Ancoris Blog

The Ancoris blog covers all our latest views and news about our company, cloud computing and enterprise security.

Friday, 19 April 2013 14:28

Google Atmosphere comes to London on 21 May 2013

Google is to bring its exclusive Atmosphere conference for CEOs, CIOs and CTOs to the Brewery in London on 21 May 2013. The event allows around 400 delegates to experience the atmosphere of Google's Mountain View campus and get hands-on experience of Google Enterprise solutions. They can see how Google's own staff use Google's solutions to foster the innovation and…

Wednesday, 27 March 2013 14:25

Five tips for getting the most out of Google+ Hangouts

In a previous post we looked at how we’re using Google+ Hangouts at Ancoris to help us run more effective meetings with our partners and suppliers, especially those outside the UK. Here are five tips based on our experiences for getting started with Google+ Hangouts and getting the most out of them: Use Hangouts rather than physically travelling for meetings…

Wednesday, 27 March 2013 14:21

Google Apps in action: how we make meetings more effective with Google+ Hangouts

At Ancoris, we practice what we preach, using Google Apps to run our own business. We're always excited to try out the new capabilities in Google Apps to get a hands-on feel for how they can help both us and our customers collaborate more effectively, become more innovative or work more efficiently. Over the past few months, we've been discovering…

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 14:11

Ancoris acquires Appogee, Google Cloud Partner and Lotus migration specialist

We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Bracknell-based Google Cloud development specialist Appogee. The acquisition brings Google Cloud Platform and Android development, Lotus Domino migration skills and further enterprise project management experience into the Ancoris stable. Ancoris is developing an ecosystem of products based around the Google Cloud, with applications such as Google Apps for Business and through partnerships…

Thursday, 14 February 2013 13:20

Ancoris and SoftWatch combine Google Apps expertise and application usage monitoring to decommission Microsoft desktop licensing by up to 80%

Ancoris is pleased to announce a partnership with SoftWatch to provide their CloudIT Assessment service in the UK to monitor actual usage of Microsoft Office by user or department. The joint offering will help Ancoris deliver the facts needed for potential Google Apps customers to make more informed, more confident transition decisions about the move to Google cloud applications. Ancoris…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 10:52

Google extends offline editing to make Google Apps even more flexible

Many of the companies we talk to about switching to Google Apps for Business like the collaboration, flexibility and cost advantages it offers but are worried about what will happen if they don't have access to an internet connection. How can they and their staff go on working when they're offline, if everything is in the cloud? With the launch…

Friday, 25 January 2013 00:00

Ahold SVP, Group IT comments on ease of transition to Google

Christine Atkins, Senior VP Group IT of Ahold, comments on ease of user transition to Google Apps. Presentation at Atmosphere event in 2011 (1 min)

Full 11 minute presentation on the reasons for decision, user acceptance of Google Apps and the migration process.

Wednesday, 23 January 2013 00:00

Cloud computing to (finally) take off in the public sector in 2013

The launch of the Government's first G-Cloud catalogue in early 2012 might have helped the public sector become more comfortable with the idea of cloud services – especially the notion that they're "secure enough for government" – but procurement and budgeting processes meant few were able to take immediate advantage of cloud computing.We expect that to change in 2013. Risk-averse…

Friday, 18 January 2013 17:06

Businesses to make greater use of "social computing" tools in 2013

Many businesses have introduced a range of communication and presence tools – such as browser-based chat and video-conferencing or enterprise social networking in the form of solutions like Google+ – as by-product of moving to cloud computing for email and document collaboration. Because social computing usually wasn't the focus of their business case for investing in cloud computing services, few…

Tuesday, 15 January 2013 21:35

Enterprise cloud storage and document sharing to go mainstream in 2013

In 2012, we saw IT directors wake up to the dangers of staff using consumer systems, such as personal Gmail accounts, to collaborate when corporate IT failed to meet their needs. In 2013, we will see IT Directors begin to respond to the rapidly growing threat posed by consumer cloud storage and document sharing solutions like Dropbox, Box.net and Amazon…

Thursday, 10 January 2013 10:14

Cloud adoption to continue to grow rapidly in 2013 as more conservative users finally turn to the cloud

A significant number of companies will be forced off Exchange 2003 implementations during 2013 as Microsoft ends support. When they investigate their options, they'll find moving to cloud-based email will be no more complex or risky than upgrading to the latest version of Exchange running in house – but will bring significant benefits in terms of improved collaboration, mobility, flexibility…

Wednesday, 09 January 2013 13:22

In 2013, Windows machines will no longer be the default choice of the IT department

During 2012, increasing numbers of organisations adopted "bring your own device” strategies or provided staff with company-owned iPads, Android tablets and Chromebooks as they moved applications into the cloud. Throughout 2013, companies will gain a clearer picture of the benefits of using these various devices in a world where employees only need a browser and an internet connection to be…

Wednesday, 02 January 2013 10:36

Trends and Technologies to watch in 2013

In 2012, the more forward thinking enterprises forged ahead with cloud computing strategies, BYOD and the consumerisation of IT continued apace and the government push in cloud computing gained momentum. As we cast an eye on the future, here are what we believe will be the top 5 trends and technologies for 2013. 1. Windows machines will no longer be…

Thursday, 13 December 2012 11:21

Google Apps is secure enough for even the most security-minded users

With major financial institutions like Spanish banking giant BBVA moving to Google Apps, it’s clear that Google’s cloud is the right choice for even the most security-minded organisations as they are forced to move away from Exchange 2003 before Microsoft ends its support for the product in 2014. Of course, cloud computing and collaboration bring their own set of security…

Tuesday, 11 December 2012 11:17

With Google Apps, there is no lock-in but flexible contracts and a wide choice of partner solutions

Agility and flexibility are critical success factors for companies facing uncertain economic times. Businesses need to be able to react quickly to new opportunities or pull their horns in just as rapidly when the market takes a downturn. They need to be able to adapt staff numbers and locations to match changing operational needs and support users who are becoming…

Wednesday, 05 December 2012 09:23

Migrating to Google Apps brings flexible, affordable and transparent pricing and licensing

Cloud computing is all about helping businesses to focus on innovation, growth and competitive advantage, by making “business as usual” as simple as possible. When companies move away from Exchange 2003 as Microsoft ends its support for the product in 2014, they should be looking for cloud-based collaboration and email services that offer simplicity and flexibility as well as being…

Wednesday, 28 November 2012 15:24

Migrating to Google Apps enables connectivity and access from any device and any place

The way we organise our working lives is very different from even five years ago. A survey by ISP Timico in 2011 found that nearly half of all companies now have staff who work away from the office some of the time. Three quarters of employees work away from the office at least once a week. These staff need to…

Tuesday, 20 November 2012 16:08

Google Apps takes collaboration to the next level with integrated social tools

The way we work has changed: today’s fast-paced, global environment requires us to collaborate in real-time with colleagues based in other companies and other countries, outside traditional working hours, whether we’re in the office or on the road. Young people now coming into the workplace are increasingly expecting to be able to use “social” tools — such as chat, video…

Tuesday, 13 November 2012 17:11

Reason #1 for choosing Google Apps when moving from Exchange 2003: Simple, safe and proven...

Reason #1: Simple, safe and proven migration with experienced partners With Microsoft ending support for Exchange 2003 in early 2014, many businesses will use the forced move away from an unsupported mail server as a springboard for adopting cloud computing. However, migrating from one email system to another can be tricky: as well as creating user accounts, you need to…

Wednesday, 24 October 2012 12:20

Google Apps is key to door of more mobile workforce for Specsavers

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Nigel Dufty, IT Service Director at Specsavers. In early 2011, Specsavers, the world’s largest privately owned chain of opticians with more than 1600 stores worldwide, announced its migration to Google Apps for Business. Eighteen months on, Nigel updates us on how they found the switch and how it’s changed the way they work as…

Friday, 19 October 2012 13:23

Ancoris announces major new release of Cloud Skills Academy

Ancoris has announced a major new release of the Cloud Skills Academy at IP Expo on 17 October, following the company’s recent acquisition and integration of Cloud Skills. The Cloud Skills Academy is an e-learning and e-support resource for Google Apps customers designed to accelerate user adoption of Google Apps and keep users up to date with the latest features.…

Monday, 08 October 2012 16:31

Ancoris acquires e-learning provider Cloud Skills

We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Cloud Skills, a provider of e-learning and training services for Google Apps for Business.Cloud Skills was nominated as Google's first Referred Training Partner for the UK and Europe in 2009 and provides a full range of training courses, e-Learning tools and migration aids to help organisations transition their users to Google Apps.…

Wednesday, 26 September 2012 12:15

Is "Jam Tomorrow" Microsoft's Strategy for Office 2013

With the announcement of Office 2013, Microsoft has finally taken some steps towards catching up with the rest of the world. Office 2013 is supposed to be more collaborative and social and, branded as Office 365, more mobile, running in the cloud and providing access to cloud storage. Yet it's also clear that, while finally acknowledging users have changed the…

Thursday, 06 September 2012 10:36

Ancoris is Finalist in the BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2012

Ancoris has been selected as a Finalist in the BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards 2012 in the Organisational Excellence category. The winner of the Small Supplier or VAR of the Year Award will be announced at the awards presentation dinner on Wednesday 14 November 2012 at Battersea Park Events Arena in London. We're keeping our fingers crossed! Organisational…

Tuesday, 28 August 2012 15:41

Ancoris Makes it to the CRN Channel Awards 2012 Shorlist

The long wait is over. CRN announced the shortlist today and Ancoris appears in two categories: Specialist Reseller of the Year and Services Provider of the Year. Can't wait for the party in November! Shortlist

Tuesday, 19 June 2012 12:51

Ancoris celebrates the office move with the Mayor of Bracknell Town Council

To mark the occasion of our successful office move, the Ancoris team celebrated with an office warming party. The Mayor of Bracknell Town Council, Cllr Mrs Shelagh Pile, joined us to officially open the office and share some champagne with our guests. We needed more space to grow our team and extend our services and we fell in love with…

Thursday, 31 May 2012 08:30

Cloud computing reaches new level of maturity with addition of unified communications

Until recently, businesses faced a tough choice when providing mobility solutions for their staff. They could implement unified communications (UC) solutions that would allow users to redirect landline numbers to mobile phones (or the nearest landline) and enable them to access voicemails and faxes from their email inbox. Or they could roll out cloud-based collaboration that lets users access email,…

Wednesday, 30 May 2012 13:59

Ancoris introduces unified communications to Google Apps for Business Users with Esnatech

We are pleased to announce our partnership with Esnatech, the global leader in cloud-based unified communications (UC), recently named a Gartner 2012 ˜Cool Vendor. The partnership will allow our customers to take advantage of the seamless integration between Google Apps and Office-LinX„¢, Esnatechs award winning unified communication platform. Integrating Google Apps with the enterprise telephony infrastructure means users can…

Tuesday, 15 May 2012 10:35

Will Google Drive be a Dropbox killer?

With the launch of Google Drive, Google looks like its going head to head against established cloud storage providers like Dropbox and Box. But we think what Google is offering is head and shoulders above existing services, because it provides another key piece in the puzzle for companies looking for effective collaboration tools. Of course Google Drive, like Dropbox, provides…

Thursday, 26 April 2012 08:21

Ancoris enters the Post-PC era, switches to Google Chromebooks with full legacy application access

In 2009, we started our transition to cloud services both for our business, as a Google Premier Enterprise Partner, but also for our own internal applications. As we started this change we were very aware that the transition to the cloud was a journey and not an event. Like many of our customers we wanted to benefit immediately from cloud…

Friday, 30 March 2012 10:40

Ancoris Strengthens its Cloud and Remote Access Offerings with Ericoms Access Solutions

Ericom Software, a leading global provider of application access and virtualization solutions and Ancoris have signed a partnership agreement that gives Ancoris the rights to market Ericoms AccessNow, a high performance HTML5 RDP zero client, and Power WebConnect, a centralized management solution and the #1 Alternative to Citrix “ to organisations that are turning to native cloud applications but still…

Monday, 27 February 2012 10:14

European Union provides welcome backing for cloud computing

The European Union's recently announced plans to overhaul data protection legislation and create a Cloud Partnership, similar to the UKs G-Cloud Initiative, look to be good news for both users and providers of cloud computing services. Like the UK Government, which announced the first providers in its G-Cloud store this month, Ancoris among them, the EU is backing the use…

Monday, 20 February 2012 14:14

Ancoris Named G-Cloud Supplier

Ancoris has today been announced as a G-Cloud supplier. As a supplier to the Governments CloudStore, Ancoris will now be able to migrate the public sector to Google Apps for Business, without a formal tender process. The CloudStore will work as an online marketplace and will include information allowing buyers to make comparisons between suppliers. The carefully selected catalogue of cloud providers…

Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:46

Ancoris becomes one of the first Google Apps Premier Enterprise Resellers

Ancoris has been appointed to the new tier as a Premier Enterprise Reseller of the Google Apps suite of communication and collaboration tools. Ancoris has moved from Authorised to a Premier Reseller status based on our expertise and success in helping businesses deploy and use Google Apps. Two years ago, we made the decision to transition our business to the…

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 14:09

Enterprise maturity of Google Apps for Business confirmed by deal with BBVA

We've heard many CIOs say that, while they like the benefits provided by Google Apps for Business, they're still not completely comfortable entrusting the success of their organisation to Google's cloud solutions. We can understand such caution, but the recent news that Spanish banking giant BBVA is to roll out Google Apps for Business to 110,000 users demonstrates that Google…

Wednesday, 11 January 2012 15:01

European banking giant BBVA moves 110,000 staff to Google Apps

Todays announcement on the BBC that the Spanish banking giant BBVA is moving their workforce to Google Apps for Business is a further massive endorsement of the industry momentum in favour of both Cloud Computing and Googles offerings. BBVA are quoted by the BBC interview as say that ˜they would use Google applications like email, calendar, docs, chat, video conferencing…

Tuesday, 10 January 2012 10:49

2012 Predictions: The governments push into cloud computing will reduce security fears

The coming year will see a big push into cloud computing by the UK public sector as it becomes easier to buy cloud-based services following the creation of the G-Cloud applications catalogue. For the private sector, the message is that if cloud computing is secure enough for government, it's secure enough for them.The Government expects to open the G-Cloud "app…

Thursday, 05 January 2012 22:06

2012 Predictions: Social and collaborative computing will begin to come of age in the business world

Just as email displaced paper memos and letters in the workplace, 2012 will mark the beginning of a shift from email to social and collaborative computing for interaction with colleagues and external partners. Both large companies, like IT giant Atos, and small companies, like online news and reviews publisher Notebooks.com, are eliminating email by deploying collaboration solutions such as Google…

Monday, 19 December 2011 13:06

2012 Predictions: Increased user mobility will drive virtualisation of legacy applications

Increased agility will be a critical success factor for organisations looking to weather the continuing economic turmoil in 2012. As organisations look to flex staff numbers and locations to match changing business needs, and users themselves choose to become increasingly mobile, IT departments will be asked to deliver 100% web-based access to all IT applications.While they can turn to native…

Monday, 12 December 2011 22:39

2012 Predictions: Bring Your Own Device strategies will go mainstream

According to analysts at IDC, 40 per cent of devices used by information workers to access business applications are already personally owned. As users become more mobile, and as consumer devices outperform their business equivalent, this trend will increase.While this growing consumerisation of business computing has been shown to increase employee satisfaction and productivity, it also poses a number of…

Thursday, 08 December 2011 09:49

Ancoris selected for Googles Chromebook Reseller Pilot Program

Ancoris is delighted to have been selected as a UK partner in Google's Chromebook Reseller Pilot Program. The launch of the Chromebook, as the first enterprise ready web-only device, complements the increasing momentum of both the Chrome browser and Google Apps platform in the corporate marketplace. The Chromebook Reseller Pilot Program enables us to supply Google Chromebooks bundled together with…

Monday, 05 December 2011 17:21

2012 Predictions: Private clouds will be exposed as old-fashioned hosting masquerading under a new name

It's that time of year already, when we take stock and think of what's in store for the coming year. So here we go. Over the next few weeks, we will share what we believe will be the top 5 trends and technologies for 2012. Private clouds will be exposed as old-fashioned hosting masquerading under a new name Vendors have…

Monday, 21 November 2011 16:01

Ancoris awarded CRN Specialist Reseller of the Year 2011

We were delighted that Ancoris was recognised as the winner of the Specialist Reseller of the Year 2011 against a strong competitive shortlist at the CRN Channel Award on 18th November 2011. This prestigious industry award was presented at Battersea Park with an audience of over 1600 people. There were several hundred entries over 10 main categories. The panel of…

Monday, 07 November 2011 15:01

Top reason # 5 for choosing Google Apps: A platform built for the future

Historically, IT departments have spent 70 per cent of their budgets on simply maintaining their existing infrastructure. But analysts at Forrester Research warn that future success will require organisations to cut "business as usual" costs to just half their budget and devote the savings to business expansion and innovation to deliver competitive advantage. The headache for CIOs is how to…

Monday, 31 October 2011 16:08

Top reason # 4 for choosing Google Apps: Enhanced communications are made affordable

Email is now a mission-critical tool without which few businesses could function. Recent figures from the Radicati group suggests the average user sends and receives around 100 emails a day. However, email doesn't provide a competitive advantage; today, it's just a cost of doing business. That means you need to be able to provide quick, easy and reliable access to…

Monday, 17 October 2011 11:08

Top reason # 3 for choosing Google Apps: Pure cloud architecture offers superior data protection

With collaboration being a key driver for business success, users want to be able to share information easily, but the IT team needs to make sure data doesnt fall into the wrong hands. If corporate systems don't allow staff to collaborate, they'll turn to unofficial channels outside the control of the IT department - creating a whole new set of…

Monday, 10 October 2011 09:15

Top reason # 2 for choosing Google Apps: Users are productive from anywhere

Employees are increasingly using their own smartphones and tablet PCs to work while theyre on the move: 40 per cent of devices used to access business applications are now personally owned, up 10 per cent on last year. This growing "consumerisation" of enterprise IT is boosting staff morale and productivity, so it's not something to be discouraged. Instead, IT departments…

Monday, 03 October 2011 12:44

Ancoris Top 5 reasons to choose Google Apps over Office 365: Improved collaboration leads to business innovation

Innovation is going to be the key weapon for success over the next five years, according to a recent survey of senior executives. The key to innovation is collaboration. A report by The Future Foundation found employees who are given the opportunity to collaborate at work are more than twice as likely to have contributed new ideas to their company.The…

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 10:13

Gartner hails Gmail as credible alternative to Microsoft Exchange

Gartner has recently hailed the Gmail enterprise service as a credible alternative to Microsoft Exchange. That puts Google Apps for Business head-to-head with Microsofts recently launched Office 365 for enterprises looking for cloud messaging and collaboration solutions - and the evidence so far is that Google Apps is more than holding its own.Gartner estimates that around half of enterprises whove…

Thursday, 08 September 2011 13:19

Microsoft finally boards cloud computing train but fails to impress users

With the launch of Office 365, Microsoft has provided its endorsement of the ongoing shift to cloud computing. Though its playing catch up with the rest of the IT industry, Microsofts validation will at least help to create confidence among business users that the cloud computing approach spearheaded by Google is the right one.However, were hearing from many of the…

Monday, 22 August 2011 10:11

How to use cloud computing to simplify business continuity plans

Moving to a cloud computing solution can simplify business continuity plans. Organizations can take advantage of the resilience and high availability that cloud solution vendors must provide as part of their own infrastructure simply to be able to deliver software as a service. While individual companies would find providing replication of data across clustered servers in multiple data centres would…

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 10:05

New Look for Google & Google Apps

Google has announced a project to bring you a new and improved Google experience, and over the next few months, you will see more updates to their look and feel. The way people use and experience the web is evolving, and their goal is to give you a more seamless and consistent online experience”one that works no matter which Google…

Thursday, 21 July 2011 15:33

Is Cloud Computing a solution to the problem of project overruns?

Traditional IT projects have had a reputation for being completed late and over-budget. Should CIOs see cloud computing as a solution to the problem of cost overrun? The answer to this really depends on the type of cloud computing project being considered.Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS) projects: Applications, developed from scratch or re-hosted in…

Thursday, 07 July 2011 11:47

Cloud Computing gives a new meaning to "local"

Recent research has shown many small and medium-sized companies are reluctant to move to the cloud because they want the reassurance of a "local" provider.With a traditional IT setup, having support from someone in the same city or town makes a lot of sense. You need someone to be able to hotfoot it round and swap out a failed router…

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 15:21

Are old-fashioned hosted solutions preventing business from reaping the benefits of cloud computing?

We all know how the IT industry loves its buzzwords “ and how the current buzzword becomes a bandwagon, used to rebrand all sorts of products that it doesnt really apply to. "Cloud computing" is a victim of this trend, with many "cloud" solutions really being old fashioned hosting services.Hosting has its advantages, of course: moving your IT systems off…

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 16:18

Retailers using Google Apps for Business find innovation is the killer app

Weve noticed a trend emerging over the past few months. A number of retailers have talked about the impact of moving to Google Apps for Business “ and all of them have said Google Apps isnt just benefiting their bottom line through cost savings. Its also driving revenues by allowing them to become more innovative.As Google “ one of the…

Monday, 06 June 2011 10:36

The phishing attack on GMail users highlights Google's excellent security procedures

The news of the spear phishing attack on GMail users has highlighted a number of interesting points around GMail and its security. The attack, believed to have originated from Jinan, China, specifically targeted users with an email that included a malware link prompting them to enter their GMail log-in details again. This information was then used to access and monitor…

Tuesday, 31 May 2011 08:57

Google Partners provide the personal touch

At a conference I attended last week, someone made a comment weve heard before: that doing business with Google is very different from working with most other enterprise software vendors.Unlike many other vendors, Google doesnt expand effort creating an army of its own salespeople or support staff. Instead, its focus is on employing brilliant engineers who design ground-breaking technology to…