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The growth of the video conferencing industry has been seen by us all, from work video conferences, to quizzes and birthday parties. To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it is already an overused statement, but it’s hard to argue with it. Whilst growth predictions for many markets are now cut, video conferencing is by no means in the same situation.

In early February, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its infancy, one provider saw a surge of 15% in its stock price. Analysts predict this company could potentially double its value by the time the pandemic settles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven greater demand and adoption of video conferencing tools, and this has seen many short-term benefits, as well as challenges created by the demand. Whilst some companies offering video conferencing have gained negative attention for privacy concerns and technical capacity issues, overall, the demand has increased exponentially. These new levels of growth have been driven by this increased demand, predominately from corporations organising remote working solutions.

2020 is already said to be the ‘Year of Remote Working’, with many businesses making the decision to change their business model to a remote working organisation, or an organisation with new degrees of flexible working, this growth is set to continue. Research demonstrated 57% of small businesses will continue to work at home after ‘Stay-at-Home’ orders are relaxed. Many big employers are also talking about introducing or building upon their work-from-home models, including Facebook, Twitter and Google. Like most changes to routine, this can feel unusual and daunting, however Video Conferencing technology allows for continued collaboration and teamwork.

In 2018, the global video conferencing market was valued at just over 3 billion dollars. This is estimated to more than double to 6.4 billion dollars by 2026. This means a compound annual growth of 9.8%. As we are all adjusting to the ‘new normal’ and connecting in new ways, video conferencing will become an increasingly important tool in productivity, collaboration, and connectivity.

If you would like any help or advise, please contact your XMA account manager.

There’s a wide variety of benefits that can be seen by organisations who introduce MPS, from cost reduction through to reducing your environmental footprint. Let’s take a look at the top 4 benefits your business could experience from MPS.

Flexibility- Businesses change. Especially in this current climate and through MPS you can tailor your own printing solution with options to reduce fleet size or change device mid contract enabling a printing solution that adapts to your changing business needs.

Reduction in costs- By instructing a specialist to firstly carry out an audit on your current print fleet you can benefit from consolidating your current printers or replacing them with efficient newer technology which can reduce printing costs overall by up to 30%.

Sustainability- An introduction of MPS to your organisation can dramatically reduce waste and lower your environmental footprint by identifying fleet areas that can be rationalised and implementing rules around best practices for printing within your workforce.

Print Less- Overall a Managed Print Solution will focus on monitoring print usage and maximising efficiencies.  XMA’s ‘Print less’ solution is based upon three pillars: sustainability, flexibility through innovation and a focus on delivering an outstanding service.

For more information on how your organisation can benefit from the above and introduce a managed print solution, Email: print.solutions@xma.co.uk

Ben Coley, Microsoft Surface Global Technical Specialist, has provided us with his insight into Modern Deployment, what it is, and how it works.

“One of the most interesting parts of my job is talking to customers about Modern Deployment with Surface devices. Traditionally, most customers I speak to are using classic deployment methodologies and tools, where they will build a custom image, deploy it to a device, push down policies, settings and then finally applications – essentially overwriting what originally came on that device.

The advantage with Surface devices is that the image that comes installed from the factory is a clean build of Windows 10 Pro, which has all the latest drivers and firmware pre-installed, and all the optimisations required to deliver a great end-user experience, as well as the latest Office 365 Pro Plus applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

What most organisations are doing is essentially throwing away this image, and then doing their best to recreate it, which can lead to all sorts of problems
and complexity.

This is where Windows AutoPilot comes into play. AutoPilot essentially takes that clean gold-standard image that ships on a Surface device, layers down settings on top of it, optionally activates the Office apps and gets a user to their desktop in record time. So no waiting around for a two hour deployment – it can be accomplished in just over thirty minutes (depending on what apps and settings are being deployed). Another advantage is that it is a user-driven process, so instead of IT having to do the deployment, the user can unbox the device themselves and the device will automatically configure itself.

So, how does it work?

Essentially, your business would work with XMA as a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), which then gives that CSP the right to enrol devices into your organisations environment on their behalf. When the end-user turns on the device, such as a Surface Pro 7, it checks in with the AutoPilot service (once connected to the internet) and sees that it is registered, so deploys the relevant settings applications for your organisation.

The whole service is underpinned by Azure and Intune, the organisation needs to have all their user accounts in Azure AD, and Intune is then used to configure a deployment profile and push down the relevant settings and apps to a device. Once all this is in place, you are able to move to Modern Deployment using devices like Surface – drastically speeding up their device deployment and removing the requirement for a device to pass through their IT department before it is deployed, as everything can be configured remotely.

Additionally, for certain use-cases, there is an extra service called Whiteglove deployment. This allows the CSP to automate most of the deployment and pre-stage all the configuration and applications without user credentials. This means when a user receives their Surface device they are simply prompted to sign in. Everything is already there ready for them to use, and complete set-up of a device is less than five minutes!

If you are interested in looking at AutoPilot with Surface devices to save your organisation time and deliver a better end-user experience, then please reach out to your XMA account manager who will be able to assist further in getting you on the road to a Modern Deployment experience.

Contact us to find out more about Microsoft Surface deployment.

It’s rare for businesses and institutions to face huge shifts in working practice. And, on those occasions when a firm chooses to change location, review working practices or update multiple offerings, leadership would usually demand a detailed plan of action and a period of time to execute it. Recent events have – for many businesses – forced unforeseen change. So, where contingency planning hasn’t provided all the answers for your business, how will you create the plan for your new way of working?

With these 4 steps to Navigating the New Normal, I’m providing some guidance to help us all build the right foundations for our business’ new normal.

Preparing for Business Continuity

When your business is facing a crisis, finding a way to maintain continuity is the first priority.

For organisations with a predominantly desk-bound workforce, having to restrict access to office locations can cause a number of issues – ensuring systems access and flexible processes will be the initial concern.

Remote working isn’t new, so many organisations will feel quite comfortable suggesting employees take home their laptop and create a makeshift desk. But is this enough? Systems and processes designed for occasional remote working by a small number of staff might not be robust enough to support an entire workforce homeworking. Are the secure systems able to maintain the number of users necessary? Is access possible on this new scale? Can we ensure employees are using only company devices and secure networks?

There are solutions for all these concerns, which will be dependent on an organisation’s existing infrastructure. And, while businesses will make immediate decisions to enable business continuity in an emergency, following up these decisions with consideration and an eye for the future is the only way to ensure continuity going forward.

Developing a Digital Capability

Many organisations were already developing their cloud-first agenda before we all started talking about Covid-19. The reality, however, is that this work will likely have been pushed at a rate – and possibly even in a direction – which companies hadn’t previously expected.

While embracing the cloud will bring many benefits, understanding the impact of these large-scale changes will take time – and meaningful data. To understand your organisation’s usage trends as well as it’s readiness for cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools, will require information and assessment. And, only once the right data has been gathered can a meaningful strategy be developed.

The world has changed, your processes and systems have changed, ensure those changes are built on a clear understanding of what you have and what you need to build the right capability for your future.

In our current position, as humans as well as employees, keeping our focus and being productive may not be our main drive. Particularly in roles where remote working has – in the past – not been possible, expecting employees to pick things up at home will undoubtedly face hurdles.

Organisations have the opportunity to develop new processes and strategies with tools which will benefit everyone:

• Online communication tools to maintain relationships and encourage collaboration
• File sharing through cloud services for the same
• Chatbots to reduce enquiry traffic through helpline services can be used both externally with customers and internally to manage queries

And, while these tools will make change easier to handle, it’s also well recognised that employee engagement is a major factor in productivity. So, when considering new tools, think about the implications for the user. Ensure employee engagement is at the forefront of these changes, enabling those employees to see true benefits and realise the value of increasing productivity for everyone.

Balancing Innovation and Security

Many organisations have moved quickly to ensure continuity, and this speed has – necessarily – brought with it risk. It is essential that these organisations continually review.

Retrospective checks on security and governance are needed to ensure vulnerabilities haven’t been introduced, to confirm systems are managing the necessary scale, and to ensure teams responsible for managing these requirements are in control.

Creating an environment and culture where these responsibilities are framed correctly will also be key.

Reintroducing the Physical Workspace

So, what about when this is over? When the office doors are open again and the desks have been dusted off – how will your organisation react?

For some, the instinct will be to pull everyone back behind their desks to return to “business as usual”. For those who previously pushed against workplace flexibility there are likely to be questions from employees – and now isn’t the time to lose the momentum you’ve gained for change.

The ideal would surely be to use this time to review – to understand the benefits of our working practices before and during this crisis – to make changes for the better. Which of those changes in working practices are improving life for our employees and the business? What can we learn about the physical space we have and how we have used it?

Having made bold steps into the future, organisations who strengthen their position and continue to ask questions will find their future opens up in a way they may previously have missed. The fact is that many organisations too scared to develop agile solutions in the past will have either leapt to make these changes in haste, or struggled to survive. Having taken those steps to change, now is the time to review, refocus and reinforce – to ensure these changes aren’t short-term fixes but strong, positive developments which will lead to future growth.

It’s important we look to the future, and seek opportunities to collaborate with those who can support us going forward. We’d love to talk.

Contact us now on info@xma.co.uk or by completing a contact form.

Want more online information around how you can tranform your digital workspace? Check out our Workspace section on our website here.

Written by Terry Chana – XMA Workspace Solution Director

According to a study by The Sutton Trust, 15% of teachers report that more than a third of their students from the most deprived areas would not have adequate access to an electronic device for learning from home, compared to only 2% in the most affluent state schools.

This suggested a huge gap in learning for those students without access to technology during the UK Lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the Youth Sport Trust to launch their Digital Deficit Campaign.

Thanks to a charitable donation of £100,000 from entrepreneur Sir John Beckwith CBE, it is expected 300 children will benefit from access to a device for activities and guidance that will keep them moving, boost their wellbeing and ensure they have access to education, even when not in the classroom. With the hope that other organisations will support the cause, their goal to raise £1 million would extend this reach to up to a quarter of a million children.

Sir John Beckwith, president and founder of the Youth Sport Trust, said:

“This pandemic has brought to the fore just how many children miss out because they do not have access to technology at home. It was an issue I felt strongly about before the pandemic struck but now with home schooling and remote learning due to continue for some time there are too many children missing out.

I also hope this donation can highlight how technology can play a part in active lifestyles and encourage active learning at a time when we know less than 50% of children access the recommended 60 active minutes a day and the least active, are again, the most disadvantaged.”

XMA have partnered with the Youth Sport Trust to assist with the supply of iPad’s, technical support and training to be delivered by our team and network of Apple Professional Learning Specialists. As an Apple Authorised Education Specialist, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to provide Apple technology to schools and students that need it most, at a time when distance learning and the need to stay connected is more important than ever.

Ian Cunningham, Director at XMA had this to say:

“XMA were thrilled to be presented with the opportunity to work with Youth Sport Trust. Equipping young people with the equal opportunity to access learning, regardless of their circumstance, is at the heart of what we have continued to do for many years alongside our key educational partners including Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Our purpose has always been to empower learners through the efficient use of technology, and together with Youth Sport Trust this continues to become a reality. As an Apple Authorised Education Specialist, our in-house team of qualified educators will support and mentor teachers and learners in adopting this technology, both for use in the classroom and at home.”

The Youth Sport Trust are a children’s charity working to ensure every child enjoys the life-changing benefits that come from play and sport. Find out more about what they here

If you’d like to know more about their Digital Deficit Campaign, please visit their campaign page here

Coronavirus Statement Update 22/06/20

XMA has continued to operate a full service across all areas of the business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to meet its 3 key objectives:

1. Continuing to support and deliver to our customers the goods and services they need to support their changing requirements
2. Making sure our employees are cared for to the best of our abilities
3. Securing the long-term future and stability of the XMA business, so that our customers and staff can have confidence in these challenging times

We successfully transitioned our staff to home working at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown and the XMA Board have acknowledged how well our staff managed the complete transition whilst maintaining service levels, delivering critical projects to the NHS and Education sectors and supporting all of our customers during this time.

Our continued success is underpinned by our ‘key worker’ employees who have continued to operate from our offices and warehouses and we truly appreciate the commitment and efforts of each of these individuals. We have ensured that Government guidance has been followed to protect these key workers in terms of safe working practices, PPE equipment and social distancing.

As the lockdown restrictions begin to be eased, XMA has put in place plans to ensure our staff can return to work safely, in a controlled manner and on a timescale to support their individual concerns and commitments.

This planning has been undertaken by our dedicated ‘Return to Work’ team who have put together an induction programme to prepare employees for the changes to office working brought about by COVID-19. This comprehensive online programme covers the changes required to maintain a safe working environment, with sections covering:

• Setting the Scene
• Practicing Good Hygiene
• Office Operations
• Monitoring your Health
• Communication

Our priority through the return to work transition will be to continue to protect our employees and enable them to operate from our offices in a safe and secure manner. To achieve this, we have carried out Risk Assessments at all locations in accordance with Government guidelines and these assessments have been made visible in reception areas of all locations to promote best practice. The Risk Assessments are reviewed weekly and updated as appropriate to meet current Government guidelines, ensuring we are taking all possible measures to reduce the risk to our employees.

The return to work scheme will be done at a pace that ensures XMA meet all Government guidelines whilst continuing to deliver services to our customers, to meet both the needs of changing working environments and ongoing and future projects.

XMA are pleased to confirm that we have maintained a ‘business as usual’ approach throughout the lockdown and look forward to further supporting our Customers, Partners and Suppliers going forwards.

Please contact us at approvals@xma.co.uk if you need to discuss your business needs.

XMA Commercial Director Andy Wright has joined this year’s CRN Women in Channel judging panel for the first time. Joining other industry peers including XMA’s Jen Norman – who has also been a judge in previous years – Andy and Jen will be working to identify those in the channel who go the extra mile and are inspiring the next generation.

Andy had this to say:

“The CRN Women in Channel Awards is a great initiative that highlights the achievements of those across the IT channel, who can also act as role models for young women considering a career in the industry. I am pleased to have the opportunity to be part of the judging panel at a time where equal opportunities for all is so very important in our society.”

Jen will be joining the panel for a third year running and had this to say:

“I am absolutely privileged to be on the CRN Women in Channel judging panel again this year. Every year I see so many inspiring women throughout all the categories, so I am honoured to be part of celebrating their achievements. It’s always brilliant to read the successes in every entry and to see the powerful potential that these women have.”

XMA have three nominees for the 2020 awards including Jade Barlow, Kavita Chauhan and Shaira Alibhai. The awards take place in October and we look forward to seeing the shortlist reveal in a few months time.

Best of luck to all the nominees!

The true value of technology isn’t how powerful a device is, but by how much it empowers you. Technology is an important contributor to enhance teaching and learning, and a powerful tool for collaboration, inspiration and the measuring of success. But how can educators ensure that every learner can enjoy that technology, to the best of their abilities?  

Having previously worked in a role supporting those with Special Educational Needs (SEN), it is clear that every student is different and there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Having access to tools that can enable different types of needs is invaluable.  

iPad hosts an array of built in assistive tools to complement vision, hearing, mobility, learning and literacy. Whether you are in the classroom or distance learning, these tools will enable you to work with all types of learners, ensuring they receive the best experience possible. 

Vision

Seeing the screen is just one way to experience iPad. Assistive features ensure that anyone with a vision impairment is not restricted. 

Features include: 

• Fully control your iPad using only your voice and have it talk back to you 
• Use customisable colour filters to complement different forms of colour blindness 
• Use Zoom or Magnifier to make your screen bigger or take a closer look
• Braille capability including braille display or direct braille without the need for braille display 

Hearing

Apple have built powerful features into every operating system and device to ensure students who are deaf or hard of hearing, do not have to compromise their learning. 

Features include: 

• FaceTime for communication using sign language
• Siri to ask questions, set reminders or issue commands 
• Hearing aids which are compatible with iPhone and iPad 
• Use the Noise App to track your hearing health 

Mobility

The powerful assistive features in all Apple products give people with physical limitations greater control over their lives. Teaming multiple accessibility tools allows for an enriched learning experience for every student. 

Features include: 

• Switch Control to navigate sequentially through onscreen items and perform specific actions using a variety of Bluetooth-enabled switch hardware 
• Voice control using Siri and Dictation 
• AssistiveTouch lets you adapt the Multi-Touch screen to your physical needs 

Learning & Literacy

Learning, creating and exploring the way they think is key to a successful learning experience. Apple technology breaks down barriers and enables individuals with SEN to learn in a way that is tailored to work for them. Not only can technology assist with physical impairments, but also for students with attention and sensory challenges.  

Features include: 

• Speak Screen to have all the content on pages read back to you 
• Safari Reader reduces the visual clutter when browsing the web. It strips away ads, buttons and navigation bars, allowing you to focus on just the content you want 
• Guided Access lets parents, teachers or therapists limit iPad to one app at a time, and limit the amount of time spent in an app 

Check out our tutorial videos around how to use many of these features here

To learn more about Apple Accessibility and how XMA can help you utilise these features, visit our accessibility page here.

Harmless are a not-for-profit organisation who provide self harm and suicide prevention support services, as well as delivering The Tomorrow Project – A confidential suicide prevention project that has been set up to support individuals and communities to prevent suicide.

Much like many organisations, they have been faced with operational challenges as a result of COVID-19 and the UK government lockdown. With a focus on mental health being more important than ever, it is vital that they have access to the tools they need to continue delivering support services remotely.

XMA are happy to have partnered with Harmless to provide resources needed for their staff to continue supporting individuals, families and friends exposed to the risk of self-harm and suicide at this time.  By providing technology that enables them to deliver their service remotely, Harmless have continued to help hundreds of people in crisis every week. This new way of working will also enable them to continue offering remote support beyond the pandemic, with an even wider reach.

XMA’s Managing Director Lee Hemani, had this to say of the partnership:

“XMA are a family-run business with a head office in Nottingham and are passionate about how technology can connect people and transform lives. We are committed to supporting local grass-roots charities and community projects in achieving their goals, so when we became aware of Harmless / The Tomorrow Project’s plea for technology, to continue their critical, face to face services remotely in these unprecedented times, we wanted to help.

We know that maintaining mental health in the modern world is a very real challenge for many people and that self harm and suicide touch people from all walks of life. We share the vision of the Tomorrow Project; that no one should have to feel so alone that they feel they have nowhere to turn for support, and recognise that the communities within Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire; where so many of our employees live, are very fortunate to have these services available to them; particularly at a time when many other mental health services are closing their doors.”

To find out more about Harmless and the amazing work they do, visit www.harmless.org.uk.

I hope everyone is safe and well during lockdown and people are still finding fun ways to stay active and social. Like many people I’ve been having regular quizzes online with friends, often ending up in ‘JD Wetherzooms’ for a few drinks. I recently hosted a Britain’s Got Talent spoof on Teams and people were impressed at how some of the features were in the free version of Teams and how well it integrated with Windows 10 features!

I’ve been a windows 10 user for so long I’ve almost forgotten what Windows 7 looks like for those feeling nostalgic here you go..

With the evergreen Window 10 OS features are rolled out so regularly that often they can be missed! I’ve handpicked some of the top ways I have been more collaborative and productive during current COVID remote working!

Let us begin at the start…

Just like organising your apps on your phone, or bookmarking your favourites within your internet browser, by customising you Start Menu you will have you go to applications and documents just one click away!

Pin apps to the Start menu for quick access to what’s important by selecting Start> press and hold (or right-click) the app you want to pin > Pin to Start.
Treat your start menu to a spring clean by unpinning the apps you don’t need to make it less cluttered!

To get really organised you can actually create your own Start Menu folders.

Drag one tile on top of another to make a folder, then drag more tiles into it. To open the folder, just select it.

Share the workload!

Most people are aware of OneDrive and being able to save and share documents from their own cloud hosted folders. Once a document is in your OneDrive if you want to share the document for joint working you can simply do that via right-clicking the file and selecting More OneDrive Sharing Options.

To edit this document in real time with colleagues, once opening the document you can select Share, enter the email address of the people to share with and select Send. Now the file is shared with everyone on your list.

Whilst editing each user will be assigned a coloured flag to illustrate where they are in the document. This saves time emailing around the document and loosing track of versions, and allows maximum productivity when on a team call.

If you are not on voice call, you can still chat with colleague within the shared document. When editing a shared Microsoft Word document if you select the picture of someone who is editing at the shame time, you can hit the Chat.

Many screens make light work…

You may have had a dual screen set up in your office or an external monitor that would allow you to view multiple applications at the same time. A prime example for me is switching between a Excel spreadsheet price file and XMA quoting system. Windows 10 provide a handy way of allowing you to snap applications side by side. If you select any open window, then drag and bounce it against the side of your screen. All other windows you have open will appear on the opposite side. Select a window to have it fill the open space.

If your finding yourself spending more time looking at your phone screen as well, you can actually use the phone directly from your Windows 10 machine. The Your Phone App allows you to link your android phone to your device to respond to text, share photos, make calls and more. iPhone users can also use the all-in-one Office app to stay productive wherever you are. Ideal for when you want to get some fresh air and sit in the garden!

Saving your bacon!

Never underestimate the pain of losing documents and folders if your PC breaks when your darling daughter accidentally knocks a whole glass of orange juice over your keyboard!

Thankfully like me, you can automatically back up document, picture and desktop folders to OneDrive so they are protected whatever happens to your PC!

On the right side of the taskbar, select OneDrive > More > Setting and on the AutoSave tab, select Update Folders and specify which folders you’d like to keep automatically synced.

To prevent the offspring from deleting my work when I’ve left my laptop unattended whilst getting a cuppa I’ve also setup Automatic locking on my PC.

You can use Dynamic Lock setting to lock your PC once a paired Bluetooth device (possibly your headset or phone) leaves the proximity around your PC.
Under the Start menu go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options.  Select the check box under Dynamic lock, and then take your device and walk away, safe in the knowledge that you PC screen is locked!

Oooo work-friends…

Keep your favourite people nearby… by using the People app you can keep important contacts right on your taskbar, so they’re always within reach when you want to chat.

People pulls in contact info from apps like Teams and Mail. Once you’ve connected those apps, use People to find your favourites and pin them to the taskbar for easy access.

Pin a contact to the taskbar

Easily get in touch with your favourite contacts. Select People > Find and pin contacts, then pick who you want to pin! Obviously, our marketing team are pinned in mine! ?

I hope that you’ve found the above features interesting and useful and honestly this is just the scratching the surface [no pun intended] of ways that windows 10 can help. For more tips and tricks please check out Microsoft’s Windows 10 page here

On the 5th of June I am running a webinar with Dan Boyles from Microsoft to discuss some of our favourite features in Windows 10 and how they are making our remote working lives easier. You can view the webinar here

In the meantime if you have any questions on Microsoft licensing, products or feature please drop me an email on James.Thorogood@xma.co.uk 

Stay safe. Stay connected.

All the best,

James