Company News & Press Releases 2004

For A Successful Start In IT - Think People Skills As Well As Technical Skills

School leavers about to begin their first job in IT or about to begin further education should bear in mind that most IT companies are just as likely to value people skills as much as they do actual technical skills, according to Darran Hamer, technical director of IT specialist, Active Technology.

“As an employer in the IT industry, I am continually impressed by the technical levels of most of the potential employees that I meet but also equally appalled by their apparent lack of people skills,” explains Darran. ...even the most highly
skilled person would not
be offered a job unless
they also had the right
communication skills

“To make it in today’s IT industry, it is often not enough to simply be a good programmer or technician, as many of the jobs on offer require employees to deal with people at least as well as they deal with computers.

“Many students on IT courses can almost bypass any aspect of the more socially interactive arts and humanities subject matters, in favour of many hours spent working alone in front of a computer screen. As a result of this, they pick up far fewer of the basic ‘soft skills’ required for the IT service industry.

“These skills include dealing with difficult customers and having the ability to ask the right questions to quickly get to the route of a customer’s problems. The second key element of such skills involves being able to explain technical procedures to the customer in plain English so that they fully understand what their problems are and how the consultant is going to solve them.

“Universities and higher education colleges are currently doing very little to address this lack of ‘soft skills’ so it is down to any further education student or school leaver to arm themselves either before or during higher education or their first IT role.

“Work experience is the ideal way to learn, as actually spending time in a consultancy environment will allow students and school leavers to witness soft skills in action, every hour of every day.

“Local business links also offer free consultations to students and school leavers looking to learn new skills, with some actually holding free, ad hoc seminars on communication skills for business.

“Learndirect also offer a number of free online courses in this area, but the best way by far to learn these skills is to actually spend some work experience or work shadowing time with real businesses that will be dealing with customers all the time.

“When we recruit, our first stage is to obviously look for the right technical skills, but even the most highly skilled person would not be offered a job unless they also had the right communication skills.

“Any service provider’s business depends on its ability to communicate with customers and understand their needs, and any person who could not be called upon to deal with a customer enquiry wouldn’t really fit into our structure.

“So it is worth remembering that by taking this advice and learning to compliment technical skills with people skills, further education students and school leavers will be doubling their chances of securing a rewarding first step onto the IT career ladder,” concludes Darran.

Active Technology is about to embark upon a scheme with a local Buckinghamshire college, which will see its employees working with IT students, offering them work experience, running e-commerce projects and participating in lessons to help students understand the key functions of IT in business.

September, 2004

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Lack Of Basic IT Security Knowledge Is SMEs Greatest Threat

As more companies begin to conduct business online and allow employees to work remotely, they need to be more aware of how to avoid compromising the security of their business’ IT networks, according to Darran Hamer, technical director of IT specialists, activetechnology.co.uk

“Contrary to common belief, companies do not need to spend thousands to guarantee their network security when working via the internet, as many of the key security principles can be put into place and adhered to very simply,” explains Darran. e-mails are not
always what they
appear to be

“Firstly, any firm which makes use of e-mail or the Internet needs to ensure that it has a good Anti Virus programme - and that it is kept constantly updated.

“Company’s should also install a good firewall to protect any unauthorised users gaining access to private files on their networks.

“One very common mistake that businesses make, is to not ensure that their versions of Windows are kept up to date with the latest patches and security fixes.  This is especially frustrating, as these programmes actually have reminders which, when actioned, actually do all of the work for the user at the click of a button!

“Other programmes, such as Outlook Express have their own security features and users should always ensure that these are switched on and are properly configured.

“Any company should always bear in mind the fact that e-mails are not always what they appear to be and should treat all electronic mail with caution.  This is especially important when opening attachments from sources unknown to the user - which should not be opened at all.

“It is also important for businesses to remember that they should not give out their e-mail addresses randomly to other people.  This could not only represent a security risk to the company, but also allow others to use the e-mail address as a target for frequent spam mailings.”

August, 2004

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SMEs - Understand Potential Risks Of Wireless

Small businesses should be seriously analysing whether wireless IT systems are the best way forward for them, according to Darran Hamer, technical director of IT specialists Active Technology.

“With speculation currently suggesting that wireless IT systems could become overloaded and simply ‘fall over’ in the future, SME’s would be wise to assess what real benefits they stand to gain from going wireless in their offices,” explains Darran. 20 companies within
the same wireless
range as each other
could cause problems

“Having a wireless IT or ‘WiFi’ system is great for firms with employees who are constantly on the move around their offices and at the same time, dependent on information from the Internet or their company mainframe.  In this environment the culture of the company demands a wireless IT solution for the fluidity of the business.

“However, this is not the case for most companies, who could operate just as efficiently with cabled networks, thus avoiding dependency on a system that has yet to be proven in the long term.

“In my opinion, although ‘WiFi’ has been around for a number of years, it has had a relatively slow take-up.  Once many businesses have it, the airspace is going to become rapidly crowded.

“There are typically 11 frequency channels that are automatically selected to avoid interference.  Ideally, firms operating their systems on these frequencies will have one or two spare frequency channels either side of the actual channel that they are using, for optimum performance.

“When wireless IT systems become more popular, there will not be the luxury of such frequency space.  It doesn’t take long to realise that 20 companies within the same wireless range as each other could cause problems.

“This will create overload and cause some people’s systems to overlap, which at best may cause them to slow down or crash, or worse, allow them unrestricted access into other firms’ IT systems, as by default, most wireless systems are established without any form of security, encryption or firewall.

“Wireless is a truly liberating technology for the small business, but as yet, it remains unproven in the long term, and so small firms should simply apply caution and not blindly follow current business trends when making IT decisions.

Any businesses who remain unsure about wireless IT systems can contact Darran Hamer at Active Technology on (01296) 398 561.

July, 2004

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Active Technology Wages War On Spam

Leading local IT service provider, Active Technology has launched a new cost effective product, which will help any business to eradicate almost all unwanted e-mails.

The new e-mail security package, known as e-Gateway, will intercept all unwanted e-mails before they reach the intended recipient.  This means that companies will be far safer from the risk of viruses, time-wasting spam mailings and disturbing and illegal pornography.

Recent legislation changes have made companies and their directors responsible for content sent via e-mail, dramatically increasing the need to ensure that only legitimate information is circulated on company networks. e-Gateway, will intercept
all unwanted e-mails
before they reach the
intended recipient

The package works by routing all of a company’s incoming e-mail via Active Technology’s own powerful servers, where e-mail is automatically scanned for spam, pornography and most importantly, viruses.  Suspect e-mail is kept in a secure space for periodic viewing, and all clean e-mail immediately forwarded onto its original destination.

This will not only virtually remove the risk of viral infection for a company’s IT system, but also free up their servers of unwanted large files, often trafficked by spam mail, which is currently accounting for a massive 70% of all e-mail traffic.

The e-Gateway package will not only scan all incoming e-mails, but also those which are outgoing, ensuring that companies which subscribe to the package never accidentally infect their clients and customers with their e-mail communications.

To avoid disruption to users, the package has been designed to be easily integrated within their existing electronic mail systems, or simply installed as a stand-alone system itself.

“We are always looking for ways in which we can help to strengthen the IT systems of our clients, and this new package will provide peace of mind for all of its users,” explains Active Technology technical director, Darran Hamer.

“Security is the main function of the package, but when designing it, we were also aware of the value of not exposing SME employees to enticing, time- wasting e-mails and the potentially damaging allure of pornographic spam.”

To find out more about the this new service from Active and its key benefits, please visit the new e-Mail Protection section of our site.

June, 2004

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Is Prevention Better Than Cure?

If you didn’t get your car serviced for a long time, would you be surprised if it broke down?  In the same way your company IT is dependant on a good upkeep.  But what does this mean, “...help ensure that
small problems
don’t escalate into
major disasters.” and how does it affect you and your company?  When all said and done, the old adage still holds true: “prevention is better than cure.”  It therefore stands to reason that regular servicing of your IT system can seriously help prevent downtime, allowing you and your colleagues to be far more productive.  Preventative maintenance visits supplied by Active Technology help ensure that small problems don’t escalate into major disasters:

“Immediately following the release of the Blaster worm virus, companies that held preventative maintenance contracts with us actually had their scheduled appointment brought forward.  We were quickly able to apply a fix, issued by Microsoft, to the vulnerability in Windows exploited by Blaster at the time; avoiding a major catastrophe and allow minimum disruption to company workflow.”  Darran Hamer, Technical Director of Active Technology in Aylesbury.

A prime example, but one of many.  Can you be sure your data backup solution is doing its job?  That your Anti-virus is up-to-date and effective?  And that your server is not chugging low on resources or disk-space?  Preventative maintenance will bring peace of mind.  With ever advancing technology, it's now possible for us to do many of these preventative duties remotely, avoiding the need for an onsite visit, saving you time and money.  Stay on top of those everyday potential problems and let Active Technology make computers make sense.

February, 2004

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