In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies responded by transitioning their teams to a work from home setup.
While businesses struggled to adapt, many workers embraced the flexibility of remote work and leaders became proficient at supervising, meeting with, and coordinating their teams virtually.
Now that vaccination rates are on the rise and the end of the pandemic is in sight, you are probably looking at ways to reunite your team at the office after this momentous year.
To do this, you’ll need to closely coordinate with an IT provider to develop a plan that accounts for system administration, project management, hardware and software procurement, and account management technical support.
Here’s why: You will need to prepare for different workforce scenarios such as workers returning onsite full time, workers who’ll split their time between the office and home, and those who will remain exclusively at home.
And you guessed it.
All these scenarios call for different IT solutions. The challenge is to figure out how to create a collaborative workspace while keeping a close eye on cybersecurity.
That’s why today, we’re sharing our top 3 IT solutions your business needs to smoothly transition back to the office.
#1 Remote Collaboration Tools.
While there are mixed feelings about going back to the office, one thing is certain: the entire remote workforce will not return right away. Even if you would like to bring all your team back at once, the regulations dictating how many people can occupy a space at one time may make that reality logistically impossible.
In other words, your business will continue to rely on tools like Microsoft Teams to coordinate and collaborate on projects.
Like any other company, strong communication is crucial to complete tasks and meet deadlines. But when working with hybrid teams, collaboration tools are essential to bridge the gap between office and remote workers. Dropbox, Slack, and many other tools keep track and ensure maximum productivity at work.
Only with regular and clear communication will you discover what your employees expect from a COVID-safe office and what collaborative tools they’ll need to effortlessly transition back to the office.
This means you will need to choose a software that will add new communication channels or even leverage existing ones to help promote teamwork and feelings of inclusiveness among all your employees to build a strong company culture.
Fortunately, Fencecore provides collaborative tools like Microsoft Teams to support businesses’ seamless transition back to the office.
#2 Preventing Cyber Attacks
Unfortunately, roughly 90% of businesses experienced an increase in cyber attacks during the pandemic.
Now this is important because it highlights remote workers’ weaker internet networks.
The problem with these networks is the lack of added security measures that are usually found in robust corporate firewalls.
Simply put, remote workers increase your business’ vulnerability to a cyber attack because their home networks more easily expose your IT weaknesses.
While the safety of your employees is your top priority when transitioning back to the office, you also need to ensure that it happens in such a way that you don’t introduce added security risks to your corporate and customer data.
Yes, VPNs and remote logins offer added security.
But the bottom line is: There’s no end-all-be-all solution available that will make your employees’ home network as secure as the network that sits behind your corporate firewall.
If your employees are going to adopt a hybrid model, we suggest setting up additional security software to prevent costly data breaches. Fencecore can help your business customize an IT solution plan to protect your business from cyber attacks.
#3 Hardware
If your business establishes a hybrid work model, employees dividing their time between two workspaces will need to lug their technology with them depending on where they are working that day.
As a result, your team will need to closely coordinate with your IT provider to develop a plan that accounts for both the people and the technology needed for them to work from home and the office.
You’ll need to think about whether or not your business will provide a primary and secondary desktop or laptop.
And that’s not all, you’ll also have to determine which computer accessories your business will need to double, like keyboards, monitors, speakers, power cords, and mouses.
As an IT solution provider, Fencecore’s team is equipped with the hardware to set your business up for success. We carry everything from monitors to hard drives to help businesses achieve a successful transition back to the office.
Conclusion
While we all want a return to a normal work life, you’ll need to ensure that it happens in a way that doesn’t introduce additional health risks as well as security risks.
At Fencecore, our priority is to help organizations optimize their IT environment. Our team of experts offers personalized IT solutions that make it possible for companies to implement a hybrid workforce. To learn more about how Fencecore can help optimize the security of your organization’s IT infrastructure, contact us for today.