Learn Something

Lancom Technology, an Auckland based software and technology provider, announced today that it is the first in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) in New Zealand to achieve the AWS Software as a Service (SaaS) Competency status, becoming one of just 26 AWS partners around the world to hold the competency.

Being aware of ‘the next big thing’ is one thing. Knowing when to embrace it, quite another. 

In New Zealand, as I write, we remain in COVID-19 lockdown. Like people everywhere I am working from a makeshift office, hastily put together that will have to do until we are out of this. I cannot help but be drawn by the similarities of my own circumstances with that of many businesses around the world who are in their own form of lockdown because of their dependency on physical computer servers.

Since 2018, AWS has stepped up its game when it comes to hosting a tech conference in Southern hemisphere. The AWS Sydney Summit 2019 had total of 22,000 attendees and  was a complete event, covering technology, business and innovation themes.

We asked our Technical Director and AWS APN embassador, Imran Sadiq, to summarise the event and his takeaways for those who didn't have a chance to attend. Imran's summary has something for all: technologists, businesses and their customers.

It may seem like it was just yesterday, but 2008 was over a decade ago. With Microsoft turning off extended support for SQL Server 2008 this July, now is a good time to reflect on the fact that technology moves fast, a lot has happened in the past decade, and any applications you may have which rest on the outgoing database platform are likely to be as ‘legacy’ as SQL Server 2008 is. It is, in other words, a perfect time to reflect on the potential necessity for modernising old applications which themselves may rest on SQL Server 2008 – in bringing your database up to date, it make sense to do the same with your applications.

It’s probably one of the most exciting additions to Microsoft’s stable of offerings since Office 365 came out, but what can Power BI do for your business? Before getting to that pressing question, let’s have a quick look at what it has done for some other companies.

If you’ve heard of Power BI, there are probably two pressing questions you have: One: what exactly is it? and two: Is it suitable for my business?

To the first question. Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service from Microsoft. It enables anyone to visualise and analyse data with greater speed, efficiency and understanding. It connects users to a broad range of data through easy-to-use dashboards, interactive reports, and visualisations that bring data to life. This is Microsoft’s official definition, by the way.

Let’s move on then, to the reasons why this powerful tool set could be ideal in your business.

…Is greatly exaggerated. But its evolution is right here, right now.

There’s a reason business reporting as you know it is coming to something akin to a sudden death. But, attention grabbing headline aside, business reporting isn’t going anywhere. Instead, it is changing radically away from the Excel spreadsheets you know (and truth be told, probably love), to something far better. Power BI and live reporting.

The recent security incidents point what should by now be considered common sense: businesses who rely heavily on technology (and let’s face it, that makes most of us!) need to go a step further and make sure that their staff are trained on how to spot a possible cybersecurity threat.

If this is still not syncing for you, or perhaps the incidents seen by Wannacry didn’t scare you, perhaps this will:

Cybercriminals like to target SME’s. 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses.
Phishing attacks are the main avenue criminals use to implement ransomware and malware inside organisations.