It’s Adam’s turn in the spotlight this month. Sharing how his latest tech purchase is helping integrate his devices more effectively, and why it’s important to have a team filled with bright and versatile people.

Your 60 seconds start now Adam! Take it away:

How did you first get into the world of tech?

Starting at Vapour was my first full-time role. When I was looking at getting a job in finance, I started searching for companies in the local area, and as someone from nearby Halifax, this was a perfect fit.

And what is your earliest memory of tech in your life?

I would have to say the PlayStation 2. I was a Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and a StarWars Battlefront fan back in the day – those games kept me entertained for years.

What’s the one quality you need to thrive in this environment (especially at Vapour)?

Teamwork, as without it, you can’t really get anywhere. At Vapour we all bring a different set of skills and experience, so when we work together, we can fill knowledge gaps – this is so important in an industry like tech.

And what is the one thing you would change about the tech sector?

All of the big words and acronyms! Working on the finance side of the tech, it can be hard to translate the jargon from one company to the next, especially in invoicing. It also makes it much more daunting and complex when working alongside customers who aren’t used to the language, so in an ideal world everything would be much more straight-forward and easier to understand.

Why do you think Vapour stands out in the channel?

The team is filled with really bright and talented people. When you call us up, you can get through to the person best equipped to help you, which can be rare in the tech space.

Complete the sentences:

The best piece of tech ever invented is...

The mobile phone. Having the technology to contact people no matter where you are makes it so much easier to stay connected.

The next purchase on my (personal) tech wishlist is...

That’s a tough one. I’ve recently invested in an Apple Watch, moving over from Samsung for a more integrated ecosystem – so I don’t have any other tech on my wishlist just yet.

The biggest misconception in the channel is that...

Everyone knows everything! Going back to my point about teamwork, we have a lot of intelligent brains that make up the Vapour team, and their different skill-sets and specialisms are key. Tech isn’t an industry where one person can know everything – you’ve got voice, storage, security, and connectivity to name just a few.

By the end of 2022, our tech will have made organisations far more...

Cohesive – because working from home has sectioned people off and potentially made it harder to keep track of projects, morale, and connectedness. Our tech makes that easier, bridging that gap and maximising what is possible in organisations, no matter how large or small.

A lover of the simpler things in life, Adam has taken on a ‘Beige vs. Food’ challenge to raise money for the premature birth charity, Borne - as we continue towards our boldest target yet – a staggering £23,000! Follow challenge over on our Instagram.

Cloud technology disruptor Vapour has launched an SD-WAN solution – powered by Gartner Magic Quadrant leader Fortinet – to integrate endpoint and network security for the hybrid workplace.

Deployed as a software licence – with three levels of support available on a ‘price per user per month’ basis – the solution facilitates endpoint visibility and management, secure remote access for employees irrespective of location, and automated threat intelligence and response.

Mindful that IT leaders are seeking zero-touch provisioning, this technology is even simpler to roll out, as no hardware installation is required. The service has been 12 months in the planning.

With transparent visibility to each endpoint, the solution gives IT teams full control over individual compliance, and ensures that endpoint-borne risks such as firewall weaknesses or unsecure home routers will not pose a threat to corporate networks.

Security workflows are automated for proactive ongoing management, and dynamic controls mean the SD-WAN technology ‘fixes itself’, based on colleagues’ security posture, and the speed, performance, and traffic on the network at a given point in time. Potential security threats are also raised, and incidents contained almost instantly.

Commenting on the timeliness of the launch, Vapour’s CEO Tim Mercer said: “We all know that the traditional 9-5 is long gone, with employees seeking increasing flexibility from their working day –especially when it comes to location. Many people are keen to remain at home, some are hungry to return to the workplace, and others want the fluidity to decide from one day to the next.

“Hybrid working is definitely the future, but this isn’t the easiest to manage from a network security perspective. This is exactly why we’ve launched this solution – it’s powerful technology designed to liberate businesses, as they move forward in a post-Covid world.”

Vapour’s market research revealed that most organisations are reliant on VPNs only, but the cost and time associated with managing this approach to network security means the solution is usually available for a limited number of senior colleagues alone.

Vapour’s senior network engineer Salim Ramzan added: “The beauty of our software-focused solution to secure hybrid working, is that it is technically brilliant, but operationally effortless. Even the ‘Lite’ version of the licence includes functionality that I predict 40% of IT leaders don’t currently have.

“That’s the benefit of investing in a security-first cloud architecture – security lies at the heart of it, rather than it being an afterthought. For example, a sandbox feature automatically identifies potentially malicious inbound content, sends it to Fortinet and explores its validity, in seconds, before allowing it to land in the recipient’s inbox. If the sandbox is dissatisfied with the outcome, the content is held and the IT director is alerted so that they can investigate it further, in a secure environment, if they wish.”

Further information on Vapour’s Lite, Premium and Pro licences, can be found at vapourcloud.com/SD-WAN-hybrid-working

Welcome to the first instalment of our 2021 technology news roundup, where we’ll update you on some of the innovations and key developments that have caught our eye in the digital space. At Vapour, we understand how important it is to keep up to date the latest news, views and must-knows. So, we’ll share our straight-talking curation of the highlights, to ensure you’re always on top of the game.

Learn the latest…

The future that UK tech built

Tech Nation’s 2021 report has arrived, sharing the biggest figures, trends, and emerging technology in the industry. From the UK’s 17% rise in deep tech investment – the highest in the world might we add – to 2% growth in local employment in the sector for Yorkshire and the Humber, it’s clear the economic importance of technology is increasing. Read the report to learn more about some of the pioneers changing the landscape for the future of digital innovations.

Creating employee connections

Think the only way to create employee connections is by holding more meetings? Think again. Gartner discussed how the new digital behaviours adopted during the pandemic will translate into a move to hybrid working, and how tailoring strategies, adding value and using the appropriate channel for employee communications, will supercharge your workplace connections.

Covid-19 and its cyber risks

It’s no surprise that internet usage rose during the pandemic, but unfortunately cybercrime followed suit. Not only were 20,000 domains suspended for criminal activity, but there has also been a 20% increase in serious cases. And as workers relocated to a remote setup, the threat moved closer to home. Is your business secure? Let’s talk…

Are you looking for a job in tech?

The BBC reported that the UK is heading towards a technology skills shortage, due to the lack of young talent studying IT subjects. For an industry that’s fuelled by innovation and only set to thrive, we (as technology leaders) need to support the upskilling of talent and champion the technical expertise that’s needed to support the UK’s economic recovery.

Stay tuned for our next news roundup and be sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, for more frequent updates from Vapour and the tech space.

Known for helping organisations unleash the power of cloud computing, whatever their size, we’ve put our heads together to give companies a much-needed boost during 2021.

SAVE ON INDUSTRY-LEADING CLOUD TECHNOLOGY… IN THREE EASY STEPS!

1.Vapour’s secure cloud servers 

State-of-the-art cloud hosting with 99.999% uptime, in our secure, private, ISO27001-accredited data centres.

Benefit from three months’ half price on any IaaS bundle and achieve increased security, resilience, scalability, performance and support from cloud-specialist engineers:

2. Industry-leading Veeam cloud backups

Recover the data you need, quickly and with minimal fuss, if the unexpected happens, to reduce downtime and maintain BAU.

And now save even more:

3. Microsoft 365 backups

Microsoft 365 usage exploded in 2020, but why do so few businesses backup their accounts?

We can help, now for only £1.50 per user.

Resellers can also contact us to explore additional savings.

Commenting on the launch of these special bundles, sales manager Alec Stephens said: “We don’t typically push price-led offers, as our OpEx budget-friendly models are packed full of value and customers are often hoodwinked into ‘deals’ that end up not-fit-for-purpose.

“But so many organisations came to us last year because they didn’t have the cloud infrastructures they needed – and business continuity and disaster recovery is hard to deliver in retrospect! We know that IT decision makers need to achieve more, with less, so we want to ensure their budgets work harder. And, rather than focusing only on short term projects, we can help deliver future-proofed infrastructures, with quick turnaround.”

Offers end 31 March 2021.

To discuss any of these promotions, please call 0333 200 1142, email sales@vapourcloud.com or complete our short enquiry form.