At LIMA, we are incredibly choosy about the partners we work with in the security space, and with good reason. Threats continue to grow and evolve, headline hacks are becoming more common, and it’s imperative for organisations to build a robust security strategy.  

One vendor that gets the LIMA stamp of approval is Hornetsecurity – a global expert for comprehensive Microsoft 365 protection, cloud-based email security, backup, compliance, and security awareness solutions, all delivered via a single platform.

As a result of our ever-strengthening relationship with Hornetsecurity, we are pleased to announce that we’ve achieved Hornetsecurity Gold Partner status! This milestone represents a significant step forward in our commitment to delivering top-tier cybersecurity services to our customers.

In addition to achieving Gold Partner status, LIMA was named Hornetsecurity’s Partner of the Year earlier this year.

Strengthening LIMA’s security offering

As cyber threats continue to evolve, businesses require advanced, reliable, and flexible security solutions.

Hornetsecurity’s portfolio offers powerful protection against a wide range of online threats, from spam and malware to ransomware and phishing attacks. By joining forces with Hornetsecurity, we enhance our ability to provide cutting-edge security solutions to our clients, ensuring they can operate with minimal risk in a secure environment.

What does this partnership mean for LIMA customers?

At LIMA, we’ve had great success in helping our customers – large and small businesses across a range of sectors – consolidate these important security services into a single package from a single supplier at a fantastic price point.

Becoming a Gold Partner enables us to unlock even greater resources, tools, and support from Hornetsecurity. This partnership provides us with enhanced access to training, technical support, and industry-leading products, all of which allow us to better serve our customers’ needs.

For our customers, this collaboration means an even more robust cybersecurity offering, that is built on trusted and proven technologies. Hornetsecurity’s solutions, which include cloud-based email security, web filtering and backup services, integrate seamlessly with our existing manged service portfolio, providing an all-encompassing approach to digital security.

LIMA CTO Martin Ingham said: 

“Achieving Gold Partner status is testament to our growing expertise in deploying Hornetsecurity’s solutions, and our ongoing dedication to providing our customers with the best in cybersecurity. Businesses want to protect their 365 environments and their wider infrastructure, but don’t want to deal with dozens of different service providers. LIMA and Hornetsecurity as a partnership provide a brilliant solution to this challenge.”

Irvin Shillingford, Regional Manager, Northern Europe at Hornetsecurity, added: 

“Congratulations to LIMA for achieving Gold Partner status. We are excited about the growth and development of our partnership with LIMA. Business will benefit from LIMA’s strong expertise in managing IT systems and implementing Hornetsecurity’s extensive range of next-generation, cloud-based security solutions. These include compliance, backup, and security awareness offerings, designed to support companies and organisations of all sizes globally.”

Are you feeling the sting of managing security requirements?

Contact one of our experts on 0345 345 1110 to discuss how we can help, or drop us an email: enquiries@lima.co.uk

We are excited to announce that LIMA has achieved the status of Dell Gold Partner, marking a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to providing outstanding outcomes for our customers.

The latest development in LIMA’s partnership with Dell is testament to years of successful delivery of Dell technology across cloud, infrastructure and security projects.

What does this mean for LIMA customers?

Access to best-in-class technology

As a Gold Dell Partner, LIMA has direct access to Dell’s premium product range, including cutting-edge hardware, software and IT infrastructure solutions. This enables us to offer customers the latest tech, while ensuring optimal performance, scalability and security.

Enhanced support and expertise

With the Gold Partner status, LIMA can provide ever-more specialised and tailored strategic consultancy around Dell’s technologies. LIMA customers benefit from quicker response times, deeper technical insights and solutions that are designed to solve even the most complex business challenges.

Streamlined IT solutions for resilience and growth

Dell’s portfolio complements LIMA’s focus on resilience, optimisation, and growth. From cloud strategies to business continuity and cybersecurity, this partnership strengthens our ability to deliver integrated IT solutions that help organisations deliver on their strategic priorities.

LIMA CTO Martin Ingham commented:

“Our Gold Partnership with Dell ensures that our customers continue to get the very best in performance, security and scalability. We’re committed to building deep relationships with a broad range of technology partners to ensure that our customers have the right tools, whatever the job.”

At LIMA, our goal is to empower customers with the best tools and services to drive success. Our Dell Gold Partnership takes us one step closer to achieving that by enhancing the value we deliver and strengthening our position as a trusted IT partner.

Looking for an IT partner that help you go for gold?

Call us on 0345 345 1110 to discuss how we can help, or drop us an email to arrange a meeting: enquiries@lima.co.uk

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.

In 2025, IT teams are tasked with the increasingly complex task of managing cybersecurity requirements alongside an ever-growing list of responsibilities.

Organisations are striving to improve their security posture, while driving awareness of security issues internally, and ensuring end users are using systems and data securely.

Proactive teams monitor and audit IT systems to detect early signs of compromise, but time and resources are not on their side.

Day-to-day IT support is still the main occupier of time, with more than 59% of IT teams spending most of their time on IT support. The 9am rush of phone calls about password resets, software issues and trapped emails is still very real.

Meanwhile, time spent on protecting against security threats is just 16%, much of which is swallowed up delivering patches, workarounds and fixes within CE+ timeframes.

Without the time to dedicate to proactive security activities, a lack of regular and reliable visibility of external vulnerabilities leads to increased cyber risk.

Amidst all of this, annual penetration testing remains a staple of the IT and security team’s toolkit.

Why do we penetration test?

• Conducting annual security tests is considered good practice in the industry. Regular testing can help to ensure security measures are up-to-date and effective.
• Standards like PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) mandate annual security assessments to protect cardholder data.
• Testing may help you to meet and evidence the requirements of other frameworks including GDPR and ISO 27001.
• Annual security tests provide external validation of your security posture. This can help to build trust with stakeholders, including customers, partners and regulators.
• Many cyber insurance policies require regular security assessments to prove proactive management of security risks. By performing annual tests, you can meet these requirements and potentially benefit from lower premiums or better coverage terms.
• Many customers and suppliers expect partners to have strong security practices in place. Annual security tests can be a requirement in contracts or service level agreements.

Four ways to get the most out of your annual test

While penetration tests remain an important part of many organisations’ security strategy, there are several areas in which they fall short. By having an awareness of the trusty pen test’s shortcomings, you can make sure you’re effectively filling the gaps and maximising the return on your security investment.

1. Use your test as a benchmark

Annual security testing provides a snapshot of your system’s security posture at a specific point in time. While you may make improvements based on the test results, new vulnerabilities can be introduced through subsequent changes or configurations. While your annual test is a useful benchmark, your security status can quickly become outdated, leaving your system exposed to new threats that arise after the test.

2. Be aware that your environment constantly evolves

Annual tests might not capture the dynamic nature of your IT environment. Systems, applications and networks are constantly evolving, and new vulnerabilities can emerge at any time. Relying solely on annual testing can give a false sense of security, as it may not account for changes or new threats that occur between tests.

3. Be very clear about what needs to be in scope

Security tests are often scoped to focus on specific areas or components of your environment. If certain systems or applications are excluded from the scope, potential vulnerabilities in those areas may go undetected. This can leave significant parts of your infrastructure unprotected and vulnerable to attack. If you miss an element from your annual test, it’s usually tricky and/or expensive to re-run it with an amended scope.

4. Fill in the gap in your testing cycle

Cyber incidents can occur at any time, and the average timescale for detecting and responding to these incidents is often much shorter than your testing cycle. Annual testing does not provide the continuous monitoring needed to detect and respond to threats in real-time. This misalignment can result in delayed detection and response, increasing the risk of a successful attack. Have a plan for filling the gap.

How can you fill the gap left by annual testing?

Annual testing falls short because it’s static, it’s unresponsive to change and it allows a huge window of time for vulnerabilities to be introduced and exploited. The lifecycle of a security breach is less than an annual testing cycle.

LIMA has developed a solution to perfectly complement, and in some cases replace, your annual security test.

Vulnerability Detection and Remediation (VDR) from LIMA uses a combination of software and human intervention to review your environment, reveal vulnerabilities and resolve them within an SLA that’s aligned to Cyber Essentials Plus.

By using VDR you can remove the risks presented by your annual test and free up the time and resources taken up by the constant demands of patching within your IT team.

1. Use your test as a benchmark

Because the average lifecycle of a vulnerability and its eventual exploitation is within your annual security test timeframe, we need to reduce window.

One of the key motivations to test more frequently is for the purpose of retesting, which involves running the same tests again after remediation to confirm that any fix has been successful. Even simple errors, like forgetting to reboot after applying a patch, can cause a vulnerability to persist.

With VDR, changes and developments in your environment are reviewed on a continuous basis. The service spots vulnerabilities and remediates them against an SLA aligned with Cyber Essentials requirements.

2. Be aware that your environment constantly evolves

VDR gives a picture of your environment, with no changes required to allow access – which is often a requirement of penetration testing. In fact, we recommend you keep everything as it is on a day-to-day basis so we get a full and accurate view, and we can see what layer of your stack is compromised or at risk.

3. Be very clear about what needs to be in scope

With asset-based pricing, you select the assets that you want to be covered by the scan. These can change and flex on a monthly basis in response to shifting requirements. 

4. Fill in the gap in your testing cycle

VDR scans are run near-continuously, and when we spot a vulnerability, we address it within the SLA window, comfortably beating the average lifecycle of a vulnerability and filling the gap left behind by annual testing.  

VDR 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

At LIMA, we are incredibly choosy about the partners we work with in the security space, and with good reason. Threats continue to grow and evolve, making it ever-more critical for organisations to have a robust security strategy.

One vendor that gets the LIMA stamp of approval is Hornetsecurity – a global expert for comprehensive Microsoft 365 protection, cloud-based email security, backup, compliance, and security awareness solutions, all delivered via a single platform.

As a result of our ever-strengthening relationship with Hornetsecurity, we are pleased to announce that we’ve achieved Hornetsecurity Silver Partner status! This milestone represents a significant step forward in our commitment to delivering top-tier cybersecurity services to our customers.

Strengthening LIMA’s security offering

As cyber threats continue to evolve, businesses require advanced, reliable, and flexible security solutions.

Hornetsecurity’s portfolio offers powerful protection against a wide range of online threats, from spam and malware to ransomware and phishing attacks. By joining forces with Hornetsecurity, we enhance our ability to provide cutting-edge security solutions to our clients, ensuring they can operate with minimal risk in a secure environment.

What does this partnership mean for LIMA and its customers?

At LIMA, we’ve had great success in helping our customers – large and small businesses across a range of sectors – consolidate these important security services into a single package from a single supplier at a fantastic price point.

Becoming a Silver Partner enables us to unlock even greater resources, tools, and support from Hornetsecurity. This partnership provides us with enhanced access to training, technical support, and industry-leading products, all of which allow us to better serve our customers’ needs.

For our customers, this collaboration means an even more robust cybersecurity offering that is built on trusted and proven technologies. Hornetsecurity’s solutions, which include cloud-based email security, web filtering, and backup services, will be integrated seamlessly with our existing services, providing an all-encompassing approach to digital security.

LIMA CTO Martin Ingham said: 

“Achieving Silver Partner status is testament to our growing expertise in deploying Hornetsecurity’s solutions, and our ongoing dedication to providing our customers with the best in cybersecurity. Businesses want to protect their 365 environments and their wider infrastructure, but don’t want to deal with dozens of different service providers. LIMA and Hornetsecurity as a partnership provide a brilliant solution to this challenge.”

Irvin Shillingford, Regional Manager, Northern Europe at Hornetsecurity, added: 

“We are excited about the growth and development of our partnership with LIMA. Business will benefit from LIMA’s strong expertise in managing IT systems and implementing Hornetsecurity’s extensive range of next-generation, cloud-based security solutions. These include compliance, backup, and security awareness offerings, designed to support companies and organisations of all sizes globally.”

Are you feeling the sting of managing security requirements?

Contact one of our experts on 0345 345 1110 to discuss how we can help, or drop us an email: enquiries@lima.co.uk

Is your organisation prepared to realise the opportunity of AI?

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, designed to transform the way we work.

It helps users navigate complex tasks, streamline workflows, and enhance overall productivity. By integrating seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Copilot brings a new level of intelligence to familiar tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook.

With the right approach, you and your team will soon be automating routine tasks and receiving intelligent suggestions that make you more efficient and creative.

But first it’s important to lay the groundwork ahead of Copilot activation, and a recent admin change made by Microsoft could be a bump in your road to AI adoption before you’ve even begun!

Recent admin changes to Copilot

Microsoft recently made changes it to its Microsoft 365 service allowing end users to purchase the Copilot service (self-serve) on an individual user basis. This self-serve setting is now enabled by default, so unless you’ve turned it off users can now enable Copilot within your organisation’s 365 platform.

LIMA experts recommend that admins disable self-serve purchasing immediately. We’ve already made this recommendation to all of our customers directly, as a responsible Managed Service Provider.

Without proper management, users could inadvertently open up data privacy and security issues by connecting Copilot to your organisation’s entire 365 environment without sufficient safeguards in place.

How to disable self-serve in your 365 environment

Your Global Administrator can use the Microsoft 365 admin centre to manage self-service purchases and trials for users in your organisation.

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin centre, go to the Settings > Org settings page.
2. On the Services tab of the Org settings page, select Self-service trials and purchases.
3. The Self-service trials and purchases page lists the products that are eligible for self-service, and shows their current self-service setting.
4. To manage the settings for a specific product, select the product name. A panel opens and shows the current setting for the product you selected.
5. To change the setting for the product, select Allow, Allow for trials only, or Do not allow.
6. Select Save changes.

What are the risks of enabling Copilot without doing the groundwork?

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!

1. Data Management

Is your existing data and documentation well labelled and organised so that only relevant, approved documents appear as results in Copilot?

Have you reviewed what data is in scope for Copilot? Have you removed or anonymised confidential or sensitive information?

How do you control and review security permissions for data within SharePoint? Do you have role-based access across all documents?  

What are your data loss prevention policies?

2. Organisational Readiness

What is your business strategy for Copilot? Who in the organisation will use it and what for?

Have you got the policies in place internally to ensure the safe consumption of Copilot by your end users?

Have you considered what training you might put in place to ensure your users are using Copilot safely, while maximising its benefits?

Have you got the skills in house to securely manage Copilot? Research from Kaspersky shows that four-in-ten cybersecurity teams are understaffed, and recruitment lead times are long, with just 6% of vacant senior security roles filled within three months of advertisement. If you don’t have the skills or resources in house, consider working with a partner who can protect and manage your environment for you, giving you peace of mind.  

3. Monitoring

Have you got a plan in place for monitoring the use of Copilot in your organisation? Having robust monitoring can help you to land Copilot effectively and securely.

Performance tracking: Performance monitoring helps you track how well Copilot is performing. This includes response times, accuracy, and user satisfaction. By keeping an eye on these metrics, you can ensure Copilot is meeting your organisation’s expectations and identify areas for improvement.

Issue detection: Early detection of issues such as bugs, errors, or unexpected behaviour is vital. Monitoring allows you to catch these problems quickly, minimising downtime and ensuring a smooth user experience.

Security: Security monitoring helps in identifying any potential security threats or breaches. By looking out for unusual activity, you can protect sensitive data and maintain the integrity of your systems.

Compliance: Many industries have strict compliance requirements. Monitoring ensures that your use of Copilot adheres to these regulations, helping you avoid legal issues and maintain trust with your stakeholders.

Resource management: Effective monitoring helps you to manage resources efficiently. You can track usage patterns and allocate resources where they are needed most, optimising performance and cost-effectiveness.

Need help getting your organisation AI ready?

Join us in Manchester on Thursday 14^th November for Elevate. At this FREE event, experts from LIMA and Microsoft partner Westcoast will unpack Copilot and its benefits, and the team from LIMA will share lessons from our own AI adoption journey.

Find out more and register

Have you tried turning it off and on again? Or so the catch-all response to any IT mishap goes.

In 2024, technology is a more sophisticated beast than that of twenty years ago, and its users are increasingly capable. The challenges facing customers have long surpassed a simple reboot, and with that, the old notion of the IT help desk is fading fast.

IT teams are highly skilled and hold the power to foster or hinder business growth. It is essential that skills are enhanced, development is enabled, and teams are inspired to do more.

Inspiring the upskilling and development of any individual requires the opportunity to take on new challenges, without blockers such as maintaining a secure critical infrastructure getting in the way. It means investing in the right areas, and not sinking valuable cash, time and resources into talented IT pros who quickly become a flight risk.

While the specific IT challenges facing your business will be just that, unique to you, there are common threats that all IT teams should be sinking their teeth into to enhance your business’s overall security posture, as well as their own skills.

What are the top IT challenges in 2024?

Embracing digital transformation

Bringing new technology into the business can feel like an unnecessary expense. After all, why disrupt the ecosystem when everything is working perfectly well as it is?

Unfortunately, the philosophy doesn’t hold when it comes to harnessing advances in technology. Instead, we must always seek to improve to thrive and avoid being left behind. Or worse, face the risks posed by neglected legacy technology becoming a serious threat to your business, and customers, later down the line.

While many IT teams are committed to delivering transformation, supporting end users holds back progress. It is essential to enable your IT team to thoroughly research and implement new technology that can enhance the day-to-day efficacy of your business. Freeing up their time by outsourcing tasks such as end-user support ensures you are maximising the investment in great people.

Keep it secret, keep it safe

Cyber threats will continue to increase in scale and sophistication. It’s vital that businesses implement the appropriate safeguarding measures to effectively secure their data.

Data and compliance requirements vary from business to business, depending on the industry. Getting to grips with and maintaining data compliance is no easy feat, and tasks can quickly fall through the cracks if responsibility is spread too widely, amongst too many people, and communication allowed to falter.

For example, organisations that are ISO27001 compliant may still find their efforts are thwarted by internal teams bypassing essential processes. If a familiar voice pops up on a call, what is the likelihood of a rigorous authentication process vs. skipping to supporting the user’s problem?

Do you have the right skills in-house?

Whether your business is small or large, it is likely that you are experiencing varying degrees of difficulty in the acquisition and retention of highly skilled IT professionals.

IT is a broad discipline, and the chances are that larger organisations will require more specialised roles, that are inevitably harder and more expensive to fill. Businesses are often faced with a choice; upskill current employees or outsource specific roles and responsibilities.

Driving value with end-user support

So how do we get from A to B? How do we make the transition from an IT team hemmed in by mundane tasks, to one that can concentrate on rewarding work that enhances job satisfaction?

Step 1. Remove the mundane tasks

Find a reliable, trusted IT partner that will take look after the IT functions that stand in the way of real progress:

• Password resets and troubleshooting
• User education on basic applications e.g. Microsoft Office
• End-user hardware management
• Employee onboarding and offboarding

Step 2. Get into the mind of your end user

Consider your end user’s needs, and the support that must be made available to them. From security essentials to operational support, find an IT partner that is focused on safeguarding a robust technology environment.

Your IT partner should deliver:

1. Secure, remote service based on Microsoft 365 or desktop visualisation tools with anti-virus
2. Single, auto-deployed desktop environment, including up to five changes per month
3. Management of Microsoft 365 services/tenant, including file share permissions
4. Support and management of network infrastructure
5. General day-to-day end-user support
6. Desktop/laptop hardware provisions, replacement and co-ordination of repair under manufacturer’s warranty (excluding hardware repair)
7. Access control including starters/leavers/movers and password reset
8. Quarterly strategic reviews with a trusted, strategic point of contact

Step 3. Driving business growth, starts with your IT team

Streamline your organisation’s IT requirements in one simple move, with outsourced end-user support.

Choosing to outsource your IT function can seem like a challenging task, but with the right IT partner you can begin to prioritise the areas where you need the most support, and free up your team to focus on what matters.

Reboot your business with End-User Support

Whether it’s support with your day-to-day IT operations, management of cloud infrastructure or providing your team with a flexible and secure digital workplace, LIMA offers a range of strategic IT services that support your team to optimise and grow your business.

Your IT team can help you achieve your greatest ambitions. Start your journey to your optimal IT strategy today with LIMA call us 0345 345 1110, or contact us at enquiries@lima.co.uk to find out more about End-User Support from a dedicated IT partner.   

How it may affect you and how to address the challenges it presents

The Forbes IT Skills Gap Report 2023 shines a spotlight on tech skills in the UK workforce. It reveals an urgent and growing need among businesses for tech expertise, but shows that for a variety of reasons there is currently a shortfall in meeting it. A notable 35% of businesses say competition in the jobs market is a major challenge. The scarcity of skilled candidates and the number of opportunities in these sectors make recruitment and retention of staff a demanding task.
(Forbes IT Skills Gap Report, 2023). 

Tech staff are in high demand, with 93% of UK businesses saying there is an IT skills gap. Recruitment is becoming more and more difficult, and high paying sectors are pulling skilled staff away from other businesses. In this blog, we look at how this skills gap may affect you, how can you bridge it – and how you can ensure that you’re getting the best security for, and business value from, your IT systems, team and services.

The background

The Forbes report highlights some of the key aspects of the skills gap challenge: why it’s occurring, and which specific areas it impacts the most:

• Many aspects of technology, from artificial intelligence (AI) to data analytics and cloud computing, are rapidly evolving, contributing to the challenge.

• While AI is by far the most in-demand skill for businesses, it is closely followed by two other valuable technology skills: IT support and troubleshooting and cyber security. 

• The growing threat of cybercrime and the constant need for IT support means that professionals equipped with these skills are likely to find themselves in high demand among employers.

These findings reflect a growing concern for many businesses and organisations. Holding on to your IT staff, let alone recruiting the right new people, is a major priority. And that means there are several additional factors to consider:

• What are the key skills of your current team – and are they fully optimising those skills for best value to your business? What do you want them to be focussing on?

• What skills and solutions is your business lacking – and how can you fill that gap?

• Do you have the necessary skills and capacity to address the growing problem of cybercrime vulnerability detection and remediation – and to ensure that your IT systems are not just robust and secure, but also fully compliant with regulatory requirements?

• Is filling the skills gap best done in-house,  do you outsource specialist skills – or operate on a hybrid model?

As the Forbes report reminds us, recruiting the right IT people is a costly exercise in today’s environment. Time-consuming too.  So it’s essential that you optimise the value of your IT team, and enable them to focus on your main priorities.

For many organisations, their key targets are operational: to ensure that their IT systems deliver what the business wants and needs, to make the most of their digital investment, and also – where appropriate – to embrace emerging technologies like AI and Cloud, in order to enhance those systems and grow the business. IT staff are likely to have been recruited with general and specific skill sets to fulfil these functions, as opposed to being specialists in, for instance, IT security or troubleshooting.

Let’s now look at the implications in two areas Forbes has identified as being substantial – indeed, business-critical challenges….

1. Cyber-security and compliance

When it comes to cyber security and the growing threat of cyber-crime and attacks, a range of specialist skills, knowledge and capabilities are required which most in-house IT teams are highly unlikely to have. Here’s a telling truth to underline the importance of that:

In 2023, 90% of successful cyberattacks involved the exploitation of unpatched software vulnerabilities.

Systems need to be constantly monitored for vulnerabilities which leave them open to attack. Yes, there are software packages and apps to do that – but those vulnerabilities also need to be resolved.  Failure to address vulnerabilities can have a vastly damaging impact, financially and operationally: cybercrime costs UK businesses £billions as well as causing organisational and reputational damage. Maintaining robust cyber security is essential for IT compliance, too. Without which, the whole business, and its insurance, is compromised.

It’s a minefield, which is why IT security compliance professionals are so much in demand. So what do you do? Expensively recruit for your own in-house team or look for cost-effective external solutions?

Vulnerability Detection & Remediation

VDR, exclusively from LIMA, answers that question in one. It doesn’t just detect vulnerabilities across your entire IT environment, it remediates them, swiftly and accurately. And it does so constantly, addressing risks and evolving dangers as they arise, across 500+ technologies.

VDR is backed by 25 years of specialist experience and expertise, and keeps your software, hardware, third parties, networks and apps secure – and compliant. It comes with an outstanding SLA ensuring all compliance requirements are met, for cyber-insurance, CE+, ISO 25001 and similar frameworks. In fact, it easily outperforms CE+, with KPIs of 3 days for Windows  – compared to the required 3 – and 7 days for infrastructure, compared to 14.

IT Security – Compliance as a Service

VDR takes all the pressure of IT security compliance off ‘regular’ compliance staff who are not security trained, qualified or focused. It’s an ‘out of the box’ solution which bridges that significant skills gap efficiently and cost-effectively, as it means you don’t need to recruit for a specialist team or system – or have any concerns about retaining them. IT security and guaranteed compliance are taken care of, with simple, agreed and transparent costing which enables you to budget with confidence.

Is your IT system right for you?

Before we move on to the second of the challenges identified by Forbes, let’s consider a fundamental digital skill. Choosing and implementing the right technology in the first place. Is yours going to deliver the best results for you, now and into the future?

At LIMA, the pre-sales team work with customers to understand their business challenges, then translate that into which technologies will solve them and establish what outcome the use of those technologies will drive.

It’s an insight-driven part of the LIMA process, not a separate or charged-for system design service. LIMA’s expertise and uniquely personalised approach – the human face of digital skills, if you like – can make all the difference, delivering advice and solutions before your investment in IT is made. Given the cost of systems, and the potential wastage caused by over specification, under specification or even incorrect specification, that’s crucial both to the success of your IT systems, and the future of your business – so it could well be worth having a dialogue with LIMA.

2. IT support and troubleshooting

Whatever systems you put in place, or already have, support and troubleshooting are essential day to day IT functions too, of course, and you can expect a certain level of capability in these areas from a typical skill set. However, you may also prefer to entrust the management of your IT infrastructure to a proven provider like LIMA, with a choice of options to suit your needs.

End-user Support

LIMA’s end-user support function provides streamlined IT experiences for your business and end users, taking care of your whole IT infrastructure end to end: telephony, networking, connectivity and foundation security, with built-in governance and standardisation. It relieves the pressure – and costs – of running your own first-line support, enables you to budget predictably and frees your IT talent up for business-critical functions.

ProActive Support

With  ProActive support, the LIMA service delivery Team has complete, round-the-clock visibility of your infrastructure and carries out ongoing maintenance to boost availability and performance and reduce risk. It’s flexible, too: you can easily change the assets LIMA manage, while establishing a tailored schedule of alerts, thresholds and notifications. And costs are clear and transparent, with an agreed annual fee.

Active Support

if you already have an in-house team, you can call on LIMA’s expert Active Support when needed – 24/7 –  to enable your people to focus on other tasks. This round-the-clock support covers rapid incident management, maintaining a seamless service to your end users, along with third-party vendor management for any assets LIMA manage on your behalf. Again, for an agreed fee. It’s a hybrid solution where your team are supported in key areas.

Conclusions

The digital skills gap represents a substantial ongoing challenge for UK businesses and organisations. But by turning to smart solutions and support from a specialist provider like LIMA, you can effectively and cost-efficiently address two key areas identified by the Forbes report, cyber security and IT support and troubleshooting – whilst also enabling your IT team to use their own digital skills where they add the most value.

Our digital knowledge and insight-led understanding can help you optimise your IT investment in every way…and as for the AI and Cloud expertise Forbes identify as the skills most in demand, a conversation with LIMA could be the best starting point too….

To find out more, and to discuss how LIMA can help you address the challenges of the digital skills gap, 0345 3451 110 or email enquiries@lima.co.uk.  

The Law Society has offered clear guidance – what should you do now? 

Following the recent, and continuing, cyber incident involving an IT partner for the legal sector, some law firms were unable to access their case management systems, with serious consequences for both the firms and their customers – particularly with conveyancing and legal aid. The Law Society were quick to respond, formally advising their members to urgently review their entire IT provision. 

In this blog, we look into what immediate actions are required and how LIMA can help businesses become and remain secure and resilient. With the ever-present and growing threat of cyber-attacks, these issues affect all sectors. 

From the Law Society: 

This incident should serve as a reminder to all firms to be aware of cyber risks.

This is one example of criminals exploiting firms’ growing reliance on ICT services provided by third-party vendors, targeting them as potential gateways to infiltrate firms’ networks, and steal money or sensitive information.

Firms should take this opportunity to review their cybersecurity arrangements to limit the likelihood of becoming the victim of such an attack and minimise the negative effects of any successful breaches.  

Responding to this guidance calls for certain immediate actions: 

Cyber Security  

Find and fix any weaknesses across your entire IT environment: your cyber security is only as strong as its weakest point across software, hardware and third parties.  

Cyber Insurance  

Ensure that you are fully compliant and covered for all eventualities: your cyber insurance will only be valid if your security fulfills all conditions, for instance achieving Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+). 

Business Continuity plans 

Check how well you are protected from the threat of cyber-attack or systems failure, and what happens if you’re subject to either of these events: downtime = lost money, and can lose you business or customer confidence. 

Disaster Recovery plan   

In the event of a disastrous cyber event, what happens? You should make sure you have an appropriate, rapid and up-to-date recovery plan in place – and that your IT providers have too. 

Why choose LIMA to help you do this? 

Significantly, the Law Society go on to say: 

It has become necessary for firms to carry out regular risk assessments of their supply chains, vetting third-party vendors for their security policies, procedures and historical security breaches. 

As this current incident shows, it’s essential to know that your IT partner, as one of those third-party vendors, can ensure the highest levels of security, as well as all the services and systems you’re looking for. 

LIMA have over 25 years of experience and expertise in cyber security. But more than that, we’re uniquely positioned not just to identify and flag up existing weaknesses and emerging threats and risks across your IT environment – covering 500+ technologies – but also to remediate them. All in a single end-to-end solution, working to outstanding guaranteed SLAs that easily meet and exceed CE+ requirements – and backed up with tailored, personal service that’s insight-led, proactive, end-user supportive and incisive.  

We find any problems, and we fix them too. You won’t find that with other IT providers.  

LIMA are widely experienced in the Legal Sector, supporting case management tools like ProClaims and LexisNexis – and we’re vendor agnostic, so we hand-pick services and products to suit the specific needs of each client. This tailored approach works across managed services, strategic consultancy and digital transformation and throughout our extensive portfolio, including a range of cloud platforms – public, private and hybrid. Our services are flexible and scalable too, enabling you to seamlessly meet growth demand and optimise your income potential. 

In short, LIMA provide everything you’re looking for in an IT partner, plus the highest levels of security and resilience to give you robust and reliable protection from the sort of problems being seen right now in the legal sector. 

“In LIMA, we found a solid partner who was able to act as an extension of our team and help us deliver our vision for the business. Together, we were able to move our systems to a more stable platform and put in place the necessary infrastructure that has enabled Brabners to achieve zero unplanned downtime over the last five years.” 
Nick Goodall CIO, Brabners LLP 

So, what comes next? 

Whether you’re affected by the cyber. incident we’ve cited or not – or, in fact, whatever sector you work in, the Law Society advice is good counsel. Now’s the time to review your IT provision – and LIMA can help you conduct a full review, to assess just how robust it is. Talk to us today: it could make a real difference to the future of your business. 

Contact one of our experts on 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk