DCS Blog

After nearly 35 years of being able to easily ask one of our experts at DCS to assist with anything IT related, it has come as a bit of a shock to rely on my auspices. Actually, who am I kidding? I am now “Googling” several times a day. What this has made me realise […]

There have been many reports in the press and other media regarding the launch of Microsoft Windows 11, which had its official release on October 5th. This is a free upgrade for Windows 10 users as long as your hardware is compatible. Microsoft are making it very easy to upgrade your copy of Windows 10. […]

Our amazing team of bespoke developers have once again come to the rescue of a customer in need. They were recently approached by a London based client that required a cloud-hosted system for their fresh food wholesaler business.   When time is of the essence and you need to provide customers with fresh produce such as meat, fish and bread etc. then you need […]

Here at DCS, we take cloud solutions very seriously, which is why we have now created a specialist site for our Amber Vault Cloud Services. We are very fortunate to have an awesome team of highly skilled DCS engineers; racking up years of experience in all things IT between them. But when it comes to […]

With the restrictions we have all been living with over the past year, DCS has proudly enabled many of our customers, old and new to work remotely or in a Covid safe environment, ourselves included. But as these restrictions are lifted and hopefully removed altogether, we are seeing customers’ staff return to work which itself raises […]

Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) Shared Responsibility Model states: “With Microsoft (Office) 365, it’s your data — you control it — and it is your responsibility to protect it.” But what does this mean for you… At DCS, I’m sure we must sound like a broken record with regards to the backing up of data […]

This month marks the anniversary of when we started Lockdown and as we stated in our Spring newsletter, the cyberthreats and cybersecurity incidents just keep increasing. I had a chat with Chris Lord, our technical director, and he pointed out a few quick IT security wins that people can adopt very easily and could make […]

Thank you to our partners, Intact Software, for this great article and for letting us post it as a Guest Blog Bespoke ERP software refers to any custom-built application that is effectively written from the ground up to suit the particular needs of a company. Predominantly the remit of large, complex organisations with big budgets […]

As the crocuses begin to emerge and we dare to let our minds dream of a future that resembles something of the life we used to know, there is that optimistic feeling that Spring is in the air. Already having several emails land in my inbox trying to persuade me that theirs is the “must-have” […]

Our accounting/ERP software team carry out many installations of products from our accounting software portfolio but previously this has entailed various members of the department travelling to customers’ sites. Although, previously, a few installations had been carried out this way, it was not the norm. However, nearly a year ago, all of that changed as […]

In the Beginning: The dictionary definition of the word ‘Bespoke’ is ‘Made for a particular customer or user’ Up until the 1970’s, most people probably used the term in relation to clothing, where they might order a ‘bespoke suit or pair of shoes’.  However, the IT industry has never been slow to hijack vocabulary and […]

It seems to me that never a day goes by without an article on Digital Transformation landing in my inbox.  I work in an IT company and have done for 34 years (yes there was such a thing as IT 34 years ago, thank you!) and sometimes I am puzzled by the jargon used when […]

A huge thank you to our trusted partner, Intact Software, for providing this great, informative guest blog: Businesses which import and export goods between the UK and Europe face significant changes from 1 January 2021. Brexit means new rules and tariffs for the UK-EU supply chain, so companies must prepare ahead of the new year […]

We have come a long way since the start of the general availability of personal computers in the 1970s. Fast forward nearly 50 years to 2020 and not only have we all got our own personal computers, but we each have additional devices, whether they be in the form of a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone or a tablet, each and every one […]

The installation of Microsoft updates on a regular basis can be very irritating, and I’m sure we all question at some point, “what is the actual benefit?” There is software out there that can manage the deployment of Microsoft updates to all the computers in your business, but it requires an investment of time and […]

Here we are some 19 weeks after we entered lockdown and we continue to follow government guidelines and advice.  Here at DCS we’re working to do our part by ensuring the safety of our employees, striving to protect the health and well-being of the communities in which we operate, and providing IT and cybersecurity support […]

Think IMAP is “fail safe” for e-mail? Think again! Yes, using POP3/SMTP is no longer secure and should not be considered for business use any more. See my previous DCS blog post on email Simply moving to IMAP/SMTP for business email maybe more protected in terms of email transport and password security, but this does […]

IaaS, PaaS, SaaS. You may have seen these acronyms mentioned when looking at cloud services but what do they mean and how should they affect your decision making when looking at moving your applications or infrastructure to the cloud? It’s important that you understand the differences between each one of these cloud models so that you […]

how to choose the right Cloud Back up services for you.  Small business users need a safe and secure system for storing and backing up one of their most valuable assets, next to their team of course, and that is their data. We have all heard examples of system crashes resulting in disaster for companies.  These crashes, whether […]

The original message transport protocols developed during the 1970s by Ray Tomlinson have been obsolete for some time now.  This is because this method of email transport uses PLAIN TEXT for password communication. Electronic mail was developed as an internal company communication system, designed for the ARPAnet and never really to be used across public […]

When scrolling through all my social media, I see videos of people who have recorded their very special moments and people demonstrating their creativity and talents. Have you ever noticed that many of these videos don’t take up the full screen of your TV, smartphone or tablet? You’ll find that the video is playing only on a small area of the screen and that the video is surrounded by large areas of black, or a blurred version of the same video simply to fill out the screen.   The reason […]

“It’s not our broadband that’s causing the problem, I’ve got fibre and I get 80 meg!”  This is a phrase that we, as an IT support company, hear regularly. The problem is, is that your 80 meg (or whatever speed you’ve been quoted) is only a small piece of the puzzle. You also need to consider the following: Upload  In most cases, your […]

Pegasus Software have released a whitepaper on how to process furloughed staff on Opera 3 Payroll. The Coronavirus Job Retention scheme is a temporary scheme open to all UK employers for at least 3 months starting from 1st March 2020. It is designed to support employers whose operations have been severely affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19). […]

As we now face up to working from home (WFH), how many of you have experienced an issue with your Wi-Fi internet connection not working or being very flakey?  You are not alone, indeed the technical team at DCS have taken many calls concerning this issue both from colleagues, who have recently started working from […]

As we reach the end of a week where life changed dramatically for so many at home and at work, I thought I would try to collate just a few of the best bits of information I have found to try to help my newfound WFH/home-school/multi-company office. I’m currently sitting at one end of our […]

Don’t wait for the snow to arrive before answering this question; be proactive, not reactive to WFH (Working From Home)… If you have a team that have young families it’s worth taking into consideration those potential emergency child-sick-days and snow/faulty school radiator days that seem to arrive in abundance and send schools, parents and children […]

ERP: What does it mean? ERP is the three-letter abbreviation for Enterprise Resource Planning. This term is used to cover a multitude of software packages including: Accounting; CRM Supply chain management Warehousing software HR Business intelligence A common goal of people looking for ERP software is to integrate the various applications within their business that […]

Another year has passed, even quicker than the last some may say; but with this one, we head into a new decade, 2020! Like most of the nation, I like to take a moment to process the previous year and reflect on the goals I want to tackle and try to achieve in this next […]

DCS’s offices will be closed Tuesday 24th, Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th December. On Tuesday 24th we will have hardware and software support staff to take your calls, so if you have an issue, please call 01937 541411 and leave a message with contact details, if the phone is not answered. One of our team […]

In October I celebrated my 25th anniversary at DCS, after writing a post on LinkedIn about this, https://bit.ly/2XdWwNI .I was asked to expand on it for a Blog on our Website. Rather than thanking everyone again, I thought I’d explain, why I have chosen to stay at DCS for so long, especially in this time […]

A digital world that is accessible to all As a 45 (soon to be 46) year-old living and working in the digital world, I’m often amazed by what I can learn from my 10-year old daughter when it comes to digital technology. She is what might be called a ‘digital native’. She was born into […]

Being more than half way through the Summer aka – the rainy holidays, I was looking forward to spending my 2 days off with my girls Sophie (9 and a very important half!) and Phoebe (8). Having checked the weather forecast my best chance of a dry day was going to be the Tuesday and […]

When it comes to choosing a cloud backup provider there is a myriad of options on offer but what should you be looking for? There are a number of points that you need to consider before making the leap and trusting another company to look after your data. How will they look after your data? […]

14th January 2020 is a key date at Microsoft with several products becoming End of Life. If you are still using Windows 7 in your organisation or at home, then it’s time to think about upgrading to Windows 10.  January 2020 sees the end of support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Exchange 2010. […]

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that European Union (EU) member states must require employers to measure the duration of time worked by each employee, both normal hours and overtime, to ensure staff are not working beyond the legal maximum number of hours, and that they receive stipulated daily and […]

We often get calls from customers checking the validity of strange emails, usually they turn out to be a Phishing or SPAM email. Protection from Cyber-attacks, Phishing or SPAM emails is an ever evolving game of catch up,  DCS can supply and configure various defences including :- Everycloud, a cloud based Anti-Spam package ESET Anti-virus, […]

This year’s annual Spring Conference will take place at the new, world-class Emerald Stadium at Headingley on Tuesday 21st May.  DCS will be hosting the first business event in the ground-breaking Emerald suite, which is the only suite in the world to overlook two magnificent stadia! As well as the opportunity to be one of the […]

14th January 2020 is a key date at Microsoft with several products becoming End of Life. If you are still using Windows 7 in your organisation or at home, then it’s time to think about upgrading to Windows 10.  January 2020 sees the end of support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange […]

Our support team people are regularly trying to encourage people to strengthen their passwords. Why? Because the chances of you becoming a victim of a cybercrime are significantly reduced when the whole organisation is protected by strong passwords.  I’m sure we sound like a broken record. DCS now recommend that in order make sure your […]

DCS joins reseller network for new Cloud offering. We are delighted to announce that we have strengthened our Cloud technology portfolio following a new appointment to act as a reseller for Advanced.  We have joined the Advanced TruePartner programme which is designed to reward resellers for their Cloud-first strategy, ensuring it provides the training, skills […]

What on earth is that and what’s it got to do with my organisation and me?         Well, everything I’d say. Let me explain; I heard a security guard on a site I was visiting recently, explain his frustration in trying to keep trespassers out on an evening as “like an onion with holes” when asked […]

Hello, my name is Adam Findlay and I am the new Cloud Services Manager here at DCS. Having worked for DCS for 12 years now and in the I.T. industry since I was 18, I have witnessed many changes taking place; most notably the mass adoption of virtualisation around 8 years ago and the recent […]

Where does TAPE come from and why did we need it? There is an old English proverb that says ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ and that was certainly the case when I decided that it was time to move away from a process of recording the company timesheets in Excel spreadsheets. The old method […]

Spending too much time manipulating spreadsheets? When doing a system review for a client, it was mentioned that they spent a few days every month just manipulating price list spreadsheets that came in from suppliers. Columns had to be adjusted and re-sequenced and then margins and/or discounts applied before they were able to be imported […]

York is what we make it… Once again DCS were honoured to be asked to attend the MIY Annual Review taking place at The Principle Hotel in York, a venue which was made even more beautiful & impressive by the glorious sunshine that also put in an appearance. The teams at The Principle Hotel and […]

So we all know Cyber-crime is an ongoing threat, part of our daily lives that will not be going away. It seems, not a day goes by without reading yet another headline of another organisation you really would not expect to be hit, being the latest victim. At the very least leaving their company name […]

How to deliver a unique and better service to your customers and reduce pressure on your customer service An existing client in the manufacturing sector casually mentioned the burgeoning demands being placed on his customer service team. They were being inundated with queries by phone, fax and email from customers requiring information on the status […]

Recently, I have discovered in Microsoft Outlook, a feature  – Quicksteps! Now whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to say it has changed my life, it has certainly taken a load off. So what is Quicksteps? Quicksteps is a feature in Outlook that allows you to automate common Outlook tasks. The first time I […]

Not having an internet connection in 2018 is like having no gas, water or electricity to the building. In fact, I think we would cope better if the gas, water or electric did go off rather than if the internet went off! Perhaps as a business (or a home) we should give more thought to […]

DCS Spring Conference at Rudding Park Hotel, 24th April 2018 For one day only this spring you have the opportunity to come and see the DCS team in this multi award winning hotel, hear some of the UK’s leading Keynote Speakers and get to chat to a variety of other exhibitors that have the business […]

Pegasus Software announcement to the end of life for Opera II Payroll. Pegasus can no longer justify the investment in updating Opera II payroll every year. As a result, they have taken the decision that Opera II Payroll will be updated for the last time in the February 2018 release, which will allow processing in […]

Krys Bialkowska is our software support manager and has over 20 years of installing, training and supporting various versions of Pegasus accounting software, from Senior through Opera; Opera II and now Opera 3.  As a DCS advocate for this software and one of its best ambassadors, I asked her why she thinks Opera 3 is […]

This is what many companies think when they are asked about whether they claim for the research and development tax credit.  R&D is not all about people in white coats working in labs; development work in design and engineering that overcome difficult problems qualifies. For example; a construction company undertakes R&D to improve the life […]

I started working at DCS at the beginning of September 1989, when my youngest child Jonathan started school. DCS was then located just off Street Lane in Leeds, halfway between my house and the school so it was perfect.  I worked in the Maintenance department, which at the time consisted of Andrew Tones and 2 […]

Don’t lose days of productivity and sales due to bad weather and traffic chaos. Planning is the key, don’t wait until the bad weather comes Working from home Make sure you know how to remotely access your e-mails and applications before your unplanned snow day arrives. Ensure you know have a secure record of all […]

The Great British Expos North West   http://www.greatbritishexpos.co.uk/   Myself and DCS Chairman Peter Rogerson crossed over the border to visit our red rose friends one early Thursday morning, late November, to exhibit at the impressive Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City. It was very well attended with exhibitors and delegates, with a variety of […]

It is now more important than ever to take cyber security extremely seriously in order to prevent an attack. As cybercriminals up their game and catch even the most vigilant of individuals via various spoofed emails, take a look at these scam email warning signs, which you and your employees should be looking out for […]

A quick google search will show there are numerous companies offering Security Awareness Training services. With so many options, it can be difficult to find the right service for your organisation. To help guide you through the selection process, here are nine key questions: Does the testing phase draw upon information in the public domain […]

Gunpowder Treason and Plot We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot! Well apparently Thorp Arch forgot the date! Last weekend I had the pleasure of running the Pyrotechnics (for the fourth year running!) at Thorp Arch’s Bonfire Night. Between cups of tea, and hanging off the back of a Land Rover, […]

Amazingly, the first time this expression was coined was as far back in 1999 and it refers to the rapidly growing network of connected objects that are able to collect and exchange data using embedded sensors.  For example, thermostats, cars, lights, refrigerators, and more appliances can all be connected to the IoT.  Indeed the first […]

We are delighted to welcome the team from Leckhampton Computers to Boston Lodge.  Their expertise in bespoke business software development adds to the wide range of services provided by DCS. With a close working relationship through collaboration on a number of past projects, the newly expanded DCS development team will comprise 11 developers which, as […]

As of October 10th 2017, an old stalwart of Microsoft, Office 2007 comes to the end of its life.  From the end of the month Outlook 2007will no longer connect to Office 365, leaving users unable to access e-mails. When a product reaches “end of life” (typically after 10 years), Microsoft will no longer offer […]

Occasionally we are asked by our customers to implement a digital signage solution. Firstly I need to address what is digital signage, Wikipedia defines it as… “a remotely managed digital display typically tied in with sales, advertising and marketing” or as “a network of electronic displays that are centrally managed and individually addressable for the display […]

In the technological age that we live in today, manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to improve on products and technologies. Many of these improvements are driven towards adding ease and convenience for consumers as they go about their busy lives. Aiding productivity at work and recreational activities at home. In the rush to appeal […]

Here at DCS we are very fortunate that we have quite a few members of staff who enjoy baking and will occasionally bring in the fruits of their labour for the team to enjoy! So when we heard about two of our DCS Directors, Barry Rankin (Sales Director) and Chris Lord (Technical Director) signing up […]

I recently attended a seminar hosted by the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit on how to protect your business from the growing threat of social engineering cyber-crime. Social engineering is when criminals manipulate people to gain confidential information from them.  It is human nature to be helpful and these confidence tricksters exploit your […]

DCS are delighted to announce that, following 17 years of outstanding service, Barry Rankin has been appointed as our new Sales Director. Barry joined DCS as Sales Manager in 2000 and his promotion to the board reflects his major contribution to the company’s sustained growth over the past two decades. He is loyal to his […]

This morning I spent a very interesting hour at Stray FM’s offices in Harrogate where the very patient James Stanley talked me through the ins and outs of recording an interview.  The team here felt that it was important to get some advice to businesses in Yorkshire regarding the increasing incidence of cybercrime and the […]

DCS director is signing off after 34 years’ service After almost 34 years of service which has seen him progress from YTS trainee to Managing Director, Andrew Tones has retired from his position at DCS. We marked the occasion with a specially commissioned cake in the shape of one of the early Commodore computers which DCS […]

As airlines and governments are now introducing bans on laptops and tablets on direct flight to the UK from certain counties, what does this mean for you as a business traveller or indeed keeping up with e-mails on your holiday? The rules are well documented in the media and online, however I would advise checking […]

This Scheme launched on the 7th February and is targeting businesses based in the Leeds city region*.  With a fund of £3.5 million these vouchers are being awarded on a first come, first served basis over the next two years.    Designed to support SMEs (small to medium sized companies) who are trading business to […]

From our latest recruit to the Maintenance Department – Sarah Hanna – I joined DCS just over two months ago and have been lucky enough to encounter a variety of different roles and tasks already! One of my first experiences was working with the equipment in our Workshop.   We added memory, cloned hard drives […]

*65% of large UK businesses were victims of Cyber Attacks in the past year, collectively losing these organisations BILLIONS of pounds! And that’s not to mention the smaller companies who have also been made victims by this worrying growing trend. For UK organisations to continue to grow their businesses in the on-line arena, customers need […]

Microsoft is to increase its prices by as much as 22pc in the UK from 1st January 2017 because of sterling’s recent decline, a rise that is likely to affect thousands of businesses which may have to raise IT budgets or sacrifice other projects in order to pay for the increased charges. Post-EU referendum slide […]

If you have a sales team on the road,  they need access to up to date sales and stock information.  Pegasus Mobile Sales via Pegasus Web Xchange is a dedicated sales app that can change the way your orders are processed.  Your sales person can show products to their clients, check stock levels and pricing, […]

Over recent months we have seen an increase in the number and sophistication of cyber fraud and ransomware attacks. You will need a good system backup in the event of an attack – so please make sure someone within your organisation is responsible for checking backups daily; more on this later in this article. Ransomware […]

As we seem to be enjoying the hot weather for a change, think about your poor server stuck indoors and possibly overheating. Many modern servers have in-built temperature sensors. If these sensors detect they are getting too hot, often just above 30 Degrees C, they will shut the server down to protect the delicate components […]

When it comes to choosing accounting software there are plenty of options available. However, not all accounting software packages are right for every business. It’s important to consider the needs of your business and factors such as budget, goals, scalability and users. We might sell award-winning accounting software, but we’re not going to tell you […]

  Everybody wants the highest quality and best performing internet business broadband connection for their organisation. Indeed, there are a lot of ISPs (Internet Service Provider) out there now offering free upgrades from ADSL to Fibre-optic broadband (aka VDSL). There are many ISPs out there promising that if you swap to them, costs will reduce and […]

Interesting information from Intact, our business partner whose iQ software has proved so successful with trade and builders merchants. Profitability, minimising costs, maintaining a good level of cash flow, stock levels and good customer service are key for any business.  It’s not just about having the right job management software although that does help!. The […]

  Staying up-to-date with the latest business solutions and accounting software can be a task for any size of business. But why? Is the challenge really down to cost, time or a myth that all technology is confusing and ‘techy’? We can’t ignore the fact that a business is like our body and needs to […]

Do you know why your computer may be running slowly? Is it because I have too many photos, too many documents? Likely not! Here are some reasons why your computer may be running slowly. Let’s run through them: 1. Application Updates: Microsoft and other software vendors regularly release updates for their products. Your computer can […]

I’m sure everyone out there has at least once experienced an issue with their Wi-Fi internet connection not working. So what could go wrong? Here are a few scenarios: Out of range / weak signal: a common one. Are you close enough to the Wireless Access Point (WAP)? The range will be very different depending on […]

My printer is taking over my life – why won’t it work? It’s taken over my day and I have meetings to attend, to discuss important figures and the latest business reports. So how do I explain why I am late and my reports are not available?  How familiar does this sound? We all know how […]

Just like our bodies that little pain or ache could be the indication of something worse, and a quick trip to the Doctors should often be the remedy. But how often do you hear Doctors saying that patients ignore the signs and leave it late for a visit, or your family and friends tell you […]

A number of customers, family and friends of DCS have received bogus calls, supposedly from Microsoft Technical Support.   I can almost certainly guarantee that they were fake calls from people attempting online fraud, trying to scare you into letting them onto your PC to “prove you have a fault”. The caller then asks for a […]

  The DCS company video is now on You Tube. Featuring one of our customers, Ben Taylor from TayCare Medical, the video shows how the team at DCS go about our daily business and the services that we provide. DCS Company Video      

What is an Active Directory? This question always arises when I am visiting clients or taking calls, so I thought that I would share this on a wider basis. So what does this mean for your business? To put it bluntly, without an Active Directory, a network would be insecure, disjointed, unscalable, unsupported by many […]

Business intelligence is not just a buzzword and so much more than churning out business data and producing KPIs for the sake of it for your management meetings. By gaining access to data on quotes, orders, job costings, marketing information, accounting ‘profit and loss’ information, stock inventory, or to gain an overview of your Engineers’ […]

Internet security can affect anyone The internet is part of most of our daily lives, for accessing our emails, researching or buying products or socially hanging out on social media. So it comes as no surprise that we can all be ‘vulnerable’ – so it’s not enough to purely have just anti-virus security measures in […]

Which Microsoft license is right for me? In previous years the question surrounding Microsoft licensing was simple. What applications do I want and how many do I need for the size of my organisation? Once those questions were addressed, it was simply a case of finding the best price on the market and placing your […]

How cautious should I be when installing my Windows 10 ? Today I have mostly been installing Windows 10 Technical Preview on my laptop. Well, first impressions are really good. A simple installation, the ‘Start Menu’ is back, and a new speedy internet browser (Microsoft Edge) and that’s just for starters. Now I know lots […]

Experiencing Adobe reader issues with Windows 7 – then there’s a solution? With all software, it’s important to ensure that you keep your software up-to-date and only this month Adobe has released some important updates – so it’s also worth checking out their blog for releases and trending news. As an Engineer at DCS, I liaise […]

In a landmark release, Pegasus Business Cloud has arrived to strengthen Pegasus’s solutions proposition and bridge the way into the future. With cloud implementations growing exponentially across all industry and business sectors, and increasing demand from customers, Pegasus Business Cloud is an exciting and important addition to our product portfolio. Click here for further information, […]

In April we were delighted to launch our new business management system called iQ from Intact to companies in Yorkshire and had a great reception to this new software. Attendees included companies who felt their software and business systems no longer supported their business needs and were looking for alternative solutions. Over the past few […]

Are you being probed about whether your company needs to plan now to upgrade your Windows Server 2003, or is it being ignored as it’s not seen as a business risk? Sleepless nights, waking up to scribble down your ‘stay or leave’ checklist, searching the internet for information or are you simply going to keep […]

All in One Business, Management and Accounting System There was a buzz at our Head Office in Boston Spa when we were proud to introduce our new business and accounting system to Yorkshire’s financial and managing directors. As Patrick Clayton, MD of DCS claims” “We set out to find a product that would represent something […]

Personally, I have found Microsoft OneNote to be as essential as my phone and car – it’s helped me to organise my day to day tasks and to keep my colleagues updated with my customer visits, so follow-up can happen even before I return to the office. The ability to be able to sync all […]