Tag: Softline

Technology

Softline and Veritas will expand their partnership and collaboration

May 24, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #IT solutions and services, #Softline

LONDON, United Kingdom – May 24, 2021 – Veritas, a global leader in data protection, availability and insights, and the leading worldwide provider of IT solutions and services, Softline, have drawn up an agreement that envisages the establishment of cooperation under the Veritas Service Provider Program (VSPP) in Russia.

This partnership will allow both companies to strengthen further their market positions and will provide additional opportunities to increase the number of projects with hi-tech solutions and services. Consequently, some of Softline’s customers will be able to offer their own solutions for flexible infrastructure management, quick back-up, fallback recovery, information management to their clients, and help them optimize their current levels of outgoings.

The Veritas Service Provider program gives its users a whole range of benefits. These include the possibility of rendering services in the provision to end users of a virtual infrastructure based on Veritas solutions: that is, software that can be leased. As a consequence, participation in VSPP enables service providers to create their own ‘cloud’ based on Veritas solutions and thereby to provide a plethora of services to end users. By connecting to VSPP DPC operators, telecom operators or SaaS providers, system integrators receive special terms and conditions for acquiring the vendor’s products, competitive solution prices, training options, specially earmarked marketing resources, as well as 24/7 product service support. Among the other key benefits of the program, it is worth noting that it is possible to get connected without any initial financial input, with an extensive range of pay-as-you-go and pay-as-you-grow services and options over the course of a month’s usage. VSPP participants are also able to use the simplified licensing scheme for Vertitas’s market-leading software. Thus, through this program Softline, as a VSPP distributor, will enable service providers to get access to VSPP as well as offer the vendor’s world-beating integrated solutions as services for their clients.

“After over 20 years of work collaboration with Softline, we can only say that are completely satisfied with the competence and reliability of our partner. I am sure that in the role of VSPP distributor, Softline will further enhance the digital transformation of its customers by solving a whole range of tasks using Veritas solutions, such as data management in several cloud environments, data protection, storage optimization, commitment to comply with requirements and workload manageability. Undoubtedly, developing such a partnership will entail the growth of a number of joint projects and the reinforcement of market positions,” Alexei Milchakov, Veritas’s senior sales manager for Russia and the CIS, explained.

Veritas Technologies Corporation solutions have been developed for the world’s largest and most complex heterogenous environments to help companies manage information to maximum effect. In July 2020, and for the15th consecutive time, Veritas was once more included in the Gartner quadrant as the leader in the sphere of back-up and data recovery.

The history of cooperation between Veritas and Softline has been ongoing since 2001. In the course of those years, the partnership has developed across a whole range of focus areas, including the increase in the number of joint projects, developing sales in the regions and attracting new clients.

“In all the years of our collaboration, Veritas has proven itself as a longstanding and reliable supplier of systems for information storage management. This current agreement is conclusive proof that our partnership has entered a new stage. Participating in the Veritas Service Provider Program opens up new horizons for us. Softline has experience in conducting business in model leasing and pioneered it in Russia, and the countries of the CIS. By taking note of the great potential in developing the leasing business, Softline became the only company in the domestic market that allocated a separate team for working in this area. Expanding its partnership with a technological leader will enable Softline to help service providers protect the data of end users and ensure fallback recovery with the aid of the vendor’s analytical and management services. In the final analysis this will improve the provider’s competitive edge and ensure new possibilities for increasing the sales volumes of our partner’s products,” explained Valeriya Potemkina, Softline’s service provider manager.

In 2018 Softline in Russia was awarded the highest partner status as Veritas Platinum Partner. This event served as confirmation of the required certification of the company’s specialists and the high level of services in the area of effective information management and its storage, which Softline provides for its customers.

About Softline

Softline facilitates digital transformation and cybersecurity services to customers from 50+ countries and in 95+ cities around the world. Our 2400+ client managers and 1000+ technical product and service specialists, engage with our clients to choose and integrate the right products in the most efficient way, creating and managing hybrid and secure infrastructures. Hand-in-hand with our clients, our global support and maintenance teams manage and support the infrastructure needed to underpin world-class digital transformation, cloud-based services and rock-solid cybersecurity.

Today, with over 25 years of experience, around 5,000 worldwide employees and a turnover in 2020 of $1.8 billion, Softline is a leading global provider of digital transformation, cloud services, cybersecurity and related solutions & services. Thanks to our more than 4,300 vendors, we have helped upwards of 95,000 small, medium, and large enterprise businesses from the private and public sectors transform their business into the digital world.

Softline’s goal is help you improve your business outcomes, and your quality of life through the most effective use of technology.

Today, with over 25 years of experience, around 5,000 worldwide employees and a turnover in 2020 of $1.8 billion, Softline is a leading global provider of digital transformation, cloud services, cybersecurity and related solutions & services. Thanks to our more than 4,300 vendors, we have helped upwards of 95,000 small, medium, and large enterprise businesses from the private and public sectors transform their business into the digital world.

Softline’s goal is help you improve your business outcomes, and your quality of life through the most effective use of technology.

Technology

Softline Earns the Linux and Open Source Databases Migration to Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialization

May 6, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Softline

LONDON, United Kingdom – May 06, 2021 – In March 2021, Softline received Linux and Open Source Databases Migration to Microsoft Azure advanced specialization, a validation of a solution partner’s deep knowledge, extensive experience and proven expertise in migrating workloads running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE virtual machines and/or utilizing MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB databases to Azure.

This global status confirms Softline’s proven track record and expertise in migrating workloads based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or SUSE virtual machines, as well as open source MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL and NoSQL databases to Azure.

Softline is a global Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP), providing cloud migration services in all countries of presence. With a wide range of customer support services, Softline helps companies transition to the cloud through all stages of migration. We owe our successful implementations of the projects to its global Azure Global Delivery Center, Azure Expert MSP.

Customers who are looking to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing need trusted partners to help them migrate securely to the cloud, while maximizing protection of their environment and data. Softline takes customers through the journey of deployment services assessing readiness, scope of work and design. Softline plans further infrastructure maintenance in the Azure cloud, providing support services such as monitoring, management, handling security incidents and optimizing the environment.

“Last month, Softline announced its confirmation from Microsoft on achieving Azure advance specialization for Windows Server and SQL Servers Migration to Azure by demonstrating deep knowledge, extensive experience, and proven success in migrating Windows Server and SQL Server-based production workloads to Microsoft Azure.

This month with the Linux and Open Source Databases Migration to Microsoft Azure advanced specialization, Softline has once again proven our deep expertise in migrating production workloads running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or SUSE virtual machines (and/or MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and NoSQL databases in Microsoft Azure, along with extensive experience and proven success.” comments Manoj Kumar, Vice President Cloud Managed Services WW.

Rodney Clarke, Corporate Vice President, Global Channel Sales at Microsoft Corp. added, “The Linux, Open Source Databases to Microsoft Azure advanced specialization highlights the partners who can be viewed as most capable when it comes to migrating workloads running on open source technologies over to Azure. Softline clearly demonstrated that they have both the competency and the experience to offer clients a path to successful migration to the cloud.”

Business World

Softline has earned the Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Microsoft Azure Advanced Specialization

Mar 25, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #a digital transformation and cybersecurity provider, #Softline

LONDON, United Kingdom – March 25, 2021 – In January 2021, Softline, a digital transformation and cybersecurity provider received Microsoft Advanced Specialization for migration of Windows Server and SQL Server to Microsoft Azure.

This global status confirms Softline’s deep knowledge, extensive expertise and proved success in migration to the cloud and in implementing scenarios for migrating client solutions based on Windows Server and SQL Server to Microsoft Azure.

In the unpredictable, ever changing, post Covid-19 environment, customers are looking for trusted partners that can help them safely migrate to the cloud and ensure their environment and data protection. Softline’s capabilities for migration of workloads based on Windows Server and SQL Server to the cloud are available globally in all countries of our presence through the efforts of our global Azure expert MSP team.

As a global solution provider, Softline is committed to helping customers shift into digital transformation through the range of our services offerings. Cloud enablement services enable customer to move through cloud readiness, assessment, design and planning to further maintenance of infrastructure in the Azure cloud through the Softline cloud operations services (including monitoring, management, security incident handling, and environment optimization).

“For many years, Softline has been helping to transform the business of its clients with the help of modern cloud technologies and its own expert team. We are pleased to offer our customers an integrated approach to working with cloud solutions. Receiving the extended specialization “Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Microsoft Azure” from Microsoft is another important step that confirms Softline’s strategic path of digital transformation.” comments Stanislav Chistyakov, Global Azure Business Development Director Softline.

Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner (OCP) at Microsoft Corp. added, “The Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Microsoft Azure advanced specialization proves the partners capabilities when it comes to migrating Windows-based workloads over to Azure. Softline clearly demonstrated that they are proficient and possess global capabilities to offer clients a seamless migration path and on the way on true digital transformation in the cloud”.

Achievement of this specialization compliments Softline’s Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP) status – second consecutive year and further strengthens our strong relationship with Microsoft since 1994.

About Softline Group:

Softline is a leading global Information Technology solutions and services provider focused on emerging markets of Eastern Europe, Americas, and Asia. Softline helps customers achieve digital transformation and protect their business with cybersecurity technologies. Their services include end-to-end technology solutions, public and private clouds, software and hardware provisioning and broad array of associated services.

Softline Group’s consolidated turnover in 2020 exceeded $2 billion US dollars with sales growth 13.2%. Softline has offices in 55 countries and 95+ cities worldwide. With more than 25 years of distinguished history, the Group has managed to grow rapidly while consolidating technology expertise and a business model encompassing all emerging markets.

Business World

Softline wins second place in Microsoft E5 Open Hackathon

Feb 25, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #London, #Softline, #United Kingdom

LONDON, United Kingdom – February 25, 2021 – Microsoft E5 OpenHack is a space that brings together teams of developers and experts to solve several experimental issues that some customers could potentially have, usually caused by cyber-attacks. The E5 Open Hackathon is another competition where Microsoft has dedicated it to the cybersecurity solutions. This time, partners in India and Asia Pacific worked for four days to create a best-in-class security solutions using Azure Sentinel and Azure Security Center.

§ Microsoft 365 is the Company’s premium offering to enable customers to create secure, compliant, and collaborative “Modern Workplaces”.

§ Microsoft relies on their trusted Network of Gold Certified Partners to help customers realize the potential of Microsoft 365 under their specific needs and requirements.

§ The “Microsoft E5 Open Hackathon” is a yearly event meant to accelerate the development of skills in their Partner Ecosystem as well as to showcase some of their most strategic partners in the field within the India and Asia Pacific regions.

§ It being one of Softline’s core strengths, the company presented two teams with member from the Softline India and Vietnam offices whom collaborated to create a cybersecurity solution for a large electronics manufacturer with more than 2000 employees.

§ The challenge was to design a transformation program for the customer’s information security system by experts on Microsoft 365 Defender and Azure Defender technologies as per the Zero Trust model.

§ The competition ended with the jury awarding Softline as the second best winner at the Hackathon

Softline’s team worked remotely with a large electronics manufacturer with over 2,000 employees. Given the context of an ever-changing threat landscape of global cyber-attacks and the lack of knowledge or tools thereof to detect and prevent them, the realised its vulnerability and the need to act and protect its business.

Softline offered the customer to implement a robust cyber-threat transformation program:

  • The first phase included solution areas to strengthen the client’s IT infrastructure without any additional investment.
  • The second phase was to deploy an advanced detection and response system that gathers an indepth analysis of information.
  • The final stage of implementation included an enterprise visualization tool using Azure Sentinel, which in the future will pre-empt and apprise the organization about possible threats and to stay ahead of potential attacks.

“We differentiated our proposed solution by demonstrating how Azure Sentinel’s unique features can revolutionize security operations with an assured support from Softline. For organizations that use cloud and artificial intelligence solutions, we have provided a clear action plan so that they can react quickly and decisively, using both built-in and customizable dashboards if a cyber threat emerges.” explains Atul Ahuja, Vice President Asia. “The way technology is evolving today is really amazing. What used to be a long time-consuming task, can now be done in minutes and it keeps improving every second. I’m really proud to say that we’ve received the second-best position at the Hackathon, it clearly demonstrate that we are not just only one of the best and most reliable Microsoft partners in Asia but also that we also have built extensive capabilities in some of the cutting edge technologies that keeps us ahead.”

Business World, News

Softline Group & Softline AG join forces to grow internationally

Dec 15, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Chairman, #Igor Borovikov, #President Softline International, #Roy Harding, #Softline, #Softline AG, #Softline Group

LEIPZIG, MOSCOW : Softline Group, a leading global IT solutions and services provider operating in more than 50+ countries, has acquired a share of 63,38 percent of Softline AG, an international IT consulting company focusing on Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM), Cloud and Future Datacenter, Information- and IT-Security, as well as Digital Workplace. Both parties expect the transfer of the shares (closing) to be completed by 31 March 2021.

Softline Group and Softline AG were not associated before acquisition.

Sharing the same name, Softline AG is a very successful IT consulting and Services business with operations in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. With over 200 IT consultants, they have an enviable reputation and presence in the Gartner leadership quadrants for SAM and managed services. This represents a significant step for Softline Group in establishing a presence in Western Europe to enhance and grow their international reputation and presence.

Softline AG’s consulting capabilities in Software Asset Management and related areas are essential for the management of cloud and increasingly complex software licensing. Their approach helps procurement and vendor management leaders to evaluate and identify tools and strategies that effectively manage and support IT.

Igor Borovikov, Chairman of Softline, said, “we are very excited about the new approach with Softline AG, it provides access to substantial expertise and skills that combined with our Go To Market Sales coverage around the world offers huge growth opportunities for the two companies.  It is an important strategic step into Europe and the Globalisation of our business”.

“Softline Group is an internationally active IT service company with approx. 4,000 employees, which not only understands our business, but is also successfully active in over 50 countries worldwide. The future access to the regions, markets, and customers of Softline Group provides us with completely new growth and development opportunities based on our expertise and experience, especially in our core portfolio areas SAM and ITAM, Cloud, IT-Security and Digital Workplace. We are valued for our extensive expertise and experience, particularly in the area of Software Asset Management but also in our other core portfolio elements. We will continue with the execution of our three-year plan that started in 2020, now with even more potential for joint international growth and a high probability of overachieving our plans set for the future”, says Martin Schaletzky, CEO of Softline AG.

“Our opportunity is to leverage Softline AG’s Subject Matter Experts and Pre-Sales support to underpin Softline Go To Market strengths in our International business (in Eastern Europe, APAC, India and LATAM) in order to expand and grow our consulting and professional services capabilities. “We look forward to collaborating with the Softline AG leadership team to take full advantage of the growth we see in SAM and related Services worldwide”, Roy Harding, President Softline International.

Business World

Softline Confirmed 99.982 % Availability of Cloud Services

Dec 14, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #London, #Softline, #United Kingdom

LONDON, United Kingdom: Uptime Institute has yet again certified the data centers hosting Softline cloud as Tier 3.

The combined audit has confirmed the data centers availability at 99.982 %, thus the annual downtime will not exceed 1 hour 35 minutes. Aiming at the best market offering for its customers, Softline both gives transparent SLA based on these high availability figures and provides the financial assurance of strict compliance. With its unique industry expertise, Softline is confident of the quality and reliability of its cloud solutions and services.

Softline is developing its cloud business with success, while also expanding and improving its customer interfaces. Providing corporate clients from various sectors of economy with proprietary cloud services that can solve almost any IT problem, the company arranges each project to be accompanied with a service level agreement, SLA. The SLA terms are unique to the Russian high-tech market. The maximum potential downtime of the data center infrastructure is 1 hour 35 minutes per year, which corresponds to the availability index of 99.982 %. In addition, Softline provides the market-best financial assurance for strict compliance with all SLAs. This approach helps the company to provide the fullest satisfaction for the customers who need a resilient and cost-effective IT infrastructure.

Broad capabilities of SLAs result from the top industry expertise of Softline, unreachable for its competitors. Today, Softline cloud offers the best performance in the market. The solution is built on the certified FlexPod platform based on server and network equipment from Cisco, Dell, HP, NetApp storage systems, and VMware software. The cloud is an ideal fit for hosting application servers and databases, creating the test and development environments, simplifying the distributed infrastructure management systems, and implementing high-load web projects.

Softline cloud is based on Tier 3 data centers, including Ixcellerate Moscow One and DataLine datacenters. In addition to the redundancy of critical nodes, the Tier 3 standard means that service and maintenance can be performed without disruptions to the process equipment. According to the results of an audit recently conducted by Uptime Institute, all data centers hosting Softline hardware have confirmed compliance with Tier 3 with the availability at 99.982 %. These are the values used by Softline in its SLAs. The company has a skilled team for each software and hardware item for fast response to any customer requests within the framework of this agreement.

Softline offers its customers the geo-distributed cloud deployed based on two data centers in Moscow and four more data centers distributed in other regions. In this case, the IT infrastructure will be mirrored on two sites. If one data center fails, the infrastructure will still be functional at another site. With this approach the SLA can reach the index of 99.99999 %.

The geo-distributed cloud will be an ideal choice for companies specializing in e-commerce, streaming services, communication services, etc. For example, to arrange the uninterrupted operation of several systems, “Sim Telecom” mobile operator had to deploy the Active-Active replication requiring two data centers. The purpose of the second data center was to provide fault tolerance for those business processes which do not require the Active-Active cluster, but need the switchover time to a backup site within 30 minutes. “Sim Telecom” asked Softline to help solving this problem. With the help of the company’s experts, the customer got capacities in two data centers at once, thus arranging an extended cluster. Projects like this are technically sophisticated and unique to the Russian cloud market. Their successful implementation highlights the long-term industry experience of Softline, attractive terms of cooperation and high service quality.

“Today Softline is the obvious leader in the Russian cloud services market. None of our competitors can offer the expertise that we have accrued over the years of hard work. Close cooperation with vendors, our team of experts for each software and hardware item, our products and services that make a difference in terms of cost, quality and functionality — all these factors mean that we can offer exclusive SLA terms for our customers. Besides, we are financially responsible for the availability and reliability of our cloud services to each customer. And that’s our unique advantage,” says Boris Shoykhet, Head of the Cloud Solutions at Softline Cloud Technologies Department, about the company’s approach to SLAs.

Business World

Softline with the highest Number of New SMB Customers among Kaspersky Lab Partners in 2019

Nov 18, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #cybersecurity, #Evgeny Ponomarev, #Kaspersky Lab, #SMB Customers, #Softline

Softline has received an award from Kaspersky Lab in the category Leader for the Number of SMB customers in 2019.

This October, Kaspersky Lab held their XIVth annual partner conference, Efficient Collaboration. Softline was awarded as Leader for the Number of SMB customers in 2019. The history of cooperation between Softline and Kaspersky Lab—a globally acclaimed leader in terms of cybersecurity and anti-malware—goes back over 20 years. Over this time, Softline has become one of the top three Russian information security companies and received many prestigious awards from Kaspersky Lab in various categories, including for consistent work in all regions of Russia.

The pace of digital transformation is increasing in all business areas. Cybersecurity teams are expected to guarantee the protection of all corporate sites and offices in a short amount of time. At the same time, corporate executives are tending to optimise cybersecurity budgets and want to make them more predictable. These trends create not only new challenges for modern businesses but also new opportunities for organisations that are ready for change. Softline keeps its solution and service portfolio in line with the relevant trends and expands it with new solutions from Kaspersky Lab that cover the entire cybersecurity perimeter and ensure maximum infrastructure protection from all types of cyberthreats. Softline successfully promotes its partner’s products and helps Kaspersky Lab fulfil its mission to create a secure digital space.

“Softline has been cooperating with Kaspersky Lab since the day our company was founded. We are proud of being one of its best-performing vendor partners, demonstrated by the awards that we regularly receive. Softline has been working actively to engage new customers, not only in Russia but also abroad. Ensuring data safety and business continuity has become the most relevant task for SMB customers. Softline has put a lot of effort into raising customer awareness of various types of threat and preparing special offers and promotional campaigns for vendor products. We will do our best to continue protecting our customers with Kaspersky Lab products of the highest quality. We are confident that we will be able to achieve many victories in the future, including in the Enterprise category,”—says Evgeny Ponomarev, Head of Softline’s Kaspersky Channel Sales Group.