Sharon Sumner writes:
Security
The more we look, the more we find. Security is not just about regular and inclusive updates, always up-to-date security patches, and the most robust server product (although Windows Server 2016 may be just that). It's the proactivity that makes this year's messaging interesting.
I love a simple idea executed well, and Microsoft's focus on proactively probing the dark places of the web, and generally sharing knowledge, makes a lot of sense.
I recently picked up a "The Little Book of Cyber Scams" by the Metropolitan Police, which lists some fantastic, and almost incredible statistics about the impact of cyber threats on SMEs alone. For example, the Barclaycard SME survey 2016 revealed that 48% of small businesses in the UK were targeted by cyber criminals in the past 12 months, 10% of whom were targeted on multiple occasions. We all know that cyber crime happens, but it doesn't make a great dinner topic, so we rarely talk about it.
By mutually sharing knowledge of what is happening and to which industries, we can collectively prepare and defend ourselves against cyber attack, and do it fast. It's not rocket science, it's common sense, and with a large share of cloud users, Microsoft is well positioned to detect and prevent these threats - it's a great pitch.
Intelligence
I love this area. I work here a lot, and Power BI is a girl's new best friend. The application of intelligence (as applied to security too) is a key skill I look for in my teams and customers alike. The power of looking at the data and letting it tell the story is what makes business process automation so rewarding. Looking at metrics may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the insights from usage statistics for your SharePoint team sites, intranet, finance systems, data rooms, project management portals and support systems is what helps fuel continual change, development, and ultimately user engagement. Any organisation not looking at the intelligence of their systems via automation, data via analysis, and people via ease of use of systems, is missing a trick. If you've met me you'll know I could talk about this for a while - give me a call if you'd like to enthuse or challenge...
The Cloud
Eventually we are talking to IT teams about technology, which is good because it is often here where resistance to change can be the strongest. The most successful IT leaders know that they need to be driving continual change within business, and endorsing the cloud message is a key step towards achieving this.
The burden of financially and operationally significant decisions often falls to IT, and so many IT leaders are naturally resistant to change. They need to justify the considerable hardware investment that was made years ago on a 2-3 year business case, and are unwilling to, as they see it, “start from scratch” with Cloud technology. This means however that too often this hardware is significantly out of date, and is now holding the business back. It also leads to the common problem of shadow IT, where users know that faster and better solutions are available in the cloud, and use these services without IT’s knowledge or governance, thus posing a significant security threat to the company’s data.
The truth is that the migration to the cloud has already happened, whether IT is aware of it or not. Indeed, the worrying results of a recent McAfee survey showed that a shocking 80% of respondents admitted to using non-approved SaaS applications in their jobs. The question is not how to migrate to the cloud, but how to manage the cloud services your teams are already using. The key is for IT and the wider business to work together, and equip users and IT with the training and tools they need to monitor and manage web services. Invest in developing your IT teams to foster positive collaborative relationships, and create a strategy for continual development that supports the whole organisation.
Overall the Ignite topics are reflective of the commercial conversations we are having on a daily basis, and it's good to know that Microsoft are keeping in touch with the customers needs, and hopefully are helping to point out the changes needed and services to address them. I forget that working across businesses of all sizes and diversities gives a unique view point of the collective issues, that each of the businesses alone struggle to see. A bird's eye view of the realities of the change the Cloud has demanded seems to be the theme this year, as well as the direction for next year.
Business Cloud Integration Ltd offer Cloud, SharePoint and Office 365 consultancy in Cambridge, delivering solutions that increase company productivity, streamline and automate business processes, and simplify and enhance collaborative working.