FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Find answers to common questions about our digital transformation services.

All

Cybersecurity

Microsoft 365

Modern Digital Workspace

Digital Transformation

What is MFA and Why do I Need it?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an electronic authentication method that requires the user to provide two or more forms of identity verification before they are allowed access to a website, network, or application.

When implemented correctly, MFA can make it significantly more difficult for an adversary to steal legitimate credentials to facilitate further malicious activities on a network.

Due to its effectiveness, MFA is one of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Essential Eight Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents.

Further Information:
‍Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication | cyber.gov.au‍
‍Back to Basics: What’s multi-factor authentication – and why should I care? | NIST

Why is Having Security Awareness Training Important to Your Business?

Today’s threat landscape is constantly evolving, and team security awareness training is a critical step in securing your business.

Security and data protection aren’t just a job for your Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Product Officer (CPO); they’re everyone’s responsibility every day. The more informed about security threats and prevention your team is, the safer and more secure your data and critical IP is.

Further Information:
‍Cyber security awareness training | cyber.gov.au

What is Essential Eight?

The Essential Eight is a series of baseline mitigation strategies taken from the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Essential Eight Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents recommended for organisations. Implementing these strategies as a minimum makes it much harder for adversaries to compromise systems.

Further Information:
Essential Eight | cyber.gov.au

How Can Microsoft 365 Benefit Your Business?

Microsoft 365 makes your business more cost-efficient: The new era of widespread remote work requires new methods of virtual collaboration and Microsoft 365's all-inclusive productivity suite is a cost-effective solution to accomplish that.

‍Microsoft 365 helps make employees more productive: Microsoft 365's cloud-based tools boost business productivity by helping remote employees collaborate, communicate, and work together more efficiently.

‍Microsoft 365 keeps company data more secure: Microsoft 365 comes with built-in security solutions preventing data leakage and help remote employees work more securely without hindering productivity.

‍Further Information:
‍https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-for-existing-subscribers

Why is it Important to Back up Your Microsoft 365 Data?

Microsoft 365 operates on the shared responsibility model, meaning that Microsoft maintains their infrastructure but you're still responsible for additional data protection scenarios and to comply with laws and regulations.

Here is what Microsoft says in their Service Agreement for Microsoft 365:

"We recommend that you regularly backup your content and data that you store on the services or store using third-party apps and services."

Microsoft native cloud backup protection does not cover:

Loss of data due to malicious insiders, hacktivists, malware, or ransomware.
Recovery from prolonged outages.
Loss of data due to departing employees and deactivated accounts.
Long-term accidental deletion coverage with selective rollback.
Permissions fiascos that interrupt user access.

Therefore, it is important to have a third-party backup solution in place to protect your Microsoft 365 data from these risks.
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Benefits of having a third-party backup solution:

Protects against data loss from various threats: Third-party backup solutions can protect your data from a wider range of threats than Microsoft's native backup protection, including ransomware, accidental deletion, and hardware failures.
Provides longer retention periods: Many third-party backup solutions offer longer data retention periods than Microsoft's native backup, which can help you comply with regulations or recover data from older backups.
Offers more granular control: Third-party backup solutions typically offer more granular control over your backups, allowing you to back up specific data sets or users.
Can be integrated with other security solutions: Some third-party backup solutions can be integrated with other security solutions, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems, for more comprehensive protection.

What is the Difference Between Microsoft 365 and Windows 365?

Microsoft 365 is the productivity cloud designed to help you pursue your passion and run your business. More than just apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 brings together best-in-class productivity apps with powerful cloud services, device management, and advanced security in one connected experience.

Use professional email and calendaring to reach customers and co-workers wherever work takes you.

Loss of data due to malicious insiders, hacktivists, malware, or ransomware.
Recovery from prolonged outages.
Loss of data due to departing employees and deactivated accounts.
Long-term accidental deletion coverage with selective rollback.
Permissions fiascos that interrupt user access.

Therefore, it is important to have a third-party backup solution in place to protect your Microsoft 365 data from these risks.
‍
Benefits of having a third-party backup solution:

Protects against data loss from various threats: Third-party backup solutions can protect your data from a wider range of threats than Microsoft's native backup protection, including ransomware, accidental deletion, and hardware failures.
Provides longer retention periods: Many third-party backup solutions offer longer data retention periods than Microsoft's native backup, which can help you comply with regulations or recover data from older backups.
Offers more granular control: Third-party backup solutions typically offer more granular control over your backups, allowing you to back up specific data sets or users.
Can be integrated with other security solutions: Some third-party backup solutions can be integrated with other security solutions, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems, for more comprehensive protection.

How Microsoft Azure Can Help Your Business?

1) Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – With regional and global back-up options your business can confidently know it is covered. Even a minor outage can put you at a competitive disadvantage. So, be ready with a business continuity plan that includes disaster recovery for all your major IT systems, without the expense of secondary infrastructure.

2) Reduced Cost of Infrastructure – The cost of maintaining on-premises infrastructure and its local environment requirements, such as having a climate-controlled room, can be very expensive in the long run. Microsoft Azure eliminates the need for a physical server and its expenses.

3) Flexibility and Time Saving – With Azure, if your business needs more resources, there is no need for restructuring infrastructure. You can Scale Resources with Microsoft Azure, you only pay for what you need. If your business suddenly increases, we can scale the servers to handle the growth.

4) Ease of Accessibility – Azure Cloud Services Data Centres are running globally allowing access to your data at any location, at any time. Sometimes, you don’t even need a VPN to gain access to your data any time of the day, so your business will get a great experience wherever it is located.

5) Data Security – Microsoft Azure Data Centres are some of the most secure and, they keep your data protected from natural disasters. With multiple Data Centres and storage options, your data is stored in at least three separate nodes. With the help of our team of Azure specialists, you can define the backup schedule in terms of extent and frequency.

6) Compliant – Microsoft has taken care of any data compliance issues, so whatever your industry or business sector you can benefit from Azure. The GDPR requires that organisations respect and protect personal data – no matter where it is sent, processed, or stored. With the most comprehensive set of compliance offerings of any cloud service provider, the Microsoft Cloud is here to support your data compliance initiatives.

Why Should Your Business Adopt the Microsoft Modern Workspace?

Here are 4 reasons remote teams should go all in on Microsoft’s Modern Workplace.
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Microsoft’s Modern Workplace offers a better employee experience for remote teams:

Microsoft 365 includes new platforms, tools, and apps to nurture employee well-being, connectivity, and learning in the digital workplace.
‍
Microsoft’s Modern Workplace promotes more effective collaboration:

Microsoft’s Modern Workplace enhances productivity, enables seamless collaboration, and streamlines workflows across locations and platforms.
‍
Microsoft’s Modern Workplace is scalable for remote teams:

By leveraging self-service functionality in Microsoft 365, Modern Workplace can empower employees to create the resources they need without “gatekeeping”.
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Modern Workplace also facilitates automation with Microsoft Power Automate, which enables you to apply modern Robotic Process Automation (RPA) across the enterprise. Automating repetitive tasks boosts productivity and gives employees more time to focus on innovation rather than administrative tasks. In conjunction with Power Apps, you can leverage a robust platform of connectors to enhance work. The challenge for organisations is how to empower their people while maintaining top-level security and efficiency. With help from Microsoft’s Modern Workplace solutions and Remote Systems Management (RSM), you can accomplish those goals. You can improve employee productivity and satisfaction and create seamless communication and collaboration while maintaining the security and integrity of your systems and data.

Why Should Your Business Use Microsoft Teams Phone System?

Here are 4 reasons remote teams should go all in on Microsoft’s Modern Workplace.
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The most significant benefit of using Microsoft Teams for your phone needs, is that it helps you unify your communications and productivity channels into a single solution. A further benefit of Microsoft Teams as the foundation for your phone system is that it’s a Cloud-based infrastructure. As with any Cloud-based service, one of the crucial benefits is the ability to access it from anywhere. Pricing for using a calling system with Microsoft Teams is relatively minimal. The pricing depends on the system you have set up and the level of Microsoft 365 license you’re using.

Further Information:
‍https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-teams/voice-calling

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What is MFA and Why do I Need it?

Why is Having Security Awareness Training Important to Your Business?

What is Essential Eight?

How Can Microsoft 365 Benefit Your Business?

Why is it Important to Back up Your Microsoft 365 Data?

Loss of data due to malicious insiders, hacktivists, malware, or ransomware.
Recovery from prolonged outages.
Loss of data due to departing employees and deactivated accounts.
Long-term accidental deletion coverage with selective rollback.
Permissions fiascos that interrupt user access.

Therefore, it is important to have a third-party backup solution in place to protect your Microsoft 365 data from these risks.
‍
Benefits of having a third-party backup solution:

Protects against data loss from various threats: Third-party backup solutions can protect your data from a wider range of threats than Microsoft's native backup protection, including ransomware, accidental deletion, and hardware failures.
Provides longer retention periods: Many third-party backup solutions offer longer data retention periods than Microsoft's native backup, which can help you comply with regulations or recover data from older backups.
Offers more granular control: Third-party backup solutions typically offer more granular control over your backups, allowing you to back up specific data sets or users.
Can be integrated with other security solutions: Some third-party backup solutions can be integrated with other security solutions, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems, for more comprehensive protection.

What is the Difference Between Microsoft 365 and Windows 365?

Loss of data due to malicious insiders, hacktivists, malware, or ransomware.
Recovery from prolonged outages.
Loss of data due to departing employees and deactivated accounts.
Long-term accidental deletion coverage with selective rollback.
Permissions fiascos that interrupt user access.

Therefore, it is important to have a third-party backup solution in place to protect your Microsoft 365 data from these risks.
‍
Benefits of having a third-party backup solution:

Protects against data loss from various threats: Third-party backup solutions can protect your data from a wider range of threats than Microsoft's native backup protection, including ransomware, accidental deletion, and hardware failures.
Provides longer retention periods: Many third-party backup solutions offer longer data retention periods than Microsoft's native backup, which can help you comply with regulations or recover data from older backups.
Offers more granular control: Third-party backup solutions typically offer more granular control over your backups, allowing you to back up specific data sets or users.
Can be integrated with other security solutions: Some third-party backup solutions can be integrated with other security solutions, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems, for more comprehensive protection.

How Microsoft Azure Can Help Your Business?

Why Should Your Business Adopt the Microsoft Modern Workspace?

Here are 4 reasons remote teams should go all in on Microsoft’s Modern Workplace.

Microsoft’s Modern Workplace offers a better employee experience for remote teams:

Microsoft 365 includes new platforms, tools, and apps to nurture employee well-being, connectivity, and learning in the digital workplace.
‍
Microsoft’s Modern Workplace promotes more effective collaboration:

Microsoft’s Modern Workplace enhances productivity, enables seamless collaboration, and streamlines workflows across locations and platforms.
‍
Microsoft’s Modern Workplace automates time-consuming tasks:

Another benefit to the Modern Workspace is the ability to leverage all the available capabilities of the Power Platform automation apps.
‍
Microsoft’s Modern Workplace is scalable for remote teams:

By leveraging self-service functionality in Microsoft 365, Modern Workplace can empower employees to create the resources they need without “gatekeeping”.
‍

Why Should Your Business Use Microsoft Teams Phone System?

How much does your software development service cost?

The cost of software development can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the complexity of the project, the number of people working on it, the duration of the project, and the tools and technologies being used.

For example, a small project that involves a single developer working on it for a few weeks might cost a few thousand dollars, while a larger scale project that involves a team of developers working for several months would cost more.

It is difficult to provide a more specific estimate without more information about the project in question.

Ask us now about your project, and how our Grants Team may assist in sourcing funding for you.

How long does it take to develop custom software?

It is difficult to give a specific answer to the question of how long it takes to develop custom software as it depends on a variety of factors such as the complexity of the project, the resources available, and the speed at which the client is able to provide feedback and make decisions.

Socoro Digital will be able to give you an estimate based on the information you provide about your project, but the actual timeline may change as the project progresses. It is important to have clear and open communication with our development team to ensure that the project stays on track and is delivered in a timely manner.

Do you offer maintenance and support for the software you develop?

Maintenance typically refers to the ongoing care and upkeep of the software, such as patching bugs and security vulnerabilities or making small updates and improvements. Support refers to assistance provided to users of the software, such as answering questions and troubleshooting issues.
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Socoro Digital offers a full range of both Maintenance and Support for all software developed:
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Providing regular updates and patches to fix bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Offering a service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees a certain level of support and maintenance for a specified period of time.
A ticketed support system for reporting bugs, issues and requesting enhancements.
Offering training or documentation to help users get the most out of the software.

How long does it take to develop custom software?

This is a crucial responsibility for Socoro Digital who handle security and privacy during the development process via:
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Implementing secure coding practices to prevent vulnerabilities and exploits in the software.
Conducting regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and address potential risks.
Using encryption and secure protocols to protect data in transit and at rest.
Ensuring that only authorised personnel have access to client data.
Providing secure authentication and authorisation protocols to prevent unauthorised access.
Complying with relevant laws and regulations, such as The Australian Privacy Act 1988.
Providing documentation and transparency about the company's security practices to clients.

Will there be any downtime?

It is possible that there may be some downtime when implementing new software or making updates to existing software. Downtime refers to a period of time when the software is not available to users, either because it has been taken offline for maintenance or updates, or because there are issues with the system that are preventing it from functioning properly.

The extent of any downtime will depend on the specific nature of the update or maintenance being performed, as well as the size and complexity of the software system. In some cases, it may be possible to perform updates or maintenance without causing any downtime, for example by using rolling updates or deploying updates to a staging environment before rolling them out to production. In other cases, some downtime may be needed in order to perform necessary updates or maintenance.

If any downtime is expected, Socoro Digital will notify users in advance and provide them with information about when the downtime is likely to occur and how long it is expected to last.

At all times, Socoro Digital aims to minimise or remove entirely any downtime that may be required.

Do you offer any flexible pricing options, such as subscription-based or pay-per-use models?

Socoro Digital offers subscription-based pricing, where our clients can package the design and development costs as a recurring fee on a monthly or annual basis over a fixed-term length of time.

We also have a specialised grants team available that are experts on Australian Government grants available to fund your digital development.

Our grants team will source the right funding for you and prepare any associated presentations, project plans, timelines, or other submission documentation required to lodge the grant application.

The best thing for you - Socoro Digital provides this service at no cost to help you achieve your digital development goals.

Ask us how we can help you finance your digital automation.

Will the custom software replace any existing systems or processes that our staff currently use?

Your custom software development project may replace existing systems or processes that are currently being used by your staff. Whether or not this is the case will depend on the specific goals and requirements of your project, as well as the capabilities and limitations of the existing systems.

Will any of our staff need to be retrained or reassigned as a result of the new software?

A customised digital automation solution may result in the need for some staff to be retrained or reassigned to different roles. Whether or not this is the case will depend on the specific goals and requirements of the project, as well as the current skills and responsibilities of any staff involved.

If the new software requires the use of new or different skills, or if it automates certain tasks that are currently being performed manually by staff, it may be necessary to retrain some or all of your staff in order for them to use the software effectively. Similarly, if the implementation of the new software results in a shift in the roles and responsibilities of your staff, it may be necessary to reassign some individuals to different positions or alternatively reduce the labour costs of the business.

How long does it take to develop custom software?

At Socoro Digital, we strive to minimise any additional costs that may be required to accomodate custom software development projects
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We work closely with our clients to carefully assess their needs and requirements, and to develop customised solutions that meet their business objectives while minimising the impact on their IT infrastructure and hardware.
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Our goal is to help our clients realise the full potential of their custom software.
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By carefully planning and preparing for any necessary changes in advance, we are able to minimise disruptions and ensure that our clients get the most value for their investment.