Tag: #IT

CyberSmart Partners with Vodafone Ireland to Enable Secure Connectivity for SMEs

CyberSmart, a UK leader in simple and accessible automated cybersecurity technology for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has today announced its strategic partnership with Vodafone Ireland. Following the launch of productivity solutions including Office 365 and AppHelp by Vodafone, this initiative to bolster cybersecurity defences serves as a natural progression to equip SMEs for successful, secure ways of working in today’s digital age. The move also represents CyberSmart’s debut on the European market, marking a significant step for the company toward global expansion.

A recent study published in October 2021 found that over half of Irish small businesses have paid a ransom demand, averaging at €22,712. In fact, a majority (57%) have also created a cryptocurrency reserve in case they are needed to pay a ransom. Yet, in spite of this general awareness of cyber threats and anticipation of ransom demands, only 39% of SMEs in Ireland believe they are well-protected from attacks. Through CyberSmart’s platform, Vodafone will help businesses to change the narrative and prevent them from falling victim to cybercriminals.

With little to no IT expertise required, CyberSmart’s technology continuously assesses all laptops, mobiles and tablets against best practices, and recommends fixes to reduce cyber risk – regardless of the network a device operates on, whether it is company or employee-owned, while home or remote working. They offer a trust seal to demonstrate the business’ commitment and compliance with said best practices. CyberSmart also provides SMEs with digital security training for all staff and a GDPR compliant data protection policy.

Managing Director of Vodafone Business in Ireland, Sinead Bryan said: “Vodafone is committed to providing essential connectivity solutions to Irish SMEs. This new automated security service and partnership with CyberSmart further enables us to safeguard our SME customers, support them on their digital transformation journey and protect them from the ever-growing cyber threat environment”

“Since inception, CyberSmart’s primary objective has been to empower SMEs to take back control of their cybersecurity. Our technology is affordable, straightforward to implement, but most importantly, easy to use. SMEs are under-attack and underserved – we’re looking forward to supporting the tens of thousands of Irish SMEs that fend off cyberattacks on a daily basis.” said Jamie Akhtar, CEO and co-founder of CyberSmart. “We are thrilled to be working alongside Vodafone Ireland, whose vision very closely aligns with ours. The world has gone digital in the last couple of years, and we’re here to make sure SMEs can stay resilient and secure online.”

54% of Irish SMEs say climate change is at least as important as price when buying IT

Datapac, Ireland’s leading technology solutions and services provider, today announces the results of a survey which found that more than half (54%) of SMEs in Ireland say the climate change agenda is more important than or equal to price when it comes to IT purchasing decisions.

Furthermore, only 15% of Irish SMEs said that impact on the environment is not a key deciding factor when making technology purchasing decisions.

The survey of 150 SME business owners in Ireland was carried out by Censuswide in association with Datapac and cybersecurity and backup specialist, Datto.

In relation to IT budgets for this year, over half (51%) of those surveyed said their IT budgets are increasing, with 35% of budgets remaining the same and 14% set to decrease.

With most workplaces open again, the survey found that 40% of SMB owners intend to continue to offer remote or hybrid working despite the immediate necessity of the pandemic having passed. Securing critical data can be a challenge for many within the context of these new ways of working, with a further 38% believing that remote and hybrid working has made it more difficult to secure critical data.

Karen O’Connor, General Manager, Datapac said: “The climate change agenda is something which ultimately affects all aspects of an organisation’s operations. To meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions, organisations must holistically examine all fundamental processes, including IT, to best chart a course for a greener tomorrow.

“The past two years have seen widescale digital transformations as organisations adapted to better face new challenges. As organisations have witnessed first-hand the value added through enhanced flexibility and productivity, trends indicate that IT investment will remain high. When strategically examining one’s IT position, it is important to fully consider how IT investment can enhance organisational processes, rather than just focusing on point-solutions to solve individual challenges.

“As we emerge from the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations need to seize the opportunity to fully re-assess and strengthen their IT and security infrastructures and strategically plan how their IT can best support a greener, more sustainable hybrid future.”

Nicholas O’ Donovan, Sales Manager, Datto Ireland, said: “We have seen rapid digital adoption in organisations across the board over the last two years. At the start of the pandemic, many organisations were forced to enact changes under very tight time constraints and may not have had the opportunity to fully consider the security ramifications of such a shift or to seek expert assistance to guide their transformation.

“Threat detection and response capabilities remain key, yet the fact remains that the best recourse in the likely event of data theft is having the capacity to quickly restore operational data from a recent and uncompromised backup.”

Wisetek Celebrates Earth Day 2022

To mark Earth Day 2022 on 22nd April, Wisetek, a global leader in advanced IT asset disposition (ITAD), data destruction, technology reuse and manufacturing services, is calling on global companies to ethically manage their e-waste collection and destruction, and to be proactive in their sustainability initiatives and policies.

Wisetek has recently partnered with Trees on the Land, a cross-border initiative working to establish young native trees across Ireland, on a commitment to plant a tree for every order placed on their ecommerce site, Wisetek Store. Wisetek and Trees on the Land are currently in the process of planting 5,000 trees at sites across Co. Cork.

The company has a dedicated environmental committee and Corporate Sustainable Initiatives programme in place, with the objective of continually improving the internal environmental policies and processes at its facilities across Ireland, the UK, the USA, the Middle East and Thailand. Some of these initiatives include:

  • Supporting Local Communities – The Deng Forest Community live in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand, which is outside the current reach of the national electricity grid. In 2014 Wisetek initially donated 1,200 batteries to the community, in co-operation with the Thai Ministry for Energy and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) to operate the installed solar panels that create an electricity source for the community. Since 2014, Wisetek has donated up to 9,600 batteries to the Deng Forest Community.
  • Environmental week is an annual event within Wisetek that aims to encourage employees to take part in environmental activities. This week focuses on the theme of “Waste Not, Want Not”, with staff taking part in activities and projects with reused materials that would otherwise be considered waste.
  • Employee WEEE Days are a service that Wisetek offer to our employees that enables them to bring in their electronic waste and it will be responsibly disposed of, free of charge.

The theme of Earth Day this year is ‘Invest in Our Planet’. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

Sean Sheehan, CEO of Wisetek, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of all Wisetek’s operations, and is a core value by which we abide. It is our hope that Earth Day 2022 will help to raise awareness of the importance of environmental stewardship among Irish and international businesses. I would like to thank all our employees for their continued efforts in executing on our sustainability initiatives, including our recent partnership with Trees on the land. In order to safeguard our environment, it is essential that companies take ownership of their environmental footprint and are proactive in finding ways to reduce it.”

Last year, Wisetek recycled over five million pounds of IT materials, including desktop computers, laptops, phones and printers, on behalf of its clients. This resulted in a reduction of over 7 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Over 150,000 pounds of toxic materials were also diverted from landfill by the company. According to the e-Stewards Global Impact Calculator, these sustainability saving equate to the impact of over 17,600 trees.

TechFest 2022 returns in-person to Cork City

it@cork has today officially launched TechFest 2022, its annual flagship technology conference, which returns for its first in-person event since 2019. The technology conference will be held in the Clayton Hotel in Cork City from 9:30am on the 25th of May 2022 with a festival of supporting technology events all that week. Tickets for the main conference are currently on sale at https://bit.ly/itcorktechfest22.

The technology festival will feature expert speakers from across the world, including Global Tech for Good practitioner and Director at GitHub Mala Kumar and Environmental Scientist Dr. Tara Shine. The event, MC’d by award-winning industry broadcaster Jonathan McCrea, will also feature workshops, networking opportunities and an industry expo.

Gillian Bergin, it@cork Chairperson and Senior Consultant with DELL Technologies commented: “We are energised and excited that TechFest returns as an in-person event this year. There are two years of networking and knowledge sharing to catch up on, and we have a jam-packed day planned with panel discussions, breakout sessions and keynote addresses.

“With our three key themes of Transform, Innovate and Inspire, attendees will hear from industry leaders and subject matter experts on how tech has enabled them to adapt and succeed, overcoming the lingering impacts of the pandemic. There will also be a focus on how companies can overcome the current talent crisis, how current and future transformative technologies will impact the nature of work and challenging discussions on possibilities and practicalities.” 

Over 250 people are expected to attend the event, giving the opportunity for attendees to network, connect and collaborate. Other speakers include Dr Marguerite Nyhan, Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering and Future Sustainability from UCC, Rois Ni Thuma, Head of Cyber Governance from Redsift, Niamh Parker, Co-Founder from Altada, Greg Tarr, Chief Executive Officer from Inferex, Conor O’Loughlin Co-Founder of Glofox, and Ross Frenett, Founder and Chief Executive Officer from Moonshot. Plus, many more speakers will be released in the coming weeks. 

TechFest project lead William Dalton, Head of Global Infrastructure Services at Trend Micro and it@cork board member added: “We are also inviting organisations in the region to host satellite events that week, creating a multi-day technology festival, offering diversity of thought and experience, and showcasing the best of what the region has to offer”

As part of the TechFest 2022 schedule, it@cork is inviting organisations in the southwest of Ireland to host an event for it@cork members and beyond. If you have an idea for a partner event, please contact Juliette at juliette@itcork.ie. 

At their recent AGM, it@cork appointed five new members to their board, including Laura Hughes, Program Manager at Cloudera, Vikram Kunnath, Lifesciences Manufacturing, Supply chain and Technology Consulting leader and Partner at Ernest & Young, Louise O’Neill, Associate Director at Berkley Group, Catherine Evans, RDI Collaboration Manager at Fexco and Matthew Camilleri, Founder and CEO at Castille.

Tickets for the event are now on sale at https://bit.ly/itcorktechfest22, but numbers are limited so attendees are encouraged to book early as the event is expected to be a sell-out.

Welltel connects Insomnia’s 76 locations in deal worth quarter of a million euros

Welltel, Europe’s leading dedicated business communications and managed IT solutions provider, today announces that it has delivered robust connectivity to Insomnia, Ireland’s leading independent coffee shop chain and the 15th largest in Europe. Insomnia has invested almost a quarter of a million euros to enable connectivity to its 76 coffee shops, more than 500 employees, and customers across Ireland and Great Britain.

Following extensive site assessments, Welltel designed a bespoke solution which has almost entirely eradicated connectivity issues for Insomnia, with any remaining issues easily mitigated. The system can withstand any fixed-line interruptions and provides automated backup in case of an outage or failure, meaning minimal downtime for the business.

The solution has improved customer experience in-store with high-speed WiFi for customers and more reliable card payments and loyalty transactions. The next phase of the project will see the introduction of more connected services to Insomnia, including telemetry and digital displays.

Welltel installed Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) and new routers in each location to ensure the fastest available broadband connection and better employee access to Insomnia’s cloud-based services including till systems, card payments, loyalty platforms and head office resources. High-speed mobile connectivity has also been rolled out across all stores ensuring risks of downtime are significantly reduced.

Conor Ward, Head of IT, Insomnia: “Great coffee must be matched with great internet. Today, connectivity is absolutely core to our ability to give customers what they want. We needed a secure, stable and high-quality connection that would not only ensure our business could continue uninterrupted, but underpin growth and business success.

“With Welltel’s solution, connectivity issues are becoming a thing of the past. Even when issues flare up, these are easily remedied with minimal downtime. We had been seeing a heightened demand for quality connectivity based on both customer expectation and increases in the number of connected services. Customers can now enjoy an improved experience in our stores, with fast, seamless payments and reliable Wi-Fi, while staff also benefit from improved access to the company’s cloud resources.

“We are confident this system will meet our business needs as they continue to evolve. It will support our exciting plans for the next chapter in our increasingly digital business.”

Dan Croke, Account Director and Solutions Principle, Welltel: “We were thrilled to be chosen to work with Insomnia on this exciting project. Things are becoming increasingly connected and reliable networks have never been more important, especially for a customer-facing business such as Insomnia. This project was undertaken and carried out with the needs of customers and employees at the core.

“The scalable solution will grow in line with the company’s requirements, and with the very latest connectivity technology, Welltel has futureproofed Insomnia’s systems and is enabling success in a cloud-based world.

“We’re looking forward to working with Insomnia on the next phase of the project and continuing to build on our valuable relationship.”

Almost half (48%) of Irish office workers believe the pandemic has improved job opportunities

Auxilion, a leading provider of digitally transformative IT services and solutions, today announces the results of a survey* which reveals that almost half (48%) of Irish office workers believe the pandemic has improved job opportunities.

The survey – conducted by Censuswide and involving around 1,000 office workers in Ireland – also found that over a fifth (22%) of respondents started and finished a job during the pandemic.

The top reason respondents left their last job was because a better opportunity arose (32%). The other main drivers were cited as insufficient salary (29%), wanting a change (28%) and poor management (26%).

When it comes to retention, the research found that 27% of respondents disagree[1] their organisation is good at retaining staff. Despite this, some 67% said[2] they are satisfied in their current job and 65% feel motivated in their current job. Furthermore, 61% of workers see[3] themselves working for their current company long-term.

In terms of what makes office workers want to stay in a role, salary (73%) ranked highest. This was followed by good company benefits such as annual leave and pension (59%), fair treatment (51%), team/colleague relations (48%) and a positive culture (47%).

Fifty-one per cent of respondents actually went one step further and said they would relocate for a pay increase in a role. Meanwhile, only 26% would relocate for a full-time office role.

Hybrid working certainly seems to be a key priority, with 54% of respondents wanting a hybrid working model after the pandemic. In fact, a quarter (25%) of respondents said they would leave their current job if their employer expected them to work in the office full-time.

While job opportunities seem to be on the rise, other forms of employment appear to have fallen out of favour. The research showed that 68% of those surveyed said their organisation does not offer an apprenticeship programme, and only around a third (36%) say their company offers graduate programmes.

Niamh Cray, Head of People and Talent at Auxilion, said: “It’s clear from the research that it’s an employee’s world right now. The expectations of workers are high and have changed dramatically because of the pandemic. The job landscape has also completely opened up and is even more fluid than before.

 “For people, this presents a wealth of opportunities and overcomes many barriers that existed before, with many workers able (and eager) to work effectively from wherever they are. On the other hand, it presents a challenge for many businesses.

 “If companies want to retain staff, they will have to move with the times. That means enabling staff with technologies and tools that allow them to be productive and collaborate. It also means taking a hybrid approach and understanding that the modern worker wants to be both appreciated and empowered.”

Over half of Irish businesses say IT skills shortages are negatively impacting plans

Expleo, a global engineering, technology and consulting service provider, today announces the results of new research, which found that IT skills shortages are negatively impacting the business plans of more than half (56%) of Irish enterprises. The research is published in Expleo’s Business Transformation Index 2022 Ireland report, which is launched today.

The global research, which included a survey of 111 business and IT leaders in Ireland, found that 77% of respondents report that talent shortages are a top barrier to digital transformation. In fact, more than two-thirds (67%) say they lack the internal skills and experience to manage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality and virtual reality. Many believe this will have a far-reaching impact, with the same proportion (67%) of respondents saying that skills shortages are hindering Ireland’s ability to build its digital economy.

The survey also revealed the roles that enterprises in Ireland find the most difficult to fill and retain. Expleo’s research found that the most challenging, cited by some 82% of businesses, are development roles, followed closely by IT leadership and management positions (81%). A significant proportion (63%) of business leaders believe that development and DevOps talent is in critically short supply.

To solve their tech skills shortages in the short-term, half of Irish enterprises will outsource more functions and roles to third parties or consultants, while 44% will invest in staff training and 43% plan to avail of temporary or contract workers. Despite these efforts, some 65% of business leaders believe that organisations have underinvested in the skills base of employees.

In response to continued staffing issues and the greater demand from employees for flexible working, 54% of businesses in Ireland have now formalised a ‘hybrid working’ approach. Almost half (48%), meanwhile, have introduced a flexible location policy – allowing employees to work from anywhere. However, 33% of leaders stated that maintaining employee motivation and camaraderie has become more difficult due to remote working. And just 22% of business and IT leaders see hiring people from more diverse backgrounds as a long-term solution to skills shortages – compared to an average of 33% in other markets surveyed.

Phil Codd, Managing Director, Expleo Ireland, said: “We are delighted to share the findings of our Business Transformation Index 2022, which will provide valuable insights into the digital evolution of the Irish businesses landscape over the last year.

 “Although there has been a significant acceleration in digital transformation due to the pandemic, ongoing skills shortages are hindering many organisations in embracing new digital technologies. At a time when Ireland should be displaying its digital leadership, our business leaders and innovators are saying that the skills shortages have gotten so bad that it is negatively impacting our digital economy. It is crucial that businesses invest in both their internal and external teams to overcome this challenge. Many enterprises are now outsourcing certain roles in order to get quick and convenient access to a wider skills and knowledge base. As the battle for the best customer experience escalates across all sectors, we expect this trend to continue throughout 2022.

 “The competitive recruitment market has pushed employers to formalise flexible working arrangements and think about how they can create a working culture that will attract the best talent. Organisations that don’t see diversity as part of the solution will find that they lack the diversity of thought that their competitors benefit from, as well as the inclusive environment that will make people stay with them long-term.

“We are seeing that instead of taking the focus away from workforces, the rise of digital is in fact putting greater emphasis on the humans who make it work.”

Outstaffing: what is this service and how is it different from outsourcing

In business, what process doesn’t need people who are good at their jobs? Good specialists are important for all businesses, but not all can afford to keep a lot of people on staff. For this reason, many business owners use outstaffing services and outsource some of their work to contractor companies, so they don’t have to pay full-time employees to do their jobs.

The outstaffing service has both good and bad things about it. Today, we’ll talk about both of these things. We’ll figure out how to do it and how staff outstaffing is different from outsourcing.

Outstaffing: What is it?

Outstaffing is when a contractor company hires a specialist to work on a project for a customer company. The outstaffer works for the contractor company and is paid by the customer company. With other team members, he is part of the client’s team. His work is supervised by the client’s management team. Contract: The client pays a contractor for outstaffing services under the contract; he then gives that money to the person who worked on the project.

There are a lot of advantages to outstaffing

  1. It prevents labor disputes.

A customer can’t get involved in labor disputes if an employee signs a contract with an outstaffing company and not with the customer. This means the outstaffing company is responsible for the employee’s violations of the law.

 

  1. It makes it easier to manage your HR.

Vacations and sick days are given out by the company that hires people. Consequently, this reduces the burden on the client’s accounting department and eliminates the need to provide separate social guarantees, which is a lot easier for the accounting department. The outstaffer also takes care of personnel records, organizes business trips, draws up advance reports, and gives employees the information they need.

 

  1. Taking care of financial issues/

The outstaffer calculates, calculates, and pays the salaries and benefits of people who work for the company. There are a lot of things that this person does: They pay taxes and fees, like the contribution to the social security fund. They also work to make sure that taxes are done as efficiently as possible.

Outsourcing can be good for an employer

  • The employer doesn’t have to spend time looking for a new employee because the company itself will find one for him.
  • The chance to get real professionals to work on a specific project.
  • It makes it a lot easier to manage people: vacations, sick leave, salary payments, and meeting social obligations all fall under the responsibility of the outstaffing company.
  • Financial: Having fewer official employees means lower taxes and other costs of having a lot of people to pay.

Outsourcing can be good for an employee

Specialists are often hired outside the company to help with a big project that only lasts a few weeks. :

  • IT experts, 
  • analysts, 
  • accountants, 
  • translators, 
  • and seasonal workers are all in this group.

 

This scheme is also used by young businesses that aren’t ready to give up the simplified tax system. They decide to take some of their employees “out of state.”

 

Outstaffing is good for employees because it gives them the chance to work on different projects all the time; they can become full-time employees if their work is well-received, and there is less risk of them being violated by their bosses because they work for a well-known company that cares about its reputation in the market.

Conclusions

Using outstaffing will help the company improve business processes, cut costs, and find qualified people for short-term projects. You should think about outstaffing if your company has been hurt by the crisis, but you don’t want it to affect the quality of your work.

Get help finding great companies to work for and help you hire a development team.

 

2022 IT budgets to increase for 70% of Irish organisations

Logicalis Ireland, the IT Solutions and Managed Services provider, today reveals the findings of a survey which found that IT budgets for the coming year will increase for 70% of Irish organisations to account for better security, back-up and disaster recovery solutions.

The research – conducted by TechCentral and commissioned by Logicalis Ireland in association with IBM – involved more than 100 IT decision-makers in Ireland and found that during the pandemic, exposure to cyberthreats increased for more than three quarters of organisations (76%).

It also revealed that more than a quarter (28%) of Irish organisations experienced a cyberattack last year. Of those which were attacked, 40% were targeted by malware and 34% were targeted by phishing.

Furthermore, 29% of these organisations took about a week to recover from same. Some 27% took about a month, while recovery is ongoing for 24%.

On a more positive note, 88% of those surveyed said high-profile incidents had made company management more aware of threats to their organisation. Moreover, 70% of IT decision-makers were satisfied with their security policies and 75% agreed their backup and disaster recovery tools were fit for purpose.

In terms of response, over half (57%) strongly agreed it was a waste of time to negotiate with hackers. A similar number (59%) strongly disagreed that IT departments should keep a bitcoin fund for dealing with ransomware attacks.

As for the most popular measures for protecting data, multi-cloud solutions (66%) came out top. Single cloud solutions (31%) and off-premise physical backup (22%) finished off the top three measures.

Patrick Jordan, Chief Revenue Officer for Logicalis UK & Ireland, commented: “It has been a time of unprecedented change for Irish businesses. As workforces and operations became remote, the threat landscape shifted and arguably expanded with more locations to cover, more devices to protect and more risks to combat.

“This led to an intensification of the focus – and pressure – on technology solutions and IT support within organisations. This will only continue as we settle into the new way of hybrid working and invest in the tools to not only support but secure this. Businesses need to embrace this fully if they want to successfully architect change, safeguard operations, empower people and drive growth.”

Nathan Cullen, Ecosystem Leader, IBM, added: “It’s not just about identifying risks and protecting systems, companies need to have the means to respond effectively and quickly in the case of an attack or breach. They need to have the tools that enable prevention but also backup and recovery. Only then can they be cyber resilient and maintain business continuity. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to be prepared for the worst-case scenario and always be ready to adapt.”