All customers of Google Analytics should begin moving over to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in advance of next summer.

By 1 July 2023, Google’s existing platform, called Universal Analytics, will stop processing new data, which means that your account will no longer provide insights or show traffic. Before this date, existing customers will need to move across to Google’s new platform – called Google Analytics 4.

The updated version offers improved machine learning and reporting, new direct integrations, and the ability to collect both website and app data. It is designed to adapt to the changes in both online privacy (offering cookieless measuring for the GDPR) and technology, as well as providing a better understanding of the customer’s journey across different platforms.

Although the final switch is over six months away, you should be planning the move soon: the earlier you migrate your data across, the more historical data and insights will be available in the new platform.

GA4 can be added alongside your existing set up. Until the beginning of July, this means that both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics will collect data, and you can take your time getting to know the different functions and ways of reporting in the new system. The two versions of analytics can be accessed using the “property selector” in your Google Analytics admin area.

If you need support migrating to GA4 or setting up a new Google Analytics account, please contact us.

From December 2022, the UK’s PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network) will begin to be switched off, signifying an end to traditional landlines.

What is the PSTN and what does it mean?

In 2017, Openreach announced their intention to switch the old network off by December 2025. The UK’s copper wire telephone network has been in use since 1876 and is increasingly old fashioned and unable to keep up with the demands of new technology.

The PSTN switch off effectively means an end to traditional landlines. Therefore any analogue phone systems, as well as any broadband internet connections which use landlines, will need to be replaced before this date. This might also include alarms, CCTV, door entry systems and fax machines if they are also linked to PSTN or ISDN lines.

What do I need to do?

Everyone, both home users and organisations, will need to find a solution for their existing services and technology by this final date, although the exact timing of the switch off in your area will depend on their schedule as they move around the country as it is a phased approach. Salisbury will be the first town to have the PSTN switched off next month, and then the rest of the switch off will roll out across the UK over the next three years.

In simple terms, every phone line in the UK will need to become digital. This means that calls will be routed via IP (Internet Protocol) instead. You can move to a digital, cloud-based phone system and use your existing internet connection to transmit voice calls. This means that numbers and calls are accessible from any location, not just in an office or other specific site; you get all the advantages of a fully featured business class system without the need for phone lines, handsets or any hardware at all. This offers versatility and is particularly beneficial for hotdesking or flexible and remote working practices as employees. For more information on the benefits and costs, have a look at our Cloud Talk service here.

If you would prefer to continue to use physical handsets or desk phones, you can also choose a Hosted VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution. It is also flexible (the handsets work from any location with an internet connection) and no other hardware is required. We also offer a Hosted VoIP service.

In parallel to the switch off, Openreach are creating the infrastructure for a full fibre broadband network across the UK. This will allow both home and business users to upgrade their connection to robust, high-bandwidth one required for the new systems via a range of providers. The main concern at the moment is whether this will be fully deployed and ready by the switch-off date, especially in very rural areas.

For additional services such as CCTV and alarms, you might be able to switch the existing item over to an IP mode or upgrade to an IP equivalent. Alternatively, you could use an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) device to convert the signal to a digital one. Some older models, however, will need replacing. Contact your provider regarding this to ask what they plan to do.

When to act

The first area to be switched off will be Salisbury in December 2022. Before the switch off in your area, there will be a national “stop sell” announcement, also on a phased basis across each region, which means that you won’t be able to purchase any new PSTN or ISBN services (or switch providers) in readiness.

The final stop sell date will be September 2023, although it will be enforced sooner than this in many areas in line with the switch off schedule.

Microsoft have announced that they are rebranding their Office apps for the web (Office.com), Windows and mobile (iOS and Android) as the new Microsoft 365 app.

This new version of the productivity suite will feature a rebranded icon and look to reflect the fact that Microsoft 365 has become the company’s leading product. With this change, they aim to bring all the popular apps together into one intuitive platform. Users will be able to find all available content and apps from a single portal.

The new Microsoft 365 app will still include all the current Office favourites like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, but with the addition of new features such as custom tagging for an organisation, the Create module (which offers project templates across multiple apps), and a curated Feed (to help simplify and organise workflow).

Users of the Office web app (Office.com) will start to see changes in November 2022 as part of a phased roll-out to move all customers across to microsoft365.com. From mid-2023, office.com will automatically redirect to microsoft365.com.

Updates for the mobile apps for iOS and Android, and the Windows app will occur automatically in January 2023 — although customers will begin to see messages notifying them of the upcoming changes from November onwards. After the update occurs, the rebranded Microsoft 365 icon will appear on the home screen or desktop.

Because the updates will all occur automatically, there will be no impact to users’ accounts, profiles, subscriptions, or files. However, organisations should make sure that they allow safe access to the new microsoft365.com domain to ensure there are no issues with the rebranded app being blocked.

Most of us will have had to solve challenge-response tests – such as selecting all images containing a certain object – known as CAPTCHAs, to prove that we are human. This technology has been used to block bots for decades and is implemented on some of the world’s most popular websites. However, a rise in bugs in some CAPTCHA systems, as well as cheap workarounds which can solve and circumnavigate them, means that platforms are seeking new ways to verify their users.

As a result, Cloudflare – one of the world’s largest content delivery networks and infrastructure platforms – have announced a new project which aims to replace the old CAPTCHA system: Turnstile.

Turnstile will be available to website owners for free, whether or not they are already a Cloudflare customer. Their new technology will seek to address the inherent problems, which the company has previously noted with CATCHPAs, including poor accessibility for visually impaired users, cultural bias, high data usage on mobile devices, and fees for website owners.

Turnstile will work by choosing from a rotating list of “browser challenges” to verify online visitors and block bot traffic. Rather than requiring users to solve a puzzle, the new technology will determine what type of challenge to issue, using previous visits and behaviour to aid it. This is similar to how Google’s latest version of CAPTCHAs work, called reCAPTCHA Version 3. It will be interesting to see the uptake of Cloudflare’s solution when Google’s is already strongly embedded in the web.

Cloudflare has been successfully using Turnstile instead of CATCHPAs itself for several months – and now they’re ready to give other companies the chance to use it too.

Microsoft have announced that they have turned off Basic Authentication in Exchange in Microsoft 365 for all users from 1 October 2022.

Security was a key focus in Microsoft’s annual conference, Inspire, in July 2022 and they have taken this step to ensure that Exchange users are better protected from the risks posed by sophisticated cyber criminals to hybrid and remote workers.

To improve security, moving away from outdated and less secure tools, such as Basic Authentication, is an important step. With password attacks and email compromises both on the rise, securing your email is essential for keeping your organisation and communications secure. This is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses who may not have a separate dedicated online security team.

As a long-standing Microsoft Partner, we have been working with our clients to implement the more effective and secure Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0 token-based authentication). This enables stronger protection through the use of more advanced technical security protocols and multi-factor authentication (MFA) – the best way to make your accounts more secure against threats.

Microsoft held their annual conference, Inspire, on 19-20 July 2022.

Digital Imperatives

Microsoft will be moving from Digital Transformation to Five Digital Imperatives:
• Migrating to the cloud – by 2025, 95% of all IT workloads should be deployed in cloud-native environments.
• Empower fusion teams – currently there are over 20 million Power Platform developers building apps, and 90% of the Fortune 500 are using GitHub for their application development needs.
• Unify data and apply AI models – leveraging AI solutions for everything from chat bots to business analysis and intelligence. By 2025, it is expected that 10% of all data will be provided by generative AI.
• Business processes – 73% of workers want flexibility and remote work options, applications like Microsoft Teams are being increasingly improved.
• Rethink security protocols – Microsoft proactively focus on further solutions to detect and defeat cyber threats.

Power Platform

Microsoft’s Power Platform has transformed in 2022, further development will include:
• Power Platform will continue to be integrated into Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365.
• Through the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform, business processes are being written by people and also driven by AI models to improve work/life balance.
• Collaboration has become a focal point of Microsoft Teams and Viva, with the employee experience capable of driving better working habits.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft announced several new Teams features:
• Excel Live allows users to collaborate on the same excel document via Teams in real time. Users can also filter data and customise views without disrupting the workflow of other people viewing the worksheet.
• The Collaborative Annotations feature in the Microsoft Whiteboard app, enabling people to “draw, type and react” to shared content in real-time.
• Teams Connect Shared Channels are now generally available.

Microsoft Viva

Viva has grown into a new offering, based on wellbeing and role-based productivity tools:
• Microsoft Viva Suite includes Viva Connections and Viva Engage, connecting employees wherever they are and allowing a space for expression.
• Viva Insights help employees and teams improve their productivity and wellbeing.
• Viva Goals provide goal-setting and objectives and key results (OKR) management.
• Viva Learning and Topics give people the information they need to thrive at work with knowledge and learning tools.

Security

This year Microsoft announced new products joining Microsoft Entra, the home for Azure Active directory, with two new products: Permissions Management and Verified ID:
• Permissions Management controls permissions across multi-cloud infrastructure with a cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM) solution
• Verified ID is where users can create, issue and verify identity credentials to enable more secure interactions.

Azure

Microsoft announced:
• The launch of ten new datacentre regions in ten markets, which will span over four continents. These will come into play over the course of the year. Adding these ten will deliver faster access to services and further support.
• Azure confidential computing capabilities now include the ability to encrypt data whilst it’s in use without having to change your application.

This year, the majority of announcements were focused on Microsoft’s Azure platform, increasing security, and remote working tools such as Microsoft Teams. Data is becoming an ever-growing, crucial aspect to consider and protect. User wellbeing was also highlighted with the focus on Viva.

With sustainability being an important topic, Microsoft have also committed to re-use over 90% of cloud computing hardware by 2025.

You can view sessions from the event and more information on Microsoft’s Inspire page here: inspire.microsoft.com.