Author name: Jan O'Mahoney​

Quadratek People

Reluctance to Hire Staff Holding Back Big Data

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Big Data is big news and many companies are embracing it whole-heartedly. It can provide an organisation with a good idea of whom its customers are and what they want from the services provided. It has promoted the idea of ‘value exchange’ and allowed companies a better means of communicating and understanding its customers.

So how can Big Data be utilised within marketing campaigns?

Infogroup Targeting Solutions recently published a study that revealed that the investment from business into Big Data marketing would increase hugely in 2014. This is due to new initiatives that allow a business to fully embrace the massive amount of data that its customers are relaying. However, the study also found that although the benefits of Big Data are clear, there are many companies that are not making the correct plans for data-related job positions.

According to David McRae, president of Infogroup Targeting Solutions:

“The survey findings also indicate that marketers are moving from the information-gathering stage to the analytics phase of Big Data adoption. But a downturn in hiring could stall Big Data implementation, as the need for human capital is greatest during the analysis and action stages.”

It seems that marketers already have the information they need and are now looking for the best application of that data through analytics tools. The problem facing most businesses is the implementation of Big Data policies as many are failing to hire the correct staff within this burgeoning sector.

IT Support

Making Office 365 work for you

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Microsoft’s latest move to the cloud has seen all of its Office programs make their way online. The software giants are also offering a not inconsiderable discount for students attending and going into university. This means that it will soon be in your interest to upgrade to Office 365, if you haven’t already, as your workforce begins to expect it.

This shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing however. This new offering comes with some very useful features and benefits that you can harness to your company’s advantage. First and foremost, the fact that Office is now running in the cloud means that Microsoft is now taking a lot of the burden for maintaining that software and, more importantly, security. This frees up your IT staff to do other, more essential, work and gives your administrators a deeper understanding of exactly what is going on with the software.

A quick warning, if you’re running Windows XP (and if you are, you need to think about updating), then you won’t be able to install the local files for Office 365 (Office 2013) and will have to rely on the web-based service.

IT Support

Increase your Productivity using Windows 8.1

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Windows 8.1 hasn’t exactly been met with acclaim, instead it has become one of the most maligned version of Windows and an OS that many are loathe to adopt. However, there are a number of new additions to the interface that, if used correctly, could make the jump to Windows 8.1 more appealing.

So for those of you who have the OS or for those who are interested in getting it, here are some tips to help increase productivity on Windows 8.1.

Search everything

The Windows 8.1 search tool doesn’t just scan your system, but instead it’s now integrated with Bing. This means that it delivers internet results and sometimes even Wikipedia inspired summaries of whatever you’re searching for straight to your desktop.

If you want to give it a go, launch the Charms bar and type in your keywords – this will bring up the search box on the right of the screen. Hit enter and you’ll see any matches in your own documents, media library links, and you’ll get online links to explore as well.

There’s more increased functionality and if you swipe left (or spin the mouse wheel) you’ll find even more pictures and links. Clicking any of these links will take you to the webpage. You can effectively use the charms bar as a Bing search bar.

Business

How to Choose the Right Cloud Vendor

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More and more now we are seeing businesses turn to the cloud to get an edge over their competitors. There are many advantages to moving your business into the cloud, including reduced hardware costs from bring your own device initiatives; more readily available talent through remote working and devices that pick up where you left off on another computer. These can all have positive impacts on your business and workflow.

Moving to the cloud also frees up your IT workers, as your chosen cloud vendor will take care of things like security, tech support, data backups and server maintenance. There is still a hesitation amongst some towards taking the leap to cloud however, as they don’t know what questions to ask when shopping around. So here’s a handy hotlist of questions to ask that’ll put your head firmly in the cloud.

What services do you require from your cloud vendor?

Vendors can offer you all sorts of services, including:

·         Storage (Video, audio, simple data etc) – Dropbox, ZipCloud and JustCloud are all popular examples

·         Remote desktops – Extrasys and Bomgar

·         Accounting – Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Kashflow

·         CRM (Customer Relations Management) – Salesforce, Goldmine

A Brief Definition of Cloud Computing

There are three basic types of cloud offering that you’re likely to come across when shopping for your service:

Business

Does BYOD Present Security Issues?

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The BYOD model is becoming increasingly prevalent, as employers and employees alike embrace the smartphone boom. Now productivity can be increased as employees can have constant access to their company’s online services.

However, with this ease of access come security risks that are worth considering. If you have, or are intending, to adopt BYOD solutions in your business it’s important to be aware of the effect, both positive and negative, that it could have on your business.

One of the major problems in the BYOD market is the lack of enhanced mobile security in communications between devices. At the moment, many BYOD enabled networks use the built-in security measures that employee’s smartphones come with. This could be a potential security vulnerability that could be exploited.

Another challenge for the BYOD market is the difficulty for businesses in tracking deployed assets. This is because once a mobile device is deployed in an organisation, tracking it becomes increasingly difficult, even with the implementation of BYOD security solutions. Both of the above areas have been considered in more depth in a market report by Infinity Research that found several security vulnerabilities in the BYOD model.

Security vulnerabilities

The report stated that one of the major drivers in the BYOD market is the need for enhanced mobile communication security. Most businesses are not properly safeguarding online networks and proper mobile device management (MDM) is paramount. Using MDM enterprise software allows an organisation to better protect and control data and configuration amongst mobile devices within an organisational network.

Quadratek People

[Video] Changing Role of the CIO

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There’s been much debate recently concerning the changing role of the CIO within business. Much of this is due to how much technology itself has changed in recent years, with mobile, social and business intelligence becoming increasingly important.

This means that the CIO has been living in uncertain times for a while, when it comes to how their job is defined. It’s no longer all about the IT for the CIO, but about innovation and maintaining an agile environment.

IDC predict Redefinition

This, IDC predict, means that the “adoption of 3rd Platform IT technologies will redefine 90% of IT roles.” The technologies referred to by the analysts are those mentioned above, as well as innovation and customer relationships.

It also means that CIOs will have to alter skill sets to incorporate a strategy that encompasses increasing a business’s digital presence. Public social networks can be difficult to manage, but are increasingly important to the online presence of a company, especially one that’s consumer facing.

In the video below, NetApp’s senior vice president and CIO, Cynthia Stoddard discusses the changing role and what CIOs can do to help address it.

IT Support

Windows 9: Is your Business Ready for Another Migration?

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The Windows OS hasn’t been doing so well of late. Windows 8 and 8.1 were both prone to errors and now it seems that Microsoft will be releasing a newer version of its famous OS. Windows 9, codenamed Threshold, which is scheduled for release in April 2015.

That’s if you believe the rumours of course, but if it’s true the OS will arrive just 18 months after the launch of Windows 8.1. Many businesses are still struggling with the news that Microsoft intends to drop support for XP in April and those organisations are scrambling to transition to Windows 7. Some businesses will have only just migrated its systems to Windows 8/8.1.

With the possibility that Windows 9 will be released next year, it seems that the current trend for migration and upgrades for users of the Microsoft OS will continue. This is bad news for IT departments as OS migrations are one of the most costly, stressful, time-intensive and manpower heavy projects possible. It appears that software has a shorter lifespan these days, but what does that mean for businesses?

Uncategorized

Why Upgrade from XP?

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With the support cut-off deadline looming, we look at the case for upgrading from XP to a later version of Windows.

Windows XP has been a well used, and in many cases, well-loved operating system. However with the recent news that Microsoft is withdrawing support on April the 8th it seems like another nail in the coffin for a system that’s nearly a decade old. That’s a long time when you consider the rapid speed that technology evolves at. Window XP is a near-relic and it’s probably about time you updated your computer software.

Many users will likely feel that an upgrade is unnecessary, as they are still content using Windows XP. However with technology upgrading and support for XP falling away it is likely that loyalty to the OS will not benefit users in the future.

You don’t even have to upgrade to the often-problematic Windows 8. You only need to upgrade as far as Windows 7. So for those users who do not want to relinquish Windows XP here are the reasons why you should.

Uncategorized

Beginner’s Guide to Migrating from Windows XP to 8.1

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You may have held out and still not upgraded from your Windows XP OS and if that’s the case, time is running out, as Microsoft is pulling support for the OS on April 08 2014. Microsoft has released several patches to fix many of the common Windows 8/8.1 bugs and the tech company has also given Windows 8 users a free upgrade. This is limited though and if you are still using an earlier version of the OS, then the steps to upgrade are slightly more difficult.

Let’s have a look at the options and really get to grips with how to upgrade from the XP era to Windows 8.1.

Some of the general benefits to upgrading to Windows 8.1 are:

  • Access to the Windows Store
  • Tiled start screen
  • Microsoft account

The newest OS also offers enhancements in personalisation, search, Store apps, and cloud connectivity. This is on top of the usual tools and programs that you would expect Windows to contain.

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