As our US friends celebrate #DigitalLearningDay, we look at why learning new technologies and digital skills, in and out of the classroom, is important no matter how old you are.

As an Information Technology company, it’s no surprise that our team is passionate about digital technology. Most of our employees have completed degree or college courses in computing, some are still studying. But learning doesn’t stop when you step out of the classroom. Technology is changing all the time, so the learning must continue. There are lots of ways to learn new digital skills, here are some of them.

Peer learning is a fantastic way to acquire new skills and techniques. Our IT engineers learn from each other every day. Everyone has unique interests and ways of fixing problems. When an issue occurs, speaking with other members of the team is a fantastic way to learn how to diagnose and fix a problem.

Formal learning with a college or university course is a great way to learn and gain qualifications. Two of our team are currently studying for apprenticeships while they work. Formal education allows our team to combine accredited learning and apply those new skills directly into work. In turn, the students take solutions learned at work into their educational setting, so the knowledge sharing is a two-way street and benefits everyone.

Informal learning is ongoing. Our team spends a huge amount of time in and out of work improving their computer skills just for the fun of it. We’re taking part in a competition called #CyberDrainCTF. A capture the flag series of online events, the competition has a series of IT questions and challenges to be completed. With different technical levels and specialist subjects, with a score board updated in real time. IQ in IT Technical Director Luke Whitelock came joint first in the event, with several of our team doing incredibly well.

IQ in IT Technical Director Luke Whitelock says: “We are always striving to improve the services we provide to our clients. We live and breathe IT, so for us playing a game that involves learning is a great way to test and improve our skills. Outside of work, I like to experiment with writing scripts that will hopefully improve the service we give our clients. I really enjoy this learning side of things and have started posting my work on a platform with other Managed Service Providers (MSPs). We share our ideas on IT solutions, and that way we all learn from each other.”

Professional learning is not just something we do ourselves, it’s something we encourage our clients to do as well. Digital learning is crucial for all staff in all businesses to keep your company safe from cyber-attacks, which has seen a massive increase since the start of the COVID pandemic. We organise cyber-security training to help companies train their staff to avoid digital crime. Learning should be fun for everyone, so there are games, quizzes, animations, videos, and a whole load of interactive tools to make learning fun.

If you would like to find out more about digital learning, get in touch [email protected] or book a chat here.

 

How to improve your cyber security and why COVID is not the only virus that could disrupt your business. 

To mark national Safer Internet Day, our Technical Director, Luke Whitelock, shares 5 ways to improve your cyber-security and protect your business. Cybercrime has increased significantly during the pandemic. Whatever your business, you will manage large amounts of information that could be valuable to criminals.   It is crucial you take steps, not only protect your clients’ information, but also to avoid costly downtime if something does go wrong. 

1 – Back up your data.  

Regular and thorough back up of all your data is one of the best and easiest to protect your business in the event of a cyber-security breach.  Make sure you are backing up your data to a cloud-based solution on a regular basis.  Check the back-ups.  If your data is properly backed up and something goes wrong, you can restore lost data.  This is essential for business continuity.  There are some great solutions that can act as a temporary bridge for your business systems in case of a loss of service while things are fixed.  We recommend this to all our customers to minimise any downtime which is both costly and inconvenient.  

2 – Keeping devices safe  

Make sure that all devices used by your staff, whether personal or work, are kept secure by applying all software updates on a regular basis. This can really help stop attacks on vulnerabilities exploited by criminals or in the event of loss or theft of any devices.  Make sure that all devices used for work are encrypted and compliant with frequent updates applied. 

3 – Restrict access 

Limit the access of employees to your internal data.  By reducing the number of people who have access to company information and files, you limit the risk. Use additional passwords for all confidential data as an extra layer of security to make sure only those who really need to access something can. 

4 – Passwords and 2FA 

You should have a password policy and share it with all your employees. Your password policy should advise all staff use a secure password manager like LastPass. 2 Factor Authentication is another essential tool that should be part of your password policy.  There are many different free APPs which enable 2FA and it’s a simple way to add another layer of protection. 

5 – Avoiding phishing attacks 

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in phishing attacks using both ransomware and malware.  The simplest way to protect against these is to train your staff to spot the attack before it happens. We recommend regular training and testing of your staff.  There are some great tools out there to help businesses do this quickly and regularly.  We even use this on our own staff! 

If you want have a question about being safer with your cyber-security please get in touch with [email protected] or book a chat with one of our team here https://iqi.click/cybercal 

As part of National Apprenticeship Week 2021, we’d like to introduce you to one of our IQ in IT apprentices.  Meet Blake.  Blake joined IQ in IT in 2019 on our IT support team.  Since he started working with us as an IT apprentice Blake has gained extensive technology skills and is a popular member of our team.  As his confidence grew, Blake showed a natural flair for business development. He has recently started a management CMDA degree course at Kingston College. We asked Blake for his thoughts on apprenticeships. 

  

Tell us about your apprenticeship: 

I am doing a Management Degree CMDA Apprenticeship. It’s a 5-year degree course with lessons at Kingston College.  At the end of the course, I will have a University degree and chartered manager status. I get to combine study with a real job, gaining valuable work experience at the same time as getting my degree qualification. 

Why did you choose an apprenticeship? 

At school the focus was on going to University to get a traditional degree. I knew I wanted to study but was worried about graduating with huge debts and no work experience.  An apprenticeship helps me to gain formal qualifications while learning in a real-world situation, and without any financial worries at the end of the course.  

What do you like about the apprenticeship scheme? 

Being able to put theory into practice in real-life work. I have to implement all the things I am learning into my job.  This is much more useful than a normal degree where you only learn the theory of something but don’t get to apply it.  

With an apprenticeship there is no learning lag, we study current things and apply them to real work situations.  If I was doing an ordinary degree course, especially in technology, the technology would have already changed by the time I finished my course.  I love that the course content is current and relevant to my job here and now.  It’s much more interesting and useful than just reading about something. 

What do you most like about your job? 

I love that I am always learning something new, and that no day is ever the same. I enjoy the comradery of being part of a great team, we are always sharing ideas and learn from each other all the time.  I like talking to our customers and helping them understand and fix problems.   

What are the benefits for employers of having an apprentice? 

An apprentice can be moulded to be the exact person you need for your business. An apprentice is always ready to learn.  Companies can make sure they get the right staff training to suit their company and its customers.  An apprentice will have more work experience than someone who has finished a normal degree because they have had to work as well and are good at juggling. 

 

What advice would you give anyone considering an apprenticeship? 

Don’t be put off by teachers who don’t know much about apprenticeships, do your research about the course and the provider. It’s a great way to learn while you earn and get a proper degree. There are lots of different courses depending on what you want to do. It can be demanding with a full-time job and studying, so you need to be careful to not burn yourself out.  

 

To find out about apprenticeships at Kingston College visit here: https://stcg.ac.uk/apprenticeships