More than 300 delegates and supplier
partners attended the Synaxon
UK 2015 National Conference at
Staverton Park, Daventry in mid-June.
Feedback received by Synaxon suggests
that it was not just the best of the five
annual conferences staged by the reseller
group so far, but one of the best industry
events held by any channel organisation in
a long time.
John Carter, Managing Director of
Cloud Telephones, said: “It was, quite
simply, an excellent all-round event.
The speakers were top class and having
someone as inspirational as Kriss Akabusi
there really gave the daytime sessions
a lift. Having the facility for one-to-one
meetings was great too. The dinner, awards
ceremony and entertainment were all
excellent. [The conference] said a lot about
Synaxon and how central it has become to
the channel.”
Chris Connell, Head of Sales B2C
at Ingram Micro, agrees that the event
reflected well on Synaxon. He said:
“Synaxon really has come a long way
over the past couple of years. Its members
are now very engaged and active and
that showed at this event. There are a
few buying and services groups around,
but I don’t think any are more proactive
than Synaxon. It has carved a real niche
of its own and it’s clearly becoming very
important to its members and supporting
their day-to-day business even more.”
Ingram was one of the main sponsors
of the two-day event and also sponsored
the evening dinner and awards ceremony.
The two other main sponsors, Webroot
and Autotask, provided the main keynote
speakers. Charles Tomeo, Vice President of
Worldwide Channel and Technical Sales at
Webroot, highlighted the growing potential
of endpoint security services; and Mark
Cattini, CEO of Autotask, spoke about the
importance of delivering a great customer
experience in managed services.
Potential in MPS
Gemma Glen, Head of Category for
Print, Peripherals and Supplies at Ingram
Micro, also drew attention to the massive
potential of MPS and specifically Ingram’s
PrintSense service. This offers resellers a
simple way to offer and make a profit from
managed print services, without any major
up-front investment.
She said: “With PrintSense we now
have a powerful value proposition that is
very clear and effective. We got a really
positive response from Synaxon members
and we’re hoping it will trigger quite a
lot of activity. With more of a services-led
approach being taken right across the IT
sector now, the market is ready to embrace
managed print.”
Strategy for success
Reflecting the conference theme of
‘Business Success’, British athletics
legend Kriss Akabusi delivered a stirring
motivational speech to members and
suppliers, in which he focused on key
success factors for business, including the
importance of teamwork and trust.
Derek Jones, Managing Director of
Synaxon members hailed this year’s national
conference as the reseller group’s best yet
MPS takes
centre stage
Synaxon UK, continued the theme by
outlining how hard work and a focus on
service was bringing success to Synaxon.
He also revealed details of the group’s
new Trustatec initiative, due to launch
later this year, which will offer fixed prices
on a range of standard services, such as
installation, memory upgrades and security
checks. For a £150 signing-on fee and
a monthly subscription of £50, Trustatec
will provide participating resellers with
a stream of service and repair contracts.
Resellers that sign up will be given their
own designated area to serve on an
exclusive basis, with Synaxon generating
leads through the Trustatec website and
search engine optimisation. The service is
already a big success in Germany, where it
operates as PC Spezialist
).
In between presentations, there were
opportunities for delegates to network and
engage with each other. More than 300
one-to-one and workshop sessions were
set up in advance of the event and many
more took place over the duration of the
conference.
Award winners
In the evening, Synaxon presented its 2015
annual awards, including:
n
Distributor of the Year
– Beta Distribution;
n
Vendor of the Year
– Western Digital;
n
Specialist Service of the Year
– DMSL;
n
B2B/MSP Member of the Year
– KOGO;
n
E-tailer/Retailer Member of the Year
– UK IT On-line;
n
Synaxon Special Recognition Award
–
Jeffery Linton of JR Linton Computers
(presented in recognition of valued
contribution to the Synaxon community).
Derek Jones is delighted by the success of
the event. “We have had massively positive
feedback from everyone and that’s great
because it’s added even more momentum
to Synaxon UK. That’s going to mean more
offers and opportunities, more services and
more benefits for members’ businesses
too,” he said.
Having
someone as
inspirational
as
Kriss Akabusi
there really
gave the
daytime
sessions a
lift.
CONFERENCE REVIEW
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IT
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