The end of 2025 is rushing towards us which means that Christmas is nearly here… however don’t let the festive lights and mulled wine distract you from your IT efficiency and cyber security!
Optimising Microsoft 365 for your business
M365 is the foundation for many businesses, streamlining operations and boosting collaboration. However, without diligence, it’s all too easy to waste money on unnecessary licences and features that are not fully utilised. See below how you can minimise costs whilst still optimising usage:
- Downgrade light users – not everyone needs the full suite of capabilities so monitor individuals’ usage and downgrade from E3 and E5 licences accordingly
- Consolidate overlapping features – review security, compliance, collaboration and analytics tools to check for overlaps and rationalise as necessary
- Review group and shared mailboxes – premium licences can often be assigned to shared or inactive mailboxes that don’t need them – make sure you are spending your M365 budget only on value-generating users
- Enable licence expiration alerts & governance policies – set up policy checks and note renewal dates so you don’t accidentally auto-renew unused licences and track inactivity levels for licence review
No such thing as a “free” VPN?
Though we have often discussed the benefits of a VPN whilst out and about, this article from Cyber Security News highlights an example of the hackers using a “free” VPN tactic to expose millions of users to extensive surveillance. There are clearly many benefits to be had from using a VPN but the “no such thing as a free lunch” saying underlines the need to be careful about which one you use.
