveday, Head of New Business and Channel Sales, explained, “Channel Live presents yet another opportunity to share with potential partners, our genuine partnership opportunities unlike the transactional relationships they might encounter with the bigger players.”

Network services company Comms365 will be spotlighting its IoT and data insight solutions, bonded internet and mission-critical resiliency services, as well as security and remote monitoring platforms. Mike van Bunnens, managing director, Comms365, said, “We enable resellers and solution providers to accelerate growth, capture even more revenue from their customers while making a true impact in their organisations. Ask the team how they can help you to solve all kinds of connectivity challenges – anything from the mundane to the insane!”

In a different place, Strategic Imperatives will be showcasing the new capabilities it has introduced to Elevate, the channel billing, monetisation and subscription platform. Strategic Imperatives will also be celebrating the launch of The Fibre Café, which provides unified and streamlined access to the UK’s fibre ecosystem.

Wail Sabbagh, managing director, Strategic Imperatives, said, “Channel Live is the perfect event for us to connect with old friends, potential partners, customers and channel influencers as well as an excellent opportunity to showcase our commitment to supporting the channel with innovative and transformative solutions. We love catching up with our channel peers, so drop by our stand!”

Growth and transformation

EnableX Group will be spotlighting its three channel businesses: Pragma, Techland, and Candio. Visitors to the group stand can hear more about how each business within the group has dedicated technical, sales, and support teams to ensure resellers receive the focus they need to grow their business.

Craig Patterson, SVP of global channels, Aryaka, said visitors to Aryaka’s stand can “see security through a different lens”, as well as being able to catch up with the company’s channel team. Aryaka will be presenting its suite of managed solutions that can help deliver resilient global networks that enable digital transformation.

Vonage will be showcasing its unified communications, contact centres, conversational commerce, and programmable communications API solutions built on the flexible Vonage Communications Platform (VCP). Visitors to the company’s booth will be able to find out how to make communications more flexible, intelligent, and personal.

Lifesize is a global provider of omnichannel contact centre and 4K video meeting solutions in over 100 countries with 1700 channel partners. Bryan Turney, the company’s global CCaaS lead, and his colleagues Carlie Adams, channel manager for EMEA, Andy Hearsey, senior CCaaS solutions architect, and Lukasz Rzeznik regional sales manager, said they are looking forward to meeting with visitors and exhibitors alike.

Martin Coleman, operations director, TSI, discussed his company’s approach to the event. He said, “This is our first time exhibiting, and we are proud to be launching Cross Connect at Channel Live. We look forward to demonstrating our feature-rich cloud UC solution and disruptive pricing and subscription model. Joining us will be Crexendo, powered by Netsapiens, who provide the underlying technology.”
Evolve IP will be exhibiting its streamlined product suite that can be tailored for the businesses it supports. Visitors can learn how a UC service provider can compete in a very saturated climate, as well as how Evolve IP is creating the future of work.

Live demos

Xelion will be demonstrating its cloud-telephony platform in a live environment so visitors can see in real time how easy the front-end applications are to consume and how feature rich the platform is. The company will also cover off any questions visitors might have, as well as explaining how partners have the flexibility of taking advantage of Xelion’s open platform offering alongside separated relationships with multiple SIP carriers and hardware suppliers.

DocuWare will spotlight its cloud-based, out-of-the-box preconfigured solutions for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and workflow automation. The company’s solutions can be a lucrative addition to the product portfolio of VARs, technology service providers and printer resellers alike as they can be deployed, customised, and integrated with your customer’s existing software in as little as three days.

Docuware will specifically demonstrate not only how these solutions easily automate manual tasks related to invoice processing, document management and employee management, but also how they can be applied to numerous tasks in any department in any industry.

Elsewhere, BNS Distribution will be sharing a number products launched by Grandstream in the past couple of months. The company is busy getting ready to display these new mobile and networking solutions, as well as explaining how these open up new opportunities for partners. Key products at the show will include the GHP Series of Compact Hotel IP Phones; the Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 Access Points; and the GAC2570 Enterprise Conference Phone.

Seven Video is heading to Channel Live for the second time, and exhibitors can pop down to the company’s stand to get a free stand promo video to use throughout the event.

Paul Sherwood, director, Seven Video, explained, “We’re a telecoms-focused video production agency based in Yorkshire. Channel businesses need look no further for video production experts that enable vendors, resellers, and any other telecoms operations to fully engage with their audience via video marketing.”

Blabbermouth will also be at the show to highlight how the company works with the channel. Elizabeth Sparrow, founder, Blabbermouth, said, “Pick the brains of the Blabbermouth team for top tips on transforming your Channel marketing and getting more value from your efforts.

“Discover how to expand your marketing deliverables while offloading some of your more complex marketing needs to a specialist team that can integrate members so deeply, they’ll feel like an extension of your own.

“We can discuss inbound marketing, launching brands and products into the Channel, how to gain brand recognition through a robust PR and awards plan… even the weather, if that’s what’s on your mind!”

Innovative products

PromptVoice supports channel partners to maximise recurring revenue with a white label solution that enables the provisioning of bespoke, professionally recorded messages and streaming in-queue and on-hold audio. At this year’s show, the company will be revealing new product features which are set to optimise potential and maximise value for our partners.

Fidelity Group UK, a merchant payment services provider, will showcase its innovative Merchant Payment solutions. Moss will spotlight its corporate card and spend management solution. Visitors to the company’s stand can find out how the company gives businesses complete control over company spend, saves time on manual finance tasks and connects seamlessly to existing accounting systems.

Elsewhere, Atmoso will be displaying its cloud-based products and services. Partners can get access to an entire range of managed IT solutions as well as the company’s flagship VDI and PCI products.

An Eden Repair Centre spokesperson discussed how the company is getting ready for the event. They said, “We are delighted to be exhibiting for the third time. Channel Live is a key event for us to engage with a new audience and also arrange to meet existing partners, so we look forward to seeing everyone there!

“Our portfolio has grown from being a professional device Repair Centre to a full white-label device lifecycle management partner and the event continues to provide the perfect opportunity to launch these additional services to the channel.”

Time to register!

Channel Live 2023 is free to attend, with visitors able to register via the Channel Live website. Doors open at 10:00 on both days (29th and 30th March) in Hall 10 of the NEC, Birmingham. The full list of exhibitors and speakers is available on the Channel Live website.