Intact Integrated Services is distinctive in that it works only with the Cisco partner community, and is completely focused on supporting Cisco channel partners in the delivery of increasingly complex added value solutions such as Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal and Cisco Unified Contact Centre Enterprise. Intact backs its ATP certifications with comprehensive in-house expertise, making it an ideal technology resource for Cisco partners looking to deliver complex Unified Communications solutions.

“We’re delighted that Cisco has again recognised our in-depth UC capabilities, and specifically our ability to help Cisco partners deliver high performance intelligent voice and video self-service solutions for their enterprise-level contact centre customers,” commented Tony Butler, Intact Integrated Services’ Chief Technology Officer. “It’s increasingly clear that there’s a significant level of investment and expertise needed to deploy today’s specialist Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal solutions, and that can be a barrier for many Cisco channel partners. Having Intact on hand as an Authorised Technology Provider for customer voice portal projects will enable these partners to target the added value opportunities offered by CVP and other Cisco UC solutions.

“Since first becoming an ATP for Customer Voice Portal, we’ve achieved considerable success in helping Cisco partners deliver successful customer contact projects in key markets such as financial services and local government,” he added. “Given the increased focus on delivering intelligent, personalised self-service over the phone, we believe there will be continued strong demand for Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal, and that’s going to create growing demand for organisations such as Intact who can provide the key development skills around this technology.”

“As we move into new markets and emerging technologies, our Authorised Technology Provider Partners are instrumental in helping our customers turn innovative technology into a competitive advantage,” said Richard McLeod, director of unified communications for worldwide channels at Cisco. “As a Cisco Customer Voice Portal ATP Partner, Intact brings a track record of commitment to providing voice self-service applications for the contact centre market.”

To qualify for the Customer Voice Portal ATP, Intact had to meet a number of requirements, from having staff that fulfill specific job responsibilities to achieving both the Cisco Advanced Unified Communications Specialisation and the Cisco Unified Contact Centre Enterprise ATP. Those requirements are designed to help a partner maintain high levels of customer satisfaction. Partners are also required to build a lab for development and customer-fault replication. The lab must contain current, upgraded and maintained Cisco Unified Contact Centre Enterprise solutions, each configured for real world testing to simulate actual end-user conditions.

The Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal is a high-performance solution for enterprise-level contact centres using with the H.323 standard of Session Initiation Protocol in a distributed or centralised fashion. The Customer Voice Portal ATP recognises partners for their investment in the knowledge and personnel skills to deliver cost-effective, personalised voice self-service to agent-assisted service.

The Cisco Authorised Technology Provider (ATP) Program is part of Cisco’s go-to-market strategy for emerging technologies. The program helps Cisco to define the knowledge, skills and services that channel partners need to successfully sell, deploy and support an emerging technology.  As the market changes, an ATP may be discontinued or evolve into a Cisco specialisation.

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INspan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients.

For more information, please visit www.intact-is.com, or contact:

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: +44 (0) 7791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

Maya Patel
Intact Integrated Services Marketing
Tel: + 44 (0) 1344 756647
maya.patel@intact-is.com

Cisco, the Cisco logo and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems Inc. in the United States and certain other countries.

So can I nobly claim that Intact is seeking to buck this trend, wind back the clock to a glorious age when initials were largely reserved for people and countries? Well, errr, no.

The simple fact is, confusing, distracting and downright annoying as acronyms can be, they are also a jolly useful way to name things, incorporating as they do a handy label with at least some potential clue as to what the heck they are. In fact the blossoming of the darn things around the Cloud, and most specifically the “as-a-service” concepts, has handed Intact an ideal model to describe exactly what it is we do for our channel customers.

The argument for organisations to take software, hardware and infrastructure as a service is a strong and compelling one. Why go to the expense and risk of buying and building your own, particularly when it is in a non-core area, or one where you have little skill or track record, when you can enjoy high quality, well priced and low risk access from the cloud? Well, of course, there’s the rub. There is a strong undercurrent of “not-made-here”  in both Enterprise businesses and the channel organisations that serve them. We all share it to some extent or other. For us to hand over key elements of our underlying delivery capability, we have to have absolute trust that the service will at the very least match our own capabilities, and hopefully exceed it, on the way to generating surprise and delight in our customers.

At Intact, that is exactly what we do. By tapping into our ISO certified “Service-as-a-Service” offerings, from PMaaS (Project Management….), through DaaS (Design….) and IaaS (Implementation….) through to GSaaS (Global Support….) we offer a complete lifecycle of services, on tap and on demand, to supplement the core capabilities of our channel customers. By utilising these “Cloud Services” they extend their reach and portfolio in a manner that offers consistent excellence in execution, combined with low risk and minimal outlay. By using Intact to close technology gaps, extend geographic reach and overcome bandwidth issues they are building ever more compelling solutions for their customers, without the risks associated with introducing competitive partners into their supply chain.

Clearly, when faced with the option of engaging Intact, the channel need remember only one acronym after all….. FyB, or “Fill your Boots”!

Bob

Intact’s INcontact Service Desk provides comprehensive 24x7x52 support for a range of core Cisco and multi-vendor IP and Unified Communications solutions, and the new Singapore Service Desk extends the global coverage already offered by the company’s existing Berlin-based best practice service desk facility. The new Singapore-based Service Desk will offer in-depth coverage for Intact’s growing number of major Service Provider and Integrator customers across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a ‘white label’ service support infrastructure for Cisco channel partners.

“There aren’t any shortcuts or quick fixes when it comes to delivering complex enterprise UC and IP projects, and that can prove a real challenge for service providers, systems integrators and the broader channel community – particularly when projects involve multiple technologies or are spread across a number of different countries or regions,” commented Intact Integrated Services Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dalton. “Having a specialist service desk on call 24×7 can make a real difference for our channel customers, effectively de-risking project complexity by providing round-the-clock access to in-depth – technical support capabilities.

“Extending our INcontact technical service desk to Singapore makes excellent sense for Intact as our Asia-Pacific operations have grown quickly, with systems integrators, telcos and other service providers all responding positively to our proven ability to support their large-scale customer network transformation and support projects,” added Bob. “Services such as INcontact are ideally placed to support the needs of our specialist service provider customers across the region, providing them with the skills to help differentiate their own support and service offerings in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

Intact’s new Singapore-based INcontact resource also takes full advantage of the multi-vendor core IPT and UC technologies the company supports, to provide service organisations across the Asia-Pacific region with access to the full range of Intact skills and resources – regardless of location. The INcontact technical service desk offers a full range of Managed Service capabilities, including a single point of contact for service enquiries, real-time proactive incident management, remote monitoring of multi-vendor networks, operating systems and applications skills, call handling and problem management, escalation services as well as comprehensive configuration, capacity, change and security management.

Intact now has offices in the UK, Germany, US and Singapore and together with its INcontact technical support desk and INspan service partner network, the company now operates in and can support complex operations worldwide, making Intact an ideal partner to help deliver on international projects.

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INspan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients.

For more information, please contact:

Maya Patel
Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 01344 756647
maya.patel@Intact-is.com

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

“I’ve got this address thing to do…”

“A dress? You’ve got to wear a dress?”

“No! Address, like the Queen at Christmas.”

“Now I’m getting really worried, you’ve got to dress like the Queen at Christmas?”

“No! A_D_D_R_E_S_S. Like a blog, article, whatever…”

“Oh, OK. I get it. So what are you going to write about?”

“That’s exactly the problem. I’m not sure. It’s meant to be New Year themed, so review of last year, look forward to next. That sort of stuff.”

“Well, you don’t want to dwell on last year do you? That was rubbish. Global recession, Euro crisis, riots across the UK. Not much to be that glad about really, apart from it being last year…”

“Fair point. But what should I write about for next year then? There’s still global financial uncertainty, and the crisis in the Euro zone hasn’t gone away.”

“True. But last year our European businesses did really well, and look to have a good strong footing for next. And our newer operations in the US and Asia are having a great end to their years just as the markets start to bounce back in their regions. They are perfectly placed to take advantage of the resurgence in the US and Asia.”

“All good points. I should definitely work that in somehow. I don’t just want to dwell on financial matters though, I have to try and add a bit of colour to it.”

“Hmmm….. I’ve got it! It’s going to be an amazing sporting year, in Europe at least! You’ve got the European Championships coming up…”

“Of course! European Figure Skating Championships, in January I think, up in Sheffield.”

“Err, no, I was thinking more of the Euro Football Championships, to be held in Poland and Ukraine, in the summer. Are you sure you’re not wearing a dress? Anyway, it’s not just them, there’s the Olympics and Paralympics too, and of course they are truly global. It’s going to be brilliant.”

“Good point again (if a little harsh on figure skaters everywhere, don’t let HR hear you talking like that..). I could draw some parallels between the winners at the games, and all the winners who work for Intact, who make it the great company we are, and of course all our customers who become winners because they work with us…..”

“See? You’re on a roll now. Let’s just think for a minute. Is there anything notable you should avoid?……. Ah yes, hang on a tick. Probably best to avoid the 21st December.”

“21st December? Why’s that?”

“End of the world, basically. Mayan prediction and all that. Didn’t you see the movie? Come to think of it, why did we bother putting together a three year plan? Could well have been a waste of time y’know. Probably should have focused on maximising the first 10 months of the next financial year….”

“Get a grip. It was just a film. A film based on a bunch of hick doomsday theories to boot. Most Professional Mayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the classic Mayan accounts. If anything the end of their “long-count” calendar simply signifies the coming of a new era. Start of a bright new phase in human history and all that. Now that would be a good parallel to draw, that 2012 will mark the next phase of Intact’s development as a business, gateway to an ever brighter future and all that.”

“Hmm, have to admit it, good stuff. Where’d you get all that gumph about the Mayan prophecy though?”

“Google* of course, good eh?”

“Indeed. And obviously you’d have to wish everybody a Happy New Year”

“Goes without saying”

“Well then mate, all you got to do is write it up, job done………… What exactly are you going to wear then?”

(*Other search engines are available…)

Bob

Ascot, UK – Intact Integrated Services, the partner-focused independent provider of international project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry, has strengthened its global partner network with the appointment of KSS Technologies (Pty) Ltd as an Intact INspan services partner for South Africa.

Intact works with a growing number of major Service Providers and Integrators on large scale network transformation and support projects, operating a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INspan global support network. Intact delivers consistently high global service levels by working closely on a country-by-country basis with the best local service partners. KSS Technologies, with over ten years as a fully accredited Cisco Silver Partner, was an ideal match for Intact’s demanding partner accreditation requirements. KSS will work closely with Intact, supporting the company’s growing portfolio of agile, best-of-breed technology services capabilities and helping Intact to deliver on its global project requirements.

“We’re delighted to become part of Intact’s global INspan network of converged network specialists, and we look forward to supporting them as they continue to develop their engagement with the world’s major Service Providers and Integrators,” commented Stuart Cohen, Sales Manager for KSS Technologies (Pty) Ltd. “It was clear from Intact’s comprehensive INspect partner onboarding process that there were strong synergies between our two organisations, and that Intact was very thorough in only selecting the best local partners for its global services offering. Our relationship with Intact is already generating opportunities for KSS, and we’re committed to growing our partnership as more global organisations build out their converged network services across South Africa.”

“KSS Technologies (Pty) Ltd represents another valuable addition to our INspan global services network as they deliver exactly the right blend of deep Cisco services expertise, Silver accreditation and proven capabilities,” added Intact Integrated Services Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dalton. “At Intact we believe that global service excellence comes from the selection, deployment and close quality management of best-in-class resources that are optimised to meet local needs. Organisations such as KSS Technologies contribute significantly to the success of our Global Solutions and INspan offering, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.

“With INspan we’re directly addressing the growing requirement among major systems integrators and service providers for a best-of-breed services ecosystem that can support them in delivering against their critical project SLAs,” added Bob Dalton. “Working with partners such as KSS Technologies, that can perform consistently and to the highest standard, is an essential component of the Intact Integrated Services proposition.”

Intact’s INspan (Intact Service Partner Alliance Network) partner network delivers an integrated international services capability to support the needs of major systems integrators looking to provide consistent, fully accredited local services across global ICT projects. INspan draws on the fully-certified skills of a growing number of international Intact partners across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas, all operating through a set of proven methodologies and processes, and helping to mitigate cost issues relating to factors such as in-country taxation, freight and duty charges.

Intact now has offices in the UK, Germany, US and Singapore and together with its INspan partner network, the company now operates in and can support complex operations worldwide, making Intact an ideal partner to help deliver on international projects.

About KSS Technologies (Pty) Ltd
KSS specialises in the design, implementation and support of converged network solutions. The company’s head office is situated in Midrand with support centres countrywide, providing a national support infrastructure. KSS received Cisco Silver Partner status in March 2000, and has consistently recertified every year since then. The company is acknowledged for its early commitment to convergence technology

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INspan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients.

For more information, please contact:

Maya Patel
Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 01344 756647
maya.patel@Intact-is.com

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

Tom has spent the last three and a half years in a Singapore-based business development role with Intercall (West Corporation), the major video conferencing and telecoms company, where he was a key contributor to their recent success across the Asia Pacific region. For the previous decade Tom Caviar held US Regional Sales Manager roles for both Dealix and Premiere Conferencing.

Commenting on his appointment, Tom Caviar said: “It’s a great time to be joining Intact Integrated Services in Singapore. The company’s distinctive, partner-focused service offerings are ideally placed to support the region’s major systems integrators, telcos and service providers as they continue to expand their Asia Pacific activities, and I look forward to playing a major role in helping Intact to keep on growing its regional footprint.”

Kevin Slaughter, who heads up the Intact Integrated Services business in the Asia Pacific region, added: “Since opening our Singapore-based regional operation in 2009, Intact has grown quickly as systems integrators, telcos and other service providers have responded positively to our proven ability to support their large-scale customer network transformation and support projects. Adding Tom Caviar to our team will significantly strengthen our Asia Pacific sales team, bringing additional sales leadership and helping us to accelerate our sales activities and address the strong demand for our services skills across the region.”

Intact now has offices in the UK, Germany, US and Singapore and together with its INspan partner network (Intact Support Partner Alliance Network), the company now operates in and can support complex operations in over 80 countries worldwide, making Intact an ideal partner to help deliver on international projects.

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INspan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients.

For more information, please contact:

Kevin Slaughter
Intact Integrated Services
Tel: +65 6493 6249
kevin.slaughter@intact-is.com

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

When you first venture out onto a circuit, and the flag drops, all hell breaks loose. Everything seems so rushed, time for decision making becomes compressed (and the consequences of a bad decision can hurt remember), it becomes very hard to stay composed. Winning a race may sound pretty straightforward; start fast, stay fast, don’t fall off, but the reality is a complex melee of strategy, skill, planning and faultless execution. As I became more adept at the sport, the one key impression I had was how so much more relaxed I was than in my early days. I seemed to have all the time in the world to make decisions, is that a gap? can I go for it? time just seemed to slow down. Once I got to that level, one of the common observations people made was how easy I made going fast look, indeed how I didn’t even seem to be going that quick but was leading the race. In the work that Intact does on behalf of our partners we get much the same response, that in the face of seemingly complex challenges we make success look easy, almost effortless.

Another key feature of any successful racer is focus, and not just the mental kind. As a novice your eye-line is invariably about two feet in front of your front wheel, or at best glued to the rear of the bike in front. The best racers manage to deal effectively with what is right in front of them, while focussing far ahead, giving them the time to plan and prepare for the next corner, the next pass. In business it is all too easy to focus only on today’s challenges, and lose sight of your long term vision. To do so can only serve to impede the success of your organisation.  At Intact we maintain that ability to plan ahead, to identify opportunities and challenges in time to plan for them and execute appropriately. As a true partner enablement operation we are increasingly building on those skills inherent in Intact by helping develop winning strategies for our customers, helping them overtake their own competitors and win their own market race.

Gentlemen! Start your engines!

Bob

Intact’s specialist Transition Managers work particularly to support organisations through the uncertain period between initial project management disengagement and operational delivery. The company’s new Transition Management service integrates core components such as process mapping, documentation production, information sharing, training, communication, education and management support to enable the structured and consistent deployment of new service programmes.

“While vast amounts of effort are typically applied at the pre-sales stage of a major project, it is rare for the same level of effort to be given once the contract is secured and it is time for delivery. Indeed, operational staff are probably all too familiar with the concept of major projects being ‘thrown over the fence’ for delivery!” commented Alan Pett, Managing Director of Intact Integrated Services in the UK. “Today’s complex service propositions demand entirely new levels of in-depth project management support – particularly when it comes to the handover for operational delivery. We’ve introduced our Transition Management service to directly address this challenge, with the goal of helping systems integrators and service providers make sure that their projects can hit the ground running.”

A key element of Intact’s approach to Transition Management is the development of Operational Service Guides, expectation setting and close liaison between the systems integrator’s own Service Desk operation, relevant third party service providers, and service managers within the customer organisation.

“With Transition Management we’ve gone beyond the more academic definitions of Service Transition offered by ITIL to focus on ensuring service management project success in today’s increasingly complex world of global project delivery,” added Alan Pett. “So whether it’s a large global support contract or a major managed services solution you’re working on, our aim with this new Intact offering is to make sure that those responsible for service provision always have an answer when it comes to the key “Who’s going to make it happen?” question. That’s why at Intact we’re investing in specialist Transition Management skills, and encouraging our systems integration and service management partners to factor a structured Transition Management programme into their operational programmes.”

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INSpan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients. 

For more information, please contact:

Maya Patel
Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 01344 756647
maya.patel@Intact-is.com

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

They raised £90 in donations which was matched by Intact to make a total of £180!

Thank you to all Intact employees who participated.

Reporting directly into Bob Dalton, Intact Group CEO, the team brings together expertise in technology, service design, operations and commercial management to ensure consistently high service levels to Intact’s major service provider and systems integration partners right across the globe.

Intact’s Global Solutions operation works with the world’s leading systems integration specialists, supporting them with a growing portfolio of agile, best-of-breed technology services to meet their global project requirements. Successful global engagements have seen Intact’s revenues grow by some 43 percent over the last year. Local engagement teams in Intact’s regional hubs in the UK, Germany, North America and Singapore are supplemented by support from the Global Solutions Team, ensuring that the full range of Intact’s global expertise and experience is brought to bear on each and every project.

“Over the last five years Intact has set new standards in achieving consistent service excellence in complex global project environments,” commented Bob Dalton, Intact’s CEO. “Our new Global Solutions Team brings together all that experience in a manner designed to maximise our effectiveness as a delivery partner, and ensure that our customers derive even more value from engaging with Intact.”

About Intact Integrated Services
Intact Integrated Services operates across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas as an independent provider of project, support and managed services solutions to the ICT industry. The company is an exclusively partner-focused organisation, providing lifecycle service offerings and project management support to Cisco partners, systems integrators, telcos and service providers. Intact functions as an independent subsidiary of Datatec Ltd, the major JSE/LSE international ICT Group.

Intact’s service capability covers LAN/WAN infrastructures, IP communications, wireless and security to a wide range of server-based computing and application skills including data centre design and deployment, virtualisation, cloud and storage solutions, as well as application development and support. The company operates a best-of-breed services ecosystem through its INSpan global support network. Intact’s services are backed by a 24x7x52 Managed Service Centre in Europe, delivering both support and managed services to a wide range of clients. 

For more information, please contact:

Maya Patel
Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 01344 756647
maya.patel@Intact-is.com

Cheryl Billson
PR for Intact Integrated Services
Tel: 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com