Tech Bites

teams repacing skype blog art

Microsoft Teams is Replacing Skype for Business – Are you Ready For The Change.?

Microsoft Teams is now ready to replace Skype for Business, Microsoft says

The year-long process of bringing Teams up to feature parity with Skype for Business is now complete.

Late last year, Microsoft revealed that it planned to make Microsoft Teams its primary communications platform for businesses, supplanting Skype for Business over time. However, before that could be done, Microsoft had to make sure Teams was up to snuff with all of the existing features that Skype for Business users take advantage of.

The company announced that process is complete, and Teams is ready for business, so to speak.

Microsoft brought attention to a number of new features that it has brought to Teams in recent weeks, including unified presence, cloud-based meeting recording, direct routing, and many more. “Today, more than 200,000 organisations are using Teams, including nearly 70% of enterprise customers who use Skype for Business Online. We encourage your organisation to join them and move to Teams today,” Microsoft says.

 

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For the time being, companies won’t be forced from Skype for Business to Teams, but Microsoft is encouraging teams to make the move now. To ease the transition, the company has release self-serve guidance for upgrading to Teams, along with upgrade tools in the Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business Admin Centre, which are expected to be rolled out to all Office 365 customers over the coming weeks and months. Further, Microsoft says it will offer automated upgrades to Teams for organisations that don’t have the IT resources available to manage things themselves.

How can Inology IT help?

At Inology IT we understand the importance of getting to the heart of the matter. We can offer a offer a complimentary chat with one of our Office 365 specialists. This gives you an opportunity to ask questions on the best possibilities when planning for Microsoft Teams within your organisation.

Give us a call or send us an email if you want to take up this offer. And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with our regular blogs and commentary.

Microsoft Teams Overview

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Life After SBS 2011

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Many small businesses have been enjoying the benefits of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS 2011) since its introduction over 20 years ago, the lastest edition Microsoft introduced was SBS 2011 which first appeared in December 2010. Many SMEs still use the software today.

However, are you aware that Microsoft will not support Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 beyond 14 January 2020?

sbs end of life

 SBS 2011 is comprised of these two components, so if you use it, or if you are unsure, please read on.

While 2020 may seem a long way off, it is vital you plan ahead to implement a new server in good time. If your company still uses SBS 2011, and assuming you have the latest service packs installed, this means there is less than 1 year until Microsoft stops providing critical security and stability updates for your server.

Is There An Alternative to SBS?

Yes! Microsoft Server 2019 Essentials is ideal for many small businesses that want an economically priced server. Just like your old SBS, Server 2019 Essentials is easy to configure and is designed specifically for SMBs.  An Essentials server is licensed for up to 25 users and 50 devices straight out the box. It also allows for the same number of remote users, which is a very useful feature for most SMEs. If your company has more users than this, don’t worry. The standard version of Server 2019 is also available and we can tailor this to your individual needs.

The Microsoft Mail Folly

One of the great benefits of Microsoft Small Business Server is that it included both a Windows Server Operating System and Microsoft Exchange Server. This provides a professional email server running from your own premises. Essentials Server, however, does not include Microsoft Exchange Server. Now it requires the use of a hosted version of Microsoft Exchange. For most people this is not a problem because they are happy to pay a subscription for having their emails hosted. This means not having to worry about the reliability and management of their own server.

The Hosted Exchange Service from Microsoft works in harmony with Essentials Server. Mailbox Backups and anti-spam are included and the service is fully looked after by us. If you already have Office 365, this also integrates very well. Certain packages also include OneDrive (Cloud storage) and SharePoint (team collaboration).

Which Steps Should I Take Next?

We appreciate you may not know which type of server you currently have, or whether you are at risk. A free IT audit from Inology:IT will provide this information. We will agree a plan of action to update your IT infrastructure when you require new equipment. We will install a new server hassle-free and well before the support deadline in 2020.

Can You Help Us?

Our aim is to take all the aggravation out of managing your IT. Our SBS Migrations Team will help you migrate to Microsoft Server 2019 and onboard your email to Microsoft Office 365.

So we can understand your requirement, please contact us. We would very much look forward to hearing from you soon!

News for small business - Inology:IT

Google Doodle celebrates World Wide Web’s 30th birthday

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Google Doodle celebrates World Wide Web’s 30th birthday

Thirty years ago Tuesday, 33-year-old software engineer Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal to his boss that would set the technology world on fire and usher in the information age.

Tim Berners-Lee

Berners-Lee was working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) outside of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1989 when he submitted Information Management: A proposal. It was a proposal to better manage and monitor the flow of research at the labs, but within its pages were the underpinnings for what would become known as the World Wide Web.

Google, which was made possible by Berners-Lee’s invention, on Tuesday marked the technology milestone with an animated Doodle featuring pixilated letters reminiscent of the crude, block graphics that were common on early web pages. The image of a globe slowly renders on the desktop computer’s monitor as a reminder of the slow download speeds that hobbled our experiences in pre-broadband days.

The future Web

The whole thing began when Berners-Lee grew frustrated that CERN was losing track of valuable project information because of personnel turnover and incompatible computers people brought with them to the office.

“When two years is a typical length of stay, information is constantly being lost,” he wrote. “The introduction of the new people demands a fair amount of their time and that of others before they have any idea of what goes on.

“The technical details of past projects are sometimes lost forever, or only recovered after a detective investigation in an emergency. Often, the information has been recorded, it just cannot be found.”

Berners-Lee’s proposal contained the basic concepts of the web, including ideas like HTML, URL, and HTTP, but it would be another couple of years before he could demonstrate his idea. It would be another couple of years until Jim Clark and Marc Andreessen popularized the notion of commercial web browsing with Netscape in the mid-1990s.

The further f the web

In his annual letter on the web’s birthday, Berners-Lee on Monday expressed optimism about what can be achieved in the next thirty years.

“Given how much the web has changed in the past 30 years, it would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the web as we know it can’t be changed for the better in the next 30,” he said.

There are nearly 2 billion websites today; as a platform for socializing, shopping, gaming or watching videos online, it’s hard to imagine getting along without it.

Happy birthday, web!

Windows 7 support ending in 2020

Microsoft Windows 7 support ending in January 2020

Online giant Microsoft has recently announced that support for their Windows 7 operating system will be ending in the not too distant future.

From 14th January 2020, Microsoft will no longer offer support for customers using their Windows 7 systems. Not only will support no longer be available but you will stop receiving any updates to your machine, making it a huge security risk.

Here’s the official statement from Microsoft;

“Microsoft made a commitment to provide ten years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that they can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences. The specific end of support day for Windows 7 will be January 14, 2020. After that, technical assistance and automatic updates that help protect your PC will no longer be made available for the product. Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 sometime before January 2020 to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.”

What should you do?

In short, by January 2020 none of your machines should be running Windows 7 and should be upgraded to the latest Windows operating system Windows 10. Moving to a new operating system takes time and proper planning, especially if it’s across multiple machines.

Here’s a five-point plan to make sure your business is ready for the switchover;

  • Go through all the machines in your workplace and identify which ones are using Windows 7.
  • Identify and consider replacing legacy systems using older operating systems and software with updated technology.
  • Draw up a detailed timeline and budget for replacing and upgrading old hardware.
  • Implement special security measures for machines that are unable to be upgraded from Windows 7.
  • Draw up a plan for your employees to take the time to undergo training on the new system.

What are the consequences if you don’t upgrade?

You may think this isn’t that important and don’t want the hassle of moving, but if you stay with Windows 7, you become a high cyber security risk to your business.

You only have to look at the damage that was caused by the WannaCry attacks in May 2017 to see what could happen. That attack exploited unpatched Windows XP machines to gain access into systems and demand payments for people to regain access. By running an operating system that doesn’t receive the latest updates and security patches you’re an open-door target to cyber criminals.

If the lock on your front door broke, you would replace it straight away. So why not do the same with your business data?

Want to know more about Microsoft Windows 7 support ending?

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