Talk About IT #7

SPRING 2019

Accurate Data The benefits of BI dashboards Cyber Crime A threat that isn’t going away

Weekend Refresh What’s possible with 756 man-hours

Going from

STRENGTH

to

STRENGTH

SKYPE FOR BUSINESS • GDPR COMPLIANCE • MICROSOFT INSPIRE

Is your law firm ready for the digital office? “

Using electronic stationery for multiple office addresses and templates is made easy using Kappris and has reduced the amount we print and send in the post.”

Peter Kettleborough Head of IT Thompsons Solicitors

“

Kappris has made the whole process of sending digital documents with e-signatures so much easier.”

James Temple Head of IT Seddons Solicitors

Our simple to implement Kappris software allows your law firm to work in an extremely easy and flexible way, transforming your firm’s efficiency and creating a tailored working environment.

Kappris is a suite of simple software and templates that can transform the way your law firm works, whether that be digitally or with physical documents. It enables you to print securely from your work system to your home printer and it gives you one common view linking multiple hardware setups, wherever you are.

We can improve your performance and deliver genuine and significant reduction in costs.

Some of our clients:

2 | Talk About IT

Contents 04

Latest news

06

Beyond business as usual The projects undertaken by our technical consultants

08

Without accurate data all you have is opinion Understanding what data is important and how to use it

11

Making sense of unified communications Knowing your endpoint from your hosted VoIP

12

Microsoft Inspire 2018 - a big deal for 2019 How Microsoft’s visions are turning into reality

14

Staying safe in the face of increasing cyber threats Ethical hacking and staying safe online

15

QVoice calling for Arc Pest Control

16

Skype for Business compatible headsets

06

Hear more clearly and enunciate every word 17

Profile: Terry Faria

18

Forget 4G, the future is 5G

12

Read how your life will be better in 5G 19

Making GDPR compliance child’s play Make your life easier and automate the process

21

GDPR - still a bit of a blur?

Easy ways to train your people about GDPR

22

Quiss people

23

Clients in the spotlight: Peri

24

Arrivals: John Keenan

25

Anatomy of a technology refresh

19

23

Easy ways to train your people about GDPR

24

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

Quiss Technology plc.

Claymore Tame Valley Industrial Estate Tamworth, B77 5DQ

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

To discuss content or to be part of our next edition, please contact the head of marketing, David Ricketts.

QuissTechPLC Quiss Technology plc

Talk About IT | 3

A GOOD YEAR (and more to come)

We must be doing something right. In fact, we must be doing a lot right, given our recent year-end results confirmed our best ever year, as we achieved a turnover of £11.67 million - an increase of 28% on the previous year.

We celebrate winning new business, because it demonstrates we have developed an attractive, robust and flexible business proposition that ensures technology is a driver for growth for all our clients, regardless of sector.

We have strengthened our position as one of the UK’s leading providers of IT services to the legal sector, adding Grindeys Solicitors, Fishers Solicitors, Fox Williams and Attwaters Jameson Hill to our growing roster of law firm clients.

But I believe contract renewals are the true measure of our success. They prove we follow through on the promises we make in our pitches to deliver a service our clients value and our competitors cannot match.

Our experience and unrivalled knowledge of the unique challenges faced by the legal sector, also ensured a number of contract renewals with law firm clients, with Freeths, Ashtons Legal, Roythornes and JCP Solicitors all signing on the dotted line.

There is a growing appetite amongst businesses, particularly law firms, to move some or all of their activities to the Cloud.

Our ability to deliver what is best for each client, rather than what is easiest for us to deliver, ensures we will continue to attract prospects and retain existing clients.

At the time of printing we have more deals close to completion and more renewals in the pipeline, so look out for news of more businesses recognising the difference Quiss make to helping them exploit technology for efficiency and productivity gains.

Please read through this latest of our magazines and let me know if there is any specific topic you would like us to cover in a future edition.

The business has grown significantly, doubling in just five years, but we have maintained focus and shaped our offering to the changing needs of all our clients, across a range of sectors.

Quiss now supports more than 6000 users, across more than 120 clients.

Ashtons Legal renews IT support contract with Quiss Technology

Ashton’s Legal, a full-service law firm, operating from five offices spread across East Anglia has agreed a new long-term IT support contract, with managed service provider Quiss Technology.

The contract included a full technology refresh for the law firm’s 380 users, including a migration from existing thin client technology to a modern desktop environment, with the firm’s production, back-up and disaster recovery environments moving to Microsoft Azure.

All the firm’s offices were linked to the

4 | Talk About IT

Andy Michael Managing Director

Azure cloud using the ultra-fast private ExpressRoute connection, with the entire solution designed to underpin Ashton Legal’s IT strategy.

Quiss Operations Director Clive Taylor commented: “Like most businesses, we enjoy winning new clients, but it is more satisfying when a legal sector client we have supported for years agrees a new contract; it confirms we have delivered on our promises.

“We worked hard to understand Ashtons Legal’s IT strategy and advised on the best solution to help them achieve their

Talk About IT | 4

JCP Solicitors celebrates 10th year with Quiss Technology Quiss Technology, the leading multicloud and technology provider to the legal sector recently signed a new managed IT support contract with longstanding client JCP Solicitors The full-service law firm employs in excess of 200 people and serves East, South and West Wales through a network of nine regional offices, providing a wide range of traditional and niche legal services.

Clive Taylor, Operations Director at Quiss Technology said: “Like most businesses, we enjoy winning new clients. It confirms people like what we have to offer and the way it is delivered.

“But the pitch merely demonstrates our potential, whereas the renewing of a contract confirms we have delivered on our promises. So, it is immensely gratifying to report recent contract renewals by longstanding clients who recognise our value to their business.

“It’s fantastic to think we are now entering our 10th year of business with JCP Solicitors. Over the years we have supported them in many ways. We have helped them integrate six merged offices and advised on their ambitious IT roadmap, with new cloud services added

objectives, which included making it easier for lawyers to work remotely in a secure way using an always on VPN and in case of bandwidth constraints introducing a fall-back Citrix solution.”

Following months of planning and user testing, the entire refresh across the law firm’s five office took just one weekend, with Quiss deploying 23 engineers to site on a Friday evening.

With everything changed and checked by Monday morning, it was just left to the

in the shape of Azure Backup, used to protect and restore data in the Microsoft cloud.

“Our converged telephony team has also worked closely with JCP to help bring the offices closer together and reduce call costs.

“The recent renewal required all the hardware to be replaced, including the on-premise servers needed to run the firm’s case management system, which is currently unavailable as a cloud service.

Denise Warlow Business Resources Manager at JCP Solicitors commented: “Renewing for a third time with Quiss was our natural choice.

“Quiss have expertise in the legal sector, and can deliver the specialist knowledge that we require. We have grown considerably through M&A and Quiss have been there to support us along the way. Working alongside them in our 10th year, we can rest assured that they know our business inside out.

engineers that remained behind to walk the floors and answer any questions or resolve any minor issues that arose over the next two days.

After the weekend rollout of the new technology, Luke Hurst, Head of Business Systems at Ashtons Legal said: “First impressions of the new setup is really positive. I received a lot of emails yesterday from a lot of happy people and they all followed a similar theme.

“Performance is much improved and

“Having a robust and secure IT platform is pivotal to any business these days and it is a minefield – Quiss helped us understand all of the different options and what was most suited for our business now and our future growth strategy.

“Demand for working remotely has also increased, with some working unsociable hours which Quiss helped roll out and support us with.

“The rebuild for all of offices took place over one weekend. Quiss had an army of staff on each site before, during and after to ensure that our staff were clearly guided through the transition to the new system.

“Communication was also key to this project and Quiss worked with us on our staff communication strategy to ensure that every staff member knew what was going on and how the changes would affect them.

“It is clear when you meet the team that they care passionately about the service they deliver and their clients and we would without a doubt, recommend Quiss to others.”

they love the new kit. I have also received a lot of praise for all the hard work Quiss have done getting us to a better place and lots of positive comments about the Quiss team on site.”

Taylor concludes: “Quiss is one of the UK’s leading multi-cloud and technology providers to the professional services sector and our product and service portfolio reflects our deep understanding of the challenges modern law firms face.”

Read how we refreshed all the technology in just one weekend on page 24.

Talk About IT | 5

Beyond business as usual Our 23-strong team of technical consultants help our clients be more productive, collaborate with colleagues more easily, work remotely safely and communicate readily with their clients.

No two clients have the same IT environment and we encounter old operating systems, all ages of Microsoft Office, on-premise, Cloud and hybrid solutions, along with a huge range of third-party apps.

But we continually upgrade and improve these environments, with projects typically taking 12-20 weeks to implement successfully – here area few of our current projects which you might recognise as similar to the situation you find yourselves in.

6 | Talk About IT

CONNECTIVITY AND COMMUNICATION IMPROVED Yet another law firm client deciding to renew their contract with Quiss Technology and gain a competitive edge by refreshing hardware with the latest available technology.

Like many legal sector clients, swapping to HP Pro laptops from desktop PCs helps improve mobile working opportunities for the firm’s lawyers, with faster connectivity provided by the new LAN installed with Cisco switches – the new WiFi network helps those who prefer to work untethered.

Favouring a hybrid cloud solution, the firm required our technical team to replace the servers in the firm’s eight offices, whilst implementing an Azure offline backup, which introduces a new level of disaster recover resilience.

As part of a total overhaul of the firm’s communications, a new hosted telephone solution was implemented through our Qvoice team, with new lines installed into all eight offices to deliver a new WAN that improves collaboration and connectivity between colleagues, whilst cutting call costs.

SLOW CONNECTION REQUIRES ON-PREMISE SOLUTION Whilst much of the country revels in superfast broadband, some areas still struggle with slow, sometimes intermittent connectivity. The problems faced by this rural client ensured a tape back-up system is still the best answer, rather than relying on a slow connection to Azure.

This situation required a different mind-set for our technical

consultants who designed an effective on-premise solution when migrating to Hyper-V and Office365 from the existing Small Business Server system.

The LAN was refreshed with a wireless Cisco network, which made it easy for the firm’s users to connect via their new PCs and laptops which were swapped out during the refresh.

REFRESH TO MAKE IT ALL FASTER Requiring a large proportion of our technical consultant team’s resources, a large project taking 6 months to implement fully, has seen the complete refresh of a client’s infrastructure as part of a contract renewal.

Once completed, migrating the business to an HP hyperconverged infrastructure, virtualizing all the elements of their conventional hardware-defined system will also deliver a faster, more robust infrastructure.

Interestingly, to allow far greater flexibility on remote working, hundreds of the firm’s users have opted to exchange desktop PCs for solutions from the Microsoft Surface family – a mix of Pro, Laptop and Go.

Migrating this large client with hundreds of users from Exchange to Office365 certainly stretched our resources, but it was nothing our technical team couldn’t handle.

A server refresh was undertaken across the clients 10+ locations, with a complete wireless and LAN replacement requiring 5 engineers on site out of hours to ensure users suffered the absolute minimum disruption to their working day.

We are also duplicating the environment in our Tamworth hosting centre, before replicating to Azure site recovery, which ensures in the event of a disaster, the maximum amount of data lost will be less than 30 minutes’ worth – good to know in the legal sector.

More to follow...

Our team of technical consultants tend not to stray into the limelight too often, so we will continue to publicise the valuable proactive work they do behind the scenes that ensure for our clients, IT is an enabler for growth, efficiency and productivity.

If any of the issues highlighted are on your to-do list, please get in touch and we can explain how Quiss can help.

Talk About IT | 7

WITHOUT ACCURATE DATA ALL YOU HAVE IS OPINION T

he problem with data is that it is everywhere and nowhere. Whilst most businesses recognise the growing importance of ‘big data’ and its real value, knowing what data is important and how it can be used to shape future strategies is crucial.

What is needed now are analytics tools that deliver deep insights across your business that connect all the relevant data sources. Only then can raw data be transformed into useful information that can be used to create valuable dashboards and reports that can be shared easily with colleagues.

Wheat from the chaff Managing data effectively is not a unique issue for law firms, but knowing what data is important and what is needed to help the decisionmaking process is a challenge.

Getting at the data, analysing it and presenting it quickly is another challenge entirely.

Currently this can be a difficult and time-consuming task, but business intelligence (BI) dashboards offer a cost-effective solution, without the need for proprietary software.

Most of what is likely to be needed

8 | Talk About IT

is available on subscription from Microsoft and the technical expertise is available on a project-by-project basis.

If you are a current Microsoft Office 365 subscriber, you have access to Power BI as an out-of-the-box solution and it could help you unlock the power and profitability of your data. If you are not currently a subscriber, it is another reason to consider making the transition. And quickly.

Power BI can be used to connect to any relevant data source, including Case Management tools, HR systems, Finance and Payroll systems, bespoke legal sector apps and your own website data.

No special skills required Power BI has an intuitive, familiar interface, which provides personalised dashboards that present complex data in an engaging format, can be easily manipulated by anyone within your firm; feeearner, marketing team, partner or compliance officer to get the right view that you need – no specialist IT skills needed.

Importantly, (once initial configuration is setup) you can interrogate Power BI in natural language – no developer coding wizardry is required. To find the data you need, simply type a question, like: “how many visitors did we have on the Real Estate team page this month?”

Once you understand what you want to see, Power BI helps to accelerate the tasks required to transform the complex data into easy to understand graphs and dashboards, available to anyone you choose to share them with, on any device.

Within seconds you will see a current chart of the results on your dashboard, which you can pin there to save and use again to build a picture of how the website is performing.

Power BI offers real insights that can be delivered in real time in a way that makes it easy to absorb complicated information and make betterinformed decisions.

And once you build up your data streams, you can drill down into that data to see how many enquiries there were, who dealt with them, how long they took to respond, what

was the outcome, time spent, fees billed, etc.

Personalising the dashboard in this way creates a monitoring and reporting resource that everyone in your business will find increasingly valuable.

Share and inform Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is important, but understanding how every element of your business is performing in relation to them is critical to your success – you have a major problem if a client is the first to raise an issue.

Power BI allows you to create a proactive reporting structure. If any of your KPIs are out of tolerance, a notification is immediately sent to highlight the problem, to those that can resolve it.

It doesn’t just have to be a KPI, but any target, like hours against fees on a fixed fee matter, when a target is reached, predicted to breach or missed, a timely notification ensures the situation is managed, before it becomes a difficult conversation with the client or unrecovered fees.

Dashboards empower every member of staff, irrespective of their role at the firm, allowing them to view and manage their own performance in real-time. This helps drive a positive culture of accountability and performance, resulting in increased billable hours, quicker billing and more effective collections.

IT and finance teams will have the ability to do ad-hoc analysis, ensuring fast and accurate responses to questions being asked by partners – results based on data, not opinion. Role-based dashboards provide targeted information for management, partners, fee-earners, etc.

It’s not all about you Power BI driven dashboards will significantly improve the way law firms handle client matters, enabling existing matters to be found more easily, with role-based dashboards ensuring partners are informed of actual performance against forecast outcome.

Matters that are overrunning or forecast to overrun can be easily identified, allowing time to resolve, to protect the firm’s profitability. The

dashboards will also help identify top performing matters by revenue and time, whilst showing matters in context of overall firm, department and team profitability targets.

The emphasis is now all about the client experience and ensuring longevity of the relationship.

Dashboards offer the ability to quickly create accurate matter plans and proposals that improve the service provided to clients, which will help retain existing business and win more new clients.

Forward with confidence Dashboards are scalable, and the solution can be extended to include data from many separate systems, including external third-party systems like Oracle, Dynamics, Facebook, Salesforce, Twitter, Sage, etc.

Making relevant, current and important data available readily to the people that need it, ensures they have the insight and confidence to make the right decisions more quickly.

They can plan ahead, allow for busy periods and divert resources

Talk About IT | 9

as appropriate to help improve the service the firm offers, increase utilisation and grow the business.

Recent months have seen big changes in how firms operate in relation to personal data, thanks in a large part to GDPR. Building dashboards that reflect how that data is stored, use and shared, allows firms to quickly assess their ongoing compliance and address any issues highlighted.

Getting the balance right The benefits to the efficiency and profitability of any law firm are clear, but there remains one tricky obstacle to the successful implementation of a data-driven approach to the provision of legal services; who does the driving?

Typically, those who understand the potential within interrogating large volumes of data do not understand the problems that need to be solved, or the questions that need to be asked.

And those working with the problems, know the questions they want to ask, but do not fully understand just what benefits a data-driven approach can deliver.

Big data is not an IT project.

Similarly, it is not a subject to be approached without technical help or ignored for lack of support. Striking the right balance between a business and technology partnership is critical to the successful adoption of a datadriven approach in the future.

Law firms have to ensure the people who understand the data and the people who understand the problems

10 | Talk About IT

the firm is trying to overcome or the objectives trying to be achieved are in the same room and share the responsibility of delivery – whether that’s in-house or external resources.

The sponsorship for big data starts at the top and trickles down.

Senior management must buy-in or lose clients and opportunities to leaner, more agile firms that have recognised the true potential of all the data they can consume; within their business and without.

Potential at your fingertips Successful implementation of a data-driven approach will deliver new and exciting legal insights.

Even small law firms will possess significant quantities of data, which can be accessed and analysed from past cases and legislation to transactions and client contracts - to say nothing of email conversations and phone records.

This ability to review previous performance on matters and have important data visualised, like actual hours spent against predicted, or fees charged against cost, can all help inform better, more accurate decisions on future matters of a similar nature.

And Power BI allows this data to be retrieved and reviewed quickly, so firms can respond not only with more accurate pricing, but do so more quickly in full confidence the data on which the response is based is entirely accurate.

But remember, if a data-driven approach to the future of your law firm is a new concept, then it is important to not try running, before

walking has been mastered.

It is critical to a successful implementation of a data analytics strategy to focus on developing it first in specific areas of your business that directly impact revenues. This will deliver quick, high-profile wins that demonstrate potential future success and ensure buy-in from across the firm.

Squaring the Circyl The only limit to the data solutions driven by Power BI for every part of a law firm is the imagination of those involved in operating and managing it.

Power BI and the dashboards it can create offer an opportunity to get under the skin of your own business like never before and allow management teams to make decisions based on accurate information, not opinion.

Now is the time to leverage the source of a readily available advantage over your competitors: the data you have on your clients and all your historical activity to this point.

Improving your service, reflecting the changing needs of your clients before they know or ask and providing more value in your relationships will ensure your firm thrives – and help is at hand.

If you would like to understand how your businesses can become more productive through the use of tools such as Power BI, then please get in touch on 03333 209969 or email us on enquiries@circyl.co.uk

Making sense of

In the last edition we looked at the abbreviations and acronyms that surround the unified communications industry, but only got as far as C. So here, in the next instalment we aim to make your life a little easier with a brief explanation of some of the more common (and some obscure) terms we use every day as we recommend, specify and install VoIP or hybrid communications solutions.

E

is for…

Endpoint – is a communication network node, like an IP telephone, a softphone, or an analogue phone adapter device.

Ethernet – this is a common method of networking computers in a Local Area Network (LAN). There is more than one type of Ethernet, which was originally developed by Xerox in the 1970s.

F

D

is for…

Denial of Service (DoS) – is an attack method favoured by hackers and cyber-criminals to try and make a network unavailable for use, often as a pre-cursor to an extortion attempt.

Digitally Enhanced Cordless Technology (DECT) – this is the digital cordless telephony standard available in the UK. Cordless handsets can be fully integrated with business phone systems, including VoIP systems, to deliver wireless communications that let users make, take and transfer calls securely while moving around the premises.

Direct Inward Dial (DID) - used for call routing, this feature allows individual phone numbers (DDI Numbers) to be assigned to extensions and departments, so external callers can contact a user directly with their unique phone number, rather than go through the operator.

Direct Station Select (DSS) – once programmed, it’s a button or softkey on a terminal that can be used to directly dial a person or specific extension.

Disaster Recovery (DR) – term covers a set of policies and procedures to aid restoration or continuation of critical technology systems following a natural or man-made disaster that has impacted services.

Domain Name Server (DNS) – the Internet’s equivalent of a phonebook, they maintain a directory of domain names and translate them into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

Dual-Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) - is the basis for the operation of pushbutton telephone sets, when pressing keys on the keypad transmits tones rather than electronic pulses.

is for…

Find Me. Follow Me. – is used as a call-forwarding feature, typically used in IP telephony. Find me; forwards calls in sequence or simultaneously to a list of programmed numbers.

Follow me; forwards calls to programmed numbers according to a schedule. This technology improves employee productivity and customer service quality by helping each call reach the right person, regardless of where they are.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) – this is a standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

Firewall – everyone has heard of it and should understand that it typically sits between your business internal network and the outside world of the Internet. It is designed and updated regularly to prevent unauthorized access to your internal network, including your communications system. It can also include rules on what, when and how users can access sites on the internet.

Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) – designed to optimize transmission of all data, voice and video communications between end users, regardless of the device they are using or where they are using it, transitioning seamlessly between fixed and mobile voice and data networks.

H

is for…

High-Definition Video (HD video) – as the name suggests, video of a higher resolution than the typical 480 lines of resolution used in older video conferencing solutions. HD video offers a greater level of engagement and improves the user’s experience.

Hosted VoIP – when the hardware and private branch exchange (PBX) are hosted at a location separate from where the VoIP telephone service is being used. It provides robust communications, additional cost certainty and will future-proof a business against technological advancement, without buying expensive new in-house phone equipment.

Hybrid Cloud – growing in popularity, a hybrid Cloud solution comprises a mix of some or all of on-premise, private and public Cloud services, which can include different service providers.

There are probably a few we have missed off, typically because they are a bit too obscure even for this round-up and it’s likely you will never need to know what an Echo Path Delay (EPD) is.

If you want to know more before we finish the alphabet next time, please get in touch and we’ll offer our insight into the best unified communications solution (UC) for your organisation.

Frame Relay – is a cost-effective way to transfer data for irregular traffic between LAN and end-points in WAN. Less expensive than private leased lines, the carrier shares the frame relay bandwidth among many customers, which can impact quality and requires careful planning of the solution.

Talk About IT | 11

Microsoft Inspire 2018...

The annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) took place in Las Vegas and although there was the usual view of the future, it was with a slightly different perspective in the world’s gambling capital, with a great deal on offer.

Microsoft not only staged the event for its global partners like Quiss Technology, but also included a parallel event Microsoft Ready, for a large number of its staff. This ensured the total number of technophiles descending on Las Vegas was around 40,000 – a big event by anyone’s standards.

The event is always a great opportunity to network with like-minded partners and to engage with Microsoft personnel, but this year was exceptional for the ability to interact with the Microsoft team responsible for the UK channel.

Fast start on Sunday Last year was our first conference as a 1-Tier Cloud Solution Provider, so we knew what to expect, but we were off to quick start with our first session taking place in the slot traditionally reserved for welcome drinks and orientation - it showed just how much Microsoft had to get through.

As the sessions started

12 | Talk About IT

our team split up to cover as many as possible, with notes to be compared at dinner each evening, when everyone could talk the others through the highlights; of which there were many.

New words and open minds The first session of note, highlighted the benefits of the Azure Storage ecosystem and the real-world opportunities for us to grow our business by solidifying our position as a trusted advisor to our clients and prospects alike.

When explaining the expected growth in data will hit 44ZB in 2020, we all learned a new word – Zettabyte. For the mathematicians amongst you that’s 1021 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes, which is about a trillion Gigabytes and emphasises the need for new data storage solutions.

This period of growth will also witness data breaches, pressure on IT budgets, the rise of Big Data Analytics and the demand from the Internet of Things (IoT) driving spikes in storage demand.

The solution is simple and readily available, with Azure offering globally available storage, data encryption at rest, file level security and storage account security, with multiple storage tiers at different price points - our job is to help get this message out to our clients. Simple.

Inspiring one session at a time One session was aimed at helping us perfect our sales pitch. We can only apologise in advance as the sales team are now keen to explain how Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365 combine to

deliver a modern desktop environment that empowers end users to be their most productive – expect a call.

A session held in the impressive 40,000 capacity T-Mobile arena, highlighted that Microsoft is helping solve real-world issues with HoloLens and mixed-reality solutions to the fore in the healthcare, education and manufacturing sectors – high-tech is the now, not the future.

When notes were compared, it was obvious that Microsoft was determined to help us all get the most from our time in Las Vegas, with sessions covering everything from technology and business solutions to digital transformation and cloud app development – something for everyone.

Change is coming again A large part of Inspire 2018 was given over to explaining how Microsoft is simplifying the relationship we have them as a partner and managed service provider.

Previously we had to contend with explaining a variety of Microsoft accreditations, but following a number of meetings in Las Vegas, we now better understand our place in the Microsoft

a big deal for 2019 partner ecosystem. Dull perhaps but of significance for our customers who will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

of Things (IoT) and the Intelligent Edge in particular- not just on the stages, but from all the attendees.

than the fixtures and fittings, represents a significant business opportunity over the next three years.

Last year Microsoft launched One Commercial Partner (OCP) and this year at Inspire we learned more about it and what the future holds.

This followed recent presentations on the subject and a keynote address at Inspire 2018 from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who believes that Intelligent Edge will be the next evolution in computing. And when he talks, everyone pays attention.

In recent months this focus on Microsoft 365 has created a lot of headlines. It is central to Microsoft’s Modern Desktop initiative, which includes Windows 10, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) – what else do you need?

This new simplified approach harnesses partner expertise and knowledge – technical, marketing, business development, and programmes to help increase cloud growth, with a focus on driving digital transformation to help empower every person and every organisation to achieve more.

The intelligent edge is typically defined as computing processes performed at the site of data generation in remote network nodes.

Working together for results As a Microsoft partner, we can now collaborate more closely with the relevant individuals and teams across their business who can make a real difference to our customers.

We have easier access to Microsoft’s team of partner development professionals, ready to support us and our clients with technical and specialist resources. Microsoft itself has become far more collaborative and is keen to foster much closer relationships with partners like Quiss Technology.

Being closer and better integrated with Microsoft ensures our clients realise more effective, efficient solutions more quickly and more cost-effectively – which has to be good.

Closer to the edge There was also lot of noise in Las Vegas about the Internet

We expect even more interest in Microsoft 365 from clients and prospects due to the upgrade cycle that will remove support for Windows 7 and Office 2010 - January 14 2020 and October 13 2020 respectively. Which in refresh terms for enterprise and larger users is surprisingly close.

Network and keep smiling

This allows the data from the myriad connected IoT devices, to be collected, analysed and processed often without connection to cloud data centres to help relieve growing network congestion.

But we will look at this emerging technology and why we are all excited about it in our next edition.

Countdown to the end We also heard Ron Markezich, head of Microsoft 365, explain how the refresh of the modern workplace, by which we can assume he means the technological environment rather

Whether it was the distance (5116 miles), the heat (it touched 44oC) or the information we had to take on board (too much), it was an exhausting few days. But as a Microsoft partner it was important for us to be there and hear first-hand what they are planning.

As good as we are, it takes time to digest all that information and develop our strategy to ensure we deliver the services and consultancy that makes a real difference to the future of our clients’ businesses.

And we like to think, our commitment gives them a competitive edge of increased efficiency, better productivity and ultimately profitability, over their rivals not supported by Quiss Technology.

Talk About IT | 13

STAYING SAFE THE FACE OF INCREASING THREATS For many organisations and law firms in particular, the news of concerted cyberattacks undertaken by Russia’s GRU intelligence agency should act as a timely reminder of the constant dangers present in a hyper-connected digital economy.

Widely reported by western security services, GRU operatives were caught red-handed attempting to hack the W-Fi network at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in the Hague.

TOPICAL CONFERENCE TO FOCUS MINDS We work hard to maintain the integrity and security of the networks, systems and infrastructure we manage for our clients, but our efforts can all be undone by one careless click by one of their employees.

At this important event for SME law firms, we were not just exhibiting, but presenting a seminar with one of our partners Think Marble, entitled ‘Cyber and information security - how to survive in the age of cyber threats’.

Presented by the firm’s Chief Technical Officer, the focus of this intense 20 minutes was to highlight that firms must approach cyber-security from the perspective of when they will be hacked not if they are hacked.

14 | Talk About IT

The information obtained, detailed the email address along with the password (most of which was obscured for security reasons), all of which was presented in a brown envelope to those calling into the Quiss Technology stand in the exhibition.

Compromised email addresses could grant nonethical hackers the access they need to wreak havoc within law firms’ systems, stealing money or holding data to ransom.

The threat level has never been higher and there is more everyone can do to mitigate the risk of an attack. This was the message we took with us to the Legal Practice Management conference in Manchester earlier this year.

By 2021, global ransomware damage costs predicted to reach

To demonstrate just what dangers are lurking in cyber-space, prior to the event, Think Marble’s ethical hackers had worked their way through the list of law firms visiting the show and gathered all the email addresses compromised by hacks on LinkedIn and Adobe.

Highlighting the relevant and current threat certainly changed the mood in the room and ensured full attention was given to an explanation of how firms can move to an active defence model.

FIND VULNERABILITIES BEFORE CRIMINALS DO Even the best, most secure, well managed systems can be exposed to risk by misuse or problems from within; some deliberate, some compromised through negligence or even stupidity.

of CYBER ATTACKS begin

with spear phishing email

By 2021, businesses will suffer a ransomware attack every

IN

Qvoice Calling

CYBER

Ark Pest Control Sustained growth in recent years required ARK Environmental Services to improve its phone system at its Kent headquarters and Qvoice were the natural choice to deliver a unified communications solution.

Ark Environmental Services offer a range of services to businesses, from complete pest control to contract cleaning and washroom services to rubbish removal, with a team of fully trained service technicians available 24 hours a day.

Education is still a big factor in reducing risk and Cyber Essentials is the first step for many organisations and already we are helping clients introduce and implement this important first step.

Partnering with Think Marble, we offer a range of services designed to discover vulnerabilities, including penetration testing which assesses not only the security of systems, but the people using them, who might fall victim to phishing attacks.

With so much noise in the media about cyber-security, there is always the risk that organisations become blind to the changing threat landscape and fail to stay current, which is where the criminals can win.

The results of the ethical hacking exercise were shocking for some firms and immediately after the conference we discussed vulnerability scanning solutions with a number of firms, some of whom are now clients.

If you didn’t catch the conference, but would like a detailed conversation about increasing your firm’s protection against the most common types of cyber-crime, please get in touch today before hackers find the vulnerabilities you were unaware of.

Total cyber crime will cost the world in excess of

Terry Faria, Telecommunications Manager for Qvoice recommended a hosted solution through partner Exponential-e, which would offer the flexibility and scalability needed to match the firm’s ambitious growth plans.

Scott Mills, Director of ARK Environmental Services commented: “We receive a lot of critical call-outs and it’s important these are connected with the right operatives, regardless of where they are, or when the call comes in.

“This new hosted solution, with soft phones for PCs and an app that extends our desk phones to mobiles, voicemail to email etc., ensures any one of our 40-strong team can be reached, quickly and easily.

“We are able to log all calls and interrogate the date to ensure communications sit the heart of our business and improve still further our already impressive customer service.

“Qvoice and Terry in particular, handled every aspect of the project, including the installation of new fibre broadband for the more stable internet connection we need for the VoIP system and it all went well, with no interruption to service. A first-rate job, that exceeded our expectations.”

Talk About IT | 15

SKYPE FOR BUSINESS

compatible headsets A

lthough there have never been more ways to communicate with each other, voice remains crucial for most businesses, especially when combined with the ability to see the individual speaking, as it is with Skype for Business.

But when using the app in a busy, noisy office for important work calls, rather than personal calls in the quiet of the home, how do you ensure good audio quality?

A headset is the obvious answer, increasing flexibility and mobility, whilst making it easier for individuals to communicate in any location. But how do select the best headset for your needs?

Connection considerations The first consideration is whether the headset will work integrate with the soft line or desk phone being used. Brands like Sennheiser offer professional headsets that are all certified compatible with Skype for Business, but the issue is not just about technical compatibility.

Functional compatibility will also be important and whether calls can be answered, muted or put on hold, or if the volume can be changed, all via the headset?

The connection used should also be considered, with an increasing number of high-quality headsets utilising USB connectors, which

16 | Talk About IT

offer greater flexibility to use the headset with both desktop endpoints and soft phone apps – better for mobile workers.

Sounds good to me Audio quality is perhaps the next most important consideration, given that most users will be operating in busy open-plan office environments of varying sizes and background noise profiles.

It’s important that not too much of this background noise comes through on the microphone or the earphones, which can affect the sound quality on both sides of the call. It’s critical the microphone is just as good as the speakers, using noise-cancelling technology where possible.

Comfort is key Linked to the comfort of hearing the speaker clearly, is the comfort of wearing the headset, for what may be a prolonged period and is another important aspect of keeping users happy.

For example, Sennheiser headsets use ActiveGard® technology to protect users against the potential acoustic injury that can be caused by a sudden high-volume burst of sound on the line.

This ability to keep call sound

volume at a safe and comfortable level, whilst providing users with safer and stress-free working when they wear a headset, is another valuable feature organisations should consider when specifying them.

Choosing between single or doublesided headphones will depend on users’ preferences. Typically, single-sided generally prove popular in environments where hearing colleagues remains important and double-sided tend to be favoured for longer calls, requiring a better focus from the user.

As the use of Skype for Business increases, more attention will need to be paid to how life is made more comfortable for users, if businesses are to get the most from their investment in the app.

Profile: Terry Faria Telecommunications Manager Now with more than 32 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector, Terry joined Quiss in 2012 to develop our Qvoice division and ensure our clients could benefit from all that ‘unified communications’ (UC) has to offer.

Terry’s career started in South America, before he returned to the UK, recognising the opportunity presented by privatisation of the telecoms sector in November 1984. He cut his teeth selling fax machines, which were becoming increasingly popular despite the £4500 price tag.

Terry’s penchant for technical detail ensured a lot of his career was spent on training courses more typically reserved for engineers, not sales professionals – which is why he is able to argue over technical details and decipher engineer speak, when lesser salesmen would give in.

Big name brands, like Thomas Cook and News International feature in Terry’s past, which has given him the skills to manage our partnerships with leading telephony manufacturers like Avaya & Mitel together with service providers like Exponential-e, Virgin, TalkTalk, BT, Vodafone, O2, and Claranet.

In his spare time, Terry enjoys clay-pigeon shooting and fishing, although on occasion he can be found on his local golf course, trudging from rough to bunker.

Talk About IT | 17

The UK auction for use of the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz spectrum began in March and ended a few weeks later, with the four UK mobile network operators (MNO) paying around £1.4 billion in total.

The Government was selling 40 MHz of the 2.3 GHz band, which will be used for existing 4G and 150 MHz of the 3.4 GHz band, which is earmarked for new 5G services.

The final figure paid is a welcome windfall for HM Treasury, being will above last year’s estimates of £600 million to £1 billion, with many regarding the auction as effectively being a one-off tax on mobile phone users in the UK. The problem with the high prices paid is that it leaves the operators with less money to invest in their networks, all of which still attract criticism from users, regardless of the brand.

There is little doubt that we are using ever more mobile data and the new airwaves will make it quicker and easier to use smartphones and mobile devices to get online. This auction was the first step on the journey to 5G mobile, which will also herald a rise in smart, connected devices.

What is the 5G advantage?

18 | Talk About IT

We know some of you struggle to get a reliable 4G service, but in short, 5G is the next big step in mobile connectivity. That’s the good news; the bad news is that you will undoubtedly need a new handset to connect to 5G networks.

The big selling point will be speed.

The technical bods are talking of theoretical speeds approaching 1Gbps, with latency cut from 45ms on 4G to an imperceptible 1ms on 5G. However individual handset manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei are claiming much higher speeds, over 3Gbps.

Of course, as we all know there is a big difference between the theoretical and real-world speeds as anyone who has tried to watch sports live on their mobile device will confirm - there are other limiting factors like signal strength, network load etc.

There is also the potential for 5G to render Wi-Fi obsolete in public places, with the network strong enough to facilitate all the mobile internet browsing needed, from Sky Sports to Instagram.

It’s not all about speed though, with latency a big issue for online gamers frustrated by the slight delay between their actions and the game server reacting – 5G will be their salvation.

We may still be years away from 5G mobiles, but thanks to last December’s ‘Release 15’ agreement on the first global 5G standard by 3GPP, there is hope that 5G compatible smartphones could be on sale in the UK in 2019, with networks to follow.

But excitement surrounding the 5G rollout, earmarked for 2020, appears to be more about the ‘internet of things’, with some commentators expecting driverless cars to exploit the low latency to improve real-time interactivity and reduce accidents.

According to industry insiders, the MNOs in the UK are already making infrastructure changes in preparation for the rollout of 5G networks. But what does it all mean?

It looks like 5G will be a big leap forward for mobile users, but in the meantime, if you need any advice or improvements for your existing unified communications solution, please get in touch, via our landline 0333 222 4334.

MAKI NG

C H IL D ’S P L AY

L

eading up to the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there was a lot of apprehension amongst organisations within the UK about what might happen when the new regulations arrived.

Once the May 25 deadline passed organisations were braced for the impending regulatory wrath, with many expecting the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to come knocking at the door and impose significant fines for non-compliance.

In reality, little happened and as days turned into weeks, organisations soon realised their biggest challenge wasn’t preparing for GDPR’s initial introduction but ensuring ongoing compliance and the need to meet requests from data subjects.

Providing people with greater control over their personal data, individuals were given the power to issue a Subject Access Request (SAR) under GDPR, giving companies 30 days to show a record of all the personal information they hold on that person.

Issued either verbally or in writing, an SAR forces an organisation to provide a copy of all the data they hold that relates to the individual, all without a fee or charge.

The most important requirement and one that will cause the biggest headache, is time – with only a month to provide

a comprehensive record of all relevant data.

can see their requests are being taken seriously.

Searching, managing and extracting relevant information, in potentially large amounts, is likely to cause delays if appropriate processes are not already in place. Failure to comply within the time limits could result in action and even a fine from the ICO.

It is clear that for many organisations, with large amounts of data, the various requests could be difficult to comply with and will undoubtedly require a lot of time to be expended.

It’s always best practice to record when an SAR was officially made and if issued verbally, recording important details from the conversation. Providing information in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language, will be important for compliance Under the new regulations, individuals can also request to have their personal information deleted from an organisation’s records. It is the responsibility of the organisation to meet these demands and be able to prove it has complied with any such requests.

Otherwise known as the ‘Right to Erasure’ or ‘Right to be Forgotten’, these must also be carried out within 30 days of the initial request, which again can be issued either written or verbally.

Make compliance easy For businesses handling personal data on a regular basis, it is vital that clear and transparent processes are in place to deal with incoming requests, so subjects

Help is at hand for organisations of all sizes thanks to the development of purpose-built software responsible for managing personal data, able to find, display and extract relevant information upon demand.

One of the most efficient examples of data handling software to be introduced since the arrival of GDPR is the Sensitive Data Discovery solution from Circyl – a low cost compliance tool that helps organisations discover sensitive and personal identifiable information within data held by an organisation, producing intelligent reports and actioning data where necessary.

The software connects with File Shares, SharePoint, Office 365, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, emails and databases, using its built in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify personal data using key word accuracy and pattern matching.

Tailored comprehensive reporting The software can provide interactive reports that allow organisations to make better informed decisions, while

Talk About IT | 19

delivering a fully automated process for responding to ‘Right to Erasure’ and ‘Subject Access Requests’.

Targeting or deleting documents containing sensitive information, the software allows organisations to handle data appropriately, ensuring they maintain GDPR compliance and keep track of the information they still hold.

Thorough searches of structured and unstructured documents can be carried out using the software’s sophisticated discovery tool, which can be personalised using ‘rules’ to filter out unrelated data or files.

The software will connect to File Shares, SharePoint, Office 365, OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox, emails and databases, understanding all versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and even scanned documents or images.

After highlighting the relevant information, you can analyse and provide the results, before giving users the option to action data to ensure compliance with requests received.

Power BI can be utilised if required to gain more valuable insight into the data.

The software compiles data into a comprehensive report that can be sent to the individual who made the initial enquiry. Sensitive words or phrases

iManage integration for law firms The increasing popularity of iManage software amongst law firms looking to work more productively, smarter and safer has ensured integrating a simple GDPR solution with this leading platform was a priority.

Ensuring law firms can automate the process and quickly respond to ‘Right to be Forgotten and Subject Access Requests’, we are currently finalising the launch of an iManage connector, the first such integrated solution.

Given our experience of the challenges faced by the legal sector, we are uniquely placed to advise law firms handling large amounts of sensitive data on implementing this simple solution to aid ongoing GDPR compliance.

Please get in touch and we’ll help you tick one more thing off your GDPR compliance list.

can be scored based on the level of exposure, with duplicate, obsolete, redundant or trivial documents easily removed.

A full audit trail is created, showing the date of the initial enquiry, along with the confirmation and response dates, providing organisations with a seamless service that can help them remain GDPR compliant, while processing important data requests efficiently.

Automation make sense The demands of modern business mean many lean organisations do not have spare capacity to handle requests and it’s crucial that already stretched resources are not overwhelmed by activities that can be easily automated.

With the potential financial and reputational damage of failing to comply with GDPR, investing in sophisticated data-handling software from Circyl to protect an organisation will undoubtedly

find favour with those tasked with ensuring ongoing compliance.

For months the thought of GDPR has caused fear, but in reality, the adjustments to data protection laws are relatively straightforward and easy to handle – so why make it difficult?

Organisations do not even have to worry about how to setup the software or get it running effectively, as our experienced team will make all the necessary adjustments to tailor it to their unique needs.

Circyl has the knowledge and expertise to help businesses understand their new data-handling investment, allowing them to feel comfortable with the software and at ease with ongoing GDPR compliance.

And remember, thanks to the Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR is now incorporated into English legislation. It is here to stay and the only impact after Brexit, when the UK becomes an ex-EEA country, will see transfers of personal data to the UK subject to the rules on international transfers.

If you need to cross this aspect of GDPR compliance off your to-do list, please get in touch and we’ll explain how the Circyl solution can ease the pressure.

20 | Talk About IT

STILL A BIT OF A BLUR?

GDPR Overview (2hrs max via online live training)

Don’t turn over, please keep reading. GDPR are four letters guaranteed to induce a groan from almost any business manager, yet they are of increasing importance as the dust settles following May’s introduction of the new legislation.

Basic overview of the GDPR legislation, designed for all employees with Q&A session to address any specific issues relevant to the organisation.

At almost any point in a conversation about emails, client communications, marketing or personal data in general, the narrative will inevitably turn to GDPR and whether what is being discussed will comply with the new regulations.

GDPR Awareness

There is a willingness to comply to avoid the potential fines and reputational damage that might follow a serious data breach, but for many organisations, educating employees remains key to transparent ongoing compliance.

A more detailed overview of the GDPR legislation, designed for employees who may come into contact with personal data. Includes Q&A session.

It is not just those with data responsibilities that need to understand the new regulations. To achieve and maintain compliance, everyone within an organisation, at every level, should be aware of what is required, what can go wrong and what to do about it.

GDPR Foundation

Train to gain Quiss Technology supported many clients’ efforts to comply in the run-up to May’s deadline and we continue to help their compliance with a series of training exercises, developed from our practical experience.

Training is major aspect of our service offering. And helping your people understand more about GDPR and its implications is a natural progression in ensuring your organisation is prepared not just to get the most from Microsoft Office365, but maintaini8ng compliance with GDPR. Our training courses range from a simple overview of GDPR to a more intense and detailed examination of what is required.

The more basic course is recommended for everyone in your organisation and the more detailed for those with specific roles related to data management.

What next?

GDPR compliance won’t wait, so we have courses running all the time. Please get in touch to discuss your needs in detail and show the authorities you take GDPR seriously.

(0.5 day via online live training or site)

(2 Days onsite including exam) Detailed GDPR training aimed at those dealing with larger quantities of personal data, such as a Junior Data Protection Officers, Risk or Compliance Managers.

Examples of the subjects include; lawful basis for processing, breach reporting and data flow mapping. Exam included.

GDPR Practitioner (3 Days onsite including exam) Detailed GDPR training aimed at those dealing with more complex aspects of handling personal data, such as a Data Protection Officers.

Examples of the subjects include; international data transfers, children’s data and how PECR sits alongside GDPR. This course is very hands on and includes an exam.

Talk About IT | 21

Arrivals:

JOHN KEENAN My name is John Keenan and I’m Head of Technical Services here at Quiss Technology, having joined this ambitious growing business in 2018.

My career in technology is varied but began when I joined the British Army and trained as an Electronics Engineer.

It’s here I learned my problem-solving skills and discovered what real pressure is, when lives really do depend on getting the job right.

During my career, I feel I have demonstrated a successful record of managing large, diverse technical teams to ensure we delivered enterprise scale projects to deadline and always within agreed budgets.

In my most recent technical roles I have developed more experience and a greater understanding of a managed IT service and application hosting, with a focus on Microsoft datacentre technology stacks.

Ultimately, the responsibility for the design, implementation, project delivery and support of infrastructure platforms resides with me and the team I manage, always trying to deliver what is right for each client, not just the easiest solution.

Undoubtedly my military background helps with my ability to make quick and informed decisions, which really helps me lead the team and create a responsive, agile environment in which they can flourish, delivering clientfocussed outcomes.

24 24 || Talk TalkAbout AboutIT IT

It is essential I communicate effectively, influence, inspire and develop the team I manage, especially as the team is growing. We are focussed on ensuring we not only employ those with the right skills and attitude, but that our existing teams continue to add new skills to their repertoire.

Here at Quiss Technology I have found a supportive environment that encourages everyone to progress their life goals, which inspires me to also support members of our large support team to climb the career ladder to become network, systems or applications engineers.

In and out of work I’m considered something of a techy and enjoy introducing new technologies to help organisations become more effective and more efficient, including Quiss Technology – innovation for effect however, not just for the sake of it.

Although born in Scotland, I have been in the Midlands so long, I now regard it as home; the local dialect is still troubling, but I’m learning every day.

My big passion out of the office, apart from the obvious time with family and friends, is refurbishing and improving my home.

ANATOMY OF A

TECHNOLOGY REFRESH Planning calms the nerves Included in all our Qworks comprehensive managed IT services contracts is a technology refresh after four years. Although contracts are typically much longer, our experience determines that this is the optimum time to change all the equipment and exploit newer technologies.

This is a daunting process for any client. But our law firm clients are

always particularly anxious, given the huge volume of confidential data they hold and the time-sensitive nature of their daily activities, which would suffer with even the shortest interruption of business as usual.

Perhaps not unsurprisingly, detailed planning well in advance of the physical refresh helps ensure a smooth transition and a more relaxed client.

When the project requires all

computers to be loaded with a new operating system in advance, or a switch from thin to fat client (or vice-versa), it’s no wonder we spend months preparing. A refresh is not just about sending new laptops and hoping they work new out of the box.

A project of this scale involves not just the client’s systems and infrastructure, but to mitigate risk and manage every detail, from procuring new equipment to booking hotel rooms for all our technicians.

Talk Talk About About IT IT || 25 25

A refreshing change for Ashtons Legal Ashton’s Legal is a full-service law firm, with more than 380 committed professionals operating from five offices spread across East Anglia; Norwich, Ipswich, Thetford, Bury St. Edmunds and Cambridge.

The refresh is designed to support the firm’s IT strategy, proving a good time to adopt a new approach, like replicating servers to Azure, or switching from thin-client to fat-client machines, which allows users to be more self-sufficient.

The planning started more than two months ahead of the planned date for the refresh, which was set for a weekend in January, when our technical team would take over all the sites and deploy the new equipment.

This wasn’t just a technology refresh for the sake of it, it was a migration from existing thin client technology to a modern desktop environment, with the firm’s production, back-up and disaster recovery environments moving to Microsoft Azure.

All physical offices were also linked to the Azure cloud using the ultrafast private connection ExpressRoute supplied and supported by a Quiss partner, this whole solution was built to underpin Ashton Legal IT strategy.

Furthermore, the solution also addressed remote working and home working as when users are out of office an always on VPN is used with a fallback Citrix solution supporting any issues that may occur due to bandwidth constraints.

Every build was checked prior to our vans heading east, to lessen the risk of any last-minute problems during the install.

The 300 new fat-client PCs supplied were HP ProDesk 600 G4 SFF i5-8500 8GB, which were complemented with 150 HP EliteBook 840 G5 i5 8GB 256GB SSD laptops and Ultraslim Dock.

Across a large proportion of our law firm clients, we have witnessed an increase in the demand for high-quality laptops to meet the need of a more

26 | Talk About IT

mobile workforce, delivering an improved, more collaborative service to their clients; anytime, anywhere.

A long weekend for technical engineering team Our rollout plan involved 23 Quiss technicians being on-site across Ashtons Legal’s five offices, arriving after the lawyers had left for the weekend at around 5.30pm, with a single site manager left to control our access to the premises – we never lose sight of the need to maintain security.

The site owner has a copy of our project plan and was briefed to facilitate the extraction of the equipment, which ran from arrival until about 10pm on the Friday night, when our tech teams headed for their respective hotels, discussing any matters that might affect the smooth rollout.

Saturday began early, with our team on site from 8am, working on all the offices simultaneously, to ensure the entire refresh would be completed when the offices opened on the following Monday.

All the old computers are removed and returned to our secure archive facility where they are held for a pre-defined period, in this case three months.

Managed risk is a critical part of the process and experience has taught us that, despite all the planning, a critical file or email often needs to be retrieved from an old machine.

Once the three months’ quarantine period has elapsed, all the hard drives are removed from the machines, so they can undergo a managed disposal, which usually involves destruction and shredding, with a certificate to demonstrate the integrity of the process.

The 23-strong Quiss engineering team is on site for approximately 32 hours (736 man-hours) across the weekend, installing, connecting and checking everything works as it should.

Once the new equipment is in place including the modern desktops the network is switched back on with everything connected and we enjoy the benefits of good preparation well in advance of the switch being flicked.

Floor-walking instils confidence With everything in place and every individual machine, desktop or laptop, working properly and connecting to the on-premise servers, our technical teams head back to their hotels for a well-earned rest, taking all the rubbish with them – we always leave a site better than we found it.

Our job is not finished however and while the majority of the team heads home on the Monday, we leave two technicians at each office location to walk the floors and deal with any minor issues the users might have.

These issues will typically involve the new Windows 10 environment or new equipment features etc., rather than technical issues with the network, which has been thoroughly tested prior to the offices opening on the Monday.

Given the workload of Ashtons Legal’s lawyers, it is no surprise that they need to start work when they get to the office and not worry where files are, how they connect to them or what Windows 10 means to them.

Having two of our highly qualified technicians, experienced in the legal sector and its independent software providers, on hand to answer any questions is a service designed to take away the fear of change and instil confidence in our work.

1

successful rollout

2 month’s

planning

4 day’s

rollout

5 offices 23

technicians

150

laptops

300 PCs

380 users

736

man-hours

Talk About IT | 27

SEEING THE FUTURE IS THE FUTURE OF CYBERSECURITY

Ramp up your protection against ransomware and never-before-seen threats with Sophos Intercept X, the world’s most comprehensive next-gen endpoint protection.

Try for yourself for free www.sophos.com/free-trials Copyright 2018. Sophos Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered in England and Wales No. 2096520, The Pentagon, Abingdon Science Park, Abingdon, OX14 3YP, UK Sophos is a registered trademark of Sophos Ltd.

28 | Talk About IT