Our Insight

Lewis joined Ideal in 2011, since then he's progressed from a Junior Engineer role to a Senior Project Engineer and has taken 18 months out to pursue a lifelong travelling ambition.

SIEM isn't a one-size fits all proposition. Organisations have unique IT estates, face unique threats and risks, and have unique requirements from their security solutions. Finding the right SIEM (security information and event management) solution means weighing up your needs and matching them to the vendor and service who can best satisfy them, and at the right price.

To help you choose wisely, we've put together these 10 tips for getting a SIEM service that meets your requirements.

SD - should this stand for security disaster?

We're often talking about software-defined networking (SDN), and how the latest generation of hardware has the intelligence to simplify the provisioning and management of networks. Added brains bring the ability to support new security features like Cisco TrustSec, but we've also moved away from the labour-intensive configuration of individual devices, and towards simplified, centralised administration.

That's great for convenience, allowing admins to configure and support branch networks from a single controller, but if there's a weakness in the system, or if an unauthorised user gains access, isn't software definition a disaster waiting to happen? Does SDN actually stand for security disaster networking? We asked network solutions architect Richard Harvey and senior cyber security consultant Adrian Clarke to put our minds at rest.

Our series of interviews with women who work in IT and the technology sector was started by co-founder Claire. It's a response, in part, to the lack of female applicants for our job vacancies, which is just one reason why we're very pleased to have Georgina Scott-Picton working with us this summer.

As someone yet to embark on her career in IT, we wanted to find out more about her experience so far, and what motivated her to seek a career in technology.

Our series of interviews with women who work in IT and the technology sector was started by co-founder Claire. It's a response, in part, to the lack of female applicants for our job vacancies.

As digital marketing manager and founder of Brighton Digital Women, Rachel Finch is a well-placed advocate for women in Brighton's thriving digital industries. Here she shares her experience, and offers advice to anyone starting their own career in technology.

Our series of interviews with women who work in IT and the technology sector was started by co-founder Claire. It's a response, in part, to the lack of female applicants for our job vacancies - a particular problem when it comes to technical, hands-on roles.

As product owner team lead for a software company, Lisa Legg has just such a role, but like many other contributors to the series she didn't originally plan or study for a technical career. Here she shares her experience, and offers advice to anyone wanting their own career in technology.

Our series of interviews with women who work in IT and the technology sector was started by co-founder Claire. It's a response, in part, to the lack of female applicants for our job vacancies - a particular problem when it comes to technical, hands-on roles.

Marena Karasevich has just such a job: she's a Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and a 2017 Cisco Champion, responsible for network design and maintenance at a Canadian college. What advice can she offer women looking for a similar role?

2016 was a year full of highlights for Ideal, and if its first quarter was anything to judge by, 2017 promises just as much excitement. Since January we've welcomed two new directors, many new starters and two new technology partners - reassuringly, we're still focused on our trademark excellence. With more events and announcements in the pipeline, here are five highlights from our year so far.

Prompted by a shortage of female job applicants and the experiences of our co-founder Claire, we've been interviewing a series of women about their experiences in IT and the technology sector. Like many other contributors to the series, games journalist Katharine Byrne reveals how she didn't initially plan or study for a career in technology.

Prompted by a shortage of female job applicants and the experiences of our co-founder Claire, we've been interviewing a series of women about their experiences in IT and the technology sector. Most contributors have been UK-based, but we wondered whether our European colleagues working in the sector face similar challenges and opportunities. We asked Amsterdam-based Fleur van Veldhuizen, manager inside sales Western Europe and Africa for our partner Palo Alto Networks, to share her experience and thoughts.

Prompted by a shortage of female job applicants and the experiences of our MD Claire, we've been interviewing a series of women about their experiences in IT and the tech sector. Vicki Jakes, techie, code-lover and account director at social insights agency Brandwatch, explains how she first broke into 'online', and has since enjoyed a range of different roles.