Cyber Essentials
Get the right cyber security essentials for your business.
Cyber Essentials is recognised globally. The scheme was created in the UK, using local case studies as examples, but has been developed to be relevant to international markets.
Cyber Essentials was launched by the UK government in 2014 to regulate security processes for companies. Supported by the National Cyber Security Centre, the scheme promotes efficient safeguarding for organisations of all sizes against the genuine risk of cyber-attacks. To achieve this, the system covers five pillars of operations, all deemed critical to achieving safe operations.

What is Cyber Essentials?
Cyber essentials can be achieved by showing compliance with the above-listed factors. Most companies achieve this by working with a professionally managed service provider to implement the processes that will result in adherence to the five categories. The scheme was also updated in 2022 to include additional criteria which better represent modern security risks. This is just one of the many reasons we promote conformity with the outlined pillars to our clients.
If you want to find out more, check out our cyber security toolkit.
Creation of firewalls
Designed to protect against incoming and outgoing data, a firewall is essential for any company using digital programmes.
User control
Whether you have a global team, work with international suppliers, or need updated access occasionally, ensuring safe user control is essential. We offer safe user settings such as Microsoft 365 accounts and the implementation of cloud networks.
Secure software
Ensuring that software is safe to use is highly important. Whether you need to use general tools or industry specific programmes, cyber essentials ensures safety across the board.
Malware protection for all users
This is one of the most important elements if you bid for government contracts, as data safety is among the highest priorities.
Patch management
This protects against any access that may be made via third party programmes, which we know are essential for all business forms.
Features and benefits of Cyber Essentials
The certification offers measures that both prevent and resolve cyber-attacks. Having all bases covered in cyber protection is essential for improving success rates of solving problems and reducing the financial risk that a company faces. As the certification requires input and education from all team members, it also improves user knowledge and awareness, a critical component of digital safety.
Companies that obtain the Cyber Essentials certificate can bid for government and public centre contracts. This is because the compliance standards require stricter security measures which this certification demonstrates.
The scheme is also available to organisations outside the UK, allowing for better cross-country collaboration and broader recognition for those who achieve the accreditation. By proxy, this also improves competitiveness in wider markets.
Cyber Essentials requires ongoing measures to be in place even after achieving the status. By having standards to meet, companies can develop robust IT infrastructures that appeal to customers and suppliers and maintain employee happiness.
The scheme also offers the ability for companies to work closely with professional managed service providers who specialise in IT operations. This not only helps develop a strong relationship but means that other areas of digital performance are likely to be strengthened at the same time.
Robust cyber security measures help a company develop a healthy IT network. Cyber Essentials gives businesses the procedures and tools required to operate resiliently, which offers many other benefits to the entire company.
The cost to achieve a Cyber Essentials certification starts from just £300. This signifies a cost-effective solution for companies to adopt when looking to improve their cyber safety and enhance company reputation. Think to yourself, does paying this cost sound like a lot when you consider how much could be lost if a breach takes please?
Helping you bridge the gap between strategy and technology, our business intelligence IT services will elevate your performance.
Both forms of data provide unparalleled insights into company performance, but there are slight differences between the two.
Business intelligence refers to the overview that can be given to understand the entire landscape of business activity. Business analytics instead looks at just the data behind the findings. In contrast, intelligence applies the findings to your company strategy. The analytics side of things is purely quantitative, whereas business intelligence combines that with qualitative findings to provide a full view of historical, present, and future activity.
Business intelligence, therefore, draws conclusions from different analytics findings to ensure that companies can make better-informed decisions. When applied to IT support, companies like our own can integrate different intelligence markers into your IT infrastructures to ensure that relevant information can always be obtained.
Our unique configuration setup for companies is included within our Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Dynamics services. This means that we don’t just apply a one fits all solution to every business but ensure that applications are correctly configured for elevated technical performance. Our services for providing business intelligence information include the following:
- The creation of succinct and powerful IT networks will allow essential information to be obtained for intelligence purposes.
- Provision of reporting based on IT processes and bespoke company requirements. Our team of experts all have extensive experience in dealing with IT strategy, and the high quality of our reporting capabilities reflects this.
- Data preparation for reports and unique requirements so that a mix of qualitative and quantitative information always backs any company presentations or business presentations.
No matter the size or background of your business, we can create a system for measuring performance that results in useful business intelligence data being available whenever you need it.
More than 64% of people say that business intelligence information improves efficiency and productivity. The benefits that your company stands to receive can be noticed from the operational level to global brand recognition, with each team member and department being able to work more wisely with the information provided.
By using business intelligence tools, you will benefit from the following:
Improve revenue strategy – By having a clear view of every aspect of your cost model, you can easily see areas where revenue performance can be improved. Whether you want to make more or spend less, business intelligence reporting allows you to have a top-level view of your entire business.
Being able to optimise operations – Business intelligence is about more than just financial gains. You can also use the data and findings to help departments run more smoothly. Operations teams can use this information, quality managers, and department leads to make changes that benefit your processes in the long term.
Make decisions much quicker and more accurately – By improving your data quality, decision-making is made easier. From allowing you to make snapshot choices that don’t lead to issues arising or making big business moves, you can rest assured in knowing that data is available for every need.
Be able to identify new opportunities – This includes many aspects, including new products, operating styles, and employee gaps. Business intelligence means that your Microsoft data is used wisely, keeping your business competitive and dynamic. You can also use the information to conduct more accurate competitor profiling to help set your business apart from the rest.
Improve employee experience within your business – With only 29% of UK employees saying they are completely satisfied in their roles, we think that every company should have this as a keep objective. You can use business intelligence data to give you valuable insights about your team’s performance, which can highlight any frustrations that they may be experiencing. The data can also make jobs easier for team members as they have accurate data and insights available to support their everyday tasks.
Identify trends which can relate to many departments, including marketing, supply chain, and sales – From planning standout marketing communications to making wiser purchasing decisions, the beauty of business intelligence data is that it can be used in different ways by all your teams. We work to configure your IT structures to ensure that any information you are going to need is being captured during everyday performance. This provides a clear link between your strategy and IT infrastructures.
Examine consumer behaviour and predict trends – Intelligence is also essential for improving the consumer experience. Not only can it support aspects such as cyber security and communication channels, but it also means that you have a clear view of behavior. This allows businesses to operate more dynamically, with consumer psychology woven into every activity.
Every business stands to benefit from intelligence information. The information is not only essential for helping operations run smoother, but also for planning an informed strategy that has a better chance of success.
For small companies, this professional overview allows costs to be assigned much more wisely improving. It can also bridge the team member gaps that organizations may face by being able to provide insights that other departments may be required for. Larger businesses also stand to benefit as intelligence is essential for scaling operations and outperforming competitors.
As you can see from our recent case studies, we have experience working with a whole range of companies. Our model can be applied to any business to help operations run smoothly and IT decision-making go without a hitch.Why should I choose Creative Networks?
With more than 15 years of experience, we genuinely bring knowledge and resource that helps companies achieve operating greatness. Business intelligence is an aspect of operations which has improved in recent years, with highly intellectual data now being available for teams that are set up correctly. Our range of services and experience means we can create data networks that provide the insights you need to perform more efficiently.
Our Microsoft Powered Business Intelligence services also allow you to reduce overall spending on IT infrastructures and combine services under just one fee. The simplified way of working is ideal for companies that want to operate more efficiently and without expensive contractual constraints. Printing is something that can still be managed successfully without a team member in-house thanks to our various methods of monitoring performance and maintaining strong workflows.
When you choose to work with us, you will also gain access to not expertise in all areas of IT, as our team has varied skill sets. To bring that amount of talent in-house would cost you greatly and be different, given how hard IT recruitment can be. You can also check out our blog as a representation of how many areas of IT we have specialist knowledge within.
You will also benefit from best-in-class service as providing excellent results is something we hold highly important, which can be seen in our 5-star Google rating!
Not convinced? You can find out more benefits of working with Creative Networks by clicking here.
Business Intelligence (BI) is essential to consider if you want to transform your operations for digital markets. Known as the name given to an easily accessible set of tools that give insights into a company’s performance, BI is something that every IT team should have a clear view of.
We specialise in creating successful Microsoft IT infrastructures which allow companies of all sizes to operate using a globally recognised system that more than one million businesses use worldwide. By integrating this with our business intelligence services, we can provide your organisation with a clear view of all operations in the form of data evidence. Whether you want to focus on a particular area or are looking for an overall snapshot of performance, we can provide you with accurate content that helps inform business decision-making.
This also forms the basis of all technology architectures, as strategy and purposes can be woven into designs from day one. Not only does this provide you with a clear view of execution, but it also allows for ongoing scaled efforts to be successfully implemented using the correct IT operating systems.