NEW YEAR, NEW START: 2021 TECH DEVELOPMENTS

We thought we’d start the year with a look at some IT tech developments that you and your business need to consider over the next 12 months.

Head in the Clouds About Back-Up?

Back-up of cloud environments is a key issue for 2021. People understand why they need to back-up a physical server, but don’t know why they have to back-up a cloud-based system, such as Microsoft 365. The reason is because the cloud only keeps what is current, so there is no virtual ‘paper trail’ of previous data. For example, if a document is updated in January 2021, there will be no record of previous versions, unless you have backed-up your cloud storage.

Backing up is quite straightforward. For example, if your data is in Microsoft Cloud, you could back-up to Amazon Cloud, or even another Microsoft Cloud. And it is relatively low cost – from £4 per user per month, you can have unlimited back-up of all your data.

New Year, New Apple

There are some exciting changes from Apple this year that will make noticeable differences to the performance of Apple products, such as iMacs and MacBooks. Apple has already been updating its operating systems throughout 2020, something that will continue in 2021.

In addition, Apple is moving to a new processor system – starting with the Silicon M1 – which will replace the current Intel Processor. The result will be a processor that is less dependent on memory, therefore reducing processing time. This development will be particularly beneficial if you use graphic-based systems, as it will make the life of a graphic designer much simpler.

The Silicon M1 will also make Apple products ‘greener’, as they use less electricity because the new processor greatly reduces power use which will extend battery life. Normally with Apple, modifications to software and operating systems result in incremental changes, but these new introductions will mean a noticeable improvement in performance.

March is usually the time when Apple launches its new upgrades and products, so if you are thinking of upgrading, 2021 would be a good year to do it.