The world of Information Technology has changed dramatically in the 33 years I have been working within the sector. In this time I have worked in IT Support and Development, as an IT Consultant, Systems Planning Engineer, Business Propositions Manager and IT Director, working for businesses that include The London Stock Exchange, Canon Europe, Victoriareal (now Endemol) and Telefonica. I also set up and ran Geeks-on-Wheels from 2003 - 2011.
If you run a business, which is not technology based, generally the last thing you have is the time, inclination or knowledge to deal with IT and keep abreast of what’s new and where to go. The acronyms and terminology alone are enough to confuse anyone. An example I recently came across was a software tool called Cucumber. I looked it up online and discovered it’s written in a language called Gherkin designed to be non-technical and readable… I jest you not.
Whenever I meet a client I nearly always learn something new, have to put my mind into gear and think outside of the box to determine whether moving to a Cloud based IT infrastructure is viable, and cost effective. Will it improve users workday experience, add value to the business, be regulatory compliant and will lost data be retrievable et al?
So where am I going with this Platinum Magazine section? As of now I will be writing short, hopefully interesting, easy to read IT snippets to help you run your business more effectively.
MICROSOFT OFFER FREE OFFICE 365 MIGRATION
If you employ more than 50 employees and are looking at migrating your business to Office 365 then Microsoft Fast Track is for you. To find out more check out https://fasttrack.microsoft.com/office.
RUNNING WINDOWS ON YOUR APPLE
Many businesses use Apple computers but have to run accounts packages, or bespoke/custom applications that only run on Windows. Well rather than purchasing a Windows PC take a look at Boot Camp. It’s included with all versions Apple OS X Leopard and later operating systems (look in the Utilities Folder) and allows you to boot your Apple into either OS X or Windows. All you’ll need to purchase is a copy of Windows. If you want to run OS X and Windows side-by-side take look at Parallels (www.parallels.com).
HAVE YOU BEEN PWNED?
Yes the spelling is correct and the name is said to be a play on the word ‘Owned’. Millions of email addresses have been leaked, stolen and sold in a spate of large business security breaches including Adobe, Sony and Vtech to name a few. If you want to find out if your personal information may have been compromised put your email address into the https://haveibeenpwned.com website. The site is legitimate and putting your email address in will let you know if/when the information was leaked. If your details were leaked, and you have not changed your password since the leak date, change your password(s).
The Cloud Consultancy Europe are authorised Office 365 resellers
If you would like help and advice with your IT infrastructure call me.
t: 00 (44) 1342 716873
e: jamie.shaw@thecloudconsultancy.eu
uk.linkedin.com/in/shawjamie
