Data & AI Shadow AI incidents have more than doubled, while the audits that would catch them have declined. Shadow AI has stopped being a hypothetical risk and started showing up in breach data 43% of businesses polled by IBM experienced a shadow AI cybersecurity incident in 2026. That’s more than double the previous year. Shadow AI has transitioned... Read now
Cyber Security The 88/8 Gap: Why 88% of Organisations Use AI but Only 8% Govern It Everyone in your organisation has already adopted AI. Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and (stay with me) Voicemod, the app that can make your colleague sound like Barry White mid-Teams call. Funny until you remember it’s also the tech behind a growing... Explore Resource
Data & AI Most organisations still don’t have the data foundation their AI ambition requires Why is AI ambition accelerating faster than data readiness? The latest Informatica CDO Insights report shows that 69% of businesses are now deploying generative artificial intelligence (AI), up from 48% just a year ago. This acceleration reflects a growing recognition... Explore Resource
Cyber Security What DORA Demands from Financial Services Boards 2026: DORA’s Compliance Deadline Has Passed, But the Real Pressure Has Just Begun While January 2025 marked the official deadline for the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), 2026 has opened the door to a new set of challenges that demand... Explore Resource
Data & AI 68% of Employees Are Using AI You Don’t Know About The AI Adoption Revolution Businesses Can’t See There is a subtle transformation occurring within businesses. Something that isn’t reflected in dashboards or reports, and it’s happening everywhere. It’s called shadow AI. Employees are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) tools without... Explore Resource
Cyber Security Sofa Series: Securing AI-powered Law Firms AI is giving legal professionals unprecedented access to data, knowledge and productivity gains. But it’s also giving attackers new opportunities. As firms rush to embrace AI, many are expanding their attack surface faster than they can secure it, creating a... Watch now
Cyber Security Pandora’s Box Is Already Open, Most Businesses Just Haven’t Looked Inside Somewhere out there is an old account with your name on it. Wrong job, wrong decade, same password you’ve probably reused since. Nobody’s thought about it in years. That’s exactly why it’s more useful to a hacker than the systems... Explore Resource
Data & AI Why your AI investment is only as strong as the data underneath it Why 2026 Is the Year AI Adoption Outpaces AI Data Readiness According to Informatica’s 2026 Chief Data Officer Insights report, 69% of businesses in the US, UK, EU and APAC have now integrated generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) into their... Read now
Cloud & Infrastructure Microsoft 365 price increase Microsoft 365 Price Increase: What Changed on 1st July, and Why the Headline Figure Undersells the Real Impact On 1st July 2026, Microsoft increased prices for both new purchases and renewals of its M365 services across various plan tiers, from... Explore Resource
Cloud & Infrastructure Stop Paying Twice for What’s Already in Microsoft 365 Over 3.9 million verified businesses globally rely on Microsoft 365, according to Landbase. Yet, most businesses are still missing out on powerful features included in their Microsoft 365 subscriptions and paying extra for third-party solutions. Why does it happen? When... Explore Resource
Cyber Security Sofa Series: The Intelligent SOC Shift We kicked off our first Sofa Series in style, with Ciaran Ball, Acora’s Head of Strategic Alliance – Cyber, Darren Humphries, Acora’s Group CISO and CTO Partner and Carl Pharoah, Securonix’s Cyber Security Specialist. With a few laughs along the... Watch now
Cyber Security How to safeguard AI at every touchpoint, without slowing innovation Embracing the Era of Ubiquitous AI in the Workplace Today, one in three employees in Britain uses artificial intelligence (AI) as a part of their daily work routine. The AI development and uptake in the IT and telecom industries is... Read now
Cyber Security Identity Verification: the key to protecting your business from deepfake scams Is the evolving threat of impersonation killing visual trust? The 2025 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report reveals a rapid decline in the phishing click rate (globally, an 86% reduction) after 12 months of security training. But while you successfully minimise... Explore Resource
Cloud & Infrastructure The Microsoft 365 productivity tax and how to reclaim it Defining the Microsoft 365 Productivity Tax Over the last few years, businesses have embraced Microsoft 365 (M365) to facilitate remote work, enhance team collaboration and leverage its extensive suite of tools. However, after the initial enthusiasm and investment in new... Explore Resource
Cloud & Infrastructure The Legacy Infrastructure Dilemma Sweating the Assets: The Tipping Point of Technical Insolvency When the pandemic hit, 84% of UK businesses were struggling as they were ‘sweating assets’ in an attempt to save costs and stay afloat. Like many in the world, they considered... Explore Resource
Cyber Security 10 AWS Security Issues & How They Can be Addressed AWS is a leading cloud platform that offers many cloud services. Whilst AWS provides robust security features natively, sometimes enabled by default, misconfiguration can still occur, which can lead to vulnerabilities. In this article, we dive into 10 common AWS... Read now
Cyber Security Is 2026 the end of the annual pen-test? The Obsolescence of “Point-in-Time” Security Pen testing helps you identify vulnerabilities in your infrastructure and applications before attackers can exploit them and gain access to your systems. But how can you prevent such attacks by relying solely on a pentest... Explore Resource
Cyber Security The State of Cyber Security: Inside Stories and Predictions for the Year Ahead As 2026 unfolds, we caught up with our Group CISO, Darren Humphries, and SOC Threat Hunting Lead, Antonia Nisioti, to tap into 2025 trends, disruptive reality checks, and key predictions for the year ahead. Their insights, shaped by hands-on experience... Read now
Cyber Security The Shift to Autonomous SOCs: How Agentic AI Empowers the Human Analyst A New Era for SOC 51 seconds. That’s the fastest cyber attack breakout time recorded. Cyber criminals are increasingly weaponising artificial intelligence (AI) to bypass detection and execute attacks faster than ever, creating a new frontier of cyber security challenges.... Explore Resource
Data & AI The New Blueprint for Agentic AI: Mastering the Leap From GPT to Guided Agents Moving Beyond Generative AI to Agentic Systems Enter the new era of artificial intelligence (AI): Agentic AI, where systems not only generate content based on prompts but also make decisions, learn and autonomously execute tasks. While GenAI generates text, images,... Explore Resource
Data & AI AI & Data Privacy Laws: How Businesses Can Stay on the Right Side of Regulation Introduction to AI and Data Privacy Currently, 75% of financial services and the largest law businesses are already using AI technology. So are 68% of large accountancy and consulting businesses. However, as with many valuable technological advancements, unleashing AI potential... Read now
Cyber Security Why ransomware groups are now targeting critical infrastructure From energy services to the healthcare system, the critical infrastructure sector has become a prime target for devastating ransomware attacks that can bring life as we know it to a standstill. Trustwave SpiderLabs’ energy and utilities research 2025 report reveals... Read now
Cyber Security How AI tools are Changing the Nature of Cyber Attacks AI’s Role in Modern Cyber Attacks Artificial intelligence (AI) cyber attacks are the top concern for 80% of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) polled by BCG in 2025. Cyber criminals use AI to orchestrate increasingly sophisticated and targeted attacks, making... Read now
Data & AI AI Needs Data, But Is Your Data Ready For AI? Stanford University’s 2025 AI Index Report reveals that a staggering 78% of businesses embraced AI in 2024. That’s a 55% increase in just one year. Driven by more affordable artificial intelligence (AI) models and their game-changing potential, businesses are increasingly... Read now
Cyber Security Shifting Left: How to Align Dev, IT, and Cyber in 2025 and Beyond On the latest CXO Secrets podcast, Darren Humphries, Acora’s Group CISO, and Arron Thundercliffe, Cyber Defence & Threat Intelligence at Google Cloud, share the shift in aligning Dev, IT and Cyber Security today, grounded insights into what it takes to... Watch now
Data & AI How To Measure The Business Impact Of AI Services With competition ramping up and businesses always thinking about what’s next, nothing seems to move quickly enough. There is always a pressing urgency to get things done and meet ever-more ambitious targets. Integrating AI into processes can be daunting, but... Read now
Data & AI Rethinking IT Strategy In The Age Of GenAI Reframing IT Strategy With AI With the acceleration of Generative AI (GenAI) capabilities and raising customer expectations to a new high, businesses are required to reshape their IT strategies and operational frameworks like never before. This change isn’t just a... Read now
Data & AI How to Use Data Platform Services for Growth Leveraging information and turning it into actionable insights is essential for achieving business milestones quickly, enhancing competitiveness, and boosting growth. However, according to VMware research, 70% of businesses continue to struggle to harness the value of their data. Issues such... Read now
Data & AI Structured Data vs. Unstructured Data In 2022, McKinsey predicted that by 2025, businesses would have embedded data in every decision, interaction and process. Fast forward to today, and the facts prove them right. A robust data management architecture has become essential for businesses aiming to... Read now
Cyber Security Threat Insight & The Evolving CISO Role Following on from our CISO Predictions released in December, our Director of Cyber Security Sales, James Fernley, shares what is on his mind ahead of 2025. From Insider Threats, to the prevalence of Ransomware, to the evolving role of a... Watch now
Gated Content Our Group CTO’s 2025 AI Predictions Could Your AI Model Be Your Biggest Security Risk? Our Group CTO Richard Conway shares his own AI predictions for the year ahead. As businesses rapidly understand how they can adopt AI, the risk of intellectual property theft is skyrocketing.... Watch now
Cyber Security The Identity Shift Identity has become a primary target, with 𝟴𝟮% of data breaches and ransomware attacks being tied to compromised credentials. In today’s hybrid environments, legacy systems and IT infrastructure struggle to support modern security controls such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and... Listen now
Gated Content A Step Change in IT Experience We believe it is time for radical change. We as an industry, and you as customers, have never seriously questioned the SLA and its role. Until now. Introducing Experience 360™ from Acora – a game-changing new service that sits above your traditional managed IT service and conventional SLAs. Read now
Gated Content Bringing the IT Experience to Life As we explained in our first guide, there’s a growing awareness in our industry about the importance of the employee experience. Having looked at the ‘why’ of improving your people’s IT experience, this follow-up paper gets into the ‘how’, introducing new technology, metrics, people and thinking to create our Experience 360™ service. Read now
Gated Content Deploying The User Experience In our previous guides, we’ve set out the background to creating a step change in your people’s IT experience. This third and final guide offers a glimpse into what living and working with h Experience 360™ looks like in practice, what differences you can expect to see from day one, and where the experience journey can take you over time. Read now
Cyber Security Cyber Security & Objectives Alignment Acora's Head of Enterprise Security, Simon Crumplin and Head of Cyber Services, James Fernley, recently sat down with Citreno's Founder & CEO, Svetla Yankova, to explore what it really takes to build and manage a modern-day SOC. Listen now
Gated Content The Future of Disruptive Tech GenAI is the game-changer that’s not just knocking on the door—it’s kicking it wide open. As disruptive technologies step in to automate the repetitive, transform industries, redefine workflows, and offer massive advantages for companies that dare to embrace its potential, what does the future hold? Dive in and discover how this disruptive technology is reshaping the landscape of knowledge work. Read now
Gated Content What Is In Our Chief AI Officer’s Toolkit Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, a wave of AI startups has emerged, each offering tools that promise to simplify processes and boost productivity. But how effective is Generative AI really in the workplace? Our Chief AI Officer highlights the top tools that make a real difference in daily work, while also pointing out which ones are simply riding the AI trend without adding much value. Read now
Gated Content Harnessing Data Engineering and AI Data is transforming the way businesses operate, offering new avenues for growth. And the integration of data engineering and AI has become not just a competitive edge but a necessity. In this guide, we explore four customer projects where we’ve applied our expertise to drive innovation and deliver tangible business value. Read now
Gated Content Successful IT & Cyber Projects Guide Cyber Security and IT projects often fail due to unclear objectives, unrealistic schedules, inadequate resources, poor project management, and stakeholder disengagement. With 75% of business and IT executives thinking their software projects will fail, we dissect why so many projects are at risk of failing and how to overcome these alarmingly high stats. Read now
Gated Content A Guide to Right-Sized Cyber Security All too often, we see CISOs taking a ‘product-centric’ approach to cyber security. By that we mean identifying a need, then simply buying the most expensive, best-in-class solution – often precisely because it’s the latest-and-greatest. Except that’s not true. There is no one solution that suits everyone. Instead, we want to introduce and encourage a risk based, right-sizing approach to cyber security. Read now
Gated Content A Guide to Managed Cloud Services 77% of businesses in the UK are investing in advanced technologies like the cloud and AI – cloud vendors are rapidly integrating more AI services, including cloud-based AI chatbots. In our Managed Cloud Guide, we unpack what solutions are out there and how to assess what your organisation needs for immediate and future needs. Read now
Gated Content The Pivotal Role of a Managed SOC 70% of medium-sized businesses reported breaches or attempted cyber-attacks within the last 12 months. In the UK, the total annual cost of cybercrimes for businesses is £21 million. You can’t hide from those numbers, so how can a best-of-breed Managed SOC play a part in reducing them? Read now
DORA 2026 post-deadline checklist Prepare for DORA compliance! The enforcement date for DORA regulation is fast approaching – January 17, 2025. Financial institutions across the EU must be prepared for the upcoming changes, using tools like a DORA compliance checklist, as the act seeks to improve the digital resilience of financial entities against cyber threats. Read now
Gated Content The Ultimate Guide to SLA’s & XLA’s An Experience Led Approach is one of the IT industry’s hottest topics – and one we’ve been talking about here at Acora for longer than most. In this guide, we’ve set out some of the background to the XLA, how it differs from and adds to SLA metrics and adoption dimensions of our own Experience Led Approach™, built in by design. Read now
Gated Content CIO Report 2023 As CIOs and IT and Security leaders’ roles rapidly become more diverse, evidence from our report expressed that cutting through the noise is a shared challenge for many professionals in the IT and Cyber space. Continuing to build on the priorities and shared challenges of the UK mid-market, explore our yearly report below. Read now
Gated Content Keeping up with endpoint threats Ever-growing cyber threats are a concern for everyone. But for IT leaders, the pressure has been ramped up to a new level. Tackling this can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be. Let’s go back to basics and start with endpoint protection. Read now
Gated Content Forward Thinking with Data Insights Implementing applications can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Working with trusted partners to plan, deliver and maintain business solutions is the practical way forward. Evolve your decision making by using data intelligence. Read now
CIO Report 2022 Building on the success of the 2021 survey, we reached out to CIOs and other IT leaders in organisations across the UK to get a sense of the challenges they’re facing such as hybrid working, and how they see things developing over the coming months. Read now
CIO Report 2021 Building on the success of 2020’s inaugural survey and Covid-19 naturally shaping both our survey questions and the results, we’ve attempted to look beyond the pandemic at the longer-term changes that will affect the CIO role in the future. Read now
Professional Services The Ultimate Guide to improving your IT Service Desk performance “We could do so much better”. From our experience, if this is how you perceive your IT Service Desk, then you are not alone. So, the purpose of this guide is simple: to help you unpack that dissatisfaction; to pinpoint... Read now
Gated Content Successful M&A IT Integration Most research indicates that only 50% of M&A deals actually result in an increase in overall shareholder value. Having assisted organisations with this challenge over the years, we’ve put together 10 top tips to highlight some of the key areas to consider in order to make any merger or acquisition IT project a success. Read now
Gated Content Service Desk Outsourcing Deciding whether to outsource all or part of the IT support function, such as the IT service desk, is a common consideration amongst organisations of all sizes. In our outsourcing considerations, we’ve highlighted some of the key areas to consider when evaluating the option of service desk outsourcing. Read now
CIO Report 2020 Welcome to Acora’s first CIO Report! We wanted to understand what the key priorities are for today’s CIOs, how CIOs view the biggest technology concerns of the day, and how organisations are spending their technology budgets. Read now