Acronis Cyber Protect

Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides integrated cybersecurity, data protection and endpoint management for managed service providers/partners. Since 2021, CIOV has been a partner of Acronis using Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud to provide cyber protection services to clients.

Acronis Gold Service Provider is a distinguished partner program offered by Acronis which CIOV has recently achieved after Brendan Murray joined the business, This Gold status is awarded to service providers who have demonstrated a high level of expertise and success in delivering Acronis cyber security solutions to their clients.

Achieving this status allows CIOV to access priority technical support, advanced technical training and marketing support from Acronis. This enables us to better serve our clients with managed cyber protection solutions from Acronis.

CISO - Brendan Murray

Brendan Murray, a very experienced computer and network security professional has joined CIOV as our in-house CISO.

Brendan has a vast array of experience in the IT industry and brings a wealth of knowledge to CIOV.

Brendan also provides CIOV the ability to offer vCISO as well as a full range of IT Managed Security services to our clients.

We are delighted Brendan has joined the CIOV team.

Saving Lives!

Way back in September 2019 I was looking at expanding my business and I was well on the way when COVID hit us lat year. Everything changed in 2020!

For the most part of my CIOV work,  I’ve been immersed in Primary Health IT, thanks to a consulting contract with South Link Health Services (SLHS). I have been very fortunate to have this contract as it has provided many work opportunities since I first started CIOV in 2018.

Since 2019, I’ve been helping SLHS migrate medical practices with their “cloud first” strategy for practice management systems. Lockdown was a very strange time for me being in a solo bubble but an Essential Services role with SLHS supporting Primary Health enabled me to get out and about and support front line health workers.

Most of us felt the same going into and living through the Level 4 lockdown in March last year. The speed with which it all happened, the incessant 24/7 COVID news coverage and the uncertainty with what lay ahead generated huge levels of anxieties for many of us. 

"Saving Lives" was how a good friend of mine described what I was doing last year during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was rather a tongue-in-cheek comment as I had never thought of that about IT.  I remember helping a nurse one day at a SLHS medical practice. She was performing COVID testing in the practice carpark and my help involved simply opening some doors so she could bring the tests back into the practice before sending them off for analysis. The nurse packaged the tests up for testing and arranged their pickup. I hightailed it home as soon as I’d finished my IT work!

That nurse was Saving Lives, I just opened the door!! I still felt very uncomfortable at the time after she passed by me in all her PPE gear after testing the patients for COVID. I threw all my clothes into the washing machine as soon as I got home and took a long shower!

Even now, with the world still in disarray more than a year after COVID hit, it's interesting to reflect back on the last 12 months and what we have been through in NZ. For all the pain and anguish of COVID, it has progressed elements of technology like video-conferencing faster and further that most of us would have thought possible. 

Anyway, I’m still principally working in Primary Health which is incredibly rewarding. This work totally fits with my CIOV business strategy, "enriching our client’s businesses through innovation" by migrating in-house systems to the Cloud.  

I am looking forward to the next IT challenges and developing CIOV where I can help my customers and potential customers with their businesses.

Video Consultation in Primary Health

What does that look like?

That was the question posed to me recently by my friend and colleague, Ross Hanson, when we were out having a catch up over a coffee. It was in response to some capacity issues I’ve been having with CIOV as new work prospects present themseves to my business.

I must admit that I’ve been very lucky so far with my start-up. There has been no shortage of opportunities for CIOV to help businesses with technology in my first year of business.

However, it is time to think about and work a bit harder on the next stage for CIOV. Before meeting up with Ross, I’d just turned down a great opportunity to provide a training solution for a new client. That was a tough decision to turn down work but the right one at the time.

The simple reality is, if new work opportunities continue to present themselves to the business, I’m clearly facing resourcing issues.

Now, “What does that look like?” for CIOV.

Photo by krung99/iStock / Getty Images

"Bloom" - The Exhibition

Ok, it wasn’t my exhibition but I was definitely part of it.  CIOV was the lead and only sponsor! 😊

My beautiful and talented daughter, Antonia Boyle, completed her Masters degree in Jewelry this year. Her studies culminated in an exhibition of her work in February at the excellent Robert Piggott Art Gallery in Dunedin. We were joined on the 15 February opening night by close friends and family. A highlight was the surprise visit from Melbourne by her only sibling, brother John. It was quite a night!!

Following the exhibition and marking by her examiners, she was then awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree “with merit”.

Antonia has displayed tremendous courage and tenacity during her study, particularly in the last couple of years since the passing of her mother, Judy.

Words cannot express my feelings around Antonia’s work. The quality of it speaks volumes about her ability. The images below clearly demonstrate that. Enjoy.

7 1/2 Months

What does 7 1/2 months mean? A gestation period perhaps? That’s probably as close to the truth as anything.

Back in the day and growing up in Mosgiel, my old friends would have said 7 1/2 months was your term of community service, or perhaps a licence disqualification. If that misfortune did befall you, said friends could draw on an endless array of jokes delivering total humiliation to you in front of your peers. Tough crew and fun times!

Anyway, back to the present. I said when I started the business I would give it 6 months to make or break. If I couldn't pay the bills within that time frame, I was going to close the business and look for a job.

I’ve now passed that milestone as I've been operating my Virtual CIO business for just over 6 months. 7 1/2 months in fact!

I've been very fortunate during this time to have clients who have been willing to support my business. I also consider myself lucky as in that relatively short time, I've been able to travel from Auckland to Invercargill with the business.

 So far, I've been working with businesses in health, grants management (donating money to charities), accounting, private investment, forestry and general contracting. It's been really cool and so far so good. I'm hoping it will continue, for at least another 7 1/2 months. Here we go!

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Picton, NZ. October 2018

50 something start up

Commencing a start-up business in your mid-50's, "you must be crazy"!  That's what I was thinking before I started this journey (I hate that word!)  and I'm guessing they're the thoughts my colleagues and friends are having as I leave a great job to start again at ground zero. On the other hand, most are pretty excited for me as I cast adrift into the world of self-employment. 

For me, the time has never been better.  Information Technology in the 21st century pervades almost every aspect of our personal and working lives. We all struggle with it at times and some more than others. 

Quite simply, CIOV is positioned to help people with technology. The business's foundation is our Vision, Mission and Values that underscores what the business is about. 

I'm very grateful for everyone who has and continues to help me in my career. Particularly my customers who see value in the work I do and who are prepared to pay for the service.

I'm very fortunate to have two wonderful and now grown-up children help me with the website, not to mention the moral support around the CIOV startup! Thank you John and Antonia. You mean everything to me. 

Lastly, I'll pay tribute to my late wife Judy. She was my biggest supporter till her death last year.  Thanks for everything honey, this is for you.

Fingers crossed, lets go!