Backup Archives - Planet IT

Azure AD is becoming Microsoft Entra ID

July 14, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by Lewis Kitchen

You may not yet be too familiar with Microsoft Entra, but it’s about to become a much bigger part of your Microsoft environment.

Microsoft Azure AD, the cloud-based identity and access management solution that powers millions of organisations, is becoming Microsoft Entra ID.

This change reflects Microsoft’s vision to provide a unified and comprehensive identity platform that helps you secure your organization, empower your employees, and enable your digital transformation.

With Microsoft Entra ID, you can benefit from the latest innovations in identity protection, governance, and management, as well as seamless integration with Microsoft 365, Azure, and other cloud services.

ID Protection: Prevent account compromise with machine learning.

ID Protection helps you detect and stop identity attacks in real time. It uses advanced machine learning to identify sign-in anomalies and user behaviour that indicate a risk of compromise. For example, it can trigger a Conditional Access policy that requires strong authentication methods for accessing sensitive resources. This way, you can protect your accounts from phishing, malware, and other threats.

ID Dashboard: Monitor your identity security posture with insights and recommendations.

ID Dashboard shows you the impact of your identity protections, the most common attack patterns, and your organisation’s risk exposure. You can view metric cards and attack graphs that show risk origins, security posture over time, and types of current attacks. You can also get recommendations based on best practices and industry standards. With these insights, you can further investigate your security posture in other tools and applications.

ID Governance: Automate access governance with workflows and self-service.

ID Governance helps you ensure that only the right identities have the right access at the right time. It automates the employee identity lifecycle to reduce manual work for IT and increase employee productivity. It also provides machine learning-based insights about identities and app entitlements. You can use workflows and self-service to grant and revoke access to cloud and on-premises apps from any provider and custom-built apps hosted in the public cloud or on-premises. This way, you can comply with organizational and regulatory security requirements.

Apple Software – Critical WebKit Vulnerability: CVE-2023-37450

July 14, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by Simon Williams

Apple has recently released a number of security advisories to address a zero-day vulnerability in Safari, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Ventura. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability (being tracked as CVE-2023-37450) to achieve remote code execution. It has been reported that this vulnerability is being actively exploited, which means that attackers are currently using this security flaw to gain unauthorised access to systems, potentially leading to data theft, system damage, or other malicious activities. It is therefore imperative that you check and apply these patches as soon as possible.

Apple Rapid Security Response

Apple has rolled out a new protocol, termed Rapid Security Responses, to expedite the release of critical security enhancements in between regular software updates for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. This approach allows for a more immediate response to certain security issues such as this one. Upon the application of a Rapid Security Response, a letter is appended to the software version number, indicating that the update has been implemented.

Who and What is Affected?

The vulnerability affects all devices running: iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Ventura that have not been updated to the latest security patches. This includes iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers. The exploit could be triggered by a vulnerable browser processing specially crafted (malicious) web content, leading to remote code execution.

How Can Attackers Exploit This Vulnerability?

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by creating a webpage or web content that includes malicious code designed to exploit the vulnerability in Apple WebKit. They then need to trick the victim into opening this malicious webpage. This could be done through a phishing email, a message, or by compromising a website that the victim trusts and visits often. Once the victim opens the malicious webpage on a vulnerable browser, the malicious code is executed.

What Could Happen If This Vulnerability Is Exploited?

With the ability to execute arbitrary code, an attacker could potentially gain control over the victim’s device. This could allow them to install malware, steal sensitive data, create backdoors for future access, and more. In essence, the attacker could gain the same access to the device as the user, leading to a significant breach of privacy and security.

How to Patch This Vulnerability?

Apple has addressed this issue with improved checks in their Rapid Security Response updates. The patches were initially released for macOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a), iOS 16.5.1 (a), iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), and Safari 16.5.2. However, due to a bug in Safari, some of the updates were pulled. Apple has since released new fixes to address this issue.

To patch this vulnerability, users should update their devices to the latest software versions:

iOS 16.5.1 (a) and iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), released on July 10, 2023.

iOS 16.5.1 (c) and iPadOS 16.5.1 (c), released on July 12, 2023.

macOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a), released on July 10, 2023.

To check for updates, go to the settings of your device, select ‘General’, and then ‘Software Update’. If an update is available, tap ‘Download and Install’.

Connect the Classroom: Funded Wi-Fi For Schools

June 27, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by James Dell

Connect The Classroom, Government funding for schools

The Connect the Classroom scheme is a government-funded program that provides funding for schools in eligible areas to upgrade their wireless network infrastructure. This funding can be used to improve the speed, reliability, and coverage of a school’s Wi-Fi network.

Just some of the benefits of the Connect the Classroom scheme include:

Faster and more reliable internet access:

A faster and more reliable internet connection can help students to access online resources more quickly and easily, and can also help to reduce the number of dropped connections during online lessons.

Improved collaboration:

A better Wi-Fi network can make it easier for students to collaborate on projects, and can also help teachers to deliver lessons that require students to work together online.

Enhanced learning experiences:

A better Wi-Fi network can open up new possibilities for learning, such as the use of virtual reality and augmented reality.

Improved Security:

Install the latest, most robust Wi-Fi network allowing you to take advantage of the best security solutions.

How to use the Connect the Classroom scheme

A school must be located in an Education Investment Area to be eligible for the Connect the Classroom scheme. Schools can apply for funding by submitting a proposal to the Department for Education. The proposal should include information about the school’s current Wi-Fi network, planned improvements, and the benefits the school expects to achieve from the upgrade.

How do I know if my school is eligible?

You can talk to your Planet IT Account manager, and we will find out for you, but basically:

All state schools in Priority Education Investment Areas (EIAs) are eligible to apply for funding.

Priority EIAs are schools in:

Blackpool, Bradford, Derby, Doncaster, Fenlands and East Cambridgeshire, Halton, Hartlepool, Hastings, Ipswich, Knowsley, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire Coast, Norwich, Nottingham, Oldham, Portsmouth, Rochdale, Salford, Sandwell, Stoke-on-Trent, Tameside, Walsall, West Somerset.

Schools in other EIAs with an Ofsted rating below ‘Good’ are also eligible to apply for funding.

Other EIAs are:

Bedford, Bolton, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Cornwall, County Durham, Coventry, Darlington, Derbyshire, Dorset, Dudley, East Sussex, Isle of Wight, Kirklees, Leeds, Lincolnshire, Luton, Manchester, Norfolk, North Northamptonshire, North Somerset, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Rotherham, Sefton, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Suffolk, Sunderland, Swindon, Wakefield, Wirral.

Map & detail source, click here.

So, what do you do now?

The Connect the Classroom scheme is a valuable resource for schools that are looking to improve their Wi-Fi network, as essential for modern learning. The Planet IT Education Specialists can walk you through the process.

Here are the steps you can take now.

Talk to your Planet IT Account Manager to start the process and check if your school is eligible.
Discuss the best Wi-fi solution for your school.
Secure your quote to include with your proposal to the Department for Education.
Once approved, install the upgrades.
Enjoy the benefits of a faster, more reliable Wi-Fi network!

The Cloud: Your Ticket To Growth Or Your Ticket To Extinction?

June 23, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by James Dell

The cloud is no longer the future of IT. It is the now of IT. Businesses that don’t embrace cloud computing are putting themselves at a serious disadvantage.

Here are just a few of the reasons why your business will be left behind if you don’t embrace the cloud:

You’ll be less competitive. Cloud-based businesses can be more agile and responsive to change. They can also scale up or down their resources as needed, which gives them a significant advantage over businesses that are still using on-premise solutions.
You’ll lose customers. Customers are increasingly demanding cloud-based services. If your business doesn’t offer these services, you’ll lose out on potential customers.
You’ll be more vulnerable to security threats. Cloud providers have a team of security experts who are constantly monitoring their systems for threats. On-premise solutions, on the other hand, are often more vulnerable to security breaches.
You’ll spend more money. Cloud computing can be more cost-effective than on-premise solutions, especially over time. This is because you only pay for the resources you use.

If you’re still not convinced, consider this: a recent study by McKinsey found that businesses that adopt cloud computing are more likely to grow their revenue by 20% than businesses that don’t.

So, what are you waiting for? Embrace the cloud and start reaping the benefits today.

Here are some specific examples of how businesses in the UK are being left behind by not embracing the cloud:

A medium-sized business in Swindon is struggling to compete with larger businesses that are using cloud-based marketing and sales tools.
A manufacturing company in Reading is losing customers because it can’t offer cloud-based customer service.
A financial services company in Oxford is at risk of a security breach because it is still using on-premise servers.

These are just a few examples of the many businesses in the UK that are being left behind by not embracing the cloud. If you don’t want to be one of them, then it’s time to start planning your move to the cloud today.

Don’t miss out on the benefits of cloud computing. Embrace the cloud and start growing your business today. Contact me directly if you have any questions – james.dell@planet-it.net or DM me on LinkedIn

Critical Vulnerability in Fortinet FortiGate Firewalls: Immediate Action Required

June 12, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by Simon Williams

A critical security flaw was identified on Sunday 11th June 2023 in Fortinet FortiGate firewalls that could potentially be exploited by threat actors to achieve remote code execution.

IMPORTANT UPDATE from Fortinet June 12th: https://www.fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-23-097

Details

This vulnerability, formally tracked as CVE-2023-27997, is reachable pre-authentication, on every SSL VPN appliance. In simple terms, this means an attacker could potentially execute arbitrary code on the system even without needing valid credentials. It is important to note that the details of this vulnerability are currently not fully disclosed, but Fortinet is expected to provide more information in the coming days.

Impact

The flaw could allow a malicious actor to interfere via the VPN, even if Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is activated. This poses a significant threat as it could potentially allow unauthorised individuals to gain access to sensitive information, manipulate data, or disrupt services.

In recent years, vulnerabilities in Fortinet firewalls have become a lucrative attack vector for cybercriminals. If exploited, this could lead to severe consequences including data breaches, operational disruptions, and potential reputational damage.

Recommended Action

Fortinet has released patches to address this vulnerability in FortiGate versions 6.2.15, 6.4.13, 7.0.12, and 7.2.5. We strongly advise you to apply these patches immediately to mitigate any potential risks.

We understand that patch management can be complex and time-consuming. However, in this instance, the severity of the vulnerability makes prompt action essential.

It is essential that you act on this immediately. If you’re not sure what to do, or if you think you may already be a victim, call the Planet IT security team now: 01235 433900

URGENT ALERT: Papercut Vulnerabilities

May 10, 2023/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Security, Software, windows 11 /by Simon Williams

Two vulnerability reports were recently made public regarding high/critical severity security issues in PaperCut MF/NG. (Latest update May 9th)

It has been observed that multiple threat actors including nation states are exploiting unpatched servers in the wild.

While initial attacks were targeting critical infrastructure (primarily in the US), current threat actor activity appears to be more opportunistic, affecting organisations across various sectors and geographies. We are aware that this has become a particular threat to the Education sector here in the UK.

The first vulnerability is a ‘Remote Code Execution vulnerability’.

This allows an unauthenticated attacker to get remote code execution on a PaperCut Application Server. This could be done remotely and without the need to log in.

The second vulnerability is a ‘User account data vulnerability’.

This allows an unauthenticated attacker to potentially pull information about a user stored within PaperCut MF or NG – including usernames, full names, email addresses, office/department info and any card numbers associated with the user. The attacker can also retrieve the hashed passwords for internal PaperCut-created users only (note that this does not include any password hashes for users sync’d from directory sources such as Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace / Active Directory and others). This could be done remotely and without the need to log in

As more threat actors begin to exploit these vulnerabilities in their attacks, organisations are strongly urged to prioritise applying the updates provided by PaperCut to reduce their attack surface:

URGENT | PaperCut MF/NG vulnerability bulletin (March 2023) | PaperCut

It is essential that you act on this immediately. If you’re not sure what to do, or if you think you may already be a victim, call the Planet IT security team now: 01235 433900

2022 – The Big Technology Winners & Losers

December 12, 2022/0 Comments/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, General, Latest Tech, macOS, microsoft 365, Remote Working, Software, Windows, windows 11 /by James Dell

As some of you might know, once December comes around, I sit down and take a lookahead at the at the technology that I believe will shape our year.

That article will be released the first week of January so watch this space…

Before that though, I always think it’s a bit of fun to look back at the last 12 months and see how right or wrong my predictions last year actually were.

In a change from previous years, 2022 technology landscape wasn’t as dominated by COVID-19. Instead, we were impacted by other unforeseen challenges such as the war in Ukraine, disaster mini-budgets and the loss of our head of state.

Because of this, some of our forecasts were slightly delayed, but overall, our predictions were pretty spot on. I won’t go into the detail again, but if you want to review our 2022 predictions, click here.

But now, using the powerful tool of hindsight, who exactly were the winners and losers of 2022?

Winners

Public Cloud

Once again, it has been a huge year for all things cloud technology. IaaS, SaaS, PaaS have, as predicted, accelerated to a new high, despite the critics in the market saying they are unaffordable.

Our customers have moved to the cloud in mass. The key for everyone has been looking at the workload and refining it to be cloud ready. If this is achieved, then workloads are streamlined, and the cloud is undoubtably a success.

The other interesting side effect of the success of public cloud is that the big server producers are all coming out with Hybrid cloud products. This is focused on keeping them in the game for a few more years, with products that allow easy workload migration to the cloud, cross scaling and targeted cloud leverage.

This will only continue in 2023, but my takeaway from it all is that the writing in now on the wall for the traditional server and storage world. HCI and owned equipment for servers is not far behind it.

Working From Home

The big companies of the world (mainly in finance) tried to tell us working from home was going to die off in 2022. Did they really believe people would flood back to the office?

This of course did not happen. WFH is here and it’s here to stay, with the focus for IT being on flexibility. The modern employee wants the chance to work where suits them. We are now able to tap into a globally connected market of extremely talented people who have previously been excluded from roles due to geographic location.

With Teams, Zoom, Slack and all the other tools at our fingertips, there is now no reason to not allow complete working flexibility and allow a better work life balance.

This is something that we at Planet IT have openly adopted. Without a doubt, this has seen an increase in people’s overall wellbeing and general approach to work has only gone from strength to strength.

Linux in the Mainstream

Stop right there! STOP!

Before all the IT people of the world lynch me and say “Linux has always been…..” or “Linux is the greatest operating system…..” I am in no way saying that Linux hasn’t been a very viable business operating system for the last 10 years.

Ubuntu as a distribution has been very user friendly and, for a while, even companies like Dell thought it was the future of the desktop consumer OS. Then ChromeOS came along and diverted their attention.

What I am saying is that in 2022, we saw the release of hardware running dedicated builds of Linux which are finally disrupting the market. One of these devices was the Valve Steam Deck, which was so popular this year that pre order took 11 months to fulfil.

However, the key for me is the story behind the hardware which is an operating system free from license costs. This overcomes some of the core challenges Linux has had in the past, compatibility. With this move and Apple’s move in opposite direction, 2023 looks set to be the year more business adopt the platform.

Let’s be honest, most cloud platforms are built around Linux anyway, so it only makes sense!

Losers

Private Datacenters

Déjà vu?

Last year, I said the coffin was ready and that we were about to hold the final goodbye for the private DC. I was pretty spot-on in fairness.

Even though a few hold outs tried to sell a revolutionary approach to private cloud, the final nail in the coffin was the energy crisis. Costs increased and private datacenters had to increase charges to customers. Meanwhile, AWS, Google and Microsoft simply swallowed most of the cost. This left most customers the choice between turning kit off or moving away.

There will always be a place for niche private datacenters for specific use cases, but for 95% of business’ the cloud is the future.

SaaS Security

Surprised to see this in the technology loser section?

Security, is so important. It is even more important when you’re a company like Last Pass who recently suffered a data breach. They are the last in a long line of companies whose platforms have been compromised in 2022. Therefore, we cannot but think that maybe these big companies need to take platform or software security a little more seriously. This is a common trend and definitely hits my loser list because it shows how even the biggest companies can faulter.

Do better next year big tech, please!

The Lightning port

Why!!!??!

Its 2022! Why am I still talking about a micro connector that replaced a 30 pin USB 1 standard?

I will tell you why… because finally the EU has stood up to Apple and told them to get rid! 2022 will be the last year that a £1,400 device comes with a connector which cannot provide fast charging, cannot offer fast data transfer and is proprietary!

Long live USB C or well USB 3.2 or USB4 or Thunderbolt 3 or 4, whatever the standard, just use the same port for a couple of years. This will certainly allow me to cut down on the number of cables I hold onto!

Conclusion

2022, like 2021, and 2020, was a year of change. Technology moves at a lightening pace (except, erm, the lightening port). We had some big winners, some little winners but overall, tech developments are moving quicker than ever. While Moore’s law may be starting to fail, the ability of technology companies to innovate is not.

Do you agree with our technology winners and losers list? What tech impressed you this year? Or what did you see crash and burn?

Comment on my post or DM me on LinkedIn, or email me directly on james.dell@planet-it.net if you would like to debate our choices or even talk about how the Planet experts can help you in 2023

Why the move to an OPEX budget model in education might be driving your business manager up the wall

February 3, 2022/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft /by James Dell

For the longest time IT in education has been on a hamster wheel of improvements tied to the yearly capital bids cycle. IT managers rush to get improvement plans and strategy budgets in for their cut off, knowing all too well that 50%+ will be dropped before they even make it to governors. The other 50% won’t make it through the process.

This capital expense programme is built from the necessities of the past. IT infrastructure had typically been the second most expensive item on a schools books after the building itself. No school, college or academy in the past could afford to stretch it’s upgrades over the operational spend of the business unless they committed to long terms lease agreements or payment plans. While good intentioned, these plans often leave the organisation dragging upgrade cycles to 5 years plus rather than their natural 3 years.

With all the changes that 2020 and 2021 have brought, this model has to change, and the main reason for that is the cloud.

The Time For The Cloud Is Now

Now this is not some fantasy of a cloud lead future. This is the reality of a world leaving behind the need for a private datacentre or server room and pushing for the convenience, security and integrity of managed public cloud.

This however leaves a challenge for all of those who are in financial roles in educational establishments. The model of spend once, wait 5 years before investing again, will not and cannot continue to work. Modern IT is mostly based around the per month or per usage model. Think Microsoft 365 and Azure, one is based on your user count or usage count per month and the other is based on the real-world usage of the last 30 days.

But we used to spread the cost..?

Now on legacy, I will grant that you could have purchased Microsoft services on a campus agreement. However, that is asking you to look into your magic 8 ball and hope you guess the right amount of usage for the next 12 months and then pre purchase Azure credits to cover that. This is a massively inefficient approach and misses the key benefit of cloud services – flexibility.

In a real world example you would expect an educational providers usage on a cloud based IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) to look something like:
• September – December (Mild Usage)
• Jan – Mar (High Usage)
• April – July (Diminishing usage as students slowly drop off timetable)
• then late July – Aug (Very low usage)
Now if you are paying for this upfront you need to work out what your average monthly spend should be and then try and guess how much you need to cover this.

This just won’t work, you will either hit your campus agreement renewal needing to pay overages or hit the renewal with hundreds if not thousands of wasted pounds. With Monthly flexible billing you don’t have this issue, you get a bill for what you actually use, now if it’s a critical system you can reserve the instance and gain some savings, but you have the flexibility.

This is a new approach for us. How best to do it?

Back to the question in hand and how does your organisation cover these costs?
Well to start with, your business manager needs to change how IT is funded in the budget. Moving the value that would have been placed on an infrastructure refresh into operational spend. They then need to find a way to increase this pot by 5-15% a year to cover cost increases. Now there is still a need for the capital bid, but these should be used for laptops, switches and firewalls and not servers and server licensing. With this shift IT becomes less of a burden as the spend is predictable and you are not looking at £500k investments every 5 years, but instead £80k a year spend on cloud services.

I often get asked how we work with our education customers to move to the cloud and for me the approach is simple; it’s about understanding. So many business managers have endured years of the CAPEX process and are used to the funding model. What our job is as technical professionals is to illustrate the savings in cooling, powers, facilitates and security that a move to the operational model brings and then work from there to deliver the best experience for the organisation.

If you are an IT manager today about to enter capital bids season, then think like this; bid for the money for your big server replacement but don’t propose legacy equipment and designs. Engage with Planet IT and we can support you in submitting a CAPEX to OPEX bid a support your move to the cloud.

Need more help to get it right?

2022 will be the year that most businesses make a major jump to the cloud. Don’t allow your educational establishment to be left behind and looking for answers, we have successfully worked with a large number of educational providers over the last 18 years to modernise and improve their IT for the better, we can do that for you too.

If you want to talk to one of our educational team about how we can help you with your capital bids or moving to the cloud, then please call 01235 433900 or you can email architecture@planet-it.net or if you would like to speak to me directly you can reach out to me via DM or at james.dell@planet-it.net.

The tech that should shape your business in 2022

January 5, 2022/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, General, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Remote Working, Security, Software /by James Dell

All the way back in January 2021, I wrote an article about what technology trends would shape your business in 2021. Looking back on those predictions, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that for many of our customers these technologies certainly did just that. If the pandemic continues to rear its ugly head some of what I said last year will still echo very true this year. You can read that article HERE.

However, the show must go on. For 2022 I am looking forward to what the new normal has become and how the technology we leverage every day can and must adapt to fit this need. Alongside this, I am exploring the tools, advancements and innovations that will change the way your business operates.

I always want to take these opportunities at the start of the year, to introduce or to develop your understanding of the technology trends we as a leading IT provider are seeing coming over the horizon. Ultimately these are what your business should and will be looking into and adopting to keep your business is safe, secure and able to compete in today’s busy market.

Cloud Services

Here we go again… Another year, another year of the cloud. I may have said this last year, and for that matter the last 2 years before that. Cloud Services, be that in the form of IaaS (Infrastructure as a service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) or SaaS (Software as a service), will change your business in 2022 regardless of if you want to let it.

The reason I say this is because we are no longer in an IT landscape where as a consumer you can choose how to run many of the platforms or software your business uses. Your ERP or MIS, most of these platforms are or have completely moved to SaaS or PaaS offering in 2022.

Take Sage for example, the development of this product as nearly completely killed-off on premise or as a standalone. The focus is on the delivery of the cloud hosted version. That may be with Sage directly or one of their key partners.

The bad news for IT managers who are cloud adverse or cloud sceptical?

Now is time to change your mind and move with the industry or risk getting left behind with systems and solutions that will only age and cause you greater issues down the road.

Continuing on the vain on SaaS, Microsoft continue to also drive services across to Microsoft 365 in favour of the cloud hosted, forever updated version of their tools vs the previous on premise products, I’m looking at your Endpoint Manager (Intune). This product is going from strength to strength. However it is doing so off the back of SCCM and ultimately galvanising the features from this well-established platform but developing them on Microsoft’s Cloud service. This leaves the on premise version to simply hook into the cloud and co-exist rather than get any substantial upgrades itself.

With businesses that implemented cloud services in 2020 and 2021, they saw an decrease in running costs of up to 50% and an increase in uptime and productivity up to 99.99%. This makes the cloud space one that from a CFO point of view cannot be ignored and from the position of the wider business can only make day to day IT services better.

If you take anything from this about Cloud service, let it be this; They are here to stay. They are the key focus for all software vendors and it’s a case of be onboard or be left behind.

A New World for Back-Up and DR

Building off of what I have said above about Cloud Services, the world of back-up and Disaster Recovery is also dramatically changing. This is twofold; you no longer have all your data sat locally on servers, storage and systems, which a local back up can collect and protect. Also, the fact that now, if your data is in a public cloud provider with a 99.99999% uptime guarantee, are you really going to move this data from them to a private datacentre or back to on-premise?

This change is making many businesses have to rip up their back up and DR strategies. For many IT Managers, Business Owners and Businesses, this is causing some hard conversations.

My take on the situation is simple.. Look at what you have now and where your business will be at the end of 2022. If your data is mostly moving to PaaS and SaaS solutions then you need to ensure that as data is moved that each of these providers or systems has a solid separate back up in place. Now for a platform like Microsoft Azure this does not need to be off platform but it needs to be in a different location. So with Azure we would look at Geo Redundancy or even multi-Geo Redundancy leveraging the technologies and services of Microsoft to back up your data to their other datacentres across the globe. If the system is 3rd party hosted like Sage, which I mentioned above, then you need a tool and a location which is away from this provider to store your data. For this I would always recommend looking at AWS, GCP or Microsoft Azure as the level of protection and guarantees you get from these providers is 10 fold that of a private or local storage solution.

If we look at wider IaaS and Infrastructure backup solutions and DR these also need to change. The first thing I will say on this is that tape back up’s are going the way of the dinosaur. (To be honest they should have gone a few years ago). While the logic of having a removable magnetic tape sounds like the right decision for all businesses. In the past few years we have seen that these devices don’t hold up in a DR situation and if they do, they are often too slow to react.

The best solution a business in 2022 can implement is to have an immutable back up in place. This is based on technology and tools that allow for near instant recovery. As we have seen time and time again businesses cannot support multi-hour or day outages in a disaster. Traditional back up technologies and techniques are beginning to leave business’s vulnerable to large periods of downtime in a true disaster situation.

If you are thinking about how your business should be protected in 2022, why not reach out to the team and we can talk you through in detail the cloud era back up approach to support your business.

The Human Firewall

I said it last year and I will say it every year until I go blue in the face! We need to invest as much time into training our staff to ensure they can be safe and secure when using the systems and solutions that as a business we expect them to use. That is why in 2022 The Human Firewall continues to be one of the key areas of development we believe all business should be investing heavily into.

By this we mean training your staff to know what is safe and is not safe in the digital world and how to prevent risks to the business.

Now with this there has never been a one size fits all approach. There is however a logical approach which will prevent your business being open to risks that exist on your doorstep. We can teach our staff in 2022 to stop, deal with and report these problems. By doing this, then we increase the ability of a business to be robust and secure and remove the guesswork from the technology we need to ensure a business is safe. This coupled with MFA massively reduces the risk of account credentials being compromised.

For me as we enter 2022, the Year of the Human Firewall (2021) continues and I am now campaigning for the decade of the Human Firewall! So please go and train your staff and protect your business!

Silicone…. Oh Silicone

For some reason I have left the doom and gloom to last, but it has to be said that what ultimately will shape many businesses in 2022 is the continuing silicone and chip shortages. We are now 2 years into this problem and it is not getting better. We have all felt it. Consumer devices like the PS5 and Xbox Series X which where like gold dust for another Christmas. Servers and Laptops which are still being delayed by months at a time. We will all continue to feel the pain while the chip making industry rushes to fix the supply and demand issue.

As a cautionary tale for 2022, if your organisation is looking at a large refresh or even a big project this year which is time critical, think and act early when it comes to device purchasing.

We have seen wireless access points being delayed by 365 days from certain vendors in 2021. If your new office space or move is critical then this could cause you serious issues. Alongside this you have to think that every business will be in the same boat in 2022 so don’t be the one who gets caught out by lead times. I would also say don’t hold your breath for a new car any time soon as it seems the motor industry, with its love hate relationship with technology providers, has finally realised it’s not good to be at the bottom of the queue!

To stay ahead of the trend…

In conclusion 2022, like 2021 and 2020 before it is going to be a very different year to the 10’s that proceeded it. Cyber criminals and the threat landscape changing everyday, new vulnerabilities and risks appearing on a daily basis, for systems which are integrated in all of our lives and with potentially dramatic effect. However as business owners, technical professionals or employees we need to switch our approach and ensure we are using these changes to make our business ready for this continually changing landscape as we move forward. Think forward, think ahead and don’t get caught out by 2022 as I believe it will be a huge year for IT change.

If you want to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you in 2022 then please call 01235 433900 or you can email enquires@planet-it.net or if you would like to speak to me directly you can reach out to me via LinkedIn or at james.dell@planet-it.net.

2021 – The Big Technology Winners & Losers

December 13, 2021/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, General, Latest Tech, macOS, microsoft 365, Remote Working, Software, Windows, windows 11 /by James Dell

Just over a year ago, I sat down to write a technology review of 2020. We had just seen the single biggest transformation that had happened to global businesses in the last 20 years!

The digital acceleration forced upon businesses as COVID-19 hit and government lockdowns continued changed the way that businesses needed to operate. Those who had failed to invest in their IT systems very quickly came unstuck. Businesses looked at their IT teams and demanded their systems be brought up to date.

(If you missed it, you can still read last year’s article HERE)

Entering 2021, I knew it was going to be the year of the cloud, and it very much has proven to be. The global silicone shortages impacting chip production alone assured this. For many business the only choice has to been to go to public cloud and leave the traditional on-premise infrastructure behind. Because of this, and what has turned into a challenging year for different, but somewhat the same reasons as 2020, here is my list of the 2021 winners and losers…