On 19 July 2024, a single flawed software update took down an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide. In the UK, GP surgeries lost access to patient records and appointment systems, train departure boards went blank during the morning rush, airports cancelled flights, and small businesses were pushed onto cash-only tills when card payment systems stopped working. None of it was a cyber attack. It was one third-party update, cascading into services that had never been mapped as depending on it.
As organisations invest heavily in network, endpoint and cloud security, attackers are increasingly targeting mobile devices as a route into corporate systems. Yet many businesses still apply weaker security controls to smartphones and tablets than they do to traditional endpoints, creating opportunities for cyber criminals to exploit.
Assess whether your LAN and WiFi infrastructure is ready to support AI initiatives, cloud applications, hybrid workforces and future business growth. Your network supports almost every aspect of modern business. From cloud applications and Microsoft Teams calls to mobile devices, AI tools, operational systems and customer-facing services, reliable connectivity underpins productivity, security and growth.
Ask any GP practice manager about their biggest operational headache and you'll usually hear something about peak-time call volumes, the 8am rush being the most familiar example. Phones ringing off the hook the moment reception opens, patients redialling in frustration or stuck in a queue for long periods, and a reception team trying to triage, book and reassure all at once.
Bringing networking and security together into a single, converged platform is a serious undertaking. According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's Cyber Security Skills in the UK Labour Market 2025 report, nearly half of UK businesses (49%) report a basic cyber security skills gap, struggling with fundamentals such as firewall configuration and malware detection. Almost a third (31%) already outsource part of their cyber security function as a result.
The UK's old analogue phone network, the PSTN, is being switched off on 31 January 2027. While the switch-off is already underway, Openreach estimates around 1.5 million lines nationwide, including roughly 350,000 business premises, are still running on it. For transport and logistics operators, that figure matters more than it might first appear, since so much of the sector's day-to-day infrastructure quietly depends on the same old copper lines.
Did you know that the manufacturing industry was the most targeted sector for ransomware anywhere in the world in 2025, with incidents up 56% year on year, and it remains the most targeted sector into 2026 thus far. If you run IT for a manufacturer, that statistic isn't background noise, it's a description of the environment you're already operating in.
Microsoft 365 licensing optimisation means reviewing what you're actually paying for against what your business genuinely uses, then adjusting licences, security settings and renewal timing to close the gap. We’re noticing that for many customers, that gap is bigger than expected. Unused seats, duplicate subscriptions and licences still assigned to people who left months ago all quietly inflate the bill every month.
Completing a disaster recovery (DR) test can provide valuable reassurance that your recovery plans work as expected. But in modern IT environments, testing isn't the finish line. It's a point-in-time validation.
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