‘A New Era for QuoStar’

QuoStar Board

QuoStar has appointed three new senior members to its recently restructured board as part of the firm’s continued growth plans. Since the start of the year, 20 new people have joined the experienced QuoStar team, with the new additions set to bolster the company’s growth trajectory in 2022.

Andrew Forder, who has nearly 20 years’ experience in the IT service sector, joins QuoStar as Commercial Director.  Previously Head of Sales at Nasstar, Andrew has a wealth of sales and account management experience in both mid-size and large UK organisations. He will be managing a dedicated team of enterprise sales individuals focussing on new business while maintaining QuoStar’s first-class client service.

Joining as Chief Technology Officer, Gavin Vickers will take charge of service delivery, IT project management and pre-sales processes. Well-respected industry veteran Gavin was previously Principal Consultant at Nasstar and brings unrivalled experience and capabilities in technical transformation to the role

QuoStar also welcomes Neil Clark as its first Cloud Services Director. Neil, who will lead the cloud services team, has designed, built, and managed numerous cloud platforms over the last decade. Neil previously held the position of Director of Cloud Services at GCI and Nasstar before moving to Head of Service at IT firm Transparity.

With the extended board, the team will continue to develop QuoStar’s position as a leading consultancy and service provider. QuoStar has started working with some well-known clients earlier this year and is continues to expand with a further product launch set for later this year.

The new board members will join David Clarke (Head of Security), Simon Gadsby (Chief Operating Officer), Chris White (Head of Consultancy) and Rebecca Montgomery (Head of Business Services), to work alongside QuoStar co-founders Robert Rutherford and James Stelfox.

James Stelfox, Managing Director of QuoStar, said: “As a team, we’re firm believers in bringing the right industry-leading expertise to each pillar of the business. With these new hires, we’re reiterating our commitment to deliver the best service possible to our clients, which is not only deeply personal to us but also unrivalled in the industry. We’re joined by some of the very best talents in their fields and are excited to leverage their expertise to drive forward their areas of the business.”

Robert Rutherford, CEO of QuoStar, added: “It is an exciting time for QuoStar and we’re delighted to welcome Gavin, Neil and Andrew to QuoStar’s board. Our firm has always been seen as a smaller, heavy hitting consultancy, but the time is now right for us to expand our team and make this transition, while retaining the real care, quality, and outcome-focused attention we have always been known for.”

 

QuoStar announce new partnership with leading consultancy JUMP Advisory Group

QuoStar announces new partnership with JUMP Advisory Group

In a drive to provide further value to their recruitment agency clients, IT Consultancy and Support provider, QuoStar, have announced a new partnership with industry consultancy JUMP Advisory Group.

QuoStar has delivered IT consultancy, support, and cyber-security services to the recruitment industry for over 15 years. Working closely with agency founders and directors, QuoStar help them to achieve business goals and increase client and candidate engagement using technology, strategy and process.

This new partnership will enable QuoStar to provide even greater support to the sector, ensuring agencies can access advisory services for all areas of their business, from technology and strategy, through to marketing and leadership development.

About JUMP Advisory Group

Founded by industry veterans who’ve led large multi-national, niche, and private firms across multiple sectors, JUMP provides advisory consultancy, leadership and development, and marketing guidance to recruitment leaders to accelerate and sustain growth.

They work in partnership with leaders and their executive board to help them navigate opportunities, risks, and challenges to increase business performance at speed and scale.

JUMP has assisted SME recruitment agencies across multiple industries with areas including:

  • ‘1000 Day’ plan strategy workshops
  • Global expansion strategies
  • Differentiated brand propositions
  • Successful MBO support and advice
  • Developing bespoke client solutions
  • Creating techniques to outperform competitors

James Stelfox, Managing Director at QuoStar

QuoStar Managing Director, James Stelfox, comments:

“We have worked closely with recruitment agencies founders since our inception, so our consultants have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector and how IT strategy and direction can address them. This partnership allows us to further strengthen our services and relationship with the recruitment agency, ensuring a holistic approach where they can access the support they need to transform every area of their business..”

Paul Jacobs FREC Jump Advisory Group

Paul Jacobs FREC, Co-Founder & Director of JUMP Advisory Group, adds:

“We’re delighted to welcome QuoStar as a partner. They have extensive experience in the recruitment sector and, like JUMP, work closely with agency leaders to accelerate business transformation and growth. With QuoStar on board, JUMP clients will be able to access recruitment-focused IT consultancy, support and strategic guidance to further strengthen their business.”

QuoStar launches new on-demand CIO Service in shake up of digital transformation consulting

The CIO Service - Blanchards Bailey Client Spotlight

Leading IT consultancy QuoStar has announced the launch of a CIO Service that will deliver on-demand access to top-level IT leadership on a flexible, cost-effective basis.

QuoStar’s solution will provide businesses with a dedicated, experienced CIO-level Consultant who will work in partnership with the senior leadership team to ensure IT continually delivers measurable results. Businesses will benefit from a board-level understanding of performance and receive a clear roadmap for future tech investment and improvements. As a result, they will be able to reduce unnecessary spend, enhance client service delivery and engagement, and gain a lasting advantage over competitors. Based on co-sourced arrangements, this is a fresh approach to bringing external expertise into the business. It’s backed by QuoStar’s Outcome Assured™ guarantee, giving peace of mind that the expected results will be achieved.

IT investments require continuous management and businesses must consider them strategically to deliver the expected returns. While enterprise businesses can employ and retain highly skilled and experienced IT professionals to plan and lead their IT functions, many mid-market businesses cannot, even though the need for professional IT advice is just as great. QuoStar has recognised this challenge and has developed a service that effectively acts in place of the top-level internal CIO position while delivering the benefits of a full, expert external team.

The CIO Service will be headed by Chris White, Head of Consultancy at QuoStar and former Global CIO at international law firms, such as Clyde & Co, HFW and Ashurst. He leads a team of experienced IT leaders who have built and run complex IT environments across many sectors.

Chris comments:

“Technology is increasingly critical to the success of every business. The competitive landscape is changing in most sectors, clients require higher levels of service from their suppliers and remote working looks like it’s here to stay. Technology must be considered as a strategic asset. There’s no getting around the fact that transformation can be expensive, complex and time-consuming. But if you do it right it can provide a significant competitive advantage to your organisation.  We’re delighted to launch the CIO Service, which will help businesses to get the most out of their investments and move their IT estate forward.”

QuoStar has seen an immediate uptake of interest and has recently signed UK law firm, Blanchards Bailey to the service. The firm is already reaping the benefits of working with a dedicated CIO-level Consultant to drive their IT forward.

Paul Dunlop, Managing Partner at Blanchards Bailey, comments:

“At Blanchards Bailey we recognised the strategic importance of technology and its potential to deliver a significant competitive advantage and better client service. As lawyers, we don’t have all the necessary skills to achieve the results we want and therefore we partner with specialist IT firms to deliver the very best secure systems. We have recently partnered with QuoStar, to provide us with a Chief Information Officer Service, providing the board with strategic IT knowledge and expertise. QuoStar gives us the technical, operational, and strategic skillsets of a highly experienced senior IT professional, but on a basis that fits our firm’s needs and budget. We’re in the early stages of our partnership, but the initial reviews have already delivered dividends and we look forward to working with QuoStar on a long-term basis.”

Get more from your IT with a strategy, on-demand CIO-level Consultant: We help businesses to us IT to gain security, stability and a competitive advantage in a rapidly developing marketplace. Click here to find out more.

Direct routing turns Teams into a full unified communications solution

Telecoms providers launch direct routing for Microsoft Teams

Many Telecom providers have now launched direct routing for Microsoft Teams, allowing users to make and receive calls external to their organisation through the platform. Users can now use the normal Teams application whilst remote or on the move without the need for third-party softphones. 

Microsoft recorded a huge spike in active Teams users since the lockdown was announced, as businesses look for an easy way to remain connected and collaborate with staff outside of the traditional office environment. This addition takes the functionality of Teams one step further, transforming it into a full cloud-based unified communications solution with enterprise-grade telephony.  

Microsoft Teams Direct Routing is a flexible, accessible and cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Calling Plans and allows your business to make calls within Teams using SIP trunks to route the calls, without the need for on-premise hardware. It utilises Microsoft certified Session Border Controllers (SBCs) to deliver better value, greater flexibility, increased functionality and support for migration.  

Direct Routing provides connectivity to your Microsoft Team’s tenant enabling full PSTN breakout on the public telephone network. Connections from Microsoft Teams to the telecom provider networks are via an IP connection (for example Broadband or Leased Lines). 

What is required to enabled Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams

  • Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license including Teams 
  • Microsoft phone system add-on 
  • An internet connection 

What are the benefits of Direct Routing?

  • Call your normal contacts directly from the Microsoft Teams app without the need for additional third-party softphones
  • Keep the same geographical number wherever you are 
  • Complete cloud-based solution with no CapEx costs 
  • Maximise your existing Microsoft 365 license 
  • Access to advanced call statistics such as call handling efficiencies, productivity, caller patterns and caller behaviour. 
  • 01, 02, 03 and 08 termination with no number translation 
  • Tailored business continuity with network and number level resilience to keep your business working 

If your business is still using Skype for Business as it’s telephony platform, then it’s imperative that you make the move soon. Microsoft will be retiring Skype in 2021 and is encouraging all users to move to Teams. Not only does it offer all the functions of Skype for Business, but it includes instant messaging, screen sharing, web conferencing and a centralised collaboration.  

Free Download: Moving to a new business phone system. Download this guide to find out how to select the best phone system for your business requirements. Click here to access.

QuoStar receives prestigious Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Award

QuoStar achieves Silver Employer Recognition Scheme Award

QuoStar has achieved the silver Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Award as part of its work with the Armed Forces Covenant.

Following QuoStar’s attendance at a CTP Careers Fair in Newbury in March 2018, Chairman Dr John Knowles signed the Covenant on behalf of the business at a military event in Bournemouth. As a result, QuoStar joined 2,400 other UK businesses that have also made a commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.

About the Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Award

The ERS encourages employers to support defence and inspire others to do the same. The scheme encompasses bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant. To achieve the silver award, QuoStar had to meet a rigid set of criteria. This includes building awareness of the positive policies towards issues affecting defence people, showing support for military mobilisations, and having a framework in place should an employee be mobilised.

RT Hon Tobias Ellwood MP comments: “I am delighted to congratulate the recipients of this year’s Employer Recognition Scheme Silver awards. A Silver award recognises the fantastic efforts of employers throughout the UK who have both elevated their commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant and provided actual benefit to the Armed Forces Community.  The winners should all be proud of the life-changing impact and fresh opportunities they are providing to our Reservists, veterans, wounded injured and sick and their families. We’ve seen a record number of winners this year, which shows that the Armed Forces family talent pool is also providing tangible business benefit.”

QuoStar actively promotes itself as a forces-friendly business, supporting the employment of veterans by working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and, where possible, facilitating the employment of Service spouses and partners. QuoStar also supports employees who choose to become members of the Reserve Forces, accommodating their training and deployment as needed.

This announcement supports QuoStar’s continued efforts to build a talented team at every level. Since 2015, the business has established a hugely successful apprenticeship programme and continues to seek out the best individuals from a diverse group of candidates to help grow the company.

Robert Rutherford, CEO of QuoStar, comments:

“Everyone should have an opportunity to find a role where they can succeed and utilise their skills to their fullest extent. Veterans, as well as those in the reserves, have a wealth of skills and experience they can offer many industries – especially the technology sector. QuoStar has experienced real positive change from encouraging these individuals into the company. While it’s brilliant to be recognised by the Armed Forces Covenant, our aim has always been to attract and grow a diverse range of talent at all levels.”

GDPR Compliance: It’s an issue of transparency

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been on the lips of security professionals for a long time now – but in just over a month, it will become a reality. While it’s easy to focus on potential fines or security procedures, many still overlook the heart of the regulation: transparency.

Why GDPR compliance is an issue of transparency

Getting the bigger picture

It goes without saying that transparency is important for data protection and security. With the recent news around Facebook continuing to grab headlines, businesses are under more pressure than ever to present a transparent and secure organisation. However, this focus can sometimes be lost when it comes to the day-to-day.

The issue lies in the siloed approach that some teams take with their data. Establishing a firewall, patching vulnerabilities or encrypting a specific data set can often ignore the wider aim of digital transparency. Even with the long notice period that IT departments have had, GDPR will still throw up numerous challenges in this regard, and these will vary depending on the sector, clients, staff and business size.

Ensuring the business recognises the bigger picture of GDPR can help clarify many of these issues. However, considering the pressures that many security teams are already under, this needs to managed efficiently. If IT teams ask themselves whether decisions will improve the data transparency of the business, they will be better able to determine whether these activities will help them achieve compliance with GDPR.

Being practical with compliance

There are some practical steps that companies can take to ensure the business maintains an awareness of the bigger picture around GDPR and data transparency. In essence, they will require a collaborative effort between IT, senior management and general staff.

Most IT departments will already have addressed the need for improved security, but this does not necessarily imply digital transparency. While you can pseudonymise client data, or otherwise defend it, this may not satisfy GDPR’s “right to be forgotten” requirement.

For example, if the business struggles to easily pull up client information it is in just as precarious a position as if it had out of date firewalls. Back-end systems that can provide a clear overview of individual data sets need to be implemented alongside up to date security processes; the business is otherwise leaving a major element of the regulation unattended.

Thinking beyond IT

There is also the need to think beyond the technology. You will need to build data transparency needs into any client communication as well. Although GDPR can seem to be solely in the realm of IT, other departments also need to comply. The change to consent which requires the creation of an ‘opt-in’ option for data usage, will extend beyond IT. In fact, it will encompass a diverse range of areas from marketing to customer services. Having these groups work together to ensure clear communication is a vital part of compliance.

Additionally, staff need to be aware of external threats and the need to communicate any data breaches rapidly. With only 72 hours to notify the regulator, there can be no delay from the business in this regard. Staff have long been the first line of defence when it comes to flagging an external threat, but under GDPR they will also be responsible for notifying the ICO of any breach.

IT teams can see these factors as a tough challenge, but this is where you need to involve senior management. Leading by example is the easiest way businesses can ensure all teams are working together to ensure GDPR compliance. Ensuring that senior leadership understand and accept this responsibility will help establish a consistent and reliable chain of command.

Thinking beyond regulation

In just over a month, businesses will be tested on their compliance with this huge piece of legislation. While security teams can ensure the technology is up to scratch, there is a need to highlight the importance of compliance at every level. This is not just to appease the regulator, but also to build a future-proofed business.

If all teams can commit to this collaborative approach, the outcome will have lasting effects on the company. The immediate benefits will be legal compliance with the GDPR – through improved security and via communication with colleagues and clients. However, the wider benefit will exist in a business-wide emphasis on transparency. As pressure continues to mount for businesses to display transparency at every level, GDPR – if handled effectively – has the potential to help address this growing trend.

QuoStar signs The Armed Forces Covenant pledge

QuoStar Chairman John Knowles signing the Armed Forces Covenant

QuoStar has pledged to support military personnel by signing The Armed Forces Covenant.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a nationwide commitment to ensure those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, as well as their families, are treated fairly. Businesses can choose to adopt it as a demonstration of their support to the Armed Forces Community.

There are two key principles of the Covenant. Firstly, no member of the Armed Forces community should face a disadvantage compared to any other citizen in providing public and commercial services. Secondly, in some circumstances, special treatment may be due – especially for those bereaved or injured.

By signing the Covenant, QuoStar will promote itself as a forces-friendly business, supporting the employment of veterans by working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and where possible facilitating the employment of Service spouses and partners. QuoStar will also support those employees who choose to become members of the Reserve Forces and accommodate their training and deployment needed as needed.

Following QuoStar’s attendance at a CTP Careers Fair in Newbury, Chairman Dr John Knowles signed the Covenant on behalf of the business at a military event in Bournemouth. QuoStar has joined the 2,400 other businesses in the UK that have also made a commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.

QuoStar CEO Robert Rutherford comments, “The fact that we already have a number of service leavers in the business excelling within their roles has shown the importance of the Armed Forces Covenant. These individuals have delivered value across the business and – most importantly – to our clients. This success has encouraged us to show our commitment to those that have served and are serving in the military.”

QuoStar and Inspire raise over £22,000 for Dorset charities

QuoStar and Inspire are pleased to announce that their annual Christmas Charity Lunch on Friday 1st December raised over £22,000 for charities in the South West.

This is the fourth year that that two Bournemouth-based companies, who have raised almost £75,000 since 2014, have teamed up to put on this event.

This year’s lunch, which was held at The Cumberland Hotel in Bournemouth, welcomed 200 guests from businesses across the region. It was in aid of various local charities including Wessex Cancer Trust; a local charity aiming to help the 23,000 people who are diagnosed in the region every year, Julia’s House; an award-winning children’s hospice charity, and MyTime; a charity providing support for young carers.

The total raised was a result of ticket sales, a raffle and generous donations made during the two charity auctions. Prizes up for grabs included a three-night break in Majorca on a luxury yacht, signed shorts by professional boxer Anthony Joshua, a Riverboat Cruise on the Thames and a signed and framed AFC Bournemouth shirt.

The lunch was hosted by guest speaker and former rugby player Jeff Probyn while Martin Edwards, CEO of Julia’s House, was the auctioneer.

QuoStar’s Managing Director, James Stelfox, comments:

“This year’s Christmas lunch has been an overwhelming achievement. The combined efforts of QuoStar and Inspire have enabled us to collect even more than the amount raised in 2016. Our annual charity lunch has become a staple part of the calendar, giving worthy causes a much-deserved boost around the holiday season. It was a fantastic event and the perfect way to begin celebrating the Christmas period.”

Inspire’s Managing Director, Warren Munson, comments:

“It is once again fantastic to be collaborating with QuoStar to host our annual charity lunch.  It is great to bring so many entrepreneurs and business leaders together to have some seasonal fun while raising funds for four incredible charities. Last year we raised over £20k and are ecstatic to have broken that record this year!”

View the photos from the 2017 Christmas Charity Lunch below

View photos from the QuoStar & Inspire Christmas Charity Lunch 2017

Web browser vulnerability puts web users at risk of phishing attacks

Even the most careful Internet users could be at risk from a recently identified phishing attack, which a Chinese infosec researcher has described as “almost impossible to detect”.

It has been warned that hackers can use a known vulnerability in the Chrome, Firefox and Opera web browsers to display their fake domains as legitimate websites, such as Google, Amazon or Apple, to steal information from users.

It would be difficult to identify the website as fraudulent because the web address displays the HTTPS secure symbol.

You can check if your browser is vulnerable to this attack by visiting this demo web page.

When you visit the demo page, if your web browser is displaying “apple.com” in the address bar secured with SSL (usually a padlock icon), but the content on the page is coming from another server, then your browser is vulnerable to the homograph attack.

How does the attack work?

A homograph attack is a type of spoofing attack where the website looks legitimate but it is not because a character or characters in the URL have been replaced with Unicode characters.

Many Unicode characters may look the same as Latin letters to the casual eye, but they are treated differently by computers. For example, the Cyrillic “a” and Latin “a” are treated differently by web browsers, but are displayed as “a” in the browser address.

Many web browsers use a type of special encoding called “Punycode” to convert Unicode characters to the limited set of ASCII (A-Z, 0-9) characters supported by the International Domain Names (IDNs) systems, and protect against homograph phishing attacks.

However, a loophole means that if someone chooses all characters for a domain name from a single foreign language character set, resembling exactly the same as the targeted domain, then web browsers will render it in the same language instead of Punycode format.

This loophole allowed researchers the domain name xn—80ak6aa92e.com which appears as “apple.com” on all vulnerable web browsers. Xudong Zheng, the researcher who identified the vulnerability, has written about the attack in detail in a blog post here.

How can I protect myself?

You can protect yourself against this vulnerability by following the instructions below to disable the vulnerability on affected web browsers.

Google Chrome

Google has patched the vulnerability on the latest version (v. 58), so you will need to update to this version if you have not done so already.

To update Google Chrome, please follow these steps:

  1. Open Google Chrome on your computer
  2. Click the burger icon (3 dots) in the top right hand corner
  3. Then click “Update Google Chrome”
  4. Finally click “Relaunch”

Note: If you can’t see “Update Google Chrome” then you’re on the latest version

Mozilla Firefox

Currently there is no patch for this web browser, but there is a workaround to protect yourself from this vulnerability

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox on your computer
  2. Type about:config in the address bar
  3. Click “I accept the risk”
  4. Type “punycode” into the search bar
  5. Change the value to “True”

Opera

There is currently no patch for this web browser, and there is no workaround such as with Firefox.

We would recommend using an alternative browser such as Google Chrome, to protect yourself, until Opera release a patch.

Other browsers

There have been no vulnerabilities reports on the following browsers: Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Brave and Vivaldi.

Remember to carefully check any email which contains links or attachments before you click on anything within the message. We recommend that users manually type website URLs into the address bar for important sites like email, social networks or banking, instead of clicking on a link contained within an email, to prevent against such attacks

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QuoStar & Inspire raise over £12,000 for 4 Dorset charities

QuoStar, the IT support and consultancy firm, and Inspire Tax and Business Advisers, are thrilled to announce today that over £12,000 has been raised from a successful Christmas Charity Lunch. The funds will be split equally between four local charities.

The lunch, which took place on the 27th November at the Cumberland Hotel in Bournemouth. Over 130 local businessmen and women were in attendance, and all donated generously. The four local charities, chosen by QuoStar and Inspire, who will receive funds are; Julia’s House, MyTime, Round Table Children’s Wish and Wessex Cancer Trust.

Raising money for Dorset charities

(L-R) Former AFC Bournemouth Goalkeeper Jimmy Glass, James Stelfox of QuoStar, Warren Munson of Inspire & former AFC Bournemouth Footballer Steve Fletcher

Money was raised through the sale of tickets, a raffle, a silent auction and an auction. Prizes included a signed Red Arrows poster, signed AFC Bournemouth memorabilia and a tour of Parliament with Afternoon Tea. All prizes were sourced by the charities or kindly donated by local businesses.

Guests were also entertained by a Q&A session between Former AFC Bournemouth goalkeeper Jimmy Glass and former AFC Bournemouth footballer Steve Fletcher.

This is the second year running that the two Bournemouth-based businesses have joined forces for charity. This year’s lunch has been even more successful than the previous one, with an additional £4,000 raised. Plans for 2016 are already afoot and QuoStar and Inspire look forward to raising further funds for charity.

James Stelfox, Managing Director of MDS at QuoStar, comments:

“It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with a wide range of successful businesses raising money for some great local causes. A wide range of local companies attended and they able to enjoy themselves and raise a great amount of money. We’ve already had a commitment on tables for next year which we are thrilled about.”

Warren Munson, Managing Director of Inspire Accountants, added:

“The lunch was a spectacular success. Significantly increasing the funds raised in the previous year for the four local charities to over £12,000. Inspire and QuoStar thank the generous local business people who attended and Jimmy Glass and Steve Fletcher for entertaining us. Certainly feel likes this was a great way to kick off the Christmas festivities.”

Karen Winchcombe, from Round Table Children’s Wish, comments:

“We are absolutely amazed by the generosity of those that attended the Inspire & Quostar Charity lunch! The amount raised is fantastic and we are so thankful to be one of the charities that have benefited from this. With the money raised, we will be able to grant more ‘handcrafted’ wishes for children suffering from life-threatening illnesses. Bringing a touch of happiness to those families that have been through a great deal.”

Kim Lawford, from Wessex Cancer Trust, also added:

“Wessex Cancer Trust were delighted to receive this wonderful amount which will help towards the opening, in March, of our Bournemouth  Cancer Support Centre, which will be providing both emotional and practical help and support to those in the local area living with cancer, not only patients but their families and carers.”