Archive

Establishing a technology benefits scheme is an effective way to engage and excite your people. Through salary contributions, you can enable access to the latest technology, at unbeatable prices.

Here’s 4 reasons why you should talk to us about establishing a technology benefits scheme at your organisation.

1. Purpose built XMA Benefit Store

Our exclusive secure online store, provides access to preferential pricing to employees of public and private sector customers, as well as parents and students in education. Simply register for an account using your organisation email address to access a huge range of promotions and discounted prices on leading high street technology brands.

2. The choice really is yours

With over 6,000 products to choose from, you’ll be spoilt for choice. We have an extensive range of computing products including laptops, desktops and tablets from all the biggest brands, printers and printing supplies, iPhone and Apple Watch, along with all the accessories you’ll ever need.

3. Hassle free

We provide a simple, easy to deploy programme with minimal effort and no cost to your organisation.

4. Quick and easy

It was always our intention to keep this process simple – and we won’t keep you waiting around. Simply let us know that you want to be a part of XMA Benefits Store we’ll do the rest. And for products in stock, we’ll even deliver them next day, for free, to your home or workplace.

We can give you the best advice, ordering experience, pricing and product selection, so why not visit the XMA Benefit Store and see for yourself.

Everyone seems to be looking for ways to be more “green” these days ­– hybrid cars, reusable grocery bags, etc. And those in IT are no exception. Traditional IT environments consume an incredible amount of energy resources, such as power and cooling. The key for organisations focused on moving towards a greener data centre is to emphasise efficiency in energy consumption and efficiency in IT processes and systems. In other words, green IT needs to align to efficient IT.

The road to a greener data centre is paved both by small, incremental changes as well as monumental technology shifts. Advancements in software often naturally lead to more energy efficient data centres. For example, hard drives are now built to consume less power than in the past, new server features help reduce superfluous cooling costs, and data optimization techniques, such as inline and at inception deduplication and compression, lead to efficiencies in processing, storage, and backup.

Hyperconvergence represents a major technology development capable of transforming the data centre into a lean, green, efficiency machine. By converging all IT below the hypervisor, hyperconverged infrastructure immediately makes the data centre more efficient and environmentally sound. The data centre goes from as many as 12 disparate IT components to a single solution, so there is no longer a need to utilise storage space, power resources, or cooling functions on these IT components.

In fact, an IDC whitepaper found 75% of respondents realised an average of a 65% improvement in utilisation of storage resources as a result of hyperconverged infrastructure. In addition, nearly half of surveyed customers realised a 47% reduction in cost of data centre power and cooling expenses.

Though revolutionary, hyperconverged infrastructure is not a rip-and-replace technology as it can be introduced into existing environments as part of normal refresh cycles. For example, a hyperconverged solution can first be deployed in place of traditional data storage as a first step to modernising a data centre, and can later replace additional IT components over time as needs arise. This approach offers an opportunity to simplify the existing infrastructure and the complicated process of updating that infrastructure. Once standardised on a hyperconverged solution like HPE SimpliVity powered by Intel®, IT teams would only have a single product to refresh instead of a variety of separate IT components – which helps explain why 26% of customers in that same IDC study cited the need for fewer tech refresh cycles.

Hyperconvergence has always been focused on simplifying and consolidating the data centre. It’s no surprise that organisations looking to reduce their environmental footprint have discovered significant “green” opportunity in hyperconvergence. The benefits in space utilisation and operational efficiency make it more than worthwhile to implement a hyperconverged solution and transform your data centre into a lean, green efficiency machine.

When you have existing printers you’ve already bought and paid for, it’s tempting to think that maintaining your existing fleet will cost less than purchasing new printers or signing up managed print services (MPS). Why replace them if it’s not absolutely necessary?

The costs of an ageing fleet stack up, and in the long term, managed print services are able to save you more than just money. Here are five benefits MPS could bring to your organisation. Many businesses allow outdated, legacy printing devices to negatively impact productivity. Learn about the positive impact Managed Print Services can have on your business in this report from IT Pro.

1 – Cost savings

The consequences of sticking with an old printer are sometimes hidden, and can work at various levels, from running out of toner when you want to print an essential document, to the device breaking and your IT department being too busy to fix it. These consequences cost money, and the benefit of using managed print services is that you have the maximum availability of print when you need it most.

An MPS provider will look for ways to rationalise and consolidate your printers, replacing many old, large laser printers with a smaller number of newer, better distributed, faster devices or multi-function printers with all the necessary functions built in. Costs are visible and predictable, and you never have to worry about the expense of replacing ink and toners at different times across the business.

Maintaining your old printers might seem to help you keep costs low in the short term, but in the long term you’ll miss out on cost-saving opportunities, while facing expenses and uncertainties that MPS providers are there to alleviate.

2 – Efficiency

Old printers waste valuable time, which always has an impact on the bottom line. Not only does the time spent waiting for a slower printer really add up over a business year, but every paper jam and malfunction means more wasted time that could be used more productively.

An MPS provider will come in and analyse your business, printers and requirements in terms of printing, scanning and copying. This doesn’t mean pushing expensive hardware into every corner of the business, but instead they will look at where teams need specific capabilities, then will find the printer/s that will match those needs.

A really good provider will go further and look at ways that the business overall can print more efficiently, and save money by reducing the everyday print costs.

3 – Minimised downtime

In many organisations, employees can end up spending excessive amounts of time dealing with printers – not just waiting for old, slow devices to print, but dealing with malfunctions, changing cartridges, adding paper or waiting for someone from IT to fix a problem.

A good MPS provider will help reduce support costs and minimise downtime. Because it’s their job to maintain your printers and keep them running with a steady stream of supplies, your own IT team frees up its time to work on other projects.

4 – Up-to-date security

Newer printers have better tools for maintenance, management and most importantly, security. This has never been more important, with every old and outdated device now a potential security risk. Options like pull-printing, cloud printing and printing from mobile devices have gone from being expensive extras to standard features, while NFC and ID card-based authentication are no longer the preserve of larger businesses.

MPS providers are there to sort out things like security updates or rapid changes to firmware. With more threats out there and greater penalties for data breaches, that’s good news for businesses of every size.

5 – Environmental benefits

Do your existing printers have effective, high-performance duplex printing enabled? If not, you could be missing out on features that could save you up to 40% of your paper costs, according to some studies.

MPS providers look for ways to reduce waste, helping businesses make more effective use of more advanced printers and functions. Such printers have management features that prevent or discourage wastage, can restrict the use of colour, make duplex printing the default, or switch on pull printing, so that print jobs only print when actively requested from the printer. This can see drastic reductions in the number of printed pages left abandoned in the output tray.

Meanwhile, more modern, high-quality draft and eco-printing settings could use up to 50% less ink than standard modes, while producing output that’s easily good enough for both internal and external usage.

Source: HP

In a recent Education survey* Lexmark identified three key points based on the research project findings, in which Lexmark can help enable the Educations sector save time, money and the environment through its productive, secure and sustainable solutions.

Approximately 12% of respondents spend up to four hours scanning hard copy documents per week and 41% can’t qualify the amount of time they are spending scanning hard copy documents.

Enabling productivity

Lexmark’s smart multifunction printers are leading the way in delivering productivity enhancing features, using innovative touchscreen technology that can help manage costs more effectively and work smarter.

99% of respondents believe device security is a high or medium priority, but only 57% are confident that they have a security solution in place.

Enabling security

Lexmark makes security an integral part of all products to help create a safer and more productive environment for your school, college or university.

81% of people place at least a medium priority on the environment in their decision-making process when purchasing new printers.

Enabling sustainability

Lexmark is a recognised industry leader for sustainability initiatives and supports a number of environmental features which allow users to reduce the environmental impact of their printing and imaging activities.

Read More

When access to your data lags, your business lags. Understand how to apply machine learning in your data center to predict and prevent the problems that cause downtime.

This research by Nimble Storage, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, outlines the top five causes of application delays. The report analyses more than 12,000 anonymised cases of downtime and slow performance. Read this report and find out:

• Top 5 causes of downtime and poor performance across the infrastructure stack
• How machine learning and predictive analytics can prevent issues
• Steps you can take to boost performance and availability

Download the free report by completing the fields below

Beating customer SLA’s

HPE InfoSight took infrastructure management out of the equation for Rent-a-Center, and freed up staff time to execute instead of managing storage. Hear from their Director of Technical Operations on how they transformed.

Watch video

Utilising key staff across XMA and our partners businesses, we run employability workshops within the University that will support the embedding of employability skills in areas such as:

• ­ Team working and collaboration
•  Business and customer awareness
•  Application of IT­
• Self-management
•  Interview and presentation skills
•  CV workshops
•  Problem solving­
• Communication and digital literacy

XMA already support the CBI’s employability initiative and Guy Bates from XMA recently coached a group of PhD students as part of the Digital Economy YES Programme’s (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) in business planning, supporting each group’s business concept and preparing them for their Dragons’ Den style interviews for funding.

As a STEAM ambassador, Guy has also recently supported a joint project with the University of Nottingham to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

It can seem to take forever to scan through the endless amount of HP print cartridges available online. As a job that is always left until the last minute, a rush to order means that some buyers may not pay as much detail as they need to the purchase.

Despite many reputable e-commerce websites to buy from, there are still third-party traders selling thousands of counterfeit goods – and HP print cartridges are no exception.

The cost of counterfeit

In fact, counterfeit goods are so much of an issue, that The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that the annual value of international trade in all counterfeit goods at $200 billion (£158 billion).

Easy to be tricked

In the printing world, counterfeiting consists of the manufacturing/remanufacturing or refilling of a print cartridge, with the intention to promote it in a way which suggests it is an original brand name product.

This usually involves an unofficial print cartridge being put into a box that closely resembles genuine HP packaging – deceiving the customers into paying a higher price as they believe the product is legitimate.

The disadvantages

As well as being deceived on price, the potential risk of using counterfeit print cartridges could play havoc with your printer. Problems you may incur, include:

• Poor quality print-outs
• Reduced page yield
• Damage to printer
• Premature fail or do not work
• Interruption of print infrastructure
• Invalidation of hardware warranty

Protecting yourself against counterfeit

Just like all counterfeit products you’ve probably witnessed, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. To avoid falling victim to questionable offers, you should look to buy from authorised resellers only. For HP, this includes us here at XMA.

For existing cartridges that you may have that you are dubious about, you can action this three-step plan.

1. Check the security label – Tilt box front to back to see “OK” and “√” move in opposite directions. Then tilt box right to left to see “OK” and “√” move in the same direction. If it doesn’t, this is not a HP print cartridge.
2. Scan the code – Use the HP SureSupply app or a generic QR code reader to scan the QR code on the cartridge’s security label. Or go to www.hp.com/go/ok to validate online.
3. Report counterfeit – Keep the cartridge, packaging and any documents relating to the product, such as invoices, etc, and report it on the HP website.

Beating counterfeit cartridges

Unofficial traders have become smart in how they package and sell counterfeit cartridges online. Whilst HP and other companies are combatting the global issue, with this information, you can ensure that you are buying the right cartridges for your printers – delivering the quality, performance and value that you expect from a HP printer cartridge.

For more information on buying official HP printer cartridges from XMA, an approved HP reseller, speak to your Account Manager today.

Full week work experience with XMA for 68 Computing learners

Leicester College serves over 20,000 learners and in 2016 was rated fifth nationally for college student satisfaction in the National Student Survey.  In 2017, Leicester College approached XMA to lead a major work-experience programme for 68 learners of Computing.

The College wished to give Diploma learners a taste of a career in the IT (Information Technology) industry with a major player. XMA was the perfect partner for this as they specialise in IT, support, and services to schools, colleges and universities.

“In the past, the College struggled to find employers to place such large numbers of learners and quality had been a challenge. For many, this is their first experience of business life, so quality is important, meaning that their experience needs to lead to an understanding of what the business does, what makes it successful, who their customers are and their needs, career opportunities and routes in and progression.”

Sue Bassi, Work Placement & Progression
Co-ordinator at Leicester College

The College first collaborated with Industrial Cadets to help them find the best employer partner that could provide a proven structure for a full week of learning and activity.

Industrial Cadets’, Christina Bond, recommended XMA. XMA supports many communities and education outreach projects including sponsoring poets, children’s authors, scientists and even astronauts to work with schools and colleges to inspire and engage learners in different routes to success in IT and employment.

“XMA’s enthusiasm and commitment enabled us to create a great, bespoke programme to captivate the learners in a largely project-based format, so the learners could use their creative talents, experience and understanding of ICT use in school and college life.”

Christina Bond, Industrial Cadets

To make the learners’ time as engaging and creative as possible, the week began with setting a project for the learners to pursue in 11 groups. Each group had the task of developing a concept for a ‘Classroom of the Future’.

They needed to consider the best use of IT, space and resources to help learners and teachers get the best from primary or secondary education.

Learners were to consider a hypothetical customer, who would want the best for their learners.  Innovation was to be valued, as were considerations for access and inclusion for learners with special educational needs. Their environment was constructed with consideration for the wider environment including carbon conservation and sustainability of the learning environment

The week culminated in a Dragons’ Den style presentation, whereby each student group would ‘sell’ the Panel their classroom concept. All of the project concepts were outstanding, with the learners displaying considerable confidence and demonstrating their grasp of the brief, alongside innovations they had discussed within their teams. Judging became a tough task!

The top two groups both sold the Panel on their ideas and their individual and group credibility. As winners of the XMA Classroom of the Future Project, the groups were invited refine their ideas at XMA’s Nottingham office and present to an industry audience, including Ian Wedgewood of market-leading education audio-visual specialists Promethean.

Reducing outside of school hours

It’s now not an unfamiliar sight to see a teacher lugging boxes of books and folders between classrooms and then home again in the evening. Research from the Department for Education’s ‘Teachers Workload Survey’ has revealed that on average teachers are spending over 18 hours working outside of school hours each week.

The reality of bigger class sizes means that the workload for teachers is on the increase. As the pile of 25 text books grows to over 30 – not to mention the added time needed to plan lessons to keep larger classes engaged; the teaching targets begin to appear increasingly less achievable.

Amongst many professions balancing work and home life can be a particular struggle, but no more so than for teachers. In order to help reduce the time, outside of school hours, that teaching staff are spending on marking each week, we’ve compiled some top tips for turning the marking mountain into a molehill.

1. Review the time within your working day
   Ever get to the end of a school day and wonder where on earth the time has gone? Perhaps it’s time to start tracking and scrutinising your work days.One of the best ways to do this is to create a work-time diary. This will act as a summary of the tasks or jobs that filled your day – whether that’s an extra 10 minutes spent at the photocopier due to faulty devices, your computer just rebooting for updates or having to keep students back after class – it all adds up.Create a spreadsheet or table and include all of the tasks that you covered within school hours, as well as any work related jobs you pick up out of hours. By doing this you’re able to keep track of any tasks that are taking up too much time throughout your day, and find the areas that are taking up too much of your valuable time and troubleshoot how your time could be better spent.
2. Encourage peer-to-peer assessment
   Peer assessment is becoming more and more popular with the education sector. Not only does this method alleviate the amount of marking you’ll be taking home, it also helps students build their confidence, analytical skills and encourages engagement throughout lessons.In order to approach peer assessment in the right way, you’ll need to share your own techniques with the class as well as give them an assessment criteria to judge the work against. Ask them to try and give constructive criticism to their peers and/or assign designated ‘study-buddies’. The feedback can then either be shared back within small groups or with the wider class as a whole.
3. Listen to music
   When sitting down at home and preparing yourself for an evening of marking, it’s important that you remove any distractions. The less time spent on distractions, the quicker you will get through the pile of papers sitting in front of you.
   In fact research shows that listening to music when working is proven to increase the standard of your work and make you work faster!While the nature and style of the music can cause specific responses in the brain, some studies suggest that it really is down to personal preference. Want some inspiration? Check out this article from The Telegraph.
4. Optimise your surroundings
   Although marking from home may be inevitable, it doesn’t have to be an drawn out chore. Research into the productivity of working from home has revealed that by setting aside a separate work space in your home, you will help gain a better work-life-balance.With this said, why not have a designated and removed area in your home for marking. This could be a specific chair or even an entire room. This space should be set away from any distractions and be treated as if you would your own desk at school. Having a nominated ‘work area’ helps to separate the ever-competing worlds work and home and prevent the blurring of the two; allowing you to complete your marking quicker, in order to get back to enjoying your free time.
5. Use the right equipment
   When marking digitally, there’s nothing worse than slow technology slowing down the process. Faulty equipment can not only end up with your spending unnecessary extra hours at home attempting to mark, but also will increase frustration leading to you becoming more hostile towards the task.Research by BESA, together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed that 80% of teachers now say they need better access to IT to improve learning.Statistics like this therefore suggest that technology is an important and contributory factor in the job satisfaction and morale of teachers. If schools and other education establishments are smart, investment in IT doesn’t need to cost the big bucks and can actually start to deliver a return on investment.

Sustainability in ICT

XMA coordinated the running of a community competition that focused on eWell-Being in the sustainable use of ICT. . We tasked community teams with investigating and demonstrating available energy and cost savings for their buildings and IT infrastructures, with them presenting their finding to the University and XMA senior teams for judging.

XMA ran a similar event in Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham, where collectively the students demonstrated a number of ideas that would yield a return on investment within 18 months, many of these were implemented; such as low energy bulb swaps, automatic shutdown of various energy consuming devices and promoting best practice with users. This project would contribute to both the Community Engagement and Sustainability areas of the University Social Impact Strategy.

As an ISO14001 accredited supplier XMA can also raise awareness of this standard with both the student cohort and across the local community. Our Environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies mandate adherence to UK and international CSR legislation, including the minimum ethical sourcing standards. These policies also encompass compliance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) “Declaration of Fundamental Principals and Rights of Work”.