PrintIT Reseller - issue 69

01732 759725 4 BULLETIN Head in the clouds 4sl warns that cloud cover can’t be relied on. The provider of back-up and disaster recovery managed services says that a fundamental misunderstanding of service providers’ back-up provision is putting many UK enterprises at serious risk of data loss. Its study of 200 large enterprises shows that 73% of Office 365 Exchange Online users and 92% of Google Cloud Platform users believe such services retain back-up data for longer than they do. As standard, Google Cloud Platform does not include any back-up provision and Office 365 Exchange Online only does so for 14 days. Because many enterprises have not made provision for additional back-up, 46% of organisations using Office 365 Exchange Online and 51% of those using Google Cloud Platform are exposing themselves to the risk of permanent data loss or non-compliance. The problem is likely to get worse as enterprise use of cloud services grows and the growing diversity of cloud services increases back-up complexity. www.4sl.com Cautiously optimistic According to market intelligence company CONTEXT, which has just released its latest annual ChannelWatch report, resellers are more optimistic about the coming 12 months than they were a year ago. The report, based on a survey of more than 6,500 resellers in the UK & Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Baltics, Russia, Turkey and South Africa shows that channel businesses aren’t sticking just with what they know, but are investing in new technologies such as smart home and hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). For B2B resellers, the top areas of investment over the coming 12 months are cloud (49%), networking (46%), cybersecurity (38%), workplace optimisation (31%), datacentre solutions (24%) and IoT (18%). www.contextworld.com The great disaster recovery plan UK businesses are gambling with the continuity of their business, as new research reveals that a quarter of companies do not have any form of disaster recovery plan in place to protect them. A survey of 1,125 IT workers in full- or part- time employment, carried out by technology services provider, Probrand .co.uk , has revealed that one in four (24%) of UK SMEs do not have an IT disaster recovery plan in place. Yet, 80% of businesses who suffered a major incident failed within 18 months. Of those workers who are employed at a business which does have a disaster recovery plan in place, as many as 54% revealed that it is not regularly tested – a practice which would identify and fix any potential flaws in their DR process. In fact, 1 in 3 (33%) of IT workers claim that their company’s disaster recovery plan has never been tested during their employment. Worryingly, the data shows almost 1 in 10 (8%) of UK businesses do not have automated file back-ups in place at all. www.Probrand.co.uk Big business struggling to innovate Risk-averse cultures, excessive red tape and time constraints are restricting innovation within large businesses, new research from Studio Graphene has found. The London-based digital agency commissioned an independent survey of more than 750 senior decision-makers within UK organisations. It found that 71% of organisations have budgets and resources dedicated to innovation, with this figure rising to 86% among large businesses (those with over 250 employees). The majority (56% and 77%) of large businesses have a team or department dedicated to innovation, while three quarters (75%) meet more than once a month to discuss potential areas to creatively improve. However, despite it being a priority for many organisations, most are struggling to become more innovative. In fact, half (50%) consider their rivals to be more innovative than they are; this figure jumps to 71% among large businesses. Additionally, more than three-fifths (62%) complain there are too many steps involved in getting management to give the go ahead for new ideas. This is particularly prevalent in large businesses (87%). The research also showed that 45% of decision-makers – 70% of those in large businesses – believe their organisation is too risk-averse to embrace new innovative technologies. The respondents also cited time constraints as a significant issue; 51% feel they are too busy to think about innovation, with the number rising to 71% in large companies. www.studiographene.com Late payment debt almost doubled UK SME late payment debt almost doubled to £23.4 billion in 2019, up from £13 billion owed in 2018. More than half (54%) of SMEs have overdue payments, the highest level since 2015. The average late payment debt burden has also increased, reaching £25,000 per company, up from just over £17,000 in 2018. In total, UK small and medium-sized businesses spend £4.4 billion a year just on collecting money they are owed. Source: Pay.UK Companies hire potential over experience A recent survey from staffing business Walters People, found that almost two- thirds of employers (58%) hire staff based on potential, rather than experience or qualification, as demand for skills outstrips supply in the UK. Added to this, 94% state that their potential- based hires have become a valuable part of their team with less than a fifth (17%) of hiring managers expressing concerns about potential- based hires having the capability to learn quickly on the job. 65% of employers anticipate a skills shortage in 2020, with the most acute skills shortage being felt at the mid-management (57%) and junior/executive (37%) level – typically where Millennials (25 – 35) and Generation Z (18 – 24) are employed. www.walterspeople.com