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Distributor Exertis has acquired UK-based MTR Group, a service and solutions provider specialising in second generation lifecycle extension of mobile, wearable and tablet devices. MTR employs 60 staff at its refurbishment facility in Harlow, Essex. MTR generated sales of £10.8m (US$14.3m) for the year ending 30th November 2016 and has seen significant and sustained year on year growth since its incorporation in 2011 by founders and co-owners Steve Healy and Andy Payne.
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Barracuda teams with CMS for MSP push
Barracuda Networks, a provider of cloud-enabled security and data protection solutions, has entered into a new agreement with CMS Distribution to expand UK & Ireland channel relationships and bring more managed service providers (MSPs) into Barracuda’s partner programme. Barracuda’s MSP channel development strategy is to deliver value to managed service partners and their SMB customers through award-winning technology and 24x7 monitoring and management professional services.
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HRmaps to extend Russian market coverage
Annual channel event DISTREE Russia provides solution providers with the opportunity to meet senior business-to-business channel executives from a wide selection of resellers. Human resources (HR) solutions provider HRmaps will use the event as an opportunity to further develop its business in Russia. Jeanne Nechaeva, regional manager Russia & CIS at HRmaps, said: “This is our first participation at DISTREE Russia and is an opportunity to discuss our HR solutions with delegates.”
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AliExpress eyes Russian e-commerce potential
Online marketplace AliExpress has identified Russia as a market of significant growth potential, comparing the current levels of e-commerce development to the situation in China several years ago. The current situation with sanctions is also encouraging more brands from China, ASEAN and India to look at the opportunity to build channels in Russia. Chris Devonshire-Ellis of professional services firm Dezan Shira & Associates, stated: “AliExpress’s experience is really taking up the loose reins that the EU left dangling when they imposed sanctions on Russia. Europe will find they have no business opportunities to go back to in Russia once the sanctions are lifted.”
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Amazon reaches agreement to buy Souq.com
NASDAQ-quoted Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire SOUQ.com, a major e-commerce player in the Middle East. The move ignites an intriguing battle for e-commerce supremacy in the fast-growing region, with Noon.com, which has financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, due to launch in the coming weeks.
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DISTREE Events appoints Delphine Iltis as International Sales Manager
DISTREE Events, part of Infopro Digital, has confirmed the appointment of Delphine Iltis as International Sales Manager. In her new role, Iltis will focus primarily on the Middle East market, developing relationships with a broad cross-section of consumer technology vendors and brands. Iltis will report in to Christophe Painvin, Executive Director at DISTREE Events and Event Director for DISTREE Middle East.
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Souq.com opens service centre in Dubai
Middle East e-tailer and online marketplace Souq.com has whipped the covers off its first customer experience centre, located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. The move to open a physical space highlights the complexities of new omnichannel supply models embracing both offline and online. Souq.com claims that the new facility will make life more convenient for customers as well as sellers across the UAE.
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ALSO teams with Intcomex for Latin America cloud push
Distributors ALSO and Intcomex have formed a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) partnership for the ALSO cloud marketplace to serve Latin America and the Caribbean. The two companies are joining forces to make the ALSO cloud marketplace platform-as-a-service (PaaS) available to more than 50,000 Intcomex channel partners in 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with plans to expand further in the region.
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Dimension Data hands Ritchie UK role
Dimension Data, a global solutions and services provider with annual sales of US$7.5 billion, has appointed Andy Ritchie as UK & Ireland sales director. This latest senior appointment signals a clear strategic intent for significant growth for Dimension Data in the UK and Ireland, according to the company. Prior to joining Dimension Data, Ritchie was head of global sales for BT at Cisco.
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INTERVIEW: Carlo Albai, TeleQare Europe
TeleQare will participate for the first time at this week’s DISTREE EMEA consumer tech channel event in Monaco. TeleQare’s multinational team provides product design, manufacturing management, quality control, kitting, warehousing and logistics services to global distributors of accessories for mobile devices. Channel EMEA caught up with Carlo Albai, business development director for TeleQare Europe, to get the lowdown on the company’s services and plans for this year’s event.
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