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Technology has revolutionized business and is a fundamental component to success, helping organizations, irrespective of industry, maximize their potential and grow. To achieve this potential, an agile and flexible IT partner is key. However, many organizations can be hindered by common restrictions such as internal complexity, security and system integration difficulties. To gain greater insight into these every-day frustrations, Cogeco Peer 1 has canvassed the options of 150 IT decision-makers across several different industries including financial services, higher education, retail, media and business services. Interestingly many IT influencers point to issues with IT vendors that hinder their ability to move forward. It seems that a lack of choice and flexibility in IT infrastructure is holding back UK businesses, with 85% of respondents revealing that their organization would see faster growth if its IT vendor was less restrictive. 69% of IT decision-makers believe their organizations growth and development has been restricted…

There is one statement about that has been written since the dawn of network security; and written in various ways and will likely remain true for many years to come:  “The number, intensity, and sophistication of cyberattacks increased dramatically last year, and will only continue to grow.” In fact, according to the Online Trust Alliance, the number of cyberattacks targeting businesses nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017. And except for a couple of anomalies in 2009 and 2011, the number of data breaches and exposed records has risen every year since 2005. Understanding the reality Today’s most virulent threats come in the form of a so-called “brute-force” – distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks—by far the most reported types of incursions according to the 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. The number of DDoS attacks reached an all-time high in 2017. A total of 7.5 million DDoS attacks were reported during the year,…

It seems that it has been event season for us at Cogeco Peer 1, as over the last couple of months I have been on the road with my colleagues, meeting clients, industry shapers, thought leaders, politicians, students and prospects in the UK and across Europe. A particular highlight for us was our President, Philippe Jetté’s presentation at this year’s CEBIT event in Hannover, Germany. Philippe was invited to share his views on Blockchain and then had the opportunity to meet with some of our German partners and customers alongside Astrid Mehrtens-Haupt who is our EMEA sales director. In addition to Germany, Cogeco Peer 1 is invested in Europe in a number of regions, particularly France where Eric Chauvigné, the EMEA pre-sales director is based. Eric travelled to the UK and presented at Cloud and DevOps World on a panel discussion on ‘Designing & Building Your Cloud Computing System.’  Phil…

Technology is advancing at such a fast pace that it’s nearly impossible to predict what the digital landscape will look like in five years’ time. Trying to stay ahead of the pack within an industry characterized by such rapid change, can be daunting for any IT decision-maker. With so much choice readily available, business leaders are often faced with the difficult decision of picking between influxes of new technologies, with very limited time to choose which best supports them. Keeping up with the latest innovations, challenges, opportunities and threats that technology brings is a huge task for any organization. If implemented correctly, new technology can propel businesses forward, but can conversely have the opposite effect if adopted inappropriately, causing detrimental problems that threaten to undermine enterprises. With this in mind, when it comes to the support businesses are receiving from their IT partners in understanding and meeting these changes, it’s…

Rarely a day goes by when we don’t hear of a huge multi-national corporation falling victim to cyber-criminals and losing some of their valuable data. In fact, it’s such a common occurrence that people have become desensitized to the fallout, adopting either an “it won’t happen to us” attitude or one that plays down the consequences – in other words, people are becoming numb to the effects of cyber-attacks. But such an approach isn’t just the least intuitive, it also leaves organizations open to threats. Why?  Simply because they have not implemented the right solution for their business. The bottom line, whether we like it or not, is that the statistics and research show that cyber-attacks are not only real, but seriously devastating when they strike. With the reputational damage and financial implications of security breaches well known, it is no surprise that many security vendors choose to adopt scare…

Digital transformation has become more than just an industry buzzword recently and is changing every aspect of the business landscape. This process of using technology to radically change business models in order to evolve and modernize, prevents organizations from lagging behind in an increasingly competitive market. For those businesses on their digital transformation journey, there is still room for improvement in terms of available IT systems and services, according to a new study by Cogeco Peer 1. It seems when it comes to what B2B decision-makers look for in an IT vendor, good customer service is the overarching priority. The study provided a general overview of what IT decision-makers across several different industries including retail, financial services, business services, media and higher education, considered the real value of service from IT suppliers. It revealed that the vast majority of respondents (85%) believe that their organization’s most prominent current IT vendor…