Simplify IT Latest News

A Year Without Lee

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:25:38 GMT

As unbelievable as it still seems, this weekend marks a year since our friend and founder, Lee Rogers, was reported missing en route to France. There is still a Lee-shaped hole in our world at Simplify Technology Group that no amount of time will truly repair. A great inspiration, a leader by example, an infectiously positive and generous spirit.

As I write this, I can hear Lee's voice telling us to get on with it, as well as a politically incorrect jibe or two for good measure. Our shared commitment to getting on with Lee's vision is testament to his guidance, sound judgement and hard work. So that's what we're doing and doing well. I salute my colleagues for that.

Anybody who knew Lee will have a great memory or 5 to make them smile. I'd ask you this weekend to remember Lee, raise a glass of something, and if you're able to, maybe share some of your fondest memories. Just days before that awful weekend, I had the honour of spending a day on Lee's boat with him. It was one of the best days of my life and certainly the best day of my working life. I told him so, and I'm glad I did.

Miss you guv.

Mountains of Memories

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 12:26:14 GMT

It hasn't even been a year since Lee Rogers set out to climb the 3 highest peaks in each nation of Great Britain, this to raise money to train a guide dog named 'Dannii' in honour of Lee's niece who had tragically passed away at a young age. And now we're mourning another tragic loss as we've lost Lee himself. It's not fair, it's incredibly cruel. After losing Dannii, Lee was quite clearly heartbroken but rather than retreat into darkness he took positive action. That was Lee all over - when life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade - and give it to the thirsty. So Matt Beacham, who accompanied Lee up the 3 peaks last year, decided to take them on again and this time in honour of Lee.

Ever and strangely keen to tackle the arduous climbs and raise money for charity, Matt successfully completed the climbs on the weekend of the 30th July, kitted out with his all new Simplify IT sponsored walking shirt, which was very professionally prepared by Warwick printing company Pixel Studios who we'd like to thank for supporting this endeavour with speed and exceptional quality and service. They also donated the shirt itself once they heard it was for Lee. We thank Paul and team at Pixel and highly recommend them to anybody. Emblazoned on the shirt is what we hope will be the outcome of all this effort, the funding for at least one - and most likely more - Guide Dogs. Can you guess what the first one's name will be?

A Guide Dog Named Lee... and maybe Roger?

If you guessed Lee, you guessed right. Guide Dogs was a charity close to Lee's heart. His family would really appreciate it if you could show your support through charitable donation. Ideally they'd like to raise enough money in his memory to have a guide dog puppy named "Lee" - which his daughter Ellie reckons would obviously be the worst behaved pup of any litter & be unlikely to pass out! Well, we're sure he'll be trouble but if he's anything like his namesake he will absolutely smash it. Fundraising has been brilliant, and thanks to generosity of so many, not only is Lee the puppy going to happen, but a second (who may be name Roger) and more...

In loving memory of Lee

Some of you will be aware we had a celebration of Lee's life recently, and the family asked that instead of flowers anybody who wished to make a tribute did so by donating to Guide Dogs. We laughed, we cried, we shared so many amazing stories of Lee's adventures and we donated - And how! Simplify IT matched the many wonderful and generous donations on the day and so we're in a position to go beyond the original hopes of the fundraising initiative. Going above and beyond is what Lee was all about so what a fitting tribute. Lee the puppy, and hopefully Roger and however many others we can fund together, will follow Dannii into a wonderful cause. Thank you so much.

If you have any stories, anecdotes or memories of Lee to share, no matter how dodgy (come on, we know who we're talking about here) please send them to StoriesOfLee@simplifyit.co.uk

Thanks Matt

Of course, all this is helped massively by the endeavours of Matt Beacham. A kind soul and a tireless fundraiser. Kate Bush may be running up that hill at the moment, but Matt chooses mountains and we salute him. It is no mean feat to climb so may metres (and descend them) in questionable conditions in so short a time - and to do so with a cheerful demeanour, with his sponsored walking shirt that would put most Formula 1 cars to shame - is admirable. Well done Matt.

Please, if you can, give generously. You'll find details below of how you can donate. Thank you very, very much in advance.

Dannii. We named a Guide Dog in her memory, as we will with Lee.

Guide Dogs UK Charity For The Blind And Partially Sighted

NCSC advises organisations to act following Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 15:48:20 GMT

Organisations should follow National Cyber Security Centre advice and act on improving their resilience with the cyber threat heightened, this comes after a major cyber attack is underway against Ukraine's Government Infrastructure. Websites belonging to a host of Ukrainian governmental bodies have been targeted in a massive cyber-attack, Reuters news agency has reported. Websites for the Ukrainian parliament (the Rada), the foreign ministry and the security services are among several services that have been affected by the attack.

Following Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the National Cyber Security Centre has called on organisations in the UK to bolster their online defences.

The NCSC – which is a part of GCHQ – has urged organisations to follow its guidance on steps to take when the cyber threat is heightened (as it is now).

While the NCSC is not aware of any current specific threats to UK organisations in relation to events in and around Ukraine, there has been an historical pattern of cyber attacks on Ukraine with international consequences . The guidance encourages organisations to follow actionable steps that reduce the risk of falling victim to an attack.

If you are understandably concerned by this news - and whilst we are not advocating panic, we do stress that your Cyber Security measures need to be more robust than ever - please get in touch so we can advise you and get you protected before it's too late.

Please note: This is not a ghoulish attempt to do business on the back of a genuine crisis, this is a genuine commitment to assist in getting vulnerable businesses protected - because we're experts and we can help and therefore should. If you're not sure how vulnerable you are, get in touch. We can evaluate your security systems and options in very little time.

This is an ongoing and very serious situation. Please get in touch so we can advise you and get you the right security in place.

Everybody is potentially vulnerable, so the quicker you take action, the better.

Simplify IT Achieves Cisco Premier Integrator Status in the UK

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 16:17:44 GMT

Simplify IT Solutions has been certified as a Cisco Premier Integrator in UK. This represents a levelling up from Premier Partner, in addition to our existing status as a Cisco Security Specialist. Cisco has bestowed this partnership status on us due to our increasing experience and excellent reputation with Cisco solutions.

According to Cisco "Simplify IT has met all personnel, specialisation, support requirements and has demonstrated that it is qualified to sell, install and support Cisco solutions in UK."

All this means that when it comes to supplying, installing and supporting Cisco Solutions, you can trust us to absolutely smash it. Not literally of course, we'd like to keep our status.

Javageddon isn't quite over yet. Please read this.

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 15:09:31 GMT

Last week, if you're not yet aware, a vulnerability was found in Log4j, an open-source logging library commonly used by apps and services across the internet. If left unfixed, attackers can break into systems, steal passwords and logins, extract data, and infect networks with malicious software. This library is being used in all kinds of enterprise and open-source software. In short, its something major that could take down huge portions of the internet and other connected networks and devices.

Log4j is used worldwide across software applications and online services, and the vulnerability requires very little expertise to exploit. This makes Log4shell potentially the most severe computer vulnerability in years. This issue could allow hackers to take control of any Java-based web servers and launch remote-code execution attacks, which could give them control of the computer servers. That could open up a host of security-compromising possibilities.

Patches were deployed quickly, however more vulnerabilities have since been found and so, even if you think you've responded to this already, the chances are there are more fixes to come, and more vulnerabilities discovered. Microsoft stated on Tuesday that international hacking groups have already been exploiting the vulnerabilities and that can only mean Ransomware attacks down the line.

So the upshot is that you need to consider how this affects you and your estate. If you're a Simplify IT customer you will or already have received an alert asking you to get in touch so we can take action. If you're not a Simplify IT customer, now is a very good time to begin.

This is an ongoing and very serious situation, and we're responding to it in realtime. So please get in touch so we can advise you and get you the right security in place. Everybody is potentially vulnerable, so the quicker you take action, the better.

5 FREE Licenses for all Meraki MT Environmental Sensors

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:15:50 GMT

Simplify IT can now provide you with 5 free MT sensor licenses - in perpetuity. No action is required to receive the free licenses. They should automatically appear in dashboard and do not expire. The 5 free licenses - combined with the Meraki sensors 4 for 2 promotion (running through January 2022) make it easier than ever to get started with MT. Get in touch with us today to learn how MT sensors can transform any environment into a smart space and deliver significant business outcomes. We'll also explain below a little about what they do.

The Cisco Meraki MT product family is a line of cloud-managed sensors that are exceptionally simple to configure and deploy due to its integration with the Meraki dashboard and the use of BLE technology. The MT family eliminates the complex and costly setup required by traditional solutions by removing the limitations of placement of these sensors. Let's look at what these Sensors do, and what they can do for your organisation...

MT10

Cloud-managed temperature and humidity sensor

Detect temperature and humidity changes to monitor critical infrastructure and maximize equipment efficiency.

Single pane of glass for sensor monitoring combined with your existing Meraki dashboard.
Always-on, real-time visibility (24/7/365 visibility).
Flexible alerts via email, SMS, mobile push notifications and Webhooks.
Simple to set up reporting and configuration.
Data mining APIs for custom development and integrations.
Multiple installation options.
Provision multiple sensors in minutes.

MT11

Cloud-Managed Sensors that help you have complete visibility across your business environment.

Simple deployment enables rapid scalability across many sites
Automatic connectivity to MR/MV devices in the same network
Cloud-based management eliminates the need for on-premises servers
Single pane of glass visibility with all Meraki products empowers lean teams
Real-time data and customizable alerts via email, SMS, push notification, or webhook
Multiple temperature probe choices for flexible monitoring
Modern mobile app for on-the-go monitoring and troubleshooting
Wireless connectivity using Bluetooth Low Energy
Trust Anchor module (TAm) securely authenticates the device and encrypts all data
Five-year battery life with two (2) user-replaceable AA batteries
Optional AC-to-USB-C power adapter
Vast partner ecosystem building custom applications with APIs and telemetry data

MT12

The Cisco Meraki MT12 sensors provide water presence monitoring for network closets across industries using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacons on the MR and MV.

Detect temperature and humidity changes to monitor critical infrastructure and maximize equipment efficiency.
Single pane of glass for all your networking needs (Camera, IoT, etc).
Always-on real-time visibility (24/7/365 visibility).
Flexible alert management.
Peel & Stick installation.
Provision multiple sensors in minutes.
Simple to set up reporting and configuration.

MT20

The Cisco Meraki MT20 sensor provides the capability to detect if a door is open or closed for network closets across industries using BLE. Perfect for notification of, and protection from, intruders.

Single pane of glass for all your networking needs (Camera, IoT, etc).
Always-on real-time visibility (24/7/365 visibility).
Flexible alert management.
Peel & Stick installation.
Provision multiple sensors in minutes.
Simple to set up reporting and configuration.

We can set you up with Meraki technology with FREE Licensing for 5 sensors. We can also help with financing and provide a free trial to make sure you're happy first. If this sounds good, get in touch by filling in the form below or giving us a call.

Case Study: Browne Jacobson and the Fastest Update in the West

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 12:02:56 GMT

Browne Jacobson is a major UK Nationwide law firm and are accredited experts across the private and public sectors. Browne Jacobson has true national reach, with offices in Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter, and London. With hundreds of lawyers and partners, and a significantly expanding client base, Browne Jacobson are a company that needs significant technical assistance to support their rapid growth.

Simplify IT has provided such assistance for over 9 years. Here's one recent example of that kind of support, which we're proud to say was another big success. So please, if you'll indulge us, let us explain what we did and how, and what the outcome was. Hopefully it will give you a feel for the kind of excellence we pride ourselves in.

The Task at Hand

As part of their commitment to improving their service, Browne Jacobson decided to deploy a new legal application. In order to support the new application, newer infrastructure was required to meet the needs of the users.

State of the Art Technology

Simplify IT engaged with Browne Jacobson to provide a better solution that could easily provide the required performance. That solution included the latest NetApp AFF A250, all flash storage arrays with fast NVMe SSDs. This was connected to the latest Aruba 100 GB Switches which in turn connected to the very latest HPE Synergy 12000 BladeSystem.

Fit for Purpose - and something extra too

Confident that we had the right solution lined up, we set about the task of deploying the new infrastructure. After putting two of our senior Technicians on the job, they soon had 100GB switching between the Synergy and Network stack and there was 25GB connectivity between the AFF A250 all flash storage and Aruba switches.

But we didn't stop there as we all always like to go the extra mile. We repurposed the existing legacy infrastructure from the live site and migrated it to the DR site to beef up the Disaster Recovery set up.

Logistical Issues

As you may be aware, the global silicon shortage has cause big delays in sourcing hardware, which is causing hold ups in many IT projects and costing money and downtime. Not on our watch. Simplify IT provided Browne Jacobson loan 100GB switches in order to complete the project on time.

We often keep equipment handy just in case we need to react to a situation like this and so it proved fortuitous indeed. These are the fine details and service we pride ourselves on.

The Fastest Update in the West

The software vendor who was deploying the new app for Browne Jacobson commented that it was the fastest software update and deployment they've ever had to do. Tasks that were expected to take 2 to 3 hours to complete took 10-15 minutes on their new infrastructure. Not only was user performance deemed to be amazing and beyond expectations, there have also been no outages during the entire deployment phase, so completely reliable too.

Outcome

Browne Jacobson considered the transition from their old to new environments as seamless. Not only that, but the live site now includes far less rackspace as the new estate is significantly smaller, though far more capable.

Read a Testimonial from Brown Jacobson below...

If anything you've just read interests you, please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you, even if it's just a chat...

Using vSphere 6.5 - 6.7? vSAN 6.5 - 6.7? Support is ending soon

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:46:23 GMT

The clock is ticking and it's time to get this sorted

The End of General Support for vSphere 6.5 is October 15, 2022 . To maintain your full level of Support and Subscription Services, VMware recommends upgrading to vSphere 7.0 - and as an approved VMware partner, Simplify IT are here to provide this service for you. The End of General support for vSphere 6.7 will also be on October 15, 2022 . If you would like assistance in moving to a newer version of vSphere, we can get that sorted for you. We'll make sure your infrastructure is ready to receive the upgrade and take care of it.

In a similar way, General Support for vSAN 6.5 / 6.6 / 6.7 is ending on October 15, 2022 . To maintain your full level of Support and Subscription Services, VMware recommends upgrading to vSAN 7.0 - and yet again, we can deploy this for you. Don't delay, the clock is ticking and it's not too far away now.

For more info or to discuss your options call us or email us .

There's never been a better time to invest in IT Infrastructure

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 14:56:39 GMT

The Super Deduction - Don't miss the chance

For expenditure incurred from 1 April 2021 until the end of March 2023 , companies can claim 130% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery (in IT terms: Computer Hardware and Servers and software required) investments.
Under the super-deduction, for every pound a company invests, their taxes are cut by up to 25p .
This change makes the UK’s capital allowance regime more internationally competitive, lifting the net present value of our plant and machinery allowances from 30th in the OECD to 1st.
As you can see, this measure is designed to promote productivity enhancing capital investments by companies like yours. It is important businesses understand and take advantage of these generous new reliefs while they are available as they won't last for ever. Therefore...
Now is the perfect time to invest in new hardware.

The Super Deduction

For two years from 1 April 2021, any investments your business makes in "plant and machinery" will qualify for a 130% capital allowance deduction. HMRC state that Computer Hardware & Servers qualify under this definition and it also covers associated software, therefore we will refer to it as 'IT Infrastructure'.

You can also benefit from a 50% first-year allowance for qualifying special rate (including long life) assets. The Chancellor has called this the SR Allowance.

Both the 130% super-deduction and 50% first-year SR allowance could reduce your corporation tax bills until 2023 because they give qualifying equipment a much higher tax deduction in the tax year of purchase than would otherwise normally occur, i.e. the ‘first year allowance’ (FYA).

The new Capital Allowances offer

As a result of measures announced at this Budget, businesses will now benefit from four significant capital allowance measures:

The super-deduction - which offers 130% first-year relief on qualifying main rate IT Infrastructure investments until 31 March 2023 for companies.
The 50% first-year allowance (FYA) for special rate (including long life) assets until 31March 2023 for companies.
Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) providing 100% relief for IT infrastructure investments up to its highest ever £1 million threshold, until 31 December 2021.
Within Freeport tax sites, companies can access new Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA+) and companies, individuals and partnerships can benefit from an increased level of Structures & Buildings Allowance (SBA+) for investments until 30 September 2026

So, how does the Super Deduction work?

The new tax relief incentive is being introduced for 2 years for expenditure from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023. Now this is a temporary measure so we strongly advise you take advantage of it while it's there. How does it work?

Here’s an example:

Let’s say for example that your business spends £200,000 on IT Infrastructure and thus you’re eligible to claim the super-deduction tax break on this expenditure. When you calculate your taxable profits, your corporate tax deduction will be £260,000 (130% of your investment). Deducting £260,000 from your taxable profits will save your business up to 19% of that and 19% of £260,000 is £49,400. That’s the sort of corporation tax you can save if you qualify for super-deduction.

Bear in mind that this is a 130% deduction for investments that would normally qualify for 18% IT Infrastructure writing down allowances (or capital allowances). And the first-year allowance of 50% on special rate pool expenditure would normally only attract 6% writing down allowances.

OK, so what now?

We strongly suggest you take advantage of this incentive. As discussed, it won't be available beyond March 2023 - so the clock is ticking. By investing in infrastructure that can improve the capability of your organisation, you can save a fortune and steal a march on competition, both foreign and domestic.

If you're not sure of how best to take advantage of this incentive in terms of what IT Infrastructure to acquire, talk to us. If you have any ongoing or upcoming projects that need hardware, or if you're due a refresh in the next few years, talk to us. If you want to discuss finance options or anything related to this incentive, talk to us.

Why wait a few years and pay a fortune more? Now is the time to plan ahead, and you can do that with Simplify IT as your partner. Hardware is already in hot demand with the silicon shortage meaning some electronic equipment is facing delays, with this government incentive too increasing demand, it's no time to play the waiting game.

Give us a call on 0345 1243 441 or fill in the form below and we'll get back to you.

Ready to take advantage? We'd love to hear from you, even if it's just a chat...

3 Peaks, 3 Countries, 3 Noble Maniacs & 1 Great Cause

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:18:49 GMT

We recently informed you of a plan for three brave souls to tackle the three tallest mountains in England, Scotland & Wales as quickly as possible, do all the driving themselves, and sleep rough in a Simplify IT van - all to raise money for charity. Well, here now follows the account of those brave souls and their arduous travails...

Thursday 7th October 2021. With noble intent and plenty of fundraising done, the 3 adventurers (Matt Beacham, Neil Reynolds and Lee Rogers) set out from the relative flatlands of Shakespeare's County on the long drive to Ben Nevis. Arriving at The Ben Nevis Inn at 10pm, and after a crafty pint, the team set up temporary beds in the back of the Simplify IT van and settled in for the night.

Ben Nevis - The Tallest Mountain in the British Isles (4,413 feet)

At daft o'clock - or if you like, the ungodly hour of 3am - the team woke, had a quick breakfast and at 0420 hrs began their ascent up Ben Nevis. The weather was really poor, it was dark and they were above the cloud layer for most of the day. At the summit, the very roof of Great Britain, visibility was less than 100 feet. The team made the ascent in 4 hours, which is a great effort and one the guys were delighted with. The descent took place in daylight and took 5.5 hours. During the descent, the team began to pick up some minor injuries, which naturally slowed them down.

Scafell Pike - The Tallest Mountain in the England (3,209 feet)

After much needed refreshment at The Ben Nevis Inn, the team set off on another long drive to Scafell Pike. Arriving in the dark, our intrepid trio once again booked into the one star accommodation of the Simplify IT van, nevertheless grateful for its temporary beds and rest. The Scafell Pike ascent begin in daylight, with the guys achieving the summit in 3 hours. Neil had injured his knee, but with sheer determination managed to complete the climb. Visibility at the summit was really poor, and they soon headed down, having to take numerous recovery stops.

Snowdon - The Tallest Mountain in Wales (3,560 feet)

As soon as the team completed their Scafell Pike descent they were on their way to Snowdon. Upon arrival at Snowdon the team were told they could not park as they had not pre-booked parking. This meant they had to park a further mile away and walk the 1 mile uphill to the start point. The journey up Snowdon began along the miners trail in pitch black conditions. Nevertheless, the team made great progress but unfortunately made a wrong turn at some point. It took another few hours before they found the peak but find it they did. They then got lost, met two other parties (also lost) and eventually had to scramble down a valley to get to back to the path. This was followed by a long walk back down the miners trail. The team were back to the start point, just under 48 hours from the beginning of the ascent up Ben Nevis.

Mission Accomplished

After deciding that Matt was in the best condition of the the 3, and that he should fetch the van, Matt set off. Unfortunately he got lost, and after two hours Lee and Neil went looking for him. Luckily enough, they bumped into each other soon after. After a quick snack, the long drive home began. This would be taxing normally but the guys hadn't slept much in 48 hours and were exhausted from the ascents and descents. Nevertheless, the team were euphoric that this arduous task was completed. It was mentally and physically challenging. Although all were suffering aches, pains and strains, it was Mission Accomplished. Not having a driver made a big difference, especially when you are made to park miles from the start point.

Lots of fun, sweat and tears - but also lots of money raised for a great cause. The team hope to raise enough money for a guide dog named " Dannii " in memory of Neil’s partner and Lee's Niece.

Please, if you can, give generously. You'll find details below of how you can donate. Thank you very, very much in advance.

Dannii. We hope to name a Guide Dog in her memory.

Guide Dogs UK Charity For The Blind And Partially Sighted

They're at it again, and this time there's a mountain to climb - or 3!

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 11:25:46 GMT

Simplify IT Managing Director Lee Rogers and his friend Matt Beacham are at it again, and by that we mean doing mad things to raise money for a great cause - Guide Dogs. Matt swam the river Avon to raise money recently and Lee's family have raised a puppy that is in training to become a Guide Dog - with more to come soon. Now they plan to tackle the three tallest mountains in England, Scotland & Wales as quickly as possible, do all the driving themselves, and sleep rough in a Simplify IT van. If you think this is a noble cause, if you want to salute this derring-do and contribute to this fantastic charity, please help.

On the 8th October, Lee and Matt will drive from the Midlands to Fort William. In the early hours of the 9th of October, they will climb the mighty Ben Nevis (4,413ft), then drive all the way down to the Lake District before ascending Scafell (3,209ft), then make their way to Wales to begin the final climb up Snowdon (3,560ft). The guys will drive and climb without any support .

Matt has raised money for 13 guide dogs - his 13th being named Ellie in honour of Lee's daughter, who has been a big help with fund raising and puppy walking. Lee and his wife Sarah have raised a guide dog puppy (Dixon) who is now in training. This is one heck of a challenge for two old men who have not trained or prepared for this adventure. We at Simplify IT salute you.

Thank you in advance for your kind support. You'll find details below of how you can donate.

L-R: Lee Rogers, Dixon & Ellie Rogers

Guide Dogs UK Charity For The Blind And Partially Sighted

Simplify IT Wins Another Award

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 12:22:27 GMT

We're Tech Data's Meraki Partner of the Year for 2021

We're delighted to announce that Simplify IT has won Tech Data's Meraki Partner of the Yea r after another stellar year of growth and partnership. Every year, the Tech Data Cisco team honours the top-performing partners over the vendor’s full year with its ACES awards. Tech Data recently announced the winners of the Cisco ACE Awards for 2021 , which are presented to partners that show innovation and a desire to grow in each of Cisco’s technology focus areas, and Simplify IT took home an award for the 3rd year running. We do like to stack them up.

The awards are presented to Cisco partners that are engaged in the Tech Data ACES programme, which provides support in the form of Boost community events, access to specialist platforms and tools and specialist support on Enterprise Agreements and bids, and on key Cisco technologies.

Tony Neville, director – Cisco and enterprise networking at Tech Data , said: ‘We work closely with Cisco partners to support them in maximising their business opportunities and delivering a great experience to their customers. While they faced some challenging market conditions, the community put in another top performance over the 12 month period and their efforts deserve to be acknowledged and recognised.’

Partner of the Year Meraki - Simplify IT
"Simplify IT has pivoted its business around Meraki and driven a tremendous amount of opportunity over the year."

Passwordless Authentication - This Is The Way

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 11:55:58 GMT

Say g00dby3 t0 pa$$w0rd$ and get better security

Passwords are a pain in the backside. Not only to users but to IT Departments who have to administrate them. They have to be longwinded to be more secure, you need lots of them for all your different systems, and despite your best efforts, they're still vulnerable to cybercriminals - who have ways and means of acquiring them. Yes, password managers like Lastpass make things easier, but the simple truth is that most users use the same passwords for multiple logins because it's easier. Ouch.

So, here's a thought. If passwords are now part of the problem, why not get rid of them? How? Passwordless Authentication.

What is Passwordless Authentication?

Passwordless authentication is a method of verifying a person's identity when they access an application, but because it doesn't rely on a password, it's a more user-friendly and secure way to login. How does it work?

Like multi-factor authentication before it, passwordless authentication is a way to verify people are who they say they are. What makes passwordless different is how that verification happens.

Traditional MFA relies on something you have, like a mobile device, and something you know, like a password. Passwordless login still uses something you have, but it replaces the password with something you are, like a biometric - such as fingerprint, facial recognition, iris scan etc.

So, just like MFA, passwordless uses two factors to verify identity, but the beauty of passwordless is that both factors can happen in a single gesture. For example, you pick up your device and perform a biometric and you're in - it's as easy as that.

Why Go Passwordless?

By going passwordless, organizations can address the two major problems with passwords: security gaps and usability issues.

The promise and real genius of passwordless authentication is that it will:

Improve user experience. Users get seamless access without all the special characters and trying to remember umpteen different logins.
Reduce IT overheads. Fewer passwords means fewer password resets.
Strengthen security posture. Attackers can't steal a password if there's no password to steal, right?

Simplify IT recommend Duo

Cisco Duo build best-in-class, famously user-friendly security products - and their approach to passwordless is no exception.

Their passwordless solution is still in development, but here's a sneak peek at some of the features:

Easy activation of passwordless authentication for federated applications
Flexible authentication options
Seamless integration into any IT or security stack
Industry-leading administrator and end user experience
Engineered with security in mind

Duo is already an essential security solution that we highly recommend, but with passwordless authentication soon to be added, it's a gamechanger.

Talk to us about Duo now - including getting a FREE TRIAL - and get ahead of the game.

Rapid Software Migration Service - It's Time!

Wed, 19 May 2021 11:18:30 GMT

Many organisations are struggling to migrate data into the cloud, and often the overall solution does not include the best practises for backup, resilience and security. How about you? Does this sound like something you need help with?

Simplify IT Solutions have a wealth of experience in assisting organisations to migrate their data to and from cloud-based solutions, and also design frameworks that can be used to achieve migrations in a timely manner, on schedule. Many businesses also migrate data to newer cloud services, and are not making the best use of new technology. In many cases, businesses may even be using the incorrect licensing models. There's plenty to consider, and having the right partner to guide you through this process - or manage it for you - can be crucial.

If you are moving your communications to Microsoft 365, or moving workloads to the cloud, we can help. Especially with:

License review to ensure you are selecting the most appropriate cloud provider and license types.
Architecture design – does the new solution meet best practice for security and resilience?
Active directory review.
Migration plan – are your teams using the best approach to migrate the data and complete the project?

Simplify IT also offer a turnkey solution for the migration work, and in many cases help build Hybrid solutions - allowing customers the ability to choose where workloads should reside.

Talk to us about your options now, and we can get you set up in double quick time. Call 0345 1243 441 or fill in a few details below and we'll have a chat with no obligation!

This is not the way.

Get Rapid Software Migration from Simplify IT now...

Simplify IT Partners with Cohesity To Bring You Software Defined Data Management

Thu, 13 May 2021 11:39:28 GMT

We bring you the most outstanding, powerfully simplified data management solution - and we're all about simplifying

Cohesity eliminates mass data fragmentation by consolidating data silos onto a single, easy-to-manage, software defined platform. The hyperscale Cohesity platform converges a comprehensive range of data management services, including backup and recovery, file and object services, disaster recovery, dev / test provisioning, and analytics - available on premises or from the cloud.

Simplify IT continues to select the best partners to work with as part of our ongoing and unwavering commitment to offer our customers the best solutions and services, and Cohesity very much aligns with that. In just their second year on the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Cohesity has been named a Leader in Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions report.

Your Data - Your Most Valuable Asset?
Your data is a uniquely valuable asset to the business, but first, it needs to be protected and available at all times. With the Cohesity platform, you can ensure continuity and repurpose your data for additional value. Start by eliminating infrastructure silos to remove cost and complexity, then do more with your data through value-added apps and services.

Radically Simple Backup and Data Management

Dramatically reduce your TCO and increase operational efficiency.

Simplified, centralized management with a single platform and global, easy-to-use UI for both traditional and modern data sources.
Rapid recovery from ransomware attacks with instant mass restore and granular search for reduced downtime.
Advanced data reduction shrinks data footprint and dramatically lowers TCO.

For more information, head to our Cohesity Partner page by clicking the button below...

To see our other partnerships, click the button below...

The Rise of Ransomware Attacks - What Can You Do? What Should You Do?

Wed, 12 May 2021 11:06:34 GMT

It is a sad fact that Ransomware Attacks are on the rise. It's big business for bad actors, and as it has proven to be very lucrative and increasingly successful, more cybercriminal gangs, lone wolves and state-sponsored groups are using ransomware attacks as their modus operandi. This is even more evident during the COVID 19 crisis, with more remote workers and thus more potential vulnerabilities and threat vectors.

According to figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 8% of UK businesses experienced a ransomware attack in the past 12 months, with the figure rising to 14% and 16% among medium and large organisations respectively. While the government advises businesses not to pay up (for several very sound reasons), 58% of UK based SMEs are reported to pay ransoms. So you can see the problem, and it's not going away any time soon.

I'm sure most if not all of those successfully attacked either thought it wouldn't happen to them, or believed they had adequate protection. Unfortunately the risk of an attack is increasing with every hour, and whether you're a giant US fuel pipeline company like Colonial, The NHS or a small business just making its way, nobody is truly 100% safe and your data is your lifeblood.

Colonial Pipeline Attack

The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack took place on May 7, 2021, when Colonial Pipeline - an American oil pipeline system that originates in Houston, Texas and carries fuel oil to an area mostly comprising the Southeastern United States, suffered a ransomware cyberattack that forced them to shut down their system.

Nightmare Scenario

This is exactly what you never want to see. An example of a ransomware notice that appears on victims' computer screens when their precious data is hijacked and held to ransom by cybercriminals. Make sure you do everything you can to prevent this happening to you.

So what can you do? What can we do? The best bet right now, and for the foreseeable future, is to have the best multi-layered defence you can, with the best contingency planning and processes for every eventuality - including what happens if your defence are breached..

What does that look like? Well, while solutions and good practices will be fairly consistent for most organisations, there isn't a silver bullet. Your defence and planning might look slightly different to another organisation depending on things like your digital estate, systems, communications, storage and of course, your budget.

Therefore, Simplify IT suggest an initial consultancy to identify the exact tailored multi-layered defence for your organisation. We have the expertise and partnerships to identify and deploy the protection you need, so that you give yourself the very best chance of business continuity.

If you want to know more, why not fill in the form below and we'll get in touch. There's no obligation, and whether you choose Simplify IT as your cyber security partner or not, please keep your data safe.

Files That Get Dumped in the Night - A Microsoft 365 Horror Story

Tue, 11 May 2021 10:16:50 GMT

It’s was an exciting week last week. We had a data breach! (not really as it transpires, but we had something strange and potentially horrifying happen)

One of our engineering team had been working on a project, and went to update some of the files only to find they were no longer there... also no longer in the recycle bins in SharePoint - so he gave me a call.

I discounted the usual suspects of ‘My dog ate my homework, but I mean I haven’t really done it’, and ‘they’d never been saved’ as the delve logs clearly show them being saved, but now no sign of them. Also no sign of a deletion event.

Quite the mystery! Now looking in the default toolkit in Microsoft 365, there was no logs of change, or deletion to any of his files. So stumped, we turned to one thing we do have - which quite a number of folks don’t have for Microsoft 365 - the backup!

One thing that people don’t realise is that Office doesn’t have long term retention beyond the recycle areas, and a determined admin can purge these. Fortunately, we have one that is independent of 365 and is immutable.

A quick search and we found the files in the folder, and could recover them.

Also, after a quick search in the backup logs forward of that point, we found the same files, no longer in the same place but in a sub folder. And a culprit of another engineer who’d accidentally click-dragged them in Explore and not noticed. Cake fines will be imposed at the next review!

So all in all, not really a breach, just accidently moved to a subfolder. But thanks to a good backup strategy of Microsoft 365, we had assurance that we could recover them, and find out what had happened.

Dave McCarthy - Chief Technology Officer

Do you have a Microsoft 365 Backup plan? If we didn't, this could have really been a horror story.

Remember, your Microsoft 365 data is not backed up in a way that most organisations require. Typically, there's only a 30-day retention period inbuilt into Office 365, and Microsoft SharePoint Online is only backed up every 12 hours, with just a 14-day retention period.

Talk to us about getting the right backup plan for your technical and financial needs today. We have several solutions, like Veeam, NetApp SaaS Backup, Proofpoint, AvePoint, and more.

Case Study: Moseley School and Sixth Form

Wed, 05 May 2021 10:48:47 GMT

With its proud Victorian roots, stunning architecture and famous alumni of rock stars and sportspeople, you’d be forgiven for thinking Moseley School didn’t need to rely on modern technology. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Moseley School may have a rich and illustrious history, but this a very modern school with modern requirements and needed a modern network to be deployed - to allow over 1500 students and staff to all have access to services using mobile devices.

This created 2 major challenges:

The WiFi would need a significant upgrade.
The existing core network would not be suitable to support such a high number of concurrent users.

As a result, Moseley school went to market to choose a solution that would be suitable. The school reviewed various technologies and resellers, and chose a Meraki based solution that had been designed by Simplify IT Solutions. This also included 10 year licensing, 10 year warranty and of course, world class support from Cisco. All of which gave this solution distinct advantages over competitors, especially with interest free financing options too.

Tools for Schools

Simplify IT used Ekahau WiFi survey tools to ensure the solution proposed was an exact fit to meet the exact WiFi needs. In addition, the traffic flow was reviewed and the core network backbone was upgraded to support the predicted bandwidth. The solution had to be in place and support the future needs of the school for the next decade.

Perfect Partner

Simplify IT was chosen as the preferred partner as they had a really good understanding of all the technologies that were being considered. The use of WiFi survey tools really helped Moseley School understand how different WiFi access points and their location would fundamentally affect and improve the user experience.

Meraki - the best solution

Meraki was a good offering, as it allowed the network to be managed using a cloud management interface. The solution provided insight into the user activity including applications network usage. In addition, the ability to make a single policy change to lock device types, or applications ensured the network was much easier to manage.

The new technology provided better performance, improved analytics, but also much easier fault diagnosis and management. Visibility of application usage is a must for security and also identification of issues.

Deployment

After selecting Simplify IT Solutions and Meraki the next step was the deployment of the solution.

The new solution included 48 switches and 70 WiFi access points (APs), all of which would need to be deployed in a 2 week window without service interruption.

Simplify IT Solutions deployed all 48 switches, 70 access points, and swapped all cabling into the new network. The project was completed ahead of schedule, and when all the users returned, zero calls were raised on the new network.

Highly Recommended

Meraki was perfect as the chosen solution, as it’s easy to manage and provides great insight into user / application traffic. According to Moseley School, Simplify IT Solutions have been an excellent partner with a ‘can do’ attitude. Their attention to detail and levels of expertise are so rare to find, yet they were the most competitive offering for a like-for-like solution. The school are really pleased with how the solution has been designed and deployed and the Simplify IT Solutions team are highly recommended.

Outcome

Moseley School are very proud that they have deployed an enterprise grade solution - allowing them to provide the latest generations of technology to students today and for years to come.

A core network upgrade is not an insignificant piece of work, and choosing the correct technology and partner is very important.

Read a Testimonial from the school below...

Rob Camm - IT Manager

Moseley School and Sixth Form

Book your FREE WiFi Consultation now!

If you'd like a FREE consultation to discuss your WiFi needs, please fill in the form below and we'll get straight back to you. There's no obligation, we won't hassle you if you decide it's not for you, and we won't try and sell you anything you don't need. Sound good?

The Cost of Recovery Just Got Easier With Cisco Easylease

Wed, 05 May 2021 10:15:17 GMT

If you like the sound of this, drop a few details in below and we'll set it up for you.

Uptime Funk You Up? Don't Get Caught Out By Complacency

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 11:58:46 GMT

Restart on your terms, or eventually, it’ll restart on its own

So Uptime, or how long something provides service for, is important - and the longer the better, right?

This is just a few musings on why we look at long uptimes and have worries when we see it.

First, we all know about 99.999% (or 5 nines) availability which is the amount of unscheduled downtime should be less than 5 minutes per year. This is a good thing, but one factor that people regularly miss is that ‘unscheduled’ word.

So 525,600 minutes is a year, and if we see an uptime counter of greater than 525,595 this would look good to the untrained eye. It means it’s been up nearly a year, minus those 5 minutes. However, when we look at this three things spring to mind.

When was this device last patched?
Are there any bugs in that code base that increase in chance after long uptimes?
Has anybody actually looked at this device recently?

Having an availability SLA of 99.999% does not mean you can’t reboot the unit ever, just that you have to schedule it. And if you’re not patching regularly, you aren’t meeting the minimum maintenance of the device.

Patches clear unexpected issues, and the associated reboots help. Most of them only get found when software is in a wide deployment under both extended runtime and high stress workloads.

It comes down to restarting on your terms, or eventually, it’ll restart on its own terms.

As always, if you need advice or assistance, we're always here for you.

Simplify IT Partners with RingCentral to bring you the best All-in-one Business Communications Solution

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 12:34:54 GMT

How you collaborate and connect to your customers just got better, easier and more affordable

Simplify IT are proud to announce that we have partnered with UCaaS Magic Quadrant leaders RingCentral - The World's #1 cloud communication experts, to bring you the best all-in-one business communications solution available. What does this mean for you and why should you care?

If you look at the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS providers (below), there are many excellent offerings there, and we support most of them, but 2 stand out - Microsoft and RingCentral . Microsoft (via Teams) is hard to argue with in terms of value - if you use Microsoft 365 for Business already . We fully support Microsoft Teams and it is an excellent solution for many organisations. But where it is limited, RingCentral is supreme - telephony (Cloud PBX) capability and mobile network support, powerful call analytics, deep feature sets, seamless integration with your existing apps (including Microsoft Teams and far more besides.

If you're not using a Microsoft centric environment, RingCentral is the best solution for all your communications needs. But even if you are, RingCentral, running seamlessly with your Microsoft Teams environment will turbo charge your comms and give your workforce - whether remote or office based - the tools they need to collaborate and communicate with customers and external organisations.

For instance, if you're still using a fixed line phone system (PBX) you're probably paying for the hardware and other costs. It's expensive and yet another disparate system you have to manage. Cloud based or virtual PBX are the answer and the future. You're already using a PC or mobile device, so why switch to a phone to call somebody outside of your business? You make calls from Teams outside of your business but only if you have expensive call plans and involving yet more 3rd parties. With RingCentral, it's all included in your easy and very affordable payment plans. You also get powerful call analytics which teams cannot provide out of the box without more 3rd party plugins.

RingCentral is a mature solution, honed over years to offer the most capable and comprehensive UCaaS solution - Message - Video - Phone - together! While Microsoft Teams is still new, it's not yet designed to offer a true all-in-one communications solution for most businesses unless patched up with 3rd party plugins and contracts.

Simplify IT strongly recommends RingCentral as a complete solution or seamlessly integrated into your existing comms to give you the best all-in-one Business Communications Solution available. This is consistent with our commitment to provide our customers with the very best solutions in terms of value and capability.

We'll be providing more information about what we can offer in partnership with RingCentral over the coming weeks, but if you wish to know more and start levelling up your communications right now, please get in touch using the form below.

Want to get started? Get in touch...

Simplify IT are authorised RingCentral & Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best UCaaS solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

On-Prem Microsoft Exchange Server Urgent Action Required

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 10:24:22 GMT

Follow Up: If you are running On-Premise or Hybrid versions of Microsoft Exchange Server - Please read this

Simplify IT, partnership with Microsoft would like to alert you to security updates for multiple different on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server zero-day vulnerabilities that are being exploited by Hafnium - as we recently informed you.

The vulnerabilities exist in on-premises Exchange Servers 2013, 2016, and 2019. Exchange Online is not affected.

We want to ensure you are aware of the situation and urge you to take immediate remediation steps:

Microsoft highly recommends that you take immediate action to apply the patches for any on-premises Exchange deployments you have at your business, or are hosting and managing for a third party.

The first priority are servers that are accessible from the Internet (e.g., servers publishing Outlook on the web / OWA and ECP).

To patch vulnerabilities, you should move to the latest Exchange Cumulative Updates and then install the relevant security updates on each Exchange Server.
- You can use the Exchange Server Health Checker script, which can be downloaded from GitHub (use the latest release).
- Running this script will tell you if you are behind on your on-premises Exchange Server updates (note that the script does not support Exchange Server 2010).

We also recommend that your security team assess whether or not the vulnerabilities are being exploited.

If you have any issues or concerns, please get in touch.

Simplify IT are committed to working with you through this issue- whether you are our existing customer or not.

If you have any concerns about this attack and what to do next and need assistance, please contact us as soon as possible.

Security Alert - Fake Google reCAPTCHA Phishing Attack Targets Office 365 Passwords

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:57:37 GMT

Are you a Robot after all? Don't lower you guard to a bogus Google reCAPTCHA system

Microsoft 365 users are the target of particularly devious phishing emails, in an ongoing attack aiming to steal their Office 365 credentials. The attackers are hiding their efforts behind - at first glance at least - a seemingly legitimate but completely fake Google reCAPTCHA system and top-level domain landing pages that in many cases include the logos of the victims’ companies.

The emails first take users to a fake Google reCAPTCHA system page. Google reCAPTCHA as you may know is a security measure that is designed to protect websites from spam and abuse, by using a test to make sure you're human. You may be asked to click on the image segments that include traffic lights or trees for example.

In this case though, once victims “pass” the reCAPTCHA test, they are then redirected to a phishing landing page, which asks for their Office 365 credentials. Uh oh.

What's more, this attack is aimed at senior or C-Level job titles (Vice President, CEO, Managing Director etc) who are the most likely to have access to the most sensitive company data. Once they're in, well, you get the picture. So what can you do?

Generic Microsoft branded login page - easy to fake

Branded login page, not so easy to fake - but not impossible

As you can see in the images above, using your own branded login page is a good idea. This makes it harder for nefarious actors to spoof your login page and get you to enter your credentials, because this is dynamically loaded, based on some unique session keys and is always inside an SSL tunnel it’s quite difficult to intercept and fake as you’d have to fake a lot more. So difficult to spoof and well worth the effort to do, but it's not 100% proof,.

So what else can you do?

Using DUO from Cisco, you can protect your Data even if these attackers managed to grab your credentials. This is because it uses multi factor authentication that can defeat any attack. So, to recap...

Brand your login page - Deploy DUO from Cisco.

This is what Simplify IT recommends in response to these attacks. Its always best to be vigilant but its better still to ensure the security of your data should you let your guard down.

Hey, we're all human .

If you would like more information on DUO and how to protect your business, get in touch

Security Alert - HAFNIUM targeting Exchange Servers with 0-day Exploits

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 11:12:16 GMT

If you are running On-Premise or Hybrid versions of Microsoft Exchange Server - You need to take action immediately

Microsoft has detected multiple 0-day exploits being used to attack on-premises and hybrid environment versions of Microsoft Exchange Server in limited and targeted attacks. In the attacks observed, the threat actor used these vulnerabilities to access on-premises Exchange servers which enabled access to email accounts , and allowed installation of additional malware to facilitate long-term access to victim environments. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) attributes this campaign with high confidence to HAFNIUM , a group assessed to be state-sponsored and operating out of China, based on observed victimology, tactics and procedures.

Please note : This attack does not impact anyone running Exchange Online exclusively!

Details:
Microsoft is providing the following details to help our customers understand the techniques used by HAFNIUM to exploit these vulnerabilities and enable more effective defence against any future attacks against unpatched systems.

CVE-2021-26855 is a server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in Exchange which allowed the attacker to send arbitrary HTTP requests and authenticate as the Exchange server.

CVE-2021-26857 is an insecure deserialization vulnerability in the Unified Messaging service. Insecure deserialization is where untrusted user-controllable data is deserialized by a program. Exploiting this vulnerability gave HAFNIUM the ability to run code as SYSTEM on the Exchange server. This requires administrator permission or another vulnerability to exploit.
CVE-2021-26858 is a post-authentication arbitrary file write vulnerability in Exchange. If HAFNIUM could authenticate with the Exchange server then they could use this vulnerability to write a file to any path on the server. They could authenticate by exploiting the CVE-2021-26855 SSRF vulnerability or by compromising a legitimate admin’s credentials.

CVE-2021-27065 is a post-authentication arbitrary file write vulnerability in Exchange. If HAFNIUM could authenticate with the Exchange server then they could use this vulnerability to write a file to any path on the server. They could authenticate by exploiting the CVE-2021-26855 SSRF vulnerability or by compromising a legitimate admin’s credentials.

We are sharing this information with our customers and the security community to emphasize the critical nature of these vulnerabilities and the importance of patching all affected systems immediately to protect against these exploits and prevent future abuse across the ecosystem.

“Even though we’ve worked quickly to deploy an update for the Hafnium exploits, we know that many nation-state actors and criminal groups will move quickly to take advantage of any unpatched systems.”
Tim Burt - Microsoft

Users of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, Microsoft Exchange Server 2016, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 are advised to apply the updates immediately to protect against these exploits, prioritizing the externally facing Exchange servers.

Microsoft also advises that the initial stage of the attack can be stopped by “restricting untrusted connections, or by setting up a VPN to separate the Exchange server from external access”, although the other parts of the attack chain can still be exploited, if other means of access are used.

If you have any concerns about this attack and / or need assistance, please contact us as soon as possible.

Skype for Business Online ends soon

Wed, 03 Mar 2021 11:25:18 GMT

Transit to Microsoft Teams - with some extra sauce!

July 31st 2021 - Save the date, for this is the day we say goodbye to Skype for Business Online - and if you're still using it, you'll need to start planning to migrate to Microsoft Teams without delay. The good news is, we can help you do this, or manage it for you - as well as offer a bit extra into the bargain.

So what's going on? Skype for Business Online service will retire July 31, 2021 . At that point, access to the service will end. Microsoft Teams has become the core communications client for Microsoft 365 and so it makes sense to transit to that.

Please note:

Neither the Skype consumer service nor Skype for Business Server products are affected by the retirement of the Skype for Business Online service. Current Skype for Business Online customers will experience no change in service up to the retirement date .
Support for the integration of third-party party Audio Conferencing Providers (ACP) into Skype for Business Online will end, along with the Skype for Business Online service on July 31, 2021.

How this affects your business

While your organization will no longer be able to use Skype for Business Online once the service retires, July 31, 2021, you may continue to use Microsoft Teams as part of your existing licensing agreement.

Transit to Teams - Seamlessly

Each organization has its unique technical environment, application and process integrations, and aptitude for change that can shorten or extend the path to “Teams Only”. With a comprehensive upgrade plan in place, you’ll be ready to handle the expected as well as the unforeseen. Upgrade from Skype for Business to Teams and enable your organization to meet, chat, share, and collaborate from wherever they are, until the time is right for everyone to be together again.

But I already have Microsoft Teams...

Even if you've already started using teams, we can make it work far better for you, with more capability than the vanilla 'out of the box' MS Teams. This is our extra sauce !

I can do this myself, why do I need Simplify IT?

Its true that upgrading to Teams is not the most difficult task. However, Simplify IT can not only help you integrate Teams into your communications infrastructure, as certified Microsoft Partners we can save you money on your plans.

We can also advise on the best way to set it up to get the most out of it to suit your business requirements - including using Teams to replace any PBX phone system you may have. You and your colleagues can be make external calls through teams.

What you could get...

Cloud-based phone system with advanced features - including call transfer, multilevel auto attendants, and call queues.
A domestic calling plan
Dial-in audio conferencing for up to 250 people per meeting.
Call from anywhere, on any device through the Microsoft Teams app.
Around-the-clock customer support.

If you need more users, more PBX capabilities, like advanced cloud-based call control, and productivity apps, we can provide that for you. We can cover all this with you during a Free Consultation

What about all my other communications?

Team collaboration tools with integrated video and web conferencing capabilities have become essential for allowing employees to connect and communicate with colleagues and customers who are also working from home. Simplify IT is able to help your organisation with SIPs, Telephony, VOIP and Virtual PBXs. This is part of our UCaaS offering. If you would like to know more about this, click the button below.

So, are you ready to migrate to Microsoft Teams? Or if you already have, are you ready to get more from Teams? Just fill in the form below and we'll take it from there.

Simplify IT are authorised Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best Microsoft solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

How's your IT Budget looking?

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 15:25:20 GMT

We won't just make your IT healthy, we'll make your bank balance look healthier too.

On the eve of another Chancellor's budget, after a really, really hard year for everybody - thanks to the dreaded virus - we're all mindful of how much we're spending. It's no secret that there are just some things that businesses have to spend money on, especially IT, but that doesn't mean you have to be bled dry. More than ever, businesses need to watch their costs without compromising on maintaining essential capabilities.

Simplify IT are always mindful of how much our customers have to spend, and making that budget talk. Therefore we always recommend the optimal solutions for your business, your requirements, and your budget. We can't always claim to be the cheapest, but we do claim to be the most effective and that means true value. Our customers will testify that our commitment to get it 'right first time' has saved them time after time. Not only in actual money, but reputation.

We'll work in lockstep with your IT team, or we'll take the entire strain for you. We'll give you better solutions or make your existing infrastructure perform like never before. By recommending smarter, more efficient solutions with less waste, we'll make your IT budget stretch to cover what you need to power through these uncertain times and on to greener pastures.

So, how does the idea of spending less on your IT and levelling it up at the same time sound?

All you need to do is fill in the form below and we'll get started.

You're under no obligation, and if you don't like what we're saying you can walk away and we won't hassle you.

Hybrid Office - The Future of the Workplace

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 11:21:16 GMT

Is it time we rethink the workplace as we know it?

Practically overnight, so many of us have had to desert our offices and retreat to our homes for months. At the same time, we've been rethinking the way we work and interact with our colleagues - which is of course vital to any successful organisation.

Is it time we rethink the workplace? Is the way we traditionally view "the office" going to have to change? What does this technically mean for your organisation in terms of how to communicate, remain productive and protect your data and digital estates? Do you need to review your current practices, and do you need or have a partner to help with that process?

Simplify IT's Jordan Tooth and Tom Watson have produced a series of videos covering how the workplace is changing and what this means for the present and the near future. Welcome to the new world of the Hybrid Office - The workplace of the future.

Part 1 is below.

We hope you enjoyed watching the video and found it informative. If you want to discuss this in more detail, including a FREE consultation on your options and what to do next, just fill in some details using the form below. You're under no obligation, you won't be hassled and we won't keep any details - unless that's your wish.

UCaaS - What is all the fuss about?

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 16:06:55 GMT

Unify all your communication methods with Simplify IT

In recent years, a new game-changing communications trend has been growing and revolutionising business: Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).

So what's all the fuss about and what could it mean for you if you haven't already considered its impact?

O.K, lets break it down for you. Let's start with what UCaaS actually is.

Unified Communications (UC): This basically means centralising all the different disparate communications technologies that you use into a single convenient platform.

Some organisations still prefer to keep their Unified Communications hardware on premises, while others prefer to make use of cloud-based or hybrid methods.

With UCaaS, you no longer have to use separate hardware and software for voice calls, video conferences, messaging, and any other communication method you can imagine. Instead, users can access all of these services over a simple, user-friendly portal.

UCaaS systems can be accessed securely from just about any location in the world. It therefore makes sense that UCaaS is great for businesses with multiple branch locations or teams of remote workers. Who doesn't have remote staff right now? And this will be the case even after the dreaded Covid 19.

If you think your business is too small or too established to change to UCaas, don't forget that UCaaS is commonly used by businesses of all sizes, from SME's to the largest enterprises. What's more you more than likely already have one foot in the door. Do you use Microsoft Teams? RingCentral? Webex? Don't just dip your toe in, go for it!

Significantly Reduced Costs

OK let's talk money. How about them bills? UCaaS is a brilliant way to significantly reduce your monthly telecommunications expenses. If you're a business that uses PBX systems for instance, you make big savings as well as increasing ease and capability.

UCaaS makes best use of VoIP, and Simplify IT offer flexible pricing options to suit your needs, low upfront cost plans, and the ability to pool phone resources across multiple locations. Compared to traditional PBX phones, UCaaS is also far more cost-efficient since it is delivered over the internet. Ditch the PBX and switch to vPBX. Save money, and give your remote or office-based staff the communications power and convenience they need.

Flexible Scalability

Another reason to use UCaaS is that it makes it much easier to scale your communications. Users can be easily (and as we've already discussed, cost-effectively) added or removed as needed without having to physically install or remove phone lines. UCaaS is an ideal option for new businesses and startups because they tend to experience rapid growth. With a UCaaS system in place, you won’t need to rip up and replace infrastructure to scale.

Assured Performance

With UCaaS, you can rest assured that all calls will typically be of high quality. This is absolutely vital and crucial in today’s customer-centric and partner-centric markets. You want a reliable service with great performance and a powerful suite of tools and apps and that's what we can offer and guarantee you.

Your business will receive an SLA-backed service guarantee, along with seamless failover and disaster recovery support. UCaaS can also be paired with SD-WAN, for improved visibility and control across a global WAN. Managers can use SD-WAN to control bandwidth allocation, resulting in higher performing communications.

As we partner with the best in the world, we can set up or assist with this as you wish, as part of our UCaaS offering to you. The best off the shelf options, hot-rodded to your exact specifications with the know how only Simplify IT can pool together. The result is you get the Unified Communications infrastructure you always dreamed of and maybe never knew was even possible.

Enhanced Security

By centralising and consolidating your communications channels, you will reduce the number of endpoints that your employees use on a daily basis and of course - endpoints are potential threat vectors. For example, your employees won’t have to use third party video and messaging services (which typically lead to data silos). UCaaS will grant IT more visibility and control over enterprise communications. This in turn can help reduce the threat of a data breach or cybersecurity incident.

Simplify IT can design and deploy your UCaaS with the perfect security solutions to suit your needs. We partner with the best security vendors in the business to have a range of the best solutions available. We can incorporate your preference, or if you prefer, advise on the best solutions from our portfolios.

In short, you will enjoy enhanced security, to go with your enhanced performance and cost efficiency.

Superpowered Productivity

Another major reason why so many businesses are turning to UCaaS is because it delivers seriously enhanced productivity.

As UCaaS keeps your staff locked into one application, instead of having to move between different screens and devices, they can remain more engaged this way, and avoid getting distracted throughout the workday. Why would you use several tools when one does the job perfectly? An example of this is using Microsoft Teams. Now, while many businesses are already using Teams every day for internal communication, many don't realise it can replace your physical phone system so you can make externals calls, have call plans, enhanced call analytics and conferencing options (beyond what Microsoft offer).

We don't just offer something like MS Teams, we offer MS Teams on steroids, with enhanced capability using blended technology to really make your UC sing. Simplify IT can pull this together for you in this way like no other. Your MS Teams, for your business communication needs.

UCaaS improves teamwork and collaboration, moving projects along faster to completion. Employees can easily communicate over text, video, or chat, eliminating the need to physically meet or interrupt other staff. UCaaS also offers presence indicators, alerting employees when other team members are available to connect.

So now you hopefully know what UCaaS is and what it could mean for your business. With UCaaS from Simplify IT your workforce will be secure, more connected, more efficient and productive and you could make big savings too. What's not to like?

Your first step is to get in touch. There's no obligation, all we'll give you is the facts and discuss your options. Then it's up to you.

Fill in the form below and we'll be in touch.

Want to get started? Get in touch...

Simplify IT are authorised Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best Microsoft solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

We've got skills. They're multiplyin'

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 13:08:31 GMT

Need skilled IT Technicians? We're the one that you want.

Simplify IT go to great lengths to cover all the skills we need to deliver the best service to our customers. Our people have a wealth of capabilities that cover the full spectrum of technical competencies. When you choose Simplify IT to deliver your projects, you’re getting heroic professional services from the most qualified, experienced and capable technicians.

Our skills Matrix is automatic, systematic...

OK, so Grease puns aside, we've put a comprehensive matrix of skilled professional services together, so you can find anything and everything you need. This matrix is ever expanding and developing to keep ahead of the game, so if you see something you need, or even if you don't, get in touch. We guarantee you the best and most comprehensive range of solutions and services and, as our customer, we're hopelessly devoted to you.

What's in this Matrix?

Under the following sections, we have a wide range of services we can deliver:

Server Software Infrastructure
Cloud Service Infrastructure
Core Networking Infrastructure
Security
Server & Storage Physical Infrastructure
Backup & Recovery.

We partner with a wide array of vendors and specialise in their technology with recognised accreditations and proven, often unrivalled experience.

See for yourself

We can design & deploy, health check & support or even provide training on hundreds of skilled professional services. Have a look for yourself and then, when you're ready, get in touch. We can take care of any number of projects for you - from a single deployment to a fully managed service.

Click the button below to see our skills in detail...

Simplify IT are authorised partners with numerous vendors, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

Stuck for time? We can send you info and details on our skills. Just give us a few details below and we'll be in touch.

Dare you risk a Day of the Deadspots?

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:39:15 GMT

Have a WiFi network? Are you planning one? Get an audit first

How many deadspots do you have? Buying too many Access Points for your new WiFi network? Too much overlap? Why not try our WiFi survey that can accurately assess your exact WiFi needs? Then we can advise you on what's needed, or better still, we can can do it all for you. It all starts with a survey.

Simplify IT have a variety of wireless surveying options available from diagnostics of your current environment to design of new buildings and infrastructure using hardware and software from market leader Ekahau .

A fully trained, qualified and vastly experienced engineer will guide you through onsite or remote surveying with a detailed report of your environment.

Predict

An indicative scope of wireless access point (AP) deployment, for budgetary and efficiency purposes. We work with you to create a digital and accurate floor plan, we then produce a survey report using market leading Ekahau software.

The report shows the number of access points required and their approximate placement. The report can be used to make decisions surrounding access point purchasing and budgeting.

We recommend that a Predictive Survey is performed prior to final purchase of Aps to ensure maximum wireless networking efficiency.

Verify

Unlike the prediction survey, the verification survey confirms the exact placement of access points and the requirements they need. Customers also find this useful for cabling and implementation services.

The verification survey requires an on-site visit where our team will use a mobile Ekahau AP to perform the survey and produce a detailed report.

Validate

This is a validation of recently implemented or modified wireless system and assurance that the system is optimised accordingly. Using Ekahau hardware we walkthrough the wireless area and we can discover any interference to make appropriate changes.

Your expert WiFi network partner

The benefits of WiFi Services from Simplify IT

Bespoke Network
Design

Guaranteed

WiFi Coverage

Optimise your
Existing Network

If you're ready to get started or just want to discuss your options with no obligation - please fill in the form below.

We'd love to hear from you and we're % 100 certain we can help you .

You can get the most out of existing WiFi network or deploy a new one that is perfect for you, your building and your budget. We specialise in WiFi 6 too. Get in touch.

Make your remote workforce practices cleaner, leaner and meaner with VDI

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 15:25:55 GMT

You may need Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Here's why...

What is VDI?

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), is an IT infrastructure option that removes the need for buying, operating, and maintaining a number of individual PCs in a typical office space. VDI has been around since 2006 and has since matured to become a viable option to replace end-user computing platforms such as the client-server computing model.

VDI from Simplify IT

Simplify IT design, deploy and support VDI solutions from all the major vendors – VMware Horizon, Citrix, Microsoft Terminal services and Azure cloud based VDI. In the past this has been used to deploy applications quickly and securely.

With lockdown and remote working becoming the new normal, VDI is now being used to provide highly secure remote home working solutions where users have limited bandwidth and without the need for corporate data to be put on home PCs.

Why do I need it?

VDI offers a number of benefits that make it a viable consideration. First, is the cost savings it provides. Because VDI creates a virtual desktop, typically one running Windows applications, and is managed in a data centre, companies can avoid costly capital expenditures on IT infrastructure. The desktop images are delivered over a network to the endpoint device, be that a traditional PC or mobile device. You won't have to keep upgrading these endpoint devices to the latest most powerful machines either as the clever stuff is being managed elsewhere.

Security is another critical consideration. The storage, management, and security of valuable, sensitive data are all handled in the data centre rather than an endpoint device. If an employee loses a device or has one stolen, the thief has no way to access any data. There is no data stored on the stolen device itself and therefore no means of accessing your network.

Thirdly and very relevant to our world right now is RoBo or Remote office / Branch office. Remote and mobile workers enjoy better access to a technology environment that includes Windows applications that are the backbone of most business operations.

VDI offers management benefits . Your IT team has fewer master images to maintain and provide security for, making management and control far easier compared to dealing with individual desktops for each user.

So many benefits to VDI....

The benefits of using VDI

Cost

Efficiency

Enhanced

Performance

Data

Security

Easily

Scalable

Fast
Deployment

Instant

Backup

Easier

Control

Centralised

Data

If you're ready to get started or just want to discuss your options, with no obligation please fill in the form below.

We'd love to hear from you and we're % 100 certain we can help you.

Meet your new business phone system

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 11:13:18 GMT

Hello? Is it Teams you're looking for?

You may remember the adverts asking you why take two bottles into the shower? Shampoo and Conditioner? Well, in the same way we're asking; Why have Microsoft Teams and a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) when you can have both in one handy package. And it can save you an absolute packet too. How much are you paying for your current business phone system? Why not replace your clunky expensive PBX with a virtual PBX that slots in perfectly with what you're already using.

But you can't make external phone calls in Microsoft Teams...

Sure you can. So here's the scenario; If you talk to us, we can get you set up on plans that will allow you to add a phone keypad on your MS Teams dashboard. Want to make an external call? All you need to do is type in the number and off you go. You're already using Teams, so instead of having to pay for, maintain and use an expensive PBX, you can handle everything through your PC or laptop.

So, to recap. Way more convenient, way, way more cost-effective and you can also keep your hands free for typing.

What you can get

Cloud-based phone system with advanced features - including call transfer, multilevel auto attendants, and call queues.
A domestic calling plan
Dial-in audio conferencing for up to 250 people per meeting.
Call from anywhere, on any device through the Microsoft Teams app.
Around-the-clock customer support.

If you need more users, more PBX capabilities, like advanced cloud-based call control, and productivity apps, we can provide that for you. Just ask.

Unified Comms & Collaboration

Team collaboration tools with integrated video and web conferencing capabilities have become essential for allowing employees to connect and communicate with colleagues and customers who are also working from home. Simplify IT is able to help your organisation with SIPs, Telephony, VOIP and Virtual PBXs. This is part of our Managed Services. If you would like to know more about this, click the button below.

Simplify IT are authorised Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best Microsoft solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

Want to get started? Get in touch...

Stuck at home? Console yourself...

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 12:05:56 GMT

Banish the Lockdown blues with some serious gaming

The Sony Playstation 5 and the Microsoft Xbox Series are the most powerful consoles yet, it's also hard to get hold of one right now too. We're offering you the chance to own your very own in this incredible competition. All you need to do is refer somebody to us, or register your own IT project and you'll be automatically entered. By having Simplify IT ace your IT projects, you're already on to a winner, but you could win one of these awesome machines to keep you entertained when, let's face it, there's not much else to do.

So, what are you waiting for? Get entering!

Does this sound exciting to you? Don't delay then, as this competition will close on Wednesday 31st March. So if you have an upcoming IT project that requires our expert support with, or if you know of somebody who needs an IT project, please visit our competition page by clicking the button below and you'll be entered automatically. Entry is free , all you need to do is submit a genuine project or referral.

Money to Burn?

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 13:10:42 GMT

Your Disaster Recovery Plan is costing you too much. We can guarantee we will save you money!

Do you have 2 Data centres? Do you have a disaster recovery solution that means replicating all your data infrastructure from one data centre to another?

You’re paying for the same rack space, CPUs, compute, virtual machines, storage, windows data centre and SQL licenses twice, right? And if it’s on premise, what about the rent or bills for all that electricity?

Do you have money to burn? No, of course you don't, and right now you really don't need to be paying extra for anything.

So here's the thing. We're going to give you a better DR service than you currently have, and we're going to save you a load of money too, and if you don't believe us, we'll pay your favourite charity £50 immediately.

Fully Automatic

Is your DR fully automated, allowing a 1 button press to failover an application or an entire Data Centre? Can you test it at will?

Simplify IT have partnered with VMware to provide a full automated DR service at a reduced cost. Pay for a core service and replicate all the application data into AWS and if required, invoke DR automation and only pay for compute and licensing when DR is invoked.

This is the best way to use Cloud Services on a consumption model for an event that may never happen. This improves your DR capability and automation yet still lowers your overall costs. In the event of real DR, you can scale up quickly (add additional nodes as required).

Disaster Recovery, not financial disaster

With our Fully Managed Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), you can ensure business continuity more effectively than ever, with very little downtime and with significant savings. Should the worst happen, your failover can happen with a single button press and your DR plan up and running within 1 hour.

Oh yes, and it will definitely cost less than your current plan - That’s a promise.

£50 to your favourite charity if we can't save you big money on DR

No Gimmicks, we WILL save you money on DR

So, how can we claim this? This isn't a gimmick or snake oil peddling, we're not into that. This is about Simplify IT giving our customers the best solutions in the most cost effective way.

The solution is beautifully simple in its concept, yet fiendishly difficult in its execution. But don’t worry, let us deal with the difficult part. The beautifully simple part is that we use Cloud technology as your disaster recovery and take the strain when you need it to. With plans that give you everything you need, including VMware’s incredible SRM and NSX support and licensing, as much compute, storage and licensing as required, you’ll have the DR plan you want and pay significantly less for it.

What’s not to like?

At last, a smart and cost effective way to use the Cloud

As you know, renting cloud space is very expensive, but it’s also very convenient. Having a virtual cloud-based data centre on call would save so much expense in one way, but quickly swallowed up and exceeded with spiralling cloud services costs. If you commit to using cloud all the time , you can find the costs can quickly get out of control. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have all that convenience of cloud but only pay for cloud services when you need it?

Now, thanks to Simplify IT, VMware and AWS, you can!

What you do now....

What you SHOULD do now....

Are you ready to start saving big money? Are you ready to improve or start your DR plan? Do you want more info? Click the button below.

We win again

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 11:27:17 GMT

Simplify IT wins Tech Data's Cisco Data Centre Partner of the Year - again

We're delighted to announce that Simplify IT has won Tech Data's Cisco Data Centre Partner of the Yea r for the 2nd year running. Tech Data recently announced the winners of the Cisco Momentum ACES Awards for 2020 , which are presented to partners that show innovation and a desire to grow in each of Cisco’s technology focus areas, and Simplify IT took home the award for Data Centre Partner to add to our 2019 award.

According to Tech Data:
"In being awarded the Tech Data Cisco Data Centre Partner of the Year award for two years in succession, Simplify IT has underlined its irrefutable credentials as a knowledgeable, reliable, and forward-thinking business. This year, Simplify IT has truly taken the opportunity to further develop its competency and capabilities and delivered exceptional 58% year-on-year growth in its Cisco Data Centre business."

Graeme Lee, Business Development Manager for Cisco at Tech Data said: ‘The Momentum programme is all about helping Cisco partners and the ACES awards recognise partners who have really engaged with us to develop and grow their business and delivered great results for their customers. We are always looking for new partners who can benefit from being closely engaged on the Cisco Momentum programme – we can help them to take their business forwards and get the very best out of their engagement both with us and with Cisco.’

Come fly with us - in a Spitfire!

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 12:21:27 GMT

Follow in the vapour trails of legends

Have you ever dreamed of flying the legendary Spitfire? We're offering you the chance in this incredible competition. All you need to do is refer somebody to us, or register your own IT project and you'll be automatically entered. Follow in the trail of legends and heroes - and our very own MD Lee Rogers (who can be seen flying himself in the video below) as you take the controls of an iconic MkIX Spitfire , arguably the finest and most famous fighter plane the world has ever known .

Is this the best prize ever? We think so...

Does this sound exciting to you? Don't delay then, as this competition will close on Friday 11th December. So if you have an upcoming IT project that requires our expert support with, or if you know of somebody who needs an IT project, please visit our competition page by clicking the button below and you'll be entered automatically. Entry is free, all you need to do is submit a genuine project or referral.

The Next Generation of Firewalls (NGFW) are here

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 09:15:56 GMT

Prevent breaches, get deep visibility to detect and stop threats fast with Next Gen Firewalls from Cisco

Are you properly protected 24/7? You could be, with Simplify IT

Simplify IT highly recommend Next Generation Firewalls as part of your security portfolio. We love it for its revolutionary adaptive technology, steadfast 24/7 vigilance as it's supported by Cisco Talos - The world's leading Cyber Threat team using Artificial Intelligence. As would-be bad actors adapt their tactics, so do Next Gen Firewalls, meaning there will always be an answer to them. Ensure business continuity against growing threats from cyber criminals.

Check out our video below, as Tom Watson explains Next Gen Firewalls effectively.

Prevent breaches automatically

Are you protected 24/7? You could be. You should be. Cisco Talos constantly analyses threat data and creates security protections that the Cisco Next-Generation Firewall uses to automatically prevent breaches. We stop attacks in their tracks so your business won't miss a beat.

Visibility to detect and stop threats fast

Are you seeing the full picture? You can't stop threats that you can't see. Get the deepest network and security visibility using built-in advanced security features like NGIPS and advanced malware protection to detect and stop the most advanced threats fast.

Automate operations to save time and reduce complexity

Stop playing whack-a-mole with threats. Let the Cisco Next-Generation Firewall do the work for you. Automated policy application and enforcement free up time so you can focus on high-priority tasks. Cisco firewalls work with the rest of Cisco's integrated security tools to see and stop threats faster.

Get the upper hand

Do you have a mix bag of siloed cyber security products? Hard to manage or keep on top of? Any lapse is a weak spot and you can't afford any of those. Talk to us at Simplify IT about getting a full and comprehensive security portfolio now, that gives you the upper hand against threats.

When its raining security threats, get Umbrella

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 11:09:44 GMT

Want the world's leading threat team backing you up for less than the cost of a coffee?

Remote Workforce? Growing security threats? Malware attacks? Umbrella has you covered.

Simplify IT highly recommend Umbrella as part of your security portfolio for businesses of all sizes but particularly SMEs with remote workforces. We love it for its flexibility and adaptability as it's supported by Cisco Talos - The world's leading Cyber Threat team using Artificial Intelligence. Best of all, we love its value.

For less than the price of a coffee , you can ensure one of your staff is protected against growing threats from cyber criminals. Check out our video below, as Tom Watson explains Umbrella effectively.

Then, continue scrolling down for more info and to get your Free Trial.

Remote & roaming users

Your users work from many locations and devices. They no longer need the VPN to get work done — they use cloud applications, many of which have not been vetted by IT. What if you had a fast, easy way to protect users and enforce acceptable use policies?

Risky cyber threats

Threats continue to increase in sophistication, and the costs of cybercrime continue to rise. But attackers often reuse the same infrastructure in multiple attacks — leaving cyber fingerprints. What if you could use those fingerprints to uncover attacks before they launch?

Evolving network architecture

More of your branch offices connect directly to the internet instead of backhauling traffic to headquarters. But your security stack is still at the data center. You’re left with limited or zero visibility into the threats targeting these users. What if you could protect your branch offices without adding another appliance or deploying endpoint security?

Security blind spots

Your goal is to reduce the time to detect and defend against malware. But with all your security appliances, is your network any more secure? You’re still flooded with infections. Your security team needs better intelligence, faster – and solutions that are flexible, integrated, and simple to deploy and manage.

Cisco Umbrella is the answer to your cloud security challenges.

Cisco Umbrella offers flexible cloud-delivered security when and how you need it. It combines multiple security functions into one solution, so you can enrich your incident response data and easily extend protection to devices and locations anywhere. Because Umbrella is delivered from the cloud, it is the easiest way to protect your users everywhere in minutes.

Free Trial:

The price of disaster vs the price of a Coffee

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 11:50:29 GMT

Powerful protection can be very affordable

Cisco, a worldwide leader in IT and networking, and Duo partner to bring zero-trust security solutions for joint customers. Duo and Cisco collaborate on range of use cases to bring strong user and device verification and mutual exchange of security context. The Duo-Cisco joint solution enables customers to deploy zero-trust security measures both inside and outside the corporate network.

Simplify IT highly recommend Duo as part of your security portfolio. We love it for its simplicity and power and best of all, its value. For less than the price of a coffee , you can ensure one of your staff is protected against growing threats from cyber criminals. Check out our video below, as Tom Watson explains Duo effectively.

So, now that you know how easy it is for hackers to get through your defences if you haven't got something like Duo standing in the way, or how affordable it is to protect your people and business from these attacks, can you afford not to take action?

When you're ready, let's get started by clicking the button below. You can get a Free trial and see for yourself how effective and easy it is to integrate into your infrastructure and, of course, Simplify IT will hand all the set up details for you.

Extra storage, no extra charge.

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 10:51:29 GMT

Want something for nothing?

It’s nice to get more for nothing, right?

With ONTAP, one of the brand new features in ONTAP 9.8 is advanced data compression for cold data .
What is this? Well, if data hasn’t been touched in a while, additional compression will now be applied to this data - so all of your old data will take up even less space. Up to 33% more space could be available if you have large pools of old data you’re keeping for regulatory compliance, legal compliance, or (especially if your users are like me) things that are just never deleted - and no one knows what’s actually stored.

How does it work? Well, currently compression on ONTAP uses an 8K block size to form compression groups. This data is compressed, but only within this 8KB, so squeezing it down is efficient, but you lose some savings as there might be data in the next block that could compress with this one.

The upside is that this is then easy to decompress, keeping speed up for applications. With cold compression, the system uses the object tracking which is used for FabricPool to determine which blocks haven’t been accessed recently. This is configurable up to 183 days now.

When the system finds cold blocks it will then apply a 32KB compression group to the blocks instead of 8KB, which combines original groups at a ratio of 4:1.

Because the groups are bigger, the savings across the groups are bigger.

And the cost? Well, it’s a Free of Charge , non-impacting, non-disruptive upgrade. Which is nice.

Want to know more about ONTAP 9.8 and what it can do for you? Get in touch .

Goodbye Office 2010

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:45:22 GMT

Support for Microsoft Office 2010 is ending soon

Bad news. If you're still using Microsoft Office 2010 , your apps will be vulnerable.

Good news - Simplify IT can assist your transition to Microsoft 365 , with all the support you'll need - and very competitive pricing. Get in touch and we'll get you up and running with Microsoft 365 in no time at all, with all the extra security, advice and support you're going to need to get the most out of it.

Simplify IT partners with London Grid for Learning

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 09:44:04 GMT

Proud Digital Transformation Partners

We are proud to be members of the LGfL Digital Transformation Partnership , and will be working close with LGfL to help schools harness technology, save money and keep children safe. LGfL recognise the fundamental role that third-party support organisations, like Simplify IT have in schools, and the need to work in partnership to ensure services are seamlessly and effectively integrated.

Click here for more information on London Grid for Learning and what they do.

The End of an Era: Cisco Catalyst 6500 and its impact

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 09:41:27 GMT

Before we march forward with 5G and Wi-Fi6, it’s good to pause and look back at how we got here. The Catalyst 6500 Series of campus switches, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, will soon be coming to its end of life after 1 million chassis and hundreds of millions of ports shipped. It was, for sure, a “game changer” and the backbone of enterprise networking as we know it today. We talked to Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Marketing for Enterprise Networking, who started his career at Cisco as a software engineer working on the 6500, on how it changed networking – and his own career path.

Cisco Blog: When did you start your career at Cisco?

Prashanth Shenoy: I started at Cisco as a software engineer in 2000. That was a pretty exciting period: we had just launched the product to market and were really ramping up. It didn’t feel like I had joined a big company; we were in a startup mode.

CB: What was so different about the Catalyst 6500?

PS: At that point, IPv6 and MPLS were technologies that were new to the market. We built those technologies right into the hardware and the software capabilities. We were really thinking about the 21st century, and designing the 6500 to last. There are still Catalyst 6500s running in many large campuses today. I’ve seen them running for ten years without a second of downtime. That’s unheard of.

As far as switching innovation and longevity, the Catalyst 6500 is the gold standard. Over the years, a lot of competitors tried—but none of them were ever able – to match it.

CB: How long did you work on the 6500?

PS: I spent five years on the team developing the software functionalities that propelled the switching industry forward. Several colleagues like Muninder Sambi, who now runs product management for our switching and routing products, were on that team with me, sitting in the cubicles next to me —yes we had cubicles back in 2000.

CB: What are some personal learnings from the Catalyst 6500 era?

PS: I think that the 6500 taught Cisco how to build innovative platforms for the long term. It also taught us how much IT teams value products that will serve them and their customers well for many years and that as a result they are willing to reward us with their trust. And personally, it taught me how Cisco’s reach affords me the opportunity to make important contributions to customers’ networks every day. It’s a great feeling to wake up to each morning and see the impact of what you do.

CB: Once the 6500 is retired, what takes its place?

PS: The Catalyst 9000 family builds on the legacy of the 6500 – to allow IT organizations to deploy the campus platform they will need for this digital era. All of the foundational elements that made the 6500 great – security, reliability, extensibility etc. – will be even more important in the next 20 years as they have been in the past 20 years. Having said that, networking is going through some radical changes to accelerate multicloud, IoT, and mobility initiatives, while keeping users and data protected. The Catalyst 9000 family has been designed to specifically handle what is next in networking, enabling intent-based networking (IBN) and supporting a controller-based, automated approach to managing the network lifecycle. It’s also designed to drive policy end-to-end across the entire campus and more importantly, gain intelligence from the network to drive actionable insights for business and IT. It’s our vision that the Catalyst 9000 family will be the IBN wired and wireless platform for the next 20 years.

What’s next in networking? For more information – and to find out if your network is ready for intent-based networking, check out our 2020 Global Networking Report.

Original Post Here

END OF SUPPORT: Windows 7

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 10:01:11 GMT

It's Deadline Day!

Still running windows 7?

Microsoft's Windows 7 reaches end of support on the 14th January 2020, meaning no more support and most importantly, no more security updates.

To retain your security measures and continue to update and use the newest applications, you will need to upgrade to a Windows 10 device.

How Can Simplify IT Help?

We have a range of Windows 10 Professional Laptops, Desktops and peripherals from vendors such as HP, Dell, Lenovo and more, at the best prices and readily available for next day delivery.

Visit our online store to start browsing today!

Is your password secure?

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 09:42:02 GMT

The average user has more than 20 passwords

The average user has more than 20 passwords.

Typically, we use combinations of the same passwords as we're unable to remember so many.

On a daily basis data is being stolen and passwords are an easy target that can be used to gain access to other accounts using the same or similar passwords.

You can check how secure your accounts are at: haveibeenpwned.com

If you have been using your email account for a long time, it is likely you will have a breach or two, but how can this be prevented in the future?

1. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) ensures that even if a password is breached without the second authentication device it is impossible to gain access to applications. As hard as the hacker tries the breach of a single password does not gain access to systems.

2. Using logic we can work out if a web site is a known bad site, or if it is simulating similar web site. Using Cisco Umbrella service we can use artificial intelligence to determine when the web site/domain was created, if it is listed on a blacklist and if it contained malicious content then Umbrella will make the decision to block access before any damage is caused.

Security works best when built in layers, by deploying two factor authentication, and Cisco umbrella to prevent access to dangerous sites then 95% of security breaches can be prevented with zero user training.

Want to know more? Why not join our security demo on the 16th January 2020

Register Here:

NetApp ONTAP Update 9.7

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 14:31:36 GMT

ONTAP 9.7 - Do More, With Less Time and Effort

Everyone wants to store data efficiently and securely and NetApp provide OnTap updates every 6 months. The latest ONTAP release – ONTAP 9.7 – has many enhancements we believe customers would want to make use of.

Which of these are your primary challenges?

Simplifying operations

The new management UI for ONTAP System Manager will save you time by showing key system information about capacity, hardware health, networking, and performance history with up to one year of data. Only one screen is needed for provisioning LUNs or NAS volumes. You don’t have to be a storage expert to configure and manage your ONTAP system. If you have a larger environment with multiple clusters, Active IQ Unified Manager will boost your admin productivity. Manage petabytes of data from a single dashboard and receive notifications to proactively and quickly address storage risks so they don’t become problems. New capabilities in Unified Manager provide insights on security risks and compliance.

Building your hybrid cloud

A great way to get the best value from your all-flash system is to tier cold data to the cloud, leaving more capacity available for hot data that needs ultra-low latency. Since the FabricPool feature of ONTAP was released over two years ago, it’s enabled NetApp customers to tier over 100 PB to the major public clouds – Amazon, Microsoft, Google, – as well as to on-prem private clouds built with NetApp StorageGRID systems. New in this ONTAP release is the ability to simultaneously mirror your tiered data out to multiple clouds. This gives you the flexibility to store your data at multiple cloud providers for added resiliency, and it simplifies the process for changing cloud providers (and do that nondisruptively).

Securing your data

ONTAP has a strong portfolio of security capabilities that protect you from ransomware attacks, data theft, and unauthorized system access. New with ONTAP 9.7, it is simpler to protect your data by automatically enabling data at-rest encryption for new volumes when an encryption key manager is configured on the cluster.

Delivering business continuity

For your enterprise applications that need non-stop data access, we continue to reduce the cost and deployment time for continuously available environments. You can now use your existing network infrastructure for synchronous mirroring with MetroCluster. Your switches will need to comply with NetApp specs for bandwidth, latency and option settings, since we want to be sure you’ll get the level of business continuity that you’re expecting.

Protecting your data in NVMe environments

If you’re using NVMe over Fabric to further improve the performance of your enterprise business applications – or are planning to use it soon – it’s also important to protect this critical data to the level your business requires. Now you can get zero data loss protection (RPO=0) for your NVMe environment using SnapMirror Synchronous replication

There’s more!

There’s more in ONTAP 9.7 is scheduled for release in December 2019, including enhancements for scale-out NAS environments

If you are an existing NetApp customer and would like to discuss upgrading top OnTap 9.7, then get in touch.

Not running NetApp at present? - let us show you why NetApp for on-premise and cloud is a market leading technology.

Request a Call Back

November Training Spaces Remaining

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 09:27:04 GMT

Data storage is one of the most costly IT investments for any company, ensuring you make the most of your investment is key.

The course is structured to ensure you can achieve maximum efficiency and up-time using techniques such as advanced reporting, self-healing and automation.

COURSE DETAILS:
Date: 8th - 10th July 2019
Where: National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry Road, Bickenhill, Solihull, B92 0EJ

COURSE AIMS:
Business are built on data. Keeping your storage systems running and optimised for peak performance means less time managing systems and more time focused on business. This three day course helps ensure your system administrators are fully up to date with latest NetApp best practices, giving them the ability to effectively manage and maintain your NetApp storage environment, key to avoiding unscheduled downtime.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This course is suitable for any IT professional responsible for the daily administration of NetApp storage systems running ONTAP. This would also be suitable for anyone transitioning from older versions of ONTAP. The course covers all aspects of daily administration at an in-depth level. So regardless of your skill level prior to attending the course, the content will refresh and enhance your knowledge or provide you with a solid foundation of the fundamental NetApp concepts.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN?
With the enhanced feature set including the storage efficiency tools built into NetApp ONTAP you can easily discover how investing in training now could potentially help you delay your future storage spend. Students will get hands on experience in a self-contained training environment to practice administrative commands in a safe and secure manner before executing them on your production systems. By keeping the skill set in-house this can also lower the requirement for expensive external third party consultants. The course is certificated and will result in each delegate receiving a Simplify IT NetApp Quick Start Administration certificate of attainment.

*Terms and conditions apply (please request more info from our sales team )

NVIDIA Preferred Partner

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 11:51:55 GMT

Simplify IT become NVIDIA Preferred Partner

Simplify IT are proud to announce that we are now an NVIDIA Preferred Partner. If you are looking to improve your VDI deployment or implement artificial intelligence within your business then please contact us for further information.

Windows 7 EOL

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 15:23:07 GMT

Extended Support Expiry: 14th January 2019

The 14th January 2020 will see the end of extended support for Windows 7 users, meaning no more security patches and updates. Should you be one of the Net Marketshare estimated 31.83% of users are still using the Windows 7 operating system, what are the risks?

No security updates, meaning your device and data may be comprimised
New hardware may not be supported
Software companies will end support on older operating systems

Windows 10 is the latest operating system from Microsoft and with regular updates is set to be the last operating system the company ever release.

Simplify IT can help with the purchase of new devices and the latest office 365 subscription to keep your day to day running operations up to date and secure.

Get in touch below to discuss your environment with a member of the team.

Why Choose Office 365?

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 13:49:43 GMT

5 Reasons to Choose Office 365

Things to Consider

Backup

The area most commonly missed is backup of data, Microsoft do not hold a backup of your Office 365 data. So what if you delete an email in error or there’s corruption on your one drive data? It’s gone! Microsoft provide the SaaS application but data is the responsibility of the client.

Simplify IT advise creating a robust Office 365 backup plan before migrating. Don’t panic if you haven’t backed up yet, we can help.

Our service utilises your own Azure or AWS subscription as a backup target for Office 365, meaning the restore of files to one drive, documents or emails can all be restored.

Co-Existence

Office 365 is easy to setup, it’s user friendly, however, the most common problems we resolve with client’s Office 365 environments relate to the co-existence and initial migration, areas such as DNS and Active Directory.

Simplify IT offer a service to audit your current environment, including documentation then migrate to best practice. The service also includes remote management of the transition period and sign off of project completion which includes a final audit with documentation.

This saves problems further down the line, the majority of Office 365 service calls Simplify IT receive are due to misconfiguration.

Security:

We often receive requests to advise how secure your data is on a SaaS platform such as Office 365 and the advice we offer is Microsoft provide two-factor authentication. To secure your data further, we offer multi-factor authentication tools.

Disaster Recovery:

Over the past five years there have been occasions when Office 365 was in a down state, meaning email was unavailable to users using the web version of O365. Whilst the Microsoft service is down, there is no way to send email however, there is a way to ensure your application stays up.

Simplify IT provide a number of applications which provide mailbox continuity whilst adding additional security features.

Bandwidth:

When remote offices requiring high bandwidth move to SaaS applications such as Office 365, there may be a problem, internet connectivity. Simplify IT have the answer to this problem with our 4G package designed for ROBO (Remote Office Branch Office) with low bandwidth / slow connectivity.

By applying the five considerations to your SaaS project, you will be protected by added security, backed up, have continuity and built to best practice.

Contact us below and a member of the team will happily guide you through our Office 365 offerings.

Website Features

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 11:18:33 GMT

Our latest tools and features

Over recent months, Simplify IT have launched our new website and ever since we have been continuously working to ensure it is filled with interesting and up to date content, relevant videos, useful tools and applications that will not only ease your journey through the website but also to help you in your day to day tasks.

So what's new?

Over the past week we have enabled a range of features that will speed up the way you recieve quotes and also the ability to manage some of the services you may already have with Simplify IT

Here are the latest features:

Office 365: The ability to request and accept quotes online and change the seat count instantaneously if Simplify IT already supply you with a particular office product.
Professional Services: The ability to request and accept quotes for both onsite professional service days and support tokens.
Training Courses: The ability to purchase, select dates and book Simplify IT training courses in advance.
Support Renewals: You can now request a quote for your support renewals. If you have any special requests, such as co-terming etc. then we have provided an additional comments box.

We are working on many more tools, applications and features for you to use and welcome your feedback. If you have an idea or suggestion please let us know through our Contact us page.

Cisco Tech Forum: Review

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 08:36:01 GMT

Review - Cisco Tech Forum: 11th July 2019

Being only Six weeks in at Simplify IT and holding the first event since I have joined, I have been blown away by not only the in the investment in the marketing tools and people, but also the reputation in the industry and recognition of the great work that simplify IT deliver and execute to very a high standard.

The event yesterday at Cisco’s Flagship HeadQuarters in Bedfont Lakes was no exception. I was excited to build on my knowledge of Cisco. From the moment you walk through the door you can tell this building breathes innovation, we had a look around the Customer Experience Centre before we welcomed attendees. "Cisco has been at the forefront of creating a connected world for some time".

You can really see how Cisco have an emphasis on showing its customers how new technology can help them reach their business needs and outcomes, rather than just telling them. I can’t think of better location to learn in.

Lee Rogers MD at Simplify IT welcomed everyone, introduced the guest speakers and outlined the agenda for the day. Neil Trevains started with digital transformation, SDN and Networking. Next up was Justin Woolen from Cisco discussing Change, Intent Based Networking and Value Beyond Connectivity.

We stopped for a quick lunch provided by Cisco and had a chance to network and explore the surroundings.

Andy Brocklehurst continued the afternoon sessions with Cisco Meraki with James Lee discussing and demonstrating everything around security and Cisco's new approach. Overall we have had a great day learning that Cisco is more than just networking and discovered we need to embrace a # multicloud world, reinvent the #network , unlock the power of #data while remembering #security is foundational.

Lastly, I would like to say a big thank you to all those who attended and a big thank you to Cisco and their presenters.

We welcome anyone to see for themselves, so why not come along to the next event we are running in September? Head to the Learning Centre now to see our latest events!

Sarah Armstrong

Internal Account Manager - Simplify IT Solutions Ltd

G Cloud 11 Framework

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 09:23:08 GMT

It is with great pleasure that I can announce Crown Commercial Service have granted Simplify IT the rights to provide cloud services to public sector organisations under the official G Cloud 11 framework.

I would like to thank the team for putting together such a great application allowing us to be selected.

Great work from the Simplify IT team and we look forward to working with more Public sector organisations in the future.

Lee Rogers

Managing Director

#GCloud11 #PublicSector #SimplifyIT

Ransomware, Is your NetApp Secure?

Fri, 21 Jun 2019 11:30:30 GMT

Did you know it's estimated that a company is infected with ransomware every 40 seconds?

Malware (such as WannaCry and Petya) encrypts files resulting in companies being asked for a ransom to restore. If ransomware is not detected very quickly, data can be lost.

Introducing CryptoSpike: Real-time detection of ransomware on NetApp file systems

See it in Action

Simplify IT are hosting a live webinar to showcase the abilities of CryptoSpike with NetApp storage, register below to join the live webinar.

Date: Tuesday 25th June 2019

Time: 10:00 am

Cisco Event Briefing: San José

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 11:40:58 GMT

Lee Rogers spends two days at the head office of Cisco and Meraki to learn all about the modern data centre. Here is what he had to say to the team on his return:

Cisco Tech Forum - The Evolution of Networking

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 09:21:21 GMT

Simplify IT would like to invite you to join us for our free morning event at Cisco's UK HQ (Bedfont Lakes) on Thursday 11th July 2019.

Simplify IT product bulletin: Microsoft EOSL

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 15:31:12 GMT

In July 2019 and January 2020, Windows Server and SQL Server 2008 / 2008R2 are going end of support and will expose businesses to potential risk due to the end of security updates.

If you can’t migrate in time to meet these deadlines, there are options to bridge the gap:

Re-host workloads in Microsoft Azure
Buy Extended Security Updates

Leveraging Microsoft Azure Cloud services to re-host your workloads will allow an organisation to modernise their on-premise environment at their own pace without exposing them to security risks.

Customers with Software Assurance or an Enterprise Agreement will have the ability to purchase Extended Security Updates from Microsoft for up to 3-years after the End-of-Support date.

Simplify IT have in-house expertise in migrating from old versions of Microsoft Server & SQL Server to the latest revisions, as well as:

Competitively priced Microsoft Licenses and the benefits of Software Assurance
Microsoft Azure Cloud Architects who design, build and support Azure environments
StreamONE Self Service cloud / SaaS portal with added benefits.
Competitive Pricing
Monthly billing in GBP
Free monthly usage analysis

Contact one of the team to discuss your migration plan today: sales@simplifyit.co.uk

Alternatively, click on the registration button below to register interest in Microsoft migration planning.

Event Review: Cloud Café Event (Uxbridge)

Thu, 30 May 2019 09:33:45 GMT

The Simplify IT team have enjoyed meeting with our customers this Spring; taking time to discuss and understand their Cloud journeys and challenges via bespoke Cloud briefing sessions hosted in Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Manchester, and yesterday in Uxbridge.

As the sessions continued, we couldn’t help but notice a set of recurring themes are emerging around Cloud adoption:

· Business leaders are tasking IT to implement a “Cloud First Strategy”

· Services and applications are being moved to the cloud without backup, resilience and SLA’s being fully catered for in the way they would be on-premise

· IT are finding public cloud expensive and are struggling to control usage, billing and the resulting spiralling costs

· Many developers continue to consume AWS and are charging to their personal credit cards, whilst the business is accelerating towards Microsoft Azure due to the success of Office365

These themes are the real world challenges our customers are encountering, so Simplify leveraged our close relationship with NetApp to tackle these head on.

The most satisfying success from our briefings has been the changing of customers perceptions around the value NetApp and Simplify IT can deliver. NetApp were originally recognised as a hardware/storage vendor. Across the course of each briefing our customers have shifted mindset to understand how NetApp have transitioned to a cloud software provider, integrating with the key hyper-scalers such as AWS, Azure and Google.

NetApp spoke about their ‘Data Fabric’. A marketing term, but one which refers to the consistent approach of their private and public cloud software. Their portfolio of Cloud solutions allows businesses to run and operate in the public cloud with the same look and feel as NetApp on-premise whilst benefiting from the storage efficiencies and controls traditional on-premise NetApp users enjoy today.

Our customers have subsequently learned how NetApp’s approach will control Cloud costs, simplify administration, assist DR & Business Continuity, and meet the longer-term back-up and restore needs of their SaaS applications.

We were all in agreement that a ‘Hybrid-Cloud First’ solution is the best and most flexible choice for most organisations. NetApp continues to provide world class manageability and cost per GB for your on-premise private cloud, especially when combined with Hyper-Converged Infrastructure such as FlexPod or NetApp’s HC-I. The Data Fabric approach and Cloud portfolio then allow businesses to extend into their choice of hybrid, multi-cloud hyper-scalers and SaaS as required, on an application or workload basis.

I’d like to thank NetApp for their incredible backing and support of Simplify IT and of course to our customers, both for their investments of time but also their openness in discussing their Cloud challenges and goals.

You can find out more about these solutions and gain advice on how to navigate your journey to a fully optimised Hybrid-Cloud via: Cloud.netapp.com, via the learning centre at SimplifyIT.co.uk, or by contacting us at sales@simplifyit.co.uk

Training Spaces Remaining

Wed, 29 May 2019 09:38:09 GMT

*Terms and conditions apply (please request more info from our sales team )

Last Chance: Uxbridge Cloud Café Event!

Tue, 28 May 2019 08:13:36 GMT

Have you signed up for our Cloud Café Event?

Simplify IT Cloud Cafe's are an introduction to new technologies, presented by the manufacturer's own guest speakers.

Each cloud cafe is interactive, informal and informative. Suitable for both technical and non-technical audiences, looking at methods to increase functionality in the cloud and reducing costs whilst doing so.

This cloud cafe event focuses on NetApp's own cloud plugins which are cloud provider agnostic. For the purpose of the event we have chosen the two main hyperscalers (AWS and Azure).

EVENT DETAILS

Uxbridge - 29/05/2019

NetApp HQ, Rivermead, One Oxford Rd, Uxbridge UB9 4BF

Start time: 12:30

Session 1:

NetApp SaaS backup for Microsoft Office 365

A session on NetApp's backup product, back up Office 365 on a choice of multiple cloud providers or on your own storage.

Session 2:

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for AWS and Azure

Reduce the size of your data in the cloud with a NetApp plugin, designed to efficiently manage your cloud storage

NetApp Cloud and HCI Demonstration Review

Fri, 24 May 2019 12:49:42 GMT

This week has been a great success with lots of great feedback.

Yesterday we were in Aberdeen (as pictured), the morning started with a brilliant presentation on NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, presented by Martin Humphrey @NetApp. We ran a live demo on creating the ONTAP OS on public Cloud storage (AWS), no hitches (except a fire alarm test half way through) – we didn’t have to leave the building though.

In the afternoon, Martin Richards @ NetApp gave a live demonstration on configuring HCI from vCenter and answered many questions on NetApp’s HCI platform. Thank you to Martin and Martin.

On Wednesday, we were in Manchester, thank you to Mike Andrews @NetApp who presented the entire NetApp cloud portfolio, lots of new and interesting products to keep up with, SaaS backup for Office 365 generating the most interest/questions. If you aren’t backing up O365, please do talk to us about this service.

All in all, both days were brought together by the audience, the questions asked and the support/advice Simplify IT offered in answering many of the questions.

There was a great deal of time and effort put into making this roadshow a success, thank you to all who attended, it was a pleasure to host it.

We have one more NetApp event on 29th May (at NetApp HQ in Uxbridge), there are still seats available so please do get in touch if you want to come along.

We are also running our first Cisco event in London (June 26th).

For Information on either of our approaching events or more information on any of the products we’ve showcased this week, please contact us at: info@simplifyit.co.uk or call 0345 1243 441, we would be more than happy to help.

Event Review: Cloud Café Event (Manchester)

Thu, 23 May 2019 14:02:10 GMT

Following a successful Executive Briefing Centre in Amsterdam last month, Simplify IT were asked by the attending customers if we would arrange a follow-up focus session to spend more time on NetApp’s Cloud portfolio.

We were happy to help and yesterday saw us host the first of three NetApp Cloud Café events, this time at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

Mike Andrews, Technical Solution Architect at NetApp, kindly delivered an interactive and informative afternoon with a real focus on adding value to each of the attendees differing goals and requirements. Mike is one of the most knowledgeable experts in his specialist area of NetApp’s Cloud portfolio and Hyperscaler Integration, which was evident in his presentation.

We kicked off the afternoon taking a deep dive into NetApp Cloud Volumes Service and Cloud Volumes ONTAP and how these services, although similar, have vastly different use cases which Mike demonstrated with live demonstrations.

Lee Rogers, Simplify IT’s Managing Director, talked to the group about how they can consume NetApp’s Cloud offerings through our self-service portal which is a new feature from the re-launch of our website.

The second half of the café was focused all around NetApp’s SaaS Backup . We concentrated the tool specifically to Office365 as everyone in the room was using O365, but none were backing this area of their environment up – which from our experience isn’t uncommon.

As Mike navigated through the demonstration a number of thought-provoking questions were asked to the group such as how would data loss in Office365 affect their businesses?

Everyone who attended left with a broader understanding of what NetApp has to offer in the cloud and of the value that NetApp and Simplify IT can add to their Cloud journey.

Next stop: NetApp Cloud Café – Uxbridge 29th May

Tom Robinson

Account Manager

Last Chance: Uxbridge Cloud Café Event!

Thu, 23 May 2019 12:45:35 GMT

Have you signed up for our Cloud Café Event?

Simplify IT Cloud Cafe's are an introduction to new technologies, presented by the manufacturer's own guest speakers.

This cloud cafe event focuses on NetApp's own cloud plugins which are cloud provider agnostic. For the purpose of the event we have chosen the two main hyperscalers (AWS and Azure).

EVENT DETAILS

Uxbridge - 29/05/2019

NetApp HQ, Rivermead, One Oxford Rd, Uxbridge UB9 4BF

Start time: 12:30

Session 1:

NetApp SaaS backup for Microsoft Office 365

A session on NetApp's backup product, back up Office 365 on a choice of multiple cloud providers or on your own storage.

Session 2:

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for AWS and Azure

Reduce the size of your data in the cloud with a NetApp plugin, designed to efficiently manage your cloud storage

July Training Offer (3 for 2)

Wed, 22 May 2019 15:39:24 GMT

COURSE AIMS:
Business are built on data. Keeping your storage systems running and optimised for peak performance means less time managing systems and more time focused on business. This three day course helps ensure your system administrators are fully up to date with latest NetApp best practices, giving them the ability to effectively manage and maintain your NetApp storage environment, key to avoiding unscheduled downtime.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This course is suitable for any IT professional responsible for the daily administration of NetApp storage systems running ONTAP. This would also be suitable for anyone transitioning from older versions of ONTAP. The course covers all aspects of daily administration at an in-depth level. So regardless of your skill level prior to attending the course, the content will refresh and enhance your knowledge or provide you with a solid foundation of the fundamental NetApp concepts.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN?
With the enhanced feature set including the storage efficiency tools built into NetApp ONTAP you can easily discover how investing in training now could potentially help you delay your future storage spend. Students will get hands on experience in a self-contained training environment to practice administrative commands in a safe and secure manner before executing them on your production systems. By keeping the skill set in-house this can also lower the requirement for expensive external third party consultants. The course is certificated and will result in each delegate receiving a Simplify IT NetApp Quick Start Administration certificate of attainment.

*Terms and conditions apply (please request more info from our sales team )

Last Chance: Cloud Café Event!

Tue, 21 May 2019 15:49:08 GMT

Have you signed up for our Cloud Café Event?

It's you last chance to sign up for our HCI and Cloud Event in Aberdeen.

We'll be discussing and demonstrating:

Cloud Efficiency with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP
Hybrid infrastructure with Vmware vCenter

When:
23rd May 2019

Where:
Jury's Inn, Aberdeen

You can find out more and register below:

Simplify IT Launch Rebranded Website

Mon, 20 May 2019 13:07:11 GMT

New Content, Videos, Events and More!

The new website is a better representation of the products and services offered by Simplify IT, we have added more interactive content and will continue to add tools and content that will add value to our customers.

There are already additional services that will be added in the coming weeks including an online self-service portal, allowing our customers to purchase cloud services from one place.

Many of our customers wanted the ability to purchase consumable items via our website, the team are currently working on this service and this will be live over the coming months.

The feedback we received was for more interesting content, videos, how to's, whitepapers and easy to use self-services via a portal. We listened and you got it.

Thank you to both Ewan and Jordan from our internal team for a great job on both content and design.

Thank you to our customers for their input and also to our partners who helped with the content; TechData, NetApp, Cisco and Catalogic.

Simplify IT Directors

Mon, 20 May 2019 13:07:07 GMT

Lee Rogers has been appointed as Managing Director and Dave McCarthy has been appointed as Chief Technical Officer.

Microsoft Silver Partners

Thu, 02 May 2019 16:06:51 GMT

Simplify IT are proud to announce that we are now a Microsoft Silver Partner.

This is due to our steady increase in Microsoft professional services, leading to an affordable migration onto newer versions of Microsoft Server DC.

Our affordable migration plan includes consolidating compute to reduce the “per-core” licenses required.

In addition, we have seen increased numbers of clients take advantage of our reduced Office 365 and Azure subscription costs.

Well done guys, another partner status increase in 2019, Simplify IT are soaring #rocketboy

Simplify IT Latest News

A Year Without Lee

Mountains of Memories

NCSC advises organisations to act following Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity

This is an ongoing and very serious situation. Please get in touch so we can advise you and get you the right security in place.

﻿ Everybody is potentially vulnerable, so the quicker you take action, the better.

Simplify IT Achieves Cisco Premier Integrator Status in the UK

Javageddon isn't quite over yet. Please read this.

This is an ongoing and very serious situation, and we're responding to it in realtime. So please get in touch so we can advise you and get you the right security in place. Everybody is potentially vulnerable, so the quicker you take action, the better.

5 FREE Licenses for all Meraki MT Environmental Sensors

We can set you up with Meraki technology with FREE Licensing for 5 sensors. We can also help with financing and provide a free trial to make sure you're happy first. If this sounds good, get in touch by filling in the form below or giving us a call.

Case Study: Browne Jacobson and the Fastest Update in the West

If anything you've just read interests you, please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you, even if it's just a chat...

Using vSphere 6.5 - 6.7? vSAN 6.5 - 6.7? Support is ending soon

The clock is ticking and it's time to get this sorted

There's never been a better time to invest in IT Infrastructure

The Super Deduction - Don't miss the chance

Ready to take advantage? We'd love to hear from you, even if it's just a chat...

3 Peaks, 3 Countries, 3 Noble Maniacs & 1 Great Cause

They're at it again, and this time there's a mountain to climb - or 3!

Simplify IT Wins Another Award

We're Tech Data's Meraki Partner of the Year for 2021

Passwordless Authentication - This Is The Way

Say g00dby3 t0 pa$$w0rd$ and get better security

What is Passwordless Authentication?

Why Go Passwordless?

Simplify IT recommend Duo

Rapid Software Migration Service - It's Time!

This is not the way.

Get Rapid Software Migration from Simplify IT now...

Simplify IT Partners with Cohesity To Bring You Software Defined Data Management

We bring you the most outstanding, powerfully simplified data management solution - and we're all about simplifying

The Rise of Ransomware Attacks - What Can You Do? What Should You Do?

Files That Get Dumped in the Night - A Microsoft 365 Horror Story

Case Study: Moseley School and Sixth Form

Book your FREE WiFi Consultation now!

The Cost of Recovery Just Got Easier With Cisco Easylease

If you like the sound of this, drop a few details in below and we'll set it up for you.

Uptime Funk You Up? Don't Get Caught Out By Complacency

Restart on your terms, or eventually, it’ll restart on its own

Simplify IT Partners with RingCentral to bring you the best All-in-one Business Communications Solution

How you collaborate and connect to your customers just got better, easier and more affordable

Want to get started? Get in touch...

Simplify IT are authorised RingCentral & Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best UCaaS solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

On-Prem Microsoft Exchange Server Urgent Action Required

Follow Up: If you are running On-Premise or Hybrid versions of Microsoft Exchange Server - Please read this

Security Alert - Fake Google reCAPTCHA Phishing Attack Targets Office 365 Passwords

Are you a Robot after all? Don't lower you guard to a bogus Google reCAPTCHA system

Security Alert - HAFNIUM targeting Exchange Servers with 0-day Exploits

If you are running On-Premise or Hybrid versions of Microsoft Exchange Server - You need to take action immediately

Skype for Business Online ends soon

Transit to Microsoft Teams - with some extra sauce!

Simplify IT are authorised Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best Microsoft solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

How's your IT Budget looking?

We won't just make your IT healthy, we'll make your bank balance look healthier too.

Hybrid Office - The Future of the Workplace

Is it time we rethink the workplace as we know it?

UCaaS - What is all the fuss about?

Unify all your communication methods with Simplify IT

Want to get started? Get in touch...

Simplify IT are authorised Microsoft partners, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best Microsoft solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

We've got skills. They're multiplyin'

Need skilled IT Technicians? We're the one that you want.

Simplify IT are authorised partners with numerous vendors, and as such we have the expertise and experience to deliver the best solutions for your needs, at very competitive pricing.

Stuck for time? We can send you info and details on our skills. Just give us a few details below and we'll be in touch.

Dare you risk a Day of the Deadspots?

Have a WiFi network? Are you planning one? Get an audit first

Your expert WiFi network partner

Bespoke Network Design

Guaranteed

WiFi Coverage

Optimise your Existing Network

If you're ready to get started or just want to discuss your options with no obligation - please fill in the form below.

We'd love to hear from you and we're % 100 certain we can help you .

You can get the most out of existing WiFi network or deploy a new one that is perfect for you, your building and your budget. We specialise in WiFi 6 too. Get in touch.

Make your remote workforce practices cleaner, leaner and meaner with VDI

You may need Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Here's why...

Cost

Efficiency

Enhanced

Everybody is potentially vulnerable, so the quicker you take action, the better.

Bespoke Network
Design

Optimise your
Existing Network

Fast
Deployment

Follow in the vapour trails of legends