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SME report highlights IT challenges managing remote work and the need for consolidation
JumpCloud has announced the findings from its 2021 State of the SME IT Admin Report . Employees are now accessing resources from any device and from anywhere outside of their corporate domain . The report details the impact of COVID-19 , IT ’ s chief concerns about new spending decisions , the impact remote work had on security best practices and overall satisfaction within the IT organisation .
“ COVID-19 has highlighted that while IT admins are often behind the scenes , they are the team that ensures secure and simple workflows for every employee in SMEs ,” said Rajat Bhargava , CEO of JumpCloud . “ Remote work put enormous pressure on admins and organisations , and now that the work landscape has changed permanently , the top priority for SMEs is to address those challenges . IT professionals ’ 2021 priorities of layered security for more secure work from anywhere , making remote work easier and more efficient device management underscore the need for a more consolidated , platform-based approach to IT that reduces complexities and cost .”
Carbon teams up with Visa to enable payments across Africa
Carbon , a pan-African FinTech company providing access to basic financial services for Africans , has announced a strategic five-year partnership with Visa , the world leader in digital payments , to offer both digital and physical issuance of Visa cards to its customers .
Carbon is launching Visa debit cards in the third quarter of 2021 , roughly a year after shifting from being a leading digital lending company to becoming a digital bank offering a range of financial services including savings and payments . By leveraging Visa ’ s payment functionalities , Carbon will deploy an instant issuance process in three key markets including Nigeria , Ghana and Kenya .
The collaboration between both companies includes financial support from Visa and will be spread over the fiveyear partnership period . The funds will be used to provide implementation and marketing support to help drive further growth and adoption of Visa ’ s payment solutions across Carbon ’ s products .
Over half of businesses now have a policy on whether to pay out on ransomware attacks , said Databarracks research
New research by Databarracks has revealed 54 % of businesses now have a defined policy in place to deal with ransomware attacks – whether this means paying a ransom , relying on insurance policies or refusing to pay at all .
The findings are from Databarracks ’ 2021 Data Health Check . Running since 2008 , the annual report surveys over 400 IT decision makers in the UK on critical issues relating to cybersecurity , IT resilience , cloud and remote working .
When asked if their organisation had a policy for paying out on ransomware attacks : 21 % have a policy to never pay a ransom , 14 % will pay a ransom if it is lower than the cost to recover systems , 13 % will pay if the ransom is covered by their cyber insurance policy and 6 % will pay only as a last resort if there is no other way to recover data .
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