14 Dec 2021

The dangers of Shadow IT


Shadow IT is the use of technology, such as cloud-based software, without the approval or oversight from the organisation’s IT department. Some examples of shadow IT include: Storing business data on a private Google account Using a personal account on an online survey platform to collect work-related data Saving sensitive work personal data on an unmonitored personal laptop Using a private Dropbox account to manage a spreadsheet of work contacts With the rise of online services in particular, more and more people have been able to use free or cheap tools to help with their work. These new
22 Apr 2021

Five ways tech in the COVID-19 pandemic has changed work


It’s been over a year since we entered the first lockdown in the UK. During this challenging period, there have been many changes to our lives, including how we work. Tech has played a crucial role in allowing companies and organisations to keep going. However, this has resulted in changes that will have a long-lasting effect. Video Conferencing Many people had never head of Zoom before the start of the pandemic, where now the product has become a verb for the new way of communicating. Workers who had to give up the office for their homes had to adapt quickly to videoconferencing. Now, even
12 Oct 2020

What is Edge Computing?


The next wave of change in technology will involve more data crunching taking place closer to home, with the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and innovations such as AI and self-driving cars. This move to process data closer to where it’s created or used is called Edge computing, and it’s going to become much more common. Over the last few years, we have seen cloud computing become the norm. A dwindling number of organisations run their email from an internal server, and most of us have become used to storing our data on cloud platforms such as OneDrive or Dropbox. Similarly, organisations are
17 Sep 2014

Unions & cloud-based services


Cloud-based services have been growing in popularity over the last few years. These services are delivered online and are usually paid for on an ongoing basis, with flexible pricing depending on the needs of the user. This usually results in lower costs and lower risks, combined with reliable and well-built software. While some unions are already using these services, their popularity will grow over the next few years. One cloud-based service that a number of unions are already using is MailChimp. This web-based application allows unions to email their members and can handle a huge number of
30 Apr 2013

Got your web in the Cloud?


Cloud computing is a bit of a buzzword at the moment. Simply put, the ‘cloud’ refers to a service delivered across multiple machines on the internet rather than just the one server. Long seen as a technology that will be dominant in the future, cloud computing is becoming more mainstream. I recently had to get more hosting space for the websites I host on behalf of clients and I’ve decided to start using cloud hosting. So, what is cloud technology and why use it? Cloud computing is essentially the ability to employ a number of computers to serve your computing needs, remotely without actually