IT Services
From support and hardware provision to productivity and security software, we offer a broad range of IT Services to help SMEs grow their business.
Productivity & Communications
Microsoft 365 Productivity suite
Microsoft 365 builds on the renowned Office suite of productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) to include advanced security and device management features. Microsoft has put together many of its class-leading products into one simplified bundle.
This cloud-integrated system includes business-grade email services, extensive file storage and a wide range of collaborative apps across PCs and mobile devices. Installed and configured to your business needs, Microsoft 365 makes it easy for businesses to have all the productivity and security tools they need in one easy-to-use platform.
Microsoft Teams and Telephony (VoIP)
Microsoft 365 Business Voice is the next level up from Microsoft 365 Business and adds a phone system that integrates with Office 365. Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a cloud-based phone system that integrates into the Office suite.
Using Microsoft Teams gives you calling, chat and meetings in a single app. Your contacts and calendar are connected across Teams and Outlook, and you can collaborate with colleagues and customers by using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint within calls and meetings.
Call Monitor
Moving your telephone system online offers access to additional applications to further enhance the performance of your business. Our Call Monitor system allows you to review the performance of your team easily.
It provides detailed analysis, such as the number of calls taken and average call duration both for inbound and outbound calls with real-time call monitoring and historical reports. A deep integration with Teams makes it easy to use and lets managers filter by many criteria.
Dubber Call Recording
Dubber is a call recording system that integrates with Microsoft Teams with Voice. Any device that you use to make phone calls with Microsoft Teams, from your smartphone and tablet to your desktop and dedicated handset, works with Dubber. This is invaluable where compliance or legal requirements demand all communications to be recorded.
Dubber will record both sides of the conversation and save it to an audio file which is held in the cloud. The audio file is then analysed by Dubber's artificial intelligence, and a text transcript of the conversation is produced. The text files can then be easily searched and clicking on the text will take you directly to that portion of the audio file.
Internet connectivity
Strident can supply and manage business-grade internet connectivity including high-speed broadband, leased lines and fibre. As well as high upload and download speeds, these connections have a low contention ratio so you are not battling with many other businesses for bandwidth.High-speed connectivity is essential for when your colleagues are accessing multiple cloud-based services.
A leased line is a private telecommunications circuit between two or more locations. Leased lines are ideal for high-speed and large data transfer for businesses with geographically separate offices.
Security services
Microsoft Endpoint Manger and Security
Rarely do colleagues work in isolation on one device. PCs are networked and information is shared via the cloud to mobile devices and keeping all these devices safe and secure can be hard.
Microsoft Endpoint Manger security controls enable you to configure security features and settings across Windows PCs and devices running iOS or Android with ease. Set your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates to protect against the latest threats and centrally create and deploy security policies to protect your data all your colleagues' iOS and Android devices, as well as their Windows PCs.
CyberEssentials
Cyber Essentials is a UK government scheme that highlights security issues from internet-based threats. Cyber Essentials certification shows your customers you're following best practices for IT security.
Cyber Essentials Plus builds upon the basic accreditation with a much more detailed analysis and a technical assessor will visit your premises to verify your devices and procedures. Strident can provide full technical support ahead of Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and arrange for the independent technical assessor to complete the certification.
Bitlocker hard-drive encryption
BitLocker encrypts your hard drive and helps protect against unauthorised changes from malware. Encrypting your computer's hard drive keeps your data safe. It puts a second 'lock' around all the data that prevents it from being accessed even if the hard drive is removed and linked to another computer.
Not only does encryption help you meet your obligations but if your laptop is stolen and the hard drive is encrypted, you are not required to report it to the ICO as a data breach.
Duo Authentication
Multi-factor authentication, or MFA, is a great step forward in security, ensuring only authorised users have access even if a username and password are compromised. Duo adds MFA to the device login process, protecting your PC at start-up and integrates easily with your existing technology.
Duo's MFA solution only requires your colleagues to carry their smartphone, with the Duo Mobile app installed on it. Duo Mobile is available for both iPhones and Android, as well as wearables like the Apple Watch.
Cisco Umbrella Web filtering
Web filtering and DNS-layer security is a system that allows businesses to control the content that their users can access on the internet. This can be done by blocking certain websites, categories of websites, or keywords. Cisco Umbrella is a cloud-based security platform that protects your users and devices, regardless of their location. This makes it easy to deploy and manage across your business.
Even if a user accidentally clicks on a malicious link, Umbrella will step in to prevent threats from reaching users' devices, even if they are not connected to the business network. An Umbrella app can also be installed on the PC, tablet or phone (either downloaded manually or 'pushed' in the background by the Strident Agent app) to scan and monitor the device unobtrusively for malicious links in apps and documents.
Vulnerability Assessments
A Vulnerability Assessment is an evaluation of IT and network infrastructure to identify security vulnerabilities and risks. It's an effective and affordable first step for an organisation to understand their current security posture and help determine what, if any, steps to take next.
There are a wide range of operational, financial and reputational benefits for your business, allowing your business to test your network defences before hackers do. Vulnerability Assessments are a requirement for ISO 27001 certification, highlighting their importance and value but any business can benefit from these.
Backup services
Disaster recovery
Disaster is a dramatic word but a major disruption for your business, from fire and theft to ransomware attacks could destroy your data and possibly your business.
Most businesses consider two backup solutions for their data; networked attached storage and online backups. We recommend a combination of the two to provide the balance of performance, cost and practicality. Strident can configure this to keep your business safe and recoverable.
Microsoft 365 Backup
While Microsoft 365 OneDrive and Teams allows you and your colleagues to upload and share data, this should not be considered a backup. Microsoft 365 Backup is a proven online backup solution for Microsoft 365 and we frequently backup all email, Teams, Sharepoint and OneDrive data to a separate, secure UK Microsoft data centre.
These are true backups, not just synchronised copies. All emails and files can be stored and restored for an indefinite period and because it runs online automatically, it requires no manual intervention or a computer to be left on.
Strident Online Backup
Strident Online Backup service is a cloud-based backup that is easy to install and administer. The service can be remotely installed via the Strident Agent and will backup email and documents to the Strident secure servers at our main office.
The major benefit of Strident Online Backup is speed of recovery, essential in a disaster. We can visit your premises and take the initial backup onto high speed portable drives which is far faster than uploading over the internet. The Strident Agent then makes incremental backups to this backup set. For recovery, the process is reversed and allows PCs and servers to be recreated far more quickly than downloading from the internet.
Cloud services
Microsoft Azure cloud-based virtual servers and desktops
Businesses are looking for more and more flexible ways of working and the Azure cloud platform offers a wide range of services. Data security is paramount, and our Azure certification proves Strident has the expertise to carry this out securely.
The Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform has more than 200 products and provides services such as virtual desktops, servers and file storage while integrating closely with Office 365. Azure Administrator Associate certification proves our expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring an organisation's Microsoft Azure environment.
