An IT Support Blog from London

The growth in the adoption of the Microsoft Office 365 platform is staggering. Though deeply dependent on the inertia of the eponymous desktop application suite, it is also the mix of complementary services Microsoft continuously adds which is making this particular cloud productivity platform very popular. Microsoft Office 365 hit 100 million active business users in 2017, but it is not uncommon for many businesses to merely scratch the surface of what Office 365 has to offer. Here are five ideas to help you make better use of Office 365.

There used to be a time when it was relatively easier to prevent malware from infecting our systems. We’d install an antivirus, keep its database updated, and equip end users with a laundry list of things to avoid - like suspicious email attachments and unfamiliar websites. Today, drive by downloads are making malware avoidance a more challenging task.

A drive-by download is a malware infection procedure that doesn’t require the user to download anything or even click a link. For his/her system to get infected, the user only has to visit a site that’s been compromised. The infection process then takes place behind the scenes, without the user ever noticing anything unusual.

Information technology risks range from the very apparent to the silent and hidden. The majority of businesses mitigate the most obvious risks: only an irresponsible IT operation will do without network firewalls in place or skip on regularly updating operating systems and software. Yet it is the less obvious risks which can trip up even carefully run IT functions – and which can cause progressive or indeed sudden harm to your business.

Data centre optimisation and consequential benefits for businesses

With so much focus on hacking and internet security, many firms of 10 - 100 people will feel that they have put a lot of effort into making their data as secure as possible. Unfortunately, internet security is a moving target, where the threat may be characterised as agile and continually evolving. Consequently, it is impossible for networks to remain impenetrable.

Standard IT best practice, such as upgrading and patching operating systems and applications, and maintaining a reliable backup and Disaster Recovery capability, are all layers that help to ensure that a firm is in a position to resume normal operations within an acceptable timeframe, should it be the victim of an attack.

Continually reviewing your vital signs

Remote monitoring is one of the most powerful IT support tools available. Most importantly, rather than just detecting hardware and software faults in real-time, it is also able to provide the capability to predict failure.

By analysing log files created by hardware devices and active services, remote monitoring applications are able to identify events and conditions which precede failure. This is exceptionally beneficial because it frequently allows remediation of minor problems that are precursors of bigger failures.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery are almost inseparable these days. Some people even use them interchangeably. But did you know that, while they’re closely related, they’re actually not one and the same?

Knowing the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery is important. You’ll need it when you set out to address risks to your business’ availability and uptime. Will you be needing a business continuity plan? Or just a disaster recovery plan? Before seeking support from management or the board of trustees for your BC/DR project, you need to know exactly what you’re talking about.

You walk into your office tomorrow. Before you can get a cup of coffee, one of your managers tells you that your IT service contract is going to expire in two months.

You've been frustrated with poor service and technology for months. Now, you have an opportunity to improve the situation. Your IT manager stands at the ready with a few recommended IT service providers. Are you equipped to sort through the options and call them?

Before you sign on the dotted line to renew your IT service contract, go through these questions. Investing an hour today could save you months of effort, risk and frustration.

Acceptable practice or unacceptable risk?

Shadow IT is the practice of using technology within a business without the knowledge or approval of the IT function.

This includes anything from a single employee using a low-cost app, to an entire department, such as Project Management, adopting a cloud software application to support its Line of Business (LoB).

When you enter into a managed services agreement with an IT support provider, you’re likely driven by the potential cost savings, particularly in terms of labour costs. What you probably don’t realise is that, in addition to helping you save on costs, an IT support provider can actually play a very critical role in the success of your business.

DDoS attacks that force websites to go offline and cripple servers are nothing new, but many of the massive DDoS attacks last year, which also happened to be the biggest in history, had a common characteristic we’ve never seen before. They all originated from hordes of zombified IoT devices, also known as IoT botnets.

Because IoT devices are here to stay, this threat won’t be going away anytime soon. If your network includes websites and other Internet-facing applications, you need to understand what these threats are, how it can impact your business, and what we in the business community can do to protect our IT infrastructures from these types of attacks.