The ability to work from home, up until recently a perk offered by some organisations, has now become the norm for most businesses. The drastic shift in working habits that Covid-19 has prompted will likely last even as the pandemic finally recedes - according to Reuters, the percentage of staff permanently working from home is expected to double in 2021. Whether you are planning for long-term remote work or considering hybrid models mixing remote and on-site work, this brief IT checklist is designed to help guide you to a successful modern workplace strategy.
Communication
Encourage open and transparent communication. Manage projects through cloud-based software, and enable employees to connect face-to-face and anytime, anywhere using affordable video conferencing solutions. Establish clear communication channels for communicating in between teams and company-wide to avoid cross-chat. Apps such as
Microsoft Teams enable staff to interact in project focused messaging channels as well as more generalist or sociable groups and the video conferencing feature is well suited to company-wide announcements. Wavex is a
Microsoft Gold partner and can help you
move, migrate, and consolidate legacy systems.
Cloud
Modernize your cloud infrastructure. The shift towards remote working has been made possible largely thanks to the cloud. Moving legacy systems onto the cloud can make them much more accessible, but you need to identify which parts of your IT are suitable to transition. As a certified Tier 1 Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, Wavex works with clients at every stage of their
cloud adoption or optimization journey, helping them decide on an appropriate cloud deployment model and migration strategy for their business.
Security
Control for shadow IT. It’s possible that some employees might use their own personal devices to conduct business from home, unwittingly posing a security risk for the business. Endeavour to understand why employees are using alternative IT solutions. This knowledge will help inform your approach to better meet staff’s needs.
Improve your cyber security practices. Setting up proper user controls and ensuring remote devices are regularly patched and updated is critical. Unique to the
Wavex IT service offering, we complement Microsoft 365 with a range of enhancements to provide greater protection against cyber-crime and improve the recoverability of lost data.
Keep staff aware of risks with cyber security training tailored for employees working from home. Staff will need good cyber security at home to protect against the company’s confidential data being compromised or networks becoming subject to malware or other cybercrime.
Support
Adopt a proactive approach. Our
IT helpdesk uses real-time data to tackle incident resolution proactively. Many IT issues are solved before impacting staff, thus gaining back productivity for your business.
Manage compliance. This is particularly important when employees are connecting to a VPN. With a higher number of remote workers, all end-points need to be suitably protected to minimise the risk of viruses traversing the links. Wavex partners with industry-leading security provider Symantec to help clients proactively
protect endpoints while meeting compliance requirements at a low total cost of ownership.
If you want to find out more about our IT support services tailored for a modern, distributed workforce, simply leave us a message.
