Insights
Practical writing on IT strategy, compliance and the decisions that cost real money. No vendor marketing, no filler.
Fractional CIO: 6 Critical Differences From a Virtual CIO
Sold as the same thing by some firms and as opposites by others. The difference decides who your adviser is loyal to — and what is left when the engagement ends.
Copilot for Microsoft 365: 6 Critical Checks Before You Buy
The licence is the easy part. What decides whether it is useful or embarrassing is a permissions model most organisations have never audited — and the Copilot you already have sees none of it.
Cyber Resilience Act: 3 Urgent Deadlines From 11 September
The CE marking is a December 2027 problem. The 24-hour reporting clock starts next month, it reaches products you shipped years ago — and ENISA’s platform has no public address yet.
TLS Certificate Lifetimes: 3 Critical Dates and 1 Costly Habit
The cap halved in March 2026 and halves again next March. The rule is four sentences long — and the clock that actually breaks manual renewal is the other one.
Extended Security Updates: 6 Critical Windows 10 Choices
Microsoft quietly gave consumers another free year in June 2026. Managed business devices are excluded by name — and the commercial programme doubles in price this October.
Remote Systems Hardening: 7 Critical Gaps Off the LAN
The controls all still exist. What changes is that several assume a domain, a maintenance window or a machine you can reach — and none of them say so when they stop holding.
Distributed IT Architecture: 7 Critical Decisions Made by Default
A handful of product defaults decide who reaches your data and how far back you can look. Seven of them, each read from the vendor’s own documentation rather than from habit.
Business Premium vs E3: 7 Costly Licensing Mistakes
Microsoft 365 E3 rose to $39 on 1 July 2026. Business Premium stayed at $22 — and still carries the EDR that E3 does not. The decision, from Microsoft’s own published tables.
Remote IT Consulting: 7 Critical Disciplines Distance Forces
Third parties were involved in 48% of breaches in the 2026 DBIR. Remote work is not the reason — unspecified access is. The delivery model, argued properly.
Backup Testing: 7 Critical Failures a Restore Drill Exposes
90% were confident they could recover. 28% actually got all their data back. The drill that closes that gap, and the seven things it finds.
Cyber Insurance: 12 Critical Controls Underwriters Check
The form is a free gap analysis written by people who see the claims. What it asks, why, and why an optimistic 'yes' is worse than an honest 'no'.
Microsoft 365 Migration: 5 Critical Checks for the EWS Retirement
EWS closes in stages: allow list until 31 August, blocking from 1 October 2026, gone permanently in April 2027. What to do at each point on that line.
Identity Attacks Beat Exploits: 7 Critical Gaps MFA Won't Close
97% of credential-based ransomware victims already had MFA deployed. Deployment is not coverage — here are the seven gaps attackers use.
IT Outsourcing to South Africa: 6 Proven Advantages in 2026
Not a cost-arbitrage story any more. The timezone overlap, the communication and the availability of real seniority — and where it genuinely fails.
Co-Managed IT: 3 Proven Models That Avoid Costly Mistakes
The choice is rarely in-house versus outsourced. It is usually a capable internal person with no hours left. How to extend them without replacing them.
POPIA Compliance: 12 Critical IT Controls You Must Prove
Most POPIA guidance is written for lawyers. This is the part that lands on whoever runs your systems — and the five findings that recur every time.
Virtual CIO: 6 Critical Duties and When You Actually Need One
The term covers everything from a real strategic engagement to a report nobody reads. The actual scope, and how it should be priced.