Windows 11 is four years old, yet many businesses still haven't taken the plunge. This isn't always a bad idea. Organizations frequently adopt a wait-and-see approach to implementing major operating system upgrades, as it gives Microsoft, Apple, and Linux distro maintainers time to iron out any kinks that emerge only through mass deployment. It also allows third-party developers to ship fully compatible updates to the business-critical applications on which they rely. Fortunately, in this instance, most Windows 10 applications will run without modification.

Mainstream support for Windows 10 ended in October 2025. Beyond that, the Extended Security Update (ESU) scheme gives home and small business users 12 months of additional coverage in return for syncing their PC settings, cashing in 1000 Microsoft reward points, or paying the local equivalent of $30 plus tax (full details at microsoft.com). Enterprises can push cover further, to October 2028, with a charged-for agreement.

However, while there may be valid business reasons for further postponing the switch, Windows 11 is undeniably a mature, well-supported operating environment, and one that's getting more capable by the day. Delaying much further means your business won't benefit from the features that competitors may already be enjoying.

Productivity enhancements

The UI has undergone a subtle refresh. Most noticeably, items on the taskbar have moved to the center by default (but can be returned to the left if you prefer), and the interface itself feels lighter. Windows 11's Fluent Design uses virtual Mica and Acrylic, along with a dimming overlay called 'smoke'. Each has a specific use. Mica, which is opaque, is used for primary window elements; acrylic, which is semi-transparent, for transient overlays; and smoke, to draw your attention away from the object to which it's applied and towards something more important, like a popped-up dialog.

These make Windows 11 a more appealing place to spend your working day but, more importantly, they supplement practical enhancements, like snap layouts, which make it easier to arrange windows for an overview of the applications you're using. Combine them with a suitably sized monitor, and they could make a quantifiable improvement to your workflow. So would continued support for Cloud Clipboard, through which users signing in via a Microsoft Account can copy multiple selections and synchronize them across all devices logged in with the same credentials.

The Start menu is less fussy than it was in Windows 10, having done away with pinned tiles in favor of app and file lists. In place of live tiles, we have Widgets, which live in a dedicated overlay that you can reveal by clicking a taskbar icon or pressing Windows + W. You can add to and subtract from the default selection, or hide Widgets from the taskbar entirely if it's not something you're ever going to use.

Organizations can use Widgets to surface corporate information when users sign in with Active Directory or Entra ID. Users can also use it to monitor their own responsibilities, with Microsoft 365 Workfeed Integration showing upcoming meetings and calendar events, recent documents in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint, and tasks assigned to them.

You can pin objects to either of the Start menu's app and file lists, or let Windows decide what should appear based on your activities. Again, by keeping the files you rely on close at hand, this could help shave sufficient minutes off your searching and switching to make things flow more smoothly. The File Explorer sidebar likewise reorganizes itself to keep your commonly used folders close at hand, and you can open multiple folders in tabs to reduce on-screen clutter and help with multitasking.

Teams is pre-installed, and the Chat app that sat on the taskbar in earlier versions has been phased out since launch. This is good news for business, as Chat was a consumer edition of Teams, closely integrated with the operating system, that wouldn't work with the corporate equivalent. That meant business users may have ended up with two versions installed side by side, so this move avoids potential confusion.

Stay focused

Windows 10 already had Focus Assist to suppress notifications when you needed to get on with your work. Windows 11 goes one step further with direct focus setting from the taskbar, and a focus utility that should be immediately familiar to anyone who uses the pomodoro technique or similar to manage their productivity.

Focus works with the Windows Clock app, in which you can specify your preferred work and break periods. If you integrate it with a Microsoft To Do task list you can select the task on which you want to focus during the session, and you can also pair it to Spotify if you work best when listening to music.

When you start a focus session, Windows suppresses all app and contact notifications, sounds, and alerts, and temporarily turns off flashing and badges on the taskbar to avoid drawing your attention. It's a small but significant change from the focus tools in Windows 10, but for anyone who finds themselves easily distracted, it could help them get more done in a working day – or allow them to knock off early.

Windows 11 AI

Copilot is commonly pre-installed and pinned to the taskbar or Start menu. It's invoked using a shortcut (Windows + C or, on some devices, alt + space), a wake-word, or by pressing the dedicated Copilot button on Copilot+ PC keyboards. You can uninstall Copilot entirely via Settings if you don't want to use it in your organization, or disable it via Group Policy or Intune. As you'd expect, you can use it to ask regular questions, brainstorm ideas, and fact-check, but depending on your Windows build and the hardware on which it's running, it has a number of additional features that are particularly suited to business use.

Copilot+ PCs, which benefit from an onboard neural processing unit (NPU), for example, can use Copilot to perform live video and audio translation from more than 40 languages into English, and some will also have access to Recall, which remains in preview for the time being. This takes regular screenshots and uses the NPU to index and analyze them. They can later be used to answer natural language queries. If Recall is supported by your hardware, it will be turned off by default and can be activated by launching the Recall app and working through the setup process, or by turning it on through the 'Privacy & security' area of Windows Settings.

Other recent additions include off-web support for Copilot Actions, which debuted in October 2025 and lets you use Copilot to automate tasks across apps and files using natural language. There's also Copilot Vision, through which the AI can view your desktop or app window to help you complete tasks. You can share up to two apps simultaneously with Vision and have a voice-led conversation about them. Vision won't take actions directly on your PC, but it can use an on-screen pointer to highlight elements, and can explain steps and show you what to do next. Microsoft clarifies that Vision doesn't capture, store, or use your data to train its models, and all images, audio, and context are deleted at the end of the session.

Both Actions and Vision could help staff do more under their own steam and may, in some instances, reduce their reliance on in-house or contracted support, thus reducing downtime.

Security

Windows Hello binds your login credentials – in the form of a PIN or biometric reading – to your device, which means they're only effective for logging in to that machine, and not any other to which you might have access. This minimizes the surfaces across which a malicious actor has access should they gain knowledge of a user's PIN. The same can't always be said for logging in to an app or machine with traditional username and password pairs.

Windows Hello for Business is an enterprise-grade extension to the regular Windows Hello system, designed for managed networks. It integrates with Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and FIDO2 hardware keys to simplify users' login processes, while simultaneously hardening protection against credential theft and phishing.

Meanwhile, optional Microsoft Defender for Endpoint integration gives security teams a portal through which they can monitor incidents and alerts across their estate, and necessary remediation steps, allowing them to reduce their response time when a threat emerges. It gives teams a system-wide overview of emerging issues, helps them enforce policies, and, with automated investigation and response, can isolate or clean an endpoint automatically if required.

Windows 11 also supports Pluton Security Processors, which are integrated into some CPUs to protect credentials, identities, personal data, and encryption keys, as well as ensuring code integrity. As these functions are handled by a hardware component rather than software it's far more challenging for attackers to circumvent.

Making the switch

While there are some important visual differences, it should take very little time for users – whether in business or at home – to acclimatize to Windows 11. There's only so much you can tweak in a mouse-driven GUI, and while centering the Start menu has changed the look, it's barely impacted the feel of the operating system overall.

A more significant stumbling block when upgrading may therefore be Windows 11's system requirements. Most are conservative, kicking off with a 1GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and support for Secure Boot. While many devices manufactured at the turn of the decade will meet all of these requirements, some may fall down when it comes to the requirement for Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. TPM is a hardware-based security element that checks that the overall boot process and the software and hardware underpinning it are trustworthy. Version 2 was announced in 2014, and we're running Windows 11 on a machine that's been in service since May 2016 without issue, but it's nonetheless worth surveying your fleet as part of your upgrade planning to check specifically for TPM 2.0 support.

In some instances, it may be that TPM is present but switched off, in which case, check whether it can be enabled. However, if the module is absent, you'll have to either upgrade your hardware or switch to an alternative operating system. Upgrading needn't be expensive, and if you prefer not to buy new, you'll find that many reconditioned and refurbished options satisfy the necessary requirements.

Which Windows is right for your business?

All editions of Windows 11 support encryption on capable devices, biometric security for user identification, and presence sensing to secure devices when unattended – subject to them running on appropriate hardware.

Pro and Pro for Workstations editions also benefit from BitLocker device encryption, remote deployment and compliance, support for joining Active Directory domains, Hyper-V virtualization, and Windows Sandbox. They also have an Assigned Access feature, through which users' ability to run different applications can be restricted on the basis of their individual identities; Group Policy Management; and Remote Desktop built in. Pro for Workstations uniquely features Resilient File System (ReFS), which can pull in data from a mirrored drive if the source data on a local machine is corrupted.

Beyond these, Windows 11 Enterprise adds the kind of features that would often be of greatest interest to a national or multinational organization with an IT team. These include Microsoft Endpoint Manager for centralizing device management and security policies, Windows Autopilot for automated provisioning, Credential Guard to stop credential theft, and Autopatch to automate validation and deployment of updates across fleets.

At first glance, therefore, Windows 11 Pro, as the middle-ground, would appear to be the best fit for most small- to mid-sized businesses, with Enterprise editions tailored to anything larger. Solo workers and some small businesses will likely manage with Windows 11 Home, as it includes Copilot, Teams, biometrics, and encryption (even if it lacks BitLocker), alongside everything the average knowledge worker should need to remain productive.

Most machines can be upgraded from Windows 10 to the equivalent version of Windows 11 at no cost, so long as they meet the minimum system requirements. If you do need to buy outright, prices fluctuate, and there's a significant premium for going Pro. Expect to pay around £119 for Windows 11 Home, and £219 for Windows 11 Pro.

Small businesses still storing and sharing data across separate office PCs need to invest in a server if they want to become more efficient and productive. Servers are powerful, purpose-built systems designed to provide a wide range of services including network storage, file sharing, application hosting, messaging, remote access, and data security.

Despite the allure of cloud-hosted services, on-premises servers offer significant benefits to small businesses. Cloud outages are becoming ever more frequent but with the appropriate core infrastructure systems in place, in-house servers can deliver 24/7 availability and put small businesses totally in charge of security, services, and business applications.

There are many other compelling arguments as you own the servers so you can customize and upgrade them whenever you need to and securely store data and share it across your workforce. Budgeting and cost management are other key considerations as although your initial investment will be higher, you won't be faced with monthly cloud subscription fees so ongoing operational expenses will be significantly lower.

Entry-level servers are affordable for small businesses and a solid long-term investment that can grow with you for many years. Here, we show how to set up a server for small businesses and the features you should be looking for.

Budget responsibility

Budgets are tight in these trying times but a common mistake small businesses make when acquiring servers is spending too little. Cutting costs at this stage is a false economy as a poorly specified and underpowered server will struggle to cope with demand as a business grows and will most likely need replacing in the near future.

A key feature of a server is hardware redundancy so it will keep running in the event of a component failure. Purpose-built servers come with business-grade storage devices, support multiple RAID arrays as standard, have sophisticated cooling systems comprising multiple redundant fans, and often include (or support) dual redundant power supplies – features you won't find in a basic PC.

Choose well and your servers can last you a surprisingly long time. One of our lab test servers is a trusty Dell PowerEdge T640 tower server which we specced up with the future in mind, and even after six years it's still functioning perfectly and providing a sterling service as a Windows Hyper-V virtualization platform.

Small businesses should also curb their enthusiasm and avoid spending too much. It's easy to get carried away with the latest and greatest in server technology but it all comes at a price and if the server spends most of the time twiddling its thumbs then it is a wasted investment.

Know your workloads

There is a wide range of small business servers on today's market but before jumping in, it's important to understand what you want the server to do - not just now, but well into the future. Ask yourself what workloads you plan to centralize, the type of resources they will require, your long-term business goals, and what headroom you want for future expansion.

If the server will function as a central storage vault, provide file-sharing services, and maybe host databases, then you'll need plenty of internal capacity. Server storage can get swallowed up very quickly so choose servers that have plenty of drive bays and factor in spare capacity as it's easier and a lot cheaper to expand an existing RAID array with extra disks than it is to replace the entire server.

Location is also very important as this will determine the server form factor. Small businesses that only need a single server will find tower models a good choice as they don't need any additional infrastructure such as rack cabinets and can be placed wherever you want.

Low-profile 1U (44.5mm high) rack servers offer more flexible options as multiple systems can be placed in rack cabinets that require less floor space. You can scale up on-demand by adding more servers to the cabinet and if you need more expansion potential and higher storage densities consider 2U high rack servers.

Processor decisions

For most small business workloads, a tower or rack server with a single processor socket (1P) represents the best value and there's plenty of CPU models to choose from. Intel has traditionally had the strongest presence in the entry-level server market with its Xeon E CPUs.

The current Xeon E-2400 family consists of eight CPUs with base speeds ranging from 2.6GHz up to 3.5GHz and core counts going from four to eight with all bar the entry Xeon E-2414 supporting Intel's HT (hyperthreading) technology. Maximum memory for all Xeon E-2400 CPUs is 128GB of fast DDR5 which will be perfectly adequate for most small businesses

For more demanding workloads, you may want to consider AMD's new EPYC 4004 CPUs. Only recently launched, this group of eight CPUs are pitched directly at the cost-conscious small business server market.

The family also comprises eight models but offers much higher clock speeds ranging from 3.7GHz up to 4.5GHz and all support a more generous 192GB of DDR5 memory. The two higher-end models also fill a gap left by the Xeon E-2400 CPUs as they offer 12/24 and 16/32 cores/threads.

Protect and serve

A server is a critical part of business operations so it needs to be protected. RAID will cover you against disk failures but also consider dual power supply units (PSUs) as if one fails, the second will keep the server running.

Invest in a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) as this will keep your server safe from harm during a power spike or short-term power outage. There are plenty of affordable models suitable for small businesses with the distributor Broadbandbuyer offering a wide range of products from APC, Eaton, and CyberPower.

Remember too that RAID and power redundancy will protect your hardware but aren't data backup solutions. We strongly recommend getting a proper server backup strategy running right from the outset - there is a wealth of small business backup products available with many combining on-premises with cloud backup to ensure you have essential off-site copies available.

When sourcing a small business server don't skimp on the warranty and maintenance contracts either. Blue chip server vendors such as Dell and HPE usually offer three-year warranties as standard and this includes a next business day (NBD) on-site support service which can be upgraded to a four-hour response for critical systems.

And when your server is up and running, you'll want to keep a close eye on its health so monitoring and management features are equally important. Even small business servers have specialized controllers on their motherboards that provide a remote web console so you can see the status of critical components in real-time with the best ones providing timely email alerts if anything untoward is detected.

Selecting your first server needn't be challenging and here at ITPro, we've reviewed most of the current entry-level tower and rack models from big-name vendors including Dell and HPE. These are ideal for small businesses as they can help centralize multiple IT functions on a single platform, reduce acquisition costs, boost productivity, and deliver data availability and security.

You might not think much about Domain Name Servers – or DNS for short – but you probably access them every day. These are the servers that work behind the scenes to translate familiar domain names (such as itpro.co.uk) into the numeric IP addresses used by the internet's backbone servers.

Normally these DNS lookups happen automatically, using servers operated by your ISP – but if you wish you can change your settings to use any available servers.

Why should I change my DNS?

Your ISP's name servers can normally provide a very fast response because they're connected to the same core network as your client devices. However, if the server is overloaded, or if its network connection is congested, you could still experience a slow service. If you're noticing that online sites and services are slow to load when you first enter their names then switching to a different name server could help. (Subsequent connections should be fast regardless of DNS performance because once your computer receives the addressing information it will cache it for future use.)

Another reason you might choose to change your DNS settings is security. It's theoretically possible for cybercriminals to hack into a poorly managed name server and change the addressing rules so that legitimate domain names are redirected to malicious sites. If you suspect your DNS might be vulnerable to such an attack, you can protect yourself by moving to a trusted server.

Some DNS operators also maintain lists of sites that are known to be harmful, and block attempts to connect to them. Switching to these servers provides you with instant protection against phishing scams and other online dangers.

Which DNS should I use?

Online devices usually have two DNS addresses configured, one primary and one secondary. If the primary DNS doesn't respond to a query in a reasonable amount of time, the device will automatically try the secondary one instead. If you're finding your regular DNS is slow, you can try swapping these around, so you're contacting the other server first.

Alternatively, you can replace your ISP's servers with a free public DNS. One of the simplest options is Google Public DNS, which promises a fast, robust service: to try it out, you simply need to configure 8.8.8.8 as your primary DNS address, and 8.8.4.4 as your secondary server (see below for details of how to do this).

Cloudflare is another company offering a free name service similar to Google's, using 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 as its primary and secondary servers. It also offers services with automatic malware blocking on 1.1.1.2 / 1.0.0.2, and adult content filtering on 1.1.1.3 / 1.0.0.3.

One of the most versatile DNS options is OpenDNS, operated by network specialist Cisco. It provides free DNS at IP addresses 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220, and allows you to configure optional blocks on phishing, adult sites, and other content. For business networks, DNS-level security is also part of the Cisco Umbrella security platform.

How to change DNS settings in Windows 10

Network clients are usually configured to send DNS queries to the local internet router, which then takes care of forwarding them to the correct server. This approach means you can move your whole network onto a different domain name service by simply updating the DNS addresses in your router's management interface.

If you prefer though you can configure individual computers to use specific name servers. In Windows 10 this is easily done using either the Command Prompt or the Control Panel.

To do it via the Command Prompt, start by opening an elevated shell: a quick way to do this is by opening the Start menu, typing "cmd", then selecting Run as administrator, and accepting the security prompt that appears.

Once the Command Prompt window opens, enter the following command to see a list of network interfaces:

netsh interface show interface

Make a note of the name of the network whose DNS settings you want to change (in our case it's "WiFi"). You can now configure this network to use whatever primary and secondary DNS servers by entering the two commands below – inserting the name of your own network interface between the quotation marks, and replacing x.x.x.x and y.y.y.y with the IP addresses of the primary and secondary DNS you want to use:

netsh interface ipv4 set dns name="Network Name" static x.x.x.x primary

netsh interface ipv4 add dns name="Network Name" y.y.y.y index=2

The change should instantly take effect. You can check your active DNS settings by entering:

netsh interface ipv4 showdnsservers

How to change DNS settings using the Control Panel

If you prefer to use a graphical interface to change your DNS settings, you can jump straight to the relevant page of the Control Panel by hitting the Start button and searching for "View Network Connections". Selecting this will bring up a window showing all configured networks, which might include Bluetooth and virtual network adaptors as well as Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections.

Now right-click on the network you want to configure and select Properties to open a window showing the various drivers and protocols used by that connection. Double-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" (or single-click it and hit the Properties button below) to open a new window showing your IPv4 address settings.

In the lower half of this window, click on "Use the following DNS server addresses", then enter your desired primary and secondary addresses into the relevant fields. Hit OK to close the window, then OK again on the main connection properties dialogue.

Your DNS will now be immediately updated, and you can close the Control Panel. If you want to go back to router-based DNS, just come back to this page and select "Obtain an IP address automatically".

How to change DNS settings in Windows 11

If you're fed up of controls and features changing between different versions of Windows, you'll be pleased to learn that the process for changing DNS settings in Windows 11 is precisely the same as in Windows 10.

That applies whether you're using the Command Prompt or the Control Panel – so you can follow our instructions above to set up your Windows 11 system in whatever way you like.

Microsoft SQL Server is one of the world's most popular database platforms. According to some estimates as many as one in three databases runs on SQL Server, alongside competitors such as Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

However, SQL Server is not a single product. Since its original launch in 1989, there have been more than 20 major releases of SQL Server. At the time of writing four different releases are still supported, namely: 

SQL Server 2016;

SQL Server 2017;

SQL Server 2019; and 

SQL Server 2022. 

All supported releases of SQL Server can handle everyday database tasks, but there are several reasons why it's important to know which specific version you're using.

How to check your SQL Server version

Support lifecycle

If you're planning a deployment, or scoping out future database projects, you need to know that your SQL Server installation will be supported for the required duration, or you might miss out on important security or functionality updates.

Each version of SQL Server receives around five to six years of mainstream support after its release, meaning it may receive new features and performance improvements alongside security updates. After this, there's a five-year period of extended support when no new features are added, but security updates and paid technical support are still available. Once extended support ends, no more assistance or updates will be provided, even if critical security vulnerabilities are discovered.

Here are the key support dates for the current major editions of SQL Server:

As you can see, the 2016 and 2017 editions of SQL Server are already out of mainstream support and will be entirely unsupported within three years. For this reason, it's important to keep track of the SQL Server version, whether you're beginning a new project or maintaining an existing database. 

Feature availability

Each subsequent release of SQL Server brings new capabilities that weren't available in previous editions. For example, SQL Server 2016 introduced enhanced encryption capabilities, for working with sensitive information such as financial data; it also brought JSON support, making it easier to programmatically extract and process data. 

New features in SQL Server 2017 included new string manipulation functions and automatic performance tuning, while SQL Server 2019 brought support for big data clusters and improvements for parallel processing. The latest SQL Server 2022 release has many features designed to work better with Azure and other cloud data sources.

If you're building a new database application, you'll want to know which version of SQL Server you're using, to ensure you have access to all the capabilities you might need.

Security and feature updates

As well as knowing which major SQL Server edition you're using, it's important to check the minor version number (the digits after the first decimal point) to ensure that the latest available updates to security and functionality have been installed. 

An up-to-date installation might have two different version numbers, depending on how server updates have been configured. If the server is set to receive GDR (General Distribution Release) updates then only security fixes will be added to the original installation, and the version number will reflect that. If it's on the CU (Cumulative Update) branch it will also receive new features and usability enhancements, and will usually have a higher version number.

You can check the latest GDR and CU version numbers on Microsoft's SQL Server update page. At the time of writing the latest updates for the past three releases are:

SQL Server 2016 and earlier major releases were updated with milestone Service Packs as well as individual GDR and CU updates; see the Microsoft website for details of the latest version numbers for different Service Pack levels.

SQL Server version number

The moment you've been waiting for: how to check your SQL Server version number.

There are numerous methods you can use to check the major and minor version numbers of a SQL Server instance. Here are four quick ways to find the information:

1. Use SQL Server Management Studio

Microsoft's free SQL Server Management Studio tool can provide extensive information about a SQL Server installation. After you've connected the application to your SQL Server instance, check the Object Explorer window and you should see the server's version number shown in brackets after its name. If you can't see the full version number, or want more information, right-click on the server name and select Properties to open a window with many more details about the version and capabilities of the server.

2. Query the server directly

You can query a SQL Server's version number directly from a Windows command prompt. To connect to the server, enter sqlcmd -S servername\instancename, replacing server\instancename with the appropriate details for your server. If your connection is successful, you should now see a "1>" prompt: enter "select @@version", then at the "2>" prompt, enter "go". This should return a copyright statement which includes the server version number and build date.

3. Examine the executable

If you have desktop access to the computer your SQL Server instance is running on, you can check the version number by inspecting the executable file that runs the server. By default you'll find this file in a folder called C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Binn (the precise path will be slightly different for older versions of SQL Server); navigate here in the Windows File Explorer, then find the file called sqlservr.exe, right-click on it and select "Properties". In the Properties window that opens, click on the Details tab to see information about the server, including its version number.

4. Check the log files

You can also find your SQL Server version number by inspecting its logs. By default, these are stored in a folder called C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Log (again, this will be slightly different for older versions of SQL Server). Note that this folder is protected, so you'll need to either edit its security settings to give yourself access or navigate to it from an elevated Command Prompt.

Once you've got access to the Log folder, open the text file called ERRORLOG, or any older file with this name and a numbered extension. The first line of each log file contains the version number of the server.

Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor can be used to create and manage any number of virtual machines on a computer running Windows. Here's how to install and use it on Windows 10 or 11.

How to configure Hyper-V on Windows 10 and 11

What do I need to run Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is widely used on Windows server systems, but it's also included in the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 10 and 11. It allows you to install most versions of Windows as a guest OS, along with many Linux and BSD variants: check the Microsoft website for the full list of supported guest operating systems

There are just a few hardware requirements: the host PC needs a 64-bit processor with hardware virtualization support and a minimum of 4GB of RAM. Almost any PC less than five years old will probably meet these specifications, and many older systems should work too. You can check compatibility by opening a PowerShell terminal and entering system info to generate a report of hardware and settings; at the bottom, you'll see details of Hyper-V requirements.

Enabling Hyper-V on Windows 10 and 11

Hyper-V isn't installed with Windows by default. To add it to a standard installation you need to use a Control Panel tool called "Turn Windows features on or off". In both Windows 10 and 11, you can find this tool by searching the Start menu for its name.

When the tool opens you'll see a list of optional features – some with ticks or blocks next to them to show that they're installed, but most with empty boxes, indicating components that can be added on demand. Some also have "plus" icons, indicating that they have multiple installable components.

To add the full Hyper-V product to your Windows 10 or 11 installation, simply click the main box next to "Hyper-V" – it will show a square block on Windows 10, or a tick on Windows 11 – and hit OK. Your computer will now install the required files (this should take less than a minute) and prompt you to reboot. Once you've restarted, the full Hyper-V virtualization product will be available for you to use; the features and settings are effectively identical on all versions of Windows.

Setting up a new VM with Hyper-V

The installation process above installs the Hyper-V Manager console, which lets you create, configure, and manage virtual machines. It also installs the Hyper-V Quick Create tool, which provides an easy way to set up a new VM.

You can find Quick Create by typing its name into the Start menu. When you open the tool, you'll see a choice of five default environments in the left-hand pane. The MSIX packaging environment is based on Windows 10 Enterprise, and is intended to help developers update their application installers; the other four options are more general-purpose, offering three LTS (long-term support) releases of Ubuntu Linux, plus a time-limited Windows 11 environment intended for lightweight development and testing.

You can set up any of these operating systems by simply clicking on them; alternatively, below the pane of default operating systems you'll see a button for "Local installation source"; click this to select an ISO, VHD, or VHDX image containing the OS installer of your choice.

Then click "Create Virtual Machine". The Quick Create tool will now download the relevant installation media and use it to create a new VM, or set up a default environment using your provided installation image.

Configuring and starting your new Hyper-V virtual machine

Once Hyper-V has built your new virtual machine you'll see a window with two buttons. You can click the upper button, labeled "Connect" to launch the VM with default settings, or you might first choose to click the lower button, labeled "Edit settings..." to configure VM-specific settings – we'll discuss these below.

When your new virtual environment first opens it will be powered down. Click "Start" to virtually switch it on and boot the system. With most operating systems there'll be a first-boot process to go through, involving confirming your regional settings and creating a new user account. Once you get through this you're free to use the virtual machine in any way you like; settings and controls can be accessed from the menus and buttons along the top of the Hyper-V window.

Using Hyper-V Manager to create and manage virtual machines

You can use the Quick Create tool to set up as many VMs as you like, but if you want to manage multiple VMs or configure advanced Hyper-V settings, you're better off using the Hyper-V Manager console.

Hyper-V Manager has the familiar look of an MMC snap-in. In the left-hand pane, you'll see a list of all available virtualization hosts; by default, this will just show your local PC, but you can right-click to add remote servers or other computers running Hyper-V, and manage all their VMs from one place.

In the upper-middle pane, you'll see a list of all virtual machines available on the selected host, with details of its state, CPU usage, assigned RAM, uptime, and status. Below is a list of Checkpoints (known as snapshots in other hypervisors); right-click on one to launch your VM as it was at the time the Checkpoint was created. At the bottom, you'll see details of the guest OS, and you can click on the Memory and Networking tabs to see more specific technical information.

The Hyper-V Actions pane

The right-hand pane of the Hyper-V Manager is headed "Actions", and the upper part offers shortcuts to common Hyper-V tasks. Click Quick Create... to launch the Quick Create tool, or click New... to open an advanced wizard that gives you more control over the configuration of your new VM. You can also import a virtual machine file that was exported from a different PC. 

The lower half of the pane lets you Connect (that is, open a view on) a running VM, start a stopped one, create a Checkpoint, delete a VM that's no longer needed. You can also adjust VM-specific settings – see below.

Hyper-V Settings

Clicking "Hyper-V Settings..." in the Action pane will bring up the main settings window for Hyper-V. It's worth exploring this to ensure everything is set appropriately. The top section offers five pages of server settings:

Virtual Hard Disks and Virtual Machines: On these pages, you can configure where virtual hard disk files and configuration data are stored for your VMs.

NUMA Spanning: These options allow VMs to use memory allocations that don't match the physical RAM configuration of the host machine. Spanning is enabled by default for maximum flexibility but can be disabled for potentially improved performance.

Storage Migrations: Hyper-V can dynamically move VM storage from one location to another, to gain space or performance. By default the number of simultaneous migrations is limited to two, but if you wish to raise the limit you can do so here.

Enhanced Session Mode Policy: Enhanced Session Mode allows the guest OS to access local resources such as USB peripherals, printers, and physical drives. Disable this to enforce a more classically isolated VM model.

The lower section, headed User, offers four pages which determine how Hyper-V responds to user input:

Keyboard: This page lets you determine whether key combinations are forwarded to the virtual machine or received by the host.

Mouse Release Key: Here you can set a key a combination to "release" the mouse pointer from the VM and make it work in the host OS instead.

Enhanced Session Mode: This option tells the VM to use Enhanced Session Mode extensions – if permitted by the policy setting above.

Reset Check Boxes: Here you can Hyper-V to forget all "don't ask this again" requests so that previously hidden confirmation messages will be shown.

Configuring Hyper-V virtual machine settings

You can open settings for each of your VMs at the point of creation – by clicking the "Edit settings..." button at the end of the Quick Create wizard – or afterward by selecting a VM in the Hyper-V Manager and clicking "Settings..." in the lower part of the right-hand pane.

The window that opens lets you customize numerous aspects of your virtual machine. The top group of settings, labeled "Hardware", is divided into six sections:

Firmware: Here you can choose whether your VM should boot from Hyper-V's virtual EFI file, from its own hard disk, or from a network server.

Security: Enable Secure Boot to prevent the VM from starting up if its OS installation has been tampered with.

Memory and Processor: This is where you can decide how much RAM and how many CPU cores will be available to your virtual machine; remember, assigning more resources to the VM means fewer are left for your host system. 

SCSI Controller: Configure virtual hard disks and optical drives.

Network adapter: Choose a network connection for the virtual machine.

The lower section of the Settings window, headed "Management", offers a further six sections:

Name: Set the name of your virtual machine, and optionally add notes for convenient reference.

Integration Services: Enable the OS to communicate with the virtual OS in various ways such as Heartbeat, which allows the host to check on the health of the guest OS, automatic backup, and Guest services, which allow files to be copied between the physical and virtual systems. You can find full details of the integration services on the Microsoft website.

Checkpoints: Decide whether your VM will support Checkpoints, choose whether or not they'll be created automatically, and select whether they only back up data or capture application states as well.

Smart paging file location: Select where the virtual memory file for your virtual machine will be stored.

Automatic Start and Stop Actions: Choose whether to automatically start the VM with Windows, and whether to save its state when the host PC shuts down.

Failing to plan and prepare your workloads for a cloud migration is in effect planning to fail – but the devil is in the detail no less than in other potentially complex IT transformations.

Jon Collins, senior industry analyst and vice president of engagement at research firm GigaOm, warns that moving workloads to the cloud without considering suitability has gotten organizations "stuck". In these situations, contracted cloud resources can be wasted.

"Cloud's great for quick-starts, certain answers, quickly spinning up applications, testing, and learning,” Collins says. “But you can't be hazy about it, then need 65 meetings to work things out or nothing gets built."

To begin with, businesses must analyze internal operations models. Remember: the base resource cost will likely be a similar order of magnitude to on prem. Governance is critical, especially for jumps into AI, so it’s imperative to scope out what you want to move and its cost today, then cloud, rather than pursuing a cloud "at all costs" approach.

Where 'lift and shift' offers savings, specifics still require close attention. Can you actually acquire and deploy what you need to see benefits? Dependencies between systems and services may go down the stack even with lots of virtualization.

"Solve for any lack of decision-making, and you might be three-quarters of the way there," Collins adds. "Play with ideas, consider sandboxing to build strategy skills and technical skills."

Cloud-native visions of being able to shift vendors and around multi-cloud to suit aren't yet reality, he notes. All the different options for applications need prior consideration, from virtualization to rationalization, migration, and modernization or automation.

"Do you need a thing at all? If not, turn it off," Collins adds.

Large language models (LLMs) may, in the future, help model workload performance and create inferences for better migration decisions. However, beware of hallucinations, Collins warns.

Jake Madders, co-founder and director of Hyve Managed Hosting, says cloud migration must be at the right time, and can be price-competitive depending on estate size and server infrastructure. Compute-intensive, process-hungry workloads need careful examination, especially for smaller organizations.

"A very small workload running on one to three physical boxes, chances are, can be cost-effectively virtualized."

Where to start with cloud migration

Madders prescribes first looking at physical machine specs including for number of processes, storage, and RAM versus current utilization. He tells ITPro that IT teams should analyze and document running applications to construct an idea of how the environment should look – remembering that some customers with heavy AI compute or similar may not be appropriate for the cloud.

"Average workloads such as remote desktops or storage servers should be fine. Look at interconnections. Look to match the power but virtualized," he says. "Consider tooling. There are more advanced methods in a huge environment."

Online calculators exist that can rough things out – but Madders says they typically ask for real hard-to-answer details such as how many times you're doing a specific read – so it's "very loose". Meanwhile, application updates and cleaning up your data can be worthwhile, especially if running on old, unpatched, or otherwise vulnerable infrastructure.

"You have to see what you can do. Maybe point the cloud infrastructure to that old physical server and clone it in block by block, so it comes into the cloud as legacy but virtual," he says. "Sandbox that and isolate it from the internet, over time bringing developers in to update it."

Customers may need an offering unavailable on public cloud, with a certain amount of cache for example, that will need to be sourced and made to interface with the rest. Heavy processing may go into dedicated servers or bare-metal connected back to a cloud infrastructure, he notes.

Availability, scalability, and vendor lock-in potential are other reasons to take advice before migration -- not least because costs can spiral if caught short.

"Costs can continue to ramp as you bring in more infrastructure and customers. A big provider can come in, helping run and streamline it, but costing another five grand a month too," Madders warns.

Howard Weale, vice president of global systems integrators at Cockroach Labs, adds that complicated environments can prove essential to achieving desired availability, seconding the importance of skills and experience.

Discovery of "where the bodies are buried" with tooling is critical even if, prior to a recompile for instance, it looks like things still work.

How long is a piece of string?

Weale says leaders must fit in workload migrations according to the specific strategic, technical, and tactical business objectives that matter most, in the order that makes the best sense.

A tactical technical decision could be because you want to avoid an expensive hardware refresh coming up in 18 months. Which applications consume the most energy, or need lots of CPU or GPU power?

A business strategic decision might be about a backlog of features, or function requests that stop you from making inroads against rivals "eating your lunch". "The different workloads fall into this quadrant-type architecture where you can focus," Weale explains.

Then analyze application dependencies and affinities, prioritizing early runs on the board to keep projects moving and overlaying these to the objectives quadrant. It’s also important to consider what can move separately or must be moved together.

"If you're smaller, it does overly index on choosing the right tools, getting the right partner, less so with the larger enterprises," Weale says.

Typically, "lift-and-shift" virtual machine (VM) migrations can go first, obviously solving for external dependencies and the like -- such as if external calls to hardware encryption devices are needed, entailing a cloud service with encryption and source-code changes.

Next will typically be database migrations. Customers may want a cloud-native database and one that understands nodes, versus running things through a single CPU. "3,000 nodes running one database is not a concept familiar to all legacy database users," Weale notes.

"And look carefully at what hasn't run in production for a year or two, versus what just sits in libraries. If 30-40% of the estate doesn't need bringing, your project is much smaller."

Resource-intensive workloads are typically last, with mainframes being particularly difficult, time-consuming, and complex.

Consider which business units run which programs and applications. With a bank, for instance, treasury might go first, then wealth management and corporate investment. Core banking activities, with major regulatory requirements, typically come last of all.

"Have business-unit owners expose their applications to you. Decide disposition strategy for each of those applications," Weale says. "More strategic applications driving top-line revenue growth might need refactoring and different tools, or entire rewrites."

Depending on company size, more or fewer resources will be available, a fact of which leaders should always be mindful.

Predictive analytics is not a new concept. Before the arrival of the computer, businesses would examine purchasing trends, profit margins, external factors, and other metrics to make decisions on how best to maximize both profit and responsiveness to customers.

Computers, and spreadsheets in particular, allowed businesses to refine their approach to analytics, learn more, and adjust practices accordingly. In a sense, the advent of computers allowed businesses to become fully data-driven for the first time.

AI adds more computing power as well as the ability to analyze much larger data sets. It can run scenarios and compare outcomes to aid decision making; it’s predictive. At its most sophisticated, predictive AI can help a business do things like work around supply chain issues, predict market trends, fine-tune stock ordering, and help optimize production lines.

However, as with most systems, it’s a case of ‘garbage in, garbage out’. Predictive AI is only as good as the information it has to work with. So how does a business ensure that it is implementing predictive AI well, and getting the most out of the technology? We offer five steps to successfully implement predictive AI.

Step 1: Ask the right questions

It isn’t always ideal to ask predictive AI to draw conclusions for the future based on experience from the past. Clare Walsh, director of Education at the Institute of Analytics offers this example:

Imagine using predictive analytics to refine recruitment. You may want to look at the characteristics of people you have previously promoted, compare those to the characteristics in new CVs, and then use that information to secure new hires. After all, if you already have successful people in your business, it makes sense that you would want to replicate that, surely?

“If there is anything undesirable in that historic data set, such as a tendency to avoid female or ethnic minority applicants, then the machine will notice that and include it as a reason to reject people,” explains Walsh. “And these machines get incredibly clever and focused - even if you try to mask the gender, they will look for other clues in the style of language. You’d better have a sceptical human overseeing that process.”

So how do you ask the right questions? One approach is to question your existing answers. Look around in the wider world to find data that might improve your questions. On the CV point, rather than asking questions about people you’ve hired, maybe try to find out why you aren’t hiring people from a broader spread of backgrounds. If your existing systems include racial hiring biases or fail neurodiverse candidates, you’d better find out how to fix this. Predictive AI can help you change your approach and enrich your workforce, but only if you instruct it to.

Step 2: Identify the right third party data sources

The value of predictive AI is dependent on the data. If you want robust insights, it’s up to you to provide rich datasets. Companies will have their own internal data, but it’s critical to incorporate other sources, including open source and third-party data. These help provide greater depth and context.

Naturally, these external data sets need to be fit for purpose. Historic data, in particular, can be riddled with biases. Dr Walsh suggests a starter list of questions that can be utilized whenever you are interrogating third party data:

• How was it trained?
• How was it tested?
• Can I inspect the training data and the performance figures in detail?
• Can I run a test on my own data to see how well the trained algorithm generalizes to my data set?
• What country was the data pooled from?
• How old was the data?
• When was it last refreshed?

Step 3: Scrutinize, sanitize, standardize

Wherever data originates, it has to be usable by your AI implementation, and some prep work may be required before it is usable.

“Text analytics that enrich and annotate raw data allow you to extract the keywords, concepts and terms you want the predictive model to recognise,” Mirit Eldor, managing director of Elsevier Life Sciences Solutions. “This process also harmonises synonymous terms, for example ‘heart attack’ and ‘myocardial infarction’ in electronic patient records, so they are identified as the same entity when predictions are calculated.”

While coming from a medical perspective, the sentiment holds for other sectors too. “Ask whether the data accurately represents the problem space and if it encompasses a broad enough spectrum to make meaningful predictions,” suggests Mike Mason, chief AI officer at tech consultancy Thoughtworks. “Then, proceed with data cleaning to address errors and inconsistencies, and deduplication to remove any repetitive information.

“Additionally, consider anonymization to protect privacy and, where beneficial, enrich the data with external sources to enhance model accuracy.”

Step 4: Test and challenge

With the data prepared and questions decided, you might think you’re ready to get meaningful, useful, accurate answers. Maybe you are. But it’s important to test and challenge.

“Firms shouldn’t simply accept their AI’s predictions at face value,” explains Mason. “Just like with any complex system, rigorous testing throughout its lifecycle is crucial. This uncovers potential issues, improves performance, and builds trust through transparency.”

Mason also advocates for the testing of testing. “As AI becomes increasingly pervasive in the enterprise tech stack, so too do the risks of inadequate testing,” he explains. “So you need to be attuned to falls in performance, unexpected outputs that you intuitively feel are flawed, decisions made on the basis of outputs that you feel could have been better decisions.”

Step 5: Realize the job is never done

As your needs change over time, and as you accumulate more data, you’ll want to examine it differently, add to it, change it. The first four steps are cyclical; you’re always going to want to use your predictive AI to look into the future, and so new capabilities and refined data will always be required.

To this end, you’re going to need to add new data sets, grow your expertise, and continue to test and challenge. Once predictive AI is part of your setup, the process will become an integral part of your business objectives.

As more organizations move to an identity-first approach to security, their focus is shifting away from traditional controls towards implementing identity and access management (IAM) tools. 

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that analyst firm Gartner cited IAM as one of 2024’s top six cyber security trends, alongside approaches such as human-centric security design and continuous threat exposure management (CTEM).

The need for IAM tools continues to rise alongside credential compromises, with stolen and exposed credentials identified as the biggest cloud security risk in 2024 in a recent report by the managed detection and response firm Expel. 

“There’s a saying that goes hackers don’t need to hack into your system, they just log in to your system,” says Mark Child, associate research director at analyst firm IDC.

The threat has clearly been recognized by cyber security leaders, as access management (AM) attracts the third-largest spend in the security software market according to Gartner.

“It’s like Oscar’s night, with light bulbs popping all around as people recognize that they need to invest more in IAM,” says Michael Kelley, senior director analyst, at Gartner Client Service Group. “In a recent survey of 300 leaders, 70% said they’re increasing spend across the board; that’s identity governance and management (IGA), privileged access management (PAM), and AM,” he notes.

Identity is the new security perimeter

IAM should be front of mind for any chief information security officer (CISO), as many experts consider identity the new security perimeter. One of its key benefits is the reduction in potential visibility or control that hackers might try to exploit, as well as poor password hygiene by workers.

Identity-based cyber attacks are on the rise and proper IAM implementation can play a crucial role in stemming this simple attack vector altogether. This is a multi-pronged fight, with some IAM vendors advocating for greater identity controls alongside traditional methods and others advancing the end of passwords through alternatives such as passkeys and biometrics.

“Humans are increasingly the weakest link when it comes to security, whether that’s down to weak and reused passwords or our susceptibility to social engineering tactics,” says Merritt Maxim, VP research director at analyst firm Forrester. “For that reason, companies need to have stronger controls around their identities because that’s often where security incidents begin.” 

First steps to implement IAM

When it comes to integrating new IAM tools into your business, Maxim believes the first step should be undertaking a thorough cloud audit and wider inventory check of your organization's assets and applications. This includes your user identities, as you may find a number of users and assistants are no longer active employees.

“These ‘orphaned’ accounts represent a real risk to the system and you’ll achieve a lot by cleaning these up,” he says. “Once you understand your inventory, then you can begin to put new IAM tools in place.”

It’s imperative that leaders lay the foundations rather than go for a quick fix, says Kelley, who often uses the analogy of a rollercoaster with his clients. 

“First you have to build the track; the foundation of access, which in this case is the identity governance administration and privileged access management. Then people can get in the car and ride the rollercoaster,” he says. “If you skip over the foundations, what tends to happen is inappropriate access, which opens the company up a lot of different problems in the future.”

Implementing IAM: No need to “boil the ocean”

The key thing with any identity-related initiative, is to try not to “boil the ocean”, says Merritt.

When it comes to going ahead with digital transformation or any new technological implementation, he recommends starting small – identifying perhaps four or five of the most widely-used applications. From here, leaders can work closely with those application teams to build and launch the integrations.

These early wins will help to build momentum internally for other projects down the line. 

“You might pick one technology, say single sign-on (SSO) or multi-factor authentication (MFA), and do a phased approach by department or region, using the lessons learned from each mini-deployment to make the subsequent ones more successful. It doesn’t matter where you start, just as long as you keep going,” he says. 

Implementing IAM: Pick your provider wisely

It’s also important to choose your cyber security vendor wisely, comparing the market and what each platform or suite of tools offers. Leaders should also seek to answer basic questions such as:

• Does it have all the components and capabilities your organization needs, or will you need to go to multiple suppliers? 
• Will it manage your environmental needs, as many businesses now have infrastructure and resources both on premise and in the cloud? 
• Can you manage the IT through a single ‘pane of glass’?
• Does it integrate with what you’ve already got in the environment? 

All these things can be a big drain on the IT and security team’s resources if not considered in advance.

It’s also worth looking at who the providers have partnerships with across other technology segments, says Child. “Because if partnerships exist, then they’re already likely to have integrations and [application programming interfaces (APIs)] available for those.” 

Implementing IAM: Using data to win in the boardroom

For integrations to be successful, you’re going to need buy-in – both at the board level and from employees in general – as one of the biggest challenges for success is cultural resistance and a fear of breaking something that fundamentally works. 

Strategically, one of the key things is to engage with the board and senior management to ensure they understand the value of what you’re trying to achieve.

It’s still a challenge for many security teams to get the boardroom to understand cyber risk and how it relates to business risk, with some cyber security leaders reporting senior pressure to downplay the seriousness of cyber risks within their organization. Child recommends you approach these individuals with a data-driven business case that will resonate with them. 

“Ask things like what’s the regulatory penalty if sensitive data is leaked due to an identity-related breach, or what happens if your company’s intellectual property is leaked? Do you lose your competitive advantage or even customers?

“You need the board onboard, but you also need champions throughout the organization,” he continues. “These will support new IAM rollouts and ensure people don’t try to find workarounds that not only undermine the project but also potentially worsen security.”

Implementing IAM: Not a spectator sport

It’s an exciting time for IAM, as while the concept may have been around for many years we’re currently seeing very innovative ideas and technologies emerging in this area. For those who’ve only dipped their toe in the water, or not yet even arrived at the pool, the breadth of options can feel overwhelming but it’s important not to shy away from embracing these tools. 

IAM enables a company to survive and thrive, says Kelley, and businesses simply can’t stand by as spectators. 

“You have to be moving down this path, it’s something you can’t ignore,” he says. “Even if you have just one application that embraces IAM, then make that available to users, and start learning how this new world works,” he concludes. 

Burnout is a clear and present danger for all tech businesses that rely on their skilled workers to innovate quickly, sometimes through a process called ‘crunch’. 

Crunch is the time immediately preceding a significant release date or development milestone, particularly a new product or service. For example, the week before a major app update or a new video game is released. These periods can be frantic, with developers working long hours.

The strain that is often placed on developers can be debilitating and impact not just their mental health but also the quality of the code they produce. Over half (51%) of businesses have a strategic approach to employee wellbeing, according to a report on wellbeing at work by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). But does this translate across the tech sector when development deadlines are approaching? 

For developers, long stretches of coding have become almost mythical. A recent example from the video game industry can found in the late-stage development of Cyberpunk 2077, as reported by Polygon. Staff were reportedly asked to work six days a week for over 12 months, to make up for lost development time. But conditions and attitudes are changing in the sector and leaders may have to reconsider turning to crunch as a path to innovation in the future.

Speaking to ITPro, Vance Tran, co-founder Pointer Clicker, explains his experiences with crunch culture: "When I worked as a software engineer, I saw first-hand how crunch times can be exciting but hard on a person. 

“One time, our team had a big deadline coming up real fast. The office turned into a place open all the time, with pizza and coffee everywhere. At first, it was fun and like we were all working on something important together. But as the nights went on for a long time, it became clear how tired and not feeling good we all were getting. It was harder to focus and come up with new ideas."

However, in an age where mental health support and wellbeing have moved to the top of the agendas for workforce management and development, many businesses are actively working to avoid crunch culture. 

"We actively discourage development teams from working long hours and weekends,” David Sugden, head of engineering at Axiologik, tells ITPro. “When planning, milestones are focused on outcomes rather than fixed deliverables, allowing flexibility when deadlines loom. In this way, we explicitly avoid crunch periods."

Sugden adds that with the right strategy leaders can protect developers from crunch culture altogether, but many businesses still lag in this regard. "Planning is shaped around large batches of deliverables, which naturally lead to crunch periods,” Sugden says.

“This is what the agile movement specifically aimed to address and yet 20 years later, it still pervades many organizations. By relentlessly focusing on the strategy and true value, and delivering change incrementally, hard, inflexible deadlines with the resulting crunches are avoided."

Clearly, a balance must be struck that ensures developers have the support they need and that their companies can meet deadlines and innovate at speed. A cultural shift is required to avoid the crunch, which is still prevalent in many businesses.

Preventing crunch culture

Crunch culture can be a massive burden on developers. But with the right tools and strategy, leaders can choose a different approach entirely. Mav Turner, CPO at Tricentis tells ITPro that AI tools can help reduce developer strain, emphasizing the effectiveness of AI code generation assistants.

"Today's developers face cognitive overload. But testing is a huge area of software development and delivery that can be automated to help alleviate the pressure on DevOps teams.

“Providing access to generative AI tools for testing is like providing each team member with a junior assistant who works for them. They can discover what needs to be tested, create those tests, then self-diagnose errors and optimize the code, as well as provide intelligent insights and analytics to debug applications."

For firms where crunch remains part of their toolbox, Sugden recommends an overhaul of internal processes with a focus on strengthening team morale and ensuring workers can turn to leaders for support. New steps might include:

• Daily, informal team meetings where individuals can socialize and relax, discussing topics unrelated to work.
• Regular surveys of sentiment.
• A buddy or mentor system within teams to provide mutual support.
• Mental health specialists are trained to identify potential issues.
• Rotation of those under the most pressure.

Overall, leaders must be better at planning schedules for development teams. Setting unrealistic targets is a sure way for crunch culture to recur, so the pressure to meet each deadline must be reconsidered through the lens of wellbeing. Tired developers won't perform at their very best and having an exhausted workforce will result in longer development cycles and high staff turnover in the long term.

Many businesses have also moved to more adaptive and agile development methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban, which offer high levels of flexibility and are ideal for development teams. By breaking down projects into smaller, iterative cycles, development teams can respond more effectively to changes in requirements and priorities. Regular sprint reviews are an ideal way to ensure crunch episodes are avoided.

Alternatives to crunch culture

Changing a business's crunch culture will require stakeholders to modify their behavior and foster a healthier working environment. Appreciating the pressure many developers are under is a strategy many companies could benefit from.

"Stepping into your co-workers' shoes by viewing work-related challenges from their perspective is definitely helpful for our colleagues," comments Dr Wladislaw Rivkin, associate professor in Organisational Behaviour at Trinity Business School. Rivkin co-authored the report Good for you, bad for me?, a paper on taking an employee’s perspective to improve wellbeing. 

"To ensure that it doesn't harm our own wellbeing, it is important to consider our mental resources and engage in perspective taking only when we feel energized."

By prioritizing proper planning, adopting agile methodologies, embracing automation, encouraging work-life balance, fostering a positive team culture, and providing adequate resources, organizations can create an environment that minimizes the need for crunch periods.

Ultimately, the crunch must be avoided if businesses are to maintain their development teams' high levels of expertise and creativity. 

A sustainable and supportive approach to software development benefits the development team's wellbeing and enhances the overall efficiency and success of the projects undertaken. As the technology landscape continues to evolve, organizations must prioritize the long-term health and productivity of their development teams to achieve sustained success.

Trello is a project management tool. Whether that project is the launch of a brand new product by a team of 500, or the tasks you need to tick off every week in your solo business, it makes short work of planning and organizing jobs and monitoring progress.

It's based on the Japanese principle of kanban, in which jobs are assigned to cards, which are organized into lists on an overall project board. Although it has its roots in factory management, it can be applied equally to knowledge work and the service industries. 

Here, we'll show you how to set up your first board and use it to manage an evolving workflow, from project launch to completion.

Sign up for Trello for business

Visit www.trello.com and click 'Get Trello for free'. Even if you plan to use one of the charged-for tiers in the long run, everything starts with a free account. Enter your email address, then check through the terms of service and privacy policy. If you're happy to abide by them, click 'Sign up' to complete the process. Trello will send an email to the address you specified, so check your inbox and click the 'Verify your email' button inside the email. Type in your full name and your preferred password, then click 'Continue'.

Trello for business: Create your first board

Trello uses boards and cards to organize your work. Each card will contain a single task, and your cards as a whole will be organized into lists on the board. These lists can be anything you want, but common examples include departments if responsibility for each job progresses through a logical chain, or status – like 'to do', 'in progress', and 'done' – for work that's completed within a single team or department.

We're going to create a board to manage the launch of a new website, which will be worked on by several individual teams. Click Next, and give your board a name. This can be anything you want but, as you can create up to 10 boards with Trello's free plan, it's worth picking something logical so your colleagues can quickly locate the right one. 

Click Next, then type the names of your first three lists. Trello suggests 'To do', 'Doing', and 'Done', but in our case, it makes more sense to take a more granular approach. We'll therefore create lists based on the different areas of responsibility within our team. As you can see from the screenshot, we've opted for Capture, Design, and Code. We'll add further columns when we get to interact with the board directly, but, for the moment, these will be used as a receptacle for capturing ideas, a list of cards for the design team, and a second list for the coders.

When you've specified your first three columns, click Next to move on. Trello now wants you to create your first two cards, which will automatically be assigned to the Capture list. Ideally, we'd be using the capture list as an ad-hoc dumping ground – a bit like a jotter – either when ideating as a team, or when individual team members have ideas for the project. So, for the moment, we'll add two essentials for our site: 'Implement captcha on contact form', and 'Integrate cookie opt-out'.

When you've created your first two cards, click 'Next'. If you'd like to invite another team member to collaborate on your board, type their email address in the box on the following screen, then click 'One last thing' to send them an invitation.

You've just finished signing up and creating your first board. At this point, Trello will offer a 30-day free trial of the Premium plan. Scroll down and click either 'Start your Premium 30-day free trial', or Skip, as appropriate. In this walkthrough, we'll be using the features of the free plan, so will click Skip at this point.

Trello for business: Start assigning tasks

You'll now have arrived at your board, containing three lists – Capture, Design, and Code – and the two cards you created as part of the set-up process. Your next job is to finish creating the lists that you'll use to organize your team's workflow. Click 'Add another list' to the right of the Code list, and create a list for 'Copywriting', then further lists for 'Design second pass', 'User testing', and 'Publishing'. Finally, create a list for 'Done', which is where you'll drop cards once they're no longer needed.

Let's start fleshing out some of the jobs. Scroll back to the first list – Capture – and click the 'Integrate cookie opt-out' card to open its editing screen. Click in the Description box and explain exactly what needs doing. If you have a more extensive briefing document, you can attach it directly by clicking the 'Attachment' button in the sidebar. Although your team can add an unlimited number of files to the board, they must each be 10MB or smaller on the free tier. If you need to work with larger assets, either compress or break them down into smaller parts, or use the link option (on the formatting toolbar above the Description box) to link to it. You could also use a power-up, which we will explore later, to link directly to a file or folder on a cloud account.

The card is immediately more useful with the Description filled in, but don't stop there if attaching metadata would give it more context. For example, if you've invited other members of your team to join the board and you want to assign the job specifically, rather than to a department, click Members, followed by the name of the team member who needs to complete the task.

If a job is due by a certain data, click Dates, and select a deadline on the calendar. And, if you want this card to stand out on the board, click Cover and select a color or image. (Tip: use the 'Search for photos' button at the bottom of the dialog to integrate an appropriate photo from Unsplash.com.)

When you've finished fleshing out the job, click the 'x' at the top of the card. You now need to decide which team has responsibility for that job. Most of the work on the new website will originate as a wireframe from the design team, which our coders will replicate using PHP. However, the cookie banner design could be handled when it reaches the design second pass stage. So, in this instance, click and drag the 'Integrate cookie opt-out' card directly onto the Code list to assign that job to that team.

Now repeat the process for the 'Implement capcha on contact form' card, and drag that to the Design column. The design team can work on the look and feel of the captcha before the coding team brings it to fruition.

Create whatever other cards you need, and flesh them out as you've just done for the two cards you created during the sign-up process, then drag them onto the appropriate lists for whichever team has initial responsibility for each one.

As your teams finish work on an assigned card, they can drag it into the appropriate column for the next stage of its evolution. Looking at the Design list in the screenshot below, for example, the captcha job will head for the Code list once it's ready for the next stage, along with the templates for blog posts, color scheme, style guide, media assets, and photos, all of which will be used in coding pages for publication. Other jobs, like the budget for the logo design, can be dragged straight to the Done column as nobody else will need to take responsibility for it once that task is completed. 

Similarly, when the code team has finished working on the 'meet the team' and 'privacy policy' pages, and the copywriting team has completed the privacy policy and team profiles, which appear on their list, all four cards can be dragged to the 'Design second pass' list we created earlier. At this point, the design team will know that they have all the assets they need – the content and the code – to put those pages together.

You'll notice that there's effectively a loop in our workflow, with jobs passing through the design team twice. That's so the designers can check that what they created as wireframes has been faithfully replicated in code.

As cards can be dragged in any direction, the coding team could have just dragged them back into the first Design column when the jobs attached to them were ready for checking, but that would imply that, once the design team had finished with them, the logical next step would be the coding team again. The jobs could, in effect, get stuck in a never-ending loop, bouncing back and forth between the two teams. That's why we created a second design list, for jobs that need a 'second pass' to finish off before progressing to user testing.

To save the design team keeping an eye on two lists the whole time, it would make a lot of sense for jobs sent to the 'second pass' list to have a staff member attached to them. This can be done quickly and easily without opening the job's full editing dialog by hovering over the card and clicking the pencil icon that appears on the right-hand end. This reveals a menu for adding metadata to the job. Click 'Change members', then the name of the team member to whom responsibility should be assigned.

Trello for business: Reading boards

This process of dragging jobs from one area of responsibility to another lets the whole team see how the project is progressing. Everyone can see in an instant if things are backing up as well as which parts of the team – if any – have nothing or too little to do. This can help managers to reassign jobs or resources.

Individual team members can also check that they're not missing anything they need to be doing and therefore aren't holding up anyone else. Clicking the Filters button above the board reveals a menu, with a 'Cards assigned to me' checkbox. Clicking this clears away all but the cards for which you have responsibility, so you can more clearly see what you should be working on next. Picking a team member from the 'Select members' menu lets you do similar for anyone else on the team.

If you do have any team members twiddling their thumbs, it makes sense to assign them to the most pressing task – so long as they have the requisite skillset. In this case, scroll the Filter dialog until you find the Due date options, then use the boxes to isolate jobs that are running late, or approaching a deadline. Or, by scrolling further, highlight jobs that haven't been touched in some time by using the options in the Activity section.

Trello for business: Integrations and automations

As we mentioned when fleshing out the first card, you can add attachments to a card, where relevant, or link directly to a cloud account using what's known as a power-up.

Close any open card to return to the board view, then click the three dots in the upper right corner to open the menu, followed by Power-Ups. Scroll down to Google Drive and click Add. 

Once the power-up has been integrated, the Add button will switch to Settings. Click this, followed by 'Edit Power-Up settings', followed by Link Google Drive Account. Use the popup that appears to log in to Google Drive, then click the Continue button to share your account details with Trello. Read through the permissions Trello needs and, if you're happy with them, click Allow.

Now open one of your cards, and you'll see that a new Google Drive button has been added to the sidebar. Click this, then choose what you want to do: create a new asset and attach it directly, attach an existing file, or attach a folder. If you chose one of the latter two, navigate through the Google Drive file manager until you find the asset you want to attach to the card, click it, then click Select.

Google Drive is just one of several integrations that you can use. For more details, check out the Power-Ups and Integrations sections of the Trello site.

Similarly, you can reduce the amount of work you need to do to keep your board tidy by using an automation. As we've already decided that it could be a point of confusion in our workflow, let's take another look at that 'Design second pass' list we created and see whether an automation can simplify matters. As things stand, we want to add a specific team member to a card before dragging it to the second pass list to reduce the likelihood of them missing it. But what if the coding team members frequently forget to do this? In that case, you could use Butler, Trello's automation bot, to add a team member and move the card from one list to another, all with a single click.

Scroll down the card dialog's sidebar and click 'Add button' in the Automation subsection. Now click 'Create a custom button'. Create 'Create button', and give the button a name. In this instance, we'll call it 'Second pass'. Click 'Add action', then use the buttons and fields to set up an automated workflow. In this case, click in the text field on the 'move' row immediately below the buttons, and select the 'Design second pass' list. Click the '+' at the end of the row and that instruction will be added to the workflow in the Actions section. Now click the Members button and, on the third row down, click in the 'username' text field, click the name of the team member with responsibility for the job, and click '+'.

As you can see from the screenshot below, we've built an automation comprising the two steps in the Actions section. Click Save to complete the process.

The 'Second pass' button you've just created will now appear in the Automation section, in the sidebar of the card dialog, as you can see in the screenshot below. From now, on, rather than manually dragging a card to the 'Design second pass' column and remembering to add a team member with responsibility for that job, your designers only need to click this button. When they do, both steps will be done for them. They can close the card, open the next one, and carry on with their job.

Finding a cybersecurity vendor can be a challenge. There are multiple options available and it’s often difficult to plow through the marketing material to truly assess how they can meet your specific requirements. 

In an age of increasingly sophisticated AI threats and evolving ransomware groups, it can also be tough to work out what your needs are in the first place. There’s a big difference between the in-house security skills at a big enterprise compared to a smaller company and your requirements will reflect this. 

Finding the right vendor for your purposes might seem complex but with the correct approach, it can be done. Here’s everything you need to know.

How to find the the best cybersecurity vendor

When choosing a vendor, you should be looking for a partnership, not just a license procurement, says Lewis Duke, threat intelligence lead at Trend Micro.

“Ask about their strategy; does it align to yours? How communicative are they, and are they positioned to help solve your specific sector challenges?”

Enterprises should make sure vendors have a proven track record and experience in cybersecurity, says Joshua Paulus, head of security and identity at Intelliworx. Meanwhile, firms operating in highly-regulated sectors such as healthcare and finance should ensure that the vendor has a thorough understanding of relevant industry regulations and compliance requirements.

Look for certifications including ISO 27001, SOC2 and others that may be relevant within your sector, says Duke. 

One of the most important services a cyber security vendor can offer is the monitoring of your business’ IT estate, says Lewis West, head of cybersecurity at recruitment firm Hamilton Barnes. 

How comprehensive this service will be depends on the vendor’s package and the price you are willing to pay. A standard offering typically includes the provision of protection and monitoring during usual business hours, he says.

“But if you did require an additional level of service, there are on-call models available where support is provided when needed.”

A good cybersecurity vendor will take the time to get to know your challenges and business operations, says Paul McLatchie, security strategy consultant at Daisy. Be wary of vendors that immediately start pushing a solution before they have become familiar with the relevant moving parts within your business, he says.

Low-cost trials for cybersecurity vendors

Before committing to a vendor, validate if they have any options for a low or no-cost initial engagement, McLatchie advises. “Some provide introductory security evaluations free of charge, or at least, may be open to an initial no-commitment workshop session.”

You should also exercise caution engaging with vendors that provide an overly optimistic viewpoint that their products or services will solve all of your organization’s cybersecurity woes, says McLatchie.

“Risk can never be completely eliminated, regardless of how fantastic the proposed solution is.”

Care less about the “whiz-bang AI and next-gen widget”, and focus on the core question: Will the solution truly protect my organization?, says David Corlette, vice president of product management, VIPRE Security Group. He also recommends leaders pay attention to independent testing agencies, such as AV Comparatives or Virus Bulletin, which have consistently documented test methodologies.

Vendors will often talk about the benefits of integrating their solutions. However such offers can be gimmicky and might not increase security, he says. 

Many vendors will be willing to tailor their services, says West. “It is always worth engaging in a conversation with them rather than assuming they will strictly adhere to the packages advertised.”

Which businesses need a cybersecurity vendor?

Of course, not all firms need a cybersecurity vendor. The key reason that businesses should consider using one is to gain a team of experts that can provide ongoing support, says West. 

If it’s still not clear, a good place to start is with a risk management strategy for your existing security posture, says McLatchie.

“What systems and services drive daily business operations? What would be the impact were they to fail? What are the most prominent cyber threats to the organization? These questions and more can at least start firms down the road towards a basic understanding of the maturity of their current security capabilities.”

The first step for a business is to audit its infrastructure, including its external network which is likely to be connected to third-party cloud services as well as its internal IT infrastructure, agrees Samir Desai, vice president, product management at GTT.

“If potential risks and pain points are identified and cannot be handled internally, one option is to go with a managed security service provider (MSSP), who can pull in a wide range of cybersecurity solutions with expertise and tailor them to meet a businesses’ unique needs.”

Don’t believe everything you are told. No single vendor can provide everything that is needed, from firewalls and a secure operating system to endpoint protection and email security, says Corlette.

“Enterprises should be wary of any vendor that claims to do everything well.”

Cybersecurity vendors for SMEs vs enterprises

Your needs will also depend on the size of your business. SMEs will likely benefit from MSSPs that offer bundled solutions and handle day-to-day tasks, says Duke. However, enterprises might opt for multiple specialized vendors depending on their security needs, he adds.

It’s also worth considering how many security providers you need, given your risk appetite, attack surface, and the sector in which you operate.

SMEs typically lack the dedicated IT staff or technical expertise available to bigger businesses, so it’s important they prioritize vendors that offer more user-friendly solutions, according to Paulus.

“These should offer simple deployment and management processes without the need for additional time and resources in getting cyber security systems up and running."

Internal security teams can pick up the slack. In general, businesses should have an internal security team alongside a cybersecurity vendor, due to their differing skill sets, says West.

“Often where external vendors provide the most value is in monitoring networks and identifying issues and vulnerabilities, which can then be reported to the internal team who will resolve the issue.”

Having an internal security team can give businesses better visibility over operations than an external provider. After all, they have the best understanding of their organization’s IT environment, Paulus adds.

“But what they can’t do is address all security risks alone or guarantee 100% security against all cyber threats. Working with external vendors can help businesses improve their security posture and address challenges effectively."

Whether you’re in charge of a micro-business, an SME, or a FTSE 100 giant, it’s important to know how to combat high staff turnover and keep numbers where you want them. While accepting the natural ebb and flow of employees arriving and leaving is critical to good management, too many staff leaving in a short time can be damaging.

Defining what “high staff turnover” means exactly is also extremely difficult to quantify. Chris Goulding, MD of specialist HR recruitment firm Wade Macdonald, believes the UK average of around 15% a year might provide “a happy medium of keeping things fresh without compromising the running of a business”. 

Goulding does though acknowledge the average “fluctuates drastically between industries” and amid today’s tough battle for talent, everyone will have their own reason for looking elsewhere from financial to personal to career development.

Nearly six in 10 (58%) employed professionals worldwide are already searching, or are likely to search, for a new job within six months according to recent research from G-P (Globalization-Partners). The study took in responses from 5,500 employees worldwide.

Certain roles in the tech sector are under particular scrutiny for turnover right now. Gartner research from 2023 found nearly half of cyber leaders will quit by 2025 due to work-related stress, while a 2024 report on CISO job satisfaction found 75% of CISOs are mulling a career change.

Goulding says: “Naturally, whether the turnover consists of voluntary or involuntary leave, it can’t be ignored. A high turnover of talented and valued staff can cause irreversible reputational damage and might be indicative of workplace culture overdue a change. It should be treated like the red flag it is.”

How a company handles its departing employees is an opportunity and an obligation “to show maturity and respect”, Goulding argues. “Treating leavers well will leave a positive feeling behind with the remaining staff and doesn’t burn any bridges,” he adds. “This same employee may return armed with better skills and performance or even become a competitor later down the line.”

Staff leaving could be put down to any, or all, of the three Cs: Culture, Compensation, and Communication. To combat high staff turnover, leaders must address all three. Amid the cost-of-living crisis salary demands will certainly be a key factor but flexibility, wellness, and feeling heard are all growing in their importance.

Combat staff turnover: Employees are holding all the cards

According to industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologist Tom Cornell of Hirevue, employees are currently “empowered by job shortages and can demand more from employers”. In the tech sector, the AI skills shortage and cyber security skills shortage are forcing employers to carefully assess their workforce numbers and focus on upskilling. Those not willing to invest in employees may find workers leaving to pursue new, high-pay AI jobs or similar opportunities.

Cornell believes this dynamic of high demand and low supply means workers “more comfortable leaving a role if they are unhappy”. However, retention is a complex task, Cornell admits. “Ensuring expectations of the role are clearly communicated, but then actually delivered upon, is key,” he adds. “If the role or experience is not what was promised, employees are likely to quickly become dissatisfied.

“Businesses need to listen to their employees and what they want. General trends serve as a good foundation but can’t replace good internal processes to give employees a voice in shaping their employee experience.”

And when it comes to employee wants and needs, Cornell warns: “You’ll pay the consequences of cutting corners”.

Ask a range of HR experts and most will agree managers can stem the tide of churn with regular check-ins and anonymized company surveys. This is particularly critical during times of change and especially important given research by Ricoh Europe puts the average cost of replacing an employee at €10,600 across the EU. 

“People need to be at the center of any workplace transformation, with their needs and pain points listened to and actively addressed,” writes Nicola Downing, CEO at Ricoh Europe. “This is vital to talent attraction and retention, boosting collaboration and productivity and ensuring a sense of fulfillment through work.”

Pointing to those associated financial costs of staff turnover Alex Alvarez, lead people scientist at employee engagement platform Culture Amp, explains how more than one in five, employees leaving within a single year would create a noticeable cost. The budget for recruiting can vary between 30% and 200% of an employee’s salary, he suggests.

The cost of replacing staff is not only monetary. Alvarez cites a loss of productivity, an impact on company goals due to knowledge drain, and a strain on the mental health of colleagues forced to pick up the slack. Loss of security workers could be particularly harmful, as it will place additional pressure on already exhausted cyber security professionals and put organizations at increased risk of attack.

Combat staff turnover: Keep employees in the fold

Offering exit interviews might be one way to combat high staff turnover in the future with the knowledge gained from them helping to reduce similar issues happening again – especially during the age of so-called “quiet quitting”.

However, when Culture Amp reviewed exit survey responses of 100,000 employees from a cross-section of businesses, it showed that ‘career opportunities’ was the most cited reason at the time of leaving. This was “more common than compensation, work/life balance, and manager-related reasons combined”, Alvarez adds. Mentorship schemes could help employees feel they have vertical mobility in their workplace while also showing workers they are valued in their current positions.

Yoko Spirig, co-founder of equity software Ledgy, suggests offering employees a piece of the action can be useful to preventing turnover because it enables them to “see their work as an investment”. 

“When you give people the opportunity to own a piece of the company they work for, people stop treating the work they do every day as a means to an end,” Spirig argues. “Equity gives people an extra reason to choose you over another company; to do their best work, innovate, and focus on long-term rewards, even in a tough economic cycle. Equity schemes also demonstrate to employees that their value and hard work is recognized.”

Aside from financial concerns, wellness is another area for companies to get right to reduce staff turnover, but this doesn’t always have to mean allocating budget for gym memberships, meditation, or healthy food. Stan Massueras, EMEA general manager for people management platform Lattice, believes “wellness isn’t bought but nurtured through shared vision”.

“Businesses embracing purpose as a motivator understand that employees, like athletes, need that inner fire to achieve the impossible,” he explains. “The wellness and mental health challenges associated with the Great Resignation created meaningful change and now purposeful collaboration will propel us toward a brighter future.”

As the trend of big tech layoffs continues into 2024, employees may feel insecure in their current roles and begin the search for alternatives. Leaders who don’t effectively communicate their intentions for hiring and firing could be forced to reckon with workers leaving pre-emptively.

One brighter note to boost staff morale would be recognizing and celebrating their achievements, according to Cicely Ward, head of HR at digital marketing company Embryo. She believes this current “climate of uncertainty” means employees need "more assurance they are performing and valued”.

With a nod to today’s cost-of-living crisis, Ward highlights a key challenge for business leaders to consider. “The connection between employee satisfaction, productivity, and positive work environments becomes even more relevant amid economic turbulence,” she warns.

Ransomware is constantly in the headlines, as one of the biggest cyber threats businesses face and a part of many high-profile breaches. Particular attention is given to attacks against big companies hit by ransomware, but recent analysis found ransomware groups targeting small businesses once again.

Ransomware gangs such as LockBit, Cl0p, and Black Cat are slowing down attacks against “big game” targets and focusing their attention on small and medium businesses (SMBs), according to recent analysis from Trend Micro.

Firms with up to 200 employees accounted for the majority (575) of attacks using LockBit’s ransomware across the first half of 2023, according to the security vendor’s report.

As they grapple with tight budgets and a lack of security awareness, smaller businesses are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Yet ransomware is a growing threat that’s not going to go away, so what can SMBs do about it?

The weaknesses that enable small business ransomware attacks 

SMBs’ security budgets tend to be much smaller, making them less protected from cyber attacks compared to their larger counterparts. This can leave them failing to take basic cyber security measures such as using strong passwords, implementing two-factor authentication (2FA), and patching systems. 

Common weaknesses include outdated software and systems and a lack of a robust backup strategy, says Ken Barth, CEO of Catalogic Software. “Cyber resilience – which involves the ability to maintain business continuity in the face of threats – is often lacking in SMBs.” 

At the same time, many SMBs still think they’re too small to be targeted and fail to prioritize spending and board focus time on cyber security, says Matt Aldridge, principal solutions consultant at OpenText Cybersecurity. “This leaves them under-prepared and under-resourced when it comes to defending against attacks, making them the perfect target for malicious adversaries.”

Then there’s the human element. “Staff within smaller businesses may lack training and awareness of cyber threats, making them more vulnerable to phishing attempts and social engineering tactics,” says Jack Horlock, principal associate at CyXcel.

Adding to the threat, SMBs are likely to be dealing with remote or hybrid workers accessing the business network or cloud services via personal devices, says Aldridge. 

As a backdrop to this, ransomware is continuing to evolve. Approximately 29 new ransomware groups have emerged in 2023 and different types of ransomware such as ransomware-as-a-service – which sees off-the-shelf ransomware solutions available to buy on the dark web – lower the barrier to entry for all adversaries. “The RaaS model lowers the entry barrier for cyber criminals, while collaboration among larger extortion cartels amplifies the scale and impact of attacks,” says Barth.

Groups targeting SMBs are often financially motivated because there’s a smaller reward from an SMB but they’re more likely to pay. Attackers may also want the specific data that the SMB processes, says Jim Perkins, security consultant at AMR Cybersecurity.

RaaS can also target specific sectors, regardless of the business size. “Some companies may be targeted due to their work and clientele,” says Perkins. 

For example, he continues, cyber security companies hold a lot of sensitive information about the defenses of several other firms. Or RaaS could be targeted against a company that provides a specific service to another larger business in a supply chain attack. 

Laurie Iacono, associate managing director, cyber risk at Kroll describes how there has been a heightened focus on third-party organizations. “Smaller enterprises often rely on widely available platforms for crucial business functions, such as file sharing apps, accounting, and payroll. However, as demonstrated by the MOVEit vulnerability, the repercussions of these attacks can have a widespread and enduring impact.”

The most successful ransomware group targeting all businesses is LockBit – and it attacks firms of all sizes, says Mark Stockley, senior threat researcher at Malwarebytes. “LockBit has been used to attack everything from a five-person law firm to Continental, a global company with 200,000 employees. The sobering reality for SMBs is, they are facing the same adversaries as multinational companies.”

Avoiding and mitigating small business ransomware attacks

It’s clear ransomware attacks are a growing threat to smaller firms. With this in mind, SMBs need to ensure they have “excellent IT hygiene”, up-to-date software and operating systems, and comprehensive technical defenses in place, Aldridge adds. “Additionally, they need to have a strong understanding of what needs protecting and the risks their systems and data are exposed to, so they can prioritize accordingly.”

He also advises making sure critical data is backed up and ensuring 2FA processes and strong password policies are in place.

Iacono outlines the importance of implementing password complexity rules to avoid using weak or common passwords, as well as refraining from reusing credentials. In addition, employees who can spot phishing email giveaways and grasp the ramifications of falling for one are more likely to report suspicious communications promptly, he says.

A balanced approach SMBs should consider adopting is the "trust but verify" method, says Horlock. “For instance, when dealing with situations like business email compromise, it's acceptable to trust someone. But having a rapid and well-defined verification process, such as sending a quick text message alongside an email, can add a layer of security.”

Robust defenses are critical, but it is also essential to plan carefully how to respond when things go wrong – during and immediately following an attack, says Aldridge. “SMBs often struggle in this area due to conflicting priorities and limited resources.  If you lose sensitive data, who would you need to inform and how would you do this?”

However, companies should never negotiate or pay the ransom, says Aldridge. “The danger with paying the ransom is there’s no guarantee you’ll recover the encrypted files. By paying up, you are only fueling the ransomware economy – and there is nothing to stop your organization from being targeted again in future cyber attacks.”

If ransomware payments are deemed absolutely necessary, remember that ransomware groups expect to negotiate, says Stockley. “Use a professional negotiator if you can. If you can't, as distasteful as it may be, take your time, avoid getting angry, and try to gain their trust and empathy.”

There are multiple ways to factory reset Windows 11 machines, with different advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we're going to look at how to reset Windows 11 without losing any data, why you might want to wipe your computer entirely, and what some other options are if you've found your way to this page because your computer is suddenly lacking performance. 

How to factory reset Windows 11

• Open the Start Menu and then the Settings menu. This can be done by typing "Settings" or by pressing the gear icon.
• Click "System", then "Recovery". You will be shown a menu containing a button labeled "Reset this PC".

• Click "Reset this PC", and you will be presented with two options: 
• Keep my files
• Remove everything

Next, you'll be asked to choose if you want to keep your files and whether you'd like your new Windows 11 reinstall to come from a local source – check out this guide to see how to create one of those – or via the web. Keep in mind that a web install will mean that your download speed is tied to your internet connection.

Why should I factory reset Windows 11? 

There are multiple reasons you might choose to reset your computer to its factory settings. One common use case is if you are moving to new devices and want to make sure that anyone who finds your old device cannot recover your sensitive data. While there are (often expensive) third-party data wiping tools, we doubt government agencies are purely relying on Microsoft's factor reset procedure. For most users, this is a fine way to send your machine along with minimal risk. 

Another reason to reset, this time without losing your data, is if you want to have a fresh install of your operating system without losing your files. Often after months or years operating systems get bogged down with non-fatal errors and get bloated with unnecessary files. Sometimes things can go haywire – even if you have been religiously creating restore points before any major changes – but a factory reset is a common tool to get you back on track. 

While we would always recommend you back up your data using backup software before even clicking through the factory reset menus, the factory reset user interface allows you to put a fresh new copy of Windows 11 on your machine without having to resort to using third-party tools or additional wizards. The factory reset pathway within Windows 11 is intuitive, simple, and relatively stress-free.

What's Next If A Factory Reset Doesn't Fix My Issue with Windows 11? 

While it's true that even the simplest IT fixes can feel like an incredibly annoying game of Whack-A-Mole, there are tangible next steps you can take if your factory reset does not fix an issue you were having with your machine.

We've mentioned restore points before, which you can use to revert back to a time when your machine was working. To create a restore point, follow these steps:

• EmptOpen the Start Menu and search "Create a restore point", then select it from the results.
• On the System Protection tab in System Properties, select Create.
• Provide a name or description for the restore point, then click "Create".y list

You can also use Secure Boot to run your machine in a way that checks if any of the drivers running on your computer are incorrect or harmful. For more on how to use the Secure Boot feature, check out our recent guide. 

The world used to divide sharply into two tribes – you were a Windows person or an Apple person, and that was it. Today, that barrier has all but dissolved. Plenty of people are mixing and matching hardware, working with a mix of PCs, Macs, and mobile devices, as suits the context or task at hand. Your choice of computer has never been less important: all that really matters is that you can access and work with your data.

Even in these enlightened times, however, that isn’t something you can always take for granted. Different file formats and ways of working can trip you up as you hop between platforms.

If you’re running Windows 11 and macOS side-by-side, or working alongside someone on a different platform, here’s our run-down of recommendations for working on PCs, Macs and Linux.

Which productivity tools should you use?

The easiest way to work across platforms is to use an online office suite, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Office or the iCloud versions of Apple’s Pages, Numbers, and Keynote applications.

That’s not your only option, however. Microsoft Office is available for both Windows and macOS (plus iPadOS), and can conveniently synchronize documents via OneDrive. As a free alternative, LibreOffice also works on the Mac, PC, and Linux, and integrates with cloud storage services like Google Drive to simplify managing and accessing your documents.

If you don’t want to entrust your data to Google, you may prefer to set up your own WebDAV server for convenient document storage and sharing. This can reside on a commercial web host or on your own hardware – an easy way to set it up is via the Nextcloud collaboration framework, which is included in the DietPi OS distribution for the Raspberry Pi and other single-board computers.

Now enter the location of your WebDAV server in the Host field (for Nextcloud this would be the address of your server). In the Root field, enter the address of your user folder, which is /nextcloud/remote.php/dav/files/USER/, replacing USER as appropriate. 

The first time you establish a remote connection, LibreOffice will ask you to create a master password to protect it. Enter this twice and make sure you remember it for future use. You should only need to enter it once per session.

How to plug the OS exclusivity gap

Things get a little trickier if you’re using applications only available on one platform – for example, Microsoft Publisher and Access are missing from Mac editions of Office. So, if you rely on either, it’s worth looking for replacements.

For desktop publishing, Adobe InDesign is the industry standard, but the monthly fee is steep for non-professionals. Affinity Publisher 2, from Serif, is a powerful and affordable solution that works seamlessly across Windows, Mac, and iPad. 

You can share your work between all three, leaving off on any one of them and picking up again on either of the other two, and it costs a very reasonable £69.99 for either Windows or Mac – less than the price of four months of InDesign. You can also buy a Universal Licence for the whole Affinity Suite, which includes the Photo and Designer tools and allows cross-installation on Windows, Mac, and iPad.

If you’re making the switch, though, be aware that Affinity Publisher 2 can’t import Microsoft Publisher files. Anything that’s been created in Publisher will need to be recreated, or exported as a PDF and edited from there.

As for Microsoft Access, the natural alternative is LibreOffice Base, which is included in the free LibreOffice suite. Although it’s not possible to directly open an Access database in LibreOffice Base, there are several ways to migrate your data.

One is to export your databases from Access in XLS format, and import them from there into new LibreOffice databases. Another is to use the Microsoft Access Runtime, which includes the Access Database Engine. This can be used to grant access to the data itself or facilitate its transfer. Alternatively, the Java-based UCanAccess driver allows JDBC database programs (including LibreOffice Base) to connect directly to Access databases. 

Synchronize files across Mac, Windows and Linux

When you’re working across multiple devices, the most fundamental requirement is retaining access to all your files. You could use a cloud provider like Box or OneDrive, but these only offer limited space unless you pay for a premium service. 

You may prefer therefore to provision your own centralized storage across your local network, by repurposing an old computer as a file server, or as a NAS using TrueNAS Core. This gives you ongoing control and oversight over your shared storage, and complete freedom to expand it over time. 

If you don’t have any hardware you can recycle, the open-source FreeFileSync tool can be set to watch specified folders and automatically synchronize them across all your different machines. It’s an excellent free alternative to paid-for cloud syncing services – but note that doesn’t keep cloud copies or older versions of your data, and it only works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with no support for mobile phones or tablets.

Other synchronization options include Syncthing, Syncplicity and GoodSync. If you’re already paying for web hosting, you could also set up WebDAV in your web space, and make use of any spare capacity you have in your hosting account.

Share your bookmarks across Mac, Windows and Linux

Sharing bookmarks across devices is automatic if you’re using the same browser on each platform. But what if you want to use, say, Safari on the Mac and Edge on your PC?

The answer is a bookmark synchronization add-on such as xBrowserSync, which allows you to choose where your bookmarks are stored and access them from any device logged into the same account. There are synchronization servers in the UK, Canada, and Germany; for total control of your data, you can install your own xBrowserSync service from Github.

If you’ve already set up Nextcloud or a WebDAV server, you could alternatively try Floccus, which synchronizes bookmarks across devices while keeping them on your own infrastructure. You can also grab Floccus add-ons for Firefox, Edge, Chrome, iOS, and Android.

Research your backup options

The more devices you use, the more it makes sense to back up to the cloud. This ensures backups are regularly updated, without your having to bother with connecting and transporting drives between different systems.

Most online backup solutions support both Windows and macOS, so it’s up to you which you choose. Make sure though that whichever you select has sufficient space to accommodate all of your data, and allows simultaneous logins from every machine in your arsenal. See below for indicative prices and capacities for five popular options.

Sharing peripherals between operating systems

If you’re using multiple computers on the same desk, you’ll want to share peripherals where possible. This can be confusing in some cases: in particular, keyboard layouts are subtly different across Windows and macOS, with the positions of some keys, including @. 

Switching to a multiplatform keyboard like the Logitech K780 can help. This wireless keyboard has combined Start/Alt, and Alt/Cmd keys to suit different platforms, and can instantly switch between three separate Bluetooth hosts at the touch of a function key – so you can easily share it between PC, a Mac and a tablet. The Logitech M720 mouse can likewise pair with three devices and switch between them as required.

If you want to share a single display across your Mac and PC, you can simply plug two cables into different inputs at the rear of your monitor. If yours only has a single socket, a simple HDMI switch is the answer: you can buy an entry-level switch capable of supporting two 4K inputs for less than $10.

If your main computer is an iMac you won’t be able to use it as a display for a Windows laptop; likewise, many all-in-one Windows PCs don’t support external video signals. However, there are ways to work around this. If your PC is running a Professional edition of Windows 10 or 11, you can use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop tool to access it from the Mac desktop. Connect using your PC’s IP address, and your Windows username and password.

To access your Mac from Windows, open the macOS System Settings – called System Preferences on older versions of macOS – click through to the Sharing pane, and turn on the switch beside Screen Sharing. Now click the “i” followed by Computer Settings, and make sure both of the tick boxes on the following screen are ticked, and that you’ve supplied a password. You can then use a free VNC client to connect to the Mac across your network.

If these methods don’t suit you, another tool you can try is Chrome Remote Desktop, which is a free add-on for Chrome-based browsers. Install it on both devices. Once installed, you’ll be prompted to give each computer a unique name, and create a PIN of six or more digits to secure it. Now when you visit the web page on one machine, you’ll be able to access and use the other one – as long as they’re both logged into the same Google account.

Why not just switch to the web?

The complications of working across multiple platforms can be solved by simply using web apps. As we’ve mentioned, Google Workspace is a viable alternative to Microsoft Office or LibreOffice; you can also use Adobe Photoshop in a browser and lay out documents using Canva. So why do you need to go to the trouble of installing software on your local machine?

One possible answer is connectivity. Online software requires a reliable internet connection: slow or patchy broadband makes online working an unsatisfying experience at best. 

Web apps are also generally less customizable than their desktop equivalents. For example, you can’t tailor their toolbars to place your most commonly used features in prominent positions, resize interface elements to cope with visual impairments, or tweak shortcuts, to make your software work the way you want it to. Native applications may lack the convenience of cloud services, but they almost always provide a better experience.

Many organizations succeed at deploying resources in or migrating to Microsoft Azure, but many of those same organizations fail to ensure Azure adoption. Why? It could be losing cost control, a failure to learn lessons along the way, and an absence of informed leadership. 

While the simplest way to adopt Azure is starting from scratch – such as a startup deploying workloads for the first time – it’s more common for a mature organization to decide to enter the cloud with new (cloud-only or hybrid) workloads only.

Often, this is a migration project. Here, the organization takes existing workloads and moves them into the cloud using one of the six Rs of cloud migration: rehost, re-platform, repurchase, refactor, retain, and retain. The movement of these workloads is what we call a cloud migration.

A group of well-informed engineers or consultants can perform such a migration quite successfully and hand over the result to the IT department. That’s great, but cloud adoption is something that can only be measured after a migration has happened. 

Adoption is when the business has evolved:

• The tools that are used are cloud-native instead of being built around on-premises servers
• Processes have changed to adapt to the agility of the cloud
• Skills have been upgraded
• The divisions between the business and the pillars of IT delivery have been broken down

Unfortunately, the above changes rarely take place on the first, second, and sometimes even the third attempt at a cloud migration. The end result? An organization feels that the cloud can’t deliver on the marketed promises. It can take a year, or even two, but eventually, most organizations will realize that adoption has failed.

Relying on informed leadership

Consider what a cloud migration project looks like. The head of IT, either a technical IT manager or a business person who accidentally became the head of IT, makes the call to move to the cloud. Perhaps the business owner ordered it for some reason, or an outsourcing/hosting contract is ending, or maybe a physical/software infrastructure is approaching end-of-life.

In such cases, the person in charge is usually given a fixed budget or timeline and, on paper, the migration project is pretty simple: build something as similar to on-premises as possible and move the workloads and data. The result is a bunch of virtual machines (VMs), operated in the exact same way as the old workloads were hosted on before. 

The IT manager and the people who report to them are focused on technology; changes to people, processes, and organization are neither high on their agenda nor within their remit. If IT is leading a cloud journey then one should expect little to change, other than the location of where the workloads is hosted.

However, this is lazy thinking. I strongly advise anyone involved to read through the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework. AWS and GCP have their own versions. This explains that a cloud journey should start with the leadership. 

The motivations of the business must be understood and documented as part of a cloud strategy. That cloud strategy will document exactly how the organization is going to change while it enters the cloud. 

Such a document requires the leadership to have taken the time to understand what the cloud is and what it can offer – and it must be more than “we’re going to the cloud”. Your strategy must then be communicated to everyone to say changes are happening to the organization, processes, tools, and skills.

The skills and knowledge for a cloud migration

Now, as always, there’s a skills shortage in the IT industry, but it’s never seemed so extreme as now. Many organisations are taking a plunge into the deep end of the cloud and they need people with the right skills and knowledge to help. 

Cloud-specific knowledge is vital to any successful adoption. Knowledge of traditional systems is useful, but new skills are required. The trouble is that a migration is usually done by a select few: either consultants or an elite internal “cloud team”. The IT staff that run things on a day-to-day basis are often left out of the entire process: 

• Decide what processes will be used to deliver IT services to the organisation
• Determine how IT staff should be reorganized to break down rigid processes and failures of the past
• Identify the tools that must be used to support the new processes and IT organization
• Calculate the skills gaps between staff and their new roles and immediately organize training

Then, someone will say “we should schedule a handover”. The migration team will perform a series of presentations over a series of meetings and the IT team is given the keys of a rocket ship when all it’s ever driven before was a small car. The cloud adoption framework shows how changes should be brought to the organization before anything is deployed into the cloud.

An informed IT department will be an asset in the cloud migration project. More staff are now available to work on the project. Trained staff can provide better information to the migration team and be participants instead of remote observers. When the migration is complete, the trained staff are familiar with what is being deployed and will be ready to adopt it.

Why legacy IT may seem cheaper than the cloud

When an organization enters the cloud, its top three concerns are often hitting the deadline, security, and compliance. Then something happens post-migration: the person who signs the cheques starts noticing detailed monthly invoices from something called Microsoft Azure and they get a serious case of sticker shock.

The organization doesn’t understand what the cost of legacy IT is. Every three to ten years, there’s a big server purchase. Some hardware and software are acquired for a cost and as far as IT is concerned, that’s the cost of running those workloads. The space that the computer room consumes, the cost of electricity, the price of cooling systems, all that other stuff is someone else’s problem. The cost of IT is simple: some tin from Dell, Lenovo, or HPE, and software.

Once you enter the cloud, things change to a consumption model: the more you use, the more you pay. The inverse holds true too. That cost is invoiced every month, so the cost of workloads in Azure is visible very quickly. However, the cost includes the cost of everything that enables “VM in the cloud” plus the margin for Microsoft to keep the shareholders happy.

The true cost of IT is much higher than some tin and some software. This is why cost management replaces the aforementioned concerns after a cloud migration. The fear of never-seen-before costs can prevent adoption and “cloud repatriation” has emerged to describe the reversal of cloud migration, primarily because of the lack of cost management.

Azure includes cost management features to observe, manage and even reduce costs. The most important tool to learn and use is Azure Cost Management, which lets you observe the costs of resources in your tenant, subscriptions, or resource groups. Coupled with publicly available pricing documentation, you can understand how Azure usage creates the invoice that you get from Microsoft. Reports can be generated. Budgets can be set. Alerts can be set up when budgets are exceeded or when a budget is forecast to be exceeded in the current billing month.

The cloud is a self-service environment. Operators and developers can deploy whatever they want; self-service is essential to deliver on the promise of agility. But a common failure is to “ban” self-service – shadow IT will return and the bills will sneak in another way, along with security and compliance issues. A better way is to control self-service through IT governance. 

The primary tool to enforce governance is Azure Policy. Policy initiatives can be created and assigned to control what can be done. For example, one can block expensive resources, enabling overrides when the business requires them.

Keeping cloud costs under control

So, how can you reduce costs? Start with cloud-native architectures. Traditional IT deploys a few big VMs or even just one huge VMs for big workloads. The cloud implements elasticity by deploying auto-scaled collections of smaller compute instances. When activity increases, the number and cost of instances increase. When activity decreases, the number and cost of instances decrease. Cloud-native architectures aren’t for every workload – some recoding will be required and that’s not possible for old or off-the-shelf software.

Then there’s appropriate sizing. It’s amazing how many oversized compute resources one finds when performing an assessment for a cloud migration project. Once a resource is in the cloud, Azure Monitor can be used to analyze the resource over time. If there is waste then the resource can be reduced in size, resulting in lower costs.

Also, consider reserved instances. Several resource types offer a discount if you commit to using a resource for one year or three years. The discount varies, depending on the time commitment and the size of the resource. Finally, some on-premises software, such as Windows Server/SQL Server with Software Assurance, can be redeployed to Microsoft Azure to remove the cost of the same software in the cloud. 

Cloud adoption happens after the migration completes; it’s a commitment by the business to stick with this new platform and to start consuming new types of services to build workloads. Process, tooling, skills, and organization change to remove the friction of traditional IT and to deliver on the agility promise of the cloud. However, if a cloud journey doesn’t tackle some key challenges, adoption will fail and the same uninformed leadership will start to ask some very tough questions before they start to make some staffing changes.

A comprehensive, reliable, and secure backup strategy is critical for all businesses. As storage media technologies have expanded, choosing the right backup platform has become more complicated. From tape to the cloud, companies must ensure they use the right technology to minimize data loss and platform obsolescence.

Using hard disks has been the foundation on which businesses have built their backup strategies for decades. However, cheap and plentiful hard disks could soon become a legacy backup technology according to Pure Storage, who have publicly stated hard disks will be dead by 2028, as high-capacity flash storage becomes just as affordable.

Of course, Pure is in the memory business. It’s continued to innovate, announcing its 75TB DFM (DirectFlash Module), which should be available in 2026 – with this technology projected to reach 300TB of storage capacity. This is a bold claim as current flash dives aren’t anywhere near that capacity at an affordable price.

Cost will be the guiding factor when it comes to ample capacity storage. Today, hard disks cost pennies per GB. If flash storage is to unseat spinning disks, a similar price point must be achieved – currently, the price differential is too large for most businesses to consider a wholesale shift to solid-state drives (SSDs).

What factors come into play when choosing the best storage medium?

When making decisions around backup, businesses must make several considerations, most notably failure rates. Last year, Backblaze revealed it experienced eight hard drive failures every day across its own hard disk-based storage services. Granted, this relates to an estate of over 230,000 drives, but this clearly illustrates that the longevity of hard disks may push businesses to consider alternative technologies.

Businesses are awash with data, with this information expanding exponentially. But all this data doesn’t need to be backed up. Data backups must assess the quality of the data and its value to the company. 

Recovery Point Object (RPO) and Recovery Time Object (RTO) come into play as measures used to decide which data could be lost without strategic implications for the company, and how long a data recovery could take. A data audit is essential to identify these datasets and associated applications. With this information, a comprehensive data backup process can be created.

An organization’s approach to data backup needs care, planning and deployment, says Stew Parkin, CTO of global Rubrik MSP Assured Data Protection. "With ever-growing change rates, data sizes, and data generation, the amount of data needed to be protected is growing, and growing such that traditional SATA or HDD just can't keep up. 

“Of course, the advantages are around speed, but not just of ingest, in de-duplication rates, indexing speeds and other post-backup processes, and live-mount or instant restore I/O caching. Of course, all of this comes at a cost, modern backup solutions will enable data tiering as part of their solution so that only the most critical data resides on SSD.”

A clear driver to ensure backups are active and reliable is the expansion of ransomware. “All businesses need to pay more attention to their backup and recovery processes,” James Watts, managing director of Databarracks, tells ITPro.

“In our 2022 annual Data Health Check, only a third of respondents who experienced a cyberattack recovered from backups and didn’t pay up. The majority – two-thirds – did pay the ransom.”

Watts continues: “We've seen that continue this year, if not increase a little, from speaking with those in the industry. That's a concern for us because it suggests that organizations believe there's a lack of other viable avenues available in dealing with an attack. Paying the ransom only serves to fund the bad actors and incentivize further attacks.”

Comprehensive, robust, and secure data backups are an essential business tool that combats cyber threats and enables businesses to improve their resilience vastly. Recovering quickly from a data breach is just as important as having the right data backup infrastructure in place.

Should you choose just one, or a combination of storage formats?

Various backup formats have been developed over time, from tape to CD-ROM, but hard disks have remained the mainstay of on-prem and remote backup services. Most businesses will have a mix of backup technologies as one size does not fit all.

“20 years ago, online backup vendors were announcing that ‘tape is dead,’ Databarracks,’ Watts says. “It's 2023 now, and tape still isn't dead. Pure might make the HDD vs SSD argument, but tape is still the lowest-cost storage. The ‘cloud' isn't just HDD; the hyperscale cloud providers don't advertise it – or even confirm it – but their lowest cost, cold archive storage tiers, is almost certainly based on tape storage.

“It’s all a matter of scale,” Watts expands. “Tape has now been phased out in the majority of organizations that take advantage of the benefits of disk-based backup (speed, reliability, compatibility). 

“But organizations with enormous data volumes to protect still seek whatever medium offers the lowest cost per GB, TB, or PB. Smaller organizations may move entirely to a single storage type – and they will be the first to adopt SSD entirely.”

Businesses are generally seeking a blended approach to data backup and recovery, adds Kunal Purohit, chief digital services officer of Tech Mahindra. “Businesses seek an all-encompassing data protection strategy based on current technologies and cloud advantages, including size, security, reliability, simplicity, and cost reduction. Modern data security systems can provide rapid data recovery with optimal application availability in the event of a disaster and can seamlessly integrate with the cloud.”

Jon Fielding, managing director, EMEA, Apricorn, meanwhile, points to a lack of automation and a general absence of comprehensive and applied data backup processes. "Our last survey found that while 90% of companies had been forced to turn to their backup system, only 27% were able to recover all of their information and documents. Compare that with the 45% that fully recovered their data last year, and it's clear we've actually gone backward in terms of the efficacy of our backup strategies and business resilience.”

Best practices for configuring your organization’s backup strategy

“I can comfortably say that backups, and more specifically immutable air-gapped backups, have never been a hotter topic or more in demand as they are today,” says Parkin. “That said, I think businesses are really struggling to decipher what it is that they need to pay attention to. The 'marketecture' has never been as prolific in the space as it is right now.”

From tape to SSDs – the media that a business chooses is just one component of its data backup strategy. Understanding the data quality and whether all data needs protection is vital. A hybrid approach is often taken with on-prem and cloud services to deliver a resilient backup and recovery environment.

Charly Batista, PostgreSQL Tech Lead at Percona, outlines some best practices when it comes to choosing the right storage format for your backup strategy – and configuring your strategy more broadly.

• Identify your critical data: Only some data is created equal, and we want to save time, effort, and money with irrelevant data that doesn’t need backing up. This should be documented and planned, as you may find data that you personally thought was less valuable is more critical in recovery.
  
  
• Create backup documentation: You should create and maintain thorough documentation of your backup strategy, including the databases and types of data being backed up, the backup schedule, and recovery procedures. This documentation should be updated and available to everyone involved with the database administration. You should also keep a paper copy offsite.
  
  
• Set up a regular backup schedule: Data changes constantly and finding a good regular schedule to back up that data is critical. Should you take this backup daily or weekly? The business continuity plan built on top of the specificities of the system or company handling the backups should determine the frequency and type of backup you carry out – from full system images to incremental or differential backups, but consistency is key here.
  
  
• Automate your backups: Alongside standardizing backups, you should automate the process as much as possible to make it more robust and reliable and minimize the possibility of errors.
  
  
• Create multiple copies: We used to say, “who has two has one, and who has one has none”. Having multiple backup copies on different sites makes the recovery process faster. Having one copy close to the compromised instance and another version further away is more reliable, as it will protect against natural disasters and attacks.
  
  
• Use diverse storage media: This goes together with having multiple copies. You should have copies in a combination of multiple media formats to improve redundancy and reliability. For example, if you are running in the cloud, you may want to run a cloud backup and a second backup to another location.
  
  
• Establish powerful encryption: A good encryption strategy will help to keep data secure during transmission and storage. This is mandatory when storing backups offsite or in a cloud environment. Remember that hard drivers will fail; we need to know how the providers dispose of them.
  
  
• Test, test, test, and test: I can’t stress how important it is to test the backups and ensure they’re reliable and recoverable. You must regularly test the whole restoration process to ensure your backups are functioning correctly and your process is up-to-date and accurate. Don't wait until a disaster to discover that your backups are corrupted, or your backup process is faulty.

Making net-zero goals directly relevant to each individual could be the most powerful tool for encouraging employees to take charge and help IT organizations and their industry reduce emissions faster.

That's according to Chia-Huei Wu, professor in management at King's Business School, King's College London, who explains that research suggests developing personally relevant narratives that individual employees directly relate to and understand – as opposed to simply providing explanations or facts. 

"This can be based on a kind of storytelling," he says.

It makes sense to have all hands on deck where possible – the task is huge, after all. 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), average global temperatures must rise no more than 1.5°C (34.7°F) this century to avoid catastrophic climate change, which means slashing emissions 43% by 2030 versus 2019 levels and at least 60% by 2035. 

"The most important factor is motivation – it's about whether people want to do something, using their internal time," Wu says. "People may not think a fact (such as a figure from an emissions estimate) is relevant to them personally." 

A simple example might be developing a communication strategy that encourages employees to rethink sending emails, how much data they use, and the like. Even though these can be small things, the direct relevance to their own behaviors is more obvious than other initiatives, he points out.

Of course, organizations can help further by examining the potential for in-house mechanisms and initiatives that can foster greater efforts and provide routes to success, all of which should be embedded into daily work activities.

An example might be forming groups or "small clubs" that support each other to take action or suggest innovations or improvements. 

When employees can understand who is benefiting from an action or activity and why – understanding how everyone's work is connected across the whole organization – that can also increase the understanding of the meaning of their own work and how what they do can be influential, Wu points out.

"It sounds simple but has come out powerfully in organizational research" he says.

You might also consider that increasing focus on emissions can attract and develop more talent in the first instance, as Susan Kenniston, global sustainability head at Wipro, adds.

"Even knowing how to talk about it, even for recruiters and writing job descriptions and things, threading it into how you represent the company, it really starts there," she says.

Create a kind of "curriculum around sustainability that meets employees where they're at", she says.

Enabling education at executive and management levels that involves more junior employees can drive "faster feedback loops" on emissions over time, while rethinking metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) in relation to the overall business value framework, she says.

Jillian Moore, sustainability and global advisory lead at Avanade, agrees, adding that leaders need to accept and be comfortable with the fact they no longer have all the answers, while also communicating better and more consistently.

"We have a lot of people on the ground out there with clients, usually at slightly earlier levels in their career, who are hugely passionate and know more about sustainability," she says. "Sometimes we can be holding them back, not giving them the runway or space to actually act."

Get with the program

While it can be difficult to get consensus across every individual in a company, people involved at whatever level can often agree on the direction of travel. Then the task can become more about ensuring everyone can play their part and deciding what each individual can contribute, she says.

"You … need a program that helps take on board all these ideas," says Moore. "And you need transparency of outcome with everybody."

For example, if you're reducing travel and you show how the associated cost savings benefit a role it can feel like a win-win, encouraging people to bring forward further ideas, Moore says.

She also advises that organizations make emissions reduction part of people's objectives and appraisals, knitted directly into the job description; sustainability as indivisible from personal career progression.

"We're still at a point where people are prepared to do a lot of this altruistically and some people are very passionate about it. But I don't know how long that phase will last," Moore says.

Rajkumar Vijayarangakannan, leader of network design and devops at ManageEngine, emphasizes education and awareness initiatives as critical to sustainable practice for increasingly power-hungry machines, woven in right from the data center construction phase.

"Our team runs the bigger energy consumption areas, the data centers [which account for] 60-70% of our energy consumption," he says.  "Even five years ago, it was different. We have to optimize every space; even the smallest optimization helps us save a lot." 

Vijayarangakannan says he typically starts by talking to employees about switching off the lights. That might sound simplistic but actually it demonstrates awareness that every little action makes a difference, and that can very much be down to individual choices. 

The effectiveness of actions can be easily showcased these days with the use of temperature sensors, for example, he adds.

"Everything is involved with carbon emissions. So we started giving awareness programmes on which operations, methods and practices can give much better carbon emission control," Vijayarangakannan says. "Then they can, as employees, all be aware of it and then do their own individual things. Each and every one is part of a green program, and it starts from the level one employee."

In one small data center project, the vacuuming was consuming a lot of power; noticing this, the organization changed the method of cleaning, resulting in much lower ongoing emissions. "Every aspect of it is our individual responsibility," Vijayarangakannan says.

Every little helps

Sheryl Moore, head of sustainability at Stone Group, similarly favors getting buy-in from everyone to fully embed sustainability.

"Many people help me with this," she says. "A lot of it comes down to the values and the culture of the organization. If you encourage a more open conversation, that really helps."

People have to feel safe to voice their opinions and see that ideas also do get implemented, without necessarily needing to fully define, curate or present that idea in full themselves, Moore notes.

As James Robey, global head of environmental sustainability at Capgemini, says, tackling the climate crisis relies on collective action. 

"It’s vital for employees to be fully engaged," Robey says. "Our most far-reaching ... was a VP-led initiative to boost employees’ understanding of sustainability, while sparking new ideas and learnings for climate action."

While you might associate Chromebooks with schools and budget student laptops they're actually a solid choice for business, as Chrome OS and Google's ecosystem have made real inroads into the office over the last decade. 

In a way, Chromebooks are perfect for the ways many enterprises work today; more and more of us are spending most of our working hours using cloud services and web-based apps, while Google Workspace has become a credible alternative to Microsoft's Office 365 ecosystem. Chromebooks can help the associated management infrastructure scale up well for everything from SMBs to multinationals, and you're not tied into Google Workspace. Chrome OS laptops will run Linux apps, containerized apps, or even Office 365's web-based apps without a problem.

Crucially, Chromebooks are still very affordable, with mid-range business-grade Chromebooks available from $500 to $700, and even high-end Chromebooks coming in at $900 to $1300. We've been using and testing Chromebooks and Chrome OS devices since 2015, including key models from Acer, Asus, HP, Samsung, and Lenovo, not to mention Google's own Pixel and Pixelbook laptops. In this guide, we'll look at what you should look for in a business-ready Chromebook and recommend some of the best Chromebooks available today.

How to choose a Chromebook for business

Long gone are the days when all Chromebooks were cheap and chunky silver plastic clones of more expensive laptops. They now come in a wide range of form factors, from 10in tablets with clip-on keyboards to luxury ultraportables and 17in desktop replacements. As with any laptop, there are always trade-offs between size, weight, and portability on the one hand, and ergonomics and performance on the other. If you or your team are working mostly from the home or office, go for a 14in to 16in Chromebook for comfortable all-day working. If you're on the road, take a look at smaller 13in to 14in laptops and convertibles.

It's not hard to find a Chromebook for business with 2-in-1 convertible designs and touchscreens, and many are now bundling in a stylus. However, while Google is working to make Chrome OS a more touch and tablet-friendly operating system, the user interface and most Web-based apps are still built around standard desktop ways of working. Consider these features a plus rather than a must-have.

Chromebook for business core specs and displays

Processing power isn't as crucial on a Chromebook as on a MacOS or Windows laptop. That's partly because the OS itself is extremely lightweight, and partly because the Web-based apps you'll spend most of your time working with do much of the heavy lifting at the server end. For this reason, you can get away with budget Pentium or Core i3 processors and just 4GB of RAM, or even ARM-based Mediatek Dimensity and Qualcomm Snapdragon CPUs. However, moving up to a Core i5, Core i7 or Ryzen 3 CPU will give you snappier performance when you're working between multiple apps, and give you more scope to run Android or Linux apps (more on this later). Having 8GB of RAM will also give you more headroom when you have a dozen or more browser tabs open in Chrome.

Some of the cheapest Chromebooks still feature low-resolution 1366 x 768 screens, but it's not hard to find full HD displays on budget and mid-range models, or QHD screens on the more premium, business-grade options. Just be aware that some screens on budget Chromebooks suffer from low brightness levels and poor color performance; spending more will usually get you more vibrant and accurate colors and an overall brighter display.

Chromebook for business connectivity and battery life

Don't forget the practicalities. Most Chromebooks have now standardized on USB-C for connectivity and charging, and Thunderbolt 4 support is becoming more common. You can expect Wi-Fi 6 on all bar the cheapest Chromebooks, along with Bluetooth 5.0 and upwards. Budget Chromebooks still have a nasty tendency to use slow, cheap MMC storage, but 128GB to 512GB SSDs are now standard on mid-range and premium options. With most files and documents stored online rather than locally, you don't need as much storage space as on a Windows laptop. 

As a rule, Chromebooks tend to excel when it comes to battery life, thanks to the focus on energy-efficient processors and the lightweight nature of the OS itself. With the screen brightness turned down from maximum you should expect ten to twelve hours from most Intel and AMD-powered Chromebooks, and often significantly more from their ARM-based brethren.

Chromebook for business software and services

Needless to say, Chromebooks are a natural fit for businesses adopting Google Workspace. Single Chromebooks practically take care of themselves, updating quietly and quickly in the background, while Google provides simple but effective management tools for larger fleets. Google also takes care of security, meaning there's no reason to install dedicated anti-virus software or do anything beyond your existing network infrastructure. 

However, you're not limited to Workspace. The Office 365 Web apps offer a bridge between Chrome OS and any existing Office setups in the business, while you're free to work and collaborate using the likes of Slack, Trello, and Monday, either through the browser or through Android apps. Improved Linux compatibility also opens up other options there, including LibreOffice, GIMP, and more, though there are a few hoops to jump through to get everything up and running. Chrome OS can also integrate with key cloud storage services, including Box and Dropbox, so you're not restricted to holding everything on Google Drive.

What is the best Chromebook for business?

Acer Chromebook Vero 514

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook

Acer Chromebook 516GE

Asus Chromebook Flip CX3401

How we test

The laptop on this list will have been put through a series of performance tests and the results of those are then used to measure comparable performance for the display, the CPU, and the battery. To test the display, IT Pro uses a calibrator and the Display Cal software to measure both brightness and sRGB color coverage. For the latter, we look for a strong representation of the sRGB color spectrum, with a score above 94% generally seen as good.

To measure CPU performance on Chrome OS we run GeekBench performance tests – this is the case with all Qualcomm-based laptops.

When it comes to battery life we put each laptop through a looped video test. This is done with a video file that repeats until the battery runs out. The machine itself is set to flight mode, so it can't be interrupted, and the display brightness is fixed at 170cd/m2. Generally, a laptop that lasts around 10hrs is seen as good, though high-priced laptops are expected to offer over 12hrs.

Amazon Web Services S3 buckets provide flexible, highly scalable, and cost-effective cloud-based, high-availability bulk data storage, suitable for everything from backups to big data, to hosting for media, files, and web apps.

S3 – short for Simple Storage Services – is popularly used for data storage, everything you upload is stored as a key-value pair with a unique name and the stored data as its value. This effectively means that it's a lightweight NoSQL database that can hold a vast amount of structured data, which can then be easily queried for analysis via S3 Select API calls. 

Critically, S3 doesn't care what the data you're storing is – you can stuff anything into an S3 bucket, with a maximum individual object size of 5TB and unlimited total storage, as long as you're prepared to pay for it.

Setting up and securing Amazon S3 storage

There are several different S3 storage classes. This guide primarily addresses S3 Standard storage, intended for "hot" data that's going to be regularly accessed. But it's worth being aware of your options, particularly if you anticipate eventually archiving your data to cold storage in Amazon's cloud.

These include S3 Intelligent-Tiering, which can potentially save money by automatically moving your least-accessed data to cheaper storage, Infrequent Access (IA) tiers that cost less than hot storage but still allow data to be accessed within milliseconds, and the Glacier tiers, which cost a lot less have increasingly slow retrieval times – up to 12 hours in the case of S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage.

While costing your deployment is beyond the scope of this article, we recommend using the AWS Pricing Calculator and billing alarms to help you avoid any unpleasant surprises. Amazon provides a helpful step-by-step deployment guide, but the density of the reference documentation for S3 means that it can be challenging to winnow out exactly which of S3's many options you need.

The convenience of setting up and using S3 storage, particularly if your data set is never intended to be made available to the public, can be deceptively simple. With both hackers and white hat cybersecurity professionals routinely scanning for unsecured S3 buckets using a variety of effective free tools, security through obscurity isn't going to cut it here.

Its default options have been beefed up in recent years, to minimize the danger of accidentally exposing the personal data of your staff, customers, or citizens, but it's still important to ensure that your S3 deployment is appropriately planned, configured, and secured for your use case.

In this guide, we'll take you through the key considerations you should apply to every S3 deployment, from planning to access and version control, through logging and multi-factor authentication.

Amazon S3 setup

Before setting up your S3 bucket, you should decide what it is – and isn't – going to be used for. Different use cases require different options and settings on the bucket, and some settings, such as S3 Object Lock, can only be set when the bucket is deployed, and cannot be changed later. This is also a good time to work out who or what will be accessing it, how they will be doing that, and from where. Document all of this for clarity, and to prevent function creep in the future. You don't want to find that people have been storing critical documents in your low-priority off-site backup store, or that access to these documents is too slow because you created the bucket in the wrong AWS region.

Local legal requirements should also be taken into consideration when choosing the AWS region in which your bucket will reside, such as EU requirements for data protection. If you're unsure about this, choose the AWS region in your country if there is one, or – if your country doesn't have its own AWS region – consult someone who knows the legal requirements and can advise on which regions are suitable.

Amazon S3 retention and deletion protection

Depending on the usage case for your bucket, you may wish to enable the S3 Object lock, or WORM (Write Once Read Many) mode. This means that once a file has been uploaded to the bucket, it cannot be deleted or modified in any way. This is useful in cases such as storing copies of quarterly backups, or accounting files needed for compliance. Files stored in buckets with this enabled will be preserved unchanged until the end of their retention period. 

Alternatively, you may wish to enable versioning for objects in this bucket, if it is to be used to store critical files, or disable it, for example, if this is a backup store, as the backup software should take care of that. 

Lifecycle settings

Once you've created your bucket, you'll want to set some lifecycle rules to keep it in check. Rules can be set up to move files to less expensive storage classes after a specified period of time, delete older versions of files in buckets with versioning enabled, and perform basic housekeeping tasks. At the very least, you would probably want a set of rules to move objects from primary instant-availability storage to a lower cost tier such as Glacier after a time, and then eventually purge outdated files, so as to keep costs down.

S3 Default Encryption

Since January 2023, S3 has automatically encrypted all new objects uploaded to it using AES-256 hashing with server-side S3-managed (SSE-S3) keys, at no additional cost to users. This default option now has to be deliberately opted out of if you require an alternative approach, while it was previously an opt-in setting, which contributed to unnecessarily poor security on some users' buckets.

Note that objects in a bucket predating the new default, which had not previously been opted into S3 default encryption, can be manually encrypted to the same standard using a batch operation.

While SSE-S3 encryption is the default standard, you can also enable SSE-KMS, another approach to server-size encryption which uses the AWS Key Management Service. A dual-layer version, DSSE-KMS is also available, and customers can alternatively deploy their own keys using SSE-C, server-side encryption with customer-provided keys. While different objects in your bucket can use different encryption methods, you can't apply multiple types of encryption to a single object.

Access management

To control access to your new bucket for either people or processes, you will need access keys. Whilst you can generate these as your AWS admin user, you very much should not do so. It's better for your security if you create a dedicated user in IAM (AWS Identity and Access Management) for each process or person requiring access, granting them the minimum rights required, for example read-only, read-write, or full S3 access. Security keys can then be created for these users from their IAM details page.

Version control

For those who require more granular access control, access policies can be used. These are written in JSON, and if you wish you can input that directly. However, for the majority of users who'd prefer not to do that, there is a policy generator. Set the policy type to S3 Bucket policy then configure the required access conditions. Example policies are also available at this stage to assist with this process.

If your bucket is to be used for storing regularly accessed files, rather than as a backup or archive of some form, you may wish to enable versioning. This will allow you to revert any object stored in the bucket to any previous version, limited only by the retention policies set in your lifecycle rules for this bucket. Lifecycle policies can be used to move older versions to cheaper storage tiers or delete them completely after a given time. Care should be taken when setting these rules to balance the utility of being able to revert files to previous versions against the increased storage costs this incurs. 

Replication

If the objects to be stored in your bucket are critical, then you may wish to enable replication. This feature automatically – but asynchronously – copies objects from one S3 bucket to another, usually within 15 minutes of the initial object's creation. This ensures that there's never a single point of failure for your most critical data.

You can configure replication rules to replicate certain classes of objects in the bucket, or its entire contents. The replication target will be another S3 bucket, either in the same region as the original or in a different region. Note that data transfer charges will apply to data moving between regions, so bear this in mind when deciding on your replication setup. Likewise, the target bucket will also need its own lifecycle policy.

Logging, monitoring and auditing

If required, you can enable either basic access logging, event auditing, or both for your bucket. This will allow you to keep track of who accessed what data and when, and make it easier to spot any unauthorized access to these objects. It's thus highly recommended.

AWS's monitoring tools for S3 include alarms that will alert you if any selected metric (such as storage in use) passes a specified threshold, detailed user activity and server access logs, and "AWS Trusted Advisor", an automatic inspection and recommendation tool that will inspect and make security and configuration recommendations for your S3 bucket.

Security

There are two forms of access used in most cases with S3 buckets. Interactive user access and programmatic key-based access. For interactive users, multi-factor authentication (MFA) should always be enabled, and the users' rights should be limited to the minimum required. You should not be using your AWS admin account when accessing the bucket contents, but rather a lower privileged account setup for the purpose.

For programmatic key-based access, such as your backup software storing its nightly backups in the S3 bucket, the access keys should be rotated periodically. This helps to avoid any unauthorized access incidents resulting from keys that may have leaked. It also familiarises you, as the admin, with AWS's key rotation procedure, which is important as this will need to be done promptly as and when staff leave the organization, or in response to security incidents.

For those developing software that uses an S3 bucket as storage, be especially careful not to commit the access keys to any public (or even internal) code repository. There have been many security incidents reported by the press caused by someone carelessly committing an access key to Github or similar.

Common S3 code errors

When it comes to configuration, the AWS Share Responsibility Model warns users that they are responsible for security 'in' the cloud. AWS takes care of security out of the cloud, so the user is liable for the changes they make that publicly expose their own data. Thankfully, the most common misconfigurations are avoidable.

Arguably the most common S3 error code is the 403 'AccessDenied' code. This is usually a case of bucket and object ownership. If the error is from 'GetObject' or 'HeadObject' requests, you should check whether the object is also owned by the bucket's owner – if you are the bucket owner, then you should check the access control list (ACL) permissions. An S3 object is, by default, owned by the AWS account that uploaded it. If other accounts have permission to upload to your bucket, then you would need to verify the account that owns that object – also verify who can access it.

Another common error is "MultiRegionAccessPointModifiedByAnotherRequest" or error code '200'. These can crop up for a range of reasons but they are all to do with regional access points. So, for example, an action failed because another request is modifying a specific resource. Or you have a multi-region access point with the same name. 

For a complete list of error codes, see the AWS Error Response page here.

S3 pricing

You can start using S3 for free, though you will be charged for what you use. Essentially you don't pay to have a bucket, but you do pay for putting stuff in said bucket and the amount you pay is dependent on the size of the objects you store and how long you store them. You will also be charged on the tier of S3 service you use – Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Standard-Infrequent Access, S3 One Zone-Infrequesnt Access, Glacier Instant Retrieval, Flexible Retrieval, and Glaxer Deep Archive.

AWS provides an online calculator to work out your fees. You need to consider ingest and transfer costs first, but you simply estimate your region, your storage needs, and your preferred tiering. So, for example, if you were to set up S3 with California (US West Coast) as the region and wanted 10TB stored per month in S3 Standard, the monthly fee would be $267. 

Microsoft Office has been through a lot of changes since its original release in 1990. One notable milestone was the introduction of the Ribbon interface in Office 2007, but perhaps the most significant moment of evolution came in 2010, with the launch of docs.com – a collaboration with Facebook that allowed users to share documents with friends, discover documents that their friends had uploaded and even edit them collaboratively. It was shortly followed by the full Office Live Workspace service, alongside simple web-based versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Those early online services may not have a huge immediate impact, but they laid the groundwork for Office 365, which came along in 2013 offering extensive cloud-based sharing and collaboration features. 

Fast-forward to the present day and the whole idea of Office has become cloud-centric. Rather than being a suite of individual applications, it’s now an all-round service for creating, editing, and sharing documents among teams and across all of your devices. The standalone Microsoft Office package has been retired, with no future updates planned after the current Office 2021 release: Office 365 (now rebranded Microsoft 365) has taken center stage, and the online tools and web versions of the core apps are a key part of the offering.

How to get started with Microsoft 365 Online

What you may not realize is that much of Office’s core functionality is available without a Microsoft 365 subscription. 

You can use the web apps for free by simply signing in with a Microsoft account; Android and iOS editions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are also free to use on devices with screens of 10in and smaller. All of these apps integrate with the OneDrive service, which is free for up to 5GB of document storage and 15GB of email. 

You only need to pay if you want the full desktop applications for Windows or macOS – or if you want to extend your OneDrive storage. There are a variety of paid plans for individuals and for businesses.

Microsoft 365 Online vs Google Workspace: Which is better?

If you’re looking for a free online office suite, Google’s Docs, Sheets and Slides tools might seem the obvious choices. However, the Microsoft 365 web and mobile apps match most of Google’s key features and integrate better with friends and colleagues using Microsoft 365.

For example, Office has plenty of sharing and co-working features, with team members able to contribute to documents simultaneously or leave comments and suggestions. The free Outlook app for mobile devices adds integrated email and calendaring capabilities, similar to Gmail and Google Calendar, and for communication, there’s the free edition of Microsoft Teams.

Needless to say, Office users can open and save documents, presentations and spreadsheets in Microsoft’s native formats – and you don’t have to worry about interoperability, as Google’s office tools can also work with these files natively, without any need for conversion. The reverse isn’t true for documents created in Google’s web apps.

This makes Office Online a great choice if you need to collaborate with people using different platforms, either online or offline. While Google Docs and Sheets doesn’t support all the features of Microsoft Word and Excel, unsupported content is preserved, so everything will still be there when the document is reopened in a Microsoft application. Similarly, some Google-specific features aren’t available in Office-format documents, such as Apps Scripts, cell locking in Google Sheets, and document translation.

Finally, while Office’s web and mobile apps are free, going the Microsoft route means you also have easy access to paid-for desktop apps. For example, if you need to use complex formatting for a particular Word document, you can take out a one-month subscription to Microsoft 365 and seamlessly move your files into the most powerful office suite in the business. That’s something Google Docs can’t offer.

Five great features in Microsoft’s free online apps

1. Editor browser extension

Take advantage of Word’s grammar and spelling tools outside of the office environment. All you need is a Microsoft account and the Microsoft Editor extension for Chrome or Edge. The free version has basic spelling and grammar checking; paying subscribers also get recommendations to help with the clarity and tone of your writing.

2. File sharing

The free Office apps let you conveniently share files directly within the interface. It’s up to you whether those to whom you give access can edit files, or only read them. Microsoft 365 subscribers can also apply password protection, and create time-limited sharing links.

3. Open up your calendar

If you organize your life using Outlook, the online Bookings app lets you define your working hours and authorize team members – or even members of public beyond your organization – to book a slot with you, without needing to bother you with calendar cross-checking. You’ll find the Bookings tool at outlook.live.com/bookings

4. Simultaneous editing

One of the biggest benefits of a cloud-based office suite is the ability for multiple team members to collaborate simultaneously. This isn’t limited to the online apps: colleagues using desktop Office apps can make edits in real-time too. Each collaborator’s activities are shown in a different color so you can keep track of who is working on what.

5. Free mobile apps

When you only have your smartphone to hand, you can use the free mobile apps for Android and iOS to browse and edit documents. The interface is optimized for use on a smaller screen, and the apps include several mobile-friendly capabilities, such as saving to PDF and converting images to tables or text.

Which features are missing from Microsoft 365 Online?

If you’re using Microsoft’s browser-based Office apps with a free Microsoft account, you only get access to a subset of the full font pack that’s provided for Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your layout and design options are limited. 

And the apps themselves naturally lack some of the features of desktop apps. For example, Word Online lets you open and edit all native formats, but it can’t open RTF or HTML files.

It also won’t open password-protected files, nor PDFs. In the app, you can edit an existing table of contents but can’t delete or create a new one, and while themes and backgrounds are preserved in any document you open, they can’t be edited in the browser.

It’s a similar story with Excel, with the online and mobile apps unable to open the full range of formats supported by the desktop software. Workbooks containing digital signatures can’t be viewed in the browser either, and while you can open and edit documents and workbooks containing macros, you can’t execute the macros. You may also find that charts relying on external data sources, or which are part of a larger group of charts, don’t render the same in the browser as they do in the desktop edition of Excel.

PowerPoint is the most limited of the three core online apps: the web edition feels like a companion to the desktop application, rather than a productivity app in its own right. You can’t edit a master slide in the browser, nor add charts, and the choice of SmartArt graphics is limited. You can’t trigger animations either, and the available selection of transitions and animations is pared down from the desktop application. You can add speaker notes, but not create self-running presentations, nor record presentations for later playback.

ChatGPT and competitors such as the recently-launched Google Bard have shot generative artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream. Allowing users to create, combine and remix content, generative AI is hailed as a transformative technology for businesses. 

As the use of generative AI grows, though, so do concerns about cyber security, because the technology has the ability to drive more targeted cyber attacks. Hackers can use generative AI to compose impactful phishing emails, and the technology is making deepfakes even more convincing.

Creating malware is also easier with generative AI. In 2020, for example, researchers discovered a new type of malware called DeepLocker that used generative AI to create unique obfuscation techniques, making it difficult for security tools to detect and block. 

Attackers use off-the-shelf machine learning libraries and frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch to create generative models, says Adam Blake, CEO and founder ThreatSpike Labs. “These tools are widely available and easy to use, which has lowered the barrier to entry for adversaries looking to use AI in their attacks.”

There are several types of generative AI, each with potential uses in cyber attacks. So what are the new risks posed by the different types of generative AI and how can businesses protect themselves as the technology develops?

Text-based generative AI security threats

Text-based generative AI such as ChatGPT helps make phishing attacks far more sophisticated and difficult to spot. “AI-enhanced campaigns could create highly personalized emails to enable spear phishing at scale,” says Dane Sherrets, senior solutions architect at HackerOne.

Because text-based generative AI models are currently the most mature, experts say this type of attack will have the most impact in the near future. “They can be used to generate personalized phishing emails, or disinformation campaigns about an organization or individual,” adds Josh Zaretsky, partner at consulting firm Altman Solon.

Using text-based generative AI, interactive chat capabilities could be honed in the future to automatically target companies via their web chat services, says Matt Aldridge, principal solutions consultant at OpenText. 

Video-based generative AI security threats

Further down the line, video-based generative AI such as Runway’s Gen-1 could super-charge deep fake attacks to trick employees into transferring large amounts of cash to criminals. For example, an adversary could use video generation to create a deepfake of a company executive for social engineering attacks or to spread disinformation, says Blake. 

Alternatively, he says, an attacker could use a video-generating model to create fake footage of a CEO instructing employees to transfer money or disclose sensitive information. Video models can be used to bypass facial recognition security measures in an identity-based attack, or impersonate company employees in spoofing attacks, according to Zaretsky. 

Audio-based generative AI security threats

Voice cloning is just one use for audio-based generative AI, and it’s easy to see how it could be used for nefarious means. An attacker could use audio-based systems to create a convincing voice phishing call that appears to be from a trusted source, such as a bank or credit card company, says Blake. “Alternatively, an attacker could use an audio-generating model to create a fake audio clip of a CEO instructing employees to take a specific action.”

Text-to-speech generative AI such as Microsoft’s new neural codec language model VALL-E is able to accurately replicate a person’s voice using a combination of a text prompt and a short clip of a real speaker. Because VALL-E can replicate tone and intonation and convey emotion, voice clips produced using the model are very convincing.

The speed at which audio-based generative AI is developing is a major threat, according to Aldridge. “Audio fakes are a reality and the technology that makes them possible is improving at speed – we’ve seen huge developments in recent years, with computers creating conversations on their own.”

Image-based generative AI security threats

AI-generated images created by the likes of DALL·E 2 could also pose a major risk as the technology develops. 

An attacker could use generative AI to create a convincing fake image or video that appears to show a company executive engaging in inappropriate or illegal behavior, for example. “The image or video could be used to blackmail or to spread disinformation,” says Blake.

Code-based generative AI security threats

As well as enabling less experienced attackers to create advanced malware, automated code generation by generative AI models can facilitate the bypass of traditional security tools, says Aldridge. Code-based generative AI tools include Tabnine and GitHub Copilot.

“It will do so by hiding malicious intent deeply within an otherwise benign application in an advanced trojan attack for example – in a similar way to how information can be hidden within an image using steganography.”

Combined generative AI security threats

Adversaries can also combine different types of generative AI models to carry out more complex attacks. 

For example, an attacker wishing their victim to perform a specific action could use a text-generating model to compose a convincing email; a video-generating model to create a fake video; and an audio-generating model to create a phony audio clip, Blake explains. 

“This combined attack could be particularly effective because it leverages multiple forms of media to create a more transparent and compelling message.”

How to mitigate generative AI security threats

Like any type of security threat, the risk posed by generative AI-based attacks is likely to evolve, making it integral that businesses are prepared. For now, it’s worth noting that security technology is not always able to spot and halt these attacks. 

There are no known tools at this moment that can identify generative AI-derived attacks as “the modus operandi is to appear human-like”, says Kevin Curran, senior IEEE member, and professor of cyber security at Ulster University. He says the generation of realistic fake videos is particularly worrying.

With this in mind, businesses need to stay vigilant and adapt to new threats as they emerge, working closely with cyber security experts and technology providers, says Maher Yamout, senior security researcher at Kaspersky. He advises stringent authentication measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access.

Overarching this should be a strong strategy, taking into account the use of AI within the business. Introducing AI technology into the fabric of a business could be counterproductive if organizations fail to consider safety and security, says Sherrets. 

As the threat posed by generative AI becomes more sophisticated, experts agree training and education are key. Sherrets advises businesses to bolster staff training around the latest methods of attack. “Humans will always be one of the easiest vectors for an adversary to exploit – organizations will do well to make sure their staff are educated about the new tools used by attackers.”

There are many things to do when starting a company. Find desk space, register the company, get a bank account, set up the website, and all the other tasks that require different hats to be worn. If the idiom were reality, hatters and milliners would be present at every startup accelerator. 

You quickly need a product or service to offer your customers. Without this, you won’t be in business for long, unless you already have other revenue streams or your investors or lenders are patient. Funnily enough, they never seem to be. 

You’ve probably already thought of an idea already; you think it’s going to change the world for the better, solve someone’s problem, or mitigate someone’s risk – possibly you hope it’ll do all three. So how are you going to get from A to B, where A is nothing but a headful of ideas, and B is a product in someone’s hand being used “in production”?  

We faced the same challenge when we started a company six years ago, armed only with a couple of laptops and a list of good contacts. You’ll need to work hard on networking throughout your journey – it’s hard to bring a product to life without a lot of help from others. 

Laying the groundwork

We wanted to disrupt existing practices in an area of healthcare research that aims to understand patient outcomes and experiences, outside of clinical trials, in almost any disease area. First, we needed to establish at least an outline “product-market fit”. We knew we had to ask ourselves – and answer – some very searching questions. These include: 

• Who are your customers?
• What problem(s) are you trying to solve for them?
• Do your customers even know what problem(s) they have?
• Will customers pay (and continue to pay) for that solution?
• What are they currently doing instead?
• If something already exists, how does it compare?
• How will you measure success?
• What does good look like?
• Are there any early KPIs/OKRs you can use to judge your progress?

We set out to validate our ideas by working with senior clinicians at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, one of the world’s leading hospitals dedicated to cancer treatment and research. They helped us understand the contours of patient experience in oncology, many aspects of which extend across other disease areas too. We also ideated at length with industry experts at major pharmaceutical companies to gain insight into the types of evidential gaps they are trying to fill and where our solution could help with that.  

Finally, we checked the regulatory landscape to understand external constraints such as ethics, pharmacovigilance, data protection, and security requirements. Make sure you know who your key opinion leaders are and then ask as many questions as you can – most people are happy to have a chat over coffee, especially if you aim to improve the way things work in their industry. 

The building phase

With your assumptions challenged and your offer refined, you can move on to a highly creative and productive phase that will shape your product much further and quicker than you have so far. You need to start product iteration, which is a cycle of designing, testing, prototyping, and perfecting. Regular inspections and feedback are key to this process; as is listening. Remember the Lean methodology of “think big, act small, fail fast, learn quickly”. 

For this, we created the cheapest, quickest version of the product that we could and got feedback on it as early as possible. This way the cost of “failure” was very low, and we could easily pivot or simply remove functionality and try something new. You can find several ways to create minimally viable versions – wireframing tools help a lot here, but I’ve seen early product ideation done on paper.  

In our early user testing, we implemented clickable wireframes for mobile devices, which we chose as our initial target form factor. One version was a fully featured prototype that had the feel of a complete app but was built at a fraction of the cost. There are also now no-code or low-code solutions that go a stage further and provide basic functionality that further blurs the lines between prototype and minimum viable product (MVP). 

Asking for feedback

Who should you ask for feedback? It could be anyone: friends, family, and colleagues will all have useful thoughts. All feedback is a gift, and this is one that keeps giving. The best option is to ask your prospective end users.  

Don’t get too stuck on exactly who to ask. I guarantee the minute the rubber hits the road, you’ll start learning things you didn’t realize, or think were important yet. When we got feedback from people living with an autoimmune condition that caused muscle weakness, particularly in their eyelids, we soon realized it was hard for them to scan up and down a long screen of text or icons – we hadn’t expected that, but now it became obvious. 

We then organized phone calls, online surveys, and even in-person focus groups at venues in London, Paris, and Milan. There are many options where people can take part remotely, even remotely screen and voice-recording to get stream-of-consciousness feedback from users, but in-person testing is still important as the level of insight it provides is great.  

Choosing your priorities

When you have some feedback, organize it into areas of functionality; let’s call them “epics”, given we’re already considering an agile approach. At this point, you’ll be creating a backlog of product ideas. You can’t really expect your users to tell you which of them will provide the most value; it’s up to you to listen carefully. Find out what they’re doing now: can you imagine them switching from that to using your shiny, new application instead?  

As part of our discovery, we wanted to know if people track things about their disease already, such as medication, side effects, and treatments. If so, where do they already do that? We found quite a few people using spreadsheets to do this. If you give them your app, is there any friction in moving over to it – how likely is it to happen?  

You’re often not competing with the things you think you are, such as better features and functionality. Often you’re competing for people’s attention, the span of which is now frighteningly short. Dealing with patients suffering from acute or chronic diseases, we found users already have a lot going on in their lives and spend time managing their condition, treatments, and side effects – we usually couldn’t expect them to spend long using our app too. There are exceptions, such as a group we studied who needed regular blood transfusions which take the best part of a day in the hospital during which they had time to provide feedback. A different consideration here is hospitals are often places with restricted connectivity, which can limit the use of mobile devices. 

Finalizing your product roadmap

Finally, it’s time to review the backlog and the epics you identified. Try to arrange these into a product roadmap. There is much to cover in product management but this would be a good time to familiarise yourself with two key frameworks. 

First is the Kano Model, which helps us prioritize features on a product roadmap according to the degree to which they will satisfy users. I like this framework because it focuses on user delight while creating the biggest bang for your buck. It also explains why today’s “wow” feature soon becomes expected. 

The other model is the Design Council’s Double Diamond. This encourages you to take a two-stage approach in your thinking; initially divergent exploration, and then convergent focus. It does this across two areas called the problem space and the solution space. 

We’ve used this to great effect as a means of moderating conversations while planning our product roadmap. The idea is to prevent you or your stakeholders from jumping straight to the first solution they can think of. Taking the time to check if you really understand the nature of the problem and brainstorming for several competing solutions sounds like common sense but be prepared to explain the Double Diamond repeatedly on your journey to a successful product. 

As you can see, the process of designing, testing, prototyping, and perfecting is endless but you’ll recognize when you have something good enough.  

Our first oncology study app was quite basic, but we soon added more functionality. It’s also about removing features. Users had asked us for a feature that found people nearby with a similar stage of disease for support, but it wasn’t used as much as we had hoped. In the end, we withdrew it. Nothing in product management is an exact science and the data and feedback can only tell you so much. Don’t be precious about any of your ideas or assumptions as they will probably all be challenged at some point and your product will usually end up looking quite different when your journey from A arrives at B.

Digital transformation projects can revolutionize a business. These projects improve an organization’s self-awareness and boost productivity while ensuring it can compete for years to come. Dealing with inflation, however, has become a major barrier to digital transformation efforts, and the economic conditions are putting IT budgets under pressure.

Chief financial officers (CFOs) are moving away from growth plans they put in place after the ravages of COVID-19, and are taking a much more defensive approach, according to Deloitte’s Autumn 2022 European CFO Survey. They’re primarily concerned about rising energy costs, inflation, and labor shortages. 

The research found that, across Europe, cost reduction was the key strategy for the next year for businesses in 12 of the 15 nations that took part in the research. Digitalization, however, was the second highest-ranking strategy in seven countries, meaning it’s still a strategy many businesses want to pursue.

Digital transformation has significant implied costs, and is seen as expensive to implement. But it offers to possibility of scaling beneficially in the long term, according to the report. The firms that can afford to pursue digital transformation projects may see them as worthy investments, in light of rocky macroeconomics. Inflation is, nonetheless, a concern that needs to be carefully managed while undergoing any new or existing IT projects.

The risks of fast-tracking digital transformation

Lured by the prospect of digital transformation benefits, a firm might be tempted to fast-track the process. This can be a good strategy, but there are plenty of pitfalls for the unwary. 

“Complex digital programmes often rely on the allocation of available internal resources well in advance, which – in the case of fast-tracking – might have to be replaced or enhanced by more expensive external resources,” says Alfred Obereder, director at the independent management and technology consultancy, BearingPoint. 

Another potential issue is that trying to implement a digital transformation project at a faster pace than originally intended might store up problems for later, simply because things move at a faster pace and so checks and balances can be curtailed. Problems might not become apparent till much later or even till it is too late. Cyber security might be weaker than it should be, future scalability might be compromised, and, in general, more expenses might be needed later to fix problems baked in through fast-tracking.

However, with care and attention, fast-tracking can be a smart move. For example, a digital transformation project which allows a firm to better support remote working might reduce costs and improve productivity, with those benefits coming onstream at pace. 

“A digital transformation project that removes the requirement for surplus energy use – like moving away from an on-premise data center – could help reduce the need for electricity, thereby reducing business costs,” Tim Powlson, principal consultant and digital transformation expert at the business change consultancy Entec Si, highlights as another example. 

Is pausing a digital transformation project viable?

An alternative (and more drastic) option that might be considered in light of soaring inflation might be to pause or even completely shelve a digital transformation program. 

While there’s no simple answer to this question, says Obereder, there might be alternative options on the table. “Instead of a full pause or disbanding [projects], companies might want to consider creative options to instead reprioritize their program’s roadmap and focus on elements which are easier to finance and have an increased impact on cost savings.”

Any engaged contractors might not take kindly to a pause, which would mean a loss of revenue for them, even if a temporary one. To be viable as a cost-saving strategy, a pause would likely need to last several months. 

During that time, business priorities might shift, the parameters of the project might flex, and external conditions might develop and lead to new opportunities. Rather than accommodating these through a standard iterative process that’s part of a project in progress, additional costs might be incurred in revisiting earlier work and earlier decisions.

Shelving a digital transformation project might end up being the only option for some businesses, and it might be a difficult decision to make in light of considerations like the sunk-cost fallacy. Approximately 60% of executives say digital transformation is the most critical growth driver, however, meaning canceling a project equates to swerving away from a potential source of future growth, according to PWC.

The cost of cutting corners

Powlson suggests an alternative approach: “It’s worth understanding what the minimum viable product (MVP) would be and highlighting where the most benefit can be made for the lowest cost.”

Indeed, another possible way to save costs on digital transformation projects is to do some trimming. But this is another approach that is fraught with challenges. Cutting corners at speed in order to manage what may well be serious short-term financial problems might end up being a false economy as a firm can finish up with an end product that’s far below the standard and capabilities originally planned. 

Rather than trim all over, Powlson advises hunting down “the smallest change that can be made for the most amount of good” as a way of getting more immediate value from digital transformation. Taking such measures might make it seem as if digital transformation projects are a runaway train, but that’s not really the case. 

Sometimes your Windows 11 operating system (OS) needs a complete reinstallation. Where you may have once booted Windows from an installation disk, you can replicate this by downloading a Windows 11 ISO file and writing that to a USB drive or even a physical disk. There’s even a way to install Windows using the ISO file in a virtual machine (VM).

While some hardware manufacturers make it fairly easy to request a disk version of your Windows install, the vast majority of users will use the Microsoft website to download a new version of the OS. There are also tools out there that let you download files from Microsoft’s update server and put together a custom ISO that’s up-to-date with a Windows Insider build. There are several ways to get started, but regardless of the method, you should be able to follow these instructions and perform a clean Windows 11 install with ease.  

Why should I download a Windows 11 ISO file?

What is an ISO file?

A Windows 11 ISO file, named after the data system used on CDs, is most commonly used to create a bootable USB drive, CD, or DVD. Take, for example, if you have just built a brand new PC from scratch and want to get your system running or if your laptop has an issue so significant it refuses to cooperate with alternative options to update or restore the OS.

A clean install of Windows can help reduce the system bloat that comes with the long-term use of a PC. It can also be a troubleshooting step to take if you have an unidentifiable and sudden Windows issue that isn’t easily resolved through something like a restore point. 

Microsoft points out that an ISO file is not the ideal solution to update your system if everything is running as expected. For that, you’ll want to use Windows Update. 

Can I use a Windows 11 ISO file to upgrade from Windows 10?

An ISO can be used to update your Windows system without a boot drive or disk of some kind – known as mounting the ISO – but Microsoft recommends you use their Windows 11 installation assistant if your goal is to upgrade the OS on the device you’re using at the time. In other words, don’t use the ISO method if you’re trying to update from Windows 10.

Preparing your PC for a reinstall

While refreshing your system with a clean install isn’t complex, it does require some preparation. First, make sure that your computer meets the system requirements for Windows 11. Secondly, if using a USB drive or a DVD, you’ll need to obtain a blank one. If you are using a USB that has data on it, be sure to back that information up as the ISO download process will wipe that information. Finally, remember to back up any sensitive data. While a fresh Windows install, like on macOS, shouldn’t erase any of your data, backing up sensitive data is always a good idea before any kind of significant OS change. 

How to download a Windows 11 ISO File

Start by clicking through to Microsoft’s dedicated page for downloading the Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO). 

The next step depends on your intended purpose. If you want to perform a reinstall of Windows 11, download the media creation tool by clicking ‘Download now’ under ‘Create Windows 11 Installation Media’. To create a bootable installation media or a VM to install Windows 11, choose the ‘Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO)’ option from the dropdown menu under ‘Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)’. Then click Download. 

In both cases make sure to read the ‘Before you begin’ section. For the ISO image option,  click Download and select your appropriate language. This file is 5.2GB and the speed at which it downloads will depend on your internet connection.

From there, follow the  installation Instructions provided on the website

If you are looking to create installation media, click download now and run the file titled “mediacreationtool.exe”.

First, read and then accept the terms of conditions.

Choose the language and system type.

Choose whether you are looking to create a DVD or a USB Drive.

Choose where you will be saving your ISO media creation media – either a place to put your file before burning to a DVD or a USB drive that you have plugged in.

From there, you will be waiting while Windows 11 downloads onto your hardware. Finally, click Finish, and your device will be ready to install the OS.

High inflation is far from the help businesses need after a tumultuous few years of adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of where around the world they’re based. Inflationary pressures are bad everywhere, but particularly biting in the UK, with the OECD predicting the UK economy will perform worse than all the other G20 nations, except Russia.

The pan-European Autumn 2022 European CFO Survey from Deloitte also found expansion and growth plans businesses devised as they emerged from the worst of COVID-19 have been swapped out for defensive strategies. These plans aim to combat rising energy costs, labor shortages, and the effects of inflation. 

Amid this doom and gloom, individual businesses, from the smallest to the very largest, can feel they have an uphill struggle to survive, and they’ll be exploring every avenue to help them stay afloat. Technology can’t provide all the answers, and just how it might help depends on the nature of the business using it as well as the bigger picture of technology use. Harnessed wisely, however, technology might be able to provide a helping hand. 

Stepping up digital transformation

COVID-19 forced organizations to undergo digital transformation faster than they might have planned. The need to support remote working, and a subsequent desire to capitalize on the benefits for employees, pushed digital transformation higher up the agenda. Today the same imperative exists for businesses, although largely framed by a cost-cutting agenda than a workforce-enabling push.

Pushing ahead with digital transformation – despite imperatives to cut back on IT projects – could be a great strategy, providing the funds to do so are still available. Depending on the nature of the organization, there are a number of projects that may help the organization be more productive in the medium or long term and therefore mitigate a potential revenue drop-off.  Such projects include migrating to the cloud, eliminating data siloes, streamlining processes, developing or switching to services that use automation or artificial intelligence (AI) as well as honing marketing, sales, and customer experience (CX) activity. 

Organizations might reap any one of these benefits be speeding up efforts: 

• Work can be done more quickly and easily – including remote and hybrid work
• Customers and suppliers can enjoy faster, higher-quality communications
• Inventory, sales, and purchasing processes can become more reliable and effective
• Compliance can be managed more easily. 

Meanwhile, from an operational perspective, moving to the cloud from on-premise systems can reduce space requirements, hardware costs, and the cost of energy required to run on-premise systems. Doing so can also pave the way for scalability and a development cycle that’s iterative and able to take advantage of new applications and services at speed. 

Overhaul supply chain management

Organizations reliant on supply chains for components used in manufacturing, inventory for sales, or, indeed, as a supplier into the chain, need not be told about recent volatility that’s led to the non-availability of items and vast price fluctuations.

Technology solutions can help organizations keep track of what they need to buy, when, and from whom. They can monitor pricing, keep up-to-date information about alternative suppliers and pricing fluctuations, and help build relationships with the widest possible network of suppliers. 

More complex supply chain management required by some manufacturing organizations can stand to benefit most from more advanced technologies. Applications, such as those using AI and machine learning can also optimize complex supply chains by alerting humans where issues might arise and by forecasting demand. Research by IBM found 53% of Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) say digital supply chain transformation initiatives could be their most significant competitive advantage over the next three years.

Offering a first-class web experience

Whether customers are members of the public, or other businesses, it’s important to give them the best website experience possible. Consumers often vote with their feet, ditching sellers whose web offer they find clunky and outdated, and the same is true for clients and partners. This is why the role of chief experience officer (CXO) is growing.

Those selling to other organizations aren’t exempt from the need to make sure they deliver a high-end experience via their websites.  Looking at business-to-business sales, McKinsey found customer loyalty is hard-won. For example, 72% will actively look for another supplier if there isn’t real-time, always-on customer service, or if there isn’t a consistent experience across the channel. Meanwhile, 74% will do this if product availability isn’t shown online.

What this shows is that price isn’t everything when it comes to making sales. Using technology to deliver a high-quality all-round experience matters more to customers than simply dropping prices. Even today, with inflation continuing to be problematic, customer loyalty isn’t won on price alone.

Implementing the tools to fight inflation

In these specific areas and others, the constantly evolving march of technology can provide organizations with some useful tools to fight the cost of living crisis and inflation. 

When cash is tight, it isn’t possible to invest in everything all at once, and, just as when the finances are flowing freely, it’s important to evaluate the options, select what seems to be the most appropriate, deliver the greatest reward for the least outlay, and make the move to implement.

For IT professionals managing or deploying Secure Boot on Windows 11 systems, its activation is a cornerstone of a robust security posture. Secure Boot is a critical UEFI firmware feature designed to ensure that your PC boots using only software trusted by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or the user. This mechanism provides a vital defense against malware that might attempt to compromise the boot process, such as rootkits or bootkits. 

As a mandatory requirement for Windows 11, understanding how to verify and enable Secure Boot is essential. This guide will walk you through checking its status, activating it via the system's firmware (BIOS/UEFI) settings, and troubleshooting common hurdles.

Having Secure Boot enabled on Windows 11 is a critical step for users wanting to run Microsoft's latest operating system in a protected environment. Secure Boot is a security standard developed by members of the PC industry to help make sure that your device boots using only software that is trusted by the PC manufacturer. It’s part of the stringent hardware and software requirements introduced with Windows 11, alongside the need for a compatible CPU, TPM 2.0, and sufficient RAM and storage.

Although most modern PCs ship with Secure Boot enabled by default, some configurations, especially on custom-built machines or older systems upgraded to support Windows 11, may show it as inactive. This often relates to specific BIOS or UEFI firmware settings, such as the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) being active. While enabling Secure Boot significantly strengthens a machine's overall security, there are niche scenarios — such as working with certain older Linux distributions or specialized legacy hardware — where temporarily disabling it might be considered, albeit with increased security risks

Turning on Secure Boot for Windows 11

Secure Boot works by verifying the digital signatures of all boot software, including firmware drivers (Option ROMs), UEFI applications, and the operating system. Before diving into firmware settings, it's prudent to check if Secure Boot is already active, as accessing and navigating the BIOS/UEFI can vary between manufacturers.

1. Access UEFI/BIOS Settings:
   • The most reliable method is often via Windows Recovery Environment: Go to Settings > System > Recovery. Under "Advanced startup," click Restart now. Once the PC restarts to the blue recovery screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings, then click Restart.
   • Alternatively, restart your PC and wait for the manufacturer's splash screen. As it appears, repeatedly press the specific key to enter the BIOS/UEFI setup. Common keys include Delete, F2, F10, F12, or Escape. This key can vary significantly by manufacturer (e.g., Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS often use F2 or Delete). Consult your PC or motherboard manual if unsure.

2. Navigate the Firmware Menu: Once in the UEFI/BIOS, look for a Boot, Security, or Authentication tab. The exact naming and location differ based on the motherboard manufacturer.

3. Locate the Secure Boot option: Within the relevant section, find the "Secure Boot" setting. It might be a direct toggle or within a sub-menu.

4. Enable Secure Boot: Set the Secure Boot option to Enabled.

5. Ensure UEFI Mode: Secure Boot requires the system to be in UEFI mode, not Legacy BIOS or CSM (Compatibility Support Module) mode. If you see an option for "CSM," "Legacy Boot," or similar, it must be Disabled for Secure Boot to be available or to function correctly. Note: Switching from Legacy/CSM to UEFI mode might make existing OS installations unbootable if the OS was installed in Legacy mode. This often requires an OS reinstall or conversion of the boot disk from MBR to GPT partition style.

6. Save and Exit: Save the changes (usually via a key like F10 or an option in the "Exit" menu) and restart your PC.

Once enabled, your system will use Secure Boot to verify the integrity of the boot process, helping prevent unauthorized software from running during startup.

What is Secure Boot and why is it so important?

Secure Boot acts as a critical system safeguard by meticulously verifying the digital signatures of firmware, bootloaders, and the operating system kernel before they are allowed to run. When your PC starts, Secure Boot ensures that the UEFI firmware itself is signed and trusted, then checks each subsequent piece of critical software in the boot chain.

This process is highly effective against sophisticated malware like rootkits and bootkits. These types of malicious software attempt to load before the operating system, embedding themselves deep within the system to gain privileged access and evade detection by traditional security software. By ensuring that only cryptographically verified and trusted software can execute during the boot sequence, Secure Boot protects the foundational integrity of the operating system.

Introduced with Windows 8, Secure Boot is now a non-negotiable system requirement for Windows 11. Microsoft mandates that all certified x86-based Windows 11 devices must ship with Secure Boot enabled by default, trust Microsoft’s certificates, and, importantly, allow users to manage Secure Boot settings, including the ability to trust non-Microsoft certificates or disable the feature if absolutely necessary (though this is strongly discouraged for general use).

Why would you disable Secure Boot?

Although Secure Boot significantly enhances system security, there are specific, limited scenarios where disabling it might be considered:

It's crucial to understand that turning off Secure Boot reduces your system's protection against pre-boot malware and unauthorized software. It should only be done if essential for a specific task and ideally re-enabled afterward.

Troubleshooting common secure boot issues

Encountering issues when enabling Secure Boot is not uncommon. Here are some frequent problems and their potential solutions:

Secure Boot option is grayed out in BIOS/UEFI:

System won’t boot after enabling Secure Boot:

Secure Boot is enabled in firmware, but Windows still reports it as off:

Further reading on Windows 11 and security

To learn more about Windows 11 security features, check out our other guides. We cover everything from how to boot into Windows 11 Safe Mode to managing encryption tools like BitLocker, ensuring your PC meets the latest security standards. For those exploring Linux or other OS setups, see our articles on comparing Windows 11 with Linux, UEFI settings, and switching to Linux from Windows.

Microsoft's flagship Windows 11 operating system is designed to reinvigorate both new and older PCs, provided they meet the minimum hardware requirements. Many Windows 10 users have been making the switch, driven by the promise of better performance and a range of exciting new features that Windows 11 offers. However, the installation process can vary significantly in duration, depending on several important factors.

For some, the upgrade to Windows 11 can be quick, taking as little as 20 minutes. But for others, bottlenecks such as slower internet speeds, older hardware, or insufficient storage can turn the process into a multi-hour endeavor. If your installation is taking longer than expected, it may indicate specific issues or hardware limitations that need addressing.

How do I install Windows 11?

The most common way to upgrade to Windows 11 is through the Windows Update channel, which remains Microsoft’s top recommendation. However, there are several alternative methods available if Windows Update isn’t suitable for you.

You can create your own installation media, similar to traditional disk-based installations, or use a third-party tool to install a Windows 11 image directly onto your disk. Additionally, the Windows Installation Assistant provides a straightforward way to initiate the upgrade. If you are resetting your computer to factory settings, you may also end up installing Windows 11, regardless of whether you choose to keep your data or perform a full reset.

The time it takes to complete the Windows 11 installation can vary significantly depending on the method used. In many cases, it takes less than an hour, though some users have reported multi-hour installation processes. Ultimately, the duration depends on factors like your system's hardware capabilities and the speed of your internet connection.

Why is my Windows 11 installation taking so long?

If your Windows 11 installation is taking a long time, there are several potential reasons. First, unless you are performing an initial Windows 11 setup or using pre-downloaded installation media, you will need a stable internet connection. A fast, wired Ethernet connection is ideal, especially in office environments. However, remote workers, particularly those in rural areas or with unreliable networks, may experience delays due to the large size of the installation files, which can be around 5GB.

Another potential bottleneck is your storage type. Devices with traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), sometimes jokingly referred to as "spinning rust", will generally take longer to upgrade compared to modern systems equipped with solid-state drives (SSDs). Machines with NVMe SSDs are likely to have the fastest installation times.

Can I make Windows 11 install faster?

While there’s no guaranteed way to speed up a Windows 11 installation, you can take several steps to help the process go as smoothly as possible.

One effective approach is to pre-download the Windows 11 installation files onto a USB drive. This removes the need for a network connection during installation, which can be especially helpful if you're dealing with slow or unstable internet speeds.

You might also consider clearing up space on your hard drive by uninstalling unnecessary programs or bloatware. Freeing up storage can make the installation more efficient and reduce the chance of encountering storage-related delays.

Taking these steps won’t ensure a fast installation, but they can help streamline the process and reduce potential issues.

Steps to ensure a faster upgrade

To minimize downtime and streamline the upgrade, consider the following:

Check compatibility early

Windows 11 has specific hardware requirements. Use Microsoft’s PC Health Check tool to verify that your device meets these requirements, avoiding potential delays.

Clear up storage space

Ensure that your device has adequate storage. Upgrading requires a certain amount of free space, typically around 20GB. Lack of space may lead to delays or errors during installation.

Update Windows 10 fully

Ensure your current version of Windows 10 is fully updated before attempting to upgrade. Updated systems are more likely to complete the process smoothly, as they’re often free of any legacy issues.

Use a wired connection

For faster and more stable downloads, consider using a wired Ethernet connection. This reduces the risk of interruptions that could slow the upgrade or require restarting the process.

Post-upgrade considerations

After installing Windows 11, take time to review your system’s settings, update drivers, and reinstall any applications that may not have transferred over. A post-upgrade check can help you catch any minor issues that might impact performance or usability.

With the Windows 10 end of life having come and gone, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the Windows 11 system requirements.

Many businesses are still using Windows 10 via the Extended Security Update (ESU) support, but this ends on 13 October 2026. Overall, the cost and the risk of not migrating will only continue to increase. One of the reasons for holding on is the inevitable hardware refresh, which could be costly up front, but a new fleet of Copilot+, AI-enabled Windows PCs will be more affordable in the long run with future-proofed capabilities and regular security updates.

Businesses looking to upgrade their devices to Windows 11 should bear in mind that the operating system comes with strict requirements, including CPU compatibility and an enabled Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip. How do you check if your system is compatible with Windows 11? We’ve laid out the minimum requirements in full and how to test for them below.

Windows 11 minimum requirements

Microsoft can’t ship Windows 11 to customers whose devices wouldn’t be able to satisfactorily run the operating system. As such, it’s set out the following minimum requirements.

• A CPU of at least 1GHz, with two cores
• At least 4GB of RAM
• 64GB of free hard drive space
• Support for Secure Boot
• Support for Trusted Platform Module 2.0
• Meet the UEFI standard
• A graphics card (GPU) that supports DX12
• Support for Windows Display Driver Model 2
• An active internet connection
• A display resolution of at least 720p

Bear in mind these are simply the absolute minimum requirements to even install Windows 11 and in no way guarantee that Windows 11 will run optimally. Leaders will also need to keep track of the list of incompatible processors that Windows 11 doesn’t support, even if the machine otherwise meets the remainder of the requirements. This includes 7th-Gen AMD and Intel Core processors and older.

Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) standard were all included to bolster Windows security, but it may not be immediately obvious if your system supports them.

There are also a number of non-essential hardware requirements for specific features that you may or may not want to use, too. For example, multiple tools and services require you to have a webcam and microphone, including Microsoft Teams and voice features within Microsoft 365 Copilot.

How do I check if my system meets the Windows 11 minimum requirements?

There are two main methods to check if your system meets the minimum requirements for Windows 11.

First, you can simply request the update and see if it will progress. To do this:

1. Press the Windows key.
2. Click ‘settings’.
3. Select ‘Update & Security’, then ‘Windows Update’ and 'Check for Updates'.
4. The checker will inform you if your device is compatible or not. If it is, follow the instructions to go through the full Windows 11 installation process.

For a faster route to the same solution, you can search ‘Check for updates’ in the start menu.

For a more detailed look, you can instead use the PC Health Check app, which can be downloaded via the Microsoft Store. In addition to helping users alter OneDrive backup settings or free up hard drive space, the app can be used to check Windows 11 minimum requirements.

Simply open the app and click the 'Check Now' to find out if your system meets the requirements for Windows 11. If it’s not, the app will break down what the issue is including an incompatible CPU, GPU or if you lack a TPM.

From there, you can move on to learn more about Windows 11 from Microsoft’s website, or return to the app’s home screen.

For more on Windows 11, check our guides on the most exciting features in Windows 11 or the fixes for common Windows 11 problems.

Organisations make key business decisions on the basis of what they know, and what they know is derived from analysing their data. To enable the best decisions, data has to be accurate and reliable. But there are still organisations out there with data silos, which by their very nature can be anything but accurate and reliable. These silos often contain duplicate, out-of-date, or otherwise dangerous data.

Added to this, maintaining two or more data sets on the same topic uses time and technology resources an organisation could more fruitfully channel into other work. It’s time to purge the data silos and stop them from ever coming back. Doing so, however, involves hunting for silos across the breadth of an organisation and implementing measures that address the cultural deficiencies that let silos flourish in the first place, all of which is easier said than done.

What damage can data silos do?

There’s widespread agreement that data silos are a bad thing. “There can be no debate,” insists Dave Williams, consulting associate director for leading data consultancy Dufrain, Dave Williams. “Data silos are the scourge of the modern company.”

Chief among the problems they raise is the lack of centralised control, he tells IT Pro. Without strong governance to ensure the data an organisation holds is accurate and up to date, data silos are simply repositories that can lead to ill-informed decision-making.

“Silos can deeply impact the decision intelligence of any organisation,” agrees Janet Bastiman, chief data scientist at Napier and chair (data science and artificial intelligence (AI)) at the Royal Statistical Society. “Without a single holistic view, decisions may be taken without full information,” she elaborates. “More importantly, updates may not filter to all silos, meaning that duplicate data can be in different states.”

How to identify data silos

If you think your organisation has no data silos, are you absolutely certain? Have you checked everywhere? Well, you might be surprised, Williams suggests. “Data silos are typically created in business areas when a centralised data platform is either too well governed to accept disparate business data, or where an IT team is too disinterested to incorporate data together because the corporate value is considered low.”

There can be other factors at play too, such as business units thinking they have some kind of advantage if they maintain their own data. This can be born from a sort of psychology of competitiveness that has its roots well outside the technology, in the overall way business units view each other – as competitors rather than collaborators.

Whatever the reason for the existence of silos, finding them can be tricky. Just asking around isn’t always going to be enough. Some tech-based sleuthing might be able to identify large files such as spreadsheets, the owners of which can be quizzed. But if this approach is taken, Bastiman offers some sage advice. “The individual who does this must have clear authority from the executive team to have access to sensitive silos,” she says. This is especially important if there’s already a competitive, perhaps antagonistic, vibe between business units.

Indeed, former chief data officer (CDO) for Network Rail, as well as CEO and co-founder of Carruthers and Jackson, Caroline Carruthers, tells IT Pro technology isn’t the ideal tool for hunting down data silos. told IT Pro that technology isn’t the ideal tool for hunting down data silos. ”I’d argue hunting data silos doesn’t really need any sort of technological method,” she says. “Tech can do whatever you want it to if you put your mind to it, but data silos themselves are fundamentally people problems.”

Preventing data silos is better than ‘curing’ them

Once data silos have been identified, the next steps are to remove them and prevent them from appearing again. This too, for Carruthers, is a people thing, not a technology thing, and the responsibility often lies with the CDO. “A CDO’s role here is to understand why data silos exist in the first place, as they’ll have happened in the first place because some employees thought they were needed,” she explains. “Fundamentally, you can’t wipe out a silo without putting something better in its place, and you can’t put something better in its place without first understanding the need.”

Williams is also clear that workplace culture really matters, and has a key role to play in preventing data silos from reappearing once they’ve been eliminated. “Once all data silos are identified and broken down, companies must rethink their cultural and technological processes to protect themselves from data silos popping up in the future,” he tells IT Pro. He proposes the promotion of the development of “collegiate ways of working to ensure everyone is working from the same one true source of data”. Once such a regime is in place, he continues, “culture and technology must work together in lockstep to affect long-term change”.

Developing and maintaining a collegiate, collaborative approach to work, using cloud-based data systems, might take time. But there seems to be general agreement that data silos arise as a result of certain ways of working and are prevented by the adoption of others. In the end, then, data silos are a technological solution to what is very much a human situation. Change the situation – eliminate the data silos – and make better business decisions, too.

Enterprises globally have been exploring ways to reduce Kubernetes costs over the last 18 months, as prices increase significantly for enterprise software.

Used efficiently, Kubernetes offers a range of benefits for enterprises: enhancing business productivity, streamlining application development, and reducing friction for developers to name a few. Price surges, however, mean Kubernetes could end up costing some businesses more than they bargained for.

Research from Civo in early 2023 showed almost half of all developers have witnessed a year-on-year increase in spending on Kubernetes clusters, with some contending with a spending surge of up to 25%.

Amid challenging economic times fraught with tightening budgets, this growing financial burden means some organizations are scrambling to reduce Kubernetes costs and optimize how they function.

Recent Kubernetes market analysis

The 2024 Kubernetes Benchmark Report, published by MSP Fairwinds, identifies several areas of concern in Kubernetes workload management, and these are the key areas where businesses should be cautious.

Many companies need to engage in something called “Container Rightsizing”, or making sure that the tools match the job. In fact, 37% of workloads are improperly sized, leading to inefficiencies in cost and resource use, according to the report.

There are also reliability issues, with Fairwinds finding that 65% of organizations don’t implement essential liveness and readiness probes, increasing the risk of downtime. And on top of this, 28% of workloads have unsecure capabilities enabled, exposing them to potential vulnerabilities, which makes doing all kinds of business riskier.

“This year, 67% of organizations have more than 11% of workloads impacted by missing CPU requests, down from 78% in 2023,” says the report. “Putting CPU request limits in place helps to increase reliability by guaranteeing the pod will have access to the resources needed.”

“Containers and Kubernetes can offer businesses significant benefits, but without understanding these essential configurations and how to set them appropriately, it can be difficult to navigate Kubernetes’ inherent complexities,” says Fairwinds.

How to cut the cost of Kubernetes

Effective monitoring

One of the first things you should consider before embarking on a cost-cutting campaign is to consider some of the key tools at your disposal to help monitor costs.

Research from 2021, for example, showed most businesses don’t monitor their costs, despite the fact prices were surging even back then.

A commonly-used tool among many enterprises is Kubecost. This particular tool analyses an organisation’s IT infrastructure environment to pinpoint areas of friction and poor performance, enabling you to target specific points within your environment to implement changes and cut costs.

Cluster management

Another thing to keep an eye on is clusters: the greater number of Kubernetes clusters your business uses, the more you will be required to pay for hosting costs.

This is because each cluster requires you to fork out for additional compute nodes to host your control plane in production, meaning you’re essentially multiplying costs within each cluster.

Dr Manzoor Mohammed, co-founder and CINO at Capacitas tells CloudPro that a recommended approach is to run fewer clusters, with larger worker nodes and small pods.

“Having small pods and large worker nodes, in a small number of clusters for the pods to run in, will allow you to pack the worker nodes more efficiently,” he says.

Running a single cluster to host all of your workloads is also recommended, enabling you to consolidate workloads and reduce financial burdens.

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, however. There are instances where running multiple clusters is required, meaning each business should assess workloads and establish the ideal approach.

Utilize autoscaling

Autoscaling is among the most impactful ways that organisations can reduce Kubernetes costs, according to Tobi Knaup, CEO at D2iQ.

Configuring autoscaling enables you to add or remove nodes from Kubernetes clusters during off-peak times. This means that, depending on demand, workloads will still have consistent resources without the need for paying for excess infrastructure.

“It delivers benefits because it allows an application to scale to meet demand – when your usage spikes, autoscaling lets your app and your cluster scale up to meet that demand without degrading usage,” Knaup says.

“Some businesses, especially those with presence largely in a single country, can drive costs down by using autoscaling to scale down when their load is low.”

Understand your resource limits

Defining resource limits can be a highly efficient way to reduce Kubernetes costs, but there may be a compromise here.

By assigning a limit, it curtails the amount of memory or CPU resources that containers can consume. By doing so, you may prevent applications from burning through – or hogging – resources and incurring additional costs.

Combined with autoscaling, this provides a dual method for reducing costs by both setting a limit and preventing workloads from demanding additional resources to accommodate demand.

Be warned, however, that setting Kubernetes limits can present issues, according to Knaup. By setting limits there is the potential to inhibit workloads by cutting access to additional resources. This has been known to cause performance issues, which ultimately could negatively impact user experience (UX).

“The only downside to it is you have to carefully set the right resource limits such that it allows legitimate usage for an application,” he tells CloudPro. “Setting it too low would deny an application to function properly.”

Evaluate your providers carefully

Evaluating your provider options can be “essential” to reducing Kubernetes costs in the long run, Knaup suggests.

Assessing the pricing offered by providers, such as AWS or Azure, for example, will enable you to develop a deeper understanding of what fits best for your business and your budget. Most of the major providers offer tools to help estimate costs.

This isn’t just limited to costs, however. An equally important aspect to consider is what functionalities and features certain providers offer and whether they are cost-effective and relevant to your business needs.

Is reducing the cost of Kubernetes even possible?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to help reduce Kubernetes costs, and the tactics employed by some businesses will vary compared to others.

Similarly, this differing approach is also dependent on the size of the organisation itself, with smaller businesses encountering far more acute issues with costs compared to larger enterprises.

There are many challenges in handling subject access requests (SARs). Some may have a clear resolution, such as not retaining emails for 20 years, while others may be relatively untested issues, where the legislation and guidance aren’t wholly clear.

SARs are among the most common queries many data controllers, and data protection officers (DPOs) within organisations, will face on a daily basis. Even before GDPR, the Data Protection Act 1998 outlined the right for individuals to access their personal data held by organisations. The adoption of GDPR into UK law amounted to slashing the time from 40 working days to 30 working days for a response.

When it comes to responding to SARs, there are several common areas of confusion – often regarding whether or not particular information counts as “personal data” or whether any exemption might apply. These themes include “do I have to provide every email which mentions them over the past 20 years?” and “our customer services rep called them a twerp – can I withhold this?”. There are more unusual queries, too, which raise lesser-known aspects of the rules.

Where there’s no obvious answer to such questions, it may be helpful to open up a dialogue with the requestor to find a solution together, such as how they might identify themselves. You should also keep clear records of analysis and conclusions, including when you apply exemptions, and how you’ve balanced corporate interests with transparency for individuals. Although many SARs may seem straightforward, there are nuances in how the law is applied, which businesses need to remain on top of.

Do IP addresses count as personal data?

A company received a request from an individual to access information associated with an internet protocol (IP) address, which the requestor said was assigned to their computer. The question posed to me by the company was: do we need to provide this information?

A person has a right to access to personal data, which means information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. Someone can be identified by reference to an “online identifier”, which includes cookie identifiers and IP addresses. So, in theory, information associated with an IP address – such as logs of access to a website, or behavioural advertising profiles – could be personal data.

But it isn’t as simple as that. An organisation may or may not use IP addresses in a way that is intended to identify or impact specific individuals. They may automatically be collected by its systems, but either not reviewed, or only used for gathering aggregated statistics on website visitors. An organisation may also be unable to link the identity of someone making a SAR to the personal data associated with the IP address. So, if you receive a message from me asking for logs of my access to your website – which requires no credentials to access – can you be sure which IP addresses and therefore which logs relate to me?

How do you identify the individual making a SAR?

There’s an interesting and often overlooked provision of the UK GDPR under Article 11: if the purposes for which personal data is processed don’t require the identification of an individual, the organisation doesn’t have to maintain additional information to identify them. Furthermore, if the organisation can demonstrate it cannot identify them, the right of access, together with other rights of individuals, doesn’t apply. There’s an exception, however, If the individual provides additional information to identify themselves. They will then have a right to access their data.

Even where Article 11 doesn’t apply, where an organisation has reasonable doubts as to a requestor’s identity, Article 12(6) allows it to ask them for additional information to confirm their identity (before addressing the request).

On an aside, where there is an issue with identifying someone making a request, I often hear a stock response of “we shall request a copy of the individual’s passport and proof of address”. Indeed, a passport contains several potential identifiers; full name, image, passport number, date of birth, and proof of address would mean you now know where the person lives. But how would that actually help you if your only dealings with them are online, and the records you hold do not include any of the same identifiers? What you have achieved is the collection of additional (possibly more sensitive) personal data leading to greater data protection risks in handling it. Identification checks need to be tailored to the context of your relationship with an individual.

Whilst the company in question did hold certain records by reference to an IP address, it could not at that stage be sure the IP address uniquely identified the person making the request. It needed to consider, in relation to the records held, whether it was in a position to identify an individual, and whether the requestor could provide additional information to enable their identification.

Exemptions to the right of access

Another organisation received a SAR from someone looking for information on decisions made about them. Opinions and decisions about someone are that person’s personal data, as the information “relates to” them. Information about reasons for a decision may also be personal data, again to the extent it relates to the specific individual.

However, the organisation was concerned that releasing all records concerning relevant decisions would reveal confidential and proprietary information about its decision-making techniques. So the question to me was whether it could apply any exemptions.

The bulk of the exemptions can be found in schedules 2 to 4 of the UK Data Protection Act 2018, which complements the UK GDPR. One that pops up a lot is “management forecasts”. This applies where data is used for the purpose of management planning, for example in relation to redundancies, and provision of that data would be likely to prejudice the conduct of the business, which didn’t apply in this case.

Is intellectual property exempt from SARs?

One exception relating to SARs sits under Article 15(4): “The right to obtain a copy… shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.” The data protection rights of other individuals most commonly spring to mind, but this can also refer to “trade secrets or intellectual property and in particular the copyright protecting the software”.

The purpose of the right of access is transparency, and exemptions are there to protect other businesses or public interests, but they shouldn’t be overused. It’s also important the application of Article 15(4) requires a balancing test between the requesting individual’s right of access to data, IP or rights of the other party. Just because another right exists does not mean that Article 15(4) automatically applies – in some cases the importance of providing access to personal data overrides the other right. In addition, perhaps curiously, it is an exception to the right to receive a copy of the data (under Article 15(3)), but not a general exemption to the right of access.

Taking all this into account, companies should not take an all-or-nothing approach. They need to assess how much personal data they can still provide, and how they can provide it, without unreasonably affecting other rights. A company could, for example, send reduced sets of data, or redact or extract data from records.

What do the data regulators say about intellectual property?

The reference to intellectual property rights in the UK GDPR is another frequently overlooked provision. Indeed, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance on exemptions doesn’t seem to mention it at all. It is touched on, however, within the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) guidelines on the equivalent right of access under the EU GDPR. They give an example of a gamer being denied access to a gaming platform due to allegations of cheating, detected by anti-cheating software.

The gamer makes a SAR, and requests information about the reasons for the decision. The gaming platform should provide some information about the alleged cheating – such as dates and times, what was detected – but may be able to withhold information concerning the technical operation of the anti-cheat software, if this is a trade secret and, presumably, to protect copyright.

Another example in the guidelines relates to a company’s proprietary techniques for a medical assessment. If the person makes a SAR, the company may be able to withhold information about the results of the assessment as it may reveal its techniques.

Regarding the original query, the organisation therefore needed to think about a few things:

1. What specific content concerning decisions was the requestor’s personal data, and which decision-making techniques may be revealed by sharing this data
2. Whether its decision-making techniques gave rise to intellectual property rights (to be assessed under intellectual property laws
3. If so, how to balance those rights with the requestor’s right of access, and then to reach a conclusion: what personal data could and should still be shared, and how?

What about automated decision-making?

Since we’re talking about decision-making, though, that’s not everything. As well as giving individuals a right to access personal data, Article 15(1) UK GDPR requires information to be provided about solely automated decision-making. This means decisions made by technological means without human involvement, such as automated credit scoring.

If these were taking place, the organisation must inform the requestor (amongst other matters) about the logic involved in those decisions. This does not necessarily mean sharing detailed algorithms, which may also prejudice intellectual property rights. But the information must be meaningful for the individual, to enable them to understand how the decision was made.

The skills shortage in the UK tech industry has been recognised for years, but as the country emerges from COVID-19, numerous polls and surveys suggest the crisis is getting worse.

According to figures released in TechNation’s People and Skills Report 2022, tech roles now make up 14% of all job vacancies in the UK, up from 11% in 2019. Cyber security, data management and software development are often flagged as skills in the shortest supply, but there are skills shortages across the whole industry. As demand for IT professionals continues to grow, the gap between need and available talent in the UK widens.

Hiring from abroad is one route companies can take, but for those who’ve not yet dipped a toe in that water, the immigration requirements can feel bureaucratic, and downright baffling.

How do you recruit someone from abroad?

On 1 December 2020, the UK introduced a single immigration system applying to all non-UK and Irish nationals. Under the rules, newly arriving European nationals no longer have the right to free movement, which previously allowed them to take up employment here. Instead, they face the same immigration restrictions as others, and in most cases will need a visa.

Most types of UK employment visas require sponsorship by a company or organisation, which must first obtain a “sponsor licence”. They can then sponsor individuals to take up employment with them, with the visa tied to the sponsoring company. Sponsored employees can choose to leave the business, but must obtain a new visa if they want to remain in the UK or work for another employer.

After five years under a Skilled Worker visa (the most common type of sponsored work visa) an individual can apply to settle in the UK, and will then have the flexibility to work in any role, for any employer. To be granted a licence, companies must prove that they are genuine businesses operating in the UK, and have a real need for a sponsor licence.

That need may be based on them having a particular candidate in mind for sponsorship, but it can also be met speculatively, because they employ the type of roles that would be eligible for sponsorship. Sponsoring an employee brings certain duties and responsibilities, such as monitoring sponsored employees’ attendance at work and reporting changes in location, changes in immigration status or cessation of employment, as well as changes to the organisation itself. Obtaining a sponsor licence can take a couple of months, although the Home Office offers a priority service that reduces the processing time to a couple of weeks. There are only a limited number of these priority slots available daily, and considerable competition to obtain them, but the Home Office has finally increased the number available each day from ten to 30, meaning it should be slightly easier to obtain one.

Once you have a licence, who can you sponsor?

A Skilled Worker sponsor licence won’t allow you to sponsor any job or individual you may wish. Roles must be at or above a certain deemed skill level: RQF 3 – roughly equivalent to A-level standard. Broadly speaking, this encompasses roles at an executive level and above, or skilled manual roles. The vast majority of roles within the tech sector will be eligible, although it’s still important to check. There are also minimum salary requirements, which vary depending on the market rate for the particular role. For tech sector roles, minimum salary requirements usually start at around £25,000 per annum and rarely exceed £60,000.

Employers must also show anyone they sponsor is suitable for the role they’re filling. This is a significantly lower threshold than prior to the 2020 changes, when an employer could only sponsor someone if they could prove that there was no suitable resident worker available to fill the role (unless the role was a “shortage occupation” or another exemption applied). In many cases, employers had to carry out a “resident labour market test”, often re-advertising a role where a candidate had already been identified, to show that nobody could be found from the UK labour market with the skills to fill the role.

This change has significantly reduced the bureaucracy involved in sponsoring an overseas national and the time frame to obtain a visa for someone from overseas. The impact of the change has been less significant in the tech sector, where certain key categories (software developers, business analysts and cyber security specialists) were considered shortage occupations and so exempt from the requirement, but the industry has still benefited in regards to other roles.

Applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route must also demonstrate a certain level of fluency in English. If this is a significant barrier, one alternative option is a Global Business Mobility visa. There are multiple sub-categories under this route, but the most common – for “senior” or “specialist” workers – allows companies that are part of a global group to transfer employees from that overseas company to the UK on a temporary basis. Applicants don’t need to demonstrate a certain level of English, but they must have been working for the overseas company for a period of time (often 12 months), their role must meet a higher skill threshold (RQF 6) and they must be paid a minimum salary of £42,400.

How much does it cost to sponsor a worker?

There is no simple answer to this because costs vary depending on the size of the company and on the length of the visa that is being requested. There are also numerous fee elements that must be paid, including an Immigration Skills Charge and an Immigration Health Surcharge, among others.

These fee components usually add up to considerably more than the visa fee itself. In many cases, companies pay all these elements, but some of them can be met by applicants. There may also be reductions if the role is considered a shortage occupation, but it won’t be substantial in terms of the overall costs. Fees are also lower if you’re recruiting a graduate from a UK university.

Setting these reductions aside, the fees for a fairly standard three-year visa would come to £4,000 for a small company, and around £6,000 for a medium or large one. It’s also worth noting that some of these fees are refundable in part if an employee moves on before the end of their visa.

Are there other options to bring tech workers to the UK?

Although the majority of work visa routes require sponsorship, and therefore a significant outlay by the employing business, there are a few that don’t.

High Potential visas

The new High Potential visa route allows individuals who have graduated from a “top 50” global university (as included in the government’s “Global University list” for the relevant year of graduation) in the past five years to apply for a two-year UK visa, or a three-year visa for applicants whose qualification is a PhD. This will enable them to work in the UK for any company, in any role, or to take up self-employed work here.

This visa route is similar to the graduate scheme, launched last year, which allows those graduating from UK universities to apply for a two-year UK visa (again, three years for those who have obtained a PhD), with similar conditions. Neither of these routes leads to settlement in the UK, and neither can be extended, so while they’re useful entry routes into the industry, they aren’t options for long-term employment. However, visa-holders can switch to other routes once they’re in the UK.

Global Talent visas

For those further on in their careers, the Global Talent visa is a possibility that’s well worth considering. It’s much more flexible than the Skilled Worker route, as it’s not tied to a specific job or employer, and also allows an individual to be self-employed. Like the Skilled Worker visa, it’s a potential route to settle in the UK – after as little as three years. For employers, it comes with the benefit that it doesn’t require any expenditure, or tie them into any compliance obligations – beyond the standard obligation to check and monitor the right to work of any employee. However, it also brings the disadvantage that an employee is free to move on without any immigration restrictions or delays.

The Global Talent visa is open to applicants in a number of sectors, such as arts, engineering and research, as well as the tech industry. In most cases, individuals must apply first to a designated “endorsing body” to confirm they meet the requirements for Exceptional Promise or Exceptional Talent.

TechNation serves as the endorsing body in the IT sector. For anyone considering this route, it’s important to emphasise that “talent” is defined very specifically – you can be a very talented individual working in the tech sector, without being eligible under this route. The route does cover applicants with a technical focus and those with a business focus. However, non-technical applicants must have substantial involvement in digital product businesses – think companies that provide a proprietary digital technical service, product, platform or hardware as their primary revenue source. Senior corporate roles, including managing corporate teams and roles with consultancy companies, don’t generally meet the requirements of the route.

Apple and Microsoft might have once seemed akin to two children squabbling over attention, pitting their flagship macOS and Windows operating systems against one another for decades. Indeed, the two tech giants have enjoyed a significant rivalry, exemplified by the infamous television spot nearly 20 years ago.

Not everyone needs to choose between the two, however. There are, after all, a handful of ways to install Windows on a Mac. There are a number of reasons why anyone would wish to upgrade to Windows 11, but, for Mac users, this isn’t a simple process and isn’t recommended for novice users, nor those using a managed device with heavy restrictions.

What are the benefits of installing Windows on a Mac?

The biggest reason to install Windows on a Mac is to dual-wield the capabilities of both systems. Some industries use tools that only work on one framework over the other. The theatre industry standard software Qlab, for example, is only available on macOS. Perhaps you’re a video editor or music producer who can’t bear to part with Final Cut Pro and Logic, but also want to live within the Windows ecosystem. Many also prefer to use the Adobe suite of creative apps on M1 and M2-fitted macOS devices but prefer the Windows 11 user interface (UI).

Although Windows stopped accepting app exclusivity requests in 2020, there are still a fair few reasons to stay on Microsoft’s side of your machine, not least of all the easier integration of tools like remote desktop, if you’re using your Mac away from your Windows-based office. There are also a handful of handy Windows 11 tips and tricks IT professionals can take advantage of.

The third reason is that developers can use a dual OS system to test applications natively. With the endless coding issues that come with app development, being able to replicate the issue with the machine in your own hands can ease stress and increase the speed of production and testing.

With the integration of macOS on Windows machines – otherwise known as a Hackintosh – rife with challenges, installing Windows on a Mac remains the way to go. Actually doing so, however, might vary depending on your Mac’s specific architecture.

How to prepare your Mac for Windows 11

1. Figure out what variant of Mac you have

Apple machines were, until recently, fitted with Intel chips before Apple produced its own line of CPUs, first with the M1 and now the M2. To figure out which edition you own, click the small Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen, and open About This Mac. The windows will then display your machine’s CPU under Processor.

1. Check if your Mac is compatible with Windows 11

Next, you must make sure your macOS system can run Windows 11 at all before you delve into the installation process. Microsoft’s latest flagship operating system has enhanced security features, including Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and secure boot requirements, both of which can be challenging for Apple machines.

A handful of macOS devices, although they’re nearly ten years old, can't even run the newly released Chrome Flex OS, which is a much lighter lift than a Windows 11 installation.

Most experts suggest using tools like Parallels to install an additional OS, regardless of your machine’s architecture, because of the ability to run both installations at once. Using other tools with previous versions of Windows, like Boot Camp with Windows 10, means having to reboot your computer every time you want to switch operating systems.

1. Ensure you’ve met the following requirements

There are a number of additional requirements you need to ensure you’ve met in order to proceed with installing Windows 11 onto your macOS device.

Firstly, regardless of the machine onto which you’re installing Windows 11, you will need a Windows 11 licence. Ensure you’ve purchased one, or your organisation has given you access to a legitimate license.

While Parallels can manage Windows 11 on an M1 and M2 Mac, it can only do so with the Arm-based variant of the OS rather than the x86 that is available on Intel machines. For full compatibility information, click here. Parallels also runs both systems concurrently, meaning more load on your machine. Older hardware might become overworked and struggle to cope.

Finally, be wary of any workarounds that mention a custom ISO to get around the need for TPM 2.0 compatibility. Like with the slew of issues that can arise from trying to install Apple software on a PC, things like system updates may disrupt your experience post-installation.

Installing Windows 11 on a Mac using Parallels

Parallels creates a virtualised Windows machine that you run from your Mac. As of February 2023, Microsoft officially supports the virtualisation of Windows 11 on Macs via Parallels, but only the Arm version.

You'll need Parallels Desktop version 18 to get the officially supported version, as well as a valid Windows product key. The officially supported Windows 11 versions are Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise.

If it's a first-time setup, you can select to easily download and install Windows 11 on a Mac when Paralells runs for the first time. Click on the Parallels icon in the Mac menu bar, then New > Get Windows 11 from Microsoft > Install Windows.

To install Windows 11 outside of this automatic workflow, you need to download an ISO image and have a valid product key to hand. You can start this process by navigating: File > New > Install Windows or another OS from DVD or image file > Continue. The rest of the process is self-explanatory and involves minimal effort. It requires you to select the correct Windows version corresponding to your ISO image, enter your product key, and specify a name and location for your virtual machine.

Installing Windows 11 on Mac using Boot Camp

An alternative method of installing Windows on a Mac has been to use Boot Camp, a free utility that allows you to load into either OS on startup, and switch between the two when rebooting your machine. Boot Camp, however, is not supported by Apple machines fitted with an M1 or M2 chip.

You can still install Windows 11 onto older Mac devices fitted with Intel CPUs, however. Apple has devised a set of guidelines you can follow to install Windows 10 on older Mac devices, although users are recommended to opt for Windows 11 where possible.

You may have seen the term 'VLAN' wherever there’s talk of networking. It stands for virtual local area network and is one of the most useful but underused features in a network admin’s arsenal. But what is a VLAN, and how do you go about setting one up?

A VLAN is one of the first examples of software defined networking (SDN), a burgeoning technology which allows physical switches to be replaced with software controlling the flow of data. VLAN technology is much simpler in scope than some other, more advanced examples of SDN infrastructure but the good news is, it’s much easier to set up with your existing equipment.

Put simply, a VLAN is a way to have an entire branch of your network completely separate from the rest without the need for a second internet connection or router. Most professional routers (and an increasing number of home/SOHO devices) are VLAN capable. If your office communications are delivered by voice over internet protocol (VoIP), it will almost certainly be routed over a VLAN in order to ringfence bandwidth, avoid security breaches and thus ensure uptime – as long as there’s still an internet connection – regardless of what happens on the rest of the network. An even simpler VLAN is the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) feature offered by most routers, which bypasses all security protocols to a specific IP address or range whilst leaving it active across the rest of the network.

What are the benefits of using a VLAN?

In an office environment, the benefits can be huge. If you want to offer customers Wi-Fi, for example, you can add a separate access point (AP) to your network inside a VLAN, thus ensuring that public users can only connect to the web, with no way of getting to your sensitive company data.

One of the advantages of a VLAN is that, because it’s a software defined logic layer, it isn’t limited to one physical location. In a global company, a VLAN can be set according to the needs of individual job functions or departments. For example, a sales team may not have desks in the office, but instead log into the company resources via virtual private network (VPN). The VPN can be configured to divert traffic over a specific VLAN, thus limiting company access remotely in the same way as it does in the office.

Another good example of VLANs in action is prioritisation of network traffic. Returning to the example of a public Wi-Fi network, if your main corporate network is struggling to meet performance demands, you could, at the flick of a switch, reapportion part of the bandwidth devoted to customer-facing Wi-Fi in order to bolster the primary network, and return it when traffic returns to normal.

Setting up a VLAN

If this sounds like a useful ability to have in your toolbelt, the good news is that setting up a VLAN is very quick and easy, although the specific process will depend on your network infrastructure. On some devices, there may be one ethernet port designated for VLAN use, whilst others may allow multiple VLANs on multiple ports. Check the instructions on your router for more information on what yours can do. In our example, we’re going to assume that any output can be defined for your VLAN.

The first thing you’ll need to do is gather the physical equipment that you’ll be using to create your VLAN. We’re using Netgear Prosafe equipment, but the method should be similar with other brands too – if you get stuck, check the documentation. In our case, we’re going to assume that your router only supports a single WAN and LAN, so we will use a secondary network access point for providing customer Wi-Fi, which will sit alongside the APs serving our main network. You’ll need to nominate an ethernet port on your main switch which will be given over to the VLAN, and if you’re running multiple VLANs, each one will need a separate port.

On some devices, there may be one ethernet port designated for VLAN use, whilst others may allow multiple VLANs on multiple ports. Check the instructions on your router for more information on what yours can do. In our example, we’re going to focus on setting up a single VLAN, but if you want to set up a number of VLANs, or your router doesn’t support them natively, you may need to add a dedicated VMPS – a VLAN management policy server capable of more advanced rules and additional features than your router GUI. If so, you’ll need to discuss this with your network infrastructure provider.

It should be noted that Cisco has its own proprietary system for managing multiple VLANs built around the Cisco VLAN Transport Protocol. If you use Cisco equipment, check with your representative about how to configure VLAN traffic on your network.

For our example, we’re going to assume you’re setting up a single VLAN, so the next step is cabling your access point to your switch. If you’re retrofitting a VLAN, you may find you have to do an audit on your ethernet wiring. Although using a VLAN to ‘ring-fence’ sensitive endpoints or applications is a valuable security strategy, a rogue physical connection between your VLAN and the rest of your network will render this useless. It may also cause all kinds of network problems, as the hardware connection will be in conflict with the software routing.

With the cabling taken care of, we can move on to the software side. Creating a VLAN will be done in the management console of your main network switch or router; you may need to check the advanced settings section to check that VLAN support is enabled first. Once you’ve enabled the feature, create a new VLAN and assign it an ID number.

Each VLAN you create will have its own ID between 2 and 4096, with any traffic not assigned to a specific VLAN lumped under ID 1. If you’re setting up a VLAN to accommodate a specific piece of equipment, check the documentation, just in case they have a specific one in mind. The most common defined ID for IPTV and VOIP use is 101, but check requirements for your equipment. Any traffic outside the VLAN environment will automatically be given the default VLAN ID of 1.

Along with setting a VLAN ID, you’ll also be able to name this VLAN too, in the same way as a Wi-Fi network’s SSID, which is a bit more ergonomic for both end users and admins.

Next, we need to decide the parameters for our VLAN. You should be able to define variables such as which folders and directories the VLAN has access to, what communication ports are open, how much bandwidth is given over to VLAN traffic, what transport protocols are allowed, and lots more besides. Think about the specific purpose you want your VLAN to serve, and be careful not to over-provision it as this will take additional bandwidth away from the main network.

Some switches will offer traffic prioritisation for VLANs, allowing you to dictate which sub-networks have first dibs on available bandwidth. You may, for example, want to give your VoIP network a higher priority than your public Wi-Fi – or you may wish to give your archiving processes lower priority during work hours, but highest priority overnight.

At this point, you should decide which users will be routed through your VLAN. In our case it’s simple – anyone who connects through our separate public Wi-Fi access point. But it could be that different departments or branches are routed through different VLANs. User endpoints don’t have to be physically present - if a user logs onto your domain, for example, over VPN from home, their traffic can be routed based on their credentials.

As long as you’ve provisioned your company topography correctly through something like Active Directory or single sign-on (SSO), you can do this for job functions, departments and locations, as well as individual user endpoints. For our public Wi-Fi example, we simply want all traffic that connects to our public access point to have internet access to surf the web, without access to the internal business network.

Turn on the public Wi-Fi access point and configure it appropriately. If all has gone well, you should find that connecting to it will give you access to the internet, but nothing more – indicating that your VLAN setup is correctly isolating the two networks from each other.

While this is a fairly basic example of a VLAN implementation, the same principles can be applied to network management tasks across a whole range of different use cases and footprints. VLANs are an essential networking tool.

If you own a number of laptops or PCs, or use a different one for work and your personal life, it can sometimes be hard to stay on top of your devices and which version of Windows you're currently running.

You might need to know which version of Windows you have installed if you’re trying to download a new program, or if you're looking to find a fix for a common Windows 10 problem, or Windows 11 problem.

Which version of Windows do I have?

The easiest way to find out which version of Windows OS you’re running is by using a built-in keyboard shortcut.

To do this:

1. Press the Windows logo key and the "R" key at the same time. This should open the Windows Run box in the bottom left of the screen
2. Type "winver" into the Windows Run box, and press OK or hit the Enter key

This will open the "About Windows" screen, which should show you the name, the version, and the build of the operating system you're currently using.

If that hasn’t worked for some reason, or you’re not a fan of keyboard shortcuts, then there’s a more manual process you can follow too. However, since there are different versions of Microsoft’s operating system, they require slightly different steps to find out which versions of Windows your PC is running.

How to check if you’re running Windows 10 or 11

Fortunately, the steps you need to follow to find out if your PC is running Windows 10 or 11 are exactly the same.

1. First, select the Start button
2. Navigate to Settings
3. Click 'System'
4. Click 'About'
5. Click 'Device specifications' to open the drop down box

Under the System Type row, you will find information as to whether you're running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

Under the 'Windows Specifications' drop down, you will find which version of the operating system you’re running.

How to check if your PC is running Windows 8.1

It should be fairly obvious if you're running Windows 8 or 8.1, given the use of tiled menus, however there is a way to check without using the keyboard shortcut and Windows Run box methods mentioned above.

If you’re using a mouse:

1. Navigate to the lower-right corner of the screen
2. Move the mouse pointer up
3. Click Settings
4. Click Change PC Settings

Alternatively, if you’re using a touch device:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen
2. Tap Settings
3. Tap Change PC Settings

For both options, you’ll now have to select PC and devices, and then PC info.

Here, you’ll be able to see a section titled “Windows” in which you’ll find details on the edition and version of Windows your device is running. Additionally, you can also see information about your device in the section titled “PC”, including its processor, installed RAM, and system type. The system type will tell you whether you’re running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows too.

If you’re running Windows 8.1, just be aware that support for the operating system will end on 10 January, 2023. Remember, you can always upgrade to Windows 10 or install Windows 11 easily.

How to check if your PC is running Windows 7

It’s fairly simple to check if your PC or laptop is running Windows 7, aside from the obvious visual clues.

1. Click on Start
2. Type “Computer” in the search box that appears
3. Right click on Computer
4. Click Properties

You’ll be able to see under 'Windows Edition' the version and edition of Windows that your device is running.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that support for Windows 7 ended on 14 January, 2020. There is no realistic reason for a business to be still operating using Windows 7, and so it's worth upgrading to Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Which version of Windows is best?

When it comes to choosing the best operating system, it's important to take into account the various features they offer and whether the OS meets the needs of the user - especially when it comes to business use cases.

When it comes to Windows 10 vs Windows 11 in a business environment, the two operating systems are fundamentally the same, although Windows 11 does offer a more robust feature set. However if you're looking to upgrade your device fleet with some of the best Windows laptops on the market, they will all ship with Windows 11.

The most important consideration is whether your operating system is approaching its end of life date, after which point it will no longer receive security updates. Windows 7 has already reached its end of life stage, and so is considered a dead platform, while support for Windows 8 is set to end on 10 January, 2023. It’s a good idea to upgrade your devices to either Windows 10 or 11 before then, to ensure your PC or laptop stays protected against the latest security threats.

While Windows 10 remains supported, there's no urgent need to upgrade to Windows 11, particularly as Microsoft's latest OS may created compatibility problems for certain businesses. Ultimately, whether or not your business should upgrade to Windows 11 is something only you can answer, at least until Windows 10 approaches end-of-life.

Personal information has never been more accessible. Your social media profile and posts can give away all sorts of details to people you know, and people you don’t – from potential dates to employers and identity thieves.

There are all sorts of steps you can take to reduce your exposure, but policies and privacy settings change over time, and data breaches can’t be ruled out. The surest way to protect yourself and maintain your privacy is to shut down your social media accounts completely. It may also be good for your mental wellbeing to cut ties with any platforms that you feel are no longer enriching your life.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single, straightforward way to close every account. The process is different for each service. It isn’t always instant, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that your information will vanish from the internet. The site operator may keep some content for their own continued functioning (your old posts may be preserved in threaded conversations, for example), or data may be retained to comply with legal requirements. Search engines may continue to show locations where your data was previously visible, even if the pages at the ends of those links have expired. Until they next crawl those URLs, snippets of your data may be exposed in previews and cached copies.

Here’s how to remove yourself from the biggest social networks – while keeping copies of the data you’ve previously shared – and minimise the chance of your data being found.

Delete yourself from LinkedIn

If you’re happy in your career you might decide you no longer have a use for LinkedIn. Be warned, though: deleting your account doesn’t just remove your profile from the site. It also deletes your stored messages and connections, plus any recommendations you’ve given or received. Contacts will lose the benefit of any endorsements you’ve given them, and if you decide to rejoin the site at a later date you’ll have to rebuild your own professional profile from scratch. Consider the option to “hibernate” your account rather than deleting it.

Deleting your LinkedIn account using a web browser

1. If you’re sure you want to leave LinkedIn, first download any data you want to keep by logging in to LinkedIn through your web browser of choice and clicking your avatar at the top of the screen.
2. Click “Settings & Privacy”, followed by “Data Privacy”.
3. Click “Get a copy of your data”, in the “How LinkedIn uses your data” section. Select the categories of data you want to download and click “Request archive”.
4. LinkedIn will send you an email from which you can download your information; this may take a few minutes to arrive, depending on how much data you’ve requested, and remains active for 72 hours.
5. Once you’ve received your data, it’s time to actually close your account. Click “Settings & Privacy” again, then, under “Account management”, click the “Change” link beside “Close account”.
6. You’ll be prompted to provide a reason for closing your account – be as honest as you like, or just select “Other” – then click Next, enter your password and click “Close account”.

Deleting your LinkedIn account using the smartphone app

It's also possible to close your account from the LinkedIn smartphone app, but it works slightly differently.

1. Tap your profile picture, followed by “Settings”, then select “Account preferences”.
2. Scroll down to “Account management” and tap “Close account”, followed by “Continue”.
3. Again, provide a reason for the closure and tap “Next”, then enter your password and tap “Done”.

What happens once you’ve shut down your LinkedIn account?

Once you’ve told LinkedIn to close your account it can take up to three days for your public profile to disappear from the site. If you have a change of heart you can restore your account within 14 days by simply logging in through the regular LinkedIn homepage, or by clicking the link in the email you’ll receive when you close the account.

After logging in, click “Reactivate”, then check your email for a message containing a further link to reinstate the account. Reactivating won’t bring back your endorsements and recommendations, however, nor any invitations you haven’t yet acted upon or group memberships, so consider carefully before you close the account in the first place.

Delete yourself from Twitter

If you want to get off Twitter, you’ll need to be a little patient: it takes a month to fully close your account, although your profile will stop being publicly visible as soon as you confirm that you want to leave the service.

1. Before you pull the trigger, you can download your data by logging in to your account, using a regular browser, and clicking “More” on the sidebar.
2. Click “Settings and privacy”, then “Your account”, followed by “Download an archive of your data”.
3. Your data includes not only your public tweets but private information such as direct messages, so Twitter uses two-factor authentication (2FA). First, enter your password when prompted and click “Confirm”; then keep an eye out for a confirmation code sent to either your email or phone, and enter it as prompted.
4. Once you’ve provided the code, you can click “Request data” and Twitter will start compiling your records. When the archive is ready, you’ll receive an email containing a link to the archive of your information.

The next thing to do is to disconnect any third-party apps connected to your Twitter account. This is because your account will be automatically reactivated if you log back in within 30 days of closing it – so you need to be sure that no apps are signing in on your behalf.

1. To do this, go into your Twitter account through a browser and click “More”, followed by “Settings and privacy”.
2. Click “Security and account access”, then “Apps and sessions” and, finally, “Connected apps”.
3. Click on each of the apps shown in this section, followed by the red “Revoke app permissions” link.
4. Once you’ve revoked permission for every app registered to your account, click “Your account” in the Settings column, followed by “Deactivate your account”.
5. Click Deactivate, then enter your password and click “Deactivate account”.

Assuming you don’t cave in and log back in then after 30 days all your information will be deleted. At this point your username will be released for reuse – so if you think you might ever want to return to the platform under your old name, you may wish to come back to open a new account and grab the name before someone else does.

Delete yourself from Facebook

Facebook is probably the most controversial social media site, and there are plenty of reasons why you might want to leave it. The catch is that if you close your account on the main social networking service you also lose access to Facebook Messenger, which many of us use for talking to friends and family.

There is a way around this: rather than wiping your Facebook account, you can deactivate it. This hides your public Facebook profile but doesn’t delete the content, so you can continue to use Messenger, and keep the option of reactivating your account at a later date.

Deactivating your Facebook account

1. To deactivate your account, log in through a browser and click the downward arrow at the top right of any Facebook page.
2. Click “Settings & privacy” followed by “Settings”; click “Your Facebook information” in the sidebar, then click “Deactivation and deletion” in the main part of the page.
3. Make sure the radio button beside “Deactivate account” is selected, then click “Continue to Account Deactivation”.
4. Enter your password and click “Continue”.
5. Facebook requires you to give a reason for leaving, but as with LinkedIn you can click “Other” and enter anything you like.

The last step is to review whether you’re the sole administrator for any pages. If you are, you’ll need to nominate a new administrator to look after them once your own account is deactivated.

1. Click the “Edit Admins” button below any applicable page, then optionally opt out of emails and delete any applications for which you’re the only developer.
2. Finally, click “Deactivate”.

Deleting your Facebook account

If you do want to delete your account entirely, you’ll have to be a little more patient. We suggest you start by downloading a copy of all the information associated with your Facebook account.

1. To do this, log in through a browser and click the downward arrow at the top of the page, followed by “Settings & privacy”, then “Settings”.
2. Click “Your Facebook information”, followed by “Download your information”.
3. Choose what format you want your data in – the default is HTML, which can be conveniently opened by a web browser, but you can choose JSON if you prefer – and pick the High, Medium or Low quality setting for your media, depending on how bothered you are about quality versus storage size.
4. Then select a date range, or select “All time” to download everything, and untick any media types you don’t want to download.
5. Finally, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Request a download”. You’ll shortly receive a link in your email from which you can download your data.

Once you’ve received your data, you can move on to actually deleting your account.

1. Click through Settings to “Deactivation and deletion”, as described above, but this time select the radio button beside “Delete Account” and click “Continue to account deletion”.
2. Once again, any pages where you’re the sole administrator will need to be assigned to another user; click “Edit Admin” below the pages in question and hand them off to someone else.
3. You may also want to assign a new owner for any apps where you’re the registered developer – click “Manage Apps” to do so. You don’t have to do this, but if you don’t then your apps will be deleted when your account is erased.
4. Finally, click “Delete Account”, enter your password and click Continue.

Like Twitter, Facebook operates a 30-day grace period, within which you can log back in and click “Cancel Deletion” to rescue your account. After this point, Facebook will start deleting your data – although it warns that “it may take up to 90 days from the beginning of the deletion process to delete all the things you’ve posted. While we’re deleting this information, it’s not accessible to other people using Facebook.” Copies of your data may still reside in Facebook’s backups too.

Delete yourself from search engines

It hardly needs spelling out that search engines are one of the easiest ways for people to stumble across information that you might not have intended to share. Anything publicly posted by you, or about you, is liable to be picked up by web-crawling bots; professional, personal and even private content is revealed to anyone who searches for your name.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the information is out there for all eternity. Search engines periodically revisit indexed sites to check for changes, so once you’ve closed a social media account, your profile and posts should disappear from Google and others. However, if there’s something in the search database you can’t delete, or you want urgently removed, there are ways to directly request that content be removed from a search engine.

Deleting yourself from Google

Google offers two tools that can help here. If removed data is still showing up in the search results, you can report it as outdated and request an update using this request form. If your problem is with content that you can’t remove from the web (because it’s on someone else’s site, for example), you can ask Google to remove it to protect your privacy or for other legal reasons by submitting a legal request.

There are limits to your right to have information removed from the web. Record holders may refuse a request if they need to retain the data for legal compliance, or if the data is still in use for the original purpose for which it was justifiably and legally collected. This is where the ‘right to be forgotten’ comes in. If you want to make a claim for removal under these terms, fill out Google’s EU Privacy Removal form.

If you aren’t sure where you should head, a good starting point is Google’s guide to removing content. This will point you in the right direction for each of its products from which you might want to see your information removed.

Deleting yourself from Bing

Microsoft’s Bing search engine works in much the same way. When you remove your own information from the web, it will be automatically expunged from Bing’s database the next time the index is updated. If you want data hosted by someone else to be removed from Bing search results, you can fill in a form.

Bing also offers a quick way to block specific pages from its results – though it isn’t necessarily a permanent solution. To use it you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Set up a Webmaster Tools account.
2. Once you’re logged in as a webmaster, expand the “SERP Configuration” section in the sidebar, and click the “Block URLs link”.
3. Click “Add URL to block”, then enter the address to be blocked in the “Enter URL” box and select either “Page” or “Directory” under “URL type”. Selecting “Directory” will block every page in a domain or folder, while – as you would imagine – “Page” only blocks specific pages.
4. Under “Block type”, clicking “URL & Cache” will tell Bing not to direct visitors to the current page, nor to offer its own cached version of your page. If you only want to disable the Bing cache so that people are always directed to the live site (ensuring they don’t see outdated content), select “Cache only”.
5. Click “Submit” and within 24 hours the page or directory should disappear from the Bing search results. However, if the blocked content is still online after 90 days, Bing will start relisting it.
6. To keep the block in place you’ll need to manually extend it: to do this, click the drop-down menu to the right of its name in the list and select “Extend” to block it for a further 90 days.

Among one of the best accounting software platforms available, QuickBooks users often want to sync files to another computer. The main reason for synchronising QuickBooks files to different computers is increased business productivity, as users can work more flexibly, and access data on multiple networks.

In turn, employees can work collaboratively on an accounting report if they choose to sync QuickBooks between two computers. But the problem can often lie in users not knowing how to sync QuickBooks files to multiple computers.

So, ensure internal performance by following our complete write-up below, which outlines how to sync QuickBooks to a different computer.

QuickBooks synchronisation: Preparation

Basically, the synchronisation of QuickBooks can be done in two ways:

1. The first way to sync the files is to check if both computers have the correct installation options; if not, check for the correct installation options, and then connect both computers on the same network
2. You can also do it another way: first, uninstall the QuickBooks application on both the computers, and then reinstall them following the proper installation procedure

Note that your primary desktop will keep the files stored safely, and will allow you to sync them to the secondary computer. Now that you know the benefits of syncing QuickBooks files, let us have a look at the steps involved in the process.

Step 1: Install and download data transfer utility

In the very first step, you need to install and transfer the data transfer utility provided by Intuit. This should be installed and downloaded on the primary computer which will host the company file.

Step 2: Paste the company file

Now, paste the company file from the secondary computer to the primary computer. This will make sure that the company files are available on both computers.

Step 3: Open the company file on the secondary computer

After you have pasted the company file into the primary computer, open the company file on the primary computer. Then, select and open the company file on the secondary computer by clicking "Open company".

Step 4: Select "Open source company"

You now have to choose "Open source company" in the data transfer utility, then select "Export data from the source company".

Step 5: Allow access to your personal data

Select "Yes and permit access if QB is not running", and then the option for accessing personal data. Click "Continue", then "Yes", and finally "Done". The QuickBooks application will now access your personal data.

Step 6: Search for "Close" and close the company

After you have allowed the app to access your personal data, search for "Close" in the "Currently connected to field" option; go to "File" and select "Close company".

Step 7: Choose "Restore company" or "Open"

Now choose "File" and select "Restore Company", then select "Open a company in QB".

Step 8: Choose an open destination company

Click "Import data into destination company" , and choose the "Open destination company" option from the disk transfer utility.

Step 9: Permit access to personal data even when QuickBooks is not running

Now select "Yes, always permit access even if QuickBooks is not running", to make sure that your computer is accessing all your personal data. Click "Continue" to keep running the process, and then click "Yes" and "Done".

Step 10: Close the tab and the company in QuickBooks

Close the tab that is currently connected to the field in the data transfer utility, and press "OK". After that, go to "File" and select "Close company in QB".

Step 11: Select the type of data you need to import

In this step, select the data type by clicking "Type of data", and choose "Change" to change it. After that, search for the required information that you want to import to your destination file.

Step 12: Import data into the destination file

The final step is to click "Import data into destination", and choose "Import data" in the transfer utility option. This synchronises the files between the primary and secondary computers. You can delete the secondary source file from the primary system once you have imported all the data.

Using database setup to sync to another computer

This syncing process can be achieved by using the database server setup as well. Here are the detailed steps:

1. First of all, copy the QuickBooks installer file on both the computers
2. Select "Use QB on this computer"; in the primary computer, select "Store company file for Network Sharing"
3. Now enter your product number and license and click "Install"; select: File< Utilities< Host Multi-User Access
4. The next step is to scan the primary computer for the QuickBooks company file; for this, go to "Scan Folders", select "Add Folder", and then click "Scan"
5. Close the folder when you finally find the company file
6. Now set a username and password by clicking "Set up users and passwords"
7. Choose options for changing as well as deleting transaction permissions; then press "Next" and "Finish"
8. Go to the secondary computer and click "File", then click "Open or Restore Company"
9. Browse and find the correct network location of the primary company file in the secondary computer
10. Select the file, and then login with the same username and password created on the primary computer; this syncs the QuickBooks files between both computers

Following the above steps, you will be able to succeed in syncing QuickBooks to another computer.

Heat is the enemy of your PC. If your components are running hot, they're getting overly stressed, and that can shorten their lifespan. Nowhere is that truer than with the processor – this is the heart of your computer, and if it's beating too fast, then premature failure of your PC's engine could be on the cards. Not to mention the prospect of random crashes and lock-ups along the way.

So it's certainly worth keeping an eye on how hot your CPU is running – but how do you do that? Well, we're glad you asked, because that's exactly the information we'll be imparting in this article.

To measure the temperature of your CPU, you need to download a piece of software that pulls temps (and many other details) from your motherboard and hardware. There are a number of tools that do this, but the one we use and recommend is HWMonitor. Download the latest version from here (it has support for Haswell-E processors amongst other newer models).

When you've downloaded the program (it's a mere 1MB in size), double click the setup file and follow the simple installation instructions. Run the program, and you'll be presented with a small HWMonitor window full of various readouts (see the image at the top of this article).

Okay, so how hot is your CPU running? There are lots of different readings such as voltages and fan speeds on the screen, but don't worry about any of that. The section you want to look at is the Temperatures one, second from the top, next to the thermometer icon underneath Voltages which is the topmost entry. Under Temperatures, look at CPU, and there are three readings in degrees Celsius. The first shows how hot your processor is currently running at, and the next two are the minimum and maximum temperatures which the CPU has hit since you started running HWMonitor.

Generally speaking, when your computer is idling – i.e. doing nothing at the desktop, or perhaps with a browser window or two open – your CPU temperature should be in the 30s. It might sneak into the low 40s, but that isn't too much of a cause for concern (temps vary a bit between different models of CPU, anyway). What you really have to watch, though, is when running massively intensive apps or 3D games which push the CPU – you don't want to be running hotter than 70 degrees for any sort of prolonged period.

If your processor does appear to be running hot, open it up and have a look inside. Are your motherboard, fans and components dusty? If so, dust build up can cause heat issues, so give the insides of your machine a clean.

Otherwise, if your PC has been overclocked, you might want to cancel that and return the CPU to running at its normal speed (if you're not sure how, and your machine was supplied by the vendor overclocked, contact them for support).

The only other option is to improve the cooling on your CPU by upgrading the heatsink and fan – the so-called stock cooler provided with a processor is generally a somewhat rudimentary solution. Also, you could add extra case fans to help improve the overall cooling of your machine. When it comes to the processor, though, obviously upgrading your CPU fan is going to have the most impact.

The rise of affordable WQHD monitors like the Asus PB278Q or Samsung Series 9 S27B970 has made it increasingly enticing to try and run not one but two of those displays on a laptop. This is exactly what we have tried to do for ages but without any luck until now.

I work on a Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U, possibly one of the best Ultrabooks ever launched. It is affordable (was available for under £500), weighs just over 1Kg, is 16mm thick but somehow still manages to pack VGA, HDMI, two USB 2.0 AND a USB 3.0 ports, a card reader and an RJ45 connector.

We connected our first WQHD display, a Digimate model, through the laptop’s VGA port, without any additional drivers/hack. Some purist might be horrified by the prospect of running a display with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution via an analogue connector but at least it works. Connecting the second monitor is where things become tricky.

The Z830 offers USB 3.0 and HDMI, both of which should, in theory be capable of driving a WQHD display. But if you connect your panel straight to the Z830, which runs on a Sandy Bridge CPU (HD3000 GPU) via HDMI, the maximum resolution reached will be 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, which on a 27in panel, is rather ugly.

So below are the four steps we took to get the WQHD monitor to run on a HDMI port (we’re assuming that your monitor does have a HDMI port to start with).

How to run a WQHD monitor at 2,560 x 1,440 via HDMI on an Intel HD3000, HD4000

1. Upgrade your Intel video driver to the latest version (v9.17.10.2875) and open the Intel Graphics and Media control panel.
2. Make sure you’re running in the “Advanced Mode”.
3. Click on the “display” tab followed by “custom resolutions”, a warning sign will pop up. Just click yes to continue.
4. You will be presented with another window that prompts you to enter “width”, “height” and “refresh rate” values. Change the monitor in the pull down menu and fill the empty fields with the following numbers 2560, 1440 and 40. That translates into a data transfer rate of 4.72Gbps; a higher refresh rate (i.e. a number bigger than 40) will bring up a message informing you that you’ve exceeded the maximum bandwidth. So the key is to run the monitor at a low refresh rate, which shouldn’t be an issue if you don’t plan to do any gaming and stick to office tasks. Press on apply and then ok to validate your choice.
5. After that, restart your computer, bring up the “screen resolution” menu, select the appropriate menu and change the resolution to the maximum permissible. Since you’ve added a new value via the Intel GM control panel, it should, in theory, appear in the “resolution” sliding menu.
6. Just press apply followed by OK, and your screen will flicker for a few seconds before hopefully moving to the higher resolution.

And voilà! Job done. Two monitors running at 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. Note that the trick should also work on an Intel HD4000 and, in theory, with an Intel HD2500 GPU as well.

You know those annoying messages that say "Press ESC at any time to exit fullscreen. Allow fullscreen?" Here's how to never, ever see those again.

Hide "allow fullscreen" messages in Chrome

To stop the messages, simply head to Google Chrome's "content settings" section of the settings tab, scroll down to Fullscreen and click "Manage exceptions". Or you can just copy chrome://settings/contentExceptions#fullscreen into your address bar, if you don't want to go rummaging through all the confusing settings.

Now, you're going to see a list of sites where you've already allowed fullscreen privileges. For some reason, since the introduction of HTML5 on many websites, this warning has been forced to appear on sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and just about any site with video.

Now what you want to do is click on the name of one of those sites, and edit the name of it so that it applies to every site anywhere.

Change the name of the site to *://*/* and save the edit. You can see an illustration of this below.

The entry will now disappear from the list instantly - but don't worry! That means it has taken effect.

Congratulations! You'll never have to give your permission to watch a video again. Now, you will still see another message saying "You have gone full screen" whenever you expand a video. We know - we hate it too! But for now, that's going to sticking around until a later version of the browser comes along.

Whether you want to decrease the time you spend on the internet or you’ve been running underperforming ads through the platform, you may be wondering how to delete your Reddit account.

Some users may be concerned about data privacy, too. If internet security is a concern or you want to easily access sites like Reddit from different geographic locations, a VPN may be the solution. Check out this guide to the best VPN service to learn more.

Read on to learn how to delete a Reddit account, including removing your post history, comments, and Reddit Ads account.

How to delete your Reddit account: Preparation

Permanently deleting your Reddit account only takes a couple of steps. When you dive into your profile to delete your account, you’ll see that Reddit calls this a “deactivation.” However, there is no option to temporarily suspend your account on the platform. Once you’ve deleted (or deactivated) the account, it’s gone for good.

If you’re unsure about whether that’s the right course of action, you can always adjust the information-sharing settings on your profile to protect your data privacy. Or, you can take the step of deleting your posts and comments without removing the account entirely.

There may also be content or media associated with your Reddit profile that you’d like to keep. In that case, you can reach out to the Reddit support team to request your data. You won’t be able to retrieve this once your account is deleted, so make sure to do so before you go through the deactivation steps.

You can submit a data request to Reddit by accessing the data request form on a browser. After you have filled in your username and provided a date range for the data you want, it takes around 30 days for the team to send a private message to your Reddit account with a link for you to download the requested data.

Step 1: Cancel your premium subscription

If you don’t have a paid subscription to Reddit, you can skip ahead to step two.

However, users with a premium subscription should be aware that deleting your Reddit account does not cancel your monthly subscription payments. Before you begin deactivating your account, you’ll need to cancel your subscription.

You can cancel credit card payments directly through the Reddit site by logging in via a browser and heading to your user settings. If you subscribed through your Apple ID or Google Play, go to the Subscriptions section of your device and cancel the subscription there.

Step 2: Add a new admin to your Reddit Ads account

If you have been running paid ads through Reddit, you’ll have a Reddit Ads account associated with your main account. If you’re the sole admin, your company’s Ads account will be permanently deleted along with your main profile. If you want to keep the ads running for your business, you’ll need to add another admin to the Ads account.

If you want the Ads account deleted along with your main account, you don’t need to take any further action. The Ads account will automatically be deleted along with your personal account if you do not assign a new admin.

Go to your Ads Manager account and click the Permissions tab under the dropdown in the top right corner. Here, you can enter the email address and permission level of new users on your Ads account. Make sure you select Administrator to give the new user full access to manage the account going forward.

Step 3: Delete your post history

When you deactivate your Reddit account, your previous posts and comments will remain on the subreddits and threads where you posted them. On these, other users will simply see “deleted” where your username once was.

If you’d like to remove all your posts, you must delete them manually before you delete your Reddit account.

Under your profile on either the app or the Reddit website, click your profile name or photo at the top of the screen. Select My Profile and click the Posts tab. Click the three dots on each post to view the options and select Delete on each one.

Step 4: Delete your comments

The process for deleting your comments is similar. Under your profile, click the Comments tab. You’ll see a full list of every comment you’ve ever made on Reddit.

You can delete these comments by clicking the three dots icon on each individual comment and selecting Delete.

If you perform this step through the Reddit app on your phone, you’ll need to click on each individual comment on your profile. Reddit will open the comments under the original post where you made the comment. There, you’ll see the three dots and the option to delete the comment.

Step 5: Access your Reddit account settings

Once you’ve cancelled subscriptions, made sure your company’s ads are covered, and deleted your comment and post history, you can begin the process of deleting your Reddit account.

You must be logged in to Reddit on a browser rather than the mobile or desktop app to complete the account deactivation process. First, go to the settings on your account by logging in and clicking on the dropdown under your username in the top right-hand corner. Then click User Settings.

Step 6: Deactivate your Reddit account

Under the Account tab, scroll down to the bottom to see the red Deactivate Account button. Click this.

A pop-up will appear with an optional field asking for feedback on why you’re deleting your Reddit account. Tick the box stating “I understand that deactivated accounts are not recoverable” and click Deactivate.

You won’t receive on-screen confirmation or an email to say that your account is deleted. Instead, Reddit will redirect you back to the login page, where you’ll find that your login credentials no longer work. The account can never be recovered, so be sure.

Summary

Deleting your Reddit account is very straightforward. However, you’ll need to take extra steps to ensure that all your post and comment history is deleted, that your ads are taken care of, and that your paid subscription, if you have one, is cancelled.

If you’re struggling to keep on top of all your login information for multiple online accounts, check out the best password managers guide.

Your wireless router has the critical duty of transferring data between your wirelessly networked computers. It often acts as a bridge between your home/office network and the internet, too, so when your connection speeds begin to dip, it makes sense to check whether the problem lies with your wireless router or your internet service provider.

You can identify issues with your wireless router by using some great Wi-Fi speed testing tools for Android or iOS. For larger business networks with multiple wireless routers, we recommend using the best network monitoring tools to get an overview of your entire network and identify bottlenecks.

How to test your wireless router’s performance: Preparation

It’s important to recognize that there’s a difference between testing your internet connection speed and testing the speed of your wireless router. A wireless router that performs well will offer excellent speeds across your home or office network.

Popular speed testing tools like Speedtest from Ookla and Project Stream from Google are useful for testing the speed of your internet connection, but they can’t show you the maximum speed your wireless router can handle when copying or streaming across your home or office network.

Typically, a wireless router will be able to offer speeds that are a lot faster than the internet connection your ISP provides you. The average UK internet speed is only around 42 Mbps. Most Wi-Fi routers are capable of at least 433.3 Mbps, and newer 802.11ax routers have a theoretical limit of 9,600 Gbps.

Performance testing on a wireless router means testing the speed of your Wi-Fi network. Besides showing the data transfer speeds you can get when copying or streaming between your devices, it can help you ensure your router is enabling you to get the maximum capacity from your internet connection.

To test the performance you’re getting from your Wi-Fi router, the easiest way is to use a wireless speed test tool available for Android or iOS.

Step 1: Download and install a wireless router testing tool

Several Wi-Fi network speed test tools are available for Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux. Wi-Fi Speed Test is a local Wi-Fi speed testing tool for Android, available for download from the Google Play Store. This free version contains all the features you need to test a wireless router’s performance. The Pro version, unlocked for £1.79, removes ads and allows you to run longer tests so you can better test your wireless router’s stability.

If you don’t have an Android device, you can use an iOS alternative such as Wi-Fi SweetSpots, available on the App Store for iPhone.

Step 2: Set up Wi-Fi Speed Test

Connect your phone to the Wi-Fi network you want to test. By scrolling left in Wi-Fi Speed Test, you can check network details such as the SSID, channel, and expected link speed.

There are a few options you can change in the More Options menu, but generally, you can leave them as default. If you’ve purchased the Pro version of this software, you can set the Wi-Fi test run time to be longer than 10 seconds.

Step 3: Run a Wi-Fi Speed Test

Press the Start button and wait. A latency test will be performed first that will tell you the number of milliseconds it takes to get a reply at all from the wireless router. Then a 10-second Wi-Fi speed test will be performed.

Check the average speed the test got against the maximum link speed of the connection, which is shown at the top of the screen. Wi-Fi transfer speeds in the real world are never as high as the theoretical top speed because of error checking and interference, but if the speed is significantly lower than expected, the router may be incorrectly configured or there may be Wi-Fi congestion in your area.

Step 4 (optional): Wi-Fi Analyzer

Another tool for testing your wireless router’s performance is Wi-Fi Analyzer, available on the Google Play Store. This app has a few tools that can help you get to the bottom of poor performance on your Wi-Fi network.

Wi-Fi channels are frequency bands that your wireless router can use. If your Wi-Fi network shares a channel with multiple other strong Wi-Fi signals, the traffic of all networks will be sent over the same radio frequencies. This causes congestion in the radio band that will slow down your network speed.

The Channel Graph shows you all the wireless networks in the area, their signal strengths, and the channel they use. Similarly, the Channel Rating tool will suggest the best Wi-Fi channel to use for the least interference.

Finally, the Signal Meter will show you the strength of the Wi-Fi signal as you move around your home or office. This can help you to identify Wi-Fi “dead spots.” You can consider installing a Wi-Fi repeater to improve the coverage of your Wi-Fi signal.

A guide to testing your wireless router's performance: Summary

In summary, to test the performance of your wireless router, you can use simple speed test tools available on Android and iOS or a more comprehensive network monitoring tool such as Network Watcher, Pulseway, or Atera.

If you’re not happy with the speed you’re getting from your wireless router, you may want to consider various options for boosting your wireless router signal. Alternatively, you can upgrade your router by choosing from the best wireless routers available today.

Knowing how to find a person online for free has become a straightforward task, offering numerous methods to connect with long-lost friends, family members, or professional contacts. Knowing the right steps can make all the difference, whether you're looking to reconnect with a former colleague or track down a high school friend.

Thanks to the internet, finding people online is now easier than ever. Here are seven methods you can use to locate someone using free online resources.

Preparing to find someone on the internet for free

Before starting your search, consider whether the person you wish to find might prefer to remain private and whether they would be comfortable being contacted.

Afterward, compile a comprehensive list of everything you know about the individual. Even minor details can combine to create a complete picture, so include as much information as possible.

Information could include:

• Name (including names they may have used previously)
• Date and place of birth
• Educational institutions they attended
• Details of any of their associates
• Previous employers
• Any criminal convictions they may have
• Social media profiles
• Hobbies or social clubs

For accessing this information in the US, the laws in each state can vary greatly, so spend some time researching the specific laws in the state where you’re searching. Although marriage and divorce records tend to be public, birth and death certificates are often subject to stricter rules if they are less than 100 years old. You may also find that any identifiable information has been removed from any records you obtain.

You may be able to view such information remotely, assuming there is an electronic copy of it and that it is kept by the county clerk’s office, which tends to be the case. The contact details for the county clerk’s office should be relatively easy to find as they are often located on the office’s website. After you’ve got these details you can then make contact with the office to gain more information about public record access.

It could also be worthwhile to invest in a people search tool if your best efforts don't yield any results. Although many of these carry fees, the best people search sites often offer competitive deals, and you may find you only need to sign up for a short time.

Key considerations when people searching

Privacy considerations and ethical implications

When searching for someone online, it's crucial to consider privacy and ethical implications. While the internet offers powerful tools to locate individuals, using them responsibly is essential to respect privacy rights and maintain ethical standards.

Respecting privacy

Before conducting an online search, ask yourself why you want to find this person and what your intentions are. Ensure that your reasons for seeking them are legitimate and respectful. Remember that everyone has the right to privacy, and your search should not invade this right. It's important to avoid using any information found online to harass, stalk, or intimidate individuals.

Legal and ethical boundaries

Many online search tools provide access to public records and other information that might not always be ethically appropriate to use. Always consider the legal boundaries when using such tools, and ensure your actions comply with applicable laws and regulations. For instance, accessing certain records might require consent, and sharing personal information without permission can lead to legal consequences.

Responsible information sharing

Once you've found the information you're seeking, use it responsibly. If you plan to contact the person, ensure your communication is respectful and considerate. If they express a desire not to be contacted, honor their wishes.

By maintaining respect for privacy and adhering to ethical guidelines, you can ensure your online search efforts are both effective and considerate.

There’s no better time than now to learn how to make an ecommerce website, but if you’ve never built one before, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

In our now-changed world, many people are still unable or unwilling to visit physical stores, so using one of the best ecommerce website builders is imperative if you want your business to take advantage of the online shopping boom.

We discuss what’s required to launch your own online store, and outline some of the best website builder options for ecommerce sites as we walk you through how to make an ecommerce website.

Step 1: Create a plan

So: you’ve got a great idea for selling something online, and you can’t wait to see this come to life. However, if you want to ensure long-term success for your ecommerce project, you need a plan that accurately describes your business and how it will run.

It’s essential to consider the following:

• The product(s) you will sell
• Your potential customers
• Payment processing methods
• Inventory management
• Order tracking
• Shipping
• Managing returns

You’ll need to know about these elements before building your site, because some will have a direct impact on the framework or technology you use to build it with. For example, if a supplier can only send product data in a certain format, you may need to choose a framework that supports importing that format.

If you press on, and start building a site without considering these aspects, you might find out about incompatibilities that are impossible to fix, and it might be too late. This could force you to start all over again, and so extra consideration and care at the outset could save a lot of time and headaches later.

Step 2: Choose the right ecommerce platform

Once you've got an understanding of these elements, you can focus on which ecommerce platform you'll use. These include nearly all the functionality you’d need to run an online store, but ultimately it’s a matter of choosing the right one for you and your needs.

There are many to choose from, and they generally fall into four different types:

• All-in-one software as a service (SaaS) platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix
• Open-source shopping cart applications like Magento or OpenCart
• Open-source shopping cart modules that can be added to existing CMSs, like WooCommerce for WordPress
• Add-on shopping carts, like Snipcart, that can be added to any website without the need for a CMS module

Let’s take a look at these in a bit more detail.

SaaS platforms

If you’ve never built a website and have no idea where to start, SaaS platforms are worth considering. You have to pay a monthly subscription, but they can take you from zero to fully functioning sites in very little time. Recurring fees also usually include the cost of your web hosting.

They often come with a large number of templates to get the overall framework for the site built in just a few minutes. But they also include easy-to-use web builders that let you customise the templates you’ve chosen. Alternatively, you can start from scratch if you have a particular design in mind. In some cases, though, you may find builders aren’t as good for completely custom designs.

SaaS platforms also include nearly all the functionality you’d need to run an online business. However, some functionalities may not be available by default, and you’ll have to pay for additional apps. The advantage of SaaS platforms is that you can get a website built quickly with all the details taken care of.

Disadvantages include the sometimes high recurring fees, and potential limits on how much you can customise your site.

If you’ve never built a website and have no idea where to start, SaaS platforms are worth considering. You have to pay a monthly subscription, but they can take you from zero to fully functioning sites in very little time. Recurring fees also usually include the cost of your web hosting.

They often come with a large number of templates to get the overall framework for the site built in just a few minutes. But they also include easy-to-use web builders that let you customise the templates you’ve chosen. Alternatively, you can start from scratch if you have a particular design in mind. In some cases, though, you may find builders aren’t as good for completely custom designs.

SaaS platforms also include nearly all the functionality you’d need to run an online business. However, some functionalities may not be available by default, and you’ll have to pay for additional apps. The advantage of SaaS platforms is that you can get a website built quickly with all the details taken care of.

Disadvantages include the sometimes high recurring fees, and potential limits on how much you can customise your site.

Open-source shopping cart applications

If you dislike the idea of ongoing fees and lack of customisation, then your solution is to build a site yourself. Choosing a full open-source shopping cart application is one of the ways you can do this.

The main difference between these and an SaaS platform is that with your own shopping cart, you’d pay more upfront to have the site built in the first place. But depending on the volume of orders your site processes, it could pay for itself quite quickly.

The only recurring fee you'll probably need to pay is web hosting, which tends to be included in the subscription cost of SaaS platforms. However, paying for hosting alone can work out much cheaper.

The other main advantage is that you have more freedom and control to create a site unique to your business. If you have the need for custom functionality, it's easier to have that coded and added to a site where you control the full codebase than with an SaaS app.

Shopping cart modules

Shopping cart modules are similar to applications, except that they're for existing CMSs. Applications tend to be used to build a whole site, and are ideally suited to ecommerce. However, if you have an existing site and want to add ecommerce functionality, you could add an ecommerce module to the CMS your site uses, or build a new site with your preferred CMS and do the same.

Most CMSs—whether popular ones like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla, or more niche options like Craft and Statamic—have ecommerce modules that can be installed. Similar to shopping cart apps, you’d pay more upfront to have a module installed and set up, but you’d also benefit from the same levels of flexibility.

Add-on shopping carts

This category of carts probably has the smallest number of options. But it can be a good choice if you don’t want to pay recurring fees or spend a lot on ecommerce integration. With these—examples include Snipcart or PayPal pay buttons—you add a small piece of code to existing sites to add ecommerce capabilities.

The back office features may not be as comprehensive as the other options we’ve described, but they strike a nice balance between low cost and flexibility in how you build your site.

Step 3: Choose the right team to build your site

If you choose an all-in-one SaaS platform, you may not need any help with building your site. But if you choose an open-source application or module, or an add-on shopping cart, and you don’t have any coding knowledge, you’ll need a reliable web development team to assist you.

It can be tempting to post an ad on a freelancer website and take the cheapest bid, but “you get what you pay for” holds true in web development too. What you save in freelancer fees may not be worth the extra time and hassle if you choose the wrong supplier.

You’ll want to find a person or team that has experience in ecommerce, but is also good at communicating with you, and understands your goals for the project.

Step 4: Choose the right web hosting

Once you’ve decided which ecommerce platform to use, you’ll be able to move on to choosing the best web hosting option. This is best left until after you know what you’ll be using to build the site, because different platforms and systems have different requirements.

Many web hosting providers also have plans tailored to certain systems, so you may want to search for one that specifically supports the platform you’ve chosen. You’ll want to choose a web host that can guarantee great performance, in terms of not only how quickly your site will load, but also near-perfect uptime.

If you lose money for every minute your site is down, you don’t want your web hosting to cost you. And because ecommerce involves dealing with people’s personal and financial information, you'll also want to choose a company that provides high levels of security.

How to make an ecommerce website: Summary

As we've seen, a lot of thought needs to go into building a successful ecommerce website. You need to consider how your online business will run, the platform on which to build your site, the team to help you build it, and the provider to host it.

Even though you might be itching to make a start, a bit of time devoted to planning at the start of the project will ultimately save you time, money, and headaches.

Further reading on website builders

Take a look at our website builder comparisons pitting: Wix vs Shopify; Wix vs Squarespace; GoDaddy vs Wix; Wix vs Squarespace vs Weebly; and WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace. If you're just starting out, learn how to build a site from scratch. Wondering whether you need a website for your small business? Look at why you need one; see some top tips for creating a small business website; explore the top tools needed; and discover the foundations of a successful small business site.

Many individuals and businesses use GoDaddy, one of the best web hosting services, not only for hosting, domains, email, and marketing services, but also for its site creation software, which marks it out as one of the best website builder platforms.

Here, we take you through a step-by-step guide in how to make a website with GoDaddy, as well as outline the options available when hosting a website via the service.

How to make a website with GoDaddy: Preparation

There are a few options when you come to build a website with GoDaddy. The traditional route is to buy a web hosting package, which gives you space on its servers to create a site using your own team. Larger companies may choose VPS web hosting or dedicated servers for more storage space and computational power.

Another option is the best WordPress hosting: virtually the same as buying web hosting, but pre-installed with WordPress's content management system, so you can quickly get your site online. If you like using WordPress, this is your best bet.

Finally, GoDaddy offers its own website builder, which we’ll focus on. It’s a web-based editor that lets you create a site or online store in minutes. You can start by using one of hundreds of pre-built templates, and personalise your site from there. You don’t need programming knowledge, or to hire a designer, so this is typically the cheapest option.

Step 1: Sign up for free

GoDaddy’s website builder plans cost between £4.99 and £13.99 a month, depending on features, but you can start your website for free. On the site, choose between a general website and an online store. You can always change your choice later.

On the sign-up page, you’ll be asked for your email address, and to create a username and password. You can also sign in with Google or Facebook credentials.

Step 2: Set your website’s category

Your next choice is your site’s category. GoDaddy has a long list of business types that you can choose from. Selecting a category that fits your company sets up a few default options, such as the themes you can choose from and the template text.

In our example, we’re setting up a website for a sporting goods store, so we choose the Sporting Goods option.

Step 3: Give your website a name

The final step of the sign-up process is to give your site a name. You can change it later, but besides being the title of your website, the name is used as part of your temporary URL. For example, our sporting goods store will be available at sportysports.godaddysites.com, even before we buy a top-level domain name.

Step 4: Choose a theme

One of the most fun steps when building a website is choosing a theme. By clicking on "Website" and choosing "Edit Site" in the GoDaddy management console, you can begin designing your site.

On the right-hand side, you'll see the main editing tools. Click on "Theme", and try out different colours and fonts. If you want different themes altogether, choose "Try a new look". You’ll be shown several variants on the layout that you can choose from.

If you don’t like the theme at all, you can instead click on "Settings", choose "Site History", and press "Reset Website". This way, you can choose a different category for your site, so the theme options will be different.

Step 5: Replace images

For a personalised, authentic site, you need to use your own images. In the website editor, you can click on any image and choose "Update" to replace it with your own choice. You can even replace images with videos or slideshows.

The image editing tool is quite powerful, allowing you to focus on particular elements, zoom in and out, create blur effects, or set images to black and white. When replacing images, you can upload from your computer, use images from Facebook or Instagram, or choose from hundreds of stock images.

Step 6: Replace text

Designs are populated with example text, but it’s time to put your own stamp on the site. You can replace any text simply by clicking on it to edit it. You can change font size, add links, and create bullet points.

The right-hand toolbar is context-sensitive, so tools and options offered differ depending on what you’re editing. Click on the site logo text, for example, and you’re given the option to upload a logo instead. It’s quite an intuitive system to get used to.

Step 7: Edit sections and pages

Each page is subdivided into sections. You can add and remove these as you see fit. On the right-hand side toolbar is a list of all the page sections that you can drag up and down, or you can click directly on the page sections to move, duplicate, or delete them.

Each section also has several layout options, so if you don’t like how your content is being displayed, you can easily change the number of columns, include images that link to more info, or highlight services by using a different layout. You can also add or remove pages through the menu on the right.

Step 8: Publish your website

When you're happy with your site, head to the "Settings" menu, and click "Publish". Your website will now be available via GoDaddy at a URL similar to yoursite.godaddysites.com.

If you want to use your own domain name, it’s time to sign for a full GoDaddy plan. You get a free domain name for the first year, then renewal costs between £14.99 and £19.99 a year.

If you prefer, you can purchase your domain name from another company and transfer it to your new GoDaddy site at no cost.

How to make a website with GoDaddy: Summary

GoDaddy has one of the most comprehensive and versatile website builders available, and is easy for beginners to use. In our example, we were able to set up a website in a matter of minutes, and begin moulding it into a final product ready for customers.

There are also many other features to check out in the "Settings" menu that can help you optimise and personalise your site.

Further reading on website builders

If you're looking to find out more about GoDaddy, make sure you read our comparison features pitting HostGator vs IONOs vs GoDaddy and GoDaddy vs Wix.

As one of the best website builder platforms, WordPress is a brilliant tool for creating sites via the best WordPress hosting and best web hosting services, but being such an expansive platform, it can easily lead users to make configuration mistakes.

Even seasoned WordPress users can be caught out by changes to the CMS, or overlook a new feature added to the ever-evolving service. Poorly configuring your WordPress installation can cause a series of issues relating to security, performance, and even day-to-day management, with fixing these often complex mistakes time-consuming.

There are a number of such mistakes that users seem to make repeatedly, and we've highlighted these common issues in this article. We discuss some of the biggest and most common WordPress website mistakes we've noticed people make, and the steps you can take to fix them.

1. Not providing team members, contractors, or vendors with the right levels of access

WordPress's robust access permission system allows you to give all the users working on your website appropriate access. However, in the rush to get a site live, user permissions can often be overlooked. Rather than setting up different user accounts for team members, SEO specialists you might employ, your web host, or even a virtual assistant, many take the easy path, and share usernames and passwords.

However, sharing passwords or giving users too high a level of access to your site is a huge security concern, which can leave your website vulnerable to attack. Instead, you should give users a WordPress account with the appropriate level of access.

WordPress has five user permission levels:

• A subscriber can only read the content on a site
• A contributor can edit, read, and delete their own posts, but can’t publish them
• Anyone with author permissions can view comments, but can’t moderate or delete them
• An editor can create, edit, publish, and delete all pages and posts, manage comments, and alter links in menus. They can’t install or edit themes or add new users
• Finally, an administrator has complete authority over the WordPress installation, and can do everything from installing new plugins to deleting old user accounts

Provide every user working on your site their own WordPress user account, with the lowest access permission level that they need to do their job. There should only be a select few with administrator access, and nobody should share passwords. In turn, when someone leaves your company, or no longer needs access to your WordPress site, disable their user account.

2. Not completing basic yet critical SEO for every page and post

SEO, the process of optimising webpages to make them perform better on search engines, helps create a well-optimised website that appears higher in important searches. If your site is ranked higher than your competitor’s, you can gain more customers.

Search engines consider a series of factors when deciding which sites to list in search results, and in which order. Many people assume they only need to post content on their site and it’ll be optimised, but there are many things you can do to improve website rankings.

These include optimising all of the images, so your site loads quickly. Also, use subheadings and internal links containing natural keyword phrases, so search engines can accurately gauge what your site is focused on.

Also, at the very least, you should write a compelling HTML title that clearly states the topic of the page, and includes a keyphrase people will search for. It should be around 50 to 55 characters long. Fill in the 160-character meta description, too, as this is also displayed in search results, and entices people to visit your page.

3. Not creating redirects when a URL is changed, or a post or page is deleted

When you move a webpage to a new URL, there could be thousands of links to the old page still in existence. URLs get changed all the time when optimising for SEO, changing tags, or altering site categories. Instead of visitors being confronted with a 404 page and leaving the site, redirect old pages to new ones automatically.

There are a number of ways to perform redirects, with pros and cons for each. With a WordPress site, the easiest and most comprehensive way to ensure all pages are redirected when the URL changes is to use a plugin. Redirection plugins for WordPress, such as Safe Redirect Manager, take care of the process automatically, so you'll never lose out on business.

Further reading on WordPress, website builders, and web hosting

Take a look at our full WordPress review to learn more about the service, and if you decide to use WordPress, read our step-by-step guide on how to build a website with WordPress, our guide to the best WordPress website builders, and our comparison pitting WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace.

If you elect to utilize WordPress hosting, find out seven great reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting, and the four S's of managed WordPress: security, scalability, speed, and service.

Wix is one of the most widely used website builders, and while it's got stiff competition among the ranks of the best website builder platforms, it’s an incredibly easy and fast service to use.

You can quickly and easily create a stunning and modern site for desktop and mobile browsers, which is just one reason why it ranks as one of the best website builders across the board, whether it's the best ecommerce website builders, the best small business website builders, as well as even one of the best web hosting services.

We'll show you, via our step-by-step guide, how to make a website with Wix. By following these steps, you can create and publish a basic website using Wix’s powerful ADI (artificial design intelligence) web development software.

How to make a website with Wix: Preparation

Before getting to work on your Wix site, the first thing you need to do is create an account. Simply head to Wix.com and click "Get Started". Then enter your email address and choice of password.

Next, you’ll be sent an email to verify your address. Go to your email inbox, open the email from Wix (be sure to check your spam folder), and click on "Confirm Email Now" to proceed, and to then log into your account.

Step 1: Getting started

To start creating your website, click on "Create New Site".

Step 2: Choose the purpose of your site

Wix is loaded with plenty of website templates, each designed for specific purposes. For example, the layout for an online store is different from that of a restaurant. Select the option that best suits the website you want to build to move on to the next step. For this guide, we’ve chosen "Business".

Step 3: Wix ADI or Wix Editor?

There’s quite a difference between Wix ADI and Wix Editor. For this step, we suggest choosing Wix ADI to create the foundation for your website, which the software will do once you’ve answered a few basic questions. This way, Wix will do most of the work for you, and you can use Wix Editor later on to fine-tune specific details.

Step 4: Specify the site you want

To help Wix provide you with the best templates, you need to help it understand the kind of site you want. If the suggestions don’t quite fit what you’re aiming for, try searching for the type of website you want to see if there’s a better match.

For example, if you run a dry cleaning service, search “dry cleaning,” and there’ll be a match. For this guide, we selected “consulting firm”. Once you’ve made your choice, click "Next".

Step 5: Website features

Here you can choose from several features, to optimise the functionality of your website in line with what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re starting a blog, then you might want to include your Instagram feed. If you’re running a restaurant, then you might want to advertise your menu.

Click on all the features you want to be included on your website, ensure they’re ticked and highlighted in blue, and click "Next" to continue. Rest assured that you can add features later on if needed.

Step 6: Name your website

Simply enter what you want to name your website, and click "Next".

Step 7: Import content and add your location

If you already have a website, now’s your chance to import your old content. However, for this guide, we’re going to assume this is your first.

If you’d like to add a Google location to let site visitors know where you’re based, then you can search for your address and add it to your site. Click "Next" to continue, or if this doesn’t apply to you, click "Skip" (like we did).

Step 8: Enter details

Enter the contact details you want to advertise on your site. If you have a logo to include, then upload that as well, and it will appear on the template Wix creates for you. Click "Next" to continue.

Step 9: Choose a theme

Choose a theme you like, and click "Next". Remember that you can make changes to colours and fonts later on if you so wish. For this example, we’ve gone with “Sophisticated”.

Step 10: Choose your homepage

Now you can see your website starting to take shape. To select the homepage you like the most, hover over one of the options and a "Use This Design" button will appear above it. Click the button to continue. For this guide, we chose the middle option.

Step 11: Pick your pages

Now that you’ve got a homepage, you need to choose what other pages you want to include on your site. The template designs are recommendations based on what you’ve told Wix about the website you want to build.

If there’s a page that you want on your site, which isn’t appearing as an option, you’ll be able to add it later. To continue, click "Edit Site".

Step 12: Start editing

Now that you have a foundation for your website, you can start editing it. To do so, simply click on the element you’d like to edit, and a toolbar will appear on the left-hand side of your screen.

From here, you can edit the content (i.e., amend the text and change images) and play with the design by clicking "Section Design" at the top of the toolbar.

Step 13: Switching and adding webpages

You’ll notice that there’s a button in the top-left corner of the screen that tells you what page you’re currently on. To edit any of your existing webpages, or to add a new one, click this button, and another toolbar will appear.

The toolbar will list all your current webpages. Simply click on the page you want to edit, or click the "+ Add Page" button at the bottom of the toolbar, to create a new one.

Step 14: Adding a new page

If you want to add a new page, you’ll find a long list of the predesigned templates with specific purposes. There’s also the option to add a "Blank Page", should you want to create something from scratch.

Step 15: Change the design

If you’d like to change the design of your site, hover over "Design" at the top of the screen. From here, you can choose to change the theme, colour scheme, text font, website animations, and page designs.

Step 16: Publish your site

Now that you’ve created a website you’re happy with, it’s time to go live. Click the "Publish" button in the top-right corner of the screen to make your site public.

Step 17: Choose a domain

Now, you have two options. You can either create a free domain with Wix (e.g., http://username.wixsite.com/awesomeconsultants), or you can buy a custom domain name (eg. www.awesome-consultants.com). For the latter, you would also need to upgrade to a premium Wix plan and buy the domain.

Step 18: Going public

For now, you might be happy with a free website, which is a great option for testing the site’s functionality until you are ready to spend money on upgrading. To go live, click "Publish & Continue", and your site will be made public. If you want to upgrade to a customised domain later on, it’s easy to do so.

How to make a website with Wix: Summary

Having read this feature, you should now be well-equipped with the knowledge and skills to know how to make a website with Wix, using the industry-leading platform.

Further reading on website builders

To learn more about Wix, take a look at our our interview with Wix's Head Product Manager Michal Bignitz. It's worth reading our Editor X review too, covering Wix's new site creation platform targeted at users with more experience.

You can read comparisons between Wix and other leading website builders in our features pitting Wix vs Shopify; Wix vs Squarespace; GoDaddy vs Wix; Wix vs Squarespace vs Weebly; and WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace.

When it comes to domain names, learn about how to choose a domain name for your website, and why domain privacy is important, and what it means for your business. It's also worth looking into the best anonymous hosting solutions to protect your privacy.

Creating a new website can be daunting, particularly if you’re trying to get a business started at the same time. A website is vital to online success, so it really does pay to get it right from the start through to publication. But where do you start, and how do you build a website from scratch?

In this walkthrough, we’ll cover website building options, and provide an example of how to build a website from scratch using Squarespace, one of the best website builder services available.

Step 1: Deciding on a site-building method

Your choice when it comes to creating a site will depend on how much time you have to spare, and how much you’re willing to spend.

When you build a website from scratch, that can mean writing every line of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code by hand, but unless you’re a computer science student interested in learning every detail, this is too slow. Knowledge of site development is useful, but there’s little point re-inventing the wheel.

Another option is using a CMS like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, or Shopify. You install the CMS on your web hosting space, and it gives you a framework to build a website on. CMSs are increasingly versatile, but each one usually has strengths suiting it to certain industries. For ecommerce websites, for example, Shopify is great and an industry leader.

The most versatile option however is using a website builder. These allow you to create any type of site without touching a line of code. The best website builders do let you add your own code if you want something specific, though. Top choices include Weebly, Wix, and Format, but here, we’ll look at Squarespace. Other builders follow a similar process: they just have different interfaces.

Step 2: Choose a site category

Like most website builders, Squarespace has an on-boarding wizard that enables you to set up your site with a default look and feel that matches your industry. Choose a site category by describing your business, or selecting from the list.

You’ll also be asked about your top goals for your site. The selections you make will populate your website with a few default options. For example, if you select that you want to collect donations online, your site will start with a donation button.

Step 3: Select a template

Choose from the list of designs: there are hundreds of templates to look through and select from. This template will be a framework for your website, but you can change all text, images, and pages.

Step 4: Create an account and name your website

If you don’t already have a Squarespace account, it’s time to sign up. You can use Google, Apple, or Facebook logins, or sign up with your email. Another wizard will take you through the steps of naming your site once you’ve signed up.

Step 5: Change fonts, colours, and animations

Squarespace’s tools are found on the left-hand side of the page. Click on "Design", and explore the options available. Changes here are global, so they’ll be reflected on all pages. You can choose a new colour palette, the global text types of your site, and the animation style of site elements as they appear on the page.

If you want to, you can change the style and shape of buttons, the look and feel of your site’s products, and the 404 page that visitors see if they arrive at a page that doesn’t exist. There’s a huge list of customisation options, and you can use custom CSS if you need to make style changes that aren’t available in the Squarespace interface.

When you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, click "Save".

Step 6: Edit the site header

On any page, click on "Edit", move your mouse to the top of the page, and choose "Edit Site Header". Here, you can upload your own logo and change the title of your site. You can also choose the elements that appear in your header. Note that in our example, because we specified that we wanted to take donations online, the header has already been populated with a "Donate" button.

Step 7: Replace text and images

Browse through your entire website, and click "Edit" on each page you want to change. In edit mode, you can click on any text, image, or page element to edit it. You can change the style and formatting of text, and replace the template images with your own.

Squarespace has a built-in image editor that you can use to adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of images. It’s also easy to choose different layouts, such as collages or lightboxes.

Step 8: Add and remove pages

By clicking on the Pages menu item, you can add new pages to your site. You don’t have to start with a blank page either. You can add a designer page layout, a blog, a store, a portfolio, or an events page.

Pages can be organised into folders, and you can specify which pages don’t appear on the navigation menu.

Step 9: Set or connect a domain

Click on "Settings" and choose "Domains". You’ll see the built-in Squarespace domain where your site is available, even if you don’t own your own domain name yet. Click on your Squarespace domain, and choose a more user-friendly URL for your site.

You can also buy a top-level domain from Squarespace, transfer your existing domain name to Squarespace, or point your domain name to Squarespace without changing the domain registrar.

Step 10: Publish your website

To publish your website on most builders, and specifically Squarespace in this case, you need to upgrade to a paid plan. There are however a series of free website builders that offer limited, one-page sites to be published for free.

Every website builder has different pricing. Squarespace starts at £10 a month if you pay annually. Payment is made by credit card.

Once you’ve paid, your website can be published by clicking on "Settings" and choosing "Public" from the Site Availability menu.

How to build a website from scratch: Summary

There's more than one way to build a website from scratch. One of the easiest, fastest, and most versatile methods is using a website builder. We showed you how to get a site online quickly by using Squarespace, but there are many other top website builders you can use. Try out a few, and see which feels the most intuitive.

Further reading on website builders and web hosting

Make sure to read our comparison features pitting Squarespace against competitors, including Wix vs Squarespace vs Weebly, WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace, Wix vs Shopify, Wix vs Squarespace, and GoDaddy vs Wix.

Also, take a look at how to build an ecommerce website. It's also worth looking at the best web hosting services, in case you have more advanced web experience and want a more customizable site creation process.

Previously, building a website used to be an expensive and arduous task, requiring the hiring of web developers, designers, back-end coders, and database experts. Additionally, businesses or individuals seeking a site would also have needed to pay for website hosting, email servers, and domain registration.

However, now you can build a website for free with the best website builders, and publish it yourself online without spending any money. The best builders enable you to design and edit an entire site without touching a line of code, and in this walkthrough, we'll take you through how to build a website for free, step-by-step.

Step 1: Understand your options

Even if you’re haven't got the budget to spend on a new website, you still have a few options. You could write every line of code yourself in a tool like Notepad++ or an IDE (Integrated Development Environment), like CoffeeCup HTML Editor. Then, you would upload your site to a free web hosting platform.

Some of the best free web hosting providers, including InfinityFree, ByetHost, and FreeHostingNoAds, won’t display any advertising on your site, but they do have other restrictions such as limited disk space. Consult our list of the best web hosting services too, to see if there are any cheaper but more secure options available.

If you don’t feel like writing every line of code, you can use an open-source content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Drupal. Install a free CMS on your free hosting, and you can upload your content without editing code.

A third option is a website builder. Sites like Wix, Constant Contact, GoDaddy, and Webnode all have modern editors to create websites, and only charge for domain names and advanced features.

Step 2: Choose your free website builder

If you take the free website builder route, you have many choices. Webnode has an advanced interface, but places a small ad on your site. Wix frequently tops website builder lists because of its unique features and great templates, but it also requires a small ad on free sites. Jimdo is easy to use, but limited in features.

For this guide, we’ll use Weebly, another top website builder with a free tier. Weebly’s free plan requires no credit card details to sign up, and comes with 500MB of free storage and a free SSL certificate. However, you will be required to use a .weebly.com domain and display certain advertisements. If you do ultimately decide to upgrade to a paid plan, Weebly is one of the cheapest, starting at £4 a month.

Step 3: Sign up for your chosen website builder

First, sign up with your website builder. In our case, this entails heading to weebly.com, clicking on "Sign Up", and entering your full name, email address, and country. You also need to set a password for your account.

Step 4: Choose a template for your site

Weebly has a four-part website startup wizard. First, choose whether you want a standard website or an online store. You’ll be presented with a gallery of 55 themes to use as a template for your website. Choose a design that speaks to you, as you can always change the images and text later.

You’ll be shown a preview of your site. If you’re happy with the theme, hit "Start Editing".

Step 5: Set up a subdomain

Weebly will ask you to connect a domain name. If you have your own domain name, you can transfer it to Weebly, or you can purchase one now. But as we’re creating a free website, we’ll use a Weebly subdomain instead.

Enter a name for your website and click "Search". Select the Weebly subdomain at the bottom of the list. In our example, we call the website myfruitsite, so it will be available to visitors at myfruitsite.weebly.com.

Step 6: Set your site’s colours and fonts

Click on "Theme" on Weebly’s top menu. Here, you can choose a different colour scheme for your website and edit the fonts. If you decide that you want a different theme completely, click "Change Theme" and choose a new option.

Step 7: Change images and text

You can change any of the text and images on your website, simply by clicking on it. Text can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the page, and you can edit or replace images. Images can be cropped and adjusted, and there are several filters that you can apply.

Step 8: Change page elements

Besides editing the text and images, you can drag-and-drop rich elements onto your pages. Choose "Build" from the top menu. On the left-hand-side menu, there are over 30 elements that you can drag and drop onto pages. From YouTube videos and surveys to social icons and maps, you can use these to mould your site to your vision.

If you can’t find the exact feature that you need, you can add a custom HTML code element with the desired functionality.

Step 9: Add or remove pages

By clicking on "Pages" at the top of the screen, you can add, remove, and re-order the pages across your website. Whenever you make changes to your site’s pages, these are automatically reflected in the navigation menu.

If you drag a page label to the right, it becomes a sub-page. Sub-pages don’t appear in your site’s main navigation. Instead, they are linked from your main pages.

Step 10: Publish your website

When you’re happy with your site, hit the blue "Publish" button at the top right. Your site will now be available for all to see. You can add a professional domain name later, but right now, your website will be available at the subdomain that you chose earlier.

How to build a website for free: Summary

You can easily build a website for free, but as your business grows, you’ll probably want to upgrade to a paid plan in order to gain access to more advanced features. Free web hosting usually has severe bandwidth limitations, as well as maximum file size and storage space restrictions.

In our opinion, one of the best ways to build a website for free is to use the free tier offered by website builders such as Wix, GoDaddy, or Weebly. This feature has shown you the steps to take to make a site for free on Weebly, but the process is roughly the same for all builders. Once the traffic begins to flow, you can upgrade to a paid plan to better meet the needs of your customers.

Further reading on website builders

Make sure to read our comparison feature pitting Wix vs Squarespace vs Weebly: and if you're just starting out with website building, follow our step-by-step guide on how to build a website from scratch. Read our interview with Wix's Head Product Manager Michal Bignitz; learn how to build a website on Wix and how to build a website with Shopify, and take a look at how to build an ecommerce website. It's also worth looking at the best web hosting services, in case you have more advanced web experience and want a more customizable site creation process.