
Harness the power of AI in your business with Microsoft Azure
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are undoubtably some of the greatest technological advancements of the past decade. Although AI has technically been in use for many years, it is only recently that businesses have truly harnessed the power of AI...

4 common digital transformation challenges and how to overcome them.
The term ‘digital transformation’ refers to the adoption and integration of digital technologies to transform the way a business functions. Recent technology advancements are driving digital transformation worldwide, with business leaders introducing new IT systems to...

How Microsoft Viva Insights is improving the employee experience
The employee experience is fundamental to a business’s long-term success. A positive employee experience leads to more engaged, productive employees that work hard to grow the business and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Although there has always been an...

How technology can help businesses reach their sustainability goals
Across all industries and locations, businesses are working hard to become more sustainable to create a better world for future generations. This is evidenced as 80% of the world’s top companies now report on their sustainability. A sustainability focus helps the...

How SMBs can benefit from an eSignature solution
Small and medium businesses are constantly looking for ways to deliver excellent customer service, whilst saving time and money. To achieve these goals, businesses look towards digital technologies to transform the way they work. An example of this is an eSignature...

Why businesses should implement single sign-on (SSO)
Businesses typically have subscriptions to many different cloud services, including everything from Microsoft 365 products to workforce management software. With so many cloud services requiring unique login credentials, employees often reuse passwords between...

~ Your 2023 guide to migrating SQL Server to Microsoft Azure
As Microsoft SQL Server 2012 reached its end of life in 2022, businesses still using the service will have to upgrade their SQL server to a more recent instance or migrate to Microsoft Azure. If businesses do not upgrade or migrate, they will no longer receive...

7 ways Dynamics 365 Business Central can help SMBs
Many small and medium businesses struggle with connecting software, systems, and processes effectively. This can make it difficult to see the whole picture of a business and it can lead to a lack of efficiency and slow business growth. Enterprise Resource Planning...

Six common IT challenges for fast-growing businesses
Extended periods of rapid growth are positive for most businesses, as it means that the business is acquiring new customers, which is driving increased revenue and better business outcomes. Whilst these periods are exciting and necessary for the longevity of a...

How Azure Virtual Desktop solves common business challenges
What is Azure Virtual Desktop? Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is a virtual desktop interface (VDI) solution that is deployed through Azure that allows users to access Windows 10/11 and all the necessary applications, from anywhere, on any device. The technology can also...

How your business can make the most of the modern workplace
Throughout history, the concept of an ideal workplace has constantly evolved, from the Action Offices of the ‘60s to the rise of office cubicles and the introduction of computers in the ‘90s, and the recent adoption of remote and hybrid working. Novel technologies...

Windows 11: Is now the right time for your business to upgrade?
Microsoft’s Windows 11 has now been available for a month, and many users have already made the upgrade. There are a myriad of new features introduced in Windows 11 that have both consumers and businesses excited, especially as the operating system is designed for...

What is Data Loss Prevention? Why is it essential for your business?
Whilst data threats and leakages can occur in any organisation, it is small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) that are most susceptible to data loss incidents. Indeed, cybercriminals often target smaller businesses as ‘low-hanging fruit’ as a mixture of inadequate security...

Are you getting the most value from your cloud investment?
In 2022, European companies are dedicating an average of 25% of their IT budget to hosted or cloud-based services. Moving workloads to the cloud has many benefits for businesses, however, cost savings are always high on the agenda when businesses are considering...

Benefits and challenges of outsourcing IT services
Due to a number of factors, including the current digital skills shortage, many businesses have decided to outsource their IT services requirements. Especially for smaller businesses, or businesses that are rapidly growing, outsourcing your IT to a company such as...

How businesses can move to a paperless future
In the past, all businesses were reliant on paper processes and printing for day-to-day operations. Over time, as businesses have implemented new technologies, they have also reduced their paper consumption, and the move to remote and hybrid work has only further...

Video Testimonial – James Barker
My name is James Barker and I’m the Head of Finance of Mercia Social Care. Since Jalepeno have taken over and now have the full backlog of everything that we do, everything is very straightforward. So we can communicate with Laurence and Ethan and as soon as we can...

Hacking Humans: How to protect against social engineering attacks
When considering attack methods a cybercriminal may use to gain access to a network or business’s IT system, the most obvious are cracking passwords, hacking computers or exploiting software vulnerabilities. However, when businesses are trying to increase their...

Video Testimonial – Mark Brown

Video Testimonial – Ben Manning

What can I do to counter ransomware?
I’m Laurence Childs from Jalapeno Business Services. There’s not a lot you can do to counter ransomware because once you know you’ve got it, you’ve got it. It’s a bit like a cold really, all you can really then do is try and treat the symptoms and recover from it....

How can I notice dodgy emails?
In a lot of cases the grammar is bad, the spelling is bad, the way they’re laid out is bad. Some of them are very, very good, but the vast majority of them are really quite bad. Look at the email address it’s come from, look at the web links they’re trying to send you...

Ever had a problem with your printer?
Maybe your printer was broken, maybe it was faulty, or it was telling you that it wanted blue ink to print a black and white document. We’ve all had problems with printers at one time or another. Recently a new client of mine sent me an email: “Laurence, the printer...

Who Is Best?
Traditional antivirus packages are pattern matching. A virus file will come in and it will have certain characteristics in that file. And your antivirus will look at it. Look at the first, 10, 20, 40 bytes of that file and say it matches this virus, I’m going to...

1 Simple Tip To NEVER Get Scammed!
Scam emails are a threat to everyone nowadays. Everyone has heard tales of a fake email from your bank account leading you to give away your bank details, or even a business owner promising a huge profit if you invest in their products. Phishing and Spam emails have...

How Can I Protect My Business From Cybercrime In 2021?
Ransomware gangs will reportedly conduct more financially motivated cyberattacks next year. Why this is happening? How can we predict future movements of these criminals? What does all this even mean for you? In 2021, Financial cybercrime will evolve. Researchers...
The 2021 State of IT – What it means for you and your business?
SWZD Recently released an important annual report on IT Budgets and Tech Trends. There's a lot of heavy information in these reports, so we've summarised the most important fact for you to check out. Businesses expect to increase cloud and managed services spending in...

MacOS Update November 2020
As of the Microsoft 365 for Mac November 2020 update, macOS 10.14 Mojave or later is required to receive updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. If you continue with an older version of macOS, your Office apps will continue to work but you will no...
How to prevent bad habits when returning to the office
Returning to the office again after a few months of home working is probably giving millions of workers a sense of relief and nervousness. Roughly 44% of working adults have had to turn their living spaces into makeshift offices; this demonstrates just how impactful...

What’s your plan for flexible working?
As the world reopens, it becomes apparent that many businesses are reluctant to revert fully to pre-COVID operations. Flexible working is being widely adopted for the longer term, despite governments encouraging a return to the office. Social distancing has been...