boxportable achieve Microsoft Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency

Graeme D Anderson

We are proud to announce today that we have attained the Silver Small and Midmarket Cloud solutions competency demonstrating our commitment and ability to deliver Microsoft based cloud solutions. The competency reaffirms our commitment to be positioned as a trusted consultancy business providing support and implementation services to the small and midmarket customer sector. We have a proven track record of excellence in delivering cost effective cloud and hybrid solutions built on Microsoft Office 365 platform and have successfully migrated over 30 sites this year alone from on-premise to cloud based solutions.

“By achieving a silver competency, organizations have proven their expertise in specific technology areas, placing them among the top 5 percent of Microsoft partners worldwide,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “When customers look for an IT partner to meet their business challenges, choosing a company that has attained Microsoft competencies is a smart move. These are highly qualified professionals with access to Microsoft technical support and product teams.”

Silver Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions
Earning the Microsoft Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions competency demonstrates partner expertise and commitment to delivering solutions tailored to small and midmarket customer requirements. Given the focus on adoption of cloud computing by SMBs to drive their business operations, partners that invest in this competency are ready to address the rising customer demand for Microsoft cloud solutions based on Office 365, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012.

The Microsoft Partner Network helps partners strengthen their capabilities to showcase leadership in the marketplace on the latest technology, to better serve customers and to easily connect with one of the most active, diverse networks in the world.

We are now working on achieving the Gold Small and Midmarket Competency in 2016.

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Opening Hours Over The Festive Period

Graeme D Anderson

Our office will be closed on the following days over Christmas & New Year 2015:

  • Friday 25th December
  • Monday 28th December
  • Friday 1st January

If you require emergency assistance on the 25th, 28th or 1st, please contact support@boxportable.com or call our office number (01224) 914800. Any charges incurred on these days will be at our increased out of hours support rate, with more details of these costs available on our IT Support page.

We’re open for business as usual on all other days, our standard office hours are 8:30am until 5:30pm.

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Outlook crashes after November 2015 Microsoft Update

Graeme D Anderson

Outlook-iconA recently released Microsoft Security Update is causing widespread issues for clients using Microsoft Outlook 2013.

The November 10th 2015 Microsoft Update KB3097877 is causing Outlook to crash upon opening a certain type of HTML interactive email. The update is working correctly for Windows 10 users, but is causing issues for users who are still on Windows 7 and 8.

To fix this issue we recommend removing Microsoft Update KB3097877.

If you need help resolving this issue, you can log an IT Support request and a member of our team will get in touch to carry out the remedial work required to get Microsoft Outlook operating as normal again.

To uninstall the update yourself, you can do so using the following instructions:

  • Open Control Panel, then click Programs and Features.
  • Click ‘View Installed updates’ in the left bar.
  • Search through the list of recently installed updates for KB3097877.
  • Right-click and select uninstall.
  • Reboot your PC

Upgrading to Microsoft Windows 10

Graeme D Anderson

With a little over a month left until the release of Windows 10, we’ll take a look at how the upgrade will impact you and your business IT infrastructure.

Everyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8 should get an invitation to install a free copy of Windows 10. For those running updated versions of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, this will be much the same as the offer to upgrade from Windows 8.0 to Windows 8.1.

In other words, Windows Update will download the code in the background, and you will merely have to accept the offer to install it. The only limitation is that you have to install it within a year of Windows 10’s release.

If you are running Windows XP or Vista, then you will be able to buy a Windows 10 upgrade: watch out for Microsoft’s usual pre-orders and special offers.

How Will Windows 10 Benefit My Business

Using the latest version of any operating system is important, and helps maintain the safety and security of your data. You will also benefit from increased integration with Microsoft Office 365, and will provide a consistent user experience across all of your mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

From a productivity standpoint, Windows 10 offers multiple desktops and workspaces, so you can quickly move between tasks without having to minimize and close windows. You’ll also be able to use Cortana to quickly search and open programs using voice recognition.

Next Steps

While upgrading your home computer should not pose a significant problem, we would advise careful thought before committing to upgrading your office workstations and network to Windows 10. Compatibility with existing network infrastructure, such as printers and other third party devices and peripherals should of course be checked beforehand, as well as interfacing with any key back office systems such as accounting systems or bespoke software applications.

If you’d like our support in upgrading your business workstations or laptops to Windows 10, we would recommend an initial audit of your equipment, followed by some expert consultancy and advice from our IT Support team. We’ll take into account the hardware and network infrastructure on-site and offer our recommendation.

We can even manage the upgrade for you to ensure no issues arise and if any do be on hand immediately to troubleshoot and resolve. Windows 10 – do great things! – Contact us for more information.