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ALAN SIMPSON describes upgrading and implementing the Company’s
virtual capability and extending a helping hand to others in the City
E have to thank Alan and other volunteers before lockdown, WCIT could not have operated
for the technology that made the magical remotely. But with a firewall update, the rolling out
WVirtual Summer Banquet such a success. of Teams to the membership, and an improvement
programme for virtual and hybrid meetings (which
It was a Mansion House event in all but the actual Alan predicts will become the norm), we were
location; the only difference was that everyone ready. “I couldn’t do it all remotely,” says Alan. “I
stayed at home. How did they manage to do it? was the last visitor to the Hall before lockdown and
the first to sign in, 19 weeks later.”
“Well, it was the most stressful couple of hours
I have had in a long while,” he confides. Indeed, And then there was Zoom, with Alan and the
his wife Katherine retired to bed halfway through Events Panel creating a series of virtual social
the meal as she found it difficult to witness Alan’s events before the Big One.
anxiety that evening.
Alan spent more than 20 hours just planning the
The journey to the epic summer event started a few Banquet. Three sessions with the Hall team on
weeks before lockdown, when Alan introduced the logistics and running order, and four rehearsals
Hall team to the joys of Office 365, Microsoft Teams with the entertainers that became progressively
and cloud-based services. As few as ten days more adventurous.
Beating online crime: lockdown rang alarm bells for ROY ISBELL who
explains how the Security Panel answered the call to arms
HE world is changing, and crime is changing business? What information security issues would
with it. When Boris Johnson told Britain to this move herald?
Tstay – and work – at home, alarm bells rang.
Loudly. Very loudly. What would be the impact on Large companies could build on existing
infrastructure to support a remote
workforce. Fair enough. But many smaller
businesses would start from scratch,
without IT support in place to facilitate
secure home working.
We feared for the likely impact on WCIT
(already in the middle of an IT upgrade),
the rest of the Livery movement, and the
charities we support. Our volunteers quickly
proved they were up to the task.
The Security Panel was well positioned to
advise, having established the UK Cyber
Security Alliance and helping to deliver a
£2.5m project to establish the new UK Cyber
Security Council (going live in March 2021).
Clear and present danger Extending our support when millions of
people suddenly needed to work from
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