Moxmon

Evolution of IT Operations in the World

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:48:25 +0000

Many IT leaders are having to assess how they deliver and support IT services to their users due to IT landscape changes that have happened over the past few years with cloud services, IT outsourcing, and more recently the adoption of remote working. You will be challenged with how you support and service the five generations of workforce and what channels will be required to communicate and support your users. Each demographic will require a different approach to how you upskill and support them. Traditional methods of IT operations are focused on a one size fits all organisation, and the method for delivering and supporting follow this orthodoxy, but this is not fit for all users. This legacy method is not sufficient and requires a change in how you support your business and how you measure the success throughout the life of that service.

Remote working example
We are now entering a remote working revolution which has been forced on us due to natural events. With more users working remotely this will have an impact on how you service your users at a physical / virtual level. From a physical perspective you will need to make changes to your operating model and supply chain of IT hardware for the business. This will involve changes to how you provision your endpoints and continue to manage them on untrusted networks. By losing a physical support presence you will need methods to allow self-service for your users. You will also need to consider the impact to your joiners, movers and leavers (JML) process. Fortunately, technology is ahead of the game and ready to embrace this change, and there are many approaches that can enable your business to work remotely. With the use of cloud services and automation you can start to shift IT operations back to the users and leverage the ability to manage your devices from the cloud without physical connectivity to your endpoints. All businesses have been forced to look at how you can communicate and thanks to many video conferencing solutions with products such as Microsoft Teams this has allowed your workforce to stay in touch and collaborate. When it comes to enabling a remote access, I would recommend you read this article around SASE which can provide your users with security and connectivity regardless of where they are connected with minimal impact to the user experience.

Communication channels
Depending on the demographics of your users, they will be using different communication channels when it comes to support. This is the case both when in the workplace and working remotely. Common channels of communication were focused around a central call centre, but now you will see more focus on digital methods of communication and handling of support issues. If we use a popular shopping site as an example, when you require support the primary channel is via webchat and in some cases it is not even a human agent you are speaking to but a bot. This digital channel experience can be used for your IT operations with the ability to automate requests with no human interaction from a service desk. With the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning you can use tools to understand the request and associate it to an automated workflow. This approach allows your users to continue working and reduces the strain on your IT service desk. This digital channel will be appropriate for many users but some demographics will still prefer the phone approach. But this experience can also be improved and enriched with automation and intelligent IVR processes.

Baby steps…
A lot of the changes I am proposing may seem daunting and a big change to your operations team and culture, but small steps can be made with the right roles and technology to deliver on a digital operations team. All aspects are still heavily focused on the ITIL framework but we generally see Incident, Change and Request fulfilment being used which I would consider as a break fix model. In order to evolve from this legacy approach you need to look at a service orientated model, and this can be done with training to support all demographics of your business and the use of the Continue Service Improvement and Knowledge Management modules of ITIL. These modules will give you processes to measure a service, ensure the business is getting the value of the investment, and provide training and documentation through knowledge management. If you invest in people to implement CSI and knowledge management then you will see a reduction in service requests and incidents and in turn improve your employee experience.

Long Term
In long term in order to strive to a digital operations function you will need to define a roadmap in the tools and architecture to support that journey. Your roadmap will need to consider and be incorporated into your end user strategy;

· Identity strategy for internet and third-party applications

· Tools for management and compliance of your endpoint estates remotely

· Provisioning and the logistics of physical devices to your users. Otherwise known as Device as a service (DaaS)

· Service Management tooling to support;

o Self service automation of request fulfilment

o Chatbot and AI/ML integration

o API integration with third party tooling

o FAQ system

o Pulse check capability (Survey)

o Performance Benchmarking

· Low Code tooling to integrate with multiple sources such as HR, Service management, RPA, Infrastructure and identity providers

· HR processes and policies for JML

· How you deliver your applications to your users

· Remote Access for users across Laptop, Tablet and phones on untrusted networks but ensuring it complies to your security policies

· Understand the behaviours of your user profiles with the use of surveys and interviews to help influence your roadmap

All of these items will contribute to your end user strategy in how you support your employees and deliver on an improved employee experience.

Post-Patch Tuesday Roundup: April 2021

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:47:05 +0000

Welcome to the April Patch Roundup blog, where we cover the latest in patch releases and vulnerability information from Microsoft, Adobe, VMware and the other major vendors.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday
The big news for April is another round of critical Exchange vulnerabilities affecting all supported versions of the on-premise platform from 2013 through to 2019. Comprising four separate bugs and with CVSS scores ranging from 8.8 to 9.8, the worst of these enable attackers to send crafted traffic over the network to a target server in order to compromise it without needing to have authenticated to the server first. This enables attackers to scan the internet for vulnerable servers and fire malicious network packets at them without needing access to the target’s network, similar to the ProxyLogon attack reported earlier in the year.

For a long time, Exchange admins have been able to maintain their platforms with only periodic cumulative updates, sometimes only running updates every 6 or 12 months. With heightened interest in Exchange vulnerabilities overt the last 6 months, attackers are using it as an easy target to gain access to corporate networks, meaning it now requires a much more proactive, monthly patching cycle in line with other critical business assets. With many mail systems now running in a hybrid mode with Office365, it’s important to ensure access to the Exchange servers from the Internet, such as for on-prem hosted Outlook Web Access, has been properly decommissioned.

Aside from Exchange, Microsoft patched a total of 110 vulnerabilities this month, including one being actively targeted by malicious hackers. Exploit code for CVE-2021-28310 has been detected in the wild, however the nature of the vulnerability requires the attacker to be authenticated on the target machine to elevate their privileges, making it a prime candidate for chaining with other sandbox-escape bugs.

Both the Windows OS and the Office suite gets fixes for a number of RPC (remote procedure call) vulnerabilities. Present across all version of Windows, plus Excel, Word and underlying components of the Office suite, these 27 individual bugs can be triggered across the network and Microsoft have provided fixes for Server OSes back to Server 2008 as a result.

Browsers
On the 13th April a security researcher dropped details of a zero-day Remote Code Execution vulnerability for Google’s Chromium browser framework, which is used by a range of browsers including Chrome itself, Microsoft Edge, Opera and others. Google have yet to patch this bug, with the latest release of Chrome being version 89.0.4389.114 released on the 30th March. Chrome is generally good at updating itself automatically, but network administrators who manage updates for end-user devices will want to monitor and push the fixed version once it arrives.

Post-Patch Tuesday Roundup: March 2021

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:45:50 +0000

Welcome to the March Patch Roundup blog, where we cover the latest in patch releases and vulnerability information from Microsoft, Adobe, VMware and the other major vendors.

This month we’re taking a slightly different approach; with multiple out-of-cycle updates and emergency patches released recently by several vendors, we’ll cover everything that’s been going on in the last month as well as yesterday’s Patch Tuesday releases.

MS Exchange Zero Day
On the 2nd of March Microsoft announced patches for four zero-day vulnerabilities in all the supported on-prem versions of Exchange, which were being actively targeted by the “Hafnium” criminal hacking group. Over the following days it was identified that some 30,000 Exchange servers had been targeted, and Microsoft released a further out-of-band update for the otherwise unsupported Exchange 2010. Microsoft advise ensuring all Exchange servers, including any internal-only servers, are fully patched for all relevant Cumulative Updates, and the additional patches released in early March

VMware vCenter Remote Code Execution
VMware vCenter Remote Code Execution VMware have released several advisories through February and March addressing serious vulnerabilities, including a Critical vulnerability in the vSphere client. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 could exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying vCenter Server.

While vCenter is typically not accessible over the internet, this could be used by an attacker as an escalation point if they already have a foothold in the network.

Apple M1 chip malware
It’s taken only a matter of months for hackers to deliver the first targeted malware for Apple’s new range of ARM-based M1 processor chips, with the “Silver Sparrow” or OSX/Slisp malware arriving on some 40,000 devices in late February.

The background to this malware is still unclear – how it spreads, what it does, why it can self-uninstall – with some researchers believing it is either a proof of concept or paving the way for a later fully-fledged attack. Apple promptly released updates and have bolstered these with further patches around Patch Tuesday.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday
On to the traditional Patch Tuesday itself, where we saw 82 further vulnerabilities addressed with the monthly patch release. One of these bugs – a memory corruption bug in Internet Explorer triggered via malicious code in a compromised website – is also known to be under active attack, adding to the four Exchange vulnerabilities already mentioned.

Other notable vulnerabilities include 5 bugs affecting Windows DNS server. This service has been a rich source of attacks in recent months, and while only one of these bugs obtains a Critical rating for its Remote Code Execution methodology, administrators will want to ensure all these issues are addressed.

The remaining fixes are spread across the usual array of apps and tools, and include a Remote Code Execution bug present in the Office suite, elevation of privilege in Windows Folder Redirection tools, and a Remote Code Execution bug in Sharepoint Server.

How to make workplace tech work for you

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:44:05 +0000

Since March 2020, many of us have been working from home either full-time or more than we are used to. And despite COVID-19 restrictions easing and life slowly returning to normal, hybrid working is here to stay.

This new way of working has some huge benefits, like reducing the stresses of commuting, boosting productivity away from office distractions and giving us more flexibility to get other important things done around work.

But the rapid shift to remote working and our over-reliance on technology has left many people finding it hard to disconnect and switch off – at the expense of our mental health.

In fact, according to research, 86 percent of workers find it hard to switch off outside work hours. And this has only worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic blurred the lines between work and home.

So, this Mental Health Awareness Week (10-16th May), here’s 5 simple tips to help make workplace tech work for you…

1. Stop and think before sending an email out of hours
You may have something urgent to tick off your to-do list before you clock off but be conscious colleagues will be winding down for the day.

Before you send that email or message late at night, think – do I really need an instant response? If the answer is no, save it in drafts and send it when you know people will be online.

It’s easy to create a culture where out-of-hours communication is normal. So, it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect the downtime we all deserve and need. Switching off notifications on your devices can help avoid the temptation to check-in too.

2. Take regular screen breaks
At home, it’s easy to sit in front of your computer screen all day. The distractions and interruptions you’d normally get in a busy office aren’t there.

Screen breaks – just for five minutes every hour – aren’t time wasters. Taking short breaks with a longer break for lunch can prevent decision fatigue, boost energy levels, increase focus and creativity, and lower stress. They can also prevent physical problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and musculoskeletal issues.

To help you remember to take breaks, set up reminders to move on your smartwatch or phone. And encourage your team to do the same!

3. Go back to basics
Workplace tech has made our lives easier, but it doesn’t mean you have to use it for everything.

Meetings without visuals can be good old-fashioned phone calls. If you’re doing training for different colleagues or teams, record a video to avoid repeated Zoom or Teams calls.

Think about what you could do with just pen and paper, like planning your day. When you have something long and detailed to read, print it off and make notes. If your task demands creativity or problem-solving, try brainstorming while you’re walking, doodling, or even taking a mid-morning shower (we’ve all been there!).

4. Know your numbers
Applications and platforms are getting smarter, giving you the ability to check how you spend your time in the virtual office and keep a tab on your hours worked and screen time.

New features in platforms like Office 365 such as ‘My Analytics’, make it super simple to manage and monitor how much time you’re spending working and how you’re using that time, plus whether you’re taking regular breaks.

If you’re concerned by your stats and finding it hard to make a positive change with your current workload, speak to your line manager or HR team.

5. Focus on one device at a time
If your desk looks like a display in your local Currys PC World, it might be time to make a change.

Focusing on too many devices at once can overstimulate your brain and lead to burn out and fatigue, hitting your productivity hard and making switching off in the evenings near on impossible.

If you can’t scale back your screen time, review how many devices you’re using at your desk on a normal day. Try to limit yourself to one device at a time and reduce the amount of “second screening”.

Creating an even brighter future

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:42:45 +0000

This week we have been celebrating National Apprentice Week 2020, it’s an opportunity to raise awareness of apprenticeships being the gateway to a great career.

Apprentices are a vital part of our Softcat family and have been since we developed our award-winning scheme in 2014. We have developed a programme that is industry recognised and provides a fantastic route into business for emerging talent whilst also delivering great results for our business. We passionately believe in creating diverse entry routes into the business, and as such our school leaver focused apprenticeship programme remains a key priority in helping to #BuildTheFuture of Softcat.

Joining a Softcat apprenticeship is one of the best things you could do, but don’t take just our word for it. We caught up with some of our current and past apprentices to see what they think.

Our apprentices share their experiences

What is your role at Softcat?
Natalie Devine, International Logistics Specialist: I am an International Logistics Specialist. I am responsible for orders that need to be exported out of the UK by Softcat to the rest of the world. I work on providing shipping costs/advice to our customers, working with them on international projects and ensuring all deliveries are completed successfully by working with teams internally and externally, like our couriers. I am also responsible internally for ensuring that Softcat have the correct processes in place for shipping internationally and that we are adhering to all government regulations.

Laura Derry, Vendor Alliance Apprentice: In Softcat my role is a Vendor Alliance Apprentice. The Vendor Alliance team supports our Vendors strategies by collaborating with most departments within Softcat, including sales, marketing, and operations. Currently the vendors I am working with include HPE, Apple & Cisco. It is my responsibility to build relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, assist the business managers with general sales queries, engage with marketing and shadow QBRs, all to develop my industry knowledge.

Harry Joyles, Sales Apprentice: I am a Corporate Sales Apprentice. This means I sit on the sales floor in the London office. My main responsibility is to support my customers with any of their IT requirements, and I do this by carrying out quotes, speaking to their IT managers and checking on deliveries.

Sam Cox, Deputy Health Team Leader: My role at Softcat is a combination of leadership and account management. I look after a handful of NHS customers throughout the South of the UK and the Home Counties, whilst also acting as Deputy Team Leader for our 14 strong team of Healthcare Account Managers who look after NHS organisations across the whole of England. My main responsibilities are to make sure our Healthcare team is heading in the right direction from a planning and improvement perspective- NHS customers have very niche requirements which need to be carefully tailored to.

Anna Kennedy-Jones, Partner Marketing Executive: I currently work as a Partner Marketing Executive. Our team collaborates with our partners by offering marketing opportunities that drive our joint propositions. This involves a range of activities from sales incentives, customer engagement opportunities, events, campaigns and more. There are a lot of moving parts within the team, but there is always something new to work on, someone new to work with and having the ability to bounce off various stakeholders allows me to both learn and grow.

Nicol Green, Sales Apprentice: I’m a Corporate Sales Apprentice and my job day to day involves account management, researching and speaking to customers, finding new opportunities within my accounts and providing good customer service. I am also working towards my IT Technical Sales Person qualification which I am very excited about.

What training and development have you received since you joined?
Laura Derry, Vendor Alliance Apprentice: During my apprenticeship I have had regular training. When this year’s apprentice intake joined in September 2020 we all had a two week induction which taught us all we needed to know about Softcat and our roles. Since then we have a monthly group session and a one-to-one meeting with our development coach. As I joined Softcat during the pandemic all of my training was done virtually, however I truly felt that Softcat has worked hard to support us and make it as exciting as possible.

Sam Cox, Deputy Health Team Leader: The training and development throughout my apprentice year was very topical and is probably best described as ‘on the job’ as it all goes towards a single end goal. It was focused on making you into the best version of yourself, and teaching you effective sales techniques. This said, I don’t think anyone expects a single year of training will perfect your skills, so training and development is offered throughout your Softcat career irrespective of whether you’ve been here for 3 years or 20. Knowledge is very important, especially in sales, as it gives you credibility and an edge over a competitor who is also wanting to work with that same customer. Softcat invest a lot of time and resource into training and development and it’s one of the most important aspects of building a successful career in this industry.

What has been your highlight so far at Softcat?
Anna Kennedy-Jones, Partner Marketing Executive: This would have to be the opportunity to meet so many incredible people, from both Softcat and the IT Industry. My apprenticeship and current role have provided me with a number of chances to work with a range of people in different positions, from whom I have learnt so much from. Winning Non-Sales Apprentice of the Year alongside two of my colleagues was also a huge highlight for me. It was a goal of mine from day one, so I feel lucky that Softcat provided me with so many great opportunities to step out of my comfort zone which pushed me to achieve this.

Laura Derry, Vendor Alliance Apprentice: One of my highlights has been participating and supporting in the #ExerciseYourMind challenge. This was put together by my team to motivate employees to exercise during the winter lockdown. The challenge was for each person to complete 100 miles in November while raising £100 for the charity MIND. Softcat ended up raising £11,750 and completing 10,578.64 miles in total. It was amazing to be part of this and help raise money for a great cause at such a difficult time.

Natalie Devine, International Logistics Specialist: My highlight has to be winning Employee of the Year in 2019, I was completely shocked to win something like that and not expecting it all! Then to be able to go on the incentive trip to Malaysia as a result made it ever better. It was a great way to celebrate my time so far at Softcat.

How would you describe the culture at Softcat?
Harry Joyles, Sales Apprentice: Where do I begin? I think the recent Glassdoor and Great Place to Work awards Softcat has won says it all. The culture is amazing, everyone is always so supportive and willing to help out whenever you need them. Without sounding cheesy, I honestly feel like I am part of a family, as since I joined everyone has been so welcoming. I am really looking forward to seeing the culture once we can go back to the office as I know the overall vibe and buzz of the sales floor will be even better than it is now.

Nicol Green, Sales Apprentice: The culture at Softcat is fantastic, it’s so fun and employee focused. There are constantly activities being organised to help us stay motivated and positive while working at home, some of my favourites have been coffee roulette and well-being gifts delivered to your door. This said, I’m also looking forward to going back to working in the office to experience the real Softcat culture in-person.

How has your apprenticeship allowed you to work with other people?
Anna Kennedy-Jones, Partner Marketing Executive: My apprenticeship has been a great way to work and learn from people outside of my team. One of the most memorable opportunities for me was the chance to be involved in a cross-program project. This required us to network with key stakeholders from charities, heads of departments and other apprentices in the business. This experience was invaluable, not just for the success of our project but to develop our networking skills which ultimately benefit our everyday roles.

Nicol Green, Sales Apprentice: The apprenticeship has allowed me to connect with many different people outside of my team. For example, I have joined the Charity Team, BAME, Women in Business and Green Team, all of these different networks have allowed me to meet so many people at Softcat. I love how we catch up every few weeks to discuss current topics and everyone gets to share their opinions. I also enjoy the ‘Cohort Coffees’ where I catch up with apprentices from different offices to share advice and talk about how we’re doing.

Harry Joyles, Sales Apprentice: Doing an apprentice allows you to foster so many different relationships. When it comes to working with people, I have gained so much experience in talking to customers and learning how to involve both internal and external teams or partners in order to deliver the best solution possible.

How has your apprenticeship helped to build your future career?
Sam Cox, Deputy Health Team Leader: The Softcat Apprentice scheme is probably the thing I’m most grateful for in my life at this point. I was pretty worried about work once I left school, but joining Softcat was the perfect decision. It gave me the exact foundations I needed to progress and they genuinely make it such a positive experience that you won’t want to leave – I’ll likely feel indebted for the rest of my career! I’m proud to have Softcat as my employer- you’re supported from day one, but also given enough flexibility to work in ways which you excel in. Apprentice performance never fails to turn heads right across the business and this only keeps improving year on year, an absolute testament to the internal team who run the programme.

Anna Kennedy-Jones, Partner Marketing Executive: My experience of taking an apprenticeship at Softcat, has shown me that they do a very good job at breaking the stereotype of an ‘apprentice’. From the moment you join you are treated the same as someone entering the role of an executive, something I am incredibly grateful for. Softcat offers you an incredible amount of opportunities which has allowed me to build a fantastic foundation for my future career.

Natalie Devine, International Logistics Specialist: Doing an apprenticeship and starting off in a workplace so young helped me to mature very quickly and opened my eyes to the opportunities out there. It helps you believe in your own abilities and learn on the job whilst also gaining qualifications to better your career. If you ever get the chance to do an apprenticeship, I would really recommend it- I am so grateful for everything I have learnt at Softcat.

DEM – What is it ? Why is it so important now ?

moxmon — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 08:37:58 +0000

Digital Experience Management (DEM) is not just tooling.

Digital Experience Management is not new – it’s been around for several years. However, for most of this time it didn’t have a name. Most companies have the ability to conduct DEM but just don’t know how to.

So what is DEM ? Digital Experience Management (or sometimes “Monitoring”) is the end to end management of the IT users experience. From the early days of widespread corporate IT environments – IT operations managers have tried to minimise down time for the business by monitoring the systems that support it. This started with basic availability monitoring of IT infrastructure with a simple Up/Down alerting system. As these tools progressed more complex monitoring tasks could be performed such as Processor and Memory utilisation. This eventually evolved into specific application monitoring for both availability and performance.

This maturity however is not DEM. Traditional monitoring solutions still look at the IT estates from the perspective of the backend infrastructure and applications. A true DEM solution focuses on the end to end application / process journey from a user / customer point of view.

Where things become tricky is when 3rd party solutions come into play. You should have control over the parameters within your own estate, but when it comes to components that are part of a Cloud solution this can be more difficult. For example, if you are using a web service from a cloud provider how do you monitor from the end user through to that service. These things can be overcome using the tools provided by the cloud providers.

This is all great stuff – but a DEM tool is only as good as the information that surrounds it. It is pointless having the best of breed DEM tool if you don’t have accurate information to act on. For example, a DEM tool needs an accurate hardware and software asset list to work with. Without this all you will have is a list of errors and no way to accurately resolve them.

It is important to understand that Digital Experience is not just about the tooling. It is about “Experience”. Experience is not just the applications and the interface its also about the process as well. Ask yourself – do you remember your IT onboarding process – the first time you were given your company device. Was it informative, slick, well documented and quick? – unlikely right! All too often it’s usually rushed, poorly documented etc…. you get the picture.

What about training – is it fun, informative, easy to understand and useful. Probably not!!. It’s usually outdated, boring and long winded.

When your company’s IT department updates the systems you work with – are they well communicated? Do things always go to plan? Is everyone happy the next day? When you want that vital PowerPoint restoring from 2 weeks ago – is it available within minutes!

All these things add up to the user experience.

What about your customers – when they visit your web page – what’s their experience like.
Some facts:

Performance: 53% of mobile users abandon session if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load
Impact: 79% of users will not return after negative experience
Root Cause: 75% of users expect online help resolution within 5 minutes
And then we have day to day support. How do you contact IT, is it still via a helpdesk with an email or phone number? The vast majority of millennials wouldn’t dream of ringing a helpdesk – at best they may email – they prefer an instant response – Chat is the way forward and all this can be achieved using state of the art AI.

DEM is even more relevant in the “New Way of Working”. With more and more people working at home and a step change that will be here for good, it is vital that companies can monitor & measure the Digital Experience for all users and customers wherever they are. This is where it gets tricky. In a traditional office environment, you can control the environment. You know the infrastructure, the connections, the hardware etc… It’s a different ball game when it comes to home working or mobile working. Let’s take an example of a user working at home on their company laptop. The user rings up and says – “My emails are slow” – OK – so what do we look at. All looks well on the backend. You would normally start to look at the connectivity – but what could it be. Is it the Wi-Fi Connection? Is it the broadband speed, where is the router plugged in, do they even know where the router is? Is it a problem with the ISP, is there an issue on the built in Firewall, is it contention based – or is it Billy playing fortnight in his bedroom (Sorry – streaming his lessons over BBC iPlayer)?

It gets complicated – but there are tools out there that can help. Don’t get me wrong these tools were originally designed for the corporate world – but the vendors are playing catchup and have started to enhance the ability to do realistic troubleshooting at home.

A true DEM solution in my opinion needs the following: –

User centric monitoring platform with full device and environment monitoring.
Traditional Infrastructure Availability & Capacity monitoring
Accurate Asset List with controlled updates
Skilled People
Smooth Onboarding & Training
Efficient evergreen update process
Intuitive support features – Chat / Portals / Self Help

With these elements in place a company can truly manage the Digital Experience across their Estate.