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How to create and implement a cloud strategy

November 3, 2023/in Backup, Cloud, data, datacentre, General, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Project Management, Security /by James Dell

Cloud-based solutions are helping organisations achieve greater agility, efficiency, and innovation, and even increasing end-user satisfaction. That said, moving to the cloud is not always just as simple as clicking a few boxes and pressing go. It can be a drawn-out or complex process. Any cloud migration strategy requires careful planning and execution to ensure a successful outcome and avoid the typical major pitfalls.

In this article, we will explain what your cloud strategy should include, why you need one, and how to create and implement one for your organisation.

We will also share some tips and best practices from our experience as a Microsoft Solutions Partner specialising in Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and cloud migration specialist.

What is a cloud strategy?

A cloud strategy is a concise viewpoint on the role of cloud computing in your organisation. It defines what you want to achieve with the cloud, how you will get there, and how you will measure your progress and results.

A cloud strategy is different from a cloud implementation plan, which offers the “how” rather than the “what” and “why”. A cloud implementation plan details the specific steps, actions, and resources needed to execute your cloud strategy.

You need a cloud strategy because it helps you:

Align your cloud solutions with your business goals and user needs.
Communicate your vision and direction to your stakeholders and partners.
Identify and mitigate the potential challenges and risks of cloud adoption.
Optimise your costs and benefits of using the cloud.
Monitor and evaluate your performance and outcomes.

What if you don’t prepare for the cloud properly?

Without a clear and coherent cloud strategy, you may end up with:

A complex and expensive technology estate that does not meet your expectations or requirements.
A lack of coordination and collaboration among your teams and departments
A loss of control and visibility over your data and processes
A reduced ability to respond to changing market conditions and customer demands.

So, where do you start?

If you have to ask that question, then you probably need a helping hand.

Feel free to call one of our Cloud Specialist Architects to get the plan rolling. Call 01235 433900 or email [email protected] and ask about a Free Cloud Readiness Assessment.

WEBINAR RECAP: Ransomware in the real world. Is your IT Department ready to be attacked?

April 4, 2022/in Cloud, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Remote Working, Security, Telephony, voip /by James Dell

Last week, we hosted a Webinar to ask businesses if their IT department is really ready for a ransomware attack.

Over 50% of businesses will be victim of Ransomware in 2022, and the average bill to rectify an attack, considering downtime, people time, device cost, network cost, lost opportunity, ransom paid, and more… will be over £1.3m!

Did you miss it? Or would you like to watch it again? Well, the good news is that we recorded it and you can check it out here:

Your Questions, Answered.

A sign of a good webinar is the quality of the questions asked at the end. We had too many questions to be able to answer them all in the time allowed so James and Kosta have answered anything we didn’t have time for during the session.

Remember, if you you would like to find out more about Sophos MTR, have any questions around cybersecurity or need advice for your IT team, please reach out to James directly, [email protected], or call one of the team 01235 433900

What about false positives within Powershell and ps1 files, repositories like PSGet, NuGet etc – these constantly get flagged in our org with Defender Endpoint!

We would suggest if these are trusted internal tools they should be excluded from Scanning based on their HASH values or path. If these are dynamic libraries then in Sophos central we would create a policy for staff allowed to use these system tools and restrict all other user access to these tools.

How much Sophos will be responsible in case of a Ransomware attack?

If your business only has the Sophos Endpoint products, firewalls or email products in the case of an attack Sophos will provide remote support but hold no responsibility as the configuration and management of the platform is the responsibility of the business. However if the MTR service is in use then the business does have a level of protection from Sophos and the remediation services are covered under your contract.

How do we get the board to take cybersecurity seriously? We’ve covered the basics in terms of controls, but anytime I try to increase budget to add additional controls – it gets pushed back.

The best option to get senior management / board to take ownership of cyber security and cyber insurance is to use the scare factor of examples like our cyber victim where all senior management, directors and the board where removed from their posts under gross negligence as part of the work that took place to recover the business. Many of these have struggled to get new roles following the merger of the business because of the legacy association with such a large scale failure.

What are the biggest cybersecurity threats right now?

The biggest threat remains ransomware and this continues to appear in different forms and flavours but ultimately the goal remains the same and that is to disrupt system usage.

Am I spending enough, appropriately on information security-related tools and controls? (Is there a network security or information security tool I should buy?)

There is no golden figure for how much to spend on protection but what you need to do is take a risk based assessment on what protection you have in place and make sure you are covering the full stack and have a solution in place for every risk in the system.

Not convinced that cyber insurance provides any real cover

Cyber Insurance is only going to work for you and your business if you have the right tools in place to protect the business in the first place as with car insurance they wont pay out if you are negligent , it is up to you and your business to make sure you have the correct protection in place.

Who would you recommend in terms of cyber security insurance providers?

We don’t directly recommend providers.

If you have someone in your team who is a disgruntled Employee and may be leaving the company and they leave a logic bomb on your network without you knowing it would Cyber Security Insurance cover this or would it then be void as its happened within your own team? What would be the legal response to this?

This is a very loaded question. In most cases, Cybersecurity Insurance will protect against this provided you have all other requirements in place. If however this disgruntled employee was part of your security team, that may raise questions around your employee vetting process and you may need to lean on your employee terms and conditions, specifically your computer misuse act should you need to follow up with legal proceedings.

Is the standard Sophos Endpoint not enough either?

We would recommend Sophos Intercept X as a minimum for protection in 2022.

Are there any courses that you would recommend for Cyber Security specialisation?

We would recommend you look at CISSP and then anything linked to business solutions you have in place.

Are the MTR team UK based?

Sophos MTR is a global follow the sun team. There is a UK team as part of this but to enable truly 24/7 support this is covered by a global team.

How do we get the board to take cybersecurity seriously? We’ve covered the basics in terms of controls, but anytime I try to increase budget to add additional controls – it gets pushed back.

The best option to get senior management / board to take ownership of cyber security and cyber insurance is to use the scare factor of examples like our cyber victim where all senior management, directors and the board where removed from their posts under gross negligence as part of the work that took place to recover the business. Many of these have struggled to get new roles following the merger of the business because of the legacy association with such a large scale failure

For us, the major deficiency we see today is not with attacks via known end points or servers but the chances of unknown devices being attached to our networks. This is an area which I feel very few companies or vendors are addressing well and cost effectively so I’d love to know if this is an area you guys both Planet and Sophos are investigating/investing in?

There are a number of NAC product’s that have surfaced over the years to try and fill this gap. What we are seeing the the solution for most business now is to terminate all VLAN’s on the firewall and use the synchronised security aspects of the Sophos XGS firewall to remove unwanted network traffic in controlled sectors, with only trusted devices being able to route traffic.

Is webinar recorded?

Yes, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/qLPPw4kndy4

Windows 11 is here. It’s glorious but hold your horses!

October 25, 2021/in Cloud, Hardware, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, microsoft 365, Security, Windows, windows 11 /by James Dell

Windows 11 has arrived with a fresh new look, increased speed and a whole host of new and improved features. However, if your business is looking at Windows 11 and thinking, “we only just got off Windows 7”, now is the time to be thinking about the future.

You don’t need to update today of course; you officially have until the 14th of October 2025 to get your estate from Windows 10 to 11. However, as many businesses learnt the hard way with Windows 7, the migration to a new operating system is not all plain sailing.

Windows 11 brings its own complications and challenges, when it comes to application support, hardware support and the overall end user experience. All of these can be overcome but only if the business understands them and understands how to combat them.

How should you start the roll-out?

Our suggested approach is that from November 2021, a strategic steering group be created within your business to test, run, and live with Windows 11 as their primary business device. The aim of this is to begin to unpick the operating system in your business and ultimately to ensure business functionality.

We will recommend that for these users, a spare Windows 10 device is kept in your office to provide to these members of staff in the case of a failure. This will ensure your user can get back working in a short space of time, however as a business you need to start assessing and understanding the impact that Windows 11 will have on the company and then laying the foundations for migrating across to the platform with-in one year from active support (October 2022).

Why starting early is key for business continuity.

This adoption is crucial because many businesses were impacted negatively by holding onto Windows 7 for far too long past its good end of life. This was in part due to the fact the businesses had not invested the time into ensuring they understood the business change and how to successfully manage this. It is vital that this process is started early, the issues learned and how to overcome these. From this you can then develop a staged team by team plan, alongside the testing to ensure that once a satisfactory level of business support and satisfaction is reached that users begin to migrate over from Windows 10 to 11.

The Big Rollout.

We suggest completing the migration in a team by team, location by location and in a phased approach. We would suggest that any business needs to be off Windows 10, 1 year before the end of support in 2025 as you do not want to be in the same potion that many where come the end of Windows 7 support. You must remember that once this date hits any system still on this legacy operating system will be at risk from attack and will increasingly be a target for cyber criminals.

If you would like to discuss with myself or any of the Technical Architecture team at Planet IT about how you can get ready for Windows 11 you can reach us using the contact details below.

Contact me at – LinkedIn Message James Dell or Email: [email protected]

Call 01235 433900 or Email: [email protected]

Webinar Recap: Microsoft New Commerce Experience – Big changes are coming!

October 8, 2021/in Cloud, Latest Tech, Microsoft, microsoft 365, Windows /by James Dell

This week, we hosted a Live Webinar where we outlined the upcoming changes to how Microsoft sell their licences and it affects organisation of all kinds – what Microsoft are calling their New Commerce Experience (NCE).

🚨 As a Microsoft Gold Partner. we were one of the first in the UK to present this. We were so early in fact, that only a couple of short hours after the webinar, Microsoft announced that they will be pushing back the release date for New Commerce Experience from October 14 2021 to January 2022! 🚨

The reality is, that it is still happening. This just gives us a little more time to decide on the licences that best suit your organisation.

So please still watch the webinar recording below. All the information is still key to making the right decision for your business. To ask any specific questions about your situation, reach out to your Planet IT account manager or email [email protected].

On the webinar, our resident Accredited Microsoft Experts, James Dell & Adam Harrison covered:

✅ The price increases for CSP licences.

✅ Open licensing is moving to CSP. How will this affect you?

✅ How the Enterprise Agreement resizing will affect you.

✅ How CSP licensing terms are changing.

✅ How these changes effect your existing licensing

Did you miss it? Or would you like to watch it again? Well, the good news is that we recorded it and you can check it out here:

Your Questions, Answered.

We received lots of questions throughout the webinar and did our best to answer them. Watch the recording to see if your questions would be answered at the end, however if you have any more, please reach out to James himself on 01235 433900 or email directly: [email protected].

Remember to ask him about our Microsoft 365 health Checks!

Windows 365 – Windows 11 Comes to your Browser!!

July 15, 2021/in Cloud, Hardware, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Security, Windows /by Harriet Besford

Microsoft has just announced a new “Cloud PC” product where users can stream windows devices from anywhere!

When COVID-19 hit, many people in offices were forced to start working from home. Because of this, Microsoft sped up into the development of Windows 365 so people, wherever and whenever, can work more collaboratively.

Windows 365 will work similarly to what we know as game streaming. The computer will be hosted in a data centre, somewhere remotely, and then streamed to local technology.

This means all sorts of devices from anywhere, ranging from family computers in your home to monitors in the office, that runs Windows desktop can leverage Windows 365 and then you can close the session knowing that your data is safe, secure and saved.

Security Is Key

It is way more secure than working on a local PC, as your local PC is most likely full of personal applications, data and untrustworthy applications, which may go against your business practices. Windows 365 then solves multiple problems such as keeping Word documents and important PDFs where they belong, in business cloud storage, and not at risk of exploitation.

Additionally, Windows 365 will have ultra-fast connections to Azure and Office 365 data, which is very useful when it comes to handling data and finding sufficient ways of sharing workload amongst peers.

Microsoft is marketing it as the new way of using a PC, they want to find a way of demonstrating and solving the difficulties of working from home, so as they state, it is a “hybrid Windows for a hybrid world”.

So when do we get to see it, and how does it work?

The software will launch in August for business customers of all sizes however under the technical covers of it all, it is built on Azure Virtual Desktop and managed through Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM), Microsoft’s cloud-hosted device and application management solution and for those without MEM, tools are directly integrated into the Cloud PC portal. A MEM licence is therefore not essential.

Windows will also use multi-factor authentication capabilities and admins can apply security policies using MEM if needed. Furthermore, Microsoft has designed a custom “security baseline” meaning a set of policies can be applied to Windows 365 as a simple baseline, however, you can modify this to fit your criteria.

There are even plans in the future for an offline mode, though this will not be included in the initial release. When that happens, they would then be supporting an offline mode where the whole virtualisation environment can run locally and be isolated from your local operating system. When your connection gets restored then that workload will automatically move back up into the cloud. In the complex cybersecurity environment we have seen, businesses need a solution that helps their employees collaborate, share and create while also keeping their data secure.

If you want further information about Windows 365 and how this could change your business practices, then please feel free to reach out and get in contact using the details below

Call 01235 433900 or Email : [email protected]

This article was written by 17 year old Harriet Besford, a Didcot Sixth Form student who joined us at Planet IT for a week’s work experience. Harriet has a keen interest in Cyber Security with plans to study it at University. I think from reading this article, you will agree that she has a strong future in this field!

It’s Time Your Business Adopted UEM, And This Is Why!

July 7, 2021/in Backup, Cloud, Hardware, IT Security, Microsoft, Security, Software, Windows /by James Dell

The way in which we manage our workforces’ devices is changing. Gone are the days of large, overly complicated on-premise management solutions like Quest (Dell) KACE and Microsoft System Centre. With the continued drive of remote working, flexibility and ultimately employee separation our management tools need to change, now.

Luckily, Microsoft where ready for this move to remote management. They and have spent a long time and A LOT of investment in turning the 2011 product of Microsoft Intune into the 2021 product, which is now known as Microsoft Endpoint Manager, a now formidable UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) tool.

Evolution – just in the nick of time

The original Intune product was designed to answer the question of the time: How to we provide some form of management to the changing device landscape? With the launch of new form factors, and splitting operating systems at the time, this EMM (Endpoint Mobility Management) tool focused on delivering the same basic functional control across the spectrum of devices it supported.

Microsoft is not a company to miss a shift in the market. They released that as we moved into the late 2010’s and into 2020’s that business no longer wanted two products, one to manage devices onsite and one to manage them in the cloud. With this they began the process of taking the features from Microsoft’s System Centre Configuration Manager and merging them with the EMM tool, Microsoft Intune.

This process happened just in time to be ready for the world shifting events of Early 2020. The now mature product from Microsoft gave the best of Config Manager, Intune’s EMM and the fringe features of MDM and MAM that the suite had been dabbling with.

intune device management

So, the question then becomes, why are you not using it?

For nearly all business,Microsoft Endpoint Manager can play a huge part in ensuring:

1. All your devices controlled,

2. Windows is up to date,

3. patches and software are being deployed and managed.

This on its own takes away 3 key functions you may have existing systems in place to support. However, the largest success for Microsoft Endpoint Manager comes in the form of flexibility. Your users don’t need to be on your VPN, in your network or even in your country to get software updates or even new packages.

This is only then strengthened when we look at the white glove, of out of box experience which can be leveraged with Autopilot.

Imagine you never had to build a laptop again!!

Wouldn’t that just be great? Not only that, but imagine that if a device needed to be moved from user to user. Then you could remotely reset and deploy a fresh version of the operating system and all applications to the device, join it to the domain and have it ready to be reused.

Well with Endpoint Manager and Autopilot you can do just that! The core logic behind the approach is that you don’t need to touch a device to get it ready to use.

Now this can either be directly from the factory or on a previously managed device. This will reduce the time to resolution on support issues and ultimately free up you and your team to work on project that are more important.

With this process, gone are the days of creating a gold image having to run sysprep and then trying to configure the Out of Box Experience with an answer file. Microsoft has simplified this down to a steps-based process. This uses the latest image from Microsoft alongside an answer file based on the Microsoft Endpoint Manager interface, not on a text file. This combined gives you a great position to show business improvements from a system implementation.

Where can YOU make improvements?

The biggest question to ask yourself is where could you optimise your;

device management,
system imaging,
software deployments,
application installations and updates,
operating system updates
and device provisioning?

If the answer is that any of these could be improved, then Microsoft Endpoint Manager is the platform you need to be looking into.

These are just some examples of what Microsoft Endpoint Manager can do. I would be remised to say that the above is a fair representation of all that the suite has to offer. The product is massively impressive and continues to develop and grow as Microsoft as a company moves away from the legacy of its on premise-based solutions to a truly cloud driven SaaS approach.

I know taking this step might seem like a leap in certain circumstances. However, I am always available to discuss how you can leverage better device management for your business. As are the rest of the Technical Architecture team at Planet IT

Please feel free to reach out using the contact details below:

Contact me at – LinkedIn Message James Dell or Email : [email protected]

Call 01235 433900 or Email : [email protected]

Windows 11. Huge Steps Forward, But The Death Of Many Devices

June 28, 2021/in Cloud, Hardware, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Security, Windows /by James Dell

Microsoft have announced Windows 11!

For now, we can ignore the fact that Microsoft promised that Windows 10 was the last Windows version…. and all the other misleading info around this new version even existing. Windows 11 is here, and it has LOTS of improvements and design changes.

However, this article is not to talk about those. As Windows users, we all know that the move from OS to OS can be hard. Businesses struggle to get the user base, applications and configuration from your current version of Windows to a new one. It can be a mammoth task!

You won’t have a choice to keep Windows 10

That said we know Microsoft will ultimately force your hand. In 2025 Windows 10 will lose support and join XP and 7 in the list of operating systems people continue to use even though they are not supported or safe.

The big change with Windows 11 is that a number of hardware items that were previously supported with Windows 10 will no longer be supported. This is what drove me to write this article. It means many businesses will need to replace a lot of machines. So, I wanted to highlight the devices you may have that are now on a limited life span, a ticking clock as it were, to the end of support.

The official Windows 11 requirements:

Two Process cores of 1Ghz or higher
4GB of RAM
64GB of Storage
TPM 1.2 or higher with Secure Boot Capabilities

What this therefore means, is that Intel’s i3, i5 and i7 processors from the 6th and 7th get are not eligible to update to Windows 11. While on the AMD side all A and Fx Series processors are not supported. Ryzen 1000 and 2000 chips will also not support Windows 11.

Now this is a big change as Microsoft. In the past they have done their best to only remove a small number of devices from support. This was truefor upgrades to Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 all supporting the same devices which could run Windows 7.

What does that mean for my IT estate?

Audit now! You need to understand which devices you have that won’t be supported on Windows 11 and they need to enter a hardware refresh plan in the next 3 years. By 2025, these devices must be replaced.

For many this won’t be an issue. But for some education and small businesses, this is going to be a large finical burden. These changes can also hit companies using custom built PC’s which use hardware which may be from cross generations. There’s a chance these will not support the Windows 11 software.

If you are struggling to understand which devices will and won’t accept Windows 11, there is a tool from Microsoft which will tell you in your device is eligible to run the Windows 11 which you can get here: https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp

If you would like to discuss with myself or any of the Technical Architecture team at Planet IT about how you can get ready for Windows 11 you can reach us usin:

LinkedIN: James Dell

Or email [email protected]

Virtual Roundtable Recap: Facing and Overcoming IT Challenges In Education

May 28, 2021/in Cloud, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Remote Working, Security, Telephony, voip /by James Dell

This week, our panel of special guests came together for an educational virtual round table event. Our panellists discussed the challenges they have faced in their education provider and how as IT professionals, they overcame these challenges.

We also opened the floor up to our selected guests so that the panel could try to help them with their challenges.

Our panel included:

David Higgs, Security and Service Experience Centre Lead at Imperial College London

Mike Pearce, ICT Network Manager at St. Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Academy Trust

Graham Rivers, ICT Network Manager Moulsford Prep School

James Dell, Head of Technical Architecture and Education specialist at Planet IT

Discussion Points included:

The challenges encountered when delivering IT solutions to their organisation
How our guests overcame these challenges and turned them into successes
New trends & technologies critical for educational IT in the next 12 months
The ever increasing threat of cyber attack
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
Hiring and building a team on a budget

Did you miss it? Or would you like to watch it again? Well, the good news is that we recorded it and you can check it out here:

Remember, if you you have any questions or challenges that you dafe in your Education IT career, then please reach out to James Dell and he would be more than happy to talk you through the solutions he found to any similar obstacles. Call 01235 433900 or email [email protected]

Internet Explorer is Dead – What you need to do now

May 20, 2021/in Backup, Cloud, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Security /by James Dell

Internet explorer is finally coming to the end of its long slow walk to its grave. As of the 15th of June 2022, all devices not running an LTSC or Long Terms Servicing Channel version of Windows 10 or Windows Server will lose the application as part of the 15th of June update.

However, this is much larger than many would initially perceive. Many custom-built or 3rd Party applications use the IE framework to deliver content and allow users to interact with their platforms. The removal of internet explorer, which long advertised and overdue, will affect many businesses adversely.

To make your life a little easier there are actions you can complete now to engage the Microsoft Edge support for many of these legacy programs, and to make life easier, you can follow the steps on page 5 and 6 of this document, from Microsoft that will help you make your business Microsoft Edge ready.

Does It Matter?

For many of you, this won’t be an issue, but remember now is the time to be testing this; if you have any application that opens on IE11 session by default on Windows 10 or Windows Server, you need to ensure it runs in Microsoft Edge before the 15th or move the server/ desktop to the long-term servicing channel if you cannot support the application.

As a side note, it is worth noting that Office 365 and all Microsoft services will not support Internet Explorer from the 17th of August in any form, so while you can use IE on LSTC to support custom applications, you will struggle to use the product for anything outside of these products and Microsoft. Many other vendors are moving fast to drop Internet Explorer from their supported browsers lists.

If you have 3rd party applications which rely on Internet Explorer, now is the time to be reaching out to my team at Planet IT to start looking at how you move away as not only is this issue going to become worse but with no updated Internet Explorer is likely to be a source for vulnerabilities we see when scanning people’s networks.

If you want to talk to one of our team about how we can help you move away from Internet Explorer and associated 3rd party applications. Then please call 01235 433900 or you can email [email protected] or if you would like to speak to me directly, you can reach out to me via DM or at [email protected].

Education in Focus: Biggest IT Refresh Year Ever

May 11, 2021/in Backup, Cloud, Education, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, Security /by James Dell

There comes a point in the academic year where exams ramp up, teachers, lectures and support staff are focused on getting student’s through their end of year exams and keeping the momentum up until the summer break.

Meanwhile in the cool dark of the server room, the IT Support teams across all academic settings are preparing for the calm before the storm.

This year, while we may not be seeing exams like we previously would, the IT Teams in our educational establishments are preparing for their busiest summer refreshes ever. The woes of 2020 are behind us and the shift to classroom learning returning for 2021/22, the push is on to make the infrastructure improvements that were put off during COVID.

Saying all that, budgets are likely to also be tighter than ever. So how can IT teams get the absolute most out of their IT projects?

To help we have put together 5 top tips for smashing your summer projects in 2021

Plan Early

When it comes to any form of IT project the further ahead you are planning the better chance of success you have, so start early!

Engage vendors and technology partners. Test the market and understand your options. If you are looking 6 months ahead of where you need to be, then when do you have to make the choice on the technology or the vendors you are going to use? Be armed with all the information you need so you can overcome the challenges the project throws at you.

Have a contingency plan

As you begin to plan your project, look at the what if’s…

For example, if you are replacing a server infrastructure, what happens if the new servers fail? Or before you have moved the data, if the old servers fail, do you have a backup? Have you tested it?

By implementing a rock-solid contingency plan you are positioning yourselves in such a way that you can overcome whatever challenges come your way.

Choose a partner you can trust

Remember you are not in this alone.

Whatever the chosen project you are undertaking there are partners who will help you achieve the goals of your organisation. However not all partners are equal. Not all partners have the same approach.

Find a partner who has the certifications and accreditations with the vendors you want to work with, i.e Dell Gold Partner or Microsoft Gold Partner with certified engineers. Don’t settle for “the local firm” as 9 times out of 10 they will get out of their depth very quickly. They’ll can end up making the challenges of delivering IT in education much worse.

So, pick a partner you can trust, and you know when you’re up against it, will have your back!

Only choose best of breed technology and don’t settle for last generation.

Lots of companies see education as an opportunity to move stock which the corporate world no longer wants – for example, servers which are now end of sale or software which has been pushed into its last few operational years.

You should never settle for anything other than the best in breed technology for your establishment. If budgets constrain that, reduce the scope of the project or limit the technology used. Don’t settle for old, refurbished or reconditioned equipment just to hit a financial goal. In the long term, you will pay the price when the equipment cannot be serviced and needs replacing before the business has got the full value from the solution.

Maximise gains using operations leasing

When making purchases in education, you have a great opportunity to access low cost or even free finance offerings for all of your large purchases. So, leverage these deals to extend your budget.

Limit the capex spend and get the best solution you can and prevent the project delays of stretching upgrades over 2-3 years which really need to be done today.

Using these top tips, your organisations should be able to avoid the pitfalls of so many education providers in the past and make sure you take step in the right direction when making your upgrade this summer.

Just remember you are not alone. At Planet IT we have a team of specialists who can not only support you with the decision making and selection of new equipment, but can support with the role out, implementations and upgrades to your systems.

If you want to talk to one of our educational team about how we can help you with your summer projects then please call 01235 433900 or you can email [email protected] or if you would like to speak to me directly you can reach out to me via DM or at [email protected].

Posts

Internet Explorer is Dead – What you need to do now

Does It Matter?

Looking for a technology partner?
Let’s talk

Posts

What is a cloud strategy?

What if you don’t prepare for the cloud properly?

So, where do you start?

Your Questions, Answered.

How should you start the roll-out?

Why starting early is key for business continuity.

The Big Rollout.

Your Questions, Answered.

Security Is Key

So when do we get to see it, and how does it work?

Evolution – just in the nick of time

So, the question then becomes, why are you not using it?

Imagine you never had to build a laptop again!!

Where can YOU make improvements?

You won’t have a choice to keep Windows 10

The official Windows 11 requirements:

What does that mean for my IT estate?

Our panel included:

Discussion Points included:

Does It Matter?

Plan Early

Have a contingency plan

Choose a partner you can trust

Only choose best of breed technology and don’t settle for last generation.

Maximise gains using operations leasing

Looking for a technology partner?Let’s talk

Looking for a technology partner?
Let’s talk