Insights
Technical Guidance
Implementation detail for IT managers, administrators and technical decision-makers.
20 articles
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Microsoft 365 tenant-to-tenant migration: what to settle before you move anythingTechnical Guidance
After an acquisition you often end up with two Microsoft 365 tenants and a date by which they should be one. Here's the order we'd settle things in, and what Microsoft's documentation covered for cross-tenant moves in February 2025.
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Intermittent network faults: a method for finding what changedTechnical Guidance
A fault that comes and goes leaves no evidence by the time anyone looks. Here's a method for describing it precisely, finding what changed, measuring instead of guessing and handing it over when your own checks run out.
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Escalating a fault: what to send, in what order and what you’ll be askedTechnical Guidance
A ticket that says 'it's broken' costs a day of questions. Here's how to describe a hard fault, what to capture before anyone tidies up, what to send first and what a useful handback looks like.
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Conditional Access policies that don’t lock everyone outTechnical Guidance
A Conditional Access policy can lock out the administrator who wrote it. Here's a method for testing before enforcing: emergency accounts, report-only mode, the sign-in logs and a sensible rollout order.
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Integrating systems without building a fragile mess: interfaces, queues and ownershipTechnical Guidance
Many integrations work on day one and fail quietly months later. Here's how to design the hand-offs between systems so failures are visible, repeatable and somebody's job, and when a spreadsheet will do.
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SQL Server 2014 reaches the end of extended support in July: your optionsTechnical Guidance
If a business application of yours stores its data in SQL Server 2014, its security updates stop in July unless you arrange otherwise. Here are the routes Microsoft documents and the questions that decide between them.
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Monthly Network Maintenance ChecklistTechnical Guidance
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve been called out to fix network problems that could’ve been avoided with a bit of regular maintenance. Routers that haven’t been updated in years.…
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Protecting Corporate Data with BitLocker Encryption on LaptopsTechnical Guidance
We’ve seen businesses lose laptops, and the first question is usually the same: is our data safe? If the laptop wasn’t encrypted, the answer is usually no. Someone who finds or steals…
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RADIUS and 802.1X explained: deciding who may join the networkTechnical Guidance
A shared Wi-Fi password and an open wall socket admit anyone who finds them. Here's how 802.1X, RADIUS and EAP fit together, how to choose between password and certificate sign-in, and what to settle before you switch it on.
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Windows Server 2012 R2 after October 2023: keeping a server you can’t retire yetTechnical Guidance
Support for Windows Server 2012 R2 ended in October 2023, but one application keeps the server running. Here's what Extended Security Updates cover, how they're obtained and how to cut the risk while you plan the exit.