In a world where technology is increasingly vital, we have seen technology continue to impact the way we work and live, and the pace doesn’t seem to be slowing. So, with 2021 coming to an end, we have looked back through the year on the technology that has had the biggest effect on us at Greystone.
Hybrid Working
Following a rapid shift to home working in 2020, this year saw SMEs mastering the challenge of the hybrid working environment. During this period, we have helped our customers build virtual spaces to enable communication and collaboration. As well as the obvious tools such as SharePoint and Teams, we have seen the adoption of a wider range of applications from the Microsoft 365 suite to ensure teams stay connected with their colleagues and customers. With new features and functionalities being released regularly, we have seen an increased appetite for learning about how new tools can improve productivity and efficiency.
Cloud Transformation
The shift to remote working, endless online shopping opportunities and the limitless amount of content available, demonstrates just how much our home and work life is spent online. In order to keep up with this demand, organisations are fast-tracking their cloud transformation projects and at Greystone we have seen dramatic changes in the way our customers operate. Working as their technology partner, we are designing and managing digitisation strategies to drive efficiencies, improve productivity as well as facilitating growth.
Windows 11
As a Microsoft partner, we couldn’t review the year’s technology without commenting on the major revamp to the most popular desktop operating system in the world. In October 2021, Windows 11 was launched and is being rolled out across compatible machines by mid 2022. For a detailed overview of what to expect from the new operating system, look no further than this review from PCMag.com. To understand it it’s suitable for your team, take a look at our blog piece ‘What you need to know before upgrading to Windows 11’ or get in touch for further details.
Cyber security
Sadly, cyber threats are on the rise and in the past twelve months targeted ransomware is one of the main risks to organisations. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated, more aggressive and often involve AI. We work with our customers to implement a ‘prevention, rather than cure’ mindset to safeguard their employees and customers. We find that the weakest link for these attacks appears to be those working from home, so over the last year we have helped protect against threats by offering the Cyber Essentials Accreditation to all our customers.
New technology
In the past decade the industry has seen many development alternatives with software methodologies and frameworks appearing at a much faster rate. The Greystone team embrace this, constantly “playing” with “new toys” and the past 12 months have been no different. We have been working on an exciting project built in React, a development by the Facebook team which was then given away as freeware invoking an explosion of interest throughout our industry. Always learning, always evolving we seek new practices to improve our skills and productivity, ultimately enabling our customers to grow and flourish.
If you would like to know more about Greystone please feel free to reach out for a chat – Contact – Greystone Consulting Ltd
