Welcome to June's Bits & Bytes

In this edition, we showcase our recently published introductory article to Copilot, Microsoft's new offering in the AI space that can save you time and effort. Watch this space, as over the coming weeks and months, we have a lot of exciting content planned for all things Copilot!

We're also sharing our exciting news from the MSP 501 awards, where we've ranked higher than ever before - it's safe to say we're very happy with our position! Many thanks to all of our clients and colleagues who have made such a placement possible.

We've been very busy with events recently - Simon and Luisa attended an insightful talk from FSB, and we all took some time out last month to visit Bounce where we enjoyed some casual (incredibly competitive) table tennis games.

Last but not least, Cyber Essentials turns 10 years old! This scheme will help you protect your organisation against a range of the most common cyber attacks. If you're on the fence, consider this your sign to get certified!

Save yourself valuable time and effort with Microsoft Copilot

Advancements in artificial intelligence are taking the world by storm. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities. Nowadays, AI in some form is baked into a lot of the professional software and applications we use daily. Software can generate useful information based on different inputs, and in some cases even “learn”, giving you better responses the more you use it.

You may have heard of ChatGPT or DALL-E, systems developed by Open AI that marked significant leaps forward in generative AI. In exciting news, Microsoft recently released its AI offering – Copilot. Incorporating impressive tech from Open AI and built with a seamless user experience in mind, Copilot is your new AI assistant for work.

This article will cover what Copilot is, the different types and versions available to use, and a few different ways that you might use it to save you valuable time and effort. We’ll expand on this article over the coming weeks and months, featuring more information on the service, a whole host of Byte-size Bulletins to act as your guide to all things Copilot, and even an exciting event later this year – so watch this space!

Learn more about Copilot.

Our best ever MSP 501 ranking...

The Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings list for 2024 has been released in full and The Final Step has ranked for the third year running at our highest position yet. The Channel Futures MSP 501 list ranks companies on their growth, best practices and innovation, and is the most prestigious list of managed service providers worldwide.

Last year we ranked at #362 on the list the world’s best MSPs, and we are delighted to share that this year we have ranked #66!

Our worldwide rank of #66 also sees us take the top spot as the number one ranked managed service provider in London, and the second highest in the entirety of the UK. We are incredibly pleased to be on this list alongside our peers, and honoured that we have received such high recognition. Congratulations to all those featured!

A great FSB talk from Nigel Davies

This month, Luisa and Simon had the pleasure of attending a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) event featuring a galvanising and personal "27 minute talk" from Nigel Davies on defining your purpose and untangling your brand. Thank you, Nigel, for the insightful presentation and Q&A session.

Thanks also to Sarah King of FSB for organising another great event, and it was lovely to catch up with Jim McLaughlin.

Cyber Essentials turns 10 years old!

Cyber Essentials is an effective, Government backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.

According to the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) analysis of insurance data, SMBs with Cyber Essentials are 60% less likely to make a cyber insurance claim. Being certified could save you a lot of time, hassle and money.

When the worst happens, and we should all expect to fall victim at some time, Cyber Essentials includes basic insurance coverage. You can get crisis management support for technical, legal, legislative, reporting to ICO and PR issues up to a liability of £25,000. And, of course, it’s no small matter that certification helps you fulfil your legal and moral responsibilities to keep staff, clients and your own organisation safe from criminals.

If you're interested in getting Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certified, or are on the fence about it, get in touch today to find out why it's a good idea and how we can help.

Get in touch.

A plethora of ping pong professionals

Last month, we went on a night out to Bounce in Farringdon, and it was an absolute blast! It was great to see everyone and unwind outside of the office, share a few drinks, and have some friendly (and some heated) table tennis matches throughout the night. It was certainly interesting to see the mix of techniques on show...

Thanks to the team at Bounce for being so accommodating, I'm sure we'll be back as there's some unfinished business that can only be settled with our paddles! We're looking forward to our next night out.

Thank you for reading and sharing

We hope you are as excited as us to give Copilot a go and see how it can help with those menial tasks. Of course, nothing can truly mimic or replace the human touch, so make sure you check over your Copilot responses and tweak where you feel appropriate!

Speaking of the right prompts producing better answers, our MSP 501 ranking is largely thanks to our clients who ask us great and challenging questions. We're grateful to have a team committed to learning and providing better answers.

This leads me to ask you to please get in touch if you have any questions about anything covered in this month's Bits & Bytes. Stay safe and secure!