Talk About it #5

WINTER 2018

Disruptive technology and its growing impact We take a closer look at Azure and Windows AutoPilot

Why outsource your IT support?

Part one of our look into the benefits of outsourcing IT support

SECURITY

TAKEN SERIOUSLY With more organisations expecting to see proof you take security seriously, we discuss Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001:2013 certification

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS • LEGALEX • BATEMANS BREWERY

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Contents 04 05 06 08 08 09 10 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 20 21 22 22 24 26

Latest News Quiss People Cyber Essentials Plus What you need to know to get certified Helping Darlingtons achieve Cyber Essentials Plus How we helped a client become more secure Profile: Ian Wesley Help at hand at home Keeping your family safe online Making more of your Office with Circyl A review of some new Microsoft apps Why outsource your IT support?

Making the case for what we do Shortcuts for Word 2016 A little help to improve your productivity Demand increases for ISO 27001:2013 certification Why you will see more of these certificates ISO certification helps you assess your supply chain Don’t rely on words, ask for proof Still to be convinced you need a unified communications solution?

Here’s the magnificent seven Bigger, stronger Legalex good for law firms If you’re going, it’d be good to see you Golfing in the rain for a change The day wasn’t a complete washout Home grown talent is a game changer Nurturing the talent within Arrivals: Shelley Vaisey Client in the spotlight: Batemans Helping our clients to help others Charity begins in the office Disruptive technology and its growing impact Microsoft Future Decoded just for you Case Study: Debenhams Ottaway

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Cert No. 1330 ISO 9001:2008 ISO 27001:2013

Quiss Technology plc.

Claymore Tame Valley Industrial Estate Tamworth, B77 5DQ

Quiss Technology has been delivering IT support services since we were founded in 1988; the early years of the information technology revolution.

To discuss content or to be part of our next edition, please contact the editor, Tracy Armstrong.

QuissTechPLC Quiss Technology plc

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Quiss has some large clients, but none come bigger than recent addition, the Arcadia Group, with 22,000 employees across its beloved high street brands, including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Topshop and Wallis.

Behind the successful high-street retail operation is a huge support team requiring a lot of laptops and consumables to ensure everything runs effectively and efficiently.

Consistency of supply, speed of response, price and quality of service were the deciding factors when

choosing a new supplier, which plays to the strengths of our Purchasing team, headed by Manager Dave Payne, who said: “Another big name to add to a growing list of Quiss customers.

“I suspect there are few who can compete with our pricing on Dell laptops and consumables from brands like Xerox, Epson and HP. We have opportunities to grow the account, with our pricing and quality of service likely to be a major factor in our success.”

David Payne Purchasing And Logistics Manager

Grindeys Solicitors stoke fires of Cloud adoption Grindeys Solicitors, a large regional law firm based in Stoke on Trent, have selected Quiss Technology to provide day to day management support for their IT systems.

Grindeys employ over 200 people who provide legal advice to both private individuals and businesses. The success of this firm is due to a combination of client focused employees who are supported by a sophisticated IT system that helps them to be organised, efficient and compliant with regulatory demands.

The role of the internal IT team is to focus on IT strategy including the development of new applications to drive business growth. However , the team were spending too much time on day to day management issues.

Grindeys offer expertise in several areas of law including residential and commercial property, family and divorce, wills and probate, employment, dispute resolution and

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business law. With such a diverse range of services the day to day demand on the internal team was too high so outsourcing some tasks was an obvious solution.

They chose Quiss Technology because of our unrivalled experience of supporting firms in the legal sector. This experience, combined with our knowledge of cloud and on premise solutions, enabled us to complete a comprehensive onsite audit so we could advise Grindeys on how to achieve their strategic aim to make better use of cloud technology.

Our proposed solution will allow Grindeys to rationalise the IT systems and infrastructure. They will then switch to Microsoft Azure and Office 365 to deliver the consumption-based services, preferred by the firm’s forward-thinking IT Manager, Neil Lench.

Matt Rhodes Commercial Services Manager

QUISS PEOPLE

Mitchel Skitt – Helpdesk Analyst

Alex Lawton – Lead Helpdesk Analyst

Carrie-Louise Penn – Helpdesk Analyst

David Dickson – Senior Helpdesk Analyst

Charlee-Ann Pugh - Helpdesk Analyst

Kam Randhawa – Senior Helpdesk Analyst

Rehman Iqbal – Helpdesk Analyst

Steve Porter – Senior Helpdesk Analyst

Alan Bisset – Site Support Analyst

Alex Catana – Field Service Engineer

Tony Wong – Service Desk Apprentice

Rohen Farmer – Head of Innovation

Jason Whitaker – Head of Technical Services Elaine French – Accounts Administrator This regular feature highlights appointments, promotions and qualifications across the teams here at Quiss, as we work hard to recruit, train and nurture the best talent in the industry.

Matthew Jones – became MCSE Productivity certified Nick McCleary – became MCSA Windows Server 2012 certified Daryll Smith – passed Mimecast Certified Technical Specialist certification Sabrina Huish – passed Microsoft Word Expert 2016 James Smith – passed Microsoft Word Expert 2016, MOS Excel 2016 Expert Jayne Holloway – passed Microsoft Word Expert 2016 Martin Batt – passed Microsoft Word Expert 2016, Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint 2016, Microsoft Office Specialist Outlook 2016, MOS Excel 2016 Expert Lesley Harvey – Microsoft Office Specialist Outlook, Microsoft Office Specialist Word Expert 2016, Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint 2016 Joe Krych - 77-726 MS Office word expert 2016, Microsoft Outlook 2016, Microsoft Excel Expert 2016. Joe has now become a Microsoft Office Specialist Master, having completed a number of essential exams and levels within the Microsoft office portfolio. He is the first Quiss MOS Master.

James Wattis – O365 and his 70-346 (Managing office identities) exam as part of his MCSA O365 accreditation Alan Hoose – Passed MCSA WS2016 and also the first of his Windows 10 MCSA exams Mitchell Skitt - Passed his Mimecast Technical Specialist certification Luke Purchase – MCSA Windows Server 2012 certification Tony Wong - Mimecast Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) Rehman Iqbal - Mimecast Certified Technical Specialist Anthony Michael - passed the first of his MCSA 0365 exams with a tremendous score of 826 out of 1000.

Anthony has entered into an aggressive learning and development programme under the tutorage of Mike Owen, Head of Business Productivity at Circyl.

Grant Constantine - passed his Prince 2 foundation and practitioner accreditation Lesley Harvey - one of our residential trainers has completed her MOSM and joins Martin, James and Joe to full certification level across the 2016 suite of products.

Talk About IT | 5

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CYBER ESSENTIALS PLUS THE HALLMARK OF STRONG CYBER SECURITY

With cyber-attacks on the increase and high-profile security breaches making regular headlines, it is no longer just good enough for businesses to claim they can resist potential cyber threats. They must be able to prove it, particularly if they hope to secure government or public-sector work.

Since 2014, Cyber Essentials Plus has been a mandatory requirement when applying for government contracts and it looks as though we are transitioning to a point where businesses must hold a badge to be considered for most publicsector contracts.

When making decisions about what suppliers to choose, clients are also adopting stricter vetting procedures and actively seeking

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evidence that an organisation has robust security standards.

controls, which is sent to a recognised body for review.

Organisations should now be striving to achieve the Cyber Essentials Plus standard. It not only ensures an organisation is properly protected, but it also alleviates any customers’ fears when it comes to the security of their personal information and confidential data.

The organisation will typically undergo an external vulnerability assessment from a certifying body, which directly tests that individual controls on the internet facing network perimeter, have been implemented correctly.

An essential sign of approval

There are currently two different certifications available to businesses – the standard Cyber Essentials and the Cyber Essentials Plus.

Cyber Essentials represents the most basic level of cyber security. It requires organisations to complete a questionnaire regarding their current security

Cyber Essentials Plus, however, requires an organisation to undergo a much more thorough assessment, which is based on internal security assessments of end-user devices.

Using a range of specialist tools and techniques, the Cyber Essentials Plus assessment directly tests that individual controls have been implemented correctly and recreates various attack scenarios to determine

whether a system can withstand potential threats.

The Cyber Essentials Plus certification requires five technical controls: Boundary firewalls – prevent unauthorised access to or from private networks, but require good setup to achieve maximum effectiveness; Secure configuration – ensuring systems are configured securely to suit the requirements of an organisation; Access control – only allowing those with authority to have access to systems; Malware protection – ensuring the most up to date virus and malware protection is installed; Patch management – ensuring the latest supported version of applications is used and all the necessary patches have been applied.

Once a company passes these tests, they can be awarded the badge, which the organisation can use in all its marketing

to demonstrate it values cyber security and can cope with cyberattacks.

Simple steps to compliance

To achieve Cyber Essentials Plus, first visit www.cyberaware.gov. uk and select one of the official accreditation bodies listed, remembering you must first complete the basic Cyber Essentials certification process.

When an independent assessor has reviewed your answers and performed the basic tests on your security controls, you will be awarded the Cyber Essentials certificate. To achieve the upgrade to Plus, you will need to introduce the appropriate security controls to your system.

Think benefits not badges

The perceived security and business advantages of becoming Cyber Essentials Plus compliant is undeniable, but achieving

certification should only be the start of your company’s continued efforts to achieving optimum protection.

Adopting wider security frameworks and being proactive in your efforts to tighten security should be an ongoing responsibility for you and your team.

More sophisticated assessments are available to companies who are looking to push their security further than the Cyber Essentials scheme, including Penetration Testing and Simulated Targeted Attack and Response, which assesses specialist business functions with a market or country influence.

If you think your organisation could benefit from these additional levels of assessments, then please get in touch and we’ll help you achieve total security for your business and clients.

Ready for the ultimate step in security? Then you’ll need ISO 27001:2013, which we can also help advise you about, as we achieved this standard a few years ago.

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HELPING DARLINGTONS ACHIEVE CYBER ESSENTIALS PLUS We have been providing managed IT services to Darlingtons Solicitors LLP, for more than a year now and recently supported their ambition to achieve Cyber Essentials Plus compliance.

The growing North London based law firm, recognised the importance of demonstrating to their clients and prospects that they understand the need for robust, secure IT infrastructure and systems, with a recognised badge to prove it.

Phone a friend

We provide consultancy services to all our Qworks clients, but help with first achieving Cyber Essentials, then upgrading to Plus was beyond our typical remit.

However, confident all the physical security measures were up to the job, we were more than happy to help the team at Darlingtons through the process, which would start as a tick-box exercise.

The initial help with the Cyber Essentials questionnaire, needed some time on the phone together with a written description of all the physical measures in place, which could be passed to the external certifying body undertaking the assessment.

Upgrading to Plus requires specific technical controls to be in place and recorded, the majority of which reside with the engineering and support teams here at Quiss.

We have to configure the firewalls to prevent unauthorised access and ensure the configuration of the IT systems and infrastructure is not only secure, but suits the needs of our client.

Ensuring only those who need access to the systems is an essential part of our remit as is the security training we help

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most clients with, particularly the areas of password security and understanding the anatomy of phishing attacks.

Mentioned in dispatches

Michael Chapman, Practice Manager at Darlingtons explains: “Whilst offering us greater protection, the accreditation enables us to be ahead of the queue when renewing our panel memberships (as cyber awareness is becoming a key criteria) and assist in negotiating cheaper insurance policies.

“The Cyber Essentials Plus badge is immediately recognisable and demonstrates our commitment to keeping our clients’ data safe and secure. Very few of our competitors have gone down this route, but I suspect many more law firms will choose to follow this example.

“Quiss Technology provide the dayto-day support our business needs to maintain the service levels on which our reputation is built. The support offered by their team throughout the twomonth process was critical to our quick accreditation, especially the immensely patient Jade Holland.”

As time passes and cyber-security remains the pre-eminent issue, we expect organisations of all sizes and across all sectors to seek the assurance offered be the Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. And the badge that goes with it.

There is a lot of work behind the scenes, particularly with the back-end systems we implement and maintain, but having helped a client through the process, we are prepared for all eventualities and a lot of phone calls.

Ian Wesley Customer Support Manager

Profile: Ian Wesley Customer Support Manager Ian is one of our longestserving team members, having joined us in 1993 as a Trainee Field Service Engineer. But he has never been a man to rest on his laurels and displayed enthusiasm to succeed right from day one.

Ian’s drive to learn and progress has resulted in regular promotions throughout his career, achieving senior positions in almost all departments within the service delivery department here at Quiss.

This broad experience of roles within the service delivery team ensured his rise to his current position as Customer Support Manager was inevitable. Ian is responsible for maintaining our high level of customer service and is a point of escalation for our clients.

He recently attained Prince2 Practitioner & Foundation accreditation and is also ITIL V3 qualified. Ian is a familiar face for many of our clients as he regularly attends client review meetings, looking for the valuable insights that shape our service – we can always do better.

Ian is a family man and keen football fan, with any spare time spent on his allotment or his hobby of competitive craft brewing.

Help at home at hand We spend our time almost exclusively helping clients benefit from robust, secure, well-managed IT infrastructure and systems, with their homes only considered for remote access.

But given the prevalence of viruses and cyber-crime, to say nothing of the growing number of sites unsuitable for minors, we are recommending for the first time a free home solution, to lessen the risks.

Let the right one in

Here at Quiss Technology, we work closely with Sophos, a highly respected British company that develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management.

Their products are our solutions of choice to keep clients’ systems safe. So, when we heard more about Sophos Home, a simplified version of their award-winning security product Sophos Central, we thought we would review it and offer our view on it.

The first point of note is the cost, or more accurately, the lack of one. It is free and can protect up to 10 machines, Mac and PC, from malware, viruses, ransomware and inappropriate or malicious websites.

System Requirements • • • •

Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, or Windows 10 Mac OS X 10.10, 10.11, 10.12 or 10.13 Minimum 1 GB of free disk space Minimum 1 GB of RAM

Supported Browsers for Home • Microsoft Edge • Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or later • Apple Safari • Google Chrome • Mozilla Firefox

settings for your whole family whether they share your home or live half way around the world.

Using real-time threat intelligence from SophosLabs, Home analyses suspicious behaviours and activities from files and programmes, to deliver proactive protection from new and developing threats.

Block unwanted content

Installing Sophos Home is simple and it will immediately help prevent you accidently connecting to malicious websites and traffic sources, like command and control servers run by cybercriminals.

It will automatically block phishing attacks, stop you accessing websites that contain malware and viruses or fake websites pretending to be legitimate.

And for those of you with young internet users in the family, you can also control the content they view with web filtering - decide what to allow, warn, or block for each computer. It’s your choice.

You just sign up and download the product onto each machine.

The central admin page shows the status of the machines that have the tool and any alerts.

Homework help too

Although many of our clients allow remote working and users have specific machines and criteria to connect to work systems, Sophos Home is still a good product for organisations with a strong home-worker contingent, but no definitive rules.

It allows home machines used to access the network remotely, to be protected by a recognised vendor, not just letting individuals sort something out for themselves; if they remember.

Unfortunately, our support contracts with clients do not extend to non-commercial use products like Sophos Home, but you would have access to the Sophos community and online help to resolve any issues or queries that might arise post-installation.

Sophos so good

One of our system engineers installed the product at home and in his words: “All in all, it seems a pretty damn good service, especially for free. I’ve installed it on my kids’ machines and can’t see any down sides so far – hopefully a service that they keep supplying for free”.

Best of all, with a centrally managed web login, you can manage security

Talk About IT | 9

MAKING MORE OF YOUR OFFICE WITH

Let’s assume you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription and you know what most of the apps do. Like most users across the world, you’re familiar with Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and even SharePoint, all of which you use regularly if not every minute of every day.

But recently, you think you might be missing out. You have noticed a few apps appearing, like Delve, Sway, Planner, Forms and people are talking about them, but you don’t have the time to work out what they are or what benefits they offer.

Office Delve

around your organisation The volume of information swirling track of what you have and increases every day and keeping you find the files and data where it is, can be tricky. To help you, Delve was devised, that are important and relevant for deployed and developed. s users work with Delve is a collaboration tool. It help e documents, whilst colleagues to create, edit and shar ts, images and even videos. allowing them to embed documen about users, including Delve displays profile information s to make it easier pictures, projects and relevant skill the most appropriate for people to find and connect with the search-and-find feature colleagues. Users can also utilize to locate fellow members. ments, presented on It shows recent and relevant docu h includes a name, content card displays, each of whic vity. Information designed to photograph and most recent acti ment is relevant to their help a user understand why a docu work is also available to them.

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So, here is a quick overview that explains what a few of these new apps do and when you might use them.

There’s a lot of information and advice on Microsoft’s site, but if you want a more detailed discussion or some training to get the most from your Office 365 subscription, please get in touch with Michael at michael.owen@circyl.co.uk Michael Owen Head of Business Productivity (Circyl)

of Delve is to allow users Another useful productivity feature vant or related documents. to create boards that highlight rele ted to a specific project and A board can show documents rela in that project, who can add allow access to everyone involved content cards to it. s to view the documents Importantly, Delve only allows user rs cannot see the records or they have permission to see. Use granted access. documents of users who have not uctivity, Delve also offers To help drive improvements in prod better understand how they a suite of analytics to help users ed as MyAnalytics and spend their time – this was re-brand thly cost per user. typically involves an additional mon

The benefits of Delve

ss of where it is stored • Quickly access content regardle from around the business • Discover new relevant content ilar projects • Understand who works on sim just a phone directory • Basis for a skills directory not • View organisation structure

workflows to start Flow also allows users to schedule day or night, on a given day automatically, at set times of the or a minute. or date and once a day, an hour, ity for workflows to What makes Flow unique is the abil 3rd party solutions, interact with other applications and mp, LinkedIn and like SharePoint, OneDrive, MailChi ds at around 200 different DropBox. Currently, this list stan uded as part of your applications. Most of these are incl premium license in a ire Office 365 licensing, a few requ order to connect to the 3rd party.

Office Flow

w service that will help users Microsoft Flow is an online workflo It allows workflows across be more efficient and work smarter. ices to be automated, based on the most common apps and serv eventually replace SharePoint certain triggers and actions. It will ines).

Workflow (both 2010 and 2013 eng s; for example, when a It all starts when something happen list, an email can be sent new entry is added to a SharePoint e reviews the entry. Or, if a automatically to request someon t library, an email can be document is added to the documen lleague seeking feedback or automatically sent to a manager/co approval.

tion within your business. Flow But it’s not just about the informa saying about your business helps you monitor what people are y time a tweet contains a by creating a flow that will run ever s. hashtag relevant to your busines the tweet into a database, a The flow could add the details from and using the collected data, SharePoint list or even an Excel file it to Power BI, spot trends or you can create actions to connect il. interrogate the data in more deta

Office Planner

Planner makes it simple for users to coordinate and collaborate on all their projects.

It has been designed to bring more detail and order to the teamwork necessary to ensure everyone delivers more in less time.

It is an intuitive management tool that allows responsibilities to be delegated and plans created. Each plan has a board where tasks are organised in buckets, with tasks categorised by status or who owns them.

Planner uses an engaging dashbo ard format that offers users a graphical representation of the projects in which they are involved; a chart. To upd ate the status of a task or assign actions to another user is a simple drag and drop process that helps speed up the process and builds collaboration.

When someone is assigned a task , or included in a group working on a project, they will auto matically receive an email informing them of the situatio n to ensure everyone knows what is going on, all the tim e.

easier than learning to Whilst not that simple to use, it’s you have data stored in code and worth learning to use if that you want to bring different places and applications together.

The benefits of Flow

as approvals • Automate simple processes such esses with enhanced • Improve existing business proc ion automation and systems integrat developer resource • Keep systems updated without

Planner plays to the real strength of Office 365 in its ability to allow users to attach files to tasks, collaborate closely with those files and chat abo ut the tasks without switching between apps.

All of the team’s discussions and deliverables remain in one location, the plan. This app roach prevents important information becoming spread across different applications, where there is a risk it may be missed or not acted upon.

To see progress of any project or to see if the team is making the expected progress, it just takes a quick look at the appropriate chart. It’s that simple.

The benefits of Planner

• Task management for small gro ups • Break larger projects into disc rete

tasks

• Improve efficiency and produc tivit

y

• Greater collaboration across team

s

tions. having a poke about at the applica er the bonnet with Office 365 and und ing gett just of e cas critically a is and lly It rea closer together e efficiency and bring colleagues eas incr y, tivit duc pro rove imp There is a lot to help ss all devices. all work anywhere, anytime, acro they n, atio anis org e agil ern mod for the l help or some er, if you want a little professiona emb rem so job, day r you g doin le However, it’s a lot to take in whi call or an email away. ce 365 subscription, we’re only a training to get more from your Offi

Talk About IT | 11

Why

Outsource your IT support? (part one)

The choice between outsourcing IT support or retaining an in-house IT team is a hard one, with both options offering advantages. The advantages are different however and which one better reflects your ambition and chosen strategy will help you decide which is right for your organisation.

And of course, it’s not a straight either/or choice, with a hybrid model often proving the best of both worlds for organisations with an eye on future growth. To help you answer the question for yourself, here are a few points worth considering:

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Skills

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espite the best efforts of Microsoft to rationalise applications, technology is allpervading and more complicated than ever. The external threat landscape is changing continuously and poses new challenges to those tasked with keeping systems secure.

The issue for most SMEs when recruiting their own IT support staff is ensuring they have a broad, general skill-set, able to solve simple problems quickly and efficiently. Few organisations will have the ongoing need or work to warrant employment of IT staff with specialised skills.

Employing those with niche skills, to be used only occasionally would prove cost-prohibitive.

So, you either go without and face greater risk of cyber-attack or reduced productivity across your organisation or access

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1

Cost

he importance of cost will vary depending on the size of the business. For smaller organisations, any problems with the IT will generally become the responsibility of the ‘accidental techie’, a knowledgeable member of staff who ends up becoming the go-to IT engineer.

Unfortunately, they end up being bombarded with support requests and their primary role starts to take a back seat. This reduces their personal productivity and leads to longer resolution times for issues that are already affecting the work of others.

Creating an in-house support team will typically require at least two salaried staff, which will add significantly to your wage bill, to say nothing of the associated costs of recruitment and

these special skills only when you need them, by outsourcing.

The best outsourced service providers, like Quiss Technology, will give you access to a growing team of knowledgeable IT professionals with a range of specialist skills that are constantly updated and extended.

When shaping your contract, you can choose to have their services on tap to match your ambitious growth plans, or include their occasional use as an added cost if you are not likely to call on them too often.

Resources

inked to the skills question, is one of resources.

Firstly, this is not just a matter of enough people to cope with a problem, but enough to cope with multiple problems occurring at the same time, more quickly and efficiently than in-house teams can.

A large team of IT professionals available remotely to support your staff working in the office, at a client’s office or even from home, will make a huge difference to the day-to-day productivity of your organisation and the people within it.

They can also help you develop and incorporate ideas that may be beyond the abilities of your in-house IT team. Access

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to professionals only when you need them is cost-effective and allows you to deploy the latest technologies and software applications, to compete with larger enterprises.

Choosing to outsource your IT support, does not mean losing your existing in-house team, or the time and money you have invested to this point.

With a hybrid model, you maintain existing expertise on-premise, but have access to additional resources to cope with a problem beyond your team’s capability or bring in specialised skills to help complete a project more quickly.

Shortcuts for Word 2016 We know some of these will be familiar to a lot of you, but this is a useful list of the more popular shortcuts that will speed up your typing in Word. For those of you touch-typing your way around the keyboard, these tips will help you avoid reaching for the mouse.

on-going training to keep their skills up to date.

Growth will require the recruitment of additional staff and the implementation of a management structure, which ensures large ongoing costs that are not easy to justify or scale up or down accordingly.

Using outsourced IT support will reduce costs and consolidate them into a fixed monthly cost, based on the number of users being supported. It mitigates up-front capital expenditure and allows for accurate budgeting, with a typical contract being anywhere from three to six years.

More next time…

There are more reasons to consider outsourcing some or all of the IT support you and your organisation need to operate optimally in today’s challenging commercial environment, which we will look at next time.

We will cover the benefits of comprehensive reporting and the ongoing cost of ensuring the skills of IT staff remain current and relevant. Other considerations will include, extending support cover to 24/7/365, re-focussing on core activities, benefits of sector best practice and access to informal support and training for third-party applications.

The flexibility and scalability inherent in typical support contracts, like those offered by us here at Quiss Technology are the primary reasons why more organisations are choosing to outsource their IT support.

If you still need convincing or have decided now is the time to see how the costs stack up, please get in touch and we’ll explain in detail the pros and cons of managed IT outsourcing for your organisation.

Clive Taylor Operations Director

Everyone else should find it a list that helps you increase productivity, even if it’s only a word or two extra a minute. Keep it handy and let us know if you have any other favourites we can share with our readers in future.

Ctrl + A

Select all contents of the page

Ctrl + B

Bold highlighted selection

Ctrl + C

Copy selected text

Ctrl + V

Paste selected text

Ctrl + X

Cut selected text

Ctrl + I

Italicise highlighted text

Ctrl + K

Insert link

Ctrl + U

Underline highlighted text

Ctrl + Y

Redo last action performed

Ctrl + Z

Undo last action

Ctrl + N

Open new blank document

Ctrl + O

Open options

Ctrl + P

Open print window

Ctrl + F

Open find/navigation box

Ctrl + G

Open find and replace box – Go To

Ctrl + H

Open find and replace box

Ctrl + J

Justify paragraph alignment

Ctrl + L

Fully align selected text or paragraph

Ctrl + Q

Left align selected text or paragraph

Ctrl + E

Centre align selected text or paragraph

Ctrl + R

Right align selected text or paragraph

Ctrl + M

Indent selected paragraph

Ctrl + T

Apply hanging indent

Ctrl + D

Open font options box

Ctrl + ←

Move one word to the left

Ctrl + →

Move one word to the right

Ctrl + ↑

Move to start of line or paragraph

Ctrl + ↓

Move to start of next paragraph

Ctrl + Del

Delete word to right of cursor

Ctrl + Back

Delete word to left of cursor

Next issue, we’ll take a look at another popular application and offer a few more shortcuts to help you get more from your Office 365 subscription. And remember our dedicated training team will happily devise a training programme to help you and your people achieve more, in less time.

As part of a general Office 365 training programme, we even offer a course in Word formatting that covers tips, tricks and shortcuts, to help everyone, regardless of their role quickly produce professional looking documents.

We demonstrate how to use house styles to save time applying formatting and quickly create documents with consistent formatting.

If you would like any more details, please get in touch with our training team at training@quiss.co.uk

James Smith Training Manager

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G

iven the high profile cyber-security breaches in recent years, it should be no surprise to learn that the number of organisations achieving ISO 27001, the International Standard for information security, rose by 21% in 2016 – the last year we have figures for.

Demand increases for

ISO 27001:2013 certification

The standard is becoming a must-have certificate as more organisations not only worry about the data they hold, but that entrusted to them by third-parties or indeed clients.

There appears to have been a surge in law firms in particular achieving the standard, perhaps in response to the forthcoming GDPR regulations, but also as many tender documents now ask for such certification.

What is ISO 27001:2013 and how do you achieve it?

The standard specifies what you have to do to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve an information security management system tailored to the needs of your own organization – including the assessment and treatment of information security risks.

Successful certification is not easy. This is not a tick-box exercise that can be done in a day and forgotten about once the certificate is hanging on the wall.

It will generally take anywhere between 6 and 12 months to complete, but longer if you do it from scratch on your own with no external support or advice. And that is where our experience of achieving the standard has proved useful for our clients.

Firstly, whilst we do not offer an ISO 27001 consultancy service as such, there are some specific areas where we have helped our clients to ease their burden, such as answering questions relating to IT systems and infrastructure security, network security, connections to the outside world and data accessibility.

We have also provided sample documentation to assist with policies for remote working, data backup, password management, acceptable use etc.

With most of our managed services clients we also help with sections relating to security when adding new

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starters for the organisation and in any event manage operations to ensure that all leavers are immediately removed from the system and denied access to it.

Such processes are a standard part of the Quiss outsourced service model.

The ISO 27001 external assessment is in many ways less to do with physical checks of IT systems or infrastructure and more about implementing robust processes for managing the confidentiality, integrity and availability of corporate data. This helps ensure people within the organisation understand information security is the responsibility of everyone, not just the data controller; if they have one.

That said, the analysis and risk assessment of the physical security in place on the network does form a key part of the standard and

for our managed service clients, these elements are often outsourced entirely to Quiss. Our standard model ensures that these elements are robust enough to withstand the requirements of ISO 27001 without the need for further costly changes.

Advice when needed Having held the certificate for many years, we have advised numerous clients through the process and have time and again demonstrated that our networks are of the calibre needed to withstand the audit process. We have been told our informal support coupled with the rigour we have already built into our clients infrastructures has helped to significantly reduce the time for the firms concerned to achieve ISO 27001:2013.

Our advice focussed on offering a pragmatic approach to each section, shaped by our own efforts and through helping others along the same journey. It’s an important standard and will only become increasingly necessary as the threat environment changes.

If you’re considering certification, there is certainly plenty of support out there.

But if you would like an informal chat to understand how outsourcing to Quiss has helped other organisations in this scenario, please get in touch and we’ll talk you through it.

Ian Harrison Customer Services Director

ISO CERTIFICATION

Maxine Park, Solicitor and co-founder of transcription and HELPS dictation outsourcing service provider, DictateNow, explains the benefits of ISO certification.

YOU ASSESS YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN

Outsourcing offers a lot of benefits, making for leaner, more efficient and ultimately more profitable businesses.

But extensive supply chains pose a risk to any business that relies on suppliers with no business continuity plan. Or the certificates to prove it.

If you buy off-the-shelf products, losing a supplier suddenly will have little impact on your business. If you rely on niche products or services, available only from a small number of suppliers, then losing one could have a significant impact.

There is a temptation when outsourcing to base the decision primarily on cost rather than resources, experience and innovation. The impact of losing an important supplier, rarely features in the decision process – until now.

Businesses have suffered fires and insolvencies since time immemorial,

of their outsourced service partners having problems meeting their obligations.

but cyber-crime is a new, very real and growing threat that can interrupt a supplier’s business, often with catastrophic and terminal consequences for its survival.

Fortunately, there are indicators beyond gut-instinct to help organisations recognise those suppliers that take their responsibilities seriously – ISO certification.

Some industry experts now claim 60% of small companies that suffer a serious cyber-attack will not be in business within six months. This explains why many businesses are examining their supply chains more closely and questioning the continuity plans of the businesses they rely on.

Whilst there are ISO standards covering quality management and data security, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 respectively, it is now ISO 22301:2012 the standard for Business Continuity that demands more attention.

The topic of business continuity is covered in the SRA Code of Conduct, with Chapter 7: Management of your business, requiring law firms to identify and monitor financial, operational and business continuity risks.

This will not just apply to the continuity of their own practices and their ability to deliver and maintain the efficient supply of legal services to their clients, but any likely impact on business continuity

The ISO 22301:2012 standard is a rigorous certification process and recognises the ability of a business to maintain service levels to customers, in the event of disruption in its many forms.

You should not rely on suppliers who only claim to have a business continuity plan in place. You should only work with suppliers and outsource partners they can trust; partners that have an effective Business Continuity Management System in place and have the certificates to prove it.

A partner you can trust...

Quality Management

Information Security

Business Continuity

... with the certificates to prove it

DictateNow is ISO 22301:2012 certified, which means if things go seriously wrong, we have a plan that minimises disruption to our service and your business.

Already ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 9001:2015 certified, we offer an unrivaled outsourced service to help improve your productivity and profitability.

As the UK’s leading outsourced digital dictation and transcription services provider, we have hundreds of qualified, UK based secretaries available 24/7/365.

0845 601 7726

Speak to us today and get the partner you need.

www.dictatenow.com

Talk About IT | 15

Still to be convinced you need a solution?

No, it’s not a fashion or a trend you can ignore any longer.

Unified Communications or UC for short is now a mature technology with a lot of advantages for organisations of every size and structure.

It goes without saying that communication is at the heart of everything you do. Done well it will bring your people closer together; done wrong or left as it is, it can be a stumbling block to success.

Access your calendar The right UC solution will integrate with Outlook and help you stay on top of all the events you add to your calendar. You can also automate invitations and access all your contacts to make it easier to use call, chat and other relevant communications tools.

Intelligent call routing UC solutions are now on a different level to traditional call forwarding.

They allow you to forward calls using specific routing rules you define, to make it easier to prioritise and manage your calls.

Specific calls can be routed to a colleague, while other calls are routed to voicemail or forwarded to a mobile device. You choose, in fact each user can choose their own rules.

The right communications solution will enhance your customer service and encourage individuals to engage when they have a problem; the wrong solution will have them going elsewhere.

UC is constantly evolving and now delivers features that make any organisation operate more effectively and more efficiently.

But for those still wavering on the value of a conversation about the specific benefits of UC for their organisation, here’s a few to consider:

Because collaboration works A collaborative workforce is an efficient and effective one. UC solutions eliminate fees for thirdparty applications, typically working with the Microsoft applications you already use to run your business.

Instant access to audioconferencing, video conferencing and instant messaging with document sharing and desktop sharing, makes it easier for employees to access and connect with each other.

Keep what matters Choosing the right UC solution will not only bring your people closer together, but helps protect you and your employees too. Users can save instant messages, call recordings and conference calls, with easy to access archiving, all of which allows you to review and improve your processes.

Secure instant messaging Instant messaging helps connect colleagues wherever they are in the world, but often relies on unsecured and unmanaged programmes.

Managing the IM needs of your workforce with the right UC solution brings it into line with your other communications on a secure channel.

Making more of mobile The modern workforce is more mobile and expects to work anywhere, anytime, with any device and now mobile apps simply convert any of the devices your people use to their desk phone.

UC features, like single-tap conferencing, will work on most tablets, laptops, smartphones and for the latest generation, even wearable technology and are all designed to keep everyone connected.

Software integration UC allows you to merge your phone system with software you use to run your business, like Office365, CRM and databases to not only simplify making calls, but collecting data.

... and finally, what’s right for you

By integrating your communications with your core business processes, you will increase productivity and help improve customer satisfaction.

It’s good to talk.

By integrating UC seamlessly and securely into your network, we offer you a lot of flexibility to manage the system, keep your overheads low and free up valuable IT resources. Let’s talk, you know it make sense.

16 | Talk About IT

We can help you choose the right UC solution and remember it can be cloudbased, hosted on-site or we can create a hybrid combination of the two, if that’s what your business needs.

Contact Terry at terry.faria@quiss.co.uk

Terry Faria Telecommunications Manager

BIGGER, STRONGER LEGALEX GOOD FOR LAW FIRMS We have exhibited at Legalex since the show started in 2014 and will be part of a bigger, more important show in March 2018.

Legalex is the UK’s first, largest and fastest growing legal event, specifically designed to help the most ambitious law firms grow and the most progressive legal professionals develop.

experience, through topical seminars over the two days.

Risk mitigation: Global view of cyber and information security

The services we provide, from comprehensive managed IT support with helpdesk and on-site engineers to training and Cloud, on-site and hybrid solutions for agile law firms are pretty well understood – our difference is in the detail.

This seminar, presented by Andy Miles of ThinkMarble, offers a global view of cyber and information security and what actions law firms should undertake to mitigate these risks. The seminar also includes a short presentation from the firm’s data protection lawyer designed to help law firms meet their GDPR responsibilities.

The event is at ExCel London and runs 21st to 22nd March 2018, with doors open 10am – 5pm (4pm on 22nd).

Demonstrating growing cyber-security concerns, the show is running alongside the Legal Cyber Security Expo, which is the UK’s first exhibition and conference for the world of cyber security.

However, to offer insight into areas of concern for law firms of all sizes, we have secured the services of two of our business partners to present thoughtprovoking seminars in our stead.

Legal sector driving growth

This seminar will be presented by Scott Goodwin of Exponential-e and will look at the increasingly digital landscape and the opportunities on offer, whilst recognising digital success relies on cloud capability and agility.

The legal sector is central to the success of our managed IT services business, with more than 40 law firms of all sizes, from high street to global brands, relying on a varied mix of our long list of services to deliver robust, secure efficient IT systems and infrastructure.

Given the growing interest in how technology can help law firms remain relevant to their clients, whilst delivering a better, more engaging experience, our presence at Legalex is a must.

To better reflect the needs of our clients, we are not limiting our involvement to just a stand and sell approach. We are again sponsoring the Technology Theatre, where show attendees will hear key speakers from the world of technology offer their advice and

Cloud-enabled Law: Digital era requires digital flex

Andy’s experience covers security, operations, technical and business transformation, which given the increasing risk to law firms from phishing attacks, hacking and security breaches, in particular, should make for an informative presentation.

Our stand will be up and populated with the usual raft of intelligent, technically savvy Quiss Technology team members, but if your interest in Cloud solutions or managed IT services can’t keep until

For more information, go to www.legalex.co.uk

Given our burgeoning reputation for all things Cloud, this is an important message. The session examines the cloud-led initiatives that enable agility and responsiveness for the modern law firm. It concludes with a look at the blueprint for a cloud-enabled law firm and the long-term benefits this will deliver.

March (or you’re not a law firm) please get in touch and we will come and see you.

Tracy Armstrong Marketing Manager

Talk About IT | 17

GOLFING in the rain for a change

The sun has always shone brightly on the annual Quiss Technology Golf Day, but we knew one day our luck would run out. In September, the heavens opened and the drought ended, however spirits were not dampened and a good time was had by all; judging by the bar bill.

De Vere Staverton Park Golf Course and Spa in Daventry again played host to our event, with more than 40 golfers hoping to tame the hills, sand and water that combine to test even the best.

The keenest club swingers were challenged with a 9-hole Texas Scramble to get the muscles moving, before the afternoon’s main event, the prestigious 18-

18 | Talk About IT

hole team Stableford. We also threw in a few additional competitions, like; nearest the pin, nearest the pin in 2, longest drive and Beat the Pro – a par-3 challenge, not a boxing match.

For those who chose not to play a round, there was plenty in the Spa to help them relax and forget all about the weather outside, to say nothing of their personal stresses.

This year, to help with the relaxation theme, we arranged for a Cocktail Maestro to teach the non-golfers how to mix their favourite drinks. And sip their way through a few too, while all were resplendent in their Spa robes.

Quite a sight!

Richard Hales, 2nd – Clive Taylor and 3rd – Tony Antoniou

After the sporting day was concluded on the increasingly sodden course outside, everyone readied themselves for the evening’s entertainment. Showers were taken, hair was primped, make-up was applied and glad rags were squeezed into - the ladies also readied themselves.

There also must be a special mention for Paul Jones from PERI, who achieved that rarest of golfing feats, a hole in one. There were no prizes for the Spa or Cocktail Mixing events, but it appeared all were winners, even if it made some a little more tired than most!

Following a sumptuous dinner, the crowd was royally entertained by our comedian for the night, who managed to remember it was 2017 and not 1977, eventually!

The photographs may jog a few memories, but we hope you will join us later this year for what is likely to be another memorable day, whether you choose to don golfing attire or a bathrobe.

The final formal act for the night was to tot up the scores and award the prizes. The individual winners were 1st –

Talk About IT | 19

HOME GROWN TALENT IS A GAME-CHANGER When a business is successful, there are typically a number of significant challenges behind all the good news, that can cause problems if not overcome.

One of the challenges any growing organisation will face regardless of the sector in which it operates, is how to maintain a steady stream of talented individuals to ensure productivity, efficiency and quality improve.

The challenge and the solution are perhaps most apparent with top-flight football teams.

The best funded teams, where money appears no object, simply spend their way to the top, buying in the talent they need.

Those teams with less money to throw about will rely on developing talented players through their own youth coaching programmes, often from an early age.

These teams will also look to bring in players who impress the scouts, but are not perhaps the finished article; management recognising that with the right help these players could be worldbeaters too.

Tech world talent The growing importance of technology in almost every facet of life, from cashless payments to online shopping and augmented reality to cloud computing, means the need for skilled, well-trained technical support staff is also increasing.

In recent months, at Quiss we have not only almost doubled the number of talented individuals employed on our helpdesk, but also within our field service engineer and network specialist teams. And we have addressed the resources challenge with our own homegrown talent programme.

Every individual within our business who wants to add to their skill-set, sits with the Talent Management team to discuss

20 | Talk About IT

their future and map out a tailored development programme.

Each of our technical team members can choose from a huge range of courses, including pre-approved technical elements from industry-leading technology brands, like Microsoft, Cisco, Mimecast, Sophos and VMware, along with other third-party product providers.

We ensure everyone learns at their own pace, following their own path. Every three months we review each individual’s progress and assess their personal needs against those of the business, to help align the skills within the business with those required by our clients.

Millennials make their mark Around 80% of our new recruits are millennials, born since 1984 and their ambition to achieve more is inspiring.

An internal vacancy list is central to our home-grown talent programme, detailing the roles we need to fill, without looking beyond our walls.

The job descriptions are all stored within our online HR portal, which lets everyone understand the skills they need to add, so they can move their career forwards.

A transparent approach to the skills required for each level of role is central to our programme and allows us to better tailor each individual’s learning.

During the internal interview process, we undertake team member assessments which focus on the three pillars of our approach: Mentorship capability – often the best way to improve your own skills and understanding is to help someone else learn. We work hard to discover those with the talent and patience to help less experienced team members unlock their own potential.

Technical ability – when assessing a team members technical ability against a job role, we would also reflect on the clients that they will be working with and supporting; making sure that their

technical estate and the training plan for the individuals mirror each other.

Business acumen – we believe it’s important that each individual within our business understands what we’re trying to achieve and how we deliver success. It is this understanding that helps guide their development and introduces them to leadership responsibilities.

As part of our commitment to developing everyone to their full potential, we also operate a risingstar programme, to offer a range of leadership insights to those individuals identified as future leaders of teams across our business.

Development means more Long-term development goals are good for our strategic growth plan, aligning the technical abilities within the business to those of our clients and their future expectations. But we recognise there must be more immediate benefits for the individual, if we are to maintain the programme’s current level of success and engagement.

Nearly all the accreditations that team members pass, awards them with an increase in pay in the form of a training bonus. We believe this demonstrates our commitment to the individual, the business and our clients, who ultimately benefit from the improving ability of our people to solve problems more quickly and efficiently.

Importantly, one aspect of the programme not immediately obvious, is the cost. We have removed an overreliance on expensive recruitment consultants and replaced them with an ability to identify and develop the talent we need, to move our business forward.

And for those who wonder why the title of the individuals who control programmes like this, has changed from HR Manager to Talent Manager, this article hopefully demonstrates the change is more about recognition of their new role, than it is fashion.

Arrivals:

SHELLEY VAISEY Hello, I’m Shelley Vaisey and I’m the Head of Talent Management here at Quiss Technology.

Rapid growth can bring resourcing issues and I was appointed to ensure that we have the right individuals to service our customers’ needs. I also help ensure they have the right attitude and necessary skills to help Quiss Technology continue to succeed and grow.

My more than 18 years of recruitment, people development and soft skills training experience, has been shaped within technology and IT service environments. I really do get techies.

If, like many, you wonder what my title means, then you have to first understand there is far more to the role in an ambitious SME like Quiss Technology than the traditional Recruitment or HR Manager.

I’m focused on not just keeping team members happy, but finding talent, then recruiting and retaining the best - given our burgeoning reputation, my team and I now spend a lot of time on maintaining these standards.

We operate in a highly competitive sector, where there is a lot of choice for the talent coming through. It ensures we have to make the business as attractive as possible to employees and prospective recruits, which is not always remuneration focussed.

I also lead the performance management and development function within Quiss and recognise it is critical to the success of the individual and the business that we help people along their personal career path, acquiring new skills along the way.

My degree in Sociology and Psychology helps me understand people and my background in the outsourcing of Professional and Managed IT services helps me understand Quiss Technology and its ambitions.

I am an advocate of SMART targeting and goal planning, which I believe helps increase and maintain productivity across all teams, from sales to technical services. It takes time to change attitudes and behaviours, but we’re winning and witnessing improvements across all business areas.

In my spare time, I like to keep active – it’s good for the body and the brain.

When not running, attending yoga and meditation classes or salsa dancing, I really do enjoy the time I spend with my children and my husband.

I also like to travel, but perhaps more importantly, wherever I find a boundary in any aspect of life, I just have to push it and see what change I can affect.

Shelley Vaisey Head Of Talent Management

Talk About IT | 21

clients in the spotlight In this feature, we take a look at one of our clients and the work they do, thanks in part to the support of our IT services.

We have built our reputation providing the same high-quality managed IT support, regardless of an organisation’s size or unique requirements. We have many legal and pharmaceutical sector clients, but our work with clients outside these sectors is perhaps less well known.

retiring owner. The head brewer was kept on and despite being blind, his acute sense of smell and taste set the standard for the award-winning beers Batemans still brewed to this day.

Here we put one such client in the spotlight – Batemans.

The shift to mass-produced keg beers in the 1960s was an issue for smaller, traditional breweries, until CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) caught the imagination of the country’s beer drinkers.

A great story brewing Batemans is a craft brewer and remains a family-owned business to this day, still occupying its original Salem Bridge Brewery site in Wainfleet, in the heart of rural Lincolnshire.

In 1874, George Bateman sold his farm and leased a small brewery, which he eventually bought from the

Helping our clients help others One of our many legal sector clients is Devonshires Solicitors, a law firm based in the City of London that we support with a comprehensive managed IT contract. In November 2017 they approached us with an

22 | Talk About IT

Like many breweries, the business has been through good times and bad.

it still brews, was judged ‘Beer of the Year’ by CAMRA at the Great British Beer Festival.

It proved a pivotal year and after many ups and downs Mr. George Bateman managed to secure the Brewery remaining independent.

As you might expect from a brewing family, they celebrated with the launch of a new beer – Victory Ale, which is still available today!

Modernisation and a golden future

Their campaigning reminded everyone just what a fantastic and varied product was on offer, thanks to the hard work and dedication of craft brewers like Batemans.

A new brewhouse was commissioned at the Salem Bridge Brewery in 2002, to help Batemans meet demand for its beers.

The dedication paid off and in 1986 Batemans premium ale XXXB, which

Batemans is also a pub owner and landlord to more than 50 both

unusual request: “Would we provide basic IT training to a charity they support?”

Our IT trainer Sabrina Huish is on-site at the law firm’s offices to support their 200 plus users, with regular training in Office 365 applications, together with the normal induction requirements of new starters.

Sabrina takes up the story:

“Devonshires is a busy commercial law firm, but finds the time and resources to support a number of charities, one of which is Action for Kids, which works with young people with learning difficulties.

“The idea was for Quiss Technology to deliver two 3 hour workshops, to

managed and tenanted pubs, with its signs spotted mostly across East and Central England. It is has a strong wholesaling business and supplies along with its own beers a variety of beers, ciders wines, spirits and minerals to other pubs in the East Midlands.

Although it has modernised production and its extensive sales and account management team occasionally need our managed IT support, Batemans remains a traditional brewer.

It relies on the expertise of its head brewer to craft not only the superb beers for which it is renowned, but

exciting new ales designed to attract the next generation of beer lovers.

to order bottled beers to be delivered to your home.

For those readers who enjoy the best that British brewers have to offer, it is worth noting there is a visitor centre from which tours of the brewery are run and where you can enjoy a tipple of your favourite ales, with a bar snack or two.

For the beer aficionado Batemans have a Beer Club which has many benefits including a special lunch, discount in the Visitors Centre shop, invitations to events held at the Brewery and many more.

For lazy summer days there is also a beer garden and caravan park for those determined to get the most from a visit. If you can’t make it to Wainfleet, keep an eye out for bottled Batemans beers in your local supermarket or visit the website www.bateman.co.uk

For full information please go to the website www.bateman.co.uk and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

But remember, please drink responsibly (and buy British craft beers!).

If you would like to be our client in the spotlight, contact Tracy Armstrong at

Talk About IT | 23 help with basic computer skills and similar in style to the small-group sessions we regularly provide for our clients.

“We will be teaching a few basic skills in Outlook, like how best to write and send emails, including attachments, which will open up a world of communication for the young people involved Sessions will also cover Excel skills, including data input and formatting, which is crucial when entering the workplace.

“The workshops will all take place in London at Devonshires Finsbury Circus offices, spread over three months to give the participants enough time to put their new skills into practice before the next session.

what we can to support their efforts and sometimes it does us all good to get back to basics!”

“It is gratifying that despite the economic challenges currently facing businesses and law firms in particular, Devonshires does so much to support those less fortunate. We are pleased to do

Talk About IT | 23

DISRUPTIVE T

o put it mildly, I am something of a technical evangelist. I love technology, but not just for its own sake.

I love what technology is enabling us to do and the pace at which it is allowing us to do it. The same applies to the clients I work with on a daily basis and the Microsoft technology we deploy.

Few, if any, want to know how things work, they just want the right tools available to them, at the right time, so they can do more of what they do; efficiently and effectively. For me, digital transformation is not an option. It applies to everyone, businesses and individuals.

We are consuming goods and services in radically different ways to how we did in the past and the way businesses interact with their customers, to sell and deliver services, are changing almost monthly. Microsoft’s technology is disruptive; it is shaking up every industry.

Which is why I packed up my laptop and headed off to ExCel London in November to the eagerly anticipated event for all IT professionals: Microsoft Future Decoded.

Azure at the heart There was an incredibly diverse range of sessions, covering everything from new Surface models and Quantum computing to Hololens and Windows. But central to much of

24 | Talk About IT

Easy as one, two, three

what was going on was Azure.

Now we all know that Azure is a cloud computing ecosystem created

by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying and managing applications and services, through a network of data centres, owned and managed

by Microsoft.

The consideration for most organisations is not if they will migrate to Azure but when, since many of the perceived reasons not to adopt Cloud solutions have now been removed.

Having decided to migrate, working out the best way to do it can be challenging and time consuming.

It doesn’t have to be difficult, but getting started is tricky, like knowing which end to pull first to untie a difficult knot.

Many of the sessions concentrated on the cost benefits of moving to the cloud and helping understand if a client’s workloads will move without too much effort.

The important role played by managed IT service providers like Quiss Technology and the support we need to deliver, to help those organisations that feel anxious about taking the first step make the move, was also on the agenda.

Microsoft offers a proven framework with tools to help any organisation migrate to Azure, including a complete solution for discovery, migration and optimisation.

The migration process is divided into three-stages: Discover - use available tools to get better visibility of applications, workloads and data. Then assess the optimal resource level to run them in Microsoft Azure and use this information to help decide which workloads to move.

Migrate - move selected workloads to Azure from a variety of sources including physical servers and virtualised workloads hosted on Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware environments.

Optimise - fine tune Azure-based workloads to maximize return on investment.

I sat through sessions that detailed best practice for assessing an

Windows as a service (Deployment rings)

Plan and Prepare

Insider Pr eview (6 months)

Deploment Decision

Targeted Pilot Validation

Deploy and use

Semi-Ann ual Channe l (18 month s)

TECHNOLOGY ... and its growing impact

environment using Azure Migrate, which Quiss Technology deploys to help clients make the move to Cloud solutions. It’s important we have these tools and once Azure Migrate delivers the size recommendation, it calculates the compute, storage, and networking costs that may be incurred after the virtual machines are migrated to Azure – all important considerations before migration.

Windows AutoPilot explained I have read a lot about Windows-asa-Service, but it was good to see a presentation about the Windows 10 AutoPilot deployment process and the reasoning behind it.

It is designed to help speed up the process of deploying Windows 10 devices and improve the initial outof-box experience for users.

So, what is Windows AutoPilot? It is a collection of technologies used to set up and pre-configure new devices, before they are deployed to users – it can also be used to reset, repurpose and recover devices.

And all of this can be achieved with little or no infrastructure to manage, following a simple process.

We spend a lot of time building and customizing images that will later be deployed to devices with an OS already installed, but now Windows AutoPilot offers a new approach.

This ease of deployment is important

when you consider the future of Windows-as-a-Service, which will feature predictable releases, twice per year, approximately six months apart. Each release will be serviced for 18 months after release, which will be aligned with Office 365 deployments.

To deploy successfully, Microsoft recommends deployment rings to help deliver a successful Windows 10 Servicing Management strategy.

Windows Insider Preview (release) - when Microsoft releases a new version, a few chosen, tech-savvy Windows 10 migration project team members upgrade to this version to evaluate new functionality.

IT Pilot Ring (+ 0 weeks) - twice a year, new versions are released, which will include the new functionality of the previously released Insider Preview. The in-house IT professionals testdrive this version before further deployment in the organisation.

Elite Pilot Ring (+ 4 weeks) – once assessed by the IT pros, Microsoft recommends engaging a small group of tech-savvy users to openup testing and assessment into the wider business user base.

Early Adopters Ring (+ 6 weeks) - roll out of the latest Windows 10 version to the wider IT-engaged users can now take place.

Onboarding more users allows problems with the migration process

to be addressed, whilst ensuring security and privacy levels are right.

Business User Ring (+ 16 weeks) – with the internal pilot phases complete, the new version can be rolled out across the entire organisation. Those with thousands of users, may sub-divide this roll out into further rings, or ask for our help!

In future we must think of Windows in terms of an ongoing upgrade process and not a simple IT project. Every upgrade should be reviewed, assessed and deployed in accordance with the requisite timescales to ensure end of support problems are avoided.

Too much to take in There is far too much information to try and understand at first sight or listen over just two intense days, but Microsoft Future Decoded is a must for us techies, who enjoy this side of the IT business and the technical challenges it provides.

It is valuable insights like those offered at events like this that ensure we know how best to exploit this new technology to benefit any organisation seeking greater efficiency and effectivity.

Interested in knowing more, then let’s talk. Email paul.tozer@quiss.co.uk Paul Tozer Head Of Cloud Services

Talk About IT | 25

Case Study: Azure solution for Debenhams Ottaway Solicitors

Debenhams Ottaway is an innovative, multi-service law Firm with offices in St Albans and Radlett in Hertfordshire. The Firm, which can trace its roots back 250 years, is renowned for delivering an outstanding client-centric service and award-winning legal advice.

Rightly proud of its heritage, the Firm nonetheless constantly evolves the service it offers and invests in the important role technology plays in ensuring it remains a leading, modern, client-focussed law Firm.

For individuals, families and businesses, Debenhams Ottaway provides a wide range of traditional legal services including awardwinning private wealth services including wills, trusts, legacy planning and inheritance matters, as well as commercial property, company services, employment, PI, litigation and dispute resolution.

Pick up the pace The Firm had identified issues with its IT systems and infrastructure, which if left unresolved might impact the performance of the business and its ability to maintain its excellent

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service to its clients.

Debenhams Ottaway had previously transitioned its case management system to Peppermint, the legal cloud platform offering, which delivers Practice Management, Case & Matter Management, Document Management, CRM and Knowledge Management.

It promises a suite of powerful collaboration tools and relevant content, in a client and data centric platform, based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint.

Unfortunately, the CRM Outlook client running under a thin-client environment was slowing many of Debenhams Ottaway’s office operations, which in turn was leading to a growing sense of frustration amongst the Firm’s more than 120 users.

Debenhams Ottaway engaged IT consultants Baskerville Drummond to work with them on IT strategy development and to help develop a solution to the slow operation of the system and applications.

Recognising where the problem

lay, Paul Khan, CEO of Debenhams Ottaway and David Baskerville of Baskerville Drummond, sought a better, more practical solution that removed the thin-client layer of complexity, but also kept the physical server footprint on the site as low as possible.

Consultants make the pitch Following a successful competitive pitch in a robust selection process, led by Baskerville Drummond, we then worked with them to execute on the Firm’s agreed technology strategy.

We had started our response to the Firm’s stated needs through a detailed review of the existing IT systems and infrastructure so as to better understand the motivations for change.

Following the presentation of our findings, we investigated the availability of much larger bandwidth lines into both of Debenhams Ottaway’s offices and found surprisingly attractive options.

The potential to utilise Azure ExpressRoutes helped us devise a solution around providing ‘fat client’ services to the Microsoft cloud, using standard Windows 10 clients and so we supplied a hardware

mix of workstations and Microsoft Surface Pro. It was clear from our discussions that the Firm would also benefit from adding a modern desktop working environment with Windows 10 Enterprise, Office 365 services, and additional security and management with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS).

Our solution was shaped by Debenhams Ottaway’s requirement to have as little infrastructure as possible onsite, given the fact that the benefits of remote hosting would improve in the medium term.

Speed a major factor Having settled on an Azure cloudbased solution, we established an Azure ExpressRoute to reduce latency. This allows Azure to become an extension of the Debenhams Ottaway internal network, removing the need to run in a thin-client setup.

Through liaising with Peppermint, we had already established that by moving the processing back to the desktop, we could dramatically improve the user experience, with document loading times down to just a couple of seconds from minutes.

With Azure ExpressRoute enhancing

Quiss consistently impressed, right from their response to the selection process, through to the go-live. And the knowledge and availability of Quiss’ leadership team throughout has been a real differentiator for us - we look forward to a rewarding partnership with them. the new connectivity and our previous experience of delivering similar innovative solutions, we were able to make a smooth transition from an often problematical, multitenanted traditional hosted desktop environment To Quiss, a ‘cloud to cloud’ transfer holds no fears for its experienced team, having transitioned many clients into managed services, through a structured, customerintegrated approach to planning, project management and governance of the migration.

Weekend engineering works Once all was agreed and the planning was complete, we arranged a weekend migration to minimise disruption to the Firm’s business. Our engineers were on-site on the Friday evening to initiate a structured power-down of all systems and services where possible.

The team included a mix of Project Managers, Senior Systems Engineers, Applications Engineers

and Senior Network Engineers, with each given a time slot to undertake the work of transferring and moving data, ready for bringing the system online the next day.

There is a well-documented order to bringing systems online or for migrating them into an available infrastructure; typically this is a mix of manual and automated data transfer. Completing the majority of this work on the Saturday allowed time for testing and resolution of any issues on Sunday.

By the time Debenhams Ottaway’s users arrived for work on Monday, the only evidence of our busy weekend was a new IT platform, fully available, tested and working significantly faster than previously.

Once again, Quiss Technology had proved that a little lateral thinking with forward thinking clients such as Debenhams Ottaway, Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and our Qworks solution, incorporates everything a law Firm will need from both an operational and strategic perspective.

Talk About IT | 27

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