News in the Channel - issue #17

SHARP

larger amounts of capital expenditure rather than rebuilding large IT infrastructures.” Another growth area is hybrid working. “Sharp can advise clients on how to navigate successfully and securely the journey to hybrid working,” says Colin. “It was obviously forced upon businesses at the start of the pandemic, but since then a lot of businesses have found that it works for their business and employees, so they’re maintaining some level of hybrid working. That’s caused a shift in how they use technology and how that technology needs to be secured, and this is a critical conversation that we are having with our clients on an ongoing basis.” Security As Colin says, security for all business technology – whether in the office or elsewhere – is imperative as more devices become networked and therefore potential entry points for a cyberattack. “Again, we ensure we remain abreast of those technologies and Sharp is delivering appropriate security solutions to our clients that deliver what they need, at an affordable cost,” he says. “But we still find that security is often overlooked. Sharp surveyed 5,770 businesses across Europe in 2023 – including about 550 businesses in the UK – and 34% felt that their users need better training and are a weak point potentially in any security solution that’s put in place. “Sharp is launching cybersecurity awareness training throughout Europe to ensure that users are trained on an ongoing basis through simulated phishing attacks and other security topics like not downloading files, a strong password policy, etc. Security can be overlooked – businesses can buy loads of technology but forget about the users who can be the weak point if they’re not trained in security protection. “Security has been an ongoing focus for Sharp and any good success MSP should be focusing on security for their clients too. The phrase that I use is we want our clients to work smarter but safer through better use of technology. There are two angles there: thinking about how technology can improve our clients’ business, growth and overall profitability, but also ensuring that within those parameters they’re working safely. That means having the right protection tools, but also ensuring that the users are kept fully

trained on an ongoing basis. It isn’t just doing the training once a year, it’s got to be ongoing because if you don’t continue to reinforce training, it can fall by the wayside.” Developing AI capability Part of the security conversation now is the role of artificial intelligence (AI), Colin adds. “There are the bad threat actors out there who now have AI tools and can become even cleverer than they already are,” he says. “So therefore, cybersecurity protection, the tools we use, and the training need to be stepped up to reflect this.” But there are positive uses for AI, and Sharp, with its emphasis on staying at the cutting edge of technology, is developing its AI capability and services. “Internally, we’re testing how AI can make Sharp more efficient and even more professional in the services we’re delivering to our clients,” Colin explains. “AI is increasing our efficiency. For example, we are finding, especially in our meetings and email management, we’re saving people half an hour to an hour a day, which is a considerable saving. “We’ve also got 10 people focused on Microsoft Copilot within our business – we call them Copilot champions – where we are testing it to see the efficiency gains it’s giving us and so we can become knowledges expert and then deliver consultancy and advice to our clients on it.”

Sharp surveyed 5,770 businesses across Europe in 2023 – including about 550 businesses in the UK – and 34% felt that their users need better training and are a weak point potentially in any security solution that's put in place. “

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