Connect, Protect, Collaborate – Our ‘one-stop-shop’ for business technology

Nobody really wants to talk about IT but everybody’s got technology in their business.

What you don’t want is to waste time and resources worrying about getting everything to work and making sure it’s all secure.

Telecoms and IT used to be simple – your telecoms provider provided your office phone line and broadband, and your IT team looked after that side of things. But then the line where telecoms stopped and IT became blurred. Convergence was upon us!

A phone line isn’t just a phone line anymore, it’s a data line, so if your systems stop working is it your IT provider, your phone or data line, or your Wi-Fi to blame?

What Connectus does for customers is take away all of that complexity by being a one-stop shop. We aim to mitigate cost, complexity and risk by keeping everything simple; providing all of the technology for your business and the support wrap-around that goes with it.

Connect-Protect-Collaborate, is our converged fully managed service which are the building blocks to achieve that.

Connect is about giving a business the connectivity it needs to run all its IT systems and services – providing a dedicated broadband connection for your premises, Wi-Fi that’s both secure and strong wherever you need it, and a cloud-based VoIP phone system that uses your data connection.

Because digital transformation can often be phased, we can give you the right amount of bandwidth for now, then turn that up when you’ve got a greater demand.

Connect leads into Protect because ensuring businesses have a proper Wi-Fi set-up in place isn’t just about signal and strength, it’s making sure everything is set up securely and managed so any challenges can be spotted and fixed remotely.

Protect is our cyber security wrap which keeps business systems secure.

The more different moving parts you’ve got in a business, the more potential gaps there will be between them. If each of those parts is provided by someone different, what you can end up with is finger pointing which results in a business losing time and money, and its customers and team getting frustrated.

Cyber security is multi-faceted: What preventative measures have you got in place – anti-malware, anti-virus, have you got the right passwords and access set correctly?

Have you got the right security policies and procedures around IT, do people know what they’re allowed and not allowed to do? Is that monitored and do you security test your business regularly?

Is your team aware and trained to know what to look out for and what to do in the event of an incident?

All of these things will help prevent people being able to access your systems.

Collaborate – collaboration is critical to get the most out of your team, in your relationship with clients and in working with us at Connectus.

Collaborate focuses on three major areas … the first is your IT network infrastructure. As part of your digital transformation are you moving away from servers taking up space in the office, using power and needing constant maintenance, and into hosting in the cloud or in a hosting data centre? We can help you move your business from an old-fashioned way of working into virtualising your network systems which is much more resilient and environmentally friendly

The second element is software. Have you got Microsoft 365, is your Microsoft Teams set up properly, is security set up and administered, have you got the right licences? Are you using all of the tools, cloud storage and cloud back-up for your systems?

And the third is support – having somebody acting as your virtual IT department, taking care of all of your IT needs with a full managed service, means you can focus on your business speciality whatever that is, have an expert look after your IT and know it’s in safe hands.

According to Roy Shelton, Group CEO of Connectus, “With convergence came the onset of digital transformation. Hybrid working, engaging remote workers securely and a more environmentally friendly footprint all at a cost-effective price point are the top drivers we hear from businesses at the moment. Our Connect- Protect-Collaborate managed services model is ideally placed to address the market’s needs. Now servicing over 400 businesses throughout the UK allowing those organisations to scale without the worry if IT being able to keep up, becoming too expensive or not contributing towards net zero.”

Mark Wiseman, Group Commercial Director of Connectus commented “Many businesses now spend time and effort defining and implementing the right culture in their business, one that focusses on people, mobility, collaboration and engagement. All of this is critical to attracting the best talent to join your team and to the success of the business. Much of it, though, is underpinned by systems and IT. Your team’s ability to collaborate, work from home and be productive is underpinned by the systems you provide them. Do your systems make life easier for your team? Does your IT facilitate your culture? It can and it should – you just need to find a partner that can enable that with you.”

Find out more about how Connectus can support you by visiting www.connectus.org.uk.