In the UK and worldwide, iPads are rather obviously the latest craze.  Despite scepticism on launch from Apple’s doubters, no one can deny at this point that the iPad has taken off.  Since it’s likely to appear under trees around the nation this Christmas, we thought it was the perfect time to outline just how you can use the iPad in your working life, too.  You probably won’t get it supplied by your employer, but you can certainly find more ways to use your device throughout your life.

1.      For conferences

The iPad serves multiple functions at conferences that make it a great tool to take along.  It has an app, Ideate, which allows you to use it as a whiteboard, which is perfect for taking notes while listening to a speech and certainly much faster than using the touchscreen keyboard.  You may have to interpret your own handwriting after you’ve finished, but most of us are used to that with regular paper notepads anyway.

It’s also great for staying connected at conferences.  It’s easy to access social networks, particularly Twitter, which makes it a good choice for tweeting bits and pieces from conferences.  A liveblogger would probably need a laptop, but for short blurbs, an iPad works excellently.

The iPad can also be used for giving presentations.  Rather than carrying around a heavy laptop, you can simply take along your iPad, hook it up to projectors, and broadcast your presentations in meetings whether large or small.

2.      For holidays

The iPad is not really a laptop replacement, but it can perform a few functions that mean you won’t have to take your laptop everywhere.  It’s great for keeping up on your email without loading up the entire operating system.  If you have any reports or reading to take along, just load them onto your iPad during a trip and you’ll find it’s much easier to focus when you don’t have everything on your laptop at your beck and call.  It’s perfect for long journeys, particularly flights, and can help you minimise the amount of baggage you need to carry on with you.  This is especially so if you’re heading away for pleasure instead of work.

The iPad also carries the capability to hook into Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, and standards-based messaging environments, which means you’ll be able to stay in touch even while you’re away.  While many people like to switch off from the workplace while on holiday, others are still necessary and may like to keep up on developments during their absence.  The iPad makes it easy to keep tabs on your job even while out of the office.

The most important thing to remember about the iPad is that its potential hasn’t been fully realised.  Many companies can find different uses for the iPad based on what their business does on a day-to-day basis.  Moreover, because you can develop custom apps, it’s entirely possible that you’ll foresee a need for the iPad which Apple hasn’t yet addressed.  You can then develop your own app, brand it, use it for yourselves, and even sell it if you think it has a use for others.

The iPad isn’t a magical tool.  You’ll still wind up locked into the Apple ecosystem.  You’ll still usually need a main computer, whether a Windows PC or a Mac, at your workplace and likely at home.  But should you find yourself with one to hand, there’s no reason you can’t make the most of it.



Last week, we discussed keeping your work computers and mobiles physically safe; ensuring that they’re not stolen or lost.  But what about the inside of your PC?  You’ll also be responsible for maintaining the software and hardware inside your PC, and this applies to both laptops and desktops.  Here are five pointers to help you keep your computer virus-free and running smoothly throughout your ownership of it.

1. Be understanding about your restrictions.  Your IT department or IT company may necessarily limit the types of software you can install on your PC for security reasons.  This is usually not down to anything that you would install, but not all employees are of the same calibre and it’s very important to ensure your PC remains operable.  Unlicensed software, for example, can get your company sued, and there is similarly the chance that an illicitly downloaded program infected with malware will spread to the network.  Most programs are not appropriate for work use anyway; keep dodgy programs to your own personal computer.
2. Ask about updates. Are you responsible for installing all Windows Updates to your PC, or will you have to wait for your IT technicians to take care of the job?  If it’s your responsibility, it’s important to keep your computer completely up to date with the latest security fixes and patches.
3. Be careful with your emails.  Unfortunately spam monitoring systems are not always up to snuff, and if you open an illicit attachment, you’re placing your entire network at risk.  Don’t click on any emails in your spam folder unless they’re from a sender you trust, and if you see a strange email in your normal inbox make sure to remove it.
4. Install employer-approved virus prevention and malware software.  If your computer already has such software, make sure you run regular virus scans.  If your company approves of you leaving your PC on after work hours, schedule the scans to run when you’re not at the computer.  This will prevent any annoyance on your end, as you won’t be required to sit around while your computer slows down to search for viruses.  If you do not normally leave your computer on overnight, set it to run during your lunch hour or scan your hard drive manually during meetings.
5. Go light with installed software.  If you are given the green light to install personal software and data on your work PC, don’t go crazy with it.  Ensure you have a license for all of your downloaded programs and that you can demonstrate what purpose it serves for your business.  Permission to take more control over your PC does not mean that you should allow virus laden or illegal programs on it; you should instead be a bit more careful. And, for personal reasons, remember not to store any of your own data, like pictures or music, solely on your work PC.  Should an update go awry or you get a new PC at work, you’ll still have that information at home.

Use these five important tips to keep your PC running smoothly and speedily.  If you do have a problem, ensure you notify IT support as soon as possible to prevent damage and lost productivity time.

With the recent astonishing news of how much the BBC has lost in hardware over the past year, companies and employees should begin to consider paying more attention to securing their own mobiles and laptops.  There are a number of important precautions each employee entrusted with this equipment should take; similarly, there are ways for corporations to minimise the threat of loss and theft of hardware.  Here are a few quick tips to help you keep your hands on those expensive gadgets.

1. Install remote tracking software on each and every laptop computer, particularly those with important data on them.  This software should allow you to find your laptop if it’s stolen and remotely turn off all access to it.  Windows passwords are not normally secure and can be hacked very easily with external programs, so it’s essential to be able to remotely lock the PC and prevent any thieves from getting access to valuable information.  Ask your IT support company for the best software available.
2. If you’ve been entrusted with a nice phone by your company, don’t show it off.  Even if you have it hooked up to a low cost business VoIP phone system, the loss of your phone will cost your company money for both the hardware and services used by the thief.  It’s tempting to want everyone to realise that you are in fact a big executive and make a lot of money, but it’s also dangerous.  If you’re free with that phone and someone is looking out for an easy theft, they’ll quickly target you because you’re advertising its availability.  If they don’t know you have an expensive mobile, they won’t be interested.  Simple.
3. Similarly, don’t advertise the presence of your laptop or mobile on public transportation.  If you need to get work done, that’s one thing, but don’t whip out your mobile just to check your emails on a crowded bus.  Thieves will follow you to get your stuff, especially if you’re getting off in a quiet area.
4. Preventing the loss of certain items is considerably more difficult.  It will likely happen regardless of what you do to try and stop it, but you can make losing items less likely by simply keeping an eye on them.  Never check your laptop in a suitcase at the airport, always keep it with you.  It’s also worth trying to fit it under your seat rather than putting it in the overhead compartment to prevent mix-ups.  Believe it or not, people do steal things on planes.  If you have to put your bag on a luggage compartment in a train or bus, make sure you’re sitting right by it.  It’s obviously best to keep it with you.
5. Keep your mobile in a secure location.  Putting it in an inside coat pocket is the most secure option, but not if you’re going to take your coat off and carry it.  Your other best option is the front pocket of your pants, if they have pockets, as thieves generally target back pockets with visible, wallet or phone sized bulges.

It’s difficult to completely prevent thefts and loss of business equipment, but if you follow these simple tips you should minimise the risk of it happening to you.

London has a well deserved reputation as the technological hub of Europe. In the past decade the city has become a magnet for IT professionals. London attracts the cream of the IT crop and this is very important for any business to remember.

When you are in the market to hire the services of an IT consultancy you have to act wisely. It means you have to find a company that will see to your business’ technology systems to whatever degree you wish. An IT consultancy in London offers perks to your business that consultancies in others cities cannot easily match.

You are looking for a consultancy to build as well as manage your IT systems. This means you want a consultancy that is firstly experienced in your industry.

Perks of the big city

You want a consultancy that has its finger on the pulse of the technology world. Any successful IT consultancy in London can offer you this. If they cannot, they would not be in business anymore. The IT consultancy market is simply too competitive. London consultancies have access to the latest technology and the best qualified IT professionals.

They are in a position to advice you whether you need totally new systems. On the other hand they can and will advise you second user technology hardware that will work just as well. They are in a position to save you money with the availability of components they have.

With the excellent labour pool of IT professionals they can offer affordable onsite visits when necessary. They also have a list of reputable IT consultants to outsource your maintenance to. All of this works to help you keep within your allocated budget.

Whether you’re in the throws of establishing a new business or are expanding or changing an existing business set up, choosing the right business IT hardware is an important step. Business IT hardware is pretty much everywhere we turn in modern business from the more obvious items like PC and components to network and server accessories. Storage devices, output devices, and connection devices should all also be considered when planning your business IT hardware needs.

As well as ensuring your business IT hardware meets your current needs, you should also try as far as possible to ensure that it allows for some expansion in your business. This means that you should consider not only the amount of business IT hardware but also the capabilities. One of the things you can be assured of is that as a company grows, so too does the data it holds and for particularly data intensive companies this can mean a rapidly expanding requirement for storage devices and storage capacity. Even the less data intensive companies may soon find that the single NAS device is no longer ample.

Different members of a company usually have different requirements. Some roles are far more data intensive than others. Graphic designers and similar roles will require a much higher specification of PCs and may not only require larger monitors but may be able to perform their work better with multiple monitors. Other roles within the company may have similarly diverse business IT hardware requirements.

Business IT security has many guises. Like home computers, business networks can enjoy a degree of protection using software based applications such as anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. These typically offer live protection as well as routine scans that prevent most infections from installing on a computer and identifying and removing those few that might make it past the live protection. Firewalls are considered a more complete solution because they track any unauthorised Internet access, both incoming and outgoing to identify threats.

Business IT security solutions often use hardware based firewalls and solutions because these can prevent a greater number of threats from infecting a network. Email servers, routers, and other components of a network can be used to track incoming and outgoing Internet activity in order to determine whether any applications of threats are attempting to install on a computer or deliver information to a third party server. By preventing these actions, a business IT network can enjoy excellent levels of protection.

The most effective of business IT security solutions, however, will often include a combination of hardware and software based protection. Software can be installed on the network, rather than on each individual computer, and can be monitored, accessed, and automatically set to run routine scans on all network computers and devices without any form of intervention from network users. It can also ensure that new devices attached to the network are safe and free from infection before allowing them proper access.

Business hardware requirements are as extensive as software and networking needs. Not only do you need the more standard and common items of office hardware like computers and printers but networks and system infrastructure has its own hardware requirements. The right server, routers, switches and other equipment are necessary to the optimal running of your business ensuring that employees can perform their jobs effectively and that all the information and data within the organisation is transferred and stored properly and efficiently.

Telephony is usually considered a part of IT infrastructure and also requires the proper hardware items. Using an IT consultant that is experienced in choosing all of the right IT and telephony hardware can save you time and money while ensuring that you have the best solution to all of your communicative needs.

Hardware consultants should be able to boast good working and ongoing relationships with many different manufacturers and suppliers. This means that by using a service like this, organisations are able to get the best and most appropriate equipment at competitive prices. Incorporating hardware purchases into the strategic planning of IT and communications infrastructure also ensures a more beneficial network setup.

Choosing the best IT Hardware for the job can prove a difficult process. Each server and every other item of hardware has its own advantages and each has its own ideal application. Using an experienced consultant service ensures the right equipment is chosen and installed properly to ultimately create an effective business IT solution.