When the pandemic first started, COVID-19 was initially thought of as a moment in time rather than a permanent situation. As we enter the second wave of the virus, the way organizations conduct business will continue to change dramatically. Your organization’s success will largely depend on its action towards facing the more permanent, and long-term effects of the virus.
As we now view WFM as “permanent” or “indefinite”, your IT infrastructure may not be ready for the nature of having employees work remotely long-term. In order for IT practices to meet the changing needs of an organization, the following must be considered and put in place in order for teams, organizations and IT infrastructures to work effectively:
- Take your Security to the Next Level:
More than ever, ramping up your company’s security is necessary and it is imperative that the organization has iron-clad protection.
The first step towards upgrading your security is identifying which assets in your organization are crucial to protect. The second is taking action towards doing so. This can be as simple as updating your firewall, adding two factor authentication to certain files and making employees aware of sharing policies. Despite all the efforts and systems put in place by your IT team, employees are pivotal in protecting your organization’s data. To improve security, encourage team members to champion IT security through education. Provide them with tools and equip them with the ability to spot and identify potential cyber-security risks. In addition to the above, always stay up to date. Protect company data from viruses, spyware and other online threats with the latest software versions.
- Set Formalized Communication Tools:
Facilitating internal communication is the key to success. Many people struggle with new communication dynamics when working from home. It’s imperative that organizations assess their internal tools designed to facilitate employee communication. Having a lack of clear communication tools and structures leaves the door open to potential security threats and data breaches. As many scrambled to get employees from cubicles to their home offices at the onset of the pandemic, security threats became more prevalent due to the usage of third party apps, vulnerable to cyber attacks and malware.
During this second wave, organizations should strive to have all communication conducted on platforms which they can trust and control. Equip employees with formalized tools and processes to facilitate communication and collaboration. This will allow your organization to streamline and understand which components of the business are to be protected. In addition, it is also important for IT to encourage communication and collaboration with other teams. Despite no longer being in proximity to one another, employees should still be encouraged to share their concerns, seek assistance when needed and make sure they are using tools properly in order to avoid potential problems such as data breaches. It’s more important than ever to maintain the open flow of information between employees and the IT department.
Once established, do not overlook the importance of making your team aware of new tools and educating them on the potential threats of using communication tools outside of the organization to share information, files and data.
- Consider The Cloud
Shifting to remote work is only as efficient as your ability to support it. As we move towards a more permanent WFM situation, it’s key to have all of your data on the cloud (if it is not already there). Switching your organization’s data to being 100% cloud-based, facilitates communication, collaboration and accessibility to your organization’s information for those who need it most – your team. With cloud computing, teams can work efficiently across functions without ever having to leave the cloud.
In addition to benefiting your internal teams, cloud data management has benefits for the entire organization. The cloud offers organizations security and business continuity, which is of utmost importance during the pandemic. Having employees working from home on their own networks and left without the watchful eye of the IT department, increases the likelihood of cyber attacks and data breaches. This landscape makes storing your data on the cloud more important and pressing than it may have previously been. In addition to the above, the risk of having employees falling ill, with no backup of their work can also be a desirable reason to consider the cloud. Organizations can benefit from the peace of mind that data is always accessible and backed up, making it possible to recover quickly.
To ensure that your organization is ready to face the transition to longer-term WFM, make sure that you are prepared, or have a partner that can prepare you. Fencecore provides 24×7 system administration, monitoring and alerts, patch management and helpdesk support through dedicated managed services. Our team of experts have extensive experience helping businesses thrive through strategic planning and execution.