Artificial Intelligence (AI), the creation of intelligent machines that emulate human thinking and decision making, has long been touted as one of the most disruptive technologies of this decade—and for good reason too. From healthcare to finance to manufacturing and even in our homes (think Alexa, Roomba, etc.), AI has permeated almost every aspect of daily living.

A common misconception among SMBs is that only an IT company or big corporations can leverage AI. But the truth is, many businesses are already using AI solutions, especially in customer service, where it is making a significant impact.

London-based companies whose business processes depend greatly on IT systems need to have an IT support team (or, for small businesses, a one-man team) which can keep those systems in excellent condition. With the right IT support, London companies can maintain a smooth business flow.

Employing an IT team is one option, but businesses can also hire an IT support company to manage and maintain those IT systems on their behalf. This second option will actually improve overall business flow. Allow us to explain why.

Technology is so central to the operations of any organisation of size that, irrespective of field of business, technology has the ability to either drive or impede growth.

For this reason, a continued close match between your business and your IT support company is essential to growing your business. Your support provider must grow, scale and respond with your organisation.

But how do you know whether the IT outsourcing provider you are currently using can grow alongside your business? We think these are the seven key capabilities you should identify.

Data breaches can be very costly. Costs can include the usual financial consequences such as response and remediation, customer breach notification, litigation expenses and regulatory fines, but can also include less obvious consequences such as the cost of business disruptions, loss of customer trust and higher insurance premiums.

Clearly, it’s imperative for businesses to find ways to avoid a data breach, and here is how it can be done.

Information technology is important to business. In fact, it’s easy to argue that the importance of IT is growing. Leaders are recognising this, Spiceworks’ 2020 State of IT report found that 44% of businesses are planning to grow IT expenditure in 2020, compared to 38% in 2019.

Merely throwing cash at IT is not enough, however. When evaluating options for IT support, London companies much seek out the right IT partner – a partner that can support your business in times of difficulty, and a partner that helps your business make the most of its technology investments.

In this article we present five core areas you should look at when evaluating your existing IT support partner, or as you choose your next technology support partner.

In the current digital economy, data is the new oil, so an organisation can’t have too much of it. Today’s company executives are turning to data when making crucial business decisions in sales/marketing, operations, human resources and just about every aspect of the enterprise.

More data is becoming available in large volumes and from various sources, but turning plain data into actual usable information—i.e. facts, trends and statistical numbers, can be a complicated and tedious process. So, businesses have a choice. They could continue to acquire whatever data they can, then simply leave out what they can’t store, or they could invest in data warehouse technologies to process data faster and get the right information more quickly.

Start-ups and small businesses are often highly cost-conscious, with a can-do attitude that usually sees the founders becoming involved in a range of non-core activities – including in supporting the IT that helps businesses tick over.

However, as a business grows, owner-managers must realise that it’s impossible to personally service every business requirement, and that experts in their respective fields, such as IT, can deliver so much more.

In this article, we outline how taking steps to outsource IT support can help you grow your business more quickly and more sustainably. Read on to find out why outsourced IT support is an essential step for growing businesses.

An organisation’s primary and immediate line of defense against malware is typically the antivirus software installed in each of their users’ endpoint devices. It works in the background, checks data being received for known malware signatures, and warns users of possible threats. Antivirus software does contribute greatly to an organisation’s online security, but it is not enough to mitigate all malware threats when you consider how advanced these threats have become.

Social media is the new black and everybody wants to be part of it. Posting one’s activities, sharing one’s thoughts, and reacting to other people’s posts have simply become part of our daily lives.

But to those who know what they’re looking for, this social media content can lead to a goldmine of information. It is through this goldmine—terabytes upon terabytes of data, that cyber criminals flourish, using such data to attack individuals and even companies.

How exactly can cyber criminals use social media to compromise online security and attack business organisations? Let’s discuss their methods.

The internet of things (IoT) is undoubtedly growing rapidly. According to Gartner the typical CIO will be looking after triple the number of IoT devices in 2023, compared to the number of IoT devices under their security remit in 2018.

This influx is caused by a mix of repurposed consumer devices, IoT devices that support infrastructure and business-specific IoT devices. Dodging the explosion of IoT devices is impossible, and yes, IoT does deliver a lot of advantages – but the security implications can be serious.