WHAT SECURE EMAIL GATEWAYS CAN DO FOR YOUR ENTERPRISE

In June 2018, Unatrac Holding Limited, a company which deals in sales of heavy industrial and farm equipment, was said to have approached the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) over a breach in the email account of its chief financial officer where a fraudulent transfer of funds was done. The intruder was said to have sent phishing emails containing a web link, purportedly to the login page of the CFO’s online email account hosted by Microsoft Office 365. Believing the link to be genuine, the CFO was said to have imputed his username and password from where the intruder got full access to the account and sent a fraudulent wire transfer request to the company’s internal financial team. Acting under the impression that the email emanated from the CFO, the finance staff processed approximately 15 payments between April 11 to 19, 2018, totalling $11 million.

Email security gateways protect enterprises from threats such as spam and phishing attacks. This article explains how these products get the job done.

Companies use email security gateways to prevent email messages that violate an organization’s policies — particularly ones with malicious intent — from reaching their destinations.

All email security gateways have the ability to quarantine or block email that contains detected malware, phishing attacks, spam, as well as other malicious content. This prevents most attacks from reaching their intended recipients, which, in turn, reduces the number of successful compromises of hosts, user credentials and sensitive data.

Some security gateways also offer data loss prevention capabilities that thwart inadvertent or intentional leakage of sensitive information via email messages. This is mainly a concern for outbound traffic — email messages sent from within the organization.

There are many products available. It is not feasible to exhaustively capture the characteristics of every single one, so this article focuses on the most widely used types of gateway products.

The architecture of email security gateways

There are several possible architectures for hosting email gateways, including the following:

1. The email server: Some gateway products are email server-specific — e.g., for Exchange servers only or for Domino servers only — and these products are typically installed directly onto the email server. Most products do not fall into this category.

2. An on-site hardware appliance: The majority of secure email gateway products offer a hardware appliance option. Companies install this dedicated appliance on the organization’s network, and inbound and outbound email traffic is routed through the appliance for analysis and filtering.

3. An on-site virtual appliance: Most vendors offer on-site virtual appliances for email security. Companies can install these virtual appliances as part of a private cloud controlled by the organization, or they can be run on an on-site server without necessarily being part of a cloud architecture.

4. A public cloud: Many email security gateway products are available as public cloud-based services. They function the same way as the on-site appliances do; all inbound and outbound email traffic for an organization is routed through the service.

5. A hybrid approach — combining public cloud and on-site presence: Many vendors offer a hybrid architecture, which combines a public cloud-based service and a locally deployed hardware or virtual appliance.

Each option has advantages and disadvantages in terms of security, performance and reliability. However, all of these architectures ultimately deliver the same type of email analysis and filtering services to their user communities. Email security gateways are strictly that — gateways — and they have no presence on client devices. The lack of a dependency on client-side security controls is important for achieving effective email security in many environments, especially those that have email users with client devices outside the organization’s control, such as bring your own device laptops, smartphones and tablets.

Typical environments suitable for email security gateways

Secure email gateways are a necessity for virtually every organization since email-borne threats are ubiquitous. They allow all types of organizations to boost their security.

Gateways go beyond the traditional detection capabilities of legacy antivirus and antiphishing tools by offering more sophisticated detection and prevention capabilities. They also make use of threat intelligence to stay up to date with the latest threats.

Since email security gateways monitor network traffic, the gateways filter email messages before they reach users’ inboxes. Consequently, they can offer a strong level of protection for email clients on all devices, protecting employees who use their own devices for work or who work remotely. Secure email gateways don’t affect the performance of these devices.

However, to ensure endpoint and mobile security, companies should consider upgrading to cloud versions of their email security gateways that include more advanced phishing protection, particularly to protect against impostor email threats — email fraud — or business email compromise — a financial cyberthreat. Cloud platforms are also more agile and better able to adapt to new threats without the need for administrators to upgrade on-premises appliances or software. Email security gateways are beneficial for organizations that host their own email services and those that outsource their email services, assuming the outsourcer isn’t already providing security gateway services.

Organizations that outsource email services should check with their outsourcer to see what security services they provide, before inadvertently duplicating those services.

The costs of email security gateway adoption and deployment. The cost models for adopting and deploying gateways vary considerably depending on the type of product selected. For example, public cloud-based email security gateway services usually charge per-user, per-month fees. Appliance-based models typically have a flat fee for the appliance itself and may also charge a subscription fee to supply the appliance with the latest threat intelligence information and other updates. Because email security gateways should be transparent to end-users, client support should be minimal. Gateways do make mistakes, but most products are extremely accurate in their classifications of email messages, so it’s quite rare for one to block a nonthreatening message. Such instances may require a gateway administrator to intervene. Some secure email gateways offer add-on security capabilities, such as email encryption. These capabilities generally involve a separate charge in addition to the gateway itself and any support or maintenance subscriptions.

Beefing up organizational security with email security gateways

Secure email gateways prevent malware, phishing attacks, spam and other unwanted email messages from reaching their recipients and compromising their devices, user credentials or sensitive data. Because so many attacks today are email-based, a security gateway can sharply decrease the number of successful attacks against an organization.

Next Steps

With over 146 billion records expected to be stolen over the next five years, enterprises can no longer rest on their laurels when it comes to protecting the data under their care. As recent events show, the impact of data breaches can be severe, not just in terms of monetary losses but also reputational damage.

Speak to a consultant today via call 08183405221/09023416588 or email – enquiries@tranter-it.com.

10 Customer Support Statistics That You Absolutely Need to Know

Surprising research that can help you deliver better support.

In just about any field, there’s always the “standard” advice that seems to get repeated all over the web without any real proof.

And then there’s the truth.

Researched and proven findings that, although sometimes unconventional, can hold the keys to better results.

1) Happy customers are a lot more likely to tell their friends

On average, happy customers tell nine people about their experiences with a company.

If you want referrals through word of mouth and great online reviews, focus on making your customers happy. As research shows, the reward can be exponential.

2) But a single unhappy customer often means that there are many more

For every customer who complains, there are 26 customers who don’t say anything.

Often, they’ll simply get fed up and leave. That’s why customers who complain are giving you an extraordinarily valuable gift: insight into what’s probably making many more customers unhappy than just the person who chose to tell you about it.

3) Plus, angry customers gossip more than happy ones

Just as it’s important to keep your customers happy⁠—because happy customers tell their friends⁠—it’s equally important to turn angry customers around.

Why?

Because while happy customers might tell nine friends, unhappy customers, on average, tell sixteen. That’s sixteen “anti-referrals” for every upset customer that you don’t make whole. That’s a big price to pay for a bad customer experience.

4) Making existing customers happy can help you sell more than finding new customers

When it comes to sales, the probability of selling to an existing happy customer is up to 14x higher than the probability of selling to a new customer. Many people think that the only way to grow their business is to find new customers. But often, the best source for growth is sitting right in front of you: existing customers. You just have to make them happy, and then find ways to deliver more value to them.

5) In fact, retention is the most sure-fire way to improve your bottom line

Businesses that grow their customer retention rates by as little as 5% typically see profit increases ranging from 25% to 95%. Keeping your customers happy doesn’t just let you upsell; it keeps your customers around longer, and massively increases customer lifetime value… and profits.

6) If you’re known for good customer service, you can charge more

86% of customers will pay more for a better customer experience.

With excellent customer service seeming more and more rare these, customers are willing to pay a premium for it. Deliver on that desire, and your customers will be happy to pay higher prices.

7) Customers will, in fact, pay more for better service

The previous version of this list cited research that had customers saying they would pay more for customer service. Well, now we can actually back that up with customer behaviour. In research on actual customer transactions published in the Harvard Business Review, researchers found that among thousands of customers studied, customers who had the best past experiences spend 140% more compared to those who had the poorest past experience.

8) But if you don’t deliver great support, your customers will leave

82% of customers have left a company because of a bad customer service experience.

Just like great support is a magnet for high-value customers, bad support will repel them fast.

9) When you screw up, don’t forget to apologize

37% of customers are satisfied with service recovery when they are offered something of monetary value (e.g., a refund or credit). But when the business adds an apology on top of the compensation, satisfaction doubles to 74%. When you screw up, making the customer whole with a refund or credit is an obvious part of resolving the issue. But an often overlooked and even more important part is simply saying “I’m sorry.”

10) Speed isn’t the most important thing in support…

In one study, researchers measured how “engaged” customers felt after getting service at a bank. While customers who felt that the bank offered speedy service were six times more likely to be highly engaged, customers who gave the bank high ratings on “people” factors (like the tellers’ courtesy and willingness to help) were nine times more likely to be fully engaged.

For businesses who want to win on customer experience, speed is not the ultimate goal. Extraordinary customer service is.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN CHOOSING AN IT SUPPORT ENGINEER FOR YOUR COMPANY.

I have often been asked by clients about what makes our IT support engineers at Tranter IT unique and what they should look out for when selecting IT support engineers for their companies. I know a lot of business owners also have such questions especially as not every business owner can consider themselves a tech guru. This is why I have taken the time out to put out an article on the things your company should be looking out for when choosing an IT support engineer for your company.

It is no news that no organization in this current age can survive without IT. With that in mind, here are a few skills to look out for when choosing the right technical support engineer for your company or while evaluating your current technical support engineer.

  • Communication Skills: An IT support engineer should be able to effectively communicate technical issues to his colleagues. He must be able to listen and understand the technical problems being faced by a user and communicate solutions to such user effectively. In essence, he must be able to break down technical terms to smaller pieces as much as possible.

  • Time Management Skills: An IT support engineer must be able to effectively spread his time among the different technical tasks that he must attend to in a day. He must possess strong time management skills and be able to achieve more in less time.

  • Patience: Just like customer care agents, IT support engineers often have to attend to frustrated and impatient users. Therefore, he must be able to patiently listen to complaints and walk the user through the process of resolving technical issues and ensuring that such issues do not reoccur.

  • Technical Skills: Of course, an IT support engineer must be skilled at working with various software and hardware, web-based applications and more. He must also display an interest in self-development and be willing to update his skills when needed. IT is always evolving; therefore, the right IT support engineer must be one that is willing to always get updated on the latest trends in the industry.

These are the things to look out for when choosing your IT support engineer. Remember, they must possess communication skills, technical skills, time management skills and be able to patiently attend to users’ complaints.

At Tranter IT, these are the skills we ensure that our IT support staff must possess. We ensure they go through a rigorous training to keep them up to date in the IT industry.

What do you think? What other skills do you look out for when choosing an IT support engineer? Please share below.

PS: At Tranter IT, we provide IT support engineers for growing businesses under our 10+ IT support platform. If you want to get a highly experienced IT support staff equipped with all the skills mentioned above and more, contact us here: https://www.tranter-it.com/10plus to sign up for a free consultation with us. If you already have an IT support staff that you want to retain, we can also adopt the staff and constantly update their skill set and IT knowledge, thereby rendering better quality service to your organization.

Melanie Ayoola

Executive Director, Tranter IT

ServiceDesk Plus features aim to enhance the productivity of IT teams, says Tranter IT

In a bid to increase the efficiency of the IT helpdesk in every organisation, ManageEngine, an enterprise IT management software company, in partnership with Tranter IT, has unveiled new features on its ServiceDesk Plus solution.

The unveiling was held at the annual workshop for the flagship product of ManageEngine, ServiceDesk Plus, at the Fourpoints by Sheraton Lagos on Thursday, 23 May, 2019.

ServiceDesk Plus is built on ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure) version 4.0 framework and ISMS (Information Security Management System).  This Solution is designed to deliver top of the range automated helpdesk services to enterprise organisations. One of its objectives, according to Lare Ayoola, Tranter IT’s CEO in an interview, is to help organisations deliver business objectives through low-cost and optimized IT services.

The IT service desk in any organisation is intended to be a primary point of engagement between the IT department and the organisation. It is the single point of contact (SPOC) between the service provider (IT) and users for day-to-day activities. ServiceDesk Plus provides great visibility and central control in dealing with IT issues to ensure that businesses suffer the least possible downtime drastically improving the productivity of the entire organisation. ServiceDesk Plus can be deployed on cloud and on premise.

“ServiceDesk Plus integrates with other ManageEngine solutions such as Desktop Central, Asset Explorer, AD360, Self Service amongst others.” said Karthik Ananda Rao, Chief Evangelist for the ManageEngine Suite of solutions. “Over 150 built in reports and analytics help organisations make informed decisions. The advanced integrations in ManageEngine solutions allow for quick access the ServiceDesk’s key performance indicators without writing complex database queries all from one console”. 

The new Artificial Intelligence feature of the cloud version of ServiceDesk Plus is Zia, a customised virtual support agent which can be the first point of contact for the service desk. Zia helps perform simple service desk activities and fetch information, so customers do not have to rely on a technician. Essentially allowing the user access to the needed information to solve their own IT issues where needed.

“With access to a conversational virtual support agent, technicians in the field can now perform service desk tasks with simple hands-free voice commands. Now that’s efficiency” Melanie Ayoola, Executive Director, Tranter IT noted in a statement.

Quality Air & Covid 19: How IoT Protects us from Air Pollution.

Major sources & How to fix poor air quality in Nigeria.

 

Air Pollution is a silent slow killer we all tend to ignore. Let’s take Lagos, Nigeria as a case study. Lagos is one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities, serving as Nigeria’s economic hub. But its rapid population and economic growth have also led to pollution, unhealthy air, a high prevalence of illnesses and untimely deaths.

 

Bloomberg published an article titled, ‘Air Pollution Kills Far More People Than Covid Ever Will’, shocking right? The article stated that more than 10 million people die each year from air pollution, far more than the estimated 2.6 million people as of March 2021, who have died from Covid-19 since it was detected in December 2019. One would think that nothing could restrict your airflow like Covid-19, but in fact, air pollution kills far more people… slowly but surely. So you see, bad air may not kill people as quickly as poison did to King Joffrey in Game of Thrones, but its dangers are slower and far more dangerous because you don’t see it coming!

 

The Covid-19 pandemic has also been a global cause for concern. Researchers found out that there is a strong relationship between the quality of air and the transmission of the virus. It was discovered that exposure to hazardous air increases the death rate among Covid-19 patients by 9%! Air pollutants cause respiratory stress, thereby increasing vulnerability to the virus and death rate.

 

In a bid to address this, IoT Africa Networks Limited held an IoT Air quality & Space monitoring Webinar tagged “Quality Air & Covid 19: How to improve productivity and safety using IoT”. The event took place on May 19th, 2021 and had three global industry experts as keynote speakers. The speakers included Tom Lindblad, the Founder of Connected Finland; Maija Patjas, the Head of International Relations, Rapal Oy; and Melanie Ayoola, the Executive Director of IoT Africa Limited and Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited. The event was moderated by Wole Bamgboye, the Marketing Communications Manager, IoT Africa Limited and Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited.

 

You may be wondering; what exactly is air quality? What’s space monitoring? What’s IoT? I’m still alive, why should I care? Well, let’s delve into these.

 

Air Quality refers to the state of the air around us, and good air quality means clean, clear, and unpolluted air. The insightful webinar raised awareness about the importance of using the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor air quality in the lives of Nigerians, as well as the corporate, industrial, and manufacturing sectors. The goal was to show how air quality affects health, safety, and productivity at home and in the workplace. It also emphasized the link between air quality and the spread of the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

 

A major talking point from the webinar was how IoT devices like the Air Quality Monitor can actually monitor and share information with you about the air you breathe in. Isn’t that just amazing? The need to have monitoring devices in homes, offices, manufacturing plants, industrial facilities, etc. is huge. The Connected Airwits CO2 is one of the best air quality monitors out there.

 

During the webinar, Melanie Ayoola, the Executive Director of IoT Africa Networks Limited spoke about the importance of air quality and how it affects our daily productivity. During her presentation, she highlighted how remote work and other corporate workplace perks such as bonus packages and fantastic reward schemes could be undermined by the unavailability of quality air.

Melanie noted that “It could all be less effective in providing a motivated and driven workforce, if the air, the basic natural resource we need to live, is not good enough to sustain the body’s engine”. She went on to explain that “what we are avoiding is an environment where our air is working against us”.

Tom Lindblad, Founder of Connected Finland, was also available to provide additional insights on the topic – Seeing the invisible: how connected inventions can help to monitor and provide covid-safe indoor quality air around you. He explained how Carbon Monoxide (CO2) levels rise when there is less fresh air, causing headaches, restlessness, drowsiness, and other symptoms. Increased levels have been related to decreased productivity, increased sick leave, and the spread of infectious diseases, making this a serious issue in the office, school, and at home.

The third speaker, Maija Patjas, the head of International Relations at Rapal, spoke about how optimized workspaces can create a better work environment and lead to higher efficiency levels among company staff. Maija spoke about how managing hybrid work is making it difficult to optimize space layouts. She highlighted how the way we working is changing from an individual-based system into a social, collaborative use of space, with more focus on how employees feel about the environment, and how they can use a more flexible environment to be more productive. She also explained how improved productivity and collaboration, better satisfaction, better indoor comfort, reduced real estate building, and energy savings can all be achieved when organizations integrate Smart Space Monitoring.

 

To watch the full video of the webinar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55FFcbZyIEs

 

Major sources of air quality pollution in Nigeria

In Nigeria, there are so many ways we get exposed to all sorts of air pollution. For instance, we are constantly bombarded with exhaust gas from cars, buses, and trucks. This isn’t helped by the fact that many cars that ply the roads do not go through vehicular carbon emission concentration testing… no lies here! Here are some major sources in Nigeria:

  1. Exhaust from cars, buses, and trucks.

  2. Generator fumes.

  3. Industrial Emissions (power plants, oil refineries, and industrial facilities).

  4. Shisha smoking, also called narghile, water pipe, or Hubble.

  5. Bubble smoking.

  6. Cigarettes Smoking.

  7. Bush burning.

  8. Some other sources are wind-blown dust, wildfires, wood-burning.

 

How to fix poor air quality

Carbon Monoxide (CO), Particulate Matter, Lead, Nitrogen Oxides (NO), and Ozone, are some of the major types of pollutants that are dangerous to your health. There are various ways to help improve Air Quality in the workspace, at home and in factories. Here’s how to stay safe from them:

Get an IoT Air Quality Monitor: IoT Air quality monitors are a great way to keep track of air pollution levels in offices, homes, cars, and other facilities. Check out the Connected AirWits CO2 connected carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature and humidity metering device. with Air Monitoring devices (which monitor the CO2 level of rooms) and reducing emissions contributing to poor air quality, climate change, and ozone layer depletion requires a collaborative effort and long-term commitment.

 

Open that window! Adequate ventilation is key to promoting healthy indoor air, and opening windows is an easy way to encourage a good indoor and outdoor air exchange.

 

No Smoking: Avoid cigarette or Shisha smoking. Staying around people smoking also affects respiratory health and is responsible for about 3,000 lung cancer deaths globally per year in nonsmokers.

 

Use Exhaust Fans: Run fans in the kitchen to remove cooking fumes and in bathrooms to remove steam.

 

Don’t Cover Up Odors: Avoid air fresheners, scented candles, incense, and other odor-masking fragrances, which can trigger asthma.

 

Vacuum Often: Do this especially if you have pets. Brooms stir up more dust.

 

Change your AC filter: Air filters in Air-conditioning systems fill up and stop filtering particles from the air. Try to change your AC filters regularly.

 

Use cooking vents: Kitchens are a major source of many indoor air pollutants. Gas stoves release carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.

 

To be part of the required solution, society, businesses, manufacturing facilities, and government authorities need to work as a team to realize the positive outcomes of having a healthier and more sustainable environment. The IoT Air quality & Space Monitoring Webinar was another insightful event in a series of events held by IoT Africa Networks Limited (A Tranter IT Company). The organization hopes to help Nigerians in all sectors become more efficient, safe, and productive using the Internet of Things.

 
 

About IoT: IoT Africa Networks Limited is the exclusive Sigfox operator in Nigeria and we are responsible for rolling out the first IoT nationwide network in Nigeria. The IoT LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network), powered by IoT Africa Networks Ltd and Sigfox, is a game-changing digital technology in Nigeria.

About Tranter IT: Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited (Tranter IT) is an ICT and Internet of Things Solutions company that provides unified technology solutions to business problems. The company is the exclusive distributor of many IoT Connected devices in Nigeria. Tranter IT was founded in 2004 and has over 340 highly skilled employees, including about 280 ICT and IoT engineers.

About Connected Finland: Connected Finland is operating nationwide, dedicated IoT networks powered by global Sigfox-technology. Connected Finland network covers already 85% of the Finnish population and hundreds of global and local ecosystem partners are already utilizing our Low Power Wide Area technology in their IoT solutions.

About Rapal: Rapal specializes in the financial and environmental effects of the built environment. It is The company provides SaaS software for space management, space utilization, and smart office solutions. It is the company’s belief that a functioning work environment and a great workplace experience is a competitive factor that increases productivity and employee wellbeing.

For more information, please visit IoT Africa’s website https://www.iotafricanetworks.com/.

T: 07083557478, 07085801253

Email: enquiries@iotafricanetworks.com,enquiries@tranter-it.com

Website: www.iotafricanetworks.com, www.tranter-it.com.

What Is 5G and How Will It Make My Life Better?

Everybody loves speedy internet, so it’s no surprise that every major telecom in the world is working to make it even faster. Smartphones, watches, homes, and cars are increasingly requiring stable internet connections. In order to pipe in enough bandwidth for that precious wireless feed, we’re going to need an entirely new form of wireless signal—that’s where 5G comes in.

Similar to 4G and 3G before it, 5G is a wireless connection built specifically to keep up with the proliferation of devices that need a mobile internet connection. It’s not just your phone and your computer anymore, either. Home appliances, door locks, security cameras, cars, wearables, dog collars, and so many other inert devices are beginning to connect to the web. Gartner predicts that 20.8 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. By comparison, there are currently an estimated 6.4 billion connected devices in the world. That’s a lot more devices asking for a quick connection.

To make 5G and the future of wireless internet a little easier understand, we decided to break down exactly what it is and how it will make your life better in the very near future.

What exactly is 5G?

The “G” in 5G stands for “generation.” Wireless phone technology technically started with 1G, and in the early 1990s, and it expanded to 2G when companies first started enabling people to send text messages between two cellular devices.

Eventually, the world moved on to 3G, which gave people the ability to make phone calls, send text messages, and browse the internet. 4G enhanced many of the capabilities that were made possible with the third generation of wireless. People could browse the web, send text messages, and make phone calls—and they could even download and upload large video files without any issues.

Then companies added LTE, short for “long term evolution,” to 4G connectivity. LTE became the fastest and most consistent variety of 4G compared to competing technologies like WiMax. The difference between WiMax and LTE is similar to the difference between Blu-Ray and HD DVDs: Both technologies achieved similar outcomes, but it was important to create a standard for everyone to use. LTE did just that, and it made 4G technology even faster.

5G will build on the foundation created by 4G LTE. It’s going to allow people send texts, make calls, and browse the web as always—and it will dramatically increase the speed at which data is transferred across the network. 5G will make it easier for people to download and upload Ultra HD and 3D video. It will also make room for the thousands of internet-connected devices entering our everyday world. Just imagine upgrading your data connection from a garden hose to a fire hose. The difference will be noticeable.

5G To Transform Lives

5G To Transform Lives

But is 5G really that much faster than 4G?

In short: Yes. Speeds will be significantly faster. Currently, 4G LTE transfer speeds top out at about one gigabit per second. That means it takes about an hour to download a short HD movie in perfect conditions. The problem is, people rarely experience 4G’s maximum download speed because the signal can be disrupted by so many different things: buildings, microwaves, other wifi signals. The list goes on and on.

5G will increase download speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. That means a full HD movie can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. It will also reduce latency significantly (giving people faster load times). In short, it will give wireless broadband the capacity it needs to power thousands of connected devices that will reach our homes and workplaces.

How does it work?

There are already huge consortiums of major global telecoms working to create worldwide standards around 5G. Although most of those standards haven’t been solidified, experts expect it to be backwards compatible (with 4G and 3G) in addition to having some interoperability across the world.

In their most basic form, cell phones are basically two-way radios. When you call someone, your phone converts your voice into an electrical signal. It transmits that electrical signal to the nearest cell tower using radio wave. The cell tower bounces the radio wave through a network of cell towers and eventually to your friend’s phone. The same thing is happening when you send other forms of data (like photos and video) across the network.

Typically, when a new mobile wireless technology comes along (like 5G), it’s assigned a higher radiofrequency. For instance, 4G occupied the frequency bands up to 20MHz. In the case of 5G, it will likely sit on the frequency band up to 6GHz. The reason new wireless technologies occupy higher frequencies is because they typically aren’t in use and move information at a much faster speed. The problem is that higher frequency signals don’t travel as far as lower frequencies, so multiple input and output antennas (MIMOs) will probably be used to boost signals anywhere 5G is offered.

What is 5G and why it will rule the world?

After 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G LTE now comes 5G. It is the fifth generation of wireless network that is expected to be launched in 2020 in India and rest of the world. 5G will be based upon the combination of the existing wireless technologies like GSM, Wi-Fi, LTE etc and the new radio access technologies.

5G will bring higher capacity than the existing 4G network. It is expected to increase the data rates beyond 1GB per second and will provide higher broadband density to the users. It is estimated that peak download rate of data will be of 20/Gbits and upload rate will be of 10G/bits. There will be low latency and low battery consumption while using 5G that means it will increase the battery life upto 10 years and reduce network energy usage by 90%. Several hundreds and thousands of computers will be able to access simultaneous connections at a very high rate. Spectral efficiency will also be increased in 5Gnetwork.

5Gnetwork will benefit the telecommunication sector to a great extent. It will provide better usage of smartphones by increasing their speed. It will introduce VR (virtual reality) and AR (Augmented reality) in smartphone sector.

5G will also bring a biggest change by starting the era of driverless smart cars and smart homes.

A snapshot look at 5G

More than just speed

ADVANTAGES OF 5G

5G network will benefit not only business person but also the commoners. There are several new things that will emerge along with 5Gnetwork making it more reliable and efficient.

Here are some of the things we will be benefited with:

  • Greater speed (enough to download a movie in few seconds)
  • Greater capacity (1,000 times capacity of 4G)
  • Reduced Latency (stop delays)
  • Provide high resolution and larger bandwidth
  • It will gather networks on one platform
  • Lower battery consumption
  • Simultaneous connections can work together
  • Provide uninterrupted and consistent connectivity.
  • Allow access to parallel multiple services
  • Remote place access grant
  • Detect natural disasters

“We are absolutely convinced that 5G is the next revolution,” Tim Baxter, president of Samsung’s US unit, said during a press conference.

Here’s just a taste of what 5G will be able to unlock.

Self-driving cars

While companies like Google and Uber are investing in self-driving cars now, many in the industry don’t believe a fully autonomous vehicle is possible without a 5G network.

“We are absolutely convinced that 5G is the next revolution.” Tim Baxter, president of Samsung’s US unit.

That instantly responsive network and ubiquitous coverage means the cars will be able to use 5G to talk to other cars and sensors built around the city, from street lamps to gas stations.

“It not just about the cars,” Adam Koeppe, vice president of network planning for Verizon, said in an interview Monday. “It’s about urban design and technology.”

Elon Musk Tesla 3

WHAT ADVANTAGES WILL 5G OFFER?

Each new generation of wireless technology has brought faster, more reliable cellular and internet connections. In the 1980’s, first-generation technology made communication via cellphone possible. The next generation, 2G, allowed for more efficient and secure phone calls, and introduced mobile text messaging. 3G ushered in the smartphone era, and 4G/LTE gave us the high-speed connections that make it possible to stream high-definition video on our phones.

5G is projected to bring three main benefits

Faster speed: Data transfer speeds are projected to be about 10 times higher with 5G than is possible with 4G. That means significantly faster transmission of images and videos. With 4G/LTE, downloading a high-definition movie might take about 10 minutes. With 5G, it should take less than a second.

Shorter delays: Though it’s not always noticeable, there is often a brief lag in time from when data is sent to when it’s received. 5G should reduce this so-called latency, making it possible, for example, to watch high-speed virtual reality video with no delays or glitches.

Increased connectivity: Cell towers equipped with 5G technology would have greatly increased capacity over 4G/LTE. That means more people — and more devices — should be able to communicate at the same time.

WILL I NEED A NEW PHONE?

Just as 2G phones couldn’t connect to 3G or 4G networks, today’s 3G and 4G/LTE phones will be unable to connect to a 5G network. So experts predict you’ll need a new phone. The cost of a 5G phone is unclear, but monthly 5G service is likely to cost more than 4G/LTE service.

WHEN WILL 5G BE AVAILABLE?

Samsung and Intel debuted 5G technology at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where it was used to stream live VR coverage of sporting events. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are continuing to develop and test 5G technology and expect 5G service to be available in some U.S. cities later this year. Access to 5G is expected to expand dramatically in 2019.

Source: https://gizmodo.com/what-is-5g-and-how-will-it-make-my-life-better-1760847799

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/tech/what-5g-next-wireless-revolution-explained-ncna855816

“Love Is The Key To Our Success At Tranter IT” – Adedayo Odubanjo

When you first step into the compound and look at the environs of Tranter IT, there is a curiosity that engulfs you and makes you eager to see what lays behind the building structure which boasts of over 40 years of existence.

A look into our offices, you’ll see staff who are sharing ideas, discussing future possibilities, being productive and most importantly the existence of genuine Love amongst the staff.

As we celebrate Valentine’s day, our interview today is with Adedayo Odubanjo, the Head, Human Resources, Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited and Tranter International LTD. Adedayo gives an insight on how she encourages employee motivation and a healthy work environment with love, which helps in fostering productivity and overall growth of the company which has almost 350 staff including about 300 IT Engineers.

Read the rest of Adedayo’s interesting interview below:

Fabwoman: Would you rather be doing anything else other than Human Resources?

Adedayo: [Smiles] Over my 10 years’ experience as an HR professional, I have acquired knowledge in social media marketing, digital marketing and also been an editor for a couple of websites so I will say that while I will continue to be an HR Professional, I am open to learning other skills that will help me be the best I can be.

Fabwoman: What is it like being the Head, Human Resources of an IT firm?

Adedayo: Because Tranter IT also renders IT support to clients all over Nigeria, it is quite demanding but I have learnt to put my Empathy, Conflict resolution, Critical thinking, Multitasking and Proactive skills into use on a high scale. The guidance of the Executive Management has also helped me perform my job effectively and efficiently.

Fabwoman: What are the core values of your organisation that has kept it in existence for over 28 years?

Adedayo: The core values of the Tranter Group are Team Work, Excellence, Integrity, Accountability and Innovation. We have however found out that even with all these values in place, the key to overall success at Tranter IT is the ability to show love to one another. The CEO, Lare Ayoola, has shared in various instances, the importance of love in creating a healthy and transparent environment which in turn leads to an organization’s overall success. Mr Ayoola believes that when you speak openly about your business to your employees and they feel comfortable coming to you with anything that’s on their minds, this can do wonders for the collective motivation of the workplace. That’s because love gives birth to transparency which in turn builds trust; when people understand that the Executive Management aren’t hiding anything, and that they’ll listen to anybody, they’re far more likely to respect and appreciate them. Employees are more comfortable bringing up what they like and don’t like, and there are more chances to nip potential problems in the bud by resolving them in a timely fashion.

Fabwoman: You say Love is the key to your organization’s success, how are you celebrating Valentine’s day with your employees?

Adedayo: [Smiles], It’s a tradition for us to share gifts amongst ourselves, so everyone looks forward to Valentine’s day, knowing they will be made to feel special and loved by their fellow colleagues.

Fabwoman: Any final words?

Adedayo: With genuine love, you can never go wrong. Love should not only be shown through words spoken but also by consistent actions and acts of service. Love should also not only be shown on Valentine’s day but every day.

Fabwoman: Thank you for your time with us

Adedayo: Thank you for having me.

Source: https://fabwoman.ng/valentines-day-special-love-is-the-key-to-our-success-at-tranter-it-adedayo-odubanjo/

10 Brilliant Reasons Why You Should Be Outsourcing Your IT

If you have IT professionals on your company’s staff, there’s a good chance you are paying a lot of money to them. The average Nigeria-based IT Support professional makes about ₦100,000 per month. It’s why so many companies are making the decision to outsource IT these days.

Have you considered doing it? If so, you might be concerned about how outsourcing your IT needs could affect the overall well-being of your company. The IT professionals on your team obviously play a vital role in everything from the security of your internal computer network to the development of your company’s website.

But the truth is that there are plenty of reasons to seriously consider outsourcing your IT to a company you can trust. Take a look at 10 of those reasons below.

1. You Can Control Costs When You Outsource IT

If your website suddenly crashes or your computer network stops working, the IT professionals on your staff will be well worth the money you are paying them. They’ll spring into action and fix whatever problem has popped up.

But what about when everything is up and running just fine? While there is some basic day-to-day IT maintenance that needs to be done, the truth is that your IT professionals aren’t going to be working all the time, even though you’re technically paying them to.

When you outsource IT, you won’t have to worry about this aspect. You will get to pick and choose which IT services you need. Those services will, in turn, be the only things you’ll need to pay for.

Lowering your operating costs is easily one of the big pros of outsourcing IT.

2. You Won’t Have to Worry about Recruiting Quality IT Professionals

Outside of paying the IT professionals on your staff, you also have to spend time recruiting new IT members to replace those that leave your company for whatever reason. This can waste a lot of time for your HR department.

When you make the decision to outsource IT, your IT company will be in charge of handling recruiting and putting the right people in place to handle your needs. In most cases, you won’t ever come into contact with those people, but you can rest assured knowing they have the skills and experience it takes to tackle any IT issue.

3. You’ll Have Access to IT Professionals with Proper Training and Experience

In addition to hiring IT professionals to be on your staff, you also need to make sure they have the proper training at all times. And because the IT world is always changing, there are always new courses that those in it need to take.

IT training can be expensive for you and your company. It can also leave you without an IT professional on your staff on certain training days, which can leave your company vulnerable.

If you decide to outsource IT, it will be up to the company you work with to take care of training their employees and ensuring they have enough experience to tackle certain jobs. You won’t ever have to spend another dime sending an IT professional to a training course.

4. You Will Also Get Access to the Latest Forms of Technology

There are new forms of technology that are popping up every single day and making it easier for your company to function. Problem is, many companies have IT professionals that don’t have the time to investigate new forms of technology and incorporate them into the mix.

You can stay one step ahead of the game when you outsource IT and work with a company that always has one eye on the future. You can also ask questions about specific types of technology, like cloud computing, and see if it would make sense for you to start using them.

5. You Will Reduce the Responsibilities of Your Other Employees

Far too many companies rely on someone other than an IT professional for their IT needs. They say, “Tolu in accounting and Yvonne in HR have some experience fixing computers, so let’s let them handle our IT needs!”

As you can probably imagine, this is a terrible approach to take. Outside of the fact that “Tolu in accounting” and “Yvonne in HR” aren’t certified IT professionals, they also have their own responsibilities they need to take care every day.

Tolu and Yvonne will appreciate you making the decision to outsource IT rather than asking them to continue to try and fix all your IT problems.

 

6. You Will Be Able to Speak with an IT Professional 24/7/365

No matter how hard your IT professionals work, they aren’t going to be on the job all the time.

They’re going to go away on vacation or take a sick day every now and then.

If an IT emergency pops up when they’re not around, what are you going to do?

When you outsource IT, this will never be a problem, as most IT companies offer 24/7/365 service to customers. You can get someone on the phone at any time of the day or night to discuss an IT issue.

Start Outsourcing your IT Today for as low as ₦30,000

7. You Can Take a More Proactive Approach to IT Maintenance

One of the other big issues that many companies encounter when it comes to IT is that they’re too reactive.

Something breaks–and then they fix it. Then something else breaks–and they fix that, too. And so on and so forth.

Rather than only reacting to problems, why not be proactive instead? Being proactive is one of the keys to maintaining a successful network.

Your IT company should be able to spot potential issues and bring them up before they cause serious consequences. This should be more than possible since they’ll be monitoring your IT systems 24/7 once you bring them on board.

 

8. You Will Have the Chance to Learn about New IT Services and Solutions

While it’s important for your IT company to be proactive when you outsource IT work to them, it’s important for you to be as proactive as possible, too. This means bringing up problems you might be having so that your outsourced company can find a solution for you.

For example, let’s say you’ve been thinking about trying to increase the mobility of your office. You want your employees to be able to work from home more often if they want.

This might sound simple enough. But in reality, there are all kinds of security issues that could prove to be problematic. Your employees could also have trouble accessing your network when they’re not actually in the office, which could cut into their productivity.

The right IT company can find a workaround for you and make your company more mobile in no time. People will be able to start accessing your network from wherever they want when you outsource IT to the right company.

9. Scalability: Scaling your support team to handle the large load can be overbearing and taxing to your engineering/development team, not to mention expensive. Expert support teams have streamlined processes to scale quickly in all facets of support.

10. You Will Have More Time to Focus on Running Your Business

While all of the reasons listed here are important, this one is, without a doubt, the most important reason of all.

Your business is very important to you, and you work very hard to keep it afloat. You spend tons of time, energy, and money doing whatever you can to make it as successful as possible.

But if you are working with an IT department that is over-matched and unable to keep up with the constant demands that come with the job, then you are likely having to deal with one IT problem after another rather than dealing with the real issues affecting your company.

How nice would it be to hand over control of your IT department to a company you can trust to handle your network with care? With services like 10+ IT Support powered by Tranter IT, you can get back to doing what you do best: running your business!

Saving money when you outsource IT work will be nice. So will eliminating the headaches that come along with fielding calls and emails about IT problems. However, the best perk of doing it will be spending more time running your business rather than thinking about your company’s IT needs.

Outsource Your IT Now Starting at only ₦30,000/Month

Don’t spend another second stressing out over your company’s current IT shortcomings. Cut your IT department costs now by outsourcing.

10+ IT Support is offering a 50% discount on their services starting at ₦30,000/Month . Learn More Now

If you have enjoyed this read, check out our blog for more information on meeting your company’s IT demands.

Source: itbriefcase.net

New Year Message from the Executive Chairman

I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Happy 2019! God bless Tranter IT and all who help and serve her.

I greet you with an excited heart and a lot of hope and expectation for 2019 and 2020. The last three months have been some of the toughest months of my life and indeed they were months that required a huge amount of faith, but it was all worth it and we have conquered. In the midst of an economy that seems to point downwards, we are making positive, aggressive plans to invest in new businesses and to expand our product range and dramatically increase our sales and profits thereby increasing our strength and the job security of us all. While many are shrinking or shying away from the investment we are investing aggressively. I believe that there is no other way to go if we are to ride the storm that is coming. A smart driver increases speed as he approaches a steep hill so as to have the momentum and speed to reach the pinnacle of that hill and have an easy ride down the other side.

In addition to our existing services such as Manage Engine, Enterprise IT and Digital Banking Support, hardware, software, printing inks and accessories sales , we are moving positively and surely into TechMed, Health care services, IoT solutions and networks, printing solutions for plastic cards and labels, wireless logistics solutions and IT Support for the SME market. These strategic business moves will open up very large markets for us and generate huge returns. To succeed we will have to act as an adhesive team and work smart, hard, diligently and conscientiously keeping our eye on the goals and not on our present situations whatever they may be. I am making and I will still make great sacrifices over the next two years because I believe in the future of Tranter IT and the thousands of jobs that we are going to create as well as the growth that all our staff will experience within two years from now. I ask you to join me on this journey to success, prosperity and greatness.

We are indeed fortunate to be where we are. We are at the door of prosperity and financial security and all we have to do is to remain focused and dedicated to the success of our existing lines of business. God will take care of the rest, as He has promised and as He is guiding us.

Many doors are flying open for us to achieve success in the very near future. Helpers are coming in droves. Clients are turning friendly. Enemies are quiet. God is with us on this journey and we remain blessed in Tranter IT. Join me, join the management, join hands with all our colleagues in embarking on this very exciting journey towards cutting edge solutions and excellence in all we do.

As usual I remain grateful to you all and of course, I love you all. God bless you and give you His grace, His peace and His protection this year and in the years to come. You are His children and He will remember you for good while He protects you and increases you. Amen

Lare Ayoola

Executive Chairman, Tranter IT

Request a Quote