What do you do when your new software won't integrate with older programmes? Learn how our bespoke programming allowed Cumberland and Westmoreland Herald introduce Xero Accounting and keep their established ad booking system.
Developers at Conformedia wrote a bespoke programme to bridge both systems. This was tested extensively over a period of weeks to ensure the organisation would experience a seamless changeover.
David Rayner from Conformedia explains how bespoke programming allows publishing companies to modernise. “Publishing organisations rely on niche ad booking systems to plan page layouts as part of the booking process. It’s therefore important we preserve the programmes that work well, but not at the expense of progress. If integration is not possible, we develop a solution to allow our clients to benefit from both legacy and new systems.”
He continues to explain how the whole project was delivered remotely. “The existing system used QSales and Pegasus Opera3 accounts, requiring all sales and management staff to be onsite to view accounts data. Clearly with the COVID-19 pandemic this was not sustainable. The goal was to allow the Herald’s sales staff to access customer account data through QSales and the management team through Xero, regardless of location.
“Under normal circumstances we would have been onsite at the Herald, working with the team throughout testing and implementation, however social distancing restrictions required the project to be delivered remotely.”
Initially the team took a copy of the virtual SQL server and copied this to Conformedia’s virtual server cluster and created a demo Xero account with API access. The bridged system was then developed to replicate data to and from QSales to the Xero API, maintaining a fully synchronised system. Once completed the Herald’s staff could view the results through the demo account and bug testing could be achieved without affecting any live data.
After two weeks of testing, the team was confident the system was stable. The bridge was remotely installed onto the Herald’s live servers and configured to access the live Xero data API.
With cyberattacks on the increase, it’s not surprising that cyber insurance, cyber risk insurance or cyber liability insurance coverage (CLIC) is putting an increased responsibility on organisations to demonstrate that cyber risk is being managed or mitigated.
The recent surge in remote working has significantly increased the risk of cybercrime and data loss. The speed at which the UK was locked down has resulted in many employees working from home using a mismatch of computers, mobile devices and personal equipment, remote access and VPN services. Many organisations were not prepared for theses dramatic changes but as with any changes to working practises, IT security should be reviewed and revised accordingly. A further important consideration is that changes without adequate cyber security in place could invalidate insurance policies.
Service Manager at Conformedia and Sophos Architect, Cameron Christie-Smith, strongly advises prevention over cure. “Just this week we increased security protection for one of our newspaper clients. Upon lockdown, the majority of the staff were sent home and remote access setup using relocated office equipment and personal laptops. It then became clear that the use of personal equipment invalidated their cyber insurance policy without adequate protection. A remote security audit of personal equipment was performed and all personal equipment appropriately secured with anti-virus software and additional firewall policies.”
Sophos has responded to the increase in home working by launching two free products to boost security for organisations who have employees working from home. Sophos Home Commercial Edition Provides business-level protection for employees’ personal PCs and Macs and is free for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional security boost can be gained from Sophos XG Firewall which is currently on a free 90-day trial.
We strongly advise all organisations to review their security in line with any changes to their working practises – particularly remote working. We are here to help, so just call us for help or advice.
Join our webinar to learn how to use Microsoft TEAMS effectively. 19th May, 2pm.
Virtual team meetings have become the new norm for many businesses forced to work remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to take a look at Microsoft Teams, which has been a lifeline for many businesses throughout lockdown and is set to change the way we conduct business in the future. We suspect many businesses are just using the video calling function, to meet with colleagues or socialise with friends, but it can offer businesses so much more. We are therefore holding a webinar on 19th May at 2pm, where we will run through the main features of Microsoft Teams and discuss how it can help support your business moving forward.
There’s a free version of Teams and a paid versions which is included in most of Microsoft’s O365 plans, including Office 365 E1 which currently on an extended 6-month trial to help support businesses currently working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and can offer businesses some great integration opportunities which you’ll discover on the webinar.
So, what next? As with any new system, you’ll need to make sure you get the right features for your requirements and it’s important that it’s all set up correctly. Conformedia is a Microsoft Partner; we work with clients to plan and deliver effective solutions. We can help you select the right O365 plan and onboard you to O365, integrating your existing on-premise Active Directory environment with O365 cloud based Azure Active Directory, ensuring a seamless experience for users, regardless of location.
If you would like to know more, we are here to help. Contact Richard Twigger for a one to one or join our Microsoft Teams webinar on 19th May at 2pm.
