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Pennine says voice-only VARs face ruin as it embraces IT services

VAR says traditional telecom suppliers' 'days are numbered' as it rebrands from old Penine Telecom moniker

Pennine Telecom has rebranded as Pennine as it launches its cloud and IT services solutions.

The VAR has rebranded in its 40th year in business as it moves its focus to wider IT solutions rather than just telecoms solutions.

Pennine's managing director Andrew Roberts said the rebrand came after ten years of having to explain to people that it doesn't just do telecoms solutions.

"I believe there is only going to be one incumbent to customers, whereas now there are two: a telecom provider and an IT provider."

He said: "We should probably have done it 15 years ago. For the last ten years people have been asking, ‘what's your name and what do you do?' I have to say ‘we're called Pennine Telecom but we don't just do telecoms and we are not just based in the Pennines'.

"We want to do more than the telecoms bit. The idea was to create a brand that explains a bit more about all the things we do."

The company has branched out with the aim of being a "one-stop shop", selling desktop services, servers, virtualisation and hardware, as well as its traditional unified communications and radio solutions.

"We've got capability already but we've not been actively selling to our customers," explained Roberts. "We have just taken on a new head of IT services and we are launching those services right now. We don't want to lose any of our traditional skills, we want to add additional skills on top to provide the full wrap service to the customer."

The rebranded company will comprise five divisions, with the existing Pennine Unified, Pennine Mobile and Pennine Radio being joined by Pennine Cloud and Pennine IT Services.

Roberts added: "I believe there is only going to be one incumbent to customers, whereas now there are two: a telecom provider and an IT provider. So we have to adopt the services the customer wants. Companies that just rely on traditional telecoms, their days are numbered to be honest. The IT guys are going to take over that market if they don't adapt and move with the times."

The rebrand includes a new website, which Pennine's marketing manager Belinda McGee (pictured above) said gives the company "more of a corporate feel."

She said: "The ‘we are Pennine' strapline makes it sound like we are all in this together, and we are more of a corporate company than sub divisions, like we have been in the past. The new website brings it all together under one umbrella."

Pennine was founded in 1976, starting its life as a radio servicing company before branching into telecoms in the 1980's. Roberts said the company has undergone many changes since its inception as it tries to keep up with the pace of technology.

He explained: "Every ten years we have to reinvent ourselves and re-educate ourselves on the new technologies out there. We have a lot of work to do over the next two years to make [the rebrand] a success and grow the business. We are always looking out for new products and services, and I think we could see a lot of growth in video in the next couple of years."

Distinguished analyst at Freeform Dynamics, Tony Lock, said that he agrees with Roberts that end users are looking to consolidate their supply chains, but he still thinks traditional telco providers have a place in the market.

He explained: "It's certainly the case that some end-customer companies are looking to simplify the number of supplier relationships they have and there is a very clear synergy there in terms of networking and telecoms.

"But traditional telcos still have a place because people still use the telephone, whether you include your communications network or not. For most people they are one and the same. But I still think traditional telcos will exist. Whether they need to provide other services on top is a different question, but I still think people will be in the market to buy traditional voice and network equipment as standalones."