Author name: Simon Randall

Security

BYOD: What Every Company Needs to Know

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This in-depth look at BYOD and its increasing use in the workplace gives a great overview of what every company needs to consider when thinking about implementing a BYOD scheme. Whilst for many, security remains an issue, with strong policies and MDM software, BYOD is now completely manageable.

Bring your own device (BYOD) describes a situation where employees use their personal computing devices in the workplace. It’s employees using smartphones, tablets, netbooks etc., to access business enterprise content or networks.

BYOD also takes in software and services, as employees use cloud resources and other tools on the web in order to connect to the company intranet.

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Which Fibre Broadband Option is Best for Business?

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There used to be a time when dial up was the latest revolution in modern technology, and then along came ADSL showing its predecessor to be snail paced and prehistoric. It’s that time again and fibre optics are the freshest pair of cables out of the box. Installing fibre optic cabling to your premises will make an impressive difference to your business and the efficiency you and your colleagues are able to offer your clients.

Keeping up with the modern client now includes having the ability to access all relevant information whilst on site; immediate invoicing and remote video calling in the highest HD quality. Not the easiest thing to do if you’re still chugging along the ADSL2+ line, that generally delivers 12Mbps, despite the advertised 24Mbps. Businesses of all sizes are looking to not only get the fastest speeds now, making full use of the cloud and its capabilities, but to future-proof their network for all possibilities.

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5 Elements of Structured Cabling

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Structured cabling is the simple name for a building or site’s cabling and connectivity telecommunications cabling that comprises a series of subsystems made of standardised smaller elements.

The structured cabling system generally controls voice, data, and video and can be further integrated with the management of systems such as alarms, security and energy. So it’s worth adopting at the start of a new build, or implementing as part of any major update.

Without a structured cabled system, voice and data cabling is often left until the fit out stage of a build, which means there are already inherent compromises in the system. If it’s addressed at the start, then the voice and data systems can be integrated with the fire alarm, security and energy management cabling to create a more efficient overall solution.

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[INFOGRAPHIC] Most Unusual Data Centres in the World

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From data centres that float, to portable ones to those that are nuclear proof, these nine data centres are proof that innovation continues to march forward at an amazing rate. Of course, the cloud means that more and more are being built all the time and the need for ecologically friendly centres are now more important than ever.

Created by WhoisHostingThis.com, this great infographic is a snapshot of what’s happening in the world of the data centre and is useful for those with techie knowledge and without.

Business

How to Make Your Data Centre More Eco-friendly

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There are a number of factors that cause data centres to consume significant amounts of energy and these days, this is something that is less acceptable to many businesses that may want to choose a data centre that allows them to be billed as a ‘green’ company. Can data centres be eco-friendly or are they energy-consuming monsters by nature?

Let’s start with what data centres are designed to do. 

The core of the IT infrastructure

The data centre is at the core of an organisation’s IT operation, where its data is stored, managed and from where key information is distributed for use elsewhere. It is a key part of the organisation’s infrastructure, housing a network’s most critical systems. Ensuring reliability and the security of the data centre is paramount for any organisation. Data centres are now more widely used than ever as they also serve cloud computing models, from application (SaaS) and web hosting to hosting entire IT infrastructures (IaaS).

Business

Big Data – is it possible to define it?

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This is a big question and one which, once fully considered, has massive implications for any business. Every day, businesses are amassing an increasing amount of data and the scope of what can be measured is also expanding at an incredible rate. While businesses are still getting to grips with how to use this data meaningfully, some are struggling to manage it effectively.

Sometimes that means databases becoming corrupt at an increasing rate as they become larger, or more difficult to store effectively in-house. Massive databases may be creating too much demand on infrastructure when being processed at speed or being that diverse in nature that it is difficult to know where to start when organising them into a usable format.

What is Big Data?

Once upon a time, a business would store essential information such as client names and invoice details, order history and accounts records for example. This information would be structured into usable format and, with the dawn of the computer age, tied up with software making it easy to access. Looking back to that era, data was gathered conscientiously and with a definite purpose in mind. The bigger the business was, the bigger the databases required to store its prized information.

Business

How to Build a Data Centre

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Building a data centre is a massive undertaking, but it’s one that many companies may have to face in the near future. Cloud computing and the increasing reliance on web applications and intranets means that current data centres, designed for storage and web hosting, are constantly hitting the wall in terms of capacity and more than 40% of IT architects are now considering expansion of their current centre, or a total new build.

Demand for data centres, whether they be rented spaces or proprietary units, is set to increase dramatically and data storage has even been labelled as “the new oil.” Corporations that simply rent server space are having to up their game and consider moving into data centre builds or face being held to ransom by the industry.

If you’re one of them then it’s important to know what you’re letting yourself in for and to plan for the future.

Think Small, Grow Big                              

The data centres currently out there have become big and slow and the way we’re going, half the world will be covered with huge shipping containers filled with racks of servers. The next generation need to be smaller, streamlined, more effective and energy efficient. It’s time for a total rethink from the ground-up when it comes to what’s required of the modern data centre, so if you’re already investing in the planning process, then you have to think about ways to reduce the company footprint.

Business

The Truth about BYOD

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Virtually everybody is armed with an internet ready phone or tablet in the modern world and in a large company, this means a mass of potential security breaches marching through the door each and every day. Most companies operate some kind of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy now, but it’s a complex and costly animal to control.

Information Week claims that 45% of the 424 managers it surveyed had suffered data loss through the BYOD programme in the past year. 11% were forced to disclose it publicly, which inevitably damaged the company’s reputation.

Mobile Boosts Productivity

In the old days, of course, when a mobile phone was simply a phone, the company provided laptops and other items deemed essential for everyday tasks. Now, almost every employee owns a smartphone and there are huge advantages, as mobility boosts productivity and employees can tap into the work system at any time or in any place.

Security

Windows 8: An Open Door for Cybercriminals?

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Windows 8 represents a huge step forward for Microsoft’s operating system, especially for touchscreen devices. Microsoft has also made bold claims that the new system would be less appealing to hackers, thanks to the increased security measures that include built-in antivirus software.

Progress rarely comes without a price, however, and Microsoft may have again underestimated the determination of the hacking community. There are a lot of shiny new features in the new OS and substantial improvements in almost every area, but there are also disturbing weaknesses that cybercriminals could exploit to the full.

The Ongoing Windows Experience

This is not exclusive to Windows 8: every generation of Windows operating system has faced this baptism of fire.  A whole new wave of architecture means there are inevitably holes that an army of hackers take great joy in exposing to the world.

 It’s an international sport for some, with hackers exchanging bragging rights on forums around the world. For others, it’s big business. Cybercriminals have turned hacking systems in to one of the big growth industries of the new Millennium. So it was not a big surprise that within days of receiving Windows 8, French agency Vupen had found its first virus. That’s how fast this ‘market’ moves.

Security

5 Tips for More Secure Wi-Fi

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You already know you need to secure your business Wi-Fi network. But did you know that Wi-Fi access points are still a weak link that could compromise your efforts and put precious data at risk?

Wi-Fi signals don’t respect boundaries and often spill out into the street. That can be an open door for hackers and unless you take steps to nail down your Wi-Fi, you may as well leave the office unlocked at night. If you don’t secure your network then, at best, you’ll get the local Wi-Fi moochers stealing your bandwidth. At worst you’ll have a serious security breach on your hands.

Here are five tips to beef up your Wi-Fi security and keep hackers out.

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