Endeavour are official suppliers to the G-Cloud 7 Framework

Endeavour Information Solutions is pleased to announce that we have been accepted as a supplier to the G-Cloud 7 Framework.  The G-Cloud Framework is the UK government’s public sector cloud procurement framework which offers a list of approved suppliers who can offer the public sector a wide range of cloud solutions, platforms and services.  

G-Cloud 7 can be used by organisations across the UK public sector including central government, local government, health, education, emergency services, defence and not-for-profit organisations.

Endeavour’s particular offerings are released under Lot 4: Specialist Cloud Services and are broken down as follows:

• Microsoft SharePoint Consultancy & Development
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Consultancy & Development
• Custom Application Development
• Cloud Migration Services

Based in the heart of Belfast, Endeavour has established a strong track record of working in the public and commercial sector over the last 6 years and are currently working on projects with public sector clients in the energy regulation and education sectors.  Now being part of the G-Cloud framework we will continue with this work and be able to offer even more cloud based solutions to public and non-profit sector based customers.

For more information about the range of cloud services Endeavour can offer your organisation, please contact Lee Surgeoner at our offices on 028 9031 1010 or via email to solutions@endeavour-is.com

What's coming to Office 365

The days of the IT upgrade where everyone has to take a day off for the IT people to get new software installed onto their PCs is over for those businesses using Office 365, as it is continuously updating with new features all the time.  As this episode of Office Mechanics shows there have been over 450 new features in the last year alone and more to come with Office 365 now extending to different platforms such as iOS and Android and with it offering more than just a place to store your stuff.

Check out the short video below to see what has been happening and what is coming our way soon with better integration and new applications joining the Office 365 family such as Office Delve and Sway.

For more information on what Office 365 could do for your business or to arrange a free demonstration or trial, you can contact us at solutions@endeavour-is.com or call 028 9031 1010 at any time.

Why would my business want Cloud Computing?

If we go back in time five years any discussion we would have had about technology for a business would have probably involved topics such as: server hardware, reliable and flexible access to email, having enough storage for growth, assurance of backup and speed of recovery.

These topics have not changed today, but where all of these things would have been based on equipment running within the business itself and would come with a lot of flexibility, they also came with a lot of additional costs in terms of service contracts, software upgrades and periods of downtime with productivity loss when things either went wrong or something needed upgraded.  So something had to change!

So back to today and that same business conversation in terms of the options available have changed quite a bit.  For example, email is usually one of the most important applications in a business today, so it needs to be reliable.  So moving this out of your building where the internet connection may not be the most reliable into an environment that will always make sure email keeps running and is kept secure for the fraction of the price of running a server in your building can be quite compelling.  You also have the added benefit of not worrying if your office internet connection goes down not getting your email, as you'll still get your email on your phone, tablet or anywhere else you are with an internet connection.  Now that can be very compelling!

So here are some reasons why you should consider a move to cloud computing:

• Lower operating costs - less systems running the in your office means less to manage or maintain which in turn lowers the costs for support and upgrades and keeps your team productive;

• Business continuity is built it - unlike your in house IT system that is dependant on components, power and internet providers, cloud computing platforms are built with redundancy from the ground up.  Multiple mirrors of your data are held both locally and geographically in data centres with multiple power sources and internet connections. There are not many businesses that could justify that level of spend on redundancy and business continuity which is what makes these platforms very appealing as now they don't have to worry about it;

• Compliance is automatic - cloud computing vendors need to ensure you the customer they can not only protect your data but have controls in place to ensure a member of staff can't just plug in a USB key and lift your data.  Not every supplier takes this to the highest level but the ones that do, follow strict operating guidelines and get independently audited to the latest international compliance standards; and finally

• Costs are measureable and controllable - just like keeping the lights on in your house effects your electricity bill the same can be said for cloud computing.  These services usually work to a per user, per month or number of units consumed over time type of model. So if you increase or decrease usage this is proportionate to the price you pay per billing period.

Not everything today is as cloud computing friendly as email or websites.  Some of that is down to the variances in the speed of the internet connection depending on where you are or what you are doing.  But the majority of the issues are down to how certain applications are designed; if they were designed to run on a server then they are best kept on a server.  However, on the plus side the server they now run on now doesn't have to be the top of range specification, because now the server is going to be doing a lot less than it did before and doesn't need to be as powerful or cost as much.  Even as I write this, more and more forward thinking software companies already have or are working on moving their applications to this type of environment and the ones that don't will be left behind as this technology is only getting better as each day passes.

For more information on how cloud computing could save your business time and money, give Endeavour a call today on 028 9031 1010 or email solutions@endeavour-is.com and arrange to see a first hand demonstration of cloud computing at work and we can show you what it could do for your business.