More than 50 IT leaders and data enthusiasts descended on King Street Townhouse in Manchester in July for what was the biggest and best LIMA Elevate to date.

Westcoast Cloud’s Partner CTO Steve Miles took the audience on a deep dive through data strategy and how Microsoft Fabric can support data management and analysis.

The message coming through loud and clear is that having a clear data strategy is essential before even thinking about AI projects, and products like Microsoft Fabric are simplifying that journey.

LIMA CTO Martin Ingham also took the audience through specific use cases from LIMA’s own journey to AI adoption, and the lessons learned.

If you missed out, or want a recap, we’ve rounded up five key takeaways from the range of talks and panels on offer at Elevate.

1. Data strategy is at the heart of AI, and every AI project is fundamentally a data project

Westcoast Cloud’s Steve Miles told the audience that the phrase “garbage in – garbage out” has never been truer than in the case of Generative AI. If your data management and governance isn’t in shape, you’ll get poor results. The first step to successful implementation of AI is data governance.

2. Only 1% of risk leaders feel prepared for AI

The risks of shadow AI (employees using unregulated or unmanaged AI tools) include exposing the personal data your business holds. If someone uploads a spreadsheet into any of the plethora of AI tools your IT doesn’t manage and provision, you risk being fined for breaches of compliance. There’s also a risk that the information these tools spit out is not trained on your own frameworks or the rules and regulations of your geographical region, and you end up with inaccurate outputs that increase errors and put your business at risk.

3. Many organisations are starting from a low bar

It’s common for organisations to work with a complex, organically evolved data estate that isn’t perfectly organised. This state often leads to data duplication. The goal is a unified view of data across all your systems and all your teams, with one view. Microsoft Fabric helps you to achieve that.

4. Fabric doesn’t mean moving your data anywhere

Fabric doesn’t require costly data migrations. It can be overlaid to any data source, whether that’s in Azure, AWS, private cloud or on-prem, and provides a mirrored, unified view of that data allowing for powerful data insights or AI activities. Data becomes directly accessible by all the analytical engines without needing any import/export.

5. When it comes to AI projects, don’t be afraid to start small

In his talk on practical use cases of AI, LIMA CTO Martin Ingham urged the audience to consider starting small when it comes to AI strategy. Build something that’s deliverable, realistic and appropriate to your business and the skills you have access to, whether they’re in-house or within your partner network. Identify simple use cases that have a quick impact. Use these as a test case you can get out of the door quickly, then once you’ve proved some value you can develop your strategy further and create more value.

Unsure where to start with Microsoft Fabric and your Data and AI strategy? Get in touch today to speak to an expert.

Contact LIMA at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk.

]]> https://lima.co.uk/lessons-from-alternative-accountancy-dont-sacrifice-security-in-the-rush-to-ai-adoption/ Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:21:39 +0000 https://www.lima.co.uk/?p=3902

LIMA recently attended the Alternative Accountancy Technology Summit, where IT leaders from accountancy and audit firms got together to discuss the latest tech developments impacting the sector.

The trending topic at the event was – you guessed it – AI!

Speakers highlighted how adoption of AI in accountancy is already helping forward-thinking firms accelerate their operations and reduce internal costs. Which in turn reduces prices and increases demand for services.

Sprawling applications

Meanwhile, IT teams at many of the accountancy firms we spoke to at the event are battling with a huge number of applications for myriad different workflows and tasks. From onboarding clients, to running compliance checks to managing payroll – a typical practice uses 60 or 70 different apps within its day-to-day operations.

This app sprawl commonly includes SaaS, legacy and on-premise services. It throws up issues for IT teams around data duplication, security, credentials, permissions, training, technical complexity and cost.

Against the backdrop of this application sprawl, containing and controlling data becomes a greater challenge. With the introduction of AI tools to the mix, there is a risk that data could potentially be mishandled or inadvertently misused within AI systems, exposing your organisation to data leaks.

AI adoption

We’re not here to be the party poopers. AI is here and it’s having a massive impact in every sector. Those that refuse to adapt will be left behind. But there are ways to manage and control the use of AI in your organisation that doesn’t leave you exposed to major risk.

Here are just a few examples of how accountancy firms are adopting AI.

AI use cases in accountancy

Five ways to remain secure while adopting AI

1. Encrypt your data

Your systems process sensitive financial data. So it’s important that data is encrypted both at rest and in transit. This adds an extra layer of protection, preventing unauthorised access even if data is compromised. Using strong encryption protocols helps safeguard client information, especially in accounting.

2. Conduct regular system audits and risk assessments

AI systems should be continuously monitored to detect any potential vulnerabilities or breaches. Regular security audits and risk assessments can help identify and address weaknesses in security access, AI algorithms or integrations with other systems. By proactively assessing the risks, accountancy firms can mitigate the chances of data leaks or unauthorised access.

3. Adopt role-based access control (RBAC)

With AI systems processing vast amounts of sensitive data across multiple applications, it’s important to restrict access based on roles. Role-based access control ensures that only authorised employees can access or modify specific information. This helps prevent unauthorised viewing or manipulation of client data and ensures a clear trail of who accessed what data and when.

4. Prioritise compliance with data protection frameworks

Accountancy firms must comply with data protection regulations, and many choose to comply with frameworks like Cyber Essentials Plus to support their security and governance posture. When implementing AI, ensure the technology supports your compliance needs with these regulations, particularly in how personal and financial data is collected, stored and processed. There is great advice available from both the ICAEW and ACCA on this subject.

5. Train employees on data security best practices

Human error is often a leading cause of data breaches. It’s essential to train your staff on the importance of data security, particularly when using AI tools. Ensure they understand best practices, such as using strong passwords, recognising phishing attempts and understanding the risks and limitations of AI. Regular training can help employees be vigilant about security and reduce the risk of accidental data exposure.

Join our upcoming webinar, examining how IT teams in accountancy practices can revolutionise end user experience, strengthen security posture and help their organisations drive greater productivity and profitability.

Sign up here: WEBINAR: How are IT services driving better business outcomes for accountancy practices – LIMA – Insight-led IT services

LIMA offers a range of free assessments, including cyber resilience assessments and AI readiness assessments. We can help you on your journey to successful AI adoption.

With over 27 years’ experience supporting organisations with design and delivery of IT strategy, could LIMA be your perfect partner?

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk.

This year’s Housing Association Partnership Network (HAPN) event brought together the great and the good from the housing sector for two days of learning and relationship building, as the sector looks to drive further innovation and growth in 2025 and beyond.

As a strategic IT partner to a significant number of housing associations and organisations – including the likes of Citizen Housing, Southway Housing Trust, Merlin Housing Society, Two Rivers and Transform Housing and Support – we were proud to be at HAPN sharing insights with the wider sector.

Our senior solutions architect Justin Taylor delivered one of the keynote talks at HAPN, outlining how cybercriminals are breaking into the housing sector, and how to prevent them through organisational preparedness and comprehensive vulnerability scanning.

In today’s blog we round-up the five key takeaways from Justin’s talk, helping you to understand and react to the threat.

1. Threats are growing: Email compromise and ransomware are rising year on year

The stats don’t lie. The volume and overall cost of email compromise and ransomware attacks continue to grow, year on year.

Between 2022 and 2023, financial losses due to email compromise grew by 7% from $2.7bn to $2.9bn.

As for ransomware incidents – the number of successful ransomware attacks grew by 18% in 2023 to 2825. That’s up from 2385 in the previous year.

Overall losses due to cybercrime reached $42bn in 2023.

While the 2024 numbers are not yet available, we’re confident there will be another rise in the most recent set of figures when they’re released.

2. Defending is hard: Multiple attack vectors and a shifting landscape

The landscape of cybersecurity threats to housing associations continues to develop at pace. Threat actors are varied and numerous. Here are some of the key threat actors to be aware of:

2.1 Nation-state actors

These are typically countries outside of the UK, the EU and the USA. Nation-state actors pose a significant cybersecurity threat to UK organisations, including those in the housing sector. Whether due to geopolitical motivations, data theft or espionage, nation-state actors have the resources and the skills to cause significant disruption.

Housing organisations are part of a broader critical national infrastructure. Disrupting these services can have wide-reaching impacts on society, making them attractive targets for nation-state actors looking to cause disruption. Housing organisations also hold valuable data, including personal information of residents, financial records, and operational details. Nation-state actors may target this data for espionage or to use it in further attacks.

2.2 Organised crime groups

Organised crime groups (OCGs) are primarily motivated by profit. They target housing organisations to steal sensitive data, such as personal and financial information, which can be sold on the dark web or used for identity theft and fraud.

These groups often use ransomware to encrypt critical data and demand a ransom for its release. Housing organisations, which rely on continuous access to their data for operations, may feel pressured to pay the ransom to restore services quickly.

Housing organisations may have less robust cybersecurity measures compared to other sectors with greater resources, making them attractive targets. OCGs exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to systems and data.

By targeting housing organisations, OCGs can cause significant disruption to essential services, affecting a large number of people and creating a sense of chaos for those trying to resolve the issue.

2.3 Insider threats

Insider threats refer to the risk posed by individuals who have legitimate access to the systems and data within your organisation.

There are traditionally three main types of insider threat:

• Malicious insiders: Deliberately expose systems or leak data to harm the organisation
• Negligent insiders: Cause harm unintentionally (like an IT team member failing to patch a system or mishandling sensitive information)
• Accidental insiders: An end user accidentally clicks a phishing link or gives up their credentials

2.4 Initial access brokers

An initial access broker is a cybercriminal who specialises in gaining unauthorised access to computer networks and systems and then selling this access to other malicious actors, such as ransomware groups.

Initial access brokers exploit vulnerabilities in remote access services like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), brute-force login credentials, and leverage malware that steals account information.

This “access-as-a-service” model is one of the drivers in the rise of ransomware attacks and other cyber threats referenced earlier in this blog.

3. Visibility is critical: Understand your environment and investigate alerts

So, sections 1 and 2 have made for some frightening reading. But what can you do to get proactive and protect yourself?

When it comes to securing your environment, visibility is everything. After all, you can’t manage what you can’t see.

By having a clear view of your network, you’re better able to identify and address vulnerabilities and blind spots. This proactive approach minimises the risk of exploitation by cybercriminals, and can help you respond more quickly in the event of an attack.

Many regulatory frameworks, like Cyber Essentials Plus, require organisations to maintain detailed logs and reports of their security position. Visibility tools help in meeting these compliance requirements by providing the necessary data and insights.

Shadow IT (systems that have been launched within the organisation, but that are not being actively managed by the IT team) can be a barrier to network visibility. Particularly in the housing sector where remote sites and large numbers of internet-facing devices can create a larger attack surface.

A quality scanning tool can plug the gaps by discovering absolutely everything that is on your network, before prioritising the patching and remediation required.

LIMA provides free cyber readiness assessments that can help you to more clearly understand your current security posture and how to improve it. Contact one of our experts on 0345 345 1110 to discuss your free cyber-readiness assessment, or drop us an email: enquiries@lima.co.uk

4. Plan your response: If you don’t have an incident plan you’re leaving yourself at risk

As the old saying goes – fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

By creating an incident response plan you’ll arm your organisation with a step-by-step playbook of how to respond in the event of a cyber incident.

Plan for different attack scenarios. Your response to a phishing attack would naturally be different to a ransomware attack, which could cause a full business outage.

Create a responsibility matrix so it’s clear who owns what.

Create a communications plan. Who do you need to contact? How will you contact them if your core systems go down? How will you contact tenants? Who’s your cyber insurer and what do they cover?

A solid incident response plan can lead to a faster response and critically a faster resolution. The longer an incident drags out, the more exposed you are to the risks of downtime and financial loss.

Having executive agreement of your incident plan enables you to act quickly in the event of an ongoing incident, which could reduce the overall impact. You don’t want to be chasing your CEO for sign off on a plan of action when an incident has occurred.

Once you’ve got a plan, make sure you’ve tested it. An untested plan may not survive a live incident, so make sure to run through it!

5. Not “just an IT problem”: Leadership buy-in is worth its weight in gold

Cybersecurity is not just an IT problem. It comes down to people, processes and culture.

If leadership make cybersecurity a priority, it will become a priority across the organisation very quickly.

From the IT side, if senior management are bought in, you’ll have more tools and processes in place to prevent a cyber-attack and becomes less economically viable and less appealing for attackers to target you.

What’s more, if you have exec buy-in it’s easier to develop a full, organisation-wide response plan, so that your customer-facing teams know what to do when their systems are down, enabling business continuity even in the event of an attack.

At LIMA, we tend to speak to two types of organisation. There are those who have already suffered a cyber-attack. These organisations always have buy-in from leadership, because they understand the reputational damage, the lost revenue and the wasted time spent getting systems back up and running.

IT teams in organisations that haven’t yet been attacked often find it harder to get buy in and investment from leadership. The mentality of “It’s not going to happen to us” can prevail in these organisations. This is a risky approach, with attacks continuing to rise.

In cybersecurity, as in dental care, prevention is always better (and cheaper) than cure!

LIMA’s own Vulnerability Detection and Remediation (VDR) solution continuously scans your environment for vulnerabilities and resolves them before they can be exploited, keeping you ahead of the game in the fight against cybercrime.

Want to remove the cyber-strain from your IT team? Contact one of our experts on 0345 345 1110 to discuss your free cyber-readiness assessment, or drop us an email: enquiries@lima.co.uk

LIMA’s recent Elevate event welcomed more than 20 IT professionals to the National Football Museum for a day of discovery and discussion on AI, Copilot and Power Platform.

Our Head of Product, Ollie Potts, unpacked lessons from our own journey to Copilot, and our partners at Westcoast Cloud demonstrated some of the latest Copilot functionality, including how Copilot now integrates with elements of Power Platform.

If you missed out on the day, or you want a recap, we’ve pulled together five big takeaways from the event.

1. AI is already here, and 75% of people are already using AI at work

Perhaps the important point to note from these stats is that 78% of people already using AI at work are bringing their own tools to the table, rather than using systems managed and secured by their IT team.

Using an unmanaged AI product like Chat GPT within a business can pose risks. Without proper oversight, these systems could expose your business to data leaks, and generate inaccurate or inappropriate content, leading to potential reputational damage or legal issues.

Unmanaged AI may also not integrate seamlessly with existing business processes and tools, resulting in inefficiency and disruption.

It’s a safe bet that your end users are already using AI, so it’s important for your organisation to make a proactive decision about how and where they want their employees to use AI. By providing the guardrails of a managed system, aligned to approved documentation and information within your business, you can deliver an AI assistant that’s reliable, secure, and integrated with the approved tools you want your end-users to work with.

2. Preparedness is critical

When beginning your Copilot (or any AI) activation, laying the groundwork in advance is critical.

There is a lot to think about, and a lot of work to be done, but the ROI is potentially huge.

Here are some of the steps you need to take ahead of activation, if you’re considering Copilot:

1. Establish use cases and goals
2. Conduct a thorough risk assessment and establish mitigation measures
3. Review existing licensing arrangements
4. Review your existing M365 configuration
5. Review your existing data and folder structure
6. Appoint a team to support the wider rollout > it’s not just an IT effort

At LIMA, we’ve been through this exact process ourselves and have developed a Copilot Activation Assessment based on our learnings with Copilot, and our vast experience at deploying new software and hardware solutions. You can benefit from our experience today, with a free Copilot Activation Assessment.

Register your interest for a free Copilot Activation Assessment from LIMA

3. The features of Copilot are astounding, and they’re only getting better

Imagine having a complex report, showing it to Copilot, and asking it to pull out the important insights into an email or one pager ready to edit and share onwards. Copilot does it.

Imagine missing a Teams call and asking Copilot to summarise the elements of the discussion that you need to know about. For example, “renewing your MSP’s contract”. Copilot does it.

Imagine telling Copilot exactly what you want to do with some data in Excel, and Copilot not only creates the formula and pulls the data into the relevant columns, but also creates pivot tables and provides visualised insights from within the data.

Imagine creating a sales proposal for a new customer based on the data and templates you already have in your organisation, bringing in all of the context and experience your business has within its document library and systems. Copilot does it.

4. Power Apps is being underused by the SMB market

At LIMA we are incredibly excited about the opportunities Copilot offers to supercharge your organisation’s efficiency, but there is groundwork and internal education required to deliver Copilot securely.

Your organisation generates huge amounts of content and data, which Copilot could make much more valuable. But with great power comes great responsibility, and without proper management in the age of AI, this data can suddenly be opened up to loss or misuse.

Incorrect setup or configuration of AI systems can lead to data being improperly stored or transmitted, increasing the risk of data loss. What’s more, AI systems that continuously learn and update their models could overwrite existing data, leading to loss of historical data if not properly backed up.

Here are some important questions to start thinking about before you hand over the Copilot keys to enthusiastic employees!

5. Feedback from early adopters has been excellent!

Of Copilot early adopters surveyed, 75% said the service made them more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work. Some users are already saving more than 10 hours a month, and on average users said it made them 30% faster at writing documents and creating presentations.

Limited spaces available!

We will contact you to confirm a slot.

Join us for our cloud webinar | Five factors for successful cloud migration

We’re delighted to be launching the latest episode in our cloud webinar series, five factors for a successful cloud migration.

The recent transition to remote working has highlighted the need for digital resilience and most specifically an IT infrastructure that’s flexible, scalable and reliable. As a result, we’re seeing organisations wanting to review and develop their cloud strategy with some playing catch up against competitors that may have already made the switch.

Drawing upon our vast experience in the industry, we’re in the perfect position to provide straightforward advice for your cloud journey. That’s why our webinar on 29 April will focus on the most important factors to consider for achieving a successful cloud migration, from having the right cloud-first mindset to phasing the approach to achieve optimal results.

By joining our webinar, you will learn the top five factors to a successful cloud migration and hear from one of our customers, Claire Davidson from Transform Housing. Claire will participate in a Q&A session sharing an insight into their journey to the cloud and her first-hand experience of working in partnership with LIMA to migrate their services.

How to register

Unfortunately, this webinar has now passed, but don’t worry, you still have a chance to learn more about LIMA Cloud Services. Follow us on our social channels to find out more about our next upcoming cloud webinar and how to register.

How can LIMA help you on your cloud journey?

Attending our cloud webinar to learn more about how cloud migration is driving digital transformation and the factors to consider for a successful switch is a great way to kick-start your cloud journey, or to give you some advice along the way. However, LIMA can also provide additional support, advice and guidance with the use of our managed cloud solutions.

Whether you’re looking into your cloud options or need help deciding the best solution for your business, we can help guide the process with our cloud readiness assessments, strategy implementation and continuous optimisation.

We pride ourselves on taking a consultative approach so we can advise on the most appropriate services to migrate, which ones may need redesigning and some that may be more suited to staying on-premise. Click here to speak to one of our Account Directors to find out how we can help your business

Register for our webinar | How to accelerate digital business success with cloud optimisation

Join us on 29 July for a lunch and learn Q&A to find out how to maximise your cloud cost savings, performance and productivity with cloud optimisation.

The rapid increase in cloud adoption has seen many organisations now looking to take advantage of the value of cloud by migrating their applications and workloads. Cloud services are easy to implement and consume but are often left running without any review, continuous improvement, or any ongoing alignment to your business strategy.

So, as cloud computing becomes the norm, how do you ensure your applications are managed and optimised to ensure they are running efficiently and achieving the right results?

We’re delighted to be hosting our latest cloud webinar where you will discover how cloud optimisation delivers efficiency that ensures optimal performance and cost savings, whilst keeping your applications secure. We explore how identifying potential improvement opportunities in line with your business needs can ensure you get the most out of your cloud environment and boost your operational agility into the future.

Hear from Ollie Potts, LIMA’s Cloud and Optimise Manager as he presents a unique perspective on cloud optimisation – and how it can help you see business results faster.

Join us for our cloud optimisation webinar to discover:

• How optimising your cloud environment can ensure business success.
• The value of cloud in meeting business objectives.
• What LIMA’s cloud optimisation service offers.
• A Q&A session with our cloud experts.
• A free cloud optimisation workshop with a cloud consultant.

Claim your free cloud optimisation workshop

Register your place for our webinar and receive a free cloud optimisation workshop with one of our expert cloud consultants.

During the 30 minute session we will cover:

• An insight into the current cloud trends that we’re seeing in your market.
• We’ll explore more about your journey to cloud, including what you want to achieve and any challenges you may be facing.
• We’ll then provide you with several actionable points that you may want to investigate further including what areas you should be focusing on to suit your needs and potential improvement recommendations.

Click here to register your place

Join us for a live Q&A session where you can put your questions to our cloud experts.

When? Thursday 29 July 2021
Where? This is a virtual session, simply register your place here.

Click here to register your place to learn how to optimise your cloud costs and performance so you can focus on what matters most.