Centerprise get musical with support for local Rotary Club Concert

The annual Basingstoke Deane Rotary Club Charity Concert was a huge success last weekend. On the 30th January, the Band of her Majesty’s Royal Marines performed to a packed audience at The Anvil theatre in Basingstoke.

The Rotary Club is involved in supporting a range of local charities and the concert is a key date in their fundraising calendar. This year, the majority of the proceeds went to the Ark Cancer Charity, who Centerprise have and will be supporting throughout 2016. As the headline sponsor, Centerprise’s chairman Rafi Razzak, who has supported the Rotary Concert for many years, was amongst the memorized spectators.

At a special on stage presentation, the charity’s trustee Merv Reeves thanked Rafi for his long standing support of the charity, as well the fundraising efforts of the Centerprise staff.

As the main beneficiary of the concert, The Ark Cancer Charity received a whopping £10,000 in support of their efforts to build a new state-of-the-art cancer facility in Basingstoke. This unique local cancer treatment centre that will help and support people in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust area.

The Ark Cancer Centre Charity is now well on the way to achieving their £5 million appeal as the Rotary contribution enabled them to reach the £1 million benchmark! 

For more information on the Ark Cancer Charity, please click here

Keep an eye out for the fundraising we'll be doing over the next few months, we'll let you know how you could get involved! 

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Centerprise International and E4 Computer Engineering Announce Strategic Partnership

Centerprise have partnered with E4 in order to increase its range of high-performance computing (HPC) and data center products devoted to manufacturing, academia and Big Data markets.  

Centerprise International (Ci), one of the largest and most acknowledged UK IT providers, has announced today a collaboration with E4 Computer Engineering. The Italian leading manufacturer of High Performance systems has extensive experience in designing, building and marketing HPC and data center solutions for prestigious research centers as well as for large business enterprises. 

This partnership will be mutually beneficial to both Centerprise and E4.  Ci will have the opportunity to expand its product portfolio with innovative solutions aimed at the research, defence, higher education and more generally Big Data markets. It will also enable E4 to expand on their presence within the UK.

Jeremy Nash, Centerprise Sales Director said;

“This is an exciting development for both companies, as it combines the specialist knowledge of E4 in the field of high performance computing with our considerable experience in building quality, customized hardware solutions and our expansive reach in the UK IT channel.” 

Vincenzo Nuti, CEO of E4 Computer Engineering continued;

“We are delighted to be working so closely with a professional company like Centerprise as we are confident the synergy will deliver outstanding results across various industries that require powerful and performing computational solutions." 

To mark the beginning of the collaboration, on 4 February, CI and E4 are co-exhibiting at High Performance Computing & Big Data UK, where they will host 2 seminars dedicated to HPC Trends and Future Challenges.

Piero Altoè, Marketing & Business Development Manager at E4 Computer Engineering, will focus on the current solutions that have been designed and engineered and give insight into how these solutions can be implemented within general purpose HPC clusters. 

There will also be an opportunity to hear examples of vertical solutions to solve computational requirements from acclaimed computing systems including:

- ARMv8 in combination with GPU accelerators, and
- 4’s accelerated OpenPOWER platform

For more info on how to join the event, visit the seminar page

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Centerprise Awarded 8 Lots on NPS Framework, Expanding Presence in Wales

On the 3 December Centerprise International secured a whopping 8 Lots on the National Procurement Service (NPS) IT Products and Services Framework Agreement that serves as a procurement platform for public sector bodies in Wales.

This is the first time Centerprise International has had a presence on a Welsh framework.

Centerprise Production Facility, Caerphilly

We have a history of serving the Welsh community for 10 years with a modern IT production facility in Caerphilly, South Wales. It has played a crucial part in the Company’s success to date, particularly its hardware design, build and custom configuration capabilities. These will be utilised to deliver the requirements the NPS Framework and particularly Lot 4, where Centerprise will be able to build their own End User Devices as well as configuring those of their partners.

Centerprise is confident that its significant presence on the Framework will drive considerable demand through its factory, which in turn will enable the company to contribute further to the wider Welsh community by enhancing the local supply chain it has established over recent years.

Centerprise Sales Director, Jeremy Nash said,

“Centerprise is extremely pleased with being awarded a position on multiple Lots and we are looking forward to using the Framework Agreement to build on our existing relationship with the Welsh Public Sector and further enhancing our investment into Wales”

The Framework was set up by the NPS to provide value for money in the procurement of a range of IT products, from commercial off the shelf (COTS) software to audio visual solutions. The scope of the Framework provides Centerprise with a multi-channel approach to the market.

Centerprise was awarded a position on the following Lots:

Lot 1: Desktop Software and Associated Products and Service

Lot 4: End User Hardware and Associated Product and Services

Lot 7: Network Equipment and Associated Product and Services

Lot 9a: Audio Visual Equipment and Associated Products and Services (South Wales)

Lot 9b: Audio Visual Equipment and Associated Products and Services (Mid and West Wales)

Lot 9c: Audio Visual Equipment and Associated Products and Services (North Wales)

Lot 10: Education End User Devices and Associated Services

Lot 11: Peripherals and Ancillary Products

Centerprise was awarded 8 lots, which is the second largest majority out of the total number of companies who tendered. This is largely attributable to strong vendor partnerships and its extensive experience as long-standing OEM and VAR. Centerprise boasts expertise in both standard and custom hardware, and is a leading provider of managed services.

The company has over 30 years’ experience in the complexities of public sector procurement and employs specialist account managers experienced in a range of sectors inducing defence, healthcare, education, emergency services and local authorities.

The Company continues to grow from strength to strength, positioning them strongly to cater for the needs and objectives of the Welsh and wider UK public sector. 

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Sharon Sheds Her Locks to Kick off Year of Fundraising

Our very own Sharon Allen went for a bold new look for Christmas - and it's really paid off, as she has raised thousands of pounds for good causes.

Sharon is Group Finance Director at award-winning, Basingstoke-based Centerprise International, and both she and colleagues have pledged to use their fundraising muscle to support three charities over the next 12 months - Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Help for Heroes, and MCCH, which helps people to manage mental well-being challenges.

To get the fundraising ball rolling, Sharon decided to lose her locks in time for Christmas - and her brave feat has paid dividends for charities.

The donations came pouring in, and by the time the scissors and clipper were wielded on December 23rd, Sharon had raised more than £5,700 in online and offline donations, and has every hope that the final figure will top £6,000.

Sharon's purple and pink locks were lopped off in front of colleagues at the company's Hampshire International Business Park headquarters in Chineham.

The hair was sent tumbling thanks to some snipping and clipping by Centerprise International Chairman, Rafi Razzak, Group HR and Support Director, Sam Lailey, and Dave Taylor, from the Systems Integrators team.

Sharon said:
"I am staggered and blown away by the support that I have received from family, friends and work colleagues. I was hoping to raise £500, so to raise well over £5,000 already is amazing."

Just before Sharon's fundraising haircut, Director of Fundraising and Communications for Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Mark Jones, gave a talk to the Centerprise team about the charity, which is raising £5 million towards a cancer treatment centre that will help and support people in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust area.

Mark Jones stated:
"The Ark Cancer Centre Charity team are so grateful for the support of the staff at Centerprise International. The commitment and involvement of the 150-strong team will really help to raise awareness of the cancer treatment centre project as well as funds for the charity appeal."

The £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a calm and uplifting environment.

The new centre is earmarked for a location in the Basingstoke and Deane area, and if the preferred site near to Junction 7 of the M3 is approved, it will be easily accessible to everyone in the HFFT region. The centre is scheduled to open at the end of 2018.

For more information about the fantastic charities Centerprise is supporting:
The Ark Cancer Charity http://www.arkcancercharity.org.uk/
MCCH http://www.mcch.org.uk/
Help for Heroes http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

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Super support from Centerprise International for Ark Cancer Centre Charity

Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees (front, second right) and Mark Jones, Ark Cancer Centre Charity Director of Fundraising and Communications (front, second left) with members of the Centerprise team, including chairman Rafi Razzak (front centre). 

STAFF at award-winning Basingstoke-based Centerprise International have pledged to use their money-raising muscle to help fund a unique local cancer treatment centre.

Employees at the top-performing IT company, based on Hampshire International Business Park in Chineham, have voted to support three charities in 2016 – and 80 per cent of their fundraising will go to Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

The charity is raising £5million towards a cancer treatment centre that will help and support people in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) area. 

The £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a calm and uplifting environment.

The new centre is earmarked for a location in the Basingstoke and Deane area, and if the preferred site near to Junction 7 of the M3 is approved, it will be easily accessible to everyone in the HHFT region. The centre is scheduled to open at the end of 2018.

Sam Lailey, Group HR and Support Director at Centerprise International, said the company’s charity committee and staff will be delighted to support Ark Cancer Centre Charity, Help for Heroes, and MCCH, which helps people to manage mental wellbeing challenges, during 2016. 

Sam said: “These are three very good causes, and the team are looking forward to taking on various fundraising activities to support them.”

Group Finance Director Sharon Allen will be kicking off the fundraising for Ark Cancer Centre Charity in a big way when she loses her locks for Christmas by taking part in a sponsored head-shave on December 23.

Sharon, who has already drummed up more than £4,000 in sponsorship support, said: “I'm never going to climb a mountain or run a marathon but I can do this simple thing to raise money for a fantastic charity.”  

To mark the launch of Centerprise’s year of fundraising, Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees visited the company’s offices to thank chairman Rafi Razzak and his staff for their support, and to tell them more about the charity and cancer treatment centre project.

Merv said: “I am very grateful to the Centerprise team for choosing Ark Cancer Centre Charity as one of their good causes to raise money for in 2016. This significant show of support will help to raise vital awareness of, and funds for, the charity appeal and cancer centre project.”  

For more information about the Ark Cancer Centre Charity, please visit: www.arkcancercharity.org.uk

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Rafi Razzak on System Builders & Ci 2015 Revenue Spike

What was the key to FY15’s massive profit increase?

Moving more towards service delivery helped improve the profit margin a lot, and we were much more focused on our own products.

The UK system builder space has had an up-and-down few years. How have you prospered?

The market seems to be right for bespoke manufacturing, and we are seeing far less competition there than ever. We see customers with a requirement for hardware and services with a tailored approach, rather than a corporate approach. Now the customer is much more careful in terms of specifying their exact requirements.

Your background is as a public sector specialist – how much have you evolved?

We moved into high-end workstations with BOXX Technologies, as well as our own products, and that has taken us more into the private sector. In both the private and public sector we are seeing that customers are not just buying because of the brand, but because of the specification and what their needs are.

Where does the cloud fit into your plans?

I heard a good analogy about this: If you are going to London for two nights, you book a hotel. If it is six months, you rent a flat. If it is two years, you buy a house. That explains how the cloud can sometimes be a shorter-term solution, rather than a long-term one. There is definitely a place for it, but it is not the be-all and end-all. It will definitely be a hybrid world.

Ci VAR overview from CRN :

The Hampshire-based VAR and system builder’s turnover was relatively flat in FY15, but net profit spiked more than threefold to £1.9m. The company claimed it enjoyed significant success during the year in winning service-delivery contracts, and the aim for 2016 is to grow its cloud business. It is also hoping its distribution agreement with BOXX Technologies will give it a leg-up into providing high-end workstations into the media market.

Content credit to the chairman & channelweb.co.uk

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Centerprise Distribution get ‘Tuff’ on Screen Protection

Centerprise will now be delivering expert screen protection in collaboration with Tuffscreen, specialist in industrial strength screen protection for all electronic devices.  

This new addition to Ci Distribution’s ever expanding portfolio is on point with their overall mission for 2016: to become the number 1 for rugged tech in the UK.

Tuffscreen screen protectors are a purpose-designed industrial strength screen protection solution.  They are made from an impact absorbing gel layer which is chemically bonded to a scratch and abrasion-resistant hard sheet which helps to eliminate all causes of screen damage. 

Damage to the screens of electronic devices is costing companies across the industrial spectrum on a daily basis, costing an average £100 pounds to replace each time. As people become more reliant on these devices for their operations, Tuffscreen screen protectors deliver a simple and effective solution to this problem.

As partners, Ci and Tuffscreen are able to facilitate the productivity and mobility of commercial markets whose devices need extra protection. A Tuffscreen can make devices up to 7.6 times stronger and so adds to the workflow of many organisations.

Tuffscreens can be supplied with a wide range of cases to suit your device and requirements. Custom case and charging solutions can also be developed to provide a full solution to device vulnerability and help to solve the costly problems of downtime and repair caused by screen damage.

Emma Loveless, Business Manager at Centerprise said;

“As a result of this partnership, not only can we offer fully rugged solutions, but also give resellers the option to make their ordinary tech stronger and less vulnerable to superficial damage, reducing the TCO for their customers” 

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