Avensys Tech

Tiny Tech Wins went out a week ago. We've spent seven days using everything in it.

Some updates did nothing. A handful quietly fixed things we'd stopped noticing were broken.

Teams now runs a pre-flight check on mic, camera and speaker before you join. Seven days, no 'sorry, can you hear me' opener. That used to happen daily.

The new Outlook sidebar holds team calendars permanently. We haven't opened Scheduling Assistant once.

Flagged emails now sit at the top of the inbox, sorted by due date. They actually get answered.

None are headline features. That is the point.

From 1 July, Business Basic goes up 17% and Apps for Business 21%. Renewing before 30 June locks current pricing.

Most recruitment owners we audit are still on day-one habits. Same inbox setup as three years ago. The price goes up. The value often does not.

Twenty minutes checking what your team actually uses is twenty minutes well spent before 28 June.

What is the smallest tech annoyance you have quietly put up with for the last year?

The next Rise & Grind is shaping up to be one of the better mornings on the calendar this quarter. ☀️

Becky Webber is running the workshop. 🎤

Two decades in recruitment leadership, now in coaching, and the prep calls alone have been a masterclass.

The material lands for anyone in the room, but somehow still feels personal to whatever you want to walk out with.

𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 alongside our founding-year partners at SourceWhale, Omnia Outsourcing Ltd, Devyce and Advancia. 🤝

If you run a recruitment business and want to head into next quarter with sharper thinking and a bit more fuel, check the first comment for event details and tickets. 👇 WomenInRec

What's the one thing you'd want a workshop like this to give you?

𝗣.𝗦. 𝗔 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱! 🥞

You just renewed your Microsoft 365 subscription for another year.

Nobody opened the admin centre. Nobody changed a single setting.

This is the pattern we keep seeing in recruitment businesses: tenants running for years on configuration choices made the day they were set up and never revisited.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲. ⚙️

A tenant created in 2017 was never given Security Defaults. Microsoft only started switching those on for new tenants from October 2019.

So, the established recruitment businesses, the ones with the longest client lists and the biggest mailboxes, are often the ones running with the weakest baseline.

Conditional access policies sitting empty. Legacy authentication still on. Mailbox auditing never turned up. Retention rules left wherever the last IT person put them three providers ago.

𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀.

𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝟯𝟲𝟱 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝘁.

🔐 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?

Instead of "we have Microsoft 365" ask "𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁?"

Instead of "our IT provider handles that" ask "𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀?"

Instead of "nothing has gone wrong" ask "𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱?"

𝗔 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹.

What would you find if you opened yours today?

"We're on Microsoft 365, so we're safe."

It feels fair. This is Microsoft, after all.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: the defaults are built for easy adoption, not for your business's risk.

Here's what quietly slips through the cracks 👇

🔓 MFA left optional - one stolen password is often all it takes

📂 File sharing wide open - "anyone with the link" by default

👤 Ex-employee accounts still active - and still licensed

📊 Audit logs and Secure Score ignored - your posture drifts silently

🛡️ DLP and compliance tools sitting idle - data leaves without checkpoints

💾 Backup misunderstood - platform availability isn't the same as recovery

💸 Licence overspend - duplicate users, unused seats, paying twice for tools you already have

📁 Teams and SharePoint sprawl - files multiply, shadow IT grows

The pattern in every audit is the same. Nothing dramatic. Just small, reasonable decisions left unreviewed - until they compound.

Microsoft 365 gives you the tools. Protection only shows up when someone takes ownership.

Security is not the licence. Security is ownership.

👉 Swipe to see where the hidden gaps usually hide 📖 Read the full blog for the complete breakdown

🚨 Some Microsoft 365 plans go up 𝟯𝟯% on 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆. Others by 𝟱%.

And that's not the only shift worth knowing this month. Outlook 📅, Teams 💬 and Copilot 🤖 all quietly changed too.

👉 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀.

📩 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹.

🔗 Links in first comment!

May was a quiet month for Microsoft, but a useful one.

Teammates' calendars now sit in your Outlook side nav. Flagged emails finally sort like a real to-do list. And Claude is now sitting next to OpenAI inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint. ✨

📬 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱-𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵'𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Which one would change your week the most?

This is why we do what we do!
Thank you, Jade for this honest review!

''3 minutes - and nope this is not unusual.
This is a long and VERY overdue shoutout to our IT/MSP Avensys Tech 👏

They’re rapid

They offer long hours/OOO support

Nothing is ever a problem

They’re proactive
And we know every person in the team personally (although that’s probably a reflection of my poor IT usage, aha!)

From your typical IT setup and team support, through to:
- Equipment suggestions
- ISO compliance docs
- Various policies
- DNS/APIs/third-party integrations
- Licence management / domain renewal
- General uniformity across wallpapers, SharePoint, folders etc.
- Cyber security at home and abroad
- My iPhone, My Apple Watch 🥴

At this point, I’m convinced you could throw anything remotely technical at them and they’d sort it 😂

In short, they completely flip the “turn it off and back on again” IT helpdesk stereotype on its head.

I’ve also personally seen Kanchana graft so hard over the last year to ensure all of the above stays true as they continue to grow.

He hasn’t asked me to write this; I just think bloody great service providers deserve a mention.

Your team are an absolute credit to you, Kan!

Also shame this post will probably receive little engagement , despite it probably being of great value to people'' 🙄

40 M365 audits.

The same 5 leaks every time - quietly costing 15% to 40% of the bill.

Nothing dramatic. Nothing broken.

The setup just kept moving while the business did, and the gap between what gets paid for and what gets used kept widening.

Turnover makes the cracks show fastest.

The 5 leaks, one slide each. Full picture lands in TTW May, Tue 19.

"We use Macs, so we don't need cybersecurity."

We hear this one a lot, especially from recruitment businesses that have just kitted out the team with new MacBooks. Sounds reasonable. It isn't.

Macs are not immune. Apple ships built-in protection precisely because malware targeting macOS is real and growing. The bigger blind spot sits one layer up.

Phishing, credential theft, fake invoice fraud, compromised email accounts. None of these care what laptop you opened them on.

Your candidate database, client contracts and payroll details sit in the cloud, accessed through a browser. The OS at the keyboard is almost irrelevant.

What actually protects a recruitment business is the layer above the device. MFA on every account, conditional access, email filtering, monitored backups, and a clear policy for when someone clicks the wrong link.

The Mac isn't the defence. The setup around it is.