News & Views

For a long time, time sat awkwardly in SMB discussions about performance. Tracking it felt administrative. Sometimes political. Often treated as something necessary for billing or payroll, but not central to decision‑making. In many businesses, time data existed - but no one quite trusted it, used it, or wanted to talk about it. That attitude is changing rapidly. As SMBs become more dependent on technology-enabled operations, and as teams juggle live services alongside change

Technology stacks in SMBs rarely arrive fully formed. They accumulate. A tool is added to solve a problem quickly. Another is introduced by a new hire. A third emerges because a supplier prefers it. Each decision is defensible. None feel strategic. Over time, the result is fragmentation masquerading as capability. What makes tool sprawl particularly insidious is that it often goes unnoticed for years. Organisations continue to function, supported by individuals who carry conf

From 27 April 2026, the UK government‑backed Cyber Essentials certification scheme introduced some of the most significant changes in its history. While the five core technical controls remain the same, the way organisations are assessed has tightened considerably, with new automatic failure conditions introduced by IASME and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). For organisations that already hold Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus, or those preparing to certify

Most SMB leaders can list the skills they believe they are missing. They talk openly about needing more development capacity, deeper security capability, or stronger delivery discipline. These gaps feel visible and therefore manageable. The more dangerous gaps are the ones organisations don’t recognise until they are already causing damage. As technology estates have become more interconnected, the number of decisions that require judgement shaped by experience has increased