COVID-19 pandemic is still here; we have not completely recovered from it, which has made Remote working a permanent norm for companies. The offices are not going to open any soon unless the COVID-19 is entirely wiped out from our lives. As per CNN Business, many companies are even planning to implement a permanent remote working policy in their offices to make it flexible and convenient for employees.

But is it possible to make remote working a permanent policy with multiple challenges faced by the IT companies?

IT enterprises encounter multiple issues and emergency situations like natural disasters, illnesses, floods, power outages, server breaches, and cybercrime. Even in these situations, IT organisations need to continue their offices to ensure that their organisation can maintain operations despite adversity. COIVD-19 has allowed IT companies to analyse their employees’ productivity and performance while working from home, and it has provided excellent results.

If you are also planning to implement a permanent remote working policy in your company, it is crucial to set up a new culture for IT teams for the future. Remote working has many benefits to offer, not only for the company but employees as well. It allows businesses to cut office costs and resources while enabling employees to work flexibly with more family time.

So, how can you establish a secure environment for IT remote working for the long-term? Well, it is all about having a strategy in mind and getting the right technology in place.

Prioritise your IT Infrastructure for Remote Working

While working in an office, a company needs multiple resources and technologies for its existing business setup, which might not be required in the future. No one wants to pay for the things they do not need, then why pay for the technologies that might not be used while working remotely.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations were forced to decide about connectivity, devices, and operating protocols. But this needs to be changed if you are planning to implement a remote working policy in your company. A few areas where you can implement changes are:

• Improvement in Bandwidth

Insufficient bandwidth while accessing any server or link is a pain for businesses. It frustrates employees, reduces productivity, and cost a considerable fortune to the company. If this problem continues with remote working, then it needs to be fixed now.

The remote working situation is stable now, so you can work on upgrading the bandwidth. Since employees are working from home and plan to stick with this environment, you can ask your IT department to fix the bandwidth.

• Use of VPN

Many companies had made it mandatory for remote workers to use VPN to access office-based servers, which is quite necessary for security purposes. But, if the VPN connection is too slow, then it can create problems in the future. It could also happen due to slow bandwidth, or the VPN is congested. To overcome this issue, you can upgrade your VPN plan or move to the Private Cloud, which offers the same benefits with better flexibility and connectivity.

• Email

Email is the primary form or platform for employees to communicate with their team leaders, managers, team members, and customers. During the lockdown, virtual communication has become the centre of attraction for organisations with options like Slack, Teams, and other messaging apps. Thus, it is vital to maintain these platforms to keep communication useful and engaging. Take necessary actions to maintain and upgrade the communication apps, and ensure that they are reliable and resilient.

• Devices

If you have provided company laptops/desktops to employees to work from home, it is necessary to maintain their hardware and software requirements. It is noted that many employees are facing connectivity issues with their system while working remotely, which has become a productivity reducing factor. So, if you are planning to implement a remote working strategy in your office, make sure employees get upgraded and fastest devices for their work.

Meeting Cyber Security Requirements with Remote Working

IT companies are prone to cybercrimes more than ever. COVID-19 has made it challenging for IT companies to maintain their cybersecurity practices, as it is not that easy with remote working. From vulnerable broadband routers to dishonest webcam behaviour, there are many security concerns included with remote working. Although most companies could not set up standard cybersecurity protocols during the lockdown, it needs to be done now.

IT companies have become the primary target of cybercriminals in the last few months, and vulnerability in your system can lead to a data breach. So, it is crucial to have a robust cybersecurity strategy in place to protect your data. Besides, you must train your employees to avoid opening malicious emails, clicking unauthorised links, etc.

You can also follow some standard practices to maintain cybersecurity in the organisation, such as:

• Updating software applications continuously
• Setting password and permissions specific to users
• Installing Antivirus applications for web access as well
• Keep track of the phishing and spear-phishing attacks
• No use of personal devices for official communications

Following these practices, you would be able to protect yourself against cyberattacks.

Improve Communication and Collaboration

We surely cannot ignore the fact that employees are more collaborative and communicative while working in an office environment. They get the opportunity to talk to their colleagues directly, which results in higher productivity and team collaboration. Working remotely has stopped this effective communication for most organisations, which is not a good sign. But companies have found a way to replace face-to-face contact. If you have not implemented any standards to improve communication between employees yet, then it is time to look at it.

Socialise – The cafeteria plays a vital role in engaging employees with each other, but this facility cannot be availed while working remotely. But you can overcome this challenge by organising social meeting for all employees and perform entertaining activities.

Use Apps for Communication – Talking over the phone is not an option for every employee, as most prefer to chat with their colleagues. Make use of communication applications like Teams, Slack, or Google Chat to help your employees connect with their colleagues.

Virtual Meetings – Keeping your employees updated about what is going in the organisation is your responsibility, and it can be fulfilled easily with virtual meeting while working remotely. Of course, virtual meetings are not as productive as physical meetings; it will help in maintaining the balance between communication gaps.

If you still find it difficult to manage remote working for your employees, you can always move to a cloud environment where you get all the required infrastructure for remote working. For instance, a cloud environment like Office 365 gives you the flexibility to track employees’ activities, productivity while ensuring the cybersecurity of your data.

However, if you find it challenging to move to the cloud in this pandemic, the Server Consultancy is always here to help you with your data migration requirements.

Final Words

Remote working is going to be a new standard for every organisation, especially IT industries, because it helps in saving resources, costs, and infrastructure, while offering enhanced productivity. Thus, taking adequate steps to setup remote working is critical for every business. In this article, we discussed a few practices that you should follow to set up a remote working policy in your organisation.

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