Lessons Learned in the Transition to Remote Work
It’s been weeks since organizations across the country - and around the globe - closed their doors and made the transition to full-scale remote work. When this rapid global shift took place, even the most prepared and adaptable organizations found their operational expectations turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Living through what many are calling ‘the great remote work experiment’ has led to several key lessons for managers, business owners, and IT professionals.
Business Continuity Planning
The biggest question to arise out of this whole experience has been how to keep business running smoothly in the middle of a global emergency. The answer lies in a business continuity plan. Business continuity planning refers to the critical steps an organization can take to keep operations running when a crisis hits.
Even those organizations with a plan in place were not prepared for the scope of the COVID-19 crisis. Traditional business continuity plans are aimed at what to do when a natural disaster or temporary regional disruption occurs. Most had little to no guidance on how to sustain daily activities during a global pandemic.
Moving forward, all organizations - from small businesses to multinational corporations - should have a business continuity plan in place that addresses things like:
How to equip employees with necessary technology remotely utilizing ‘zero-touch device delivery’.
How to adapt compliance and security policies to react to new ways of working.
How to utilize collaboration tools - effectively - to keep employees connected.
Expanded Threat Attack Surface
A threat attack surface refers to the total number of vulnerabilities an unauthorized user can potentially use to access and steal data. When all of your data is securely stored and accessed in one physical location, your threat attack surface is much smaller. The more places data can be accessed, the more devices accessing that data, and the more software used to do so increases your organization's threat attack surface.
Employing remote workers - especially a full-scale remote workforce - introduces a number of new vulnerabilities. Not to mention, the proliferation of cyberattacks aiming to take advantage of the current state of the world. IT and security teams have had to work overtime to not only make sure operations can continue smoothly, but also securely.
Capacity & Scalability
Due to the rapid nature of this crisis, most organizations had to go from 0-100 in less than 24 hours to get their remote workforce up and running. These new remote work technology implementations tested the capacity and scalability of most networks. Traffic increased exponentially, and IT teams had to work quickly to meet the demand. Managing capacity and bandwidth, and driving resources where needed, has forced many organizations to advance their technologies faster than anticipated to keep up with the ‘new normal’.
New Technologies
This great work-from-home experiment has drastically shifted the way business gets done. All of these changes have required new technologies to facilitate the remote workforce.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) or password managers have helped protect employee and company data. New collaboration and virtual meeting software, like Slack and Zoom, have been critical to recreating the office culture in a virtual space. Many organizations have also had to create or increase current cybersecurity training programs to continue promoting ‘cyber smart’ behavior and password hygiene.
Where Are We Headed?
Though we’ve survived the worst of the issues and challenges presented by full-scale remote workforce transitioning, IT teams will need to remain agile as we continue to navigate the uncertainties ahead.
The best IT teams will use the lessons learned over the last few months to their advantage as we move into a post-coronavirus world.
Kotman Technology has been delivering comprehensive technology solutions to clients in California and Michigan for nearly two decades. With a customer retention of over 98%, we pride ourselves on being the last technology partner you'll ever need. Contact us today to experience the Kotman Difference.