Tag Archive for Business Technology

Finding superfast broadband for your business in 2019

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
The UK government defines superfast broadband as 24Mb/sec.
What’s more, that definition is an average speed, so your ‘superfast broadband’ could be running at 5-8Mb/sec for much of the day.
Is fibre the answer?
That depends on the fibre connection we are talking about. Domestic fibre connections are definitely not the answer.
FTTC
Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) connections are better than ADSL copper wiring, but they don’t have the capacity because the connection is shared between fifty premises. An additional issue with FTTC connections is the final few hundred metres of copper cable; a material that is fundamentally unsuited to carrying massive amounts of data.
FTTH
Fibre to the home (FTTH) connections are better than FTTC, but your internet connection is still shared with fifty households, so you will never get the maximum speed out of the fibre.
Contention ratio
This high contention ratio was a way to roll out fibre connections quickly but means that everyone on a domestic optical fibre connection gets less than the quoted speed for much of the time. The overcrowding problem is getting worse every year.
When fibre first started rolling out in the 1990s the only demands on it were from personal computers. Thirty years

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Many small businesses still aren’t prepared for cyber attacks

Many small businesses aren’t adequately prepared for a cyber attack despite a rise of incidences, according to Hiscox. The firm surveyed 5,400 companies across seven countries, assessing cyber security strategy and execution then ranking them accordingly. More than three out of five firms (61%) report one or more attacks in the past year, up from

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7 ways SMBs benefit from using HR software

Sooner or later your workforce and the human resources responsibilities that come with it will grow. In order to save costs, according to ADP’s Ad Hoc Human Resource Management Study, 54% of small business owners handle employment matters on their own, even though this time would be better off invested in sales, new technology and
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Invoice fraud: many small businesses aren’t aware of the risks

One in ten small businesses don’t know the risk posed by invoice fraud. The findings from UK Finance, reveal that these scams cost firms almost £93 million in 2018. Last year saw 3,280 invoice and bank mandate scam cases involving businesses. Each loss per case averaged at a staggering £28,000. Thankfully, around £29.6 million of
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Almost a third of small businesses have no cyber security strategies

A worrying 30% of small businesses don’t have any cyber security strategies in place at all, according to new research from Business in the Community (BITC). The report, Would you be ready for a cyber attack?, reveals some eye-opening findings for small businesses. For example, only 35% of small and medium-sized businesses have a basic
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7 reasons to move your small business to Office 365

Finding the right tech solutions for your small business can be trying, especially when you feel like you’re working every hour of the day. Your mind may have jumped to Microsoft first – it’s one of the best-known names on the market. We explore why Office 365 should be the go-to for your company. Pay
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Making Tax Digital bridging software: what is it and how much does it cost?

Making Tax Digital comes in on 1st April and VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover of more than £85,000 must have the right software in place for it. However, it seems that many don’t. HMRC’s own research indicates that one in five firms (19%) that are required to be MTD-compliant by the beginning of April haven’t even
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Voice search for small businesses

With the rise of Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant, we’re seeing more and more voice searches. Comscore says that 50% of all searches will be done through voice by 2020. Further research by Gartner shows that around 30% of searches will be made without a screen by that point. Far from just being able to
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Drone laws UK: how do they affect small businesses?

Gatwick Airport has been closed since the night of 19th December due to a number of drones flying over the runway. Tens of thousands of passengers have seen their flights delayed or cancelled as a result. The disruption could last for ‘several days’, with flights being diverted to nearby airports. Earlier this year, new laws
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These are the practical applications of AI for small businesses in the UK

We’re entering a period of exponential change in business. If SMEs don’t move from legacy technology systems to modernise, automate and innovate they’ll be swept away by the age of digital transformation. Nobody knows quite where AI will lead us, but we do know that if businesses don’t embrace new technologies they won’t survive. But
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