Latest news with #Ready
Channel Post MEA
2 days ago
- Business
- Channel Post MEA
Westcon-Comstor Empowers Partners To Excel In Evolving Digital Landscape
Rakesh Parbhoo, Executive Vice President, Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Westcon-Comstor shares insights into the strategies and initiatives the company, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, is adopting to empower its partners. He also explains how distributors are redefining value and differentiation to stay relevant in the backdrop of growth of hyperscaler marketplaces. How would you describe the constantly evolving landscape of distribution (Global and the Middle East And Africa)? For me, both globally and regionally we're at one of the most exciting and transformative points in the history of distribution and the channel more broadly. As cloud and AI revolutionise how businesses operate, and with the shift to recurring revenue models based on software, services and subscriptions, we at Westcon-Comstor feel better placed than ever to add value to partners and vendors. I believe that, in 2025, distributors are probably more accurately described as solution architects, technology aggregators and growth enablers. Our role today is to unlock new opportunities for partners and vendors, helping them navigate a changing market and new technologies through our value-added services and our data-driven approach. In my opinion, distribution has never occupied such a central and strategic role in the channel and the wider technology ecosystem. What are some of the challenges are you facing today and how do you intend to overcome them? Like every international business, we are keeping a close eye on the global macroeconomic picture and international trading conditions. At Westcon-Comstor we believe distribution has an important role to play in helping partners and vendors navigate change, particularly in times of economic uncertainty, and this is something we're committed to delivering on. As a distributor it's our responsibility to consistently demonstrate to partners and vendors the value we add. I'm not sure I'd describe this as a challenge, but it's certainly something we're mindful of at all levels of the business – hence our mantra of 'partner success, it's what we do'. This focusing on demonstrating value was also the rationale for our Future Ready initiative, which we launched in June to mark our 40th birthday as a business. The Future Ready initiative will see us explore key trends that are reshaping the channel through research, interviews with partners and vendors and insights from channel leaders, the aim being to enable partners and vendors to stay ahead of rapid technological change and evolving market dynamics. In terms of commercials, one trend we're seeing is a greater emphasis amongst vendors on us generating and evidencing distribution-led business, namely deals and transactions in which we have played a leading role. This is a big focus for us moving forward. Given the steady rise of B2B and B2C e-commerce, which direction is distribution heading? Distribution and the user journey around how partners and vendors engage with us is increasingly digital. Westcon-Comstor's PartnerCentral marketplace, for example, enables partners to discover, compare, procure and manage multi-vendor solutions in a frictionless and efficient self-service experience. PartnerCentral simplifies the procurement and management of recurring subscription and as-a-service offers at scale, making it easier to provide these to end customers. A key strength of e-commerce platforms is of course the immensely valuable data they bring, and this is an area where we're particularly proud of our capabilities at Westcon-Comstor. On the one hand we have Intelligent Demand, our proprietary, insights-driven lead generation programme that utilises predictive analytics to drive growth, enhance customer lifetime value and identify new markets for partners and vendors. We also have Partner Insights, which sits within PartnerCentral and allows partners to monitor key performance metrics, embedding a data-driven approach to performance analysis. Key use cases include the ability to monitor how hardware versus software and services spend with Westcon-Comstor is evolving over time. Partners can also compare growth and performance by vendor against industry benchmarks. What best can be done to ensure sustainable channel business and decent margins? Services is a high-growth, high-margin area that we are targeting as an area of focus for us and our partners over the next year and beyond. More broadly the shift to lifecycle selling and recurring revenue models is helping to ensure the long-term sustainability and viability of channel businesses. In our latest financial year recurring sales – for example from software and services – represented 66% of gross sales, up from 60% the previous year, as we evolve in line with the transformation journey being pursued by our partners and vendors. Distribution was historically a low-margin industry but as the sophistication of our offering grows we have an opportunity to change this by delivering ever-greater value. In the backdrop of growth of hyperscaler marketplaces, how are distributors redefining value and differentiation to stay relevant in the rapidly changing IT landscape. I'm proud to say that we recognised the strategic significance of this trend early, which is why last year we led the way in distribution with the launch of our AWS Marketplace programme. Based on the AWS Designated Seller of Record (DSOR) model, our programme unlocks new growth opportunities for partners by providing a streamlined and simplified route to transacting on AWS Marketplace – enabling them to sell where their customers want to buy. By harnessing the programme, partners can purchase and sell vendors' software solutions from Westcon-Comstor via private AWS Marketplace listings and sell directly to their customers in a frictionless, end-to-end process entirely within AWS Marketplace. Partners can access our advisory services and are supported by a dedicated team of specialists in the Middle East and beyond. The new team is focused purely on enabling partners to grow their AWS Marketplace business. Meanwhile the programme allows participating vendors including Check Point Software, Cisco, CrowdStrike, F5, Infoblox, Juniper Networks, Vectra AI and Zscaler to rapidly scale their cloud marketplace business. Our programme is empowering partners to win new customers and grow revenue with existing customers by seizing the AWS Marketplace opportunity, while securing the role of the channel in the cloud marketplace economy. Distribution is changing, and by using our expertise to help partners and vendors to maximise their AWS Marketplace growth we're showing the central, strategic role that we as a distributor play in today's technology ecosystem. Recently your Cisco-specialist arm, Comstor, launched a white-label managed SOC service for Cisco partners. What was the rationale behind the launch? The driver for the launch was partner demand. Many of our Cisco partners have been asking for this and we're really excited about announcing its availability. The opportunity in this space for partners is huge. The managed XDR (Extended Detection and Response) market is set to be worth between $8 billion and $10 billion by 2030 in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) alone, as end-user businesses seek more comprehensive threat detection and response solutions to ensure compliance while handling an increasing volume of security alerts and growing attack surfaces. Establishing a SOC involves significant initial investment and ongoing annualised costs. By deploying the Managed XDR SOC from Comstor, Cisco partners can save on these costs while sidestepping the technical and operational challenges associated with SOC development and maintenance, which can typically run to millions of dollars. This is the first managed SOC offering launched by Westcon-Comstor and the first to utilise Cisco XDR.
India Today
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Zareen Khan slams trolls for age-shaming: Will marriage make me young again?
Actor Zareen Khan recently shut down an ageist troll in the most epic way. After a user commented on one of her Instagram posts saying, 'Shaadi kar lo, buddhi ho rahi ho' (Get married, you're getting old), Khan posted a video calling out the regressive mindset. She questioned why marriage is often seen as the solution to every problem in life, especially for women, and delivered a strong message against societal the video, the 'Ready' actor said, 'Lately maine comments read kiye apne posts pe. Aur ek comment hai jo bohot zyada stand out kiya -'Shaadi kar lo buddhi ho rahi ho.' Toh kya shaadi karne ke baad main fir se jawan ho jaungi? (Recently, I was reading the comments on my posts, and one comment really stood out — 'Get married, you're getting old.' So if I get married, will I become young again?) What does this even mean?' (laughs)Taking her point further, she added, 'I don't know if this mindset exists only in our country or if it's a universal problem, but somehow marriage seems to be the ultimate solution for everything.' Watch the video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zareen Khan (@zareenkhan)Khan didn't hold back as she slammed the way families often treat marriage as a fix for everything, whether someone is unemployed, aimless, or simply becoming 'too independent.''I mean, how is that a solution? A person who can't even take responsibility for their own life - you want to add another person to that mess? Then they'll end up ruining not only their own life but the other person's too. And if a boy or girl is becoming too independent, or 'out of control' as they say in our society, the parents' biggest fear is: 'She's slipping out of our hands.' And again, the fix is: 'Get her married,'' she concluded her fiery reply by questioning if marriage is some kind of miracle. 'Is marriage some kind of magic? Like once you're married, everything will just fall into place? Because from what I see these days, most marriages don't even last beyond 2–3 months. So no, I definitely don't think marriage is the solution to every problem.'Zareen Khan, who debuted with Salman Khan's 'Veer' in 2010, was last seen in 'Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele' in 2021.- EndsMust Watch
Scottish Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
BBC star reveals shock plans to leave TV as he reveals major career move
CELEBRITY chef Nick Nairn revealed he's swapped pans for pots — to plant and grow his own produce. The famous cook, who spent 30 years in showbiz, said he doesn't miss a TV career. 4 Nick Nairn is focusing on his gardening. Credit: Andrew Barr 4 He's taken a step back from TV work. Credit: Andrew Barr 4 The cook school has been training chefs for 25 years. Credit: Andrew Barr 4 The TV star teaches two classes a week. Credit: Andrew Barr And he admitted: 'If I never stood in front of a camera again, it wouldn't bother me.' Nick, who found fame on Ready, Steady Cook and Wild Harvest in the mid-90s, suffered a bitter blow when his Nairn's restaurant in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, closed last year. But as part of his lifestyle overhaul, he is now reinvesting in his famous cook school and ploughing his efforts into cultivating his own ingredients. Nick — who co-hosted The Great Food Guys with Dougie Vipond for four series until 2021 and often guested on pal James Martin's shows, including STV's Saturday Morning — says: 'When I was younger, I was ambitious. I liked the money. 'I liked the fame. I liked the whole lifestyle thing. But my whole philosophy has changed. I've been there and done it and honestly, if I never stood in front of a camera again, it wouldn't bother me. 'Because there's a huge amount of time travelling and hanging about with television. Don't get me wrong, I was very lucky. 'Filming's taken me all over the world to Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada, and I've enjoyed it immensely, but I'm 66 now. I'm an old age pensioner. 'So now I do three days a week in my garden and two classes a week in my cook school and I absolutely love it.' Former merchant seaman Nick, from Port of Menteith, Stirlingshire, couldn't even boil an egg until he was 24. But he taught himself to cook on a four-ring electric stove before going into the hospitality trade in 1986. He earned his first coveted Michelin star in 1991, at the age of 31, making him the youngest Scots chef to be awarded the culinary accolade at the time. In 2000, he opened the Nick Nairn Cook School by the Lake of Menteith, which boomed when financial institutions started using it for team-building exercises. But his first major crisis struck with the credit crunch in 2008, as panic in the banking markets swept the globe. 'Devastated' Gregg Wallace FIRED by BBC over MasterChef sexual comments He recalls: 'We're fully booked for six months ahead, and the next minute the phone was going every five seconds with companies cancelling their bookings.' Unperturbed, Nick decided to branch out and open a second cook school in Aberdeen in 2012. He ploughed hundreds of thousands of pounds into the venture, later opening Nick's Pizza Bar in the Granite City, too. He says: 'Aberdeen was still very buoyant as oil and gas was doing really well. 'But opening the cook school was a lot of hard work and business was slow to start with. 'Then it really took off in 2013 and we had two amazing years where we were packed out seven days a week. 'Of course, in 2015 we had the oil price crash. Oil went from $110 to $28 a barrel overnight, and our businesses came to a shuddering halt.' But worse followed in 2017, when Nick was injured in a street attack by oil worker Scott Smith. Thug Smith was later fined £900 after admitting the assault, which left Nick with two black eyes and a bloody nose. He says: 'As well as getting assaulted by some drunk in the street, I then tripped in a hotel and broke my ankle and finger.' The chef decided to make a real go of the restaurant business, opening Nick's in Bridge of Allan in February 2020 — a month before Covid saw the entire world grind to a halt. Then, in August 2021, a faulty fryer caused a huge blaze in the packed restaurant, gutting the premises. Incredibly, no one was hurt. Nick, who lives with his third wife Julia, explains: 'One of the chefs screamed, 'Get out'. 'I think everybody thought it was a terrorist attack, so they jumped up and left their phones and coats. 'I was cooking in Port of Menteith so my wife headed off to Bridge of Allan. She could see a big plume of smoke from miles away — that was literally our business going up in smoke.' After a full refurbishment, Nick's reopened as Nairn's in July 2023. The whole sorry saga ended last year amid an alleged 'bitter row' with the restaurant's landlord. Amid the upheaval, Nick's Port of Menteith cook school had also flooded in 2021. So it's little wonder the chef is enjoying a quieter life. He is focusing on his beloved first cook school, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Nick, who also runs The Kailyard in Hilton's Dunblane Hydro, says: 'Everything has come full circle. I'd almost become a full-time telly chef and my work took me away from home a lot of the time. 'But Lake of Menteith is kind of like paradise. I have a big polytunnel covering 100 square metres and I have my raised beds outside and just love growing my own produce. 'We cook everything from scratch. I love it. TV got in the way of this before, but it won't again.' For more information on Nick Nairn's Cook School or restaurant, visit
Cision Canada
7 days ago
- Politics
- Cision Canada
Statement from Minister Olszewski regarding wildfires in Saskatchewan Français
OTTAWA, ON, /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, issued the following statement: "The wildfires currently burning across the province of Saskatchewan continue to pose a significant risk to many communities, some of which have been ordered to evacuate. Today, in my capacity as Minister of Emergency Management, I approved a Request for Federal Assistance from the Government of Saskatchewan. We will be providing Saskatchewan with additional firefighters to mitigate the wildfires, and helicopters to transport critical personnel. The Government Operations Centre is working with the Canadian Armed Forces, and other federal and provincial partners, to deploy all necessary resources, and ensure the province of Saskatchewan has the support needed. I am truly grateful to the firefighters, first responders, emergency management officials, and local volunteers for their unwavering dedication in helping those affected by the wildfires. I remain in close contact with my counterpart in Saskatchewan. During these difficult times, we are here and ready to support." Associated Links Stay Connected Follow Public Safety Canada on X, LinkedIn and YouTube Follow Get Prepared on X Follow Emergency Ready in Canada on Facebook
India.com
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
This actress married a Muslim against her family's wishes, brother of superstar, then made serious allegations against him, Salman Khan came to support; She is…
Remember Eva Grover? She appeared in the film Ready alongside Salman Khan and was a popular face in both films and television. However, Eva Grover's personal life was quite painful. She eloped and married Aamir Khan's stepbrother, Haider Ali Khan, as their families were against the relationship. After marrying a Muslim, Eva experienced hardships that led her to regret the decision. She later made serious allegations against her husband. Eva was Hindu and Haider was Muslim; the family was against the relationship. Eva Grover and Haider Ali Khan's failed marriage Eva Grover had described her marriage as abusive in the 'Coffee Unfiltered' podcast and said that she had suffered a lot in that marriage. She said, 'We eloped and got married in just 18 days. My mother didn't want me to marry him because it was an interfaith relationship. But by the fourth day, I realised marriage wasn't what I thought it would be.' Grover did her best to save her marriage and even had a child, hoping things would be better, but nothing worked out. She added that he wasn't mature enough to handle a marriage. She stated, 'The divorce thankfully happened, my daughter lived with me till she was 3 years old. One day I came back from shoot and asked my mother where my daughter was and she said she gave her to her father. I lost my daughter and didn't get to see her for 10 years. She now lives with her aunt. I meet her occasionally and have stayed with her. I tried to financially support my in-laws also. But at that time, I was going through depression, with too much anger and questions in my head. I had no one to talk to.' How Salman Khan helped Eva Grover? Eva revealed Salman Khan helped her in those terrible times. She stated that he offered her Bigg Boss and told her that if she did, then she wouldn't have to do anything. Salman was the one who took her in the film, Ready . However, she declined his offer to Bigg Boss as she wasn't ready. 'Salman was very supportive at that time. In fact, he offered me the opportunity to come on the Bigg Boss show. People from his end actually told me that all I had to do was to be part of it, and they'll ensure I'd be there for a long time. But I wasn't able to do it, said Grover.
