Using print to deliver built-in flexibility to your business

Software as a service (SaaS) brings a range of benefits over installed applications, including flexibility and scalability. And the service provider can update their software centrally without any downtime for users, so the latest updates and security patches are in place, bringing peace of mind that systems are as secure as possible.

Research from IDC found that, by 2021, over half of software revenue will come from software sold as subscription and software as a service.

Adrian Bradley, of KPMG, said: “With COVID-19, firms that were already using cloud-based solutions at a sufficient scale experienced no great problems as they were able to easily scale up their operations online.

“But organisations that didn’t have the basic infrastructure in place and were heavily dependent on their premises found they had more bottlenecks to resolve.

Using the cloud also narrows the sphere of responsibility. It plays into reliability, compliance, safety and business continuity so leaders can devote their energy to other issues.

“But, understandably, many firms have focused on continuity, not resilience, so they will need to transform further.”

Automated technologies can also help to build in flexibility and business resilience. Joanna Swash of Moneypenny said: “Our clients faced an unprecedented volume of calls at the onset of lockdown, as people wanted to know about refunds, bookings and orders amid the chaos.

Our digital products including live chat and switchboard technologies helped them to effectively keep on top of enquiries where there wasn’t the physical manpower, preventing customer relationships from being damaged.”

Find out

To understand its importance, Brother UK recruited an expert panel of IT decision-makers, academics, and advisors to look at how firms are introducing new technology to build business resilience. Those businesses with robustness and agility will be best placed to survive both short-term shocks and longer periods of uncertainty.

The report helps in highlighting the role technology must play and help IT decision-makers with the choices they make in enabling their organisations to become more resilient.

Find out more

Get in touch to find out how Brother solutions can help you improve your business’s resilience.

 

2021 Data Protection Report

The last year has affected IT, Digital Transformation, and data protection strategy … in ways never seen before.

In December 2020, an independent research firm completed a survey of 3,000 enterprises across 28 countries
on what their data protection challenges and goals were, regardless of what their current or future data protection
vendor choices were.

The research project was commissioned by Veeam and helmed by two former industry analysts with a combined
60-years of experience in the data protection industry. The results and insights from the survey, as well as Veeam’s
perspective, are both offered in this report.

Find out more

As Veeam Silver partners, Complete IT Systems have the skills and resources to help your business. For more information on how Complete IT Systems and Veeam can help, call 01274 396 213 or email .

 

Recorded webinar: Datto RMM live demo

Complete IT Systems and Datto hosted a deep dive session on 4 November, 2021 about driving automation and efficiency with the Datto RMM solution.

During the session, Greg Jones and Mat Smith of Datto gave an overview of the next generation of software for modern businesses and show how RMM Automation can improve compliance and the security of your network.

How to protect & take your business to the next level with Datto RMM

The session covered:

  • What is an RMM tool?
  • Why do you need one?
  • Asset Management & Security
  • Compliance & Governance
  • Device security & Ransomware Detection/AV monitoring

Business & learning outcomes of this session:

  • How to Increase operational productivity
  • How to drive automation
Watch the recording now!

If you like what you see, you can request a 14-day FREE trial.

Find out more

As Datto Partners, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.

To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.

Datto

Three ways to create a resilient print solution

Futureproofing your business has become all the more important with the changes forced upon us by the Covid-19 pandemic and digitisation trends.

Every business is different, but there are also commonalities.

With Complete IT Systems and Brother, you can create your all-round solution to suit every need with three simple steps:
  1. Comprehensive device options including industry-leading SMB laser printers for the office and compact multifunction desktop devices for home to enable simple and secure printing and scanning in any environment.
  2. Touch-free de-centralised printing with Secure print+, enabling social distancing and reducing the risk of infection in office, while improving productivity by making print processes quick and easy.
  3. Ensure users have access to remote IT support, with a team of experts who can resolve any issues remotely, wherever they are.
Find out more

Get in touch to find out how Brother solutions can help you improve your business’s resilience.

 

How the 3Cs of data protection help your business

Relying on legacy backup or babysitting repetitive backup tasks is not the best use of IT’s time.

When resources are constrained or more business value could be created by freeing up time, adopting the 3Cs approach can be a game-changer for British firms.

Check out this infographic from Veeam Software to see how the 3Cs approach can benefit your firm, and how to implement it.

Find out more

As Veeam Silver partners, Complete IT Systems have the skills and resources to help your business. For more information on how Complete IT Systems and Veeam can help, call 01274 396 213 or email .

 

How to: Reduce the burden of data management

UK businesses trying to operate as efficiently as possible can often suffer from sub-optimal processes through no fault of their own. Digital transformation takes time, and bringing processes online can result in bottlenecks or time-consuming tasks.

One of these is data management.

Firms such as Helston Garages in Cornwall were struggling to manage data backup processes manually. A small IT team, the firm found that routine backup tasks were taking up most of the time of one of their team. This involved physically managing tape storage, and transporting them to an offsite storage facility. But it was an essential task to protect thousands of customers’ data across the group’s 28 sites.

The lack of block-based backup was causing the most problems. This meant that even simple backups of small amounts of data were taking up disproportionate amounts of man-hours. From customer data to recovering emails, this meant that even recovering a single data object was a challenge.

Moving into the cloud

Realising the need to modernise backup policies and processes, Helston Garages assessed several cloud backup solutions.

Automating backup to Barracuda’s cloud has ended the repetitive burden of copying data to tapes. “The biggest benefit for us is a dramatic reduction in our physical management overheads. We don’t have to worry about tape autoloaders and people taking physical volumes off-site to be protected. We have a lot more confidence in our ability to backup and restore multiple versions. It’s far less of a headache for local staff to not have to take tapes away,” said Tom Moore, Group IT Director.

The solution also provides block-level backup. This means data usage is relatively low which helps counter slower network connectivity at some of the Group’s dealerships. Older data can now be archived off thanks to
unlimited cloud storage.

Read on to find out more about how Helston Garages benefited from Barracuda’s cloud backup solutios.

Want to learn more?

Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

How do experts build business resilience?

IT professionals face significant challenges in adapting operations to new ways of working. Sara Diggle, Head of SMB print business unit at Brother UK recently spoke to technology experts from KPMG, Moneypenny, Weightmans, and Alliance Manchester Business School to produce a comprehensive report about where resilience priorities should lie.

Building resilient businesses in the post-pandemic economy

The magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic placed unforeseen pressures on even the most robust business continuity plans in organisations operating in every sector, from retail to professional services.

The economic and social repercussions have driven systemic changes in every business model, demanding leaders to inject greater flexibility and new resources to ensure they can respond quickly. From delivering reliable and secure remote working options to changing product offerings and shifting sales channels online, adaptability has continued to be a key factor for those organisations that have responded most effectively over the last 12 months.

And, technology has played an essential role in their success.

Overnight, the first lockdown forced the hands of many technologies and IT decision-makers, compelling them to rapidly adopt and integrate new solutions or face grinding to a halt. Many organisations shoehorned several years of digital transformation into just a few months, from rapidly scaling up cloud systems and rolling out new-generation hardware, to driving app development and introducing new security architecture.

But despite a return to normality being within society’s grasp, we can’t press pause. This renewed focus on resilience, enabled by technology, will not be a temporary shift. According to IDC, the market intelligence firm, enterprises that are focused on resiliency will be able to react to disruption 50% faster than rivals in the future.

2020 showed us that technology has a key role to play in making businesses more robust in the face of disruption, enabling them to quickly and seamlessly pivot to new ways of working.

To understand its importance, Brother UK recruited an expert panel of IT decision-makers, academics, and advisors to look at how firms are introducing new technology to build business resilience. Those businesses with robustness and agility will be best placed to survive both short-term shocks and longer periods of uncertainty.

The report helps in highlighting the role technology must play and help IT decision-makers with the choices they make in enabling their organisations to become more resilient.

Find out more

Get in touch to find out how Brother solutions can help you improve your business’s resilience.

 

Why cybersecurity always requires a layered approach

Ransomware is an increasingly complex challenge for IT departments to solve. With attacks doubling in the last year in the UK alone, there is still clearly a huge amount of work to do until organisations can consider themselves secure – even with the most robust backup strategies in place.

The need for a layered approach

Veeam Software works with partners such as Blocky for Veeam to provide customers with a multi-layered approach to defend customers against ransomware.

During a keynote at the The Channel Company NexGen+ Conference 2021, John Alexander, Veeam Cloud and Service Provider aggregation manager, stressed that Veeam recognises the importance of working with partners in the cybersecurity realm because data recovery and cybersecurity go hand-in-hand.

A last line of defence

In a recent article for CRN, senior editor Gina Narcisi highlights key points from the session where John added that:

“To address ransomware we have to go down through the layers, working with multiple partners to provide a comprehensive solution. With data protection as the last line of defense, it‘s critical that businesses and partners have confidence in that solution.”

A weak point exists because Veeam Software backups stored locally on Microsoft environments lack any native immutability for Veeam Backup and Disaster Recovery volumes.

To close this gap, Blocky for Veeam provides immutable Veeam Backup and Disaster Recovery volumes using application fingerprinting technology. This represents a vital security layer for all Microsoft Windows based Veeam Software installations.

Want to learn more?

As Blocky for Veeam Certified Partners, Complete IT Systems have a team of specialists on hand to demo the solution. We can discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation. We also offer FREE trials.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

blocky for veeam

4 ways RMM protects your technology assets

As trusted IT specialists, our top priority is effectively managing your network and technology assets to keep them safe and optimised so you stay productive.

Datto Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) is a great way to manage and protect your business. It delivers premier monitoring and management services of your technology assets, delivering better service and greatly reducing any potential for downtime or disruptions to your operations.

This enables you to spend more time focused on what matters most in running your business. When you turn the safety of your network and assets over to us, we provide you peace of mind by offering you the benefits of Datto RMM:

1) Proactive Support

With Datto RMM, we can address potential issues before they become a problem because we have the ability to
monitor your businesses’ devices, applications, and systems continuously. In fact, Datto RMM can fix up many common issues proactively before they actually affect your network.

  • For a more secure environment, Datto RMM automates software patching of devices and applications. It tracks the status of all devices to ensure all devices are properly supported.
  • The ability to do real-time monitoring means we can keep all of your technology assets (devices, networks) running smoothly 24/7/365. Datto RMM is always on: keeping your servers, mission-critical computers, and other devices up and running and fully productive.
2) Rapid Response

When a particular issue or scenario arises, get on top of it immediately with Datto RMM. You can give it the focused attention necessary to minimise any disruption.

  • Datto RMM enables the remote support of any device, from any location, within moments—IT staff don’t need to be onsite to fix issues or errors. With instant and remote access from anywhere, you have the ability to run scripts and execute tasks, even after business hours if necessary to avoid disruption.
  • With automated remediation capabilities, we can programme the system to automatically fix commonly encountered issues with zero interruption to anyone in your business.
3) Actionable Insight

Technology isn’t only an asset. It’s a major investment for your organisation. Datto RMM can arm you with the insight you need to see how your valuable assets are performing, therefore empowering you to make fact-based decisions to optimise your technology investments.

  • Datto RMM completes thorough audits of every device and every activity across the entire network. With visibility of your IT assets, it can capture everything from hardware to software to license information and track any system changes daily.
  • You also get detailed reports that are easy to understand and are relevant to your business. These reports identify what devices are having the most issues or aren’t up to date with security patches or are coming out of warranty. The goal is to give you the information you need to make informed business decisions supported by data.
4) World-Class Security

It’s more important than ever to protect your IT infrastructure and the devices you use to run your business. Datto RMM has built-in comprehensive security measures at every point.

  • The backend platform is built within the World-Class Amazon Cloud and is protected from external threats with a persistently tested and hardened cloud infrastructure.
  • Multi-factor authentication safeguards access to each individual user account.
  • Security controls and privacy mode can be enabled to prevent unauthorised access to devices. With privacy mode, the user must grant permission before their device is accessed by a technician for remote support. Datto RMM gives the visibility and control to effectively manage all aspects of your IT service delivery, including hardware and software inventory, licensing, monitoring events, response times, resource utilisation, life cycle management and every aspect of your IT environment.

With Datto RMM, you can confidently keep your technology assets optimised, eliminate disruptions to your operations and to ensure the safety of your business data, give us a call today.

Find out more

We are running a live webinar on 4 November 2021 to showcase Datto RMM and answer any questions. Click here to find out more and register.

Check out this short video outlining what is Datto RMM and how it works:

Find out more

As Datto Partners, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.

To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.

Datto

The future of physical security

Complete IT are proud to be working with Verkada, who are revolutionising the world of CCTV and Physical Security.

Verkada’s technology allows the deployment and management of premises security to be EASY, SMART and SCALABLE. Join us for a short demo session to learn how you can:

  • Reduce on-premise hardware
  • Quickly find and share incidents over the cloud
  • Receive proactive alerts for Over-crowded, motion, face recognition and more

Want to find out more?

As Verkada Authorised Resellers, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.

To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.