With Cloud computing becoming an increasingly popular option with businesses in the UK, one of the main reasons responsible for its adoption was widely thought was that it had something to do with the low costs involved in moving tasks to the Cloud. However, a new survey carried out by the Cloud Industry Forum suggests otherwise.
The majority of users surveyed indicated that the flexibility that the Cloud brings to their business is the most alluring factor that would make them consider adopting the Cloud. This view was particularly correct amongst the businesses with less than 20 employees.
The cost only became the major driving force for organisations that were planning to increase their Cloud service adoption or looking at how they currently access technology throughout their infrastructure.
Organisations that have already adopted Cloud services are on the whole very satisfied with them with the major services being deployed being email, back-ups and disaster recovery in addition to storage and web-hosting services. This level of satisfaction serves as great encouragement for existing users to expand their Cloud use to other areas of their IT Operations.
Have you or your company made the move to the Cloud yet? If so are you satisfied with it and would you consider expanding to cover a wider range of services? Leave us a comment and let us know your experience with the Cloud.
Does your work involve using some of the software from the Adobe package but you can’t afford the price of the new package? Well now Adobe is offering you a reprieve: you can now rent the software on monthly subscription plans.
This idea should prove popular with those who struggle to find the four figure sum to buy the software outright but like to keep up-to-date with the latest versions of software or want to try out the new software.
Adobe realised a statement along with the news: “Today also sees Adobe debut an affordable and flexible subscription-based pricing plan, attractive to customers that want to get current and stay current on Creative Suite products, have project–based needs, or try the software for the first time,”
The pricing list at the moment is as follows:
Adobe Photoshop: £28 per month
Adobe Design Premium 5.5: £72 per month
Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection: £116 per month
This news comes at a time when Adobe are announcing their new Creative Suite package 5.5 which, when on sale later this month brings a number of enhancements to InDesign and Dreamweaver in addition to others.
Welcome to another Microsoft Excel tip. In this tip, I will explain how you can use the AutoSum function in Excel to quickly and easily add up a column of numbers.
This tip can save you bundles of time, especially if you are working with a lot of numerical data with the use of one button or a keyboard shortcut, depending on your preference.
The keyboard shortcut for the AutoSum function is: Alt + =
The button that works the AutoSum function is this button:
To use AutoSum, you must click in the cell that you wish your result, or addition to appear in. As a default, AutoSum looks up a column for figures immediately above it to add together. This works great, unless it encounters a blank row or text. If it does, then it stops at the last cell with a number in it.
If there are no numbers above it, AutoSum will automatically go to the left looking for numbers to add up, but will again stop at a blank column or text. This is Excel’s default, but you can easily change it.
If you would like more tips about Excel, visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page.
If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Excel, you ought to book yourself on one of our Microsoft Excel Training Courses.
Thanks to its simple layout and the fact that it works properly in addition to being a lot cheaper to run than other Microsoft Operating Systems, Microsoft’s Windows XP Operating still has hundreds of thousands of users around the world despite many security considerations of using it.
It will come as no surprise to those who are in tune with some flaws that Windows XP has in it’s security compared to other Microsoft OS’ that Microsoft have decided to disable the Auto-run feature on Windows XP. Now, media such as CDs & DVDs containing Auto-run features will still work, however, other forms of removable media will not.
This step has been taken to limit the amount of Auto-run infections in circulation with the feature itself forming an inseparable part of every modern malware bot. According to data from Microsoft, the Win32/Autorun remains within the most popular malware families with Windows XP users more susceptible to such an infection compared to those who use Windows 7.
If you are a regular user of Excel, there is a good chance that you already have a number of Macros to help you with making every day tasks much quicker and simpler.
There is a way in which you can make it even more streamlined to use by adding the Macros to the toolbars for easier access. To add the Macros to the toolbar, follow these simple steps:
- Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
- Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected. In the list of toolbars, make sure there is a check mark beside the toolbar to which you want your macro added. The check mark ensures that the toolbar is displayed on the screen.
- Click on the Commands tab.
- In the list of Categories, choose the Macros entry. Your macros should then appear in the Commands list.
- In the Commands list, select the macro you want assigned to a toolbar.
- Using the mouse, drag the macro from the Commands list to the location on the toolbar where you want it to appear.
- When you drop the macro, it appears on the toolbar.
If you wish to add more macros, repeat steps 6 through 8.
If you would like to read more Excel tips, visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page.
If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Excel, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Excel Training Courses.
The Rustock spam email network, responsible for more spam emails than any other network worldwide was toppled a couple of weeks ago after Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, working with the US Marshall’s office raided 7 hosting facilities and seized the command-and-control machines that were running the network.
Richard Boscovich, senior attorney in the Microsoft Digital Crime Unit wrote in a blog post:
“This botnet is estimated to have approximately a million infected computers operating under its control and has been known to be capable of sending billions of spam mails every day,”
Security Software giant Symantec last year estimated that the Rustock network accounted for 39% of the spam that is in circulation around the world. Dutch authorities were responsible for a 12% decrease in global spam last November when they crushed a Trojan horse botnet called Bredolab.
Since Government authorities rarely have the resources to commit to investigating cases such as this, Microsoft willingly provide the funding since it has vested interest in keeping people emailing.
So if you notice a major drop in the amount of spam you receive, you now know why.
When you are charged with sending e-mails for someone else in your office, you may not want the replies to be directed to you. For instance, your boss asks you to send an e-mail to a client after they have requested information about a particular service.
If the client sends chooses to reply to that email asking something which you have no knowledge of, you will then have to forward the e-mail to your boss and start acting as a middle-man in the conversation which could distract you from your other duties. So, to save time and resources, why not have the reply to this e-mail directed to your boss rather than you?
It is possible and extraordinarily easy to set up. Just follow the steps below to learn how:
- Click the Options tab and select the Direct Replies To option in the More Options group.
- From the Dialog box, set the reply to address for this e-mail.
- Click OK.
Now you can send the e-mail on behalf of your boss, but the reply will go to your boss, and not you, leaving you free to get on with more important tasks.
If you would like to read more Outlook tips, please visit our Microsoft Outlook Tips page.
If you would like to learn more, you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Outlook Training Courses
Users of the social networking site Facebook are in line to be on the end of a new phishing scam which harvests their log-in details. The recently introduced Facebook messaging service is providing an all too attractive lure which could reel in its fair share of victims.
The scam itself promises the user a @facebook.com email address if they register to use the service, however this is actually a trap for you to input your log-in credentials for your Facebook account. The scam tries to get people to act quickly before their choice of @facebook.com email address is snapped up by somebody else.
Once the users click on the link, the user is redirected to a Facebook app which contains an iFrame that is pointed toward an infected site which hosts the phishing page itself. Once the user clicks next to continue, their details are sent to the scammers who then immediately hi-jack the related Facebook account and update your status to try and scam the people in the accounts friends lists.
That is just the first stage apparently as the compromised user is also encouraged to visit other compromised pages.
There is a way which you can prevent this and a range of other attacks by modifying your Facebook settings to inform you when an attempt has been made to access your account from different computers. To do this, follow these simple steps:
Account > Account Settings > Account Security
Check the box beneath “When a new computer or mobile device logs into this account:” and you will be sent an email when someone accesses your account.
Welcome to another Microsoft Outlook Tip from us here at Infero. In this tip, we will guide you on how you can create your own personal email signature which can be added to the end of each email that you send from Microsoft Outlook.
Having a signature which contains your contact details means that the recipient is more likely to remember your details, especially if you have a healthy backward-forward dialogue going with them through emails. The recipient will also know who they need to talk with and their position within the company, ensuring that they are dealt with by the right person and in the most effective way.
To set up your own custom Microsoft Outlook signature, follow these simple steps:
- Select Tools > Options > Mail Format tab.
- Click Signatures > and go to the E-mail Signature tab > New.
- Type the new signature’s desired name.
- Click OK.
- Type the desired text of your signature under Edit signature (between 5 or 6 lines of text.)
- Include the standard signature delimiter: “– “
- You can use the formatting toolbar to format your text, or insert an image in your signature.
- Click OK.
If you would like to read previous Microsoft Outlook tips, please visit our Outlook Tips page.
If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Outlook, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Outlook Training Courses.
On 6 April 2010, the statutory right for employees in larger businesses with 250 or more employees to request time to take up relevant training came into effect and it was hoped that it would be extended to cover all employees, in small & medium size businesses from 6 April 2011.
However, in August 2010, the Government announced that it was consulting on the future of the right and it has now decided that implementation of the extension will be delayed because further time is needed to examine the potential impact of the regulations on smaller businesses.
John Hayes, the Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning Minister commented:
“It is vital to the economy and individuals that everyone has access to the training they need. That is why we are investing in apprenticeships, protecting adult and community learning, and freeing colleges to respond to local needs.
But it is vital that the right balance is struck between support for training and the need to minimise the burden of regulation for smaller companies.
We have therefore decided to delay implementation to allow further, thorough discussion, scrutiny and evaluation.”
