Join us at our GDPR Event on April 24th in Northampton

Join us at our GDPR Event on April 24th in Northampton

By: Chris McQuade, Operations Manager

 

The GDPR is fast approaching but is your business ready for the most important change in general data privacy regulation in 20 years?

If your answer is: ‘no’, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘yes, but…’

Then it’s your lucky day. 

We’re hosting our very own GDPR event which will assist you in preparing for the new regulation. GDPR: The Nuts & Bolts will take place at the Northampton Marriott Hotel on Tuesday 24^th April 2018.

GDPR: The Nuts & Bolts
Tuesday 24th April 2018
Northampton Marriott Hotel

It will cover the requirements and challenges the new regulation brings as well as how to get your IT systems prepped for May 25^th.

Registrations begin at 9 and the event will be graced by keynote speakers from Howes Percival Solicitors, PCS and HP Inc. The day will be broken up with breakout sessions from industry experts including: Datto, PCS, HP Inc and HPE.

So, come armed with any questions or queries you may have on the new regulation and we’ll assist in turning your GDPR headache into a walk in the park.  The day is predicted to finish at about 3:30pm (ish) and places are limited so secure your place by registering today.

Here’s a bit more…

Adverts, social media posts, news articles and other means of marketing. GDPR has well and truly been plastered everywhere imaginable over the past year. The new regulation kicks in on May 25^th but how exactly does it affect you and your business?

Briefly, the GDPR is a set of ‘rules’ you must follow when recording, handling and managing personal data.

What is ‘Personal Data’?

Article 4 of the GDPR states that:

“’Personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’)”

 

So, for example, the name ‘John Smith’ may not always be considered as ‘personal data’ because loads of people share that name. However, if that name is combined with other data this will usually be enough information to clearly identify this one individual.

This ‘additional’ information includes data like: address, place of work and telephone number.

The above is a very broad description and is by no means extensive of what ‘personal data’ is defined as. But, in a nutshell- if you gather and store information about people with which you come into contact (or seek out for marketing purposes) then it affects you and your organisation.

 

The new regulation isn’t as daunting as people make it out to be. Most organisations will find it very easy to make a change in practice and that’s if they’re not already following the principles.

Saying this, knowing what changes to make or what route to follow can be the difficult bit. This is where a bit of education doesn’t go a miss.

Whether you know exactly where to start your GDPR journey or haven’t got a clue, we want to help you.

Come to our GDPR Event in April and learn how a few small changes could help your IT systems along the way of its GDPR journey.

Meet The Author

Name:	Chris McQuade
Employment Start Date:	June 2002
Job Title:	Commercial Manager
Years in IT:	17

Check out Reuben on Social Media:

PCS

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Registered in England No. 3082062

2-4 Northfield Point
Cunliffe Drive
Kettering
Northamptonshie
NN16 9QJ

08452 41 41 55

The post Join us at our GDPR Event on April 24th in Northampton appeared first on PCS.

source https://www.pcs-systems.com/gdpr-event/

G-Cloud

G-Cloud: What it is & why you should use it.

G Cloud: What it is and why you should use it.

By: Reuben Leach, Commercial Manager

If you work within the public sector, G-Cloud is a term you’ve maybe heard.  

But what exactly is it and how can it help you? This article will hopefully help to clear up these questions and give you a better idea of how G-Cloud can benefit you and your department or organisation.

 

What is the G Cloud service?

Well, to answer that question, let’s start at the beginning.

The G-Cloud Framework is an initiative set up by the UK Government’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS). For some reason we’ve seen people mistake G-Cloud for Google Cloud, which is a different entity altogether. The aim of G-Cloud is to promote and make easy, for public sector bodies, the procurement of cloud based services.  This consists of a framework agreement (G-Cloud) and an online store known as the “Digital Marketplace” which has access to suppliers offering Cloud based services.

G-Cloud, as a service, was introduced in 2012 and has grown impressively since then, with more and more suppliers offering a wide range of services to the public sector. Most of these suppliers are small to medium businesses. The aim was to shift 50% of all government IT spending to cloud based services by 2015, a decision made because of the radical change and innovation cloud based computing offers.

Every 6 to 9 months the G-Cloud framework has an upgrade, with the latest version being G-Cloud 9 being released in May 2017.  After a slight delay G-Cloud 10 is due to open for bidding in April of 2018

Why use G-Cloud?

If you are responsible for procurement within a public-sector organisation you’ve probably already been encouraged to use G-Cloud services. It certainly has two major benefits: choice and efficiency.

In terms of choice, G-Cloud opened the market to allow a whole host of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) to offer innovation and cloud based services to the public sector.  Services which were not previously available. In days gone by, when opportunities went out for tender, large companies with better staff resources were often more successful in winning business than SME’s.  This led to a few companies dominating the management of public sector IT services and to a lack of innovation. Now, with the Digital Marketplace, it’s possible to browse a whole host of different businesses offering various services, so buyers can find one that suits their organisational needs perfectly.

G-Cloud can also help buyers become more efficient in their purchasing process.  Using G-Cloud is far easier than old-fashioned tendering processes. A factor that can help save both costs and time – so more focus can be put on what’s important.

Along with the specific benefits G-Cloud brings to Public Sector Procurement, there is also all the pros of cloud based solutions. Ease of deployment, flexibility, expert technical support and top-notch security are just some of the few benefits that come with using a cloud based solution.

Hopefully this blog has cleared up a few questions you may have about G-Cloud and given you some idea of the many benefits it can bring. To familiarise yourself with the Digital Marketplace why not check out our G-Cloud services at https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/search?q=PCS+Business+Systems

Meet The Author

Name:	Reuben Leach
Employment Start Date:	June 2002
Job Title:	Commercial Manager
Years in IT:	17

Check out Reuben on Social Media:

PCS

About Us
Contact Us
Support Portal
Meet the Team
News & Security

Useful Links

Managed Services
Blog
Case Studies
Downloads
Terms & Conditions
Managed Service Brochure

Registered in England No. 3082062

2-4 Northfield Point
Cunliffe Drive
Kettering
Northamptonshie
NN16 9QJ

08452 41 41 55

The post G-Cloud appeared first on PCS.

source https://www.pcs-systems.com/g-cloud/

Cyber Essentials: Important Changes

Cyber Essentials: Important Changes to questions for new applications and recertification.

Cyber Essentials: Important Changes to questions for
new applications and recertification.

By: Reuben Leach, Commercial Manager

On the 1^st March 2018 there has been some significant changes to the questions asked in the IASME Cyber Essentials certification process.

For those of you reading this with no knowledge of Cyber Essentials.  It is a government backed and industry approved certification which allows businesses to demonstrate that good Cyber Security practices are in place and working.  Businesses classified in the SME bracket can also qualify for £25000 worth of free Cyber Security insurance by working with PCS to become Cyber Essentials certified.

 

 

Many of the questions, which have in the past been simple Yes/No answers, now ask, when making a submission:

Describe how you achieve this, describe the process, and how do you do this?

This ultimately means that going forwards businesses will have to have to input far more evidence when applying for certification or recertification.  These changes have been implemented based on client and assessor feedback.

 

PCS can assist with achieving new Cyber Essentials certifications and help businesses who may now find they need some help when it comes to recertification.  We perform an audit of IT systems, provide a written report detailing where vulnerabilities or weaknesses may exist and carry out any necessary works to systems and processes to make an organisation more Cyber Safe.  Following this we can handle the Cyber Essentials application process in full – from start to finish.

Additionally, PCS can offer services such as Patch Management and Managed Antivirus which can help fulfil the criteria needed to qualify for Cyber Essentials.

Where specific industry sectors such as Accountancy and Solicitors are concerned it’s a case that their professional bodies such as the Institute for Chartered Accounts in England and Wales (ICAEW) the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Law Society all recommend Cyber Essentials as being a recognised way of evidencing good Cyber Security practice.

PCS are working with and have already been successful in helping a number of businesses achieve Cyber Essentials certification.  An example of one such business can be found here in this case study.

For about half an hour to an hour of your time, either in person or over the telephone, PCS can discuss (free of charge) how we can help your business become more Cyber Secure.  If you’re interested in working with us please drop us an email with all your details to cybersecurity@pcs-systems.com

Meet The Author

Name:	Reuben Leach
Employment Start Date:	June 2002
Job Title:	Commercial Manager
Years in IT:	17

Check out Reuben on Social Media:

PCS

About Us
Contact Us
Support Portal
Meet the Team
News & Security

Useful Links

Managed Services
Blog
Case Studies
Downloads
Terms & Conditions
Managed Service Brochure

Registered in England No. 3082062

2-4 Northfield Point
Cunliffe Drive
Kettering
Northamptonshie
NN16 9QJ

08452 41 41 55

The post Cyber Essentials: Important Changes appeared first on PCS.

source https://www.pcs-systems.com/cyber-essentials-important-changes/