Join our special guest DCI Chris Maddocks, the head of Economic and Cyber teams in the North West and our very own Chris Piggott, Synextra CEO.Our Cyber Security webinar is where we’ll be sharing the most common mistakes that we see in businesses and organisations when it comes to Cyber Security and Phishing. We will explore how these mishaps can be avoided and examine the real impacts and repercussions on real organisations that members of the police force such as DCI Chris Maddocks have experienced and investigated firsthand.From easy-to-implement VPN systems to staff training we discuss the best practices for businesses and individuals to stay safe against cyber criminals and phishing attacks.Useful links:Northwest regional crime unit https://www.nwrocu.police.ukNorthwest Cyber resilience centre https://www.nwcrc.co.ukReport Phishing https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams/report-scam-emailreport@phishing.gov.ukReport to Action Fraud 24-hour City of London police https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa2/fraud/action-fraud/Have I been pwnd https://haveibeenpwned.com#cybersecuritytraining #phishing #webinar #cybercrime #cyberattack #socialmedia 00:00 Introduction02:00 Protecting Businesses-2FA03:01 Risks Of Ransomware05:28 Social Media Compromises07:30 The Cyber Security Skills Gap13:19 Phishing Attack Vectors-Email15:30 Crypto Currency And Crime16:38 Exchange Web Proxy Exploits18:03 Phishing Awareness20:59 Turning The Tide On Ransomware 26:36 What Can People Do To Protect Themselves33:30 Password Advice41:15 Advice For Small Businesses And Charities 44:13 Distributed Denial-Of-Service DDoS45:48 Police Cyber Investigation Process47:42 Security Of Public Wifi52:29 Other Attack Vectors53:14 Disgruntled Employees57:21 DDoS Analogy58:28  Laws Around Cyber Crime1:03:59 Conclusions---Contact//Tel: 0161 883 1383Email: enquiries@synextra.co.ukVisit the website: https://www.synextra.co.uk---Social media//• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synextra• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synextra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd-• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNhzi_d1GyV1WKtvO4sbdA• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/synextra

The Experts in Polo Shirts are discussing the issues around TikTok, the hugely popular short video app every person and their cat is rushing in to use and yet it is being banned on government and company phones; but why? We discuss the security and misinformation issues that surround the platform. It is the fastest-growing social media platform, but today we'll be asking "is time up for TikTok?"---0:00 Introduction0:28 Do we use TikTok?1:58 TikTok Security Risks3:34 Online disinformation and Silicon Valley bank5:48 Censorships and suspensions 7:30 Cyber Security and data collection10:55 The “Troll Factory”12:20 Steven Bartlett’s fake footballer Pitch deck13:20 TikTok as a search engine14:27 Does google control online information?16:39 TikTok, ad products and info collection19:30 TikTok short-form content and how it affects other social media apps20:35 TikTok online shop and commissions---Want to watch the video version of the podcast, follow the link belowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJkcn9XyF2Y---Useful links:https://www.dailywire.com/news/navarro-on-tiktok-all-the-data-goes-right-to-servers-in-chinahttps://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/02/google-abandoned-its-dont-be-evil-mantra-former-exec-says.htmlhttps://512.soccer/the-day-arsenal-signed-rex-secco/https://metro.co.uk/2015/09/07/the-truth-behind-rex-seccos-34million-transfer-move-to-arsenal-5380023/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/16/the-tiktok-wars-why-the-us-and-china-are-feuding-over-the-app#:~:text=A%20law%20implemented%20by%20China,other%20social%20media%20companies%2C%20collects.---Contact//Tel: 0161 883 1383 Email: enquiries@synextra.co.ukVisit the website: https://www.synextra.co.uk---Social media//• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synextra • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synextra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd- • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNhzi_d1GyV1WKtvO4sbdA • Linktree: https://linktr.ee/synextra

Ladies and gents, we are back again with another contentious episode! Or maybe not contentious enough...Today we're playing a twisted game of Cluedo with IT, and it looks like Colonel Mustard has done the wicked deed with a Candlestick in the Billiard Room! In this instance Colonel Mustard is Microsofts Azure platform, the Candlestick is Public Cloud, and the unfortunate soul is our beloved SysAdmin IT Professional. Forget about the Billiard Room, it doesn’t fit into this metaphor really well so we're hoping you don't read this far!Seriously tho, we're talking about the Death of the SysAdmin and the role that Azure and the public cloud plays in its demise!*Spoilers we don't actually think the role of the Sysadmin is done, we do think it will begin to look pretty different in the near future, watch now to find out the opinions of or CEO Chris Piggott and Infrastructure Engineer Michael Wilde.Four our UK audience and people unfamiliar with the term, SysAdmin is short for System administrator, the are our IT professionals who ensure an organisation's computer systems are functioning and meet the organisation's needs. In other words, SysAdmin support, troubleshoot, and maintain computer servers and networks.---Contact//Tel: 0161 883 1383 Email: enquiries@synextra.co.ukVisit the website: https://www.synextra.co.uk---Social media//• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synextra • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synextra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd- • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNhzi_d1GyV1WKtvO4sbdA • Linktree: https://linktr.ee/synextra

It has been a long time since our last podcast, but we are back!💪Today we're talking about where have we been,  the cost of living crisis and how crazy is at the moment for the public sector, our temporary (for 3 months already 😝) studio and its "fancy" chandelier, the new technology and the old fashioned but still a beast AS/400, customer projects and Cohesity the baffling backup solution (seemingly magical) that has our experts wondering how it work and much much more... That's enough with the spoilers!Get some popcorn, a soft drink, sit back and enjoy!#podcast #technology  #business 00:00 Intro00:34 Office renovation recap02:57 New PCs, laptops on lease and browser tabs05:49 Inflation and the cost of living07:26 Customer projects09:36 Cohisity backup solution - how does it work?14:30 Old technology - AS/40015:58 What's coming up16:32 Fin---Contact//• Tel: 0161 883 1383 • Email: enquiries@synextra.co.uk• Synextra: https://www.synextra.co.uk---Social media//• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synextra • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synextra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/syne... • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNh...

Meet Andy Sefton, Head of IT and Data Security @ Centrepoint, the tech-powered UK charity with standout ambitions to “end youth homelessness by 2037”… ·       Centrepoint charity: centrepoint.org.uk·       Contact details & FAQs: Centrepoint contact ·       Synextra: synextra.co.uk·       Call, email, visit: Synextra contact --- 🥳Happy new year, techie addicts 🥳 – we’re back!  That’s right, just when you thought 2021 had brought all the technology tutorials and cloud-based capers you could handle, it’s time to buckle up for even more IT top tips and practical insights in 2022.  EPISODE 5 | This week, we caught up with Andy Sefton, part-time international man of mystery and full-time technology guru.  When Andy isn’t striving toward his yoga black belt in India or ordering another slice of Sugarloaf in Rio, he can be found helping to hasten the positive impact of charity on society in his role as Head of IT & Data Security at Centrepoint.  What’s in store: ✔ Meet Andy (the man, the myth, the mainframe magician). ✔ Centrepoint Charity work – discover more about Centrepoint, one of the UK’s top charity organisations working to support young homeless people.   ✔ Insights from an industry legend whose first job was replacing “OM” (Office Machinery – that’s “typewriters” to the rest of us) with IT equipment in 1986. As always, if you enjoyed the video, please like, subscribe, and click the bell.   Got a question? Ask us anything. From the life and times of Andy Sefton to Centrepoint’s exemplary charity work (and anything about MSP channel partners along the way), let’s start the conversation and kick 2022 off with new friendships.  🎁2022 GIVEAWAY🎁 To be in with a chance of winning one of 2022’s Hoodie – keyboard – mouse, simply leave a comment! … every 100th subscriber will trigger a hamper giveaway. We’ll choose a lucky winner from the comments section at random – could it be you? Subscribe & comment today.

A hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is a software defined IT solution, redeploying elements such as storage & network to the cloud. Join the debate.---Today, we’re unpacking a two-word topic with the vast potential to transform, streamline, and simplify enterprise level IT operations. Listen in as Chris, Dean, and Mike explore the past, present, and future of hyperconverged infrastructure…What are the benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure?Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) offers multiple benefits over a traditional hardware-defined three-tier architecture. The virtualised layer abstracts and groups resources, expediting the allocation of data requests to apps running in virtual machines. A hyperconverged resource management approach results in:• Efficient IT ProcessesWith HCI, a single outsourced team can monitor, maintain, and manage a company’s virtualised IT solution, eliminating the associated ongoing expenses linked to permanent on-site siloed expertise.• Flexible ScalabilityHCI significantly reduces a company’s on-premises IT requirement. Replace the CAPEX of a traditional three-tier structure with a flexible hyperconverged infrastructure that avoids both vendor lock-in & overprovisioning.• Lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)Vendors can pass on the reduced TCO of a hyperconverged infrastructure in many ways. For example, users stand to make savings across equipment, software, staffing, power & cooling costs, and IT housing costs.• Single-Pane-of-GlassBy virtualising all mission critical elements of a company’s IT solution (e.g., storage, compute, networking), a hyperconverged infrastructure delivers single-pane-of-glass control features, allowing users to control multiple VMs from one centralised interface. • New Deployments & Time to Market HCI facilitates expedited app development & rollout times – all of which can be carried out by less experienced staff accessing online features with reduced physical on-site architecture. For more information on how Synextra can help you to deploy and manage hyperconverged infrastructures for your clients, contact us today.  ---Contact//• Tel: 0161 883 1383 • Email: enquiries@synextra.co.uk• Synextra: https://www.synextra.co.uk---Social media//• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synextra • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synextra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd- • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNhzi_d1GyV1WKtvO4sbdA ---As mentioned in the episode:vSAN ReadyNode™ Sizerhttps://vsansizer.vmware.com/

Ever wondered what the role of a non-executive is in a business?  With a huge amount of experience, not just as a non-exec, but in business as whole, we sit down with Paul Beaumont and dig into how he helps businesses achieve more and perform better. Paul takes us through his interesting journey, detailing just how he got to where he is today talking through his stance on sales and marketing and the importance of brand. Get in touch with Paul on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/consultpb/Join us as we get inside knowledge and insights, really getting that non-executive perspective. TAKE A LOOK AT OUR NEW WEBSITE!https://www.synextra.co.uk/ STAY CONNECTEDWebsite: https://www.synextra.co.uk/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd-/ Twitter | @Synextra

This is your chance to get behind the scenes of recruitment... In this episode we explore the good, the bad and the ugly truth of recruitment - offering genuine insights and insider information. Join us as we talk CV red flags, interview mishaps and what not to do when you’re being technically assessed.Give this episode a listen, get the inside scoop and finally complete that job application we know you’ve been putting off!Give this episode a listen and finally complete that job application we know you’ve been putting off!TAKE A LOOK AT OUR NEW WEBSITE!https://www.synextra.co.uk/STAY CONNECTEDWebsite: https://www.synextra.co.uk/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd-/Twitter | at Synextra

Experts in Polo Shirts: Why Working From Home Isn’t Working for UsWe’re all familiar with remote working or as we often see it, WFH. We are also familiar with the benefits associated with working from home as we see post upon post on social media detailing the perks enough - often alongside pictures of coffee cups and dogs. But are we hearing about the other side of working from home enough? We know about the good, but what about the bad and the ugly?With more and more businesses opting for hybrid working, are you against the norm if you or your business feel five days of working in the office is key? Well, you’re not alone. In this episode we sit down with our CEO, Chris Piggott and Infrastructure Manager, Dean Murray and discuss, why working from home, just isn’t working for us.If you’re looking for some inspiration or just want to listen to an interesting story, get comfy and enjoy!Watch our video podcast here - https://youtu.be/9XX9Ub8AmEkTAKE A LOOK AT OUR NEW WEBSITE!https://www.synextra.co.ukLinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd-/Twitter | @synextraFacebook | https://www.facebook.com/synextra/

How did one person go from a service desk engineer to a CEO of a successful technology company? What did the journey look like? Were there any stumbling blocks along the way? In our first episode of Experts in Polo Shirts, we sit down with Synextra founder and CEO, Chris Piggott and discuss where his journey began and what challenges he has faced to get where he is today. We delve into his chosen leadership styles, his view on being a young CEO in technology and how his career has developed working in the cloud industry.If you’re looking for some inspiration or just want to listen to an interesting story, get comfy and enjoy!Watch our video podcast here - https://youtu.be/V7wnIgK5FIETAKE A LOOK AT OUR NEW WEBSITE!https://www.synextra.co.uk LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/synextra-ltd-/Twitter | @synextraFacebook | https://www.facebook.com/synextra/