In the summer of 2008, a friend and I setup a new IT company. Not the most auspicious timing as Leeman Brothers collapsed jus...
What are the benefits of hiring an IT Director?
How important is IT to your company?
Consider for just a few moments the importance of computer systems to your company’s success. Here are a few specific questions to help you weigh it up:
- If your IT stops working, how quickly is the pain felt?
- How quickly can you recover if things do go wrong?
- Are you confident you are aware of relevant technological solutions which could help you be more successful?
- Sell more?
- Understand your customers / potential customers better?
- Supply your goods / services more productively and cost-effectively?
- Is technology a propeller or an anchor in your business?
- Are you investing in the right technology?
- Are you making the most out of the technology you have already bought?
- Are you getting value for money from your IT spend?
- Are you confident that your company is well protected from cyber crime?
The leaver: gone – but too often forgotten
You’ve had the farewell drinks. You’ve signed the ‘Good luck’ card and wished your soon to be former colleague well in their new role.
It’s unlikely the next thing you do is tell them to keep a spare set of keys for their company car and pop back any time they like to have a spin.
No one would dream of being this lax with their physical assets when an employee leaves their company
It is astonishing how many firms are not similarly vigilant when it comes to their digital assets. For example, do you know how many of your former employees still have login details for your main corporate Wi-Fi network? If not, it is a cyber equivalent of having a pool of unauthorised key holders for the company car fleet. There could be little to prevent those past colleagues standing outside the building and having a quick surf to see what they can find. If they feel aggrieved over the circumstances of their departure, that risk may be increased.
How do I assess how secure our IT system is?
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Common sense isn’t difficult or expensive
There’s often a big difference between perception and reality.
Cyber security is a classic example. The perception is that it is a form of high tech, complicated warfare. Acronyms; impenetrable terminology; high profile media stories of boffins fighting to repel the sinister attacks from rogue foreign states. It’s no wonder we feel this is beyond us mere mortals to understand, let alone do anything about it.
However, the reality is that a lot of cyber crime is relatively low tech and unsophisticated. Much of it doesn’t even rely on technology; many attacks centre around social engineering. Cyber criminals have long understood that it’s easier to trick a human being than it is to trick a computer.
Why waste time trying to hack a computer when you can hack a person and get them to click on a dodgy link?
What should be included in a business continuity plan?
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Unpalatable, but predictable
You’ll be glad to know this isn’t another Coronavirus article. Businesses have been faced with severe threats to their survival long before anyone had heard of COVID-19 – floods, fires and other localised disruptions are not new. Pandemics do remind us however that unpalatable events can and will happen.
COVID-19 is unusual in recent history because its consequences for business have been so severe and so widely felt. And it brings into sharp focus the relationship between likelihood and impact. Once in a lifetime events are, by definition, very rare. But when they do strike the pain can be relatively high. We may be less able, or perhaps less willing (sometimes with justifiable good reason), to prepare. And – yes – let’s be honest – that justification may be that reducing the risk is prohibitively expensive and we decide therefore that it is a risk worth taking.
I’m unhappy with my IT support. What should I do?
In this article, I explain what to do if you outsource your IT support to a third party and things aren’t going as well as they should be.
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I don’t know what to ask, let alone understand the answers!
I’ve got an admission to make – IT used to be my least favourite thing at work. It all started from the shock of being given responsibility for the IT function in a very large manufacturing plant. My politics degree hadn’t covered servers, firewalls and networks. I had managerial experience but felt very uncomfortable wearing my new hat. I didn’t know what questions to ask; I wouldn’t have understood the answers even if I did.
EasylifeIT™ appoints James Allison as Strategic IT Consultant From today, 3rd April, I have joined EasylifeIT™ in the new rol...
Data Protection Audit
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THE STORM HAS PASSED – RIGHT?
“GDPR – thank goodness that is over! I got fed up with e-mails asking for my consent and inviting me to read privacy notices.”
Relief seems to have been a common reaction to the arrival of the UK’s third generation of data protection laws. After months of media attention and a good deal of confusion, everything seemingly went quiet.
You could be forgiven for thinking the storm had passed. Time to start the clean-up operation and cleanse the inbox of all those GDPR related messages from May you never opened. It all blew over and nothing really happened. It was just like the Millennium Bug. Not quite…
The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May 2018. Awareness amongst businesses is increasing. However, whilst some companies are well on the way to updating their processes and procedures in preparation, the majority have either yet to start or are in the very early phases.
I’m confused – is this going to prevent ‘Business As Usual’?
A key concern of many businesses is confusion surrounding the implications. As the profile of GDPR has grown, so too has a perceived level of misinformation. It is something which the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the government body which upholds data rights such as GDPR, recognises.
When we started EasylifeIT in 2006, my business partner insisted that we had strong systems in place from day one. More than a decade on and having seen the company flourish over that period, I appreciate more than ever how sound that advice was. It’s something I’m passionate about when I work with clients because I know from my own experience that it delivers results.
Despite having worked in the IT industry, but unlike many of my peers, I am a firm believer that not every problem requires an IT solution. However, when it comes to driving customer service and sales efforts, I am completely sold on the value of systems.