Business Info - issue 136

BT removes risk from guest WiFi BT has added a Guest WiFi feature to the BT Business Smart Hub that enables small firms to provide visitors with wireless internet access without compromising their network or data security. The service provides freeWi-Fi access over a secure network that is entirely separate from a company’s private network so that guests can’t access sensitive business data or infect the network with malware. Mike Tomlinson, managing director for SMEs for BT Business and Public Sector, said: “We’ve listened to the concerns of small businesses, who in many cases were providing a freeWi-Fi service to their customers by sharing their password details, and are providing a Guest Wi-Fi service that is completely ring-fenced from companies’ private networks. Small firms benefit from greater security, content controls and better broadband performance, while at the same time giving their customers a faster, more convenient and secure way to get online.” Guest Wi-Fi is offered as a standard feature on the BT Business Smart Hub 6. www.bt.com AGENDA Website refresh for Century Office Office furniture supplier Century Office has launched a new website, making it easier for customers to discover its office furniture solutions and design services. The updated site offers a better user experience on both mobile and desktop versions, along with news stories, customer success stories, articles and insight. www.century-office.co.uk Top tips for protecting data in the cloud With cybercrime becoming more prevalent, and with IT spending on cloud technologies set to rise from 12% of budgets in 2017 to 18% by 2019, Simon Jelley, global general manager, Backup Exec at Veritas, offers five steps that businesses can take to protect their data in the cloud: 1 Back up regularly and frequently – making multiple copies on a regular basis is an obvious but important step. In the unlikely event of a cloud outage or ransomware attack, you want to maintain business resilience and ensure the operation continues to run with minimal disruption. 2 Isolate – the isolation of backups is especially relevant to a ransomware attack. It’s crucial that the technology you use to store backup data is not part of your network. Public cloud is reliable and cost- effective to set up. It is also very easy to scale as your business grows and evolves. 3 Consider timing and backups – managing retention periods is an important part of data lifecycle management. The best way to do this is to deliver a cycle of weekly, monthly and yearly data backups on different media. Businesses should consider how many copies of different files need to be kept and where they should be stored. A master catalogue will help organisations keep track of what and where the data is stored. 4 The 3-2-1 rule – Keep at least three copies of data, on at least two devices, with at least one copy offsite. 5 Recovery testing – Finally, it’s important to ensure that the recovery process works. Running fire drills will ensure employees can recover data when they need it. This can involve checking that a secondary site will go live if the main site fails or it can be as simple as recovering an arbitrary file to a PC and checking it is identical to the original. www.vertias.com Communication biggest challenge for project success Poor communication is the biggest barrier to project success, according to research from Clarizen. Two fifths (40%) of enterprise employees with project management roles identified communication as a challenge they need to overcome, ahead of organisational change (36%), budget (25%) lack of project visibility (18%) and task tracking (17%). David Goulden, product director at Clarizen, said: “The findings highlight the need for businesses to equip employees with tools that place communication in context with tasks, resourcing, deadlines and other business imperatives, while providing the capability to monitor progress, align goals and meet objectives. This enables a level of collaboration that keeps projects on track, on budget and on time.” www.clarizen.com LabTech’s £200 million investment LabTech has added 90 High Holborn to its co-working portfolio. The 197,000 square foot building, the company’s largest Central London acquisition to date, houses 3,671 workers in dynamic workspaces. LabTech CEO Chen Moravsky said: “LabTech aim to inspire and enable people to work, live and play in a unique collaborative ecosystem. From start-ups to SMEs and traditional businesses, LabTech is housing the future of the British economy.” https://labs.com WELL AP consultant Office fit-out and refurbishment expert BW has appointed environmental manager Maria Russo as aWELL consultant after her qualification as a WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP). In her new role, Russo will work with project teams to manage clients’WELL certification process.WELL is a performance-based system for measuring and certifying features of the built environment that impact human health and well-being including air, nourishment, water, light, comfort, fitness and mind. www.wearebw.com businessinfomag.uk magazine 04

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