Category: Product News

“Azure Arc runs on both new and existing hardware, virtualization and Kubernetes platforms, IoT devices, and integrated systems.”

In simple terms? Azure Arc runs on any node with an IP address…

If you work in technology and are responsible for complex enterprise architecture, you’ve probably debated whether multi-cloud is a bad idea and design, or an anti-pattern good idea.

The reality, however, is somewhere in between. Experience has shown that, due to ever changing technology and a drive for continuous improvement, we can in fact both design for multi-cloud AND find ourselves within a multi-cloud environment.

Finding a unified solution is highly unlikely. When it comes to cloud providers, some platforms do certain things better than others whilst others integrate better with third-party systems. And, at the other end of the spectrum, sometimes on-premises solutions just work better!

Whatever the case, you will inevitably find yourself in a multi-cloud and hybrid environment. The tough part is managing all these resources on multiple platforms – which is where Microsoft Azure Arc steps in.

Azure Arc is compatible with other Cloud Solution providers. This gives businesses the ability to link resources together, allowing them to interact with each other. This, in turn, allows for managing scale, enabling automation, and optimizing the individual platforms’ capabilities. All in one common management and monitoring capability. Ultimately this allows you to make Azure Arc accessible to operations teams and management

Today, our customers can run their workloads where it makes sense for their business, With the growing complexity of technology, businesses can now implement Unified Operations and Management with Azure Arc. Starting with the workloads running outside of Azure, which can be onboarded and easily managed on Azure such as Windows, Linux, SQL, Kubernetes cluster, and many more.

This brings in a totally different dimension, one wherein all non-Azure machines are treated as resources in Azure once they are connected, giving your business that unified experience.

The Azure Arc unified experience allows the non-Azure machines to be managed inside a subscription and benefit from the standard Azure constructs, such as easily extending management services like Azure Policy monitor, Security center, and Azure Sentinel a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) which allows businesses to manage, govern and secure your hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

It’s impressive to see how Azure Arc accommodates servers on any infrastructure and allows businesses to take advantage of additional value such as Azure Security services and hands-on SQL assessments ensuring your databases are optimally altered. Azure Arc has given customers self-assurance when making an informed decision about cloud migration based on the data they received from the workloads. With zero human error, the data gives the precise ROI for moving particular workloads.

Given the huge investments customers have in Data Centre infrastructure and multiple cloud solutions, inevitably it can become overwhelming to manage everything all at once.

Azure Arc is an unmatched tool that can benefit your business, with data-driven migration, time-saving, reduced costs, deployments in seconds rather than hours, bringing down RTOs (recovery time objectives) scalability, always up-to-date cloud innovation, and most important regulatory compliance that give you peace of mind during audits.

Vox have qualified and dedicated Microsoft specialists that are armed with tremendous knowledge to help customers make their Hybrid environment work, understand the solution in place and help maximize and manage on-prem and cloud services through” A single pane of glass”.

Azure Arc gives businesses the flexibility to do all at once from Anywhere.

Let us meet you where you are. Start your Hybrid and Multi-cloud Journey by Booking your Azure Arc Demo with your Vox Account Manager.

The world as we know it has permanently shifted, in doing so wholly embracing the digital revolution. Gone are the days of conventional workspaces, operations, and ‘clock-in, clock-out’ environments with rigid systems and methodologies. In its place is a more fluid, digitised and Hybrid Multi-Cloud world – one containing organisations which accept and embrace this new way of living.

It’s largely been a case of adapt-or-die in this newfound era of technological advancement but, for the most part, organisations have learned to embrace this need for flexibility. In doing so, they’ve similarly come to understand that brands in 2022 require the ability to innovate anywhere, anytime and adapt to ever-evolving business needs in a perpetually changing environment.

That being said, it’s also a challenging time – and no challenge is greater than managing and securing said environments within stable, Cloud-Native applications.

Say hello to Azure Arc: which simplifies this process to make your entire production more feasible.

To put it simply, Azure Arc is effectively an array of Microsoft Cloud Technologies designed to extend your existing Azure Management and Services. It allows you apply Azure Services to any organisational infrastructure – enabling your business to modernize Datacenters and extend to the Edge with IoT. It effectively takes an already thriving, existing system and multiplies its effectiveness by infinity – in doing so unlocking more scenarios and benefits for customers across the board.

In a nutshell, Azure Arc extends Microsoft Cloud Services and best practices across your entire organisation. Furthermore, this allows you as a customer to run Azure services within any Kubernetes environment (from on-premises to Multi-Cloud and at the Edge). So advanced and effective is this technology, that it’s been successfully implemented by global monoliths such as Ford, KPMG, Ferguson, and SKF – to name but a few.

In its present form, the current wealth of Azure Arc services has added a few strings to its bow, namely:

• Azure Machine Learning: an enterprise-grade services which enables Data Scientists to build, deploy and manage machine learning models.
• This effectively allows a user to harness the full potential of Azure capabilities, extending it to Machine Learning Capabilities within Hybrid and Multi-Cloud environments. Yes, it does sound a bit ‘end-of-world’ at first, but what it actually does is revolutionise the way Data is utilised.
• Clients can train their systems to operate directly where Data is stored whilst still utilising your existing infrastructure. This creates more mobile, informed Data processing, reduces unnecessary movement, and still fully complies with security requirements across the board.

All it takes is one click for a Data Scientist to use the tools at their disposal effectively. From there, the possibilities are endless, as you’re able to build machine learning models which are consistent, dependable, and able to operate anywhere.

But wait, there’s more to Azure Arc…

1. Build Cloud Native Environments for your organisation as you choose, and at any scale.
2. Centrally code and deploy your Cloud-Native Applications Securely while applying this management to any existing infrastructure.
3. Collaboration with Nutanix allows for a consistent, reliable, Hybrid/Multi-Cloud Solution which serves only to enhance to Azure experience.

Through Azure, Microsoft is able to meet your business halfway and offer you unprecedented innovative possibilities. Effectively utilization of said platform is your gateway to bringing new solutions to life.

In today’s diverse, ever expanding working world, organisations need to strive for modern solutions which meet current brand challenges – and this range of applications is key to this. Enjoy a more dynamic organisational future without outdating your existing infrastructure – it’s all in a day’s work with Azure Arc.

Like your most precious child, nurturing, growing, and developing a business into something respectable is a process which requires patience, dedication, and effort. What may seem from the outside as a small ‘mom-and-pop’ store could be a legacy family business passed down through generations. What you and I may consider a tiny restaurant could be someone else’s vision come to life. What the general public may underestimate could, in fact, be someone’s blood, sweat, and tears – and to them, at least, mean significantly more than just a business.

Fact is, all organisations need to be respected, and to dismiss an entity based on external appearances is akin to judging a book by its cover. Sadly, however, this is the reality we face – we live in a society where first impressions and appearances are truly everything. This means that, to many brands, you only have one chance to make a good first impression – much as you have a singular shot at remaining respectable, taken seriously, and relevant in today’s modern era.

With this in mind, Vox would like to introduce our Jan 2023 Business Offering: which gives you a chance to level up your brand, and in doing so step up your organisational game.

We’re offering you a chance to start your New Year the right way and make an impact this 2023. Gone are the days where brands could skate by on minimal brand CI’s without investing in the required business resources. Today’s modern brands require modern solutions, and modern ways of reaching more informed, educated, and spoiled-for-choice customers than ever before.

In the interest of enabling your brand to be taken seriously by seeming more professional, organised, and modernised than ever before, we encourage you to explore our Level Up capabilities. With each bundle, your organisation will receive the following:

• An personalised and customised Web Domain and Web Hosting.
• Complete Cloud Mail Services.
• Comprehensive Mail Management.
• And, upon selection of the Premium Pack, access to one SME/Channel or FTTB new package.

The days of utilising free-to-use platforms in search of cost-effective solutions are long gone. True, sometimes it’s essential to cut costs, but there’s a fine line between being thrifty and depriving your business of the support it needs to reach that elusive next level. By Levelling Up your business, you immediately propel your professionalism into the stratosphere – appearing, communicating, and operating as a serious entity and significant player within your respective market sphere.

This is ideal for new and mid-sized businesses seeking a foothold in already established environments. As we’ve mentioned earlier, customers can be picky, and have a tendency to lean towards brands both familiar and trusted. A free-to-use site accompanied by an Email address which could be from anyone makes it hard to be taken seriously by new users. This package allows your brand to display all the signs of professionalism a prospective customer wishes to see – in doing so guaranteeing more sales and greater brand loyalty.

Much like you wouldn’t give your home, loved ones, or family anything short of the best, so too should your organisation receive the same investment and attention. Our Level Up bundle is a surefire way to ensure that you’re not just investing in your company but building a brand – one firmly rooted in professionalism and with an eye on the future.

Step into the tomorrow of the digital sphere and revolutionise the way your brand is perceived. Both you, and your organisation, will thank us tomorrow (and, hopefully, quite a fair bit after).

Braintree, a trusted Microsoft Gold Certified Partner powered by Vivica Holdings, has completed the acquisition of the Xbox business of Vox and has introduced a new flexible rental model as part of the company’s efforts to make consoles more widely accessible to the public.

“The principle idea behind the transaction was to expand our offering to include Xbox Series S and Series X consoles, peripherals and game vouchers, further strengthening our position as the ‘Masters of Microsoft’. We have reimagined the rental model and are contacting existing customers to inform them of the changes,” says Heath Huxtable,

Huxtable points out that today’s consoles aren’t just about playing games: users can install all their streaming apps and even browse the web, while being able to connect them to your soundbar or AV receiver – and play UHD blu ray discs in the case of the Xbox Series X – turns them into a complete home entertainment system.

Huxtable says the new flexible rental model features a reduced monthly cost, while customers can opt-out at any time without penalties by providing 30 days’ notice. AN upfront deposit equal to one month’s rental value depending on the unit rented. If a console malfunctions during the rental period, Braintree will collect, assess and replace (and not repair) the device.

“Lower rentals along with the lack of fixed-contract terms will make consoles accessible to a wider portion of the public. The opt-in/ opt-out model also makes it possible to rent consoles for a short period before returning them. This makes it ideal for personal use over the holidays, social gatherings, or even in recreational zones at corporate functions or workplaces,” adds Huxtable.

The Xbox business will be added under Braintree Home, which brings together the full breadth of the company’s consumer offerings, ranging from game consoles and peripherals, vouchers that parents or partners of gamers can buy as a gift to purchase digital copies of games or make in game purchases, and game pass subscriptions which give the user access to a full catalogue of games – as well as software such as anti-virus solutions for personal and family use.

“When the customer wants to cancel their rental, they can just provide us with the 30 days notice; Braintree will organise for a courier to collect the device, at no cost to the customer, when the notice period is due,” says Huxtable.

In addition to the rentals, customers can also opt to purchase the consoles outright, should they want to.

This July, ARMATA is making a Mimecast M3RA offer you really can’t afford to refuse 

If there’s one thing that every business has in common, it’s that they all use email. Every business, of every size, small, medium and enterprise, fields hundreds or thousands of emails every day. It’s no surprise, given this information overload, that 90% of cyber-attacks can be traced back to a phishing mail. I’ll save the lecture on dodgy passwords for another time.

According to Mimecast’s sixth annual State of Email Security report, 2021 can be considered one of the worst years for cybersecurity globally. Phishing is listed as the biggest culprit for the rise in cybercrime, resulting in at least 36% of data breaches, with stolen employee credentials and 96% of phishing attacks occurring via email.

As much as we should all know by now not to click that link or open that attachment, phishing emails are the most effective means of gaining unauthorised access to servers, stealing info and infecting systems with malware.

Ultimately, your cybersecurity solution is only as strong as its weakest link. And that’s always going to be email.

Take Cover with ARMATA and Mimecast M3RA

Now, more than ever, we all rely on digital forms of communication to get the job done. As much as we’ve learned from 2020 and those early, chaotic months of remote work, it seems cybercriminals have upped their game as hybrid work becomes the norm. For most companies, the threat of an email-borne attack is not so much an ‘if’ anymore as a ‘when’.

Luckily, with the right email security protocols in place, the fallout from these attacks can be drastically cut down – to almost zero. Instead of dealing with the possibility of millions of rands lost in revenue and reputational damage from a single data breach, companies, employees and customers can rest assured knowing sensitive data is kept safe and secure by every means necessary.

Especially if it’s with Mimecast M3RA.

The cloud-based email protection software offers every defence against email threats, including a secure email gateway and everything from URL, attachment and impersonation protection to archiving and mailbox continuity as well as a 99 year retention period with sync and recover.

Which means, if you have a breach and your email history is held ransom, with Mimecast M3RA, all is not lost.

But Wait, There’s More

In the same way the most robust, resilient security gate in the world can immediately be rendered useless when we open it to strangers, so too is your incredible email security solution. You can have every protocol perfectly in place and still find yourself at the mercy of a threat actor if you click the wrong link, open the wrong attachment or accidentally share sensitive information with the wrong person.

Honestly, 90% of the time, when it comes to cyber-attacks, an avoidable user error is usually to blame.

It’s tough to keep up with the tricks and scams out there, and that’s why Mimecast also offers comprehensive user AT1 (Awareness Training). With AT1 in place, users will not only learn about the dangers hiding behind each click, but they’ll be empowered to learn more through fun, interactive tutorials that simulate real-life (but de-weaponised) phishing attacks in real time. This controlled ‘show, don’t tell’ approach allows users to become actively involved in keeping the company safe from cyber harm.

For July, ARMATA is offering both Mimecast M3RA and AT1 packaged together for just R125 per user, per month – that’s a R20 saving per user from our regular price. From August onwards, this incredible pairing remains a bargain at R130 per user, per month. Allowing you to take cover inside and out.