< PreviousSBS connects visitors and exhibitors to the latest information and technology in the smart buildings industry. This year the show reported a record attendance plus more exhibitors and speakers than ever before, demonstrating that despite the pandemic, the smart buildings industry is continuing to grow. Smart Buildings Show had four conference theatres, most of which were full throughout the two days of the show. The extensive programme covered a diverse range of subjects and delivered thought leadership, education and key insights including building automation systems, facilities management, lighting and control systems, energy efficiency and energy management, software, security and smart metering. This year’s Headline Sponsor, Bluetooth SIG, was joined by Platinum Sponsors; Aico/ HomeLink, The DALI Alliance, Johnson’s Control, Phoenix Contact, Sauter Automation, Turntide Technologies and Schneider Electric. Platinum sponsor, Aico, exhibited for the first time at SBS. Ben Malton, regional specification manager said, “The show has been really exciting; it’s been great speaking to attendees and sector professionals. Our speaking slots have been really useful, helping discuss IoT deployment and seeing people engage with the wellbeing, data and insights of our work.” Also exhibiting for the first time at SBS was Sauter UK. Peter Beck, director of smart buildings, agreed that it had been a very successful event. “This is our first year actually exhibiting at the show and I have to say, it’s been a total success to the highest degree. We’ve enjoyed seeing even more people through the doors and had engagement with people we never would have usually met. It’s a huge tick in the box and we’ll hopefully be back next year!” Smart Buildings Show (SBS), the UK’s commercial smart buildings event, welcomed visitors back to their two-day, free-to-attend conference and exhibition. Held at ExCeL London in October, the show featured industry-leading speaker sessions and panel debates from some of the sector’s most renowned brands, including Microsoft, Bluetooth and Siemens Building Products. smart buildingsshow www.networkseuropemagazine.com 80Laura Vallis Editor Networks Europe Karl Walker, marketing development manager, Beckoff Automation said, “It’s our fifth year at the show, it’s fantastic to see so many people back. The quality of visitors has been superb this year, arguably better than any other year we’ve seen before!” Deepan Patel, industry manager – building infrastructure, Phoenix Contract, said, “Our experience with this show has been amazing. We’ve had a lot of interest from visitors, people have been attending our stand from all walks of the industry from universities to energy companies and beyond, it’s been great. And we’re already booked for next year!” John Hatcher, Conference Director at Smart Buildings Show commented: “We are truly thrilled to have had so many leading names from the sector joining us this year. Across the four theatres, we are confident that every single attendee will have come away from the event having enjoyed the opportunity to network, learn and engage with new content and thought leaders. Our thanks, as always, go out to all of our sponsors and exhibitors who help enable the show to become the success it is today.” Smart Buildings Show will return in 2022, with more content promised. Claire Hatchett, sales manager commented, “We have had an excellent rebook and we are aiming to make the show bigger and better in 2022.” Smart Buildings Show will be back in 2022 at ExCeL, London on 12th - 13th October. n Getting Smarter: The Smart Buildings Show smart buildings show www.networkseuropemagazine.com 81Acronis appoints Paul Maritz as Chairman of the Board Acronis has announced that Paul Maritz has been appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Maritz will be responsible for the governance and leadership of Acronis as it strengthens its position in the service provider market preparing for significant growth in the future. Earlier this year, Acronis raised $250 million at a $2.5 billion valuation and announced GoDaddy's former Business Partner President, Patrick Pulvermüller, as the new Chief Executive Officer. Acronis Cyber Protect provides all the management tools of the future that service providers need to do an effective job for their customers to help them grow their business. As well as developing its own technology, Acronis will continue to make acquisitions to become one of the world’s major players in providing the most innovative backup, security and management tools on the market. Patrick Pulvermüller, Acronis CEO, said, “Paul brings a wealth of experience in developing products to meet market demands and take companies to the next level. His becoming Chairman represents another step forward for Acronis in solidifying its position as a global leader in cyber protection. Paul’s experience with innovations at scale will help us to continue delivering easy, efficient, and secure cyber protection to service providers and their customers of any size.” Paul Maritz, Acronis Chairman of the Board, said, “With its strength in backup and security, Acronis is well positioned to build a platform for a comprehensive list of management tools, helping service providers deliver modern cyber protection to their customers today and in the future. Acronis Cyber Protect is a great example of what can be done. Acronis will continue extensive research and development in this direction, helping partners optimise their operations and stay ahead of the competition.” Maritz first joined the Acronis Board of Directors in May 2021, bringing 40 years of experience in computer science and software to the cyber protection company. Maritz replaces René Bonvanie, whose leadership helped Acronis develop an effective strategy to expand global presence and deliver easy, efficient and secure cyber protection to customers of any size. Acronis wishes to thank René Bonvanie for his contribution to the company’s development and growth. n Movers and Shakers Arcserve appoints Brannon Lacey as Chief Executive Officer Arcserve has announced the appointment of Brannon Lacey as its CEO. A 20-year veteran of the technology industry, Lacey brings extensive experience and success in building high-performance global software, cloud, cyber security and infrastructure organisations. The appointment comes as Arcserve is poised to rapidly expand on its global top 5 data protection vendor position following the merger with StorageCraft in March of this year. Arcserve brings much-needed data and business certainty to organisations of all sizes globally through the broadest set of best-in-class business continuity solutions. Dave Hansen, Arcserve's Chairman of the Board, said, "Brannon is an exceptional business leader. He brings a tremendous track record in leading fast-growth global companies and achieving strong and sustainable growth in highly competitive markets. His deep experience with channel-driven organisations from both vendor and customer perspective will be of immense value to Arcserve as a 100% channel-centric company." Brannon Lacey, Arcserve CEO, Adds, "Arcserve commands an enormous market opportunity. It has best-in-world people, leadership, technologies, partners and investors. I am excited and proud to take the leadership of Arcserve as we invest and focus on aggressive and sustainable global market growth." Dave Hansen, who served as interim CEO, will remain Chairman of the Board at Arcserve. n Glide Group appoints Bruce Girdlestone as sales director Glide Group has announced the appointment of Bruce Girdlestone as the organisation’s Sales Director for Higher Education. Bruce Girdlestone joins Glide having previously worked in the fixed and wireless telecommunications industry, leading sales, business development and product teams. With over 25 years of experience in telecommunications, Girdlestone has spent the past two years setting up a new sales team at Wireless Infrastructure Group to deliver mobile connectivity to commercial, hospitality and residential sectors. Prior to that, he ran a number of sales teams at Virgin Media Business. This announcement marks the continued strengthening of Glide's senior management team. Earlier this year, Glide also added three other members to its leadership team, Chief Financial Officer, Chris Bates, Chief Technology Officer, Sean Lowry, and Chief Operating Officer, Phil Duggan. These announcements were soon followed by Glide Group’s acquisition of fibre network builder, Concept Solutions People (CSP). Girdlestone will be responsible for leading the Student sector sales team focusing on PBSA and Higher Education requirements for student accommodation. Girdlestone said, “Glide is the leader in a growing market serving customers with high expectations. It's great to be part of such an exciting market that requires the smart and innovative solutions Glide can provide. What we do has a real positive impact on student communities. Glide has many strengths and great people with a can-do attitude. This places us strongly to scale our business as demand for fibre based connectivity, internet access, and smart technologies continues to grow. I look forward to the challenge of being the best in class provider.” n www.networkseuropemagazine.com MOVERS AND SHAKERS www.networkseuropemagazine.com 82Clavister completes acquisition of cybersecurity AI specialist Omen Technologies Clavister has completed the strategic acquisition of Omen Technologies AB enhancing the company’s portfolio to tap into the fast-growing AI market. A purchase price of 15 MSEK will be paid with MSEK 3.15 in cash and with MSEK 11.85 in newly issued shares in Clavister. The deal will see the entirety of Omen Technologies business and personnel transfer to Clavister. At a time when the AI cybersecurity market is undergoing exponential growth (expected to be worth $46.3 billion by 2027) driven by the rapid adoption of IoT, connected devices and cloud-based security solutions, this acquisition is highly strategic for Clavister. AI allows cybersecurity systems to analyse patterns, learn from them and then detect changes in behavior. This helps cybersecurity teams be more proactive in preventing threats and responding to active attacks in real time. The acquisition of Omen immediately strengthens Clavister’s offering in Defence with significant identified upsell potential into the Clavister defence customer base as well as opportunities to grow amongst Omen’s attractive pipeline of customers. From a solution sales perspective, Omen is already working closely with Clavister’s CyberArmour team for technical integration with Clavister products. In the next two years, Omen’s technology will also be fully integrated into Clavister’s SASE solution to add artificial intelligence-based threat detection to cloud-delivered security. The founding team of Omen consists of award-winning researchers and business developers with extensive experience in cybersecurity from both research and industry. Based in Sweden and with an established partnership with Clavister already, Omen brings expertise into the Clavister group while being closely aligned with Clavister’s culture and approach to development. In addition to reinforcing Clavister’s brand proposition of “Security by Sweden”, the acquisition of Omen fits well with Clavister’s stated mergers and acquisitions strategy. Omen’s customers and projects are based in Northern Europe (primarily in Sweden), currently largely in mission-critical applications. n Kao Data expands leadership team, appointing Matthew Harris as chief financial officer (CFO) Kao Data has announced it has appointed Matthew Harris as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Following his position as Managing Director at Goldacre Noé Group, Kao Data’s original founders and investment firm, Harris joins the company’s c-suite, having overseen the financial evolution of the business from inception. With a Masters’ degree from the University of Cambridge, a fellowship from the Institute of Chartered Accountants and over 15 years’ experience in the financial sector, he brings extensive financial expertise at a pivotal point in the business’ evolution. During his time with Goldacre, Harris played a crucial role in securing investment into Kao Data from Legal & General Capital in 2019, and overseeing the investment of up to £130 million from New Zealand-based investors Infratil Limited last month. Further, his strategic appointment comes at a transformative point in Kao Data’s development as it moves from a single-site campus to a 55MW multi-site operator, having recently acquired two new data centres with a long-term anchor lease from a large financial services business in the UK. As CFO, Harris will work directly alongside CEO Lee Myall, CTO Gérard Thibault, COO Paul Finch and Vice President, Spencer Lamb, to help spearhead the next phase of the company’s growth, engaging with new and existing customers within the financial services, life sciences, enterprise and cloud sectors. Having firmly cemented its position as the UK’s preeminent home for sustainable, high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI), and becoming the host of NVIDIA’s Cambridge-1, Kao Data will also continue to service the industrial-scale requirements of GPU-accelerated computing users from across the UK and Europe. Harris said, “Having been firmly engaged with the company’s vision and its growth strategy from inception, I’m delighted to have joined Kao Data formally, as its CFO. Kao Data is truly on the cutting-edge of tech, working with some of the industry’s foremost thought leaders and engineers to push the boundaries of design and innovation. Our facilities have been engineered to support the UK Government’s National AI Strategy and have created a blueprint for the future of high performance data centres. “Further, as our company transitions into a multi-site operator, there has never been a better time to join. And with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments on the rise, I’m proud to be able to oversee the next phase of the company’s growth in an economical and environmentally responsible way.” n VITEC strengthens Middle East team with Fadi Jumaa VITEC has announced the appointment of Fadi Jumaa to the role of Business Development Director, Middle East. The newly created position will strengthen VITEC’s presence in the region, with Fadi addressing markets across VITEC’s portfolio. With the acquisition of Exterity, a market leader in IPTV, VITEC has further bolstered its solutions offering, and is able to propose a wider range of best-in-class solutions and services to its customers. Jumaa held multiple roles with various key vendors throughout his dynamic career, working at multinational companies including MultiChoice ME, Thomson Video Networks and Ateme. This allowed him to establish a significant foothold in the region, and provided him extensive experience across different industry sectors, including broadcast and various video delivery chains. Nicolas Pons, VP, Business Development, Middle East, VITEC, said, “To attract someone of the talent and experience of Fadi is a real coup for VITEC, and we are thrilled by the attributes that he brings. His technical understanding combined with his in-depth knowledge of the market in the region will strengthen our position in the Middle East as we continue to extend our reach into new geographies, market verticals and partners.” Jumaa said, “VITEC is renowned for its engineering excellence, and I am thrilled to join a team dedicated to providing customers in the Middle East with innovative solutions. I firmly believe in the infinite opportunities the region has to offer and VITEC is in a unique position to provide a broad range of leading-class solutions to cater to the region.” n MOVERS AND SHAKERS www.networkseuropemagazine.comwww.networkseuropemagazine.com 83NETWORKS EUROPE reaches a readership of 26,000 network infrastructure professionals throughout Europe, landing on the desks of Data Centre Managers, Facilities Managers, CIOs, CTOs, ICT Directors, Consultants, Network Managers, Integrators and many others in the Data Centre industry. NETWORKS EUROPE features editorial contribution from worldwide industry figureheads, ensuring that it's the world's best publication for information on all aspects of this constantly evolving industry. NETWORKS EUROPE The magazine for network and data centre professionals If you would like to contribute a feature article, please contact the editor, Laura Vallis at editor@networkseuropemagazine.com If you would like to advertise in any of the upcoming issues please contact sales@networkseuropemagazine.com The media pack for 2022 is out now. To download, please click HERE JANUARY/FEBRUARY Copy deadline - 18th January Publication date - 9th February • Data Centre Trends of Tomorrow • Racks and Enclosures • Data Management MARCH/APRIL Copy deadline - 12th March Publication date - 6th April • Data Centre Service Providers • Structured Cabling • Security MAY/JUNE Copy deadline - 14th May Publication date - 8th June • Zero Carbon / Recycling • Power Distribution • Maintenance JULY/AUGUST Copy deadline - 16th July Publication date - 10th August • Smart Buildings • Heat Recovery • Training and Development SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Copy deadline - 17th September Publication date - 5th October • The Remote Data Centre • Cooling • The Hybrid Data Centre NOVEMBER/DECEMBER Copy deadline - 19th November Publication date - 7th December • Energy Management • Connectivity and Cables • Data RecoveryNext >