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In its 25th year, many will have been anxiously awaiting this years’ shortlist for the CRN Channel Awards 2018. The awards are the perfect opportunity to share acheivements and recognise those who have made outstanding contributions to the channel.  XMA are proud to announce our shortlisting at this years awards.

As the current reigning winners of the CRN Public Sector VAR award in 2017, we have continued to deliver value to our public sector customers. As a result, XMA have been named one of the finalists in the running to be named this years winners. Further to this, XMA have also been shortlisted under the ‘Reseller of the Year (£51m+)’ category, a prestigious title for any reseller in the channel.

Ian Cunningham, Director of Sales & Marketing at XMA had this to say on the news of our shortlistings:

“As competition for the CRN Reseller of the Year and Public Sector VAR of the Year awards is so incredibly high, I am delighted XMA have been shortlisted for both awards for the second year in a row. Last year I was incredibly proud to accept the CRN Award for Public Sector VAR of the year on behalf of XMA, particularly in front of an audience of industry peers.”

“XMA is powered by our people and it is them who make these awards possible through their hard work and focus on our customers.  They live our values and make a difference.”

The awards ceremony will take place on the 15th November, where we look forward to celebrating success with other industry peers from across the channel.

There are two rules when it comes to modernising your datacentre but what it boils down to is focusing on a good outcome.

Rule #1: Keep it simple

When technology needs an update, some organisations choose to modernise over time, following the same problem-by-problem approach they used to build the original data centre. This piecemeal approach is complex and can be agonisingly slow. What’s worse, all that time and effort won’t necessarily lead to a better end product or even lower costs.

Instead of focusing on daily problems that arise, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) lets you focus on the outcome: a simpler data centre that’s cost-effective and easy to manage. HCI takes a building block approach to architecture, consolidating compute, storage, network switching, replication, and backup in a single integrated system. The consolidation of these IT functions onto virtualized hardware can greatly simplify environments that have been divided by siloed point solutions.

VM-centric HCI systems are also simple for IT administrators to manage, and require much less data centre space than traditional IT devices.

Rule #2: Don’t overspend

Hyperconvergence requires some upfront investment, but it can deliver a huge return on that investment. In this study based on research with real world customers, Forrester Consulting found that HCI reduces TCO by 69% on average compared to traditional IT. Converging the entire IT stack – firmware, hypervisor, and data virtualisation software – has additional advantages, according to that same study. Data centre footprint can be reduced 10:1, backups and disaster recovery become simple and straightforward, and upgrades are managed for the whole stack. The most efficient solutions also free up significant staff time, boosting the economic benefits even further. IDC reports an 81% increase in time available to focus on new projects as a direct result of hyperconverged deployment.

Our data centre solutions guarantee high availability, reliability and security for your infrastructure

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With GCSE results out today and expected to have been the toughest yet with the new grading system, it got us thinking. How essential is technology to the way our students learn? 

When I think back to my school days, which actually weren’t too long ago (no, really!), the overhead projector was the latest mod-con to hit the assembly hall and the chalkboard was still the smartest way to share real-time lesson content.

Well, technology has come a long way since those days, yet we still managed back then. Students were still learning, achieving and prospering from their education. So if we were able to nurture success before the technology boom, why is it so important in today’s classroom?

Here are 4 reasons why we believe technology now plays a critical role in learning:

1. Students demand it

Teens spend nearly 9 hours every day consuming media and have grown up immersed in technology, so keeping up with this demand is essential. The innovative adoption of technology can also play a key role in the recruitment of the next student body but IT departments should ensure that core infrastructures and applications have the flexibility to support these changes.

2. Learn at their own pace

Traditional learning could often be fast paced, risking a drop off of concentration and understanding. With the integration of technology in the classroom and learning concepts such as flipped learning, students can learn at their own speed, pause, and recap whenever they need, meaning that the more advanced student can go ahead, freeing up the teacher to provide support 1:1 to those who need it.

3. Enhance Engagement

Feedback from our customers over the years suggests that students learn best being more interactive. This is particularly apparent in STEAM subjects where content is often more complex. Technologies such as 3D print and robotics are leading the way in STEAM by breaking down the learning barriers and offering more practical methods of learning, whilst future-proofing students as they enter the workplace.

4. Enable Collaboration

Technology permits a connected world and in this case, a connected learning environment. With intelligent applications such as Office 365 and G Suite, students and teachers can communicate, collaborate, chat and use the familiar productivity applications in a secure environment.

As experts in education technology, we are close to the market and its trends. Here are a few technologies that are already making a real impact in the classroom:

Chromebooks

Chromebooks are taking over the classroom and the reasons are simple. They are cost effective and affordable, feature an all-day battery life and instant on functionality; and with Chromecast, students and teachers can instantly share their screen.

If you are interested in Chromebook, you should check out our latest offer! You can get a HP Chromebook for as little as £65.00!

3D print

For reasons we’ve previously discussed, 3D printing can play a valuable part in STEAM subjects, transforming the classroom into an interactive learning environment.

iPad

iPad is the ideal computing companion both inside and outside of the classroom. Its portable format, instant load up time and touch screen makes life easy for teachers and students alike. Perfect for internet research, making videos and music, taking lesson notes and sharing and managing content.  What’s more, iPad is now much more cost effective and has full integration with cloud platforms such as Google and Microsoft.

So it’s clear, we have come a long way since school days were guided by a text book and piece of chalk. The dawn of the internet revolutionised the way we gained information and technology evolved around us – so much so, that teens today are technology native and would probably rather swap their right kidney than sacrifice their mobile phone.

That said, technology has enabled personalised, engaging and even mobile learning. Its enhanced collaboration and takes traditional subjects such as science, engineering and technology to the next level. Without it, the classroom struggles to thrive which is why building a technology environment that supports these trends is essential.

Is your tech up to the task?

Not sure how to enable cloud managed mobility, whether your network can support the load or how flipped learning can really make a difference? Our specialists have the answers and can help determine whether your existing IT is up to the job.

Ben Brown
Head of Schools

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.

Printers that reside on your network could be hacked

Security breaches are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous in the way hackers can now access confidential data… Did you know your printer could be an entry point to your whole network?

Multifunction Printers (MFPs) have evolved to become integral to the network, with many other functions than just printing, including copy, scan to network destinations and send email attachments, these devices come equipped with hard disk drives and often run internal web servers.

Whilst MFPs and printers have improved business productivity and many business rely on them, they pose the same security risk as any networked device if left unprotected. With data breaches rising and increasing industry and regulatory requirements around information security, businesses may suffer financial and reputational damage if they ignore the risks of unsecured printing.   

Device

Printing and imaging devices store user credentials and other sensitive data such as stored print jobs that can be accessed if it’s not encrypted or regularly erased.

Network data

Multi-function printers reside on your company network. They can also be hacked like a computer and be an entry point for malware and viruses

Access control & authentication

In the absence of a pull printing requirement, sensitive documents may be retrieved by any user. Anyone who has access to printer settings can exploit permissions if the settings aren’t restricted to admin only access.

Monitoring & management

Lack of centralised printer control can lead to inefficient, incomplete, and time-intensive efforts by IT to establish and maintain printer security settings.

Document

Output trays are an easy way for sensitive data to fall into the wrong hands. Unprotected input trays could lead to the theft of special paper–such as check stock.

Safeguarding

Many organisations still have work to do in safeguarding their print infrastructure, however by introducing secure printing controls reduces risk and can help reduce costs through user authentication, which can minimise wasteful printing and provides a method to audit user activity, this enables organisations with better control and responsibility.

Another measure to introduce increased security could to develop a print security strategy and ensure all employees are appropriately briefed and know how to use features such as PIN enabled printing so that features are used well and do not disrupt your organisation.

Are your devices fully secure?  

Do you fully understand the complexity of your print environment, the volumes you are printing, or how much it is costing you?  Our team of print professionals are on hand to discuss your exact needs and will work with you to ensure a solution is implemented which maximises productivity, whilst driving down unnecessary expenditure. Contact us now:

Call 01422 444 666
Email halifax@xma.co.uk

Reflect and review year-on-year

Universities are under increasing pressures year-on-year to reduce their expenditure. With cuts to government funding and university applications decreasing by 6%, its’s now more important than ever that Universities reflect on their spending habits, and review areas in which costs can be saved.

However, how do Higher Education establishments ensure that cutting costs doesn’t result in lower quality education? How can Universities leverage technology in a way that bring long-term benefits?

1. Online Education and Hybrid Learning

There are multiple costs involved with hosting lectures. A single 1 hour lecture incurs costs such as electrical and heating costs, powering student laptops through the network, and costs to the lecturer. Each student will attend an average of 14 hours of lectures per week – equating to 56 hours per month. By reducing this down to 12 hours per work, Universities can save the costs of powering 96 hours’ worth of lectures per year.

Through various apps such as Teachable, Skillshare and Learnworlds, students can virtually attend their lectures online, and access the teaching material as and whenever they need.

2. Streamline your business processes

Administration is one of the highest costs to any organisation, yet one with an effective alternative. If people are used to process forms and information repetitively, consider doing this electronically where it requires little to no human intervention.

3. Leverage technology

We are living through an ongoing digital revolution. Students expect their education to deliver a digital experience in line with the one they have in their leisure. It is important to ensure that Universities explore all options for the best possible deal on technical solutions. Read thoroughly through each bid Universities receive in response to their tender.

Additionally, seeking out the best warranty and service deals will save any University money should devices or a network go wrong.

4. Go paperless!

Going paperless doesn’t just save costs, it helps to save and neuter the environment. Universities are being encouraged to “embrace the digital reality which we ourselves are responsible for leading at the University.”

University students may pay for their printing, but consider all of the other associated costs: services, delivery, and mailing, storage, processing, disposing, and recycling. Copier and printer supplies alone amount to a huge expenditure.

By going paperless, and avoiding printing where possible, your University could save up to £25,000 per annum. Digital communications, such as emails and online portals, will reduce overall costs of printed communications and help to save the environment.

Empower your staff

Earlier this year, the Department for Education published eye-opening statistics from their ‘Teacher Workload Survey’, showing that teachers are spending over 54 hours working both in and out of the classroom per week.

With class sizes set to continue increasing, the workload for teaching staff is expected to follow suit, and this has subsequently led to the education sector within the UK taking a huge hit over the past few years. Furthermore research from The Guardian reveals that a whopping 79% of schools are struggling to recruit or retain teachers.

With central government continuing to make funding cuts, schools need to start seeking alternative methods to empower their staff.

Edtech in the classroom

Technology is increasingly playing more and more of a pivotal role within the classroom. In fact, a recent report conducted by The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has predicted that by 2018, 58% of teaching time in UK State schools will be supported with ICT equipment.

But, although research has shown the monopoly of technology within the classroom, 80% of our teachers have said that they need better access to IT in order to improve the quality of learning.

What role does technology play in saving our teachers?

There are a number of ways technology can help keep our teachers happy and reduce the amount of time they’re having to spend on simple tasks that quickly become arduous when not equipped sufficiently.

As an overview, in and out of the classroom, well-suited classroom tech can help teachers with:

• Lesson planning – reducing time through the use of collaboration tools and faster technology
• Working from home – new and more portable devices allow teachers to easily transition from the classroom to the comfort of their own homes
• In-class teaching – Slow and malfunctioning computers can drastically eat into lesson time. With the introduction of faster devices you can say goodbye to slow start-up speeds, and welcome the onset of more productive lessons.

Discover the smart way to invest in IT and empower your teaching staff

Schools, colleges and universities need to become smarter with the technology they’re investing in, not only due to budget cuts but to also maximise productivity and therefore job satisfaction amongst their teaching staff.

Did you know there are over 11 million people with a limiting long-term illness, impairment or disability in the UK? The Office for Disability Issues, state that someone with a disability is half as likely as someone without to hold a degree qualification. It is the duty of universities to ensure that students have access to the right learning tools for successful education.

But can technology be the answer?

There are an array of assistive technologies to aid students with special-needs, in offering them support, independence and confidence in the learning environment. Universities must now outline how they can support special needs students in a Disability Statement, offering all students an equal opportunity to learn and accomplish qualifications. Universities can make some simple changes to existing campus devices and discover an array of accessibility tools that will help aid learning for students with limitations.

E-textbooks

Following a study by the Higher Education Academy in the UK, it was indicated that resources are a common issue affecting the happiness of disabled students. E-textbooks offer the ability to scale text to your needs or to make use of text-to-speech software. It also allows you to hold an unlimited number of textbooks all on one device – so no more struggling to juggle lots of heavy books that also cost a fortune to buy!

Online resources

Similar to E-books, students can now access all types of digital learning materials online, including whitepapers, journals, blogs and more. Content sharing has become increasingly popular with the development of the cloud, using solutions such as Google Drive and Microsoft SharePoint. Students and teachers can share notes, presentations and other documents in one central place for anyone to access (anywhere and at any time), offering a totally accessible world of knowledge to all students.

Keyboards

University IT departments can now arrange to have their devices and desktops set up with Keyboard shortcuts for easy access to apps. This saves time and offers ease to students with disabilities.

A standard keyboard has over 100 keys, which can appear confusing and intimidating to some students. Universities can purchase special built keyboards for assistive learning, with features that include larger keys with audible click, bigger gaps between keys or coloured keys to distinguish between vowels, consonants and numbers.

Touchscreens

Some students with learning difficulties may find it hard to relate the movement of their hand on the mouse to the movement of the cursor on the screen. Therefore, it is advisable that educational institutions keep stock of touchscreen devices for students who may struggle using the standard mouse. Other mouse alternatives are also available if touchscreens are not an option.

Accessibility features

Different features are available for different types of disabilities. For example, those with a vision impairment can benefit from increasing the colour contrast of text and images or braille narration. Alternatively, those with a hearing loss can take advantage of visual alternatives to sounds such as Skype translator, visual notifications and for longer or mono audio for those with partial deafness. Setting up in-house devices with these features or offering training to students to set features up on their personal devices will hugely benefit in aiding their learning.

We are thrilled to have achieved HP Premier MPS Partner Status. This is an industry wide trading status, and a symbol that we are recognised as an established print IT reseller and a key partner of HP.

Achieving this status is testament to our ability to provide strategic guidance in managing print environments and providing services and software solutions that can help reduce costs, improve security and free up your time.

We operate a technology-based, results oriented approach to managing your print environment, built on the premise that printing and document management are essential parts of your IT architecture.

What could you achieve with MPS?

• Lower printing costs by implementing a targeted print strategy for improving processes and increasing efficiencies.
• Reduced need for IT support for your printing environment, so your IT staff can spend more time on strategic projects.
• Manage and deploy devices and supplies from multiple vendors in a more convenient and effective manner.
• Ensure that your imaging and printing devices are being used in the best ways for your employees and your organisation.
• Increase employee productivity by reducing device downtime.

Because we recognise the importance of incremental and continuous improvement, you will be better able to respond to changes in your business as they arise.

Ready to talk MPS?

Go to our Managed Document Service page or contact us below.