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Students are faced with a massive decision when choosing a University to continue their education and carve out their futures.

With so many University’s battling to enrol the best students onto their courses, how does the student make this decision?

What if every University they have applied for offers the exact course they want?

What makes YOU the institution stand out to THEM the student?

Facts

• In 2017 – 2018 it was recorded that there are 164 Higher Education Institutions in the UK¹

• When applying through UCAS a student can apply for a maximum of 5 Universities²

That’s a lot of choice.

As an institution you need to make your offer more appealing than the rest, you want students to pick you above the other institutions on offer and here is how Aruba Networks can help.

Offering your students, the best network connectivity across campus allows your students to work intelligently and unrestricted. With Aruba’s secure and reliable offerings, you can equip your University to meet and withstand the ever-growing demands of user technology.

Download the benefits of Aruba OS8

HPE InfoSight and its recommendation engine can pave your institutions path towards an automated, self-learning and self-managing data centre that can free your IT department to focus on creating value and allows your institution to turn exponentially growing data into valuable, actionable insights.

Learn how it ensures 99.9999% guaranteed availability and predicts and resolves 86% of problems before they can disrupt the business of learning, research, and administration. Analysing millions of sensors a second, everyone benefits as the university’s systems grow continuously smarter and more reliable.

Download the whitepaper below to find out more

Achieve the flexibility of the public cloud on-premises under your control with consumption-based and flexible IT solutions from HPE GreenLake pay-per-use model.

HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity offers a consumption-based model on-premises, giving you greater flexibility, scalability, and control. Design your own infrastructure solutions, selecting from a broad range of HPE and partner technologies, as well as optional services that can span your infrastructure to your apps and workloads.

World-class expertise from HPE Pointnext

Every HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity solution comes with enterprise-grade support from HPE Pointnext and active capacity management to ensure that your solution grows with the business needs.

4 benefits of using consumption based IT

Outcome-based IT consumption delivers a range of benefits that you can’t get from solutions solely built from scratch or bought from the public cloud. Delivering the best of both worlds, HPE GreenLake enables:

• On-premises for better control over compliance, performance, and security
• Simplified IT that’s operated for you to free up resources and add business value
• Faster time to value with solutions that are ready quickly and evolve ahead of your needs
• Better economics with a flexible, pay-per-use model that offers simplicity and financial clarity

HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity with HPE Nimble Storage

• All-flash storage and predictive analytics with 99.9999% guaranteed up time
• Active capacity management and pay-per-use consumption from HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity meaning simple, secure, storage solution that grows with your business needs.

Read more about how HPE GreenLake can benefit your IT Infrastructure using IaaS

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Click below to view the full Infographic 

With almost 100% shift to digital across the healthcare industry, having a strong, secure and reliable network has never been more important.  Staff are using a multitude of devices to connect to the same network, along with patients and BioMedical devices.  Aruba offers solutions to solve these challenges and add benefits such as indoor navigation for the patients to enhance digital services whilst visiting a patient or as a patient themselves.

Total economic impact of IoT in healthcare in 2025 is $170B-$1.6T, making it one of the top three vertical for IoT solutions¹

How Aruba enables a digital workforce within the Healthcare Industry

A Secure, Strong and Reliable network throughout your Healthcare Institution Seamless Connectivity: indoors and outdoors utilising technologies such as satellite clinics to support numerous devices per user wherever you are.  With HPE Smart Rate multi-gig Ethernet you can enable high speed connectivity over Cat6 cabling. Future proof support for emerging IoT devices and standards.   Making sure equipment is connected, secure and reliable at any time. Point of care decision support.  Allowing clinicians to use their mobile devices to make critical decisions.  Aruba Ao8 features of reliability in a 24/7 environment – using Aruba technologies such as LiveUpgrade, Hitless Failover, ClientMatch and AppRF.   Creating an unrivalled user experience for patients and guests with location-based services Patient facing applications which allow indoor mapping, location specific content, proximity-based notifications, user opt – in location sharing (great for visiting family) using Aruba Beacons and Meridian.  Making it easier to make your way around the hospital and find a specific bed. Secured, easy to use Guest Access Portals with ClearPass meaning security even when on a guest wifi network.   Adding an extra layer of security and peace of mind for expensive and critical equipment Location of expensive assets through Meridian Asset Tracking.  IT Managers can keep on top and track their most critical and important equipment at all times.   Visibility and Control for IT Management Giving clear visibility to the IT managers to control and maintain the hospital’s infrastructure using 20/20 Visibility with Aruba AirWave.  Adding the extra layer of support with technologies such as Client-to-network E2E visibility, RF Visualization, Historical reporting, Automated Configuration Management, In-Line monitoring: Radius, DHCP, DNS critical services, role and device – based network access control. All these technologies complimenting each other to give the ultimate experience to the IT manager and securing a strong and stable environment through the hospital network.

Learn more about ‘A hospital’s health starts with its network infrastructure’

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¹McKinsey Global Institute, Unlocking The Potential Of The Internet of Things, June 2015

Take it from us, the experts; there has never been a better time to migrate your business to Azure, and we believe that the success made possible by the cloud should be accessible to every business and every organisation—small and large, old and new. But not all businesses are created equal. Some of you are just beginning your cloud journey.

Every company—regardless of industry, legacy, or technology pedigree—can thrive in the cloud. We want to paint a picture of the cloud landscape, and explain how Microsoft Azure can solve complex business problems while also making new business models possible. Now is the time to ‘spring clean’ all your apps, data, and infrastructure and migrate them to Azure.

Why cloud migration?

So, why are more and more businesses considering it a priority to migrate to the cloud? Well… do any of the below sound familiar to you?

• Your datacenter contract has an expiry date
• Your business does (or will in the near future) need a software and a hardware refresh
• You know that there is all of this amazing technology solutions out there, but it’s too much pressure on your internal IT resource to solely deliver
• As an IT manager, you’re expected to know about all the new technology available to you, but you can’t keep up and the delivery of new infrastructures is a little overwhelming
• The business is growing, and as such, so is the expectation to host a technology solution that can serve as high capacity. But you need to deliver this without a huge capital investment..
• Windows 7 End of Support is fast approaching, and you are concerned about the cyber-security threats to your business if you do not migrate in time

But for us, this is about guiding you through your journey to the cloud – not just providing the technology.

The 4 pillars of Azure

There are 4 key pillars that explain why Azure is different to any other cloud solution. Our customers choose Microsoft Azure time and time again, because of the value that can be provided in one central cloud platform.

1. Productivity: Your business can build applications, and get those apps to users more efficiently than ever. You can also manage applications no matter how large or complex. The best part is that Azure provides built-in support for an end-to-end management experience. Think about monitoring… logging analytics… patching… backup… and site recovery. With built-in security and management features, you have the assurance that security, compliance and policies are in place.
2. Hybrid: This is so much more than just being able to move an application into the cloud. You can increase end-user productivity by using Azure Active Directory for single sign-on to both cloud and on-premise applications – your business is now working on a unified platform, which provides a consistent experience across the entire organisation.
3. Intelligence: Azure provides an SQL server that connects to Artificial services. This enables the quick adoption of technologies, the ease of integration, and the development of breakthrough apps with built-in intelligence. Azure offers comprehensive set of services, infrastructure, and tools to build AI-powered experiences including bots that naturally interact with users and built-in advanced analytics tools, such as R, to make faster predictions for your business.
4. Trusted: Compliance and trust is not an afterthought for Microsoft. With Azure’s security centre, you can get a unified view of all of your on-premises and cloud workloads. Collect, search and analyze security data from a variety of sources, including firewalls and other partner solutions. By finding vulnerabilities and being able to remediate them quickly, you can limit your organisation’s exposure to threats and respond swiftly to attacks. Did you know that 90% of Fortune 500s trust the Microsoft Cloud for security, privacy and transparency?

We understand that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’

There’s no one-size-fits-all any more for your IT. Make it as bespoke as you want with Azure’s easy-to-use platform, it can do so much more than replace hardware and software; the way you communicate, analyse data, prepare marketing campaigns and deliver new and innovative features to your users will be revolutionised. And, bottom line, it saves a ton of space, money and the IT helpdesk headaches.

XMA can help you successfully move your business to the cloud.

To find out more, please contact us on:
01727 201890 | softwarelicensing@xma.co.uk

“The Modern Classroom”. A term that reminds us that the face of education is changing the way that teachers teach and students learn. Schools are constantly striving to achieve better learning outcomes, and technology is shaping the way in which this can be delivered. As technology becomes more and more sophisticated, so do the expectations of teaching staff, parents, and even students. So, what steps can schools take to meet these high expectations? How can they embrace “the modern classroom” and maximise learning and teaching outcomes all at the same time?

Microsoft 365 Education empowers teachers to unlock creativity, promote teamwork and better collaboration across the classroom, as well as provide a simple and safe experience in one affordable solution. Schools can ensure that students and educators always have access to the latest feature innovations; with automatic updates for Office 365 and Windows 10, as well as being able to experience new technologies such as Minecraft: Education Edition for students, and OneNote for teachers.

This is how we think Microsoft 365 can transform your school:

Giving students the tools they need to succeed

Microsoft 365 Education can level the playing field, and ensure every student has the tools they need to succeed. Minecraft: Education Edition has had a broad impact on teaching and learning, and connects educators right across the globe. It facilitates a project-based learning environment that allows students to develop skills that can prepare them for the modern workforce:

• 97.7% is Problem Solving
• 95.5% is Creativity 
• 93.3% is Critical Thinking
• 91.1.% is Collaboration
• 88.8% is Decision Making
• 86.6% is Communication

Promote teamwork and effective communication with Teams

Microsoft Teams enhances collaboration, the sharing of ideas and documents, connecting with peers inside and outside of the classroom, and can bring teacher and student conversations together in one digital hub. Schools can promote equity and student voice with collaborative classrooms, and connect in professional learning communities – all from a single experience in Microsoft 365 for Education. This really is a hub for every type of teamwork, and can be the most empowering form of communication for students who may struggle to connect with others in an education environment.

“With Teams, I communicate better with my classmates and my teacher. It has changed the way we relate to each other, and it lets us post useful information to help peers who are struggling with a lesson.” – Student, City of Westminster College

 

Provide a simple and safe experience

We understand that the most important thing for schools is the safety of their students and teachers. With new technologies there may come additional risks in terms of access to appropriate content, the misuse of devices and breach of data confidentiality. Microsoft 365 Education has been built around the delivery of a simple and safe experience.

• Manage users, data and devices with a single dashboard
• Protect identity, apps, data and devices with intelligent security enhanced by machine learning
• Manage data archiving, governance and discovery.

We want you to get the very most out of Microsoft 365 Education, and provide you with affordable devices that can maximise your school experience.

Discover the best devices for your Microsoft experience 

Find out more

To find out more, please contact us today.
01727 201890 | softwarelicensing@xma.co.uk

We are currently in the age of the cloud worker, but what does that mean?

The way in which we work has evolved due to the developing transition of cloud technologies and the increasing number of organisations adopting these ways of working. The progression towards cloud technologies can be seen throughout many industries and all sizes of organisations who are keen to uncover and utilise what cloud can offer them.

Employees in their personal lives embrace a plethora of cloud technologies: from ordering food and transport to shopping, all within a touch of their screen. It could be suggested that this has heightened their expectations of the workplace where they now require efficient and effortless technologies to do their job.

The evolution of the workforce can’t be ignored, with 1 in 4 employees currently seen as a cloud worker. A cloud worker can be defined as a worker who uses cloud apps and either laptops or tablets daily spending a minimum of 3 hours a day within a browser (Forrester, 2018).

A recent survey on employees showed:

• 65% believed their technology requirements for work are constantly changing.¹
• 73% rely on their employee to continuously improve their approach to devices/apps that support their productivity.¹
• 80% agreed they needed instant access to information from a variety of sources to succeed in their job.¹

There is an increase in workers operating on-the-go, using shared devices and working within large international teams. They are relying heavily on cloud-based apps and want to be able to do their job through any device and at any time of the day; structured 9-5 working is becoming a thing of the past. The working behaviours of employees are changing sufficiently enough that workplaces are adapting the working environment to ensure efficiency, retention and productivity are high.

A recent survey on ITDM enterprises showed:

• 71% agreed technology developments had evolved organisations expectations of employees day to day work.¹
• 73%consider employee experience as a top priority when making decisions about devices and business applications.¹
• 73% believed that complementing employee tasks with tech like AI cloud ans mobility is crucial to my organisations future.¹

(Forrester, 2018)

The growing trend of  employees rating flexibility to work anywhere anytime as essential in carrying out their job effectively means they embrace technologies that help them do that. Working for an organisation who understands this and puts time and effort into the employee experience has never been so important. Introducing cloud technologies into the work place to enable these workers will have a positive impact on: attracting and retaining talent as well as productivity and efficiency whilst the right technology will also keep organisations safe and secure from cyber-criminal activity.

3 ways to empower your cloud workers:

1) Workplace efficiency

Cloud workers are on the go and busy throughout the day so need features that will help them do the job and assist with increasing  productivity. Chrome OS automatically secures data with a cloud-based back up system enabling them to work worry free, from any location. Updates run automatically in the background and do not disrupt users whilst working, introducing new features over time to maintain device performance. Employees can also stay on task whilst being offline and save and sync features help them to stay productive on any device.

2) Premium hardware

Cloud workers care about having the best quality hardware to do their job efficiently and effectively whilst using helpful features to empower them to get the job done. Just like this portable Chromebook device that provides secure cloud access and a seamless transition from online to offline work. The Chromebook provides full interactivity on a single device and accommodates users who need to share company materials on the go as well as those who need secure, reliable data access to collaborate with team members across different locations.

3) Enterprise applications

Cloud workers need to securely access a range of applications that enable them to perform tasks effortlessly. Chrome enterprise enables access to SaaS apps, directly from the dock with safe browsing technology to protect users. Google Play gives seamless access to leading apps including: Cisco, Jabber, WebEx and more whilst continuously protecting users. The G suite app is readily available in the dock at every login with no browser setup required

Want to find out more about Chrome Enterprise?

Contact a member of our team today to discuss cloud worker empowerment for your work environment.

A Modern Workplace; this is now an employee’s expectation and a big necessity.
Today’s workforce have an expectation to be able to work anywhere at any time, and it’s more important than ever that organisation’s embrace and empower mobile working. Implementing a modern workplace is essential if your business wants to:

• Attract and retain talent: 82% say that workplace technology has an influence when deciding whether or not to take a new job¹
• Embrace new workstyles: 50% of the workforce will be mobile by 2020. It’s imperative that your employees are not restricted on mobile working²
• Inspire innovation: 72% of workers believe their future success depends on their ability to be creative³

We understand the challenges businesses now face when embracing the modern workplace.

For example, cyber-attacks are increasingly becoming more sophisticated… customer expectations outpace internal adaptations… and attracting the best talent in the market means becoming a digitally enabled leader in a saturated environment.

And with a minefield of technology available to businesses, how does an organisation select the best device that suits their needs and budget?
Microsoft devices offer a number of benefits that are suited for every organisation, no matter what industry you might operate in.

Here is a list of Microsoft features that we at XMA have implemented ourselves, and feel are a great platform for collaboration, reporting, and relationship building:

Hardware and software working in unity, just the way they were intended

XMA have started rolling out Microsoft Surface devices across our own business; the hardware and software are built in unity, making them easy to deploy and simpler to manage.

Our employees have agreed that their Surface device has allowed them to ‘increase productivity even on the most common tasks’… ‘more flexible working which has allowed us to embrace an “always online” approach’… and last but not least, they are proud to be seen with it! This has increased employee satisfaction and encouraged them to “use it all the time” because of the great device and M365 experience.

We’re all working as a Team

XMA have recently embraced Microsoft Teams as our primary platform of communication. This is where we communicate from one department to another, can create specific channels to engage with select individuals, share files and relevant information which can be collaboratively edited within Teams, and instant message individuals both inside and outside of the organisation.

Microsoft Teams perfectly integrates with an O365 environment and can be used as the central area for all communications across a business.
It doesn’t just end there – Teams can be used for sales teams to engage with customers. Files can be instantly shared and edited, there is a ‘chat’ feature to encourage seamless conversations between employee and customer, and the Teams groups are by invite only, so you can invite in the people you want, and keep out those who you don’t!

We make the most of Microsoft 365

Our Surface devices allow us to work with the essential foundation and familiarity of Windows 10, the protection of Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, and the Office 365 productivity apps which we all rely on every day. For example, OneDrive; with OneDrive syncing across devices, files are stored in the cloud. If someone accidentally leaves their beloved Surface device at home, they can now pick up any device, securely log in, and instantly pick up where they left off.

There’s a Surface device suitable for every department

Directors: Providing leadership across an organisation, no matter how big or small, comes with a number of challenges; overseeing the health of the business and wellbeing of customers… providing guidance and support across multi-functional teams… task and responsibility randomization… and being a positive reflection of the organisation’s brand.

The best device? A Surface Book 2 for Business. Directors can oversee the business by approving documents and providing feedback through Office collaboration features, perform complex analysis with confidence, and represent the company through Surface’s premium hardware and elegant design. This high powered and all-day battery life device has a detachable keyboard, which allows the user to stay on top of work and industry news, even when limited on space.

Creative design department: A company designer have their own challenges they face each day. For example, communicating with their colleagues and customers on design work… engaging in meetings both on-site and remotely… create modern designs for both the business and its customers… and collaborating on promotional plans. The best device? The Surface Hub 2S together with pens can be used as a whiteboard to present new and exciting designs anywhere, with a remote stand and long battery life. It enables real-time document editing whilst working with a widely distributed team through the Teams application. The stunning wide screen shows each detail in crystal clarity and will never fail to impress in customer presentations.

Sources:
1 US Future-Ready Workforce Study, 2016
2 SectorWatch, MarketWatch, April 19, 2017
3 Steelcase, “The Future of Work is Creative, How Technology and Place Enhance Creative Behaviours”, 2017

Last year there were almost double the amount of cybersecurity incidents in companies compared to in 2017, with 159,000 data breaches driven by ransomware or new attack methods.
And the global cost of cybercrime is expected to exceed $2 trillion by 2019.

Gartner recommend organisations with a focus on security adopt Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions to increase cyber-resilience with hardening, investigation, incident detection, and incident response.

However, in their 2018 “Endpoint Protection and Response” survey the SANS Institute highlight, that only 50 percent of organisations had next-gen antivirus, and 37 percent of these had not activated the advanced capabilities due to its complexities.

Organisations are finding it hard to strike the balance between deploying the best possible network protection without becoming overwhelmed by false alerts which need investigating or simply the complexity of administration.

Advanced cybersecurity systems produce massive amounts of data—much more than any number of people could sort through and analyse – in a relevant time frame.

This is why Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subset Machine Learning (ML) are applied within EDR solutions, where the software learns to solve problems and think by itself in a way that’s similar to humans. These technologies are able to sift through the vast amount of network data turning it into security intelligence able to detect threat events, traditional antivirus products would miss.

By learning what normal network activity consists such as programs used, user activity and traffic patterns, deviations from these norms show a greater threat potential and can be highlighted and dealt with in a faster fashion.

However, it is here where the threat of alert fatigue can kick in with too many false alerts requiring investigation mean that only a small percentage can be adequately dealt with. Should the security solution require administrator intervention shutting the user or process out this can seriously impact operations.

The EDR solution must be advanced enough so the AI and ML technologies handle routine tasks and first level security analysis, leaving security analysts free to focus on more critical or complex threats.

While not a “philosophers stone” AI and ML are useful tools in your security arsenal to shift the approach from reactive defense to proactive real-time threat hunting and detection.

A new cybersecurity paradigm is born.

Panda Security realised back in 2010 that existing endpoint protection techniques were limited and started from the ground up building a new single platform which is today known as Panda Adaptive Defense 360 providing 100% process attestation, meaning no process is allowed to run until actively classified as good and Threat Hunting included as standard.

This approach was only made possible through the development of a cloud-based automated detection service to classify every new Portable Executable (PE) process and identify and block fileless malware and other threats which ‘live off the land’ utilising legitimate tools – such as RDP, powershell, macros etc – repurposed for their nefarious ends, moving laterally on the network stealing credentials, browsing history, and data.

This concept was further developed into Panda Security’s Threat Hunting and Investigation service, where fed by hypotheses from the experts at PandaLabs Security Operations Center, these technologies can gather and analyze data, trace threats, search for vulnerabilities, respond to breaches, and thus reduce the IT team’s workload. This way we can focus on the really dangerous attacks.

Panda Adaptive Defense 360, and its Advanced Reporting Tool, Data Control and Patch Management modules, help you to secure your network and comply with regulatory requirements such as GDPR.

For your free demonstration or trial of Panda Security solutions, contact your XMA Account Manager.

Our pledge to the Armed Forces

XMA have formally pledged their support to current and former members of the Armed Forces and their families, including reservists, by signing the official Armed Forces Covenant.

The document highlights the moral obligation owed to the Armed Forces by the nation and businesses signing-up to it are able to officially declare their own support for the military community.

As a responsible and equal opportunities employer, XMA has committed to working more closely with past and present members of the Armed Forces to enable them to manage their military careers with civilian jobs or to find full-time employment once they leave the military.

Signing the covenant enables XMA to officially recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to the company.

See our Pledge