Ever wondered how many suppliers your organisation is connected to? Most likely you’re connected to multiple service providers; whether it is to receive a consultation, auditing, or support services. These are known to your business as a third party. This can also be extended to an elastic workforce or sub-contracted employees such as developers. Some of these third parties will at some point require access to your systems or business data to conduct their services. The issue is giving third parties access to your sensitive data while also keeping your data secure.

So how do you protect and secure your sensitive business data?

The first thing both businesses do is sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Once that is out of the way Black Fox is ready to start a discovery session on the ERP system. White Lotus has different options and methods to allow the Black Fox personnel access to the system such as:

1. Provide Black Fox a VPN tunnel and credentials to the ERP system
2. Block Fox to visit and conduct session from premises
3. Provide Black Fox with a company device to access the system

1. Method A will come at no cost to White Lotus and requires minimal effort. On the other hand, it also causes high security risks of data leakage. The provider will use his/her own device which enables the provider to have full control of White Lotus data without any preventions.
2. White Lotus will need to make travel arrangements for the provider to visit the premises. This option is not always possible as certain contracted services may take long, thus conducting them remotely is the best option. In any case this scenario makes sense when providing a business device and dedicating a resource to supervise the Black Fox representative. This scenario is only then considered low risk and high effort, costing the business money and resources to lower the risk.
3. Shipping a business device to the provider can be expensive and can also cause delays due to logistical issues. While having a monitored and controlled business device would lower the risk, the administration and logistics make this scenario a nightmare for White Lotus.

So how do you protect your sensitive, core business data?       

With Windows 365 enterprise a business can address these data security risks with a few simple clicks and in a cost-effective manner. The IT admin does not need to worry about device procurement, servicing the hardware, insurance or other logistical nightmares. Simply assign the provider a controlled virtual desktop which is managed and monitored through Microsoft Endpoint Manager. With the ability to set policies such as removing the ability to copy or transfer data between the cloud PC and local devices you can rest assured that your data is secure. Not excluding other services such as VPN and firewall configurations to enhance and protect your business data. So why not give the third-party representative access to a cloud PC?  

How can BMIT Technologies help?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about how your business can secure its data? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

     

A data centre (British English) or data center (American English) or a datacentre can, in its simplest form, be described as a building or groups of buildings that house computer systems, equipment and similar technologies within them. These can vary from whole racks full of computer servers on one extreme, to virtual servers running on a shared computer setup on the other (the now ubiquitous “cloud” can be considered as a mix of these two).

How have data centres evolved over the years?

Add to this the need to spread data and systems across multiple locations (for example for resilience purposes) and the need to retain some equipment in your office or business, and you have a perfect complex situation. This new reality is often called hybrid IT.

This is happening because although many companies are making the move to the cloud, not everyone can, or is willing, to take the leap. Technical requirements, data visibility and transparency are generally key reasons why many organisations still opt for a datacentre or private cloud set-up vs public cloud. In fact, according to an Uptime Institute survey - 58% of organisations are hesitant to move to the cloud. 

What are the different types of data centres?

On a broad basis, there are 4 different types; let’s take a look at what each one entails.

Enterprise 

Enterprise data centres are normally built for large organisations that use the data centre for their exclusive own internal use.  

Managed Services

Managed Services are data centres that are managed by a specialised company, such as BMIT Technologies, offering solutions such as data storage, computing, connectivity, equipment, infrastructure, private and hybrid cloud solutions and many more, as a fully fletched service to customers. These will be completely or partially managed by the company that owns that data centre.  

Colocation

Colocation or more commonly known as ‘co-lo’ or ‘colo’ facilities are data centres, that offer space for rental within their own data centre to their clients. Colo facilities host and manage the physical infrastructure and security while the client would be responsible for the management and upkeep of the other components.  BMIT Technologies also offers this type of facility.

Cloud

Cloud data centres are virtual data centres hosted by cloud service providers such as BMIT Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud or a mixture of all. 

How can BMIT Technologies help with data centres?  

With our many years legacy in managing colocation facilities and managed datacentre services, we can help you define the right requirements, select the best type of IT solution you require – within the datacentre or not – and provide solution to deploy, manage and support such environments.  As Malta's leading technology provider, we can propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies.  

Every client we work with requires different solutions. We use our expertise in data centres, cloud and productivity solutions, to get your business to go further than ever before. 

Want to learn more about data centres and how they can elevate your business? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly. 

Microsoft has created the first managed Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) product, Windows 365, which is included under the Microsoft 365 suite of online services.

And their message is simple “A Hybrid Windows for a Hybrid World”, positioning their new product for the sudden increase in remote working and targeting businesses who are adopting a Hybrid Workplace.

So, what is a Hybrid Workplace?

Hybrid Workplace is simply a strategy an organisation takes up, defining how and where its employees deliver their work/productivity. To most organisations Hybrid Work is simply a division of time between the organisation’s office and remote, where the employee needs to deliver their work. This strategy is set and bound by policies and agreements between employer and employee.

What challenges does Hybrid Workplace bring?

Splitting your workdays between two or more locations requires the necessary technical resources to be available, to retain the same level of productivity throughout.

Some of these challenges may not apply to every business or employee. So, let’s start with the first challenge; the users must have adequate if not similar hardware & consistent productivity tools and applications between the two (or more) locations. Employees who use multiple devices (usually because one out-performs the other), face certain productivity challenges such as data and application synchronisation issues, and re-loading time.

This also increases the IT administration tasks and headaches to discover and secure unknown devices.

The most prioritised challenge for any organisation is security. BYOD or non-organisational devices increase business risks for data theft, malicious attacks, and other intrusion activities. Phishing and other methods targeting remote workers have increased during the last two years as more vulnerabilities and IT security weaknesses are exposed.

How does Windows 365 address these challenges?

Windows 365 Enterprise provides organisations some control over the network resources to be able to assign IP addresses, create VPN tunnels and configure firewall rules. It also provides the ability to deploy and manage the virtual desktops through Microsoft Endpoint Manager. IT admins can distribute security policies and manage both known and unknown devices more easily. However, the Enterprise version requires the organisation to have an Azure subscription and the users must have an Intune license.

The biggest advantage with Windows 365 is the security element. The physical device becomes of no consequence so whether it is stolen or passed around the household, the organisation data remains secure in the cloud. With policies, IT admins can also restrict transfer of data between the virtual desktop and the local device.

How can BMIT Technologies help with Windows 365?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about how Windows 365 enables a hybrid workplace? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is a managed cloud infrastructure service which delivers a virtual desktop to the user through any internet-connected device with a modern browser or remote desktop application.

DaaS has been around for quite some time now (over a decade), but it never really took off on a mass scale. Some reasons being the dependency on a high-speed Internet connection, the cloud compute performance, and the service provider availability. These technical reasons have been addressed as technology evolved, hence why DaaS is now more cost effective and applicable.

In recent years DaaS has found itself in the spotlight, with the sudden increase in remote working and the shift towards a more dynamic employee work experience.

What are the benefits of DaaS?

Quicker deployments

DaaS minimises certain administrative and logistical problems such as procurement, delivery/shipping time, supplier/logistical delays. Management is easier and configurations for the deployment of applications and data are streamlined.

Scalable

DaaS is a solution to meet on-demand requirements whether you are increasing performance of a single virtual desktop or removing it when it is no longer needed. It can allow you to save costs during temporary or seasonal initiatives.

Cost effective

DaaS solutions vary between products or service providers, but you can find the appropriate billing type that suits your organisation. Options can include monthly subscriptions for a more predictable OPEX or consumption-based billing for a more optimised OPEX.

Secure by design

DaaS solution provides any organisation with the peace of mind that the applications and data are securely stored on the cloud. Providing IT administrators with a level of control through policies, allowing them to enhance the security against physical or data theft.

Disaster ready

DaaS can be considered as a critical tool when it comes to business continuity. It can reduce the RTO by provisioning virtual desktops to users on-demand, keeping your employees safe and productive.

When should Organisations consider DaaS?

How can BMIT Technologies help with DaaS?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about DaaS - Desktop-as-a-Service? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly

Our DDoS partner NETSCOUT recently published the NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report Issue 7, covering the first half of 2021 and analyzing the DDoS landscape and related threats. Similarly, our connectivity partner, Telia Carrier, released the DDoS Threat Landscape Report 2021, which covers all of 2020. The general result of both these reports is far from optimistic – DDoS attacks keep increasing in size, number, and complexity.

Telia Carrier – DDoS Attacks in 2020

The main takeaways from the Telia Carrier report are as follows:

• The intensity of DDoS attacks keeps increasing. The largest attack in 2020 mitigated by Telia Carrier reached 1.18 Tbps, which is nearly 50% more than in 2019, and the peak attack intensity was 887 Mpps.
• The mitigation volume reached 57 PB and 14 TP which is up 192% and 176% respectively from 2019.
• Carpet bombing (attacking many IPs in a given range at the same time) is becoming more commonplace. Starting from isolated attacks in early 2020, Telia Carrier has observed sustained carpet bombing activity in late 2020.
• The most common types of DDoS attacks were DNS and NTP amplification attacks – this is a shift from small packet SYN attacks that were observed more often in the past and it allows attackers to use fewer resources for larger attacks.

These numbers and trends are proof that the DDoS threat keeps growing, putting more pressure on organizations and requiring efficient mitigation. Interestingly, attack waves mirrored the world lockdown phases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that cybercriminals are taking advantage of the pandemic to apply more pressure at the weak spots.

NETSCOUT – DDOS Threat Landscape in 2021 H1

The numbers from NETSCOUT speak for themselves. Telia Carrier’s 2020 already looked bleak but things are even worse off in the first half of 2021.

• The quantity of DDoS attacks in the first half of 2021 reached 5.4 million, which is 11% more than last year in the same period.
• The largest attack observed was 1.5 Tbps (169% more than in 2020 H1) and the fastest was 675 Mpps (16% more than in 2020 H1). At least 4 attacks were terabit-class.
• Seven new attack vectors were observed in 2021 H1, targeting exploitable UDP services and applications.
• The number of vectors in multivector attacks steadily grows – a record-setting attack with 31 vectors was observed in 2021 H1.

NETSCOUT also stated that attackers are more and more likely to perform reconnaissance on their target and design custom attack vectors that are more likely to be effective. Cybercriminals are now more apt to attack global network components such as major DNS resolvers, VPN exit nodes, and IXPs, which makes the DDoS affect a much larger number of parties. A new campaign was also observed targeting authoritative DNS servers for ISPs.

One of the most worrying trends is the fact that ransomware gangs often offer DDoS attacks as part of their service packages. This helps them improve the chances at getting a payout and then enables them to invest into better resources and technology thus leading to more ransomware attacks. This also means that ransomware and DDoS become closely coupled and that we can expect even more DDoS in the future.

Everyone’s the Target

The NETSCOUT report identified the most likely vertical targets for DDoS attacks as: telecommunications, data processing, hosting, publishing, broadcasting, and e-commerce. The biggest attack increase was noticed in the financial sector – especially card processing services.

The report also notes that DDoS attacks are very common in the online gaming community. Such attacks often end up crippling VPNs as well as deal collateral damage to ISPs and other customers connected to the same communications hubs. The gaming community also creates a demand for small-scale DDoS services, which become more commonly available, cheaper, and therefore lead to more DDoS attacks on smaller targets outside this community.

The Conclusions

Both reports clearly show that everything about the DDoS landscape is becoming more threatening. This includes the number of attacks, the size/intensity of attacks, the techniques, and even financing for attackers. The reports also show that while major organizations are still the most affected, the attacks on Internet infrastructure, VPN, as well as the availability of small-scale DDoS services makes SMBs much more likely to suffer DDoS consequences.

The only way to counter this threat is by using reliable services such as the ones offered by BMIT Technologies. You need 24/7 protection and a partner that will react immediately when an attack happens. BMIT offers not just the right partnerships, the right tools, but also the most experience on the local market. We help you make sure that no matter whether the DDoS attack is aimed directly at you or at the infrastructure that you are connected to, it does not affect your business.

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Telia Carrier rebranded to Arelion following the publication of this blog post

BMIT Technologies has been proudly regranted its ISO 27001:2013 certification.  

But what does this entail? ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization and is the world's largest developer of International Standards for business, government, and society. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. 

We have successfully managed to gain recertification in the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 which focuses on the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system within the context of the organization.  

This certification also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks tailored to the needs of the organization. 

As the largest datacenter on the island, we are very proud to be recertified as this provides reassurance to all our customers. Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation. 

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression. 

Cloud services have proved to be an undeniable requisite and a positive shift for businesses of all sizes, with a high possibility of further acceleration in the near future. 

There are various Cloud Services to fit different business requirements - from storage to computing, from AI to machine learning- not to mention the availability of SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms and solutions. Nowadays, software and IT infrastructures have reached a high level of complexity, and in this context, choosing the right mix between on-premise IT services and infrastructure and public and private cloud services, in order to find the optimal solution for your operational context, is a must. 

Cloud-related debates have now moved from analysing of the pros and cons of a cloud approach to figuring which cloud approach will be most effective for specific business requirements. 

Public Cloud 

By now everyone knows the great advantages of public cloud in terms of costs and efficiency, of relying on a provider which provides you with an adequate Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service) or Saas solutions. One of the most significant advantages is the reduction of the management costs since the adoption of an IaaS implies a shift of costs from capital expenditure (Capex) to operating expenditure (Opex), An adequate IaaS infrastructure therefore allows you to significantly reduce the initial IT costs. 

Beyond the economic advantages, there are also technical considerations to be done, which can even be more relevant: scalability, reliability, automation, continuous updates, non-existent obsolescence, and much more.  

Public cloud services can work side-by-side to infrastructure hosted within a data centre, through a hybrid cloud set-up, therefore allowing for better manageability of the related physical hardware equipment, the maintenance costs of the hardware and its maintenance 

Nowadays, from a technical point of view, there are very few services that cannot be migrated to the cloud. 

The main services that are particularly suitable for a public implementation are the following: 

Saas (Software as a Service):   

This is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end-users over the internet. Microsoft 365 is probably the most famous product which falls in this category, but there are also other types of applications, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management, such as Salesforce or Hubspot) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).  

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service):  

This is a type of cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on-demand, on a pay-as-you-go basis. The IaaS enables you to avoid “important” investments which would eventually be necessary for building and maintenance physical infrastructure otherwise. In this scenario, the provider is responsible for creating and maintaining the infrastructure, while the user makes use of a powerful, modern, efficient, and highly scalable system. 

PaaS (Platform as a Service):  

This is the third cloud computing model, in that it provides customers with a complete cloud platform—hardware, software, and infrastructure—for developing, running, and managing applications without the cost, complexity, and inflexibility that often comes with building and maintaining that platform on-premise. The PaaS provider hosts everything—servers, networks, storage, operating system software, databases, development tools—at their data centre. Typically, customers can pay a fixed fee to provide a specified amount of resources for a specified number of users, or they can choose 'pay-as-you-go' pricing to pay only for the resources they use. 

Nowadays you can either manage your IT infrastructure or delegate it to a service provider. A cloud service can effectively support the entire infrastructure, managing for example, Web Servers, Load Balancing, Failover, High Availability, and allowing you to manage everything from a single monitoring environment. 

Private cloud 

Although there are many advantages when using the public cloud, companies are usually reluctant to assign 100% of their IT resources and applications on such platforms. Also, as is often the case especially at migration stage, it is usually easier from a technical point of view to deploy a private cloud, rather than migrating to a completely public solution. 

Nowadays, it is possible to create private cloud environments from which you can deploy almost any kind of applications. The private cloud therefore remains an interesting option for all those companies that might have concerns related to migrating to a Public Cloud. 

There might be several scenarios where a Private Cloud fits best. By way of example: a company that uses applications that require high performance at a technical level. 

Another example would be when main applications have a very predictable usage model, with low management and storage costs, and therefore the migration to the public cloud may not be the best option financially.  

A third use case is security and compliance – it is usually best-practice to adopt a private cloud model if you want the highest degree of compliance and security for your data. 

In all these instances, the data centres, with cloud solutions at local level, implemented with virtualization systems such as VMware, still might be the best solution. 

Hybrid Cloud 

Given all the above consideration, the best solution is often to implement a hybrid cloud strategy within a certified data centre. 

As the Latin saying goes, “in medio stat virtus”, virtue stands in the middle. 

Hybrid architectures are very appealing for companies that want to migrate gradually. A hybrid system is presented as an excellent solution even in such circumstances where there are “institutional” concerns related to security and privacy of the data. A hybrid system allows for a partial migration while keeping certain data on-premise and other data in the public cloud.  

Ultimately, technology enables us to solve the same problem in diverse ways: the choice of the implementation strategy is therefore based on a series of technical, economic, and even "ideological" considerations. There is no right or wrong answer, but you can start off with considering the following points before deciding which cloud model will best suit your needs: 

1. Identify the main use case: What is the purpose and the objective of the project (disaster recovery, backup, collaboration, primary storage, etc.)? It is necessary to define the strategic objective and draft a plan of how to reach this.  

2. What information will be stored: is it data in use by users? What kind of applications do they power? Do these applications also work in cloud environments? 

3. Identify the type of storage: If you have to support a project that provides data available to cloud native applications, probably object storage via public cloud will be the most suitable solution. 

4. Compliance and Security: What type of data do you deal with? If you deal with highly sensitive and private data, it might be that storing it in the public cloud is not allowed from a compliance perspective. When a strict control over your data is required, a public cloud with servers in other countries might not be the best solution and is often illegal. A hybrid cloud setup set on a private platform enables organisations to actively restrict access externally and internally. However, most of today’s cloud providers offer maximum-security options, at a cost, to ensure that your data is stored securely. Depending on company policies one or the other is more suitable. 

5. Scalability Requirements: A public cloud can scale exponentially within minutes. This flexibility in available storage can be beneficial if you are dealing with volatile data streams that need to be processed and stored. When you have a private cloud on premise, scaling up often requires additional hardware which can both be time-consuming and expensive. 

6. Available Budget: Of course, budget is a key factor to consider. For example, installing a large Hadoop cluster on premises requires substantial hardware, employees to operate and manage it, as well as maintenance costs. A hybrid cloud setup often works with a pay-as-you-go system, which ensures that you only have to pay for the equipment used, sometimes even charged on an hourly, or even shorter, basis.

How can BMIT Technologies help?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about cloud? We can help you find the perfect fit for your business needs, get in touch with us or take a look at our various services. 

Have you ever wondered how to make the most out of your local IT setup and public cloud? Or multiple cloud platforms? Learn how to harness the power of hybrid and multi cloud through this short on demand webinar hosted by the BMIT Technologies team in conjunction with Microsoft.

In this on-demand webinar, we take a deep dive into how hybrid and multi cloud setups can be used effectively to power IT solutions and grow businesses. We've also invited a guest speaker from our partner Microsoft to cover solutions currently enabling multi cloud setups.

So, what do we talk about in this webinar? We go over how to effectively use Hybrid and Multi Cloud, bring up use cases for hybrid and multi cloud architectures and go over Azure Arc and how Microsoft enables Multi Cloud setups.

Register here today to gain full access to this on-demand webinar and see how you can reap all the features hybrid and multi cloud have to offer.

Watch here

The more we move to the cloud, the more we are getting used to the fact that the cloud providers relieve us of many responsibilities. Such an approach has its pros and cons. A cloud provider is certainly able and willing to provide many services that would otherwise consume your IT resources. However, if you leave everything up to your cloud provider, no matter how reliable they are, you are greatly increasing business risks in case something goes wrong.

Many owners of SaaS applications assume that backup services offered by cloud providers are enough. However, this approach can lead to major problems. Backup is like an opinion – you should always have your own.

Reason 1. During disaster recovery, you need to be in control

The biggest problem with backup handled by your cloud services provider is that you are not in control when you need recovery. For example, imagine that a major natural disaster affects your cloud provider and some or all of your data in the cloud is lost. While your cloud provider will probably have an off-site backup, they will have thousands of other customers to serve at the same time. Who knows how far in the queue you are going to be?

If you have your own backup, it is only up to you how fast your business can be back to normal in case of any disaster or attack. If your business is highly critical, you may even have a secondary on-site or off-site location to switch to in case your primary one goes down and then you may use your own backup data to quickly activate the secondary site.

If you want to maintain business continuity, you must be the one in control. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing that you are losing your money by the minute and you can’t do anything about it but wait for a third party to resolve your problems.

Reason 2. You can’t move or reuse your backup data

When your SaaS provider backs up your data, that backup can only be managed with the help of that particular provider. On the other hand, if you use your own backup solution, you have complete freedom about what to do with the backup data. And, in some cases, this actually may make a huge difference.

For example, if you want to move your services from one SaaS provider to the other, all the old backups will be left with the old provider. After the move, you won’t be able, for example, to restore data from a year ago. If you use more than one SaaS provider and juggle your data and applications between them, that makes it even more of a problem because the backup data could change dynamically and future restores may be difficult and chaotic.

Last but not least, you may want to use your backup data to restore to other environments. For example, if you need a staging/test environment based on your current production environment, the easiest solution is to make a backup of your production environment and then restore that backup to staging. That would not be possible unless both environments are managed by the same SaaS provider.

Reason 3. You can’t be certain that your backup is secure

Your backup contains exactly the same confidential/sensitive information that you store in your live web application. Your SaaS provider probably only offers basic data safety measures like a simple web application firewall. The rest of security is in your hands (or in the hands of third parties such as MSSPs) – this includes regular vulnerability scanning, vulnerability assessment and management, etc. You can therefore be sure that your web application is well protected against malicious attacks. But can you say the same about your backup data?

Since in the case of a cloud-based provider you most probably have no direct access to the backup data, you don’t know how it is stored and protected against unauthorised access. If you’re in control of your own backups, you can make sure that they are just as well protected as your live data. On the other hand, when you select your own backup solution, even one managed by a third party, you can select one where you know much more about the security of your backup data.

Reason 4. The retention may be insufficient

It is very unlikely that typical SaaS host backup offerings will let you retain backups from a long time ago. However, it may be necessary for your business, for both compliance and operational reasons, to have access to backups from even several years ago. A SaaS host is unlikely to offer you such capabilities simply because most customers would not need them – and if you go for a custom retention period, the price may turn out to be far from cost-effective.

If you additionally introduce your own backup solutions, the only limit on retention is the amount of storage, which you can control on your own. You may also vary the backup by keeping the more recent data at an easily accessible location for immediate disaster recovery, and archive backups in an offline location, accessed only when needed for reasons other than disaster recovery.

Reason 5. Your backup plan may not be cost-effective in the long term

The biggest advantage of SaaS hosts is that your costs are proportional to the scope of their services. That means that if you have typical requirements, also in the case of backups, you are likely to spend less than you would for your own backup solutions and personnel to handle them. However, the moment that your requirements change, for example with the growth of your business, you may notice that to meet those requirements you have to spend a lot more, on a regular basis, than you would if you handled backups on your own.

If you expect your business to grow, you have to look into the future and predict what will happen when your applications multiply and your data grows significantly. Of course, you may want to switch or expand to your own backup solution then but you must remember that the bigger the amount of data and the more complex situation, the more work you will need to change or introduce your backup policy. It will be much more efficient if your backups grow together with your live data, at the same time providing you with all the benefits mentioned in the previous four reasons.

How can BMIT Technologies help?

Every client we work with requires different solutions. So, we tackle each need with our expertise in technology, business strategy and innovation.

We propose and develop intelligent, secure infrastructure solutions, help build your internal capabilities and identify opportunities to enhance your business potential through the application of innovative technologies. This ensures a greater level of business management and progression.

Want to learn more about backups? Contact us and one of our experts will reach out and guide you accordingly!

In 1950, one of Britain’s most famous mathematicians, Alan M. Turing, proposed a test that could be used to evaluate artificial intelligence. In this test, a human judge observes a simple text conversation between two parties, knowing that one is a human and the other one is a machine but not knowing which one is which. Then, the judge guesses which party is the machine. If the guess is incorrect, the machine passes the Turing test.

Despite being more than 70 years old, the Turing test is still surprisingly applicable to certain types of artificial intelligence solutions, for example, virtual agent systems. By using advanced technologies in the development of such systems, their creators ultimately try to make them feel more human. Such technologies help the machines understand the conversation better, draw better conclusions, and ultimately serve the customer better.

Does the BMIT CX-VA virtual agent pass the Turing test? Give it a try and see for yourself if it would pass it for you.

The Power of Natural Language Processing

In the heart of every virtual assistant/virtual agent lies a natural language processing (NLP) engine. This is the element that lets the agent understand human input and behave appropriately based on that understanding.

NLP engines begin by pre-processing the text entered by a human. They tokenize it (break it down into smaller fragments), recognize parts of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.), convert words to stems (root forms), and eliminate words with little meaning (such as articles). After that, the engine classifies the text, usually by assigning categories and/or tags.

Natural language processing involves several classification methods. For example, by performing sentiment analysis, the NLP engine recognizes the emotions within the text and can figure out whether the customer is excited, neutral, agitated, etc. Intent detection lets the NLP engine recognize what is the goal of the conversation, for example, whether the customer needs help or is just looking for some extra information. Topic classification assigns text to categories, for example, technical, financial, services, etc.

Thanks to these NLP capabilities, our virtual agent resolves the most common/repetitive queries by providing the right answers or routes the ticket to the most appropriate human agent. For example, using intent detection and sentiment analysis, the CX-VA can detect that the customer is aggravated and requires immediate help. Then, it can calm the customer down by saying that the ticket is recognized as critical and immediately routed to the dedicated staff/ department. At the same time, another customer that is just looking for current pricing information is served without the need to involve any humans.

One of the features that allows the CX-VA to stand out from the crowd is that it has access to over 100 languages (anke il-Malti!). This is enabled by its architecture being agnostic to the Natural Language Processing platform (NLP) it is set up to use. This allows the CX-VA to access any of the languages available via NLP engines from Google, Microsoft, IBM, or Facebook. We will choose the best platform for the language your business needs.

Together with the Human

The CX-VA will augment alongside and work with your human agents, allowing them to focus on real queries & VIP nurturing, dedicating the CX-VA to triage and handle the high volume, first-line repetitive queries without bias and emotional attachment. This way, the human factor can be used efficiently where it is most needed and the machine will eliminate the biggest causes of human agent frustration and burnout.

We designed the CX-VA so that it can learn more about the user. For example, if your customers are authenticated, the CX-VA will consider the entire conversation history, appearing to the customer as if it remembered the conversation that they had, for example, a year earlier. The CX-VA can also take a lot of other types of data into account, for example, the country that the customer is playing from.

Last but not least – the CX-VA is based on artificial intelligence. This means that it gets better with time. The more your customers use it, the better decisions it will make to help them. And to make it even better, you can lurk in the back and influence its choices to meet your specific/unique business branding.

Working Together – Working Better

While the CX-VA is very powerful on its own, it shines even more when you make it part of your customer support environment. For example, you can connect it to the CRM system and other solutions that you use to serve your customers better so that it gets as much contextual data about the customer as possible.

Using our REST API, you can make your agent work together with any system that supports REST. You can also greatly enhance the capabilities of the virtual agent. For example, you can use the API to allow the agent to perform multi-factor authentication (MFA) during the conversation with the customer.

Will You Be Talking to a Virtual Agent?

To see the CX-VA in action, just ask us for a free demo. We’ll be happy to show you its capabilities and help you learn how to make the best use of them in your business.

Oh, and we promise. We won’t be doing a Turing test on you 😉