Private cloud migration is a big trend in IT – and one we anticipate will only grow as the drive for greater efficiency increases. But what are the advantages of private cloud, and how can you make...
This is your complete guide to the HSCN. Learn what it is, how it affects your health and social organisation and how you can connect to the HSCN.
When was the last time someone leaned over your shoulder and fixed your technical problems with a few clicks? Unless you have a particularly handy spouse (or teenager), the chances are it’s been a...
Office downsizing requires a complete overhaul to a company’s work environment, including your IT. Even though it requires extensive planning before making the move and causes significant...
Hybrid clouds allow organisations to benefit from both public and private cloud models. But how do you keep your hybrid cloud secure? Here are the best practices.
Outsourcing some functions to a managed IT service provider can bring huge benefits but how do you decide if it’s right for you? Our buyer’s guide explains.
As a responsible data centre operator, we at Redcentric have an excellent fire suppression system which uses FM200 gas. Fires are not only a risk to people’s safety, but if one got out-of-control...
Growing your business is exciting – but lots of things can conspire to slow you down – and as you expand, one of the biggest brakes on your growth is IT. But a great upgrade option...
How are other organisations using cloud to drive efficiencies and supporting their customers to deliver the services they need.
Data centres have always required some kind of cooling system. But as IT systems become more sophisticated their power consumption grows and so does their heat output. Too much heat can fry your CPUs...
Network problems can put the brakes on your company’s productivity. Here are the 5 most common enterprise network problems and the best ways to solve them.
With the increase in connected devices globally, broadband network management is essential for businesses. Learn more about it and how it can benefit you.
Users want to work within a single interface across different devices for calling, messaging and meetings. Read how collaboration helps teams.
Avoiding unnecessary risk during a pandemic is the logical position that most companies have adopted in 2020. This includes minimising anything that has the potential to cause disruption to business...
Organisations are becoming technology enabled to create the agility necessary to overcome the challenges of digital disruption. Read more here
If you’ve got as far as deciding you need a data centre, you are probably starting to look at your options. But how do you choose the best colocation data centre for your business? And what makes a...
High-performance computing (HPC) is already being adopted by companies looking to reach new levels of data analysis, and it’s essential to the future of AI and machine learning, but the first...
Every company needs to backup their system since it’s the only line of defence against several threats that can corrupt or invalidate your data, but you need to make sure your backup is capable of...
There is a growing buzz around SD-WAN as a network solution. It brings considerable benefits for some use cases but it isn’t a silver bullet for networking.
How did organisations keep direct dials, hunt groups and compliance in place when enabled their staff to work from home? We discuss in our blog.
How can you benefit when using a cloud service provider? This blog looks at how you can tap into a wider skills pool and get your solutions optimised.
Regardless of the current restrictions around working in the office vs remote working, a lot of companies have said that they plan to operate a permanent ‘work from anywhere’ philosophy. If...
2020 has brought a lot of changes for a lot of industries, and visual effects companies (VFX) are no exception. Working from home for VFX companies wasn’t an option in 2019 – it was believed the...
We look what makes SD-WAN so appealing, how WAN got where it is and why there’s so much talk about network transformation.
Reducing computer system downtime should be a top priority for every company, since your services going down will have a devastating financial cost – in lost business or paying SLAs – and...
Hybrid cloud, also sometimes referred to as Hybrid IT, is a sophisticated computer system that combines the advantages of public cloud, private cloud, and potentially other IT platforms. A company has...
A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that manages a range of IT services and infrastructure on behalf of an organisation. Read more here
Technology is constantly evolving, and with 5G and quantum computing on the horizon, companies need to have a road map ready to incorporate these technologies when they become available. We take a...
Its important for remote workers to be able to access their data and applications. How do we ensure that they can do this quickly, easily and securely?
Covid-19 and lockdown forced companies to make a rapid change to how their staff are using their IT, with more people remotely connecting to an IT system that might not be setup for it. Talking to...
Even for IT experts the future is hard to imagine, remember where technology was in the year 2000 and think about how the world could be different in 2040. But as a business leader, you need a plan...
How are Call2Teams, PTSN capability from within MS Teams, helping organisations? We asked our customers their five key benefits.
Managed WAN Solutions can help your business with the agility it needs to scale. We've outlined 6 key benefits of Managed WAN Services in this short article.
A Buyers guide to managed network services. The key things you need to consider when investigating investing in managed networking for your business.
Here are 3 benefits of SD-WAN that can help you deliver a great user experience and at the same time, help you prepare your network for the future.
Are you thinking how your existing network provision can work harder or smarter? 8 signs you may need to integrate SD-WAN into your network strategy
As emerging business requirements arise like increasing user experience and new inititives, how can you ensure your network can support your future growth?
In this blog we look how IP telephony supports agile working by using functionality such as call forwarding and hunt groups whilst working from home.
Data centres generally fit into one of two categories: inner-city and edge data centres. Understanding the differences between them will help you pick the best option for your business. Centralised...
At the time of writing we’re almost two months into the government lockdown and many people anticipate that mass remote working will be standard practice for the foreseeable future. So, businesses...
With organisations having to quickly mobilise unified communication tools to support home working, is now the time to review the security of these systems?
Hybrid cloud is one of the cloud leading approaches, but managing these environments can get very complex. Our tips look at ways of managing hybrid cloud.
Achieve the full potential and value of cloud solutions. We look at different objectives and how your cloud strategy supports them in different scenarios.
With Unity on a SIM, you can extend your company’s PBX into your employee’s mobile devices, keeping them connected to your customers. Discover how here.
Give your O365 users a Microsoft Teams PSTN calling function with Call2Teams™. There’s no doubt that Microsoft Teams has been a...
A company’s data and computer systems are its life blood, and that’s why determining where and how you store your IT infrastructure is a fundamental business decision. Hosting your IT...
It’s fair to say that Covid-19 is probably the biggest stressor to hit business and society in peacetime. But whereas a decade ago the widespread call to work from home would have resulted in...
We’re entering unprecedented times. Just a few weeks ago, the Coronavirus outbreak was happening somewhere else to someone else. Now Covid-19 is affecting all of us and increasingly we’re being...
HPC isn’t new, – just as data isn’t new. Scientists have been using both for a long time. But the amount of data we collect has grown exponentially in the last few decades and it’s no longer...
The IT industry loves abbreviations (it’s in the name!), but the experts don’t always take the time to explain them. For instance, you may have heard your IT team talking about various cloud...
Industry-leading equipment and the expertise and commitment of our engineers means that we’ve been able to ensure power availability within our UK data centres. In the modern business world,...
Secure remote access to HSCN services and data provides clinicians critical information to support them to make informed decisions on the move. Get your questions answered below on HSCN secure remote...
High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are fundamentally different from each other, but how they work together is vital to the future of computing. HPC is hardware, and AI...
We can say that the time for “moving to the cloud” has now passed with 88% of UK businesses using public cloud services in 2018, but yet security still remains as a major worry. With such a large...
HSCN is an important transitional step towards the Internet First policy, making digital health and care services available over the internet. In this FAQs article we look at what will this mean for...
January 2020 may have marked the end of support for Windows 7 but FOI requests released the same month show that a staggering 46% of machines in the NHS are still running the OS, this despite the...
Every company will have different data storage needs. Figuring out which is the best option for your company requires taking into account a number of factors. We have put together pros and cons to...
With over 90% of companies using at least one type of cloud service – and roughly a third of IT budgets dedicated to cloud – understanding cloud computing and its benefits for your business is an...
Following the Government Digital Service’s effective green light to public sector use of the public cloud, health and care service providers and clinical application ISVs are keen to exploit public...
For the last two years people have been transitioning from N3 to HSCN and at the same time, replacing the overlay services they took. With the BT bridging gap from N3 to HSCN collapsing in August...
Over the past five years, with the maturing of G-Cloud and the Cloud First approach, and the more recent green light given by Government to the use of public cloud, the public sector, including the...
One of the issues I have with much of the PR hoopla around SD-WAN is its tendency to major on the cost savings, with the implication that organisations could finally unshackle themselves for good from...
Proactive management, monitoring, securing and reporting of a complex network are difficult things to get right. Investing in managed network services can appear to be the answer, bringing you better...
Migrating to an IP telephony solution doesn’t have to cause downtime or disruption. Our tips look at how you can migrate to a IP telephony system smoothly. 1. Develop a strategy based on...
There was a time when organisations only had to concentrate on their core offer: baking cakes, selling furniture, making cars, providing care etc. But over the past three decades, every specialist...
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides the ability to run many customer servers on the same physical server hardware through the use of server virtualisation. The concept is a repeat of the...
Many companies are still using traditional backup methods which can cause issues and be ineffective in comparison to online data backup solutions. We look at common issues come with traditional onsite...
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) allows organisations to provide their employees with a virtualised desktop environment to any device, with the data and systems hosted from the cloud. This article looks at...
This article will review one aspect of the ODI product, the concept of “Knowledge Modules”, and discuss how these can be used to stream-line the ETL development process through the use of...
Legacy environments, ageing hardware and heavily integrate systems are creating a drive for more government departments and public sector bodies to transition to a Cloud-based future to leverage...
Back in May 2013, the then coalition government formally introduced the ‘Cloud First’ policy that has done so much subsequently to drive and shape IT procurement and deployment across the public...
There are many reasons for relocating your IT equipment to a new data centre, varying from a refresh of equipment currently running in-house to dissatisfaction with an existing data centre to a desire...
Hybrid cloud is continuing to influence many an enterprise IT strategy, but there’s no denying that it can be an initially-complicated topic. So, to help guide you through this popular solution,...
ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, a broadband communications technology that can run over existing copper telephone lines. Through a single ADSL connection users can make voice calls...
When Cloud collaboration happens in an unregulated environment that can’t be audited, where intellectual property can’t be protected, and where data and network security can’t be guaranteed,...
We have the skills, the experience and the ability to deliver a ‘best fit’ meeting and collaboration solution for your business. Since the word ‘Skype’ became a slang term for a video call and...
This article will review the web service features of ODI and discuss how they can be used to develop and deploy a ‘data service’ layer that will prove critical within a Service Oriented...
By the end of the decade, the NHS’s N3 wide area network will have passed into IT history: as of 2017, the transition to the next generation Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) will begin....
If you’re migrating to a cloud environment – or maybe you’re already operating within a virtual space and just want to learn more about the available solutions – it’s important to know...
This article compares the two systems and highlights the similarities, differences and details what is to be gained by moving over to Hyperion Planning from OFA. It also looks at the methodology to...
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is best visualised as sitting in the middle of a three-tier Cloud computing pyramid that also comprises IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and...
Have a Vision Before you even get to define your business case, proactively engage with your end users to understand how they work today, find out what’s important and how the introduction of a...
Cloud computing is becoming increasingly-common in business, with online software and applications revolutionising the way we work – from communicating to file sharing. And, as part of our evolution...
For well over a decade, outsourcing tried to take a foot hold, but only over the last two to three years, things have matured, most notably with providers presenting us with stronger, more compelling...
Following the acquisitions of Outlooksoft and Business Objects in 2007, SAP have recently announced a revised go-to-market offering for Planning, Budgeting and Consolidation. As a result of this,...
Essentially, the key to Disaster Recovery success is having a realistic and well understood set of objectives that are based on the business needs. This involves planning and preparation, from the...
The technology industry loves its confusing terminologies and TLAs (three-letter acronyms). Things had improved mainly because of the consumerisation of IT but yet there still exist a lot of different...
What would happen to your business if you experienced a catastrophic data loss? Would your business survive? The statistics are alarming, 43% of businesses never re-open after a major disaster. A well...
SQL Server professionals have always been locked in the dilemma of which SQL Server High Availability solution to recommend to clients who require a cheap, easy to install and reliable solution. In...
At Redcentric we’ve a long history of doing business with the public sector, and like anyone else working within this sector we’re well aware of the Government’s Business Impact...
For all the media’s fascination with the apparent inexorability of uber-sophisticated cyber attacks on our nation’s businesses and organisations, recent events have shown that security risks can...
Given the rate of data growth along with the increasing importance of business information, a cost effective, offsite data archiving service can deliver significant business benefits. A good data...
These are interesting times for public sector ICT teams. On the one hand, you have Government progressively moving the narrative towards ‘Cloud Native’ – an aspiration for ‘born in the...
Despite the remarkable advances in online shopping, I’m still staggered when the order I submitted late on Sunday evening turns up at my front door before midday on Monday. How do they do that? As...
As of April this year, all health and care organisations will fully transition to the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN), leaving N3 a thing of IT past. For over fifteen years, N3 has provided a...
Data backup is required by all businesses. With legal requirements tightening and data volumes growing out of control, traditional tape backup is no longer a reliable or cost effective means of...
As DevOps moves from early adopter territory into the mainstream, there is the inevitable evolution in how it is described. As with Agile before it, ask twenty people to define DevOps and you’ll get...
According to recent research by CompTIA only 4% of firms have actually rolled out a full Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. In it’s Third Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility research, CompTIA...
In 2016 Redcentric announced that it was offering connectivity to Amazon Web Services (AWS), which was a logical move given customer demand for AWS requiring N3 connectivity and cloud services. We...
Another week and another cloud service provider bites the dust. OK, so I am being a little dramatic, it’s been a few months since the last high profile closure. But whether it’s one day or 100...
As threats continue to evolve and evade traditional security measures, these next generation solutions are able to provide advanced application level security to protect the network while delivering...
We look at the features and benefits of the BT 21CN network as well as common questions about the service. 1. WHAT IS BT’S 21CN? BT is investing billions of pounds in changing out the various UK...
There’s no doubt that the advantages of SIP trunking over ISDN30 are being recognised but anecdotal evidence from our customers suggests that many network providers are reluctant to actively sell...
Communication technology is so ubiquitous in our personal lives that we forget it can be a challenge to implement effective communication technology in the workplace. Decades of siloed infrastructure...
Public sector procurement of IT services and products has undergone something of a makeover in recent years. When once we ran slow, onerous, cumbersome and expensive processes, today things are...
I’ve been asked a couple of times recently whether our support for SD-WAN is a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas? After all, Redcentric has built a business on managed networking and the...
An article in CRN argues that many users do not understand the risks of Internet telephony. The author, the CEO of a security consultancy, is right to be concerned about the complexities and...
As an IT professional with a particular interest in data and Cloud services, I often stumble across nuggets of information that grab my attention. I’m sure I’m not alone in my fondness for facts...
Over the past decade no other industry has been disrupted by technology quite as much as retail; so much so, consumers now consider retailers without up-to-date technology to be untrustworthy....
2017 will be the adoption tipping point for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies according to a recent Gartner report. In just three years from now we’ll see more employees accessing corporate...
According to market analyst company, The 451 Group, the market for virtualised desktop environments (VDI) is estimated to reach $5.6billion by next year. With the ability to provide high performance...
Twenty years ago many organisations were looking at the Microsoft and Citrix combination to help them engineer a server back-end that could simplify and streamline sysadmin, extend the life of ageing...
Unified Communications (UC) solutions are moving into the cloud, at pace, and this year, with particular focus on collaboration as a UC adjunct, will function as the tipping point for this migration....
Combining LDRS, STPS and the Nhs Five Year Forward View As the NHS continues its program of digital transformation, technology strategies also have to change and mould in order to adhere to the...
Welcome to Redcentric’s guide to server room air conditioning and cooling in a data centre. Even if you’ve never looked into cooling options before, by the end of this guide, you’ll...
In this article we’re going to be talking about the different data centre tier levels, what they cover and whether they’re still relevant. The data centre tier levels were first started by...
As global use of the internet rises sharply each year, data centres might be the only way to keep this enormous industry energy efficient. Why is internet use such an impact on energy consumption?...
Firewalls are an essential part of a company’s cyber security, but there are different types of firewall available and you need to deploy the correct firewall for your company to ensure you are...
What is the cloud? Think of your own personal computer (PC) and all the data (documents, images, videos, applications etc.) that is stored on it, as well as the programs (email, games, word processor)...
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) is an effective and dangerous form of cyber attack that requires specific protections in place to defend your IT. How does a DDoS attack work? DDoS attacks flood...
What is FM-200 and how does fire suppression work in a data centre? As a professional data centre operator, we utilise a variety of systems to ensure that your IT equipment is safe from the effects...
Everyone needs to back up their computer data including things like documents, customer details and financial information to keep it safe from theft, fire or being accidentally deleted. And most small...
Unsurprisingly hybrid cloud has become the cloud model of choice for many organisations that want to build greater flexibility into their infrastructure in a cost effective and future proof manner....