Keep up-to-date with the latest IT news, technology trends and IT support advice from the Westlake team.
As is often the case – the answer to the question “Is Microsoft Teams free?” … is yes and no. This article is going to look at Teams purely for SMEs and therefore will focus on Microsoft’s 365 Business plans. How to get Microsoft Teams? SMEs can access Teams in the following ways: In summary,...
Westlake IT is delighted to announce the company has been awarded Microsoft’s Silver Partner Status. Westlake IT now joins the top 5% of Microsoft partners worldwide who have met the requirements for Silver Partner status. To earn the Silver Partner status, Westlake IT has demonstrated consistent capability, expertise, and commitment in three core areas; Cloud...
The Brexit date is currently set for 31 January 2020 and while Boris Johnson has already agreed a deal with the EU, it still needs to be approved by Parliament. If Parliament approves Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill then the UK will exit the EU on 31 January 2020. Trade talks with the EU would begin...
When it comes to dealing with uncertainty, SMEs do have size on their side. Being smaller than their corporate counterparts, they are more agile and can adapt quickly to changing market conditions. But there is a flip side. SMEs that rely on cross border trade are especially vulnerable to disruptions to their supply chain. Stockpiling is...
Westlake advises businesses to review their PC Infrastructure well in advance of this deadline to understand if they are impacted. Chris Apperley explains, “Some businesses may be able to upgrade their Windows 7 PCs to Windows 10, but only if they are compatible and it comes at a cost. Alternatively, they will need to buy...
Westlake is advising businesses to review their existing server infrastructure in advance of Microsoft’s End of Support deadlines and, if they are impacted, to put plans in place to either migrate their on-premise servers to Azure or, if they are eligible, to purchase Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates. Chris Apperley explains, “Doing nothing is not an...
On 29 March 2019, the UK is scheduled to formally leave the EU and the final agreement on the terms and conditions of the UK’s withdrawal will need to be agreed by that date or the UK will potentially face a No-deal exit. On 15 January MPs voted decisively to reject Teresa May’s Brexit deal...
Microsoft’s Office 365 is inherently very safe, with high levels of encryption, but cyber criminals are using increasingly sophisticated ways to circumnavigate security measures and convince users they are genuine with the aim of extorting money or extracting valuable data from organisations or from their customers. Chris Apperley, MD explained, “These policies are not documents...
With a current No 10 position on their worldwide leader board, Buzzword and Westlake are thrilled that Westlake’s rebrand has resonated with so many voters. Chris Apperley, Managing Director commented, “Buzzword did a fabulous job. They understood what we were about and translated that into a powerful logo, strapline and visuals.” The Drum wrote “The...
What is spam, phishing and spoofing? E-mail spoofing is often an attempt to trick the user into making a damaging statement or releasing sensitive information, such as a password. Spam and phishing emails typically use spoofing to mislead the recipient about the origin of the message. Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such...
