Let’s face it: Cloud has Gone Mainstream

by: Hugo Harber

Cloud is now a mainstream solution. I don’t say this because every cloud pun has been uttered and written or because every IT business has a cloud strategy now; it is because in almost every tender document I look at there is reference to cloud...

08 December 2010

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It’s the network that counts!

by: Stephen Eveleigh

I have been asked many times if it is safe to entrust a key communication tool to a hosted telephony platform. I have had a mantra that I use almost weekly since I joined Star. “It’s the network that makes the difference”. This is never truer...

06 December 2010

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Any Neutrals in the Net Neutrality argument?

by: Hugo Harber

I never sit on the fence. However, I am split by the net neutrality arguments. The reason for this is that there are really two arguments here: 1. Should providers block users from accessing content via their connection to the internet? 2...

06 December 2010

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Ask Your Communications Partner About their Product Roadmap

by: Ben Crouch

As product lead for the new hosted Office Communications Server (OCS 2007 R2) service WorkLife IM; I’ve been testing different mobile devices with the service. Being an iPhone user it was the first device I was keen to try out. I was surprised to...

24 November 2010

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Building on tried and trusted technologies

by: Stephen Eveleigh

The way in which people communicate and collaborate has rapidly changed, with new demands and capabilities today that were hardly a consideration a few years ago. However, the broad base of tools available to deliver business communications has...

17 November 2010

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Presence is the dial tone for next generation communication

by: Stephen Eveleigh

I remember attending a briefing by Frost and Sullivan in April 2006 that was called “Presence is the dial tone for next generation communication”. At the time I thought it was promising the impossible. They described how convergence of...

17 November 2010

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Instant Messaging

2Mbps – A truly un-ambitious target

by: David Palmer

I recently attended the Westminster eForum on Building 21st Century Broadband. A very well attended forum with industry and government all interested in how and when the UK can deliver a super fast broadband network. I went expecting a broad range...

08 November 2010

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DR or BC for the Winter Months

by: Stephen Eveleigh

Recently, I have had a few cold and frosty starts to the day. While these mornings have their charms, it does remind me that winter is coming. I hate struggling through snow on my way to work, and last year it seemed to go on and on. It also cost ...

04 November 2010

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Conferencing is a tool and collaboration is a process

by: Stephen Eveleigh

I read the above statement on an analyst’s website recently and it made me think about how this may be important for our customers. For me the idea of a conference is straight forward; 2 or more people come together at an appointed time to discuss...

25 October 2010

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Technology Decision? – Choose None of the Above.

by: Grant Tanner

The pace at which new technologies are introduced makes it increasingly difficult to know when to refresh existing hardware and software, and exactly what to refresh them with. Contrary to what common sense might tell us, the latest technology isn...

15 October 2010

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Managed Services

Breaking the cycle of PBX investment and upgrades.

by: Stephen Eveleigh

The boundaries of businesses are becoming increasingly blurred as the number of distributed offices are increasing and more employees are working remotely or from home. Hardware based solutions become inflexible, offering poor return on investment...

15 October 2010

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A first class seat?

by: Hugo Harber

At the height of the MP's expenses scandal, Tory MP Nicholas Winterton was at the centre of a row surrounding first class rail travel. Whilst his comments were widely interpreted as a statement of class and privilege, there was a serious message...

22 September 2010

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Outsource, Managed Service or Cloud

by: Hugo Harber

One has to make a clear distinction between outsourcing, managed service and cloud. Outsourcing is all about wholesale transference of internal competencies, responsibilities and assets of a department or function to another party, these are almos...

22 September 2010

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The FSA makes the business case for encrypted storage & backup

by: Hugo Harber

I am sure it will not be news to you that you have a responsibility to your customers to keep their data secure. However, what diligence do you go through to ensure this is the case?< Yesterday, the FSA handed out a £3.25m penalty (reduced to...

03 September 2010

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Security

Evolution not Revolution.

by: Hugo Harber

Are on-demand IT services really all that new? Are we really experiencing a revolution in the way businesses consume the IT services that support them? The way I see it, SMEs harnessed the benefits of Iaas & SaaS long before they were known by tho...

27 August 2010

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Presence leads to more effective decision making

by: Stephen Eveleigh

I've been using Office Communicator for a number of months now and I have noticed how it's quickly become intertwined with the way in which I work. The real-time communication enabled by Communicator for instant messaging/audio or audio/video (PC...

27 August 2010

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The Google effect

by: Ben Crouch

I was recently involved in a tender bid with a business ready to make the leap from on premise email and collaboration to a cloud based solution. "The prospect is also considering Google" my co-worker heading up the bid told me. As I utilise Googl...

19 August 2010

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Cloud Computing

Just who is “waking up”?

by: Hugo Harber

I am sometimes asked whether SME's are "waking up" to the benefits of cloud computing . I see it the other way around; that they have been searching for answers to everyday business problems for many years, and the ways of accessing new...

16 August 2010

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Mind the Gap

by: David Palmer

I read with interest that the latest report from Ofcom has suggested the UK’s largest broadband providers were found to be advertising broadband speeds that could not be experienced by the vast majority of their customers. According to Ofcom, 97% ...

29 July 2010

Network Resilience – Ensuring a correct fit.

by: David Palmer

Dependency on the network is growing. As businesses move to Cloud Computing , VoIP solutions and distributed workforces, it is more important than ever to ensure the network is fit for purpose. Reliance on a web connection or link to data centres...

29 July 2010

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Security - the importance of certification....

by: Andy Gibbs

Many companies tell me that their biggest fear is keeping up with the changing landscape of internet threats. Often they lack the resources to cope with them or feel they have the inadequate in-house expertise to ensure best practice. It's no...

16 July 2010

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A look to the (not so distant) future

by: Hugo Harber

The needs of UK businesses are evolving at an unbelievable pace – a technology aware workforce, challenging economic climate and access to new technology advances almost every day are creating the perfect climate for progression. Out of all of the...

17 May 2010

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Why should I look at adopting Unified Communications?

by: Hugo Harber

The key to adopting any new technology is to be really clear about what you want to achieve as a business before you make any decisions around implementation. Most businesses I deal with share similar drivers, which largely tend to be common sense...

17 May 2010

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What is Unified Communications?

by: Hugo Harber

Over the next few weeks I will be looking at how best to approach Unified Communications to gain the maximum advantage for your business. I will consider specifically the what, why and how? - starting today with the what? Unified communications ca...

30 April 2010

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Addressing the green agenda with technology

by: Hugo Harber

As I start to think about budgeting for next year with the obvious restraints the current economic climate imposes I am also looking to technology to help provide environmental savings for the business. Whilst the carbon footprint of businesses in...

24 March 2010

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When should you question pay per month services?

by: Hugo Harber

Recently I’ve been exploring my options around backup solutions for my personal data and I came across a number of services that were aimed at personal, SME and large enterprise sized clients. It dawned on me that the personal SME focused services...

24 March 2010

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Cloud
Data

Buying services from the cloud

by: Hugo Harber

Last time I talked about the attractiveness of buying services more flexibly, on a user centric basis, and have been asked by a couple of people what types of services are best suited to this. My response to this is simple; it's not what you buy i...

25 February 2010

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Are the services you buy designed for the end user?

by: Hugo Harber

When you go to your telecoms provider what do you get? Lines, servers and appliances or do you get end to end services? As we deliver more and more functionality to our ever more demanding end users the work of the IT department involves increasin...

22 February 2010

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Remove the jargon to discover the benefits – continued

by: Hugo Harber

Unified communications (UC) have been around for 4 or 5 years. It is a concept that has been pushed hard by the hardware vendors into the enterprise sector but has meant little to medium sized business. I think this is for two reasons. Firstly the...

10 February 2010

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Cloud so what?

by: Hugo Harber

Many of our customers are looking at how to make the most of the newly created cloud services . Of course how to achieve this varies from business to business but to generalise there are some activities you can embark on which will help you make t...

15 January 2010

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Your cloud doesn’t have to be public

by: Hugo Harber

As companies move to SOA and cloud, concerns around security are being raised. You can understand why, the label ‘cloud’ conjures up a picture of publicly accessible services and applications, spread across multiple locations. The fact is that...

15 January 2010

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Snow Clouds

by: Hugo Harber

So we have a little snow (quite a lot actually). As expected the trains are disrupted, we have run out of grit, schools are closed and businesses are shutting down. So wouldn't it be great if you don't have to close your business down? By adopting...

07 January 2010

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ISV to SaaS to MSP?

by: Grant Tanner

So you are an ISV with a niche market - perhaps you run software for Estate Agents, Property Developers or Charities. You have standard software, perhaps for Workflow or Content Management and charge professional services for the "tweaks" for...

06 January 2010

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Remove the jargon to discover the benefits

by: Hugo Harber

Convergence, Cloud and Unified Communications are terms which have bandied around by technology companies for a few years now, but tend to mean little to the businesses I talk to. Over the next few weeks we will look at some of these terms and...

05 January 2010

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A decade for transformation?

by: Hugo Harber

I was recently reading some articles on the predictions for the growth of Augmented Reality – an industry that barely exists today that in just 4 years time will be worth just shy of $1bn dollars. It will create opportunities for software develope...

Blog entries posted during 2010

by: Hugo Harber

08 December 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

06 December 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

06 December 2010

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by: Ben Crouch

24 November 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

17 November 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

17 November 2010

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by: David Palmer

08 November 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

04 November 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

25 October 2010

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by: Grant Tanner

15 October 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

15 October 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

22 September 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

22 September 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

03 September 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

27 August 2010

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by: Stephen Eveleigh

27 August 2010

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by: Ben Crouch

19 August 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

16 August 2010

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by: David Palmer

29 July 2010

by: David Palmer

29 July 2010

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by: Andy Gibbs

16 July 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

17 May 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

17 May 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

30 April 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

24 March 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

24 March 2010

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by: Hugo Harber

25 February 2010