“Those that fail to plan, plan to fail.”
It’s a cliché, I know, but it does fit right now.
There’s a lot of chatter about working remotely right now, for obvious reasons. Organizations are trying to maintain a ‘business-as-usual’ approach with a dispersed workforce and they’re finding out the hard way that its one thing to talk about it conceptually but another to put it into practice.
Now try it under duress, on short notice, and without a ton of forethought. The difficulty increases exponentially.
Being able to be truly productive from home or a remote location takes a lot of parts all working together. It’s like the legs of a table and stool, without them you have nothing.
The Table legs:
Device – Laptop, PC, mobile device or Tablet. We all need something to work from.
Server Access – Employees need access to their files to be productive.
Voice – Beyond the actual device (cellphone, softphone, desk-set), how is the employee connecting to the corporate phone system? Can they even do that remotely?
Collaboration Applications – A dispersed workforce needs the ability to collaborate more than ever, making the implementation of a unified communication platform vital. How do you digitally recreate the teamwork that takes place at the office?These four legs form your table, and give the person working remotely what they need to do their job.
The Stool legs:
Security – VPN technology allows for secure connections into corporate networks, ensuring sensitive information stays protected.
Server Environment – Cloud-based, premise-based or a combination of the two (hybrid-cloud), regardless of the topology, a seamless integration of applications, storage, SaaS and business platforms is essential to keep your data flowing.
Enforce Proper Cyber Security Habits – Its ultra-important that employees understand how critical this is. Ransomware is a real threat. Phishing scams work. Everyone needs to be vigilant.
These three legs form the stool and give the company what they need to make sure that the work being done is safe, secure, and productive.
The Table Stakes:
Network Components – Along with the devices that protect (firewalls) and move (routers and switches) traffic and their configurations, the design of the network (hub and spoke, any-to-any) will determine your network optimization and an acceptable user experience.
Connectivity – Obviously near and dear to FlexNetworks heart, the need for business-grade connectivity at the head-end with scalable bandwidth, symmetrical throughput and a dedicated circuit are vital to ensure productivity for your workforce.
IT Departments are stressed to the max right now, scrambling to find solutions, equipment and manpower. Hopefully when we emerge from this crisis, we learn that Business Continuity Planning should not be an after-thought but a tangible aspect of an Organizations operation.
