Back to Office or Remote: 4 Important Tips for Operations
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Most of us would admit that we are in uncharted waters when it comes to what work looks like today. For some organizations, it is business as usual, with most of the workforce back in the office. For others, it will be months before the team is back in the office and operating in a “normal” workflow. And there’s a whole lot in between. No matter where your company falls in the continuum, now is a good time to stop and take stock of how this global pandemic has affected your company’s technology and security.
Whether your workforce is still working remotely or back in the office, it’s important to take inventory of your company’s IT assets. What data went home with your team? Did they download files to personal workstations that need to be stored back on the company server/resources? Or maybe they have been uploading work to a personal google drive or Dropbox? Now is the time to regroup and save company assets to a company-owned file sharing solution such as those mentioned here. There could possibly be over three months of reports, contracts, or any number of important company data that needs to be accessed by other team members now or in the event that an employee is no longer with the company. If your team has been using a VPN or connecting to the cloud, then your data has been centrally kept, just keep reinforcing the use of the VPN.
Another point to consider is what equipment has gone home along with your people? All of us were surprised by a worldwide pandemic and plans were possibly thrown together quickly to get people home and get them working ASAP. Most commonly, staff took home workstations, headsets, dual monitors, and some even took their desk chairs. Have these remote devices been maintained in the last three months? Have IT professionals been able to access them and maintain them for optimal performance? System updates are an important component of maintaining security. Even if equipment is still being used remotely, now would be a good time to make a list of what is out there, what needs to return, what state it is in, and potentially what could be purchased to increase productivity should the need arise again.
Has your company ever had a BYOD (bring your own device) policy or remote device policy? Now may be the time to consider how you want company data and company equipment to be used consistently across your workforce. If you do have a policy, is it aligned and updated with the changing environment? There are multiple factors to consider in regards to company-owned devices, personal devices, and proprietary, important company data found on both. It would be helpful to consult with an IT professional, HR or legal expert, or an insurance agent when making or revising your company policy.
The final, but not least important, impact to consider is company security. Criminals have taken advantage of COVID-19. Referenced in this statement by the FBI, criminals have exploited the pandemic, and there has been a rise in phishing and business email compromise. It is vital that companies increase communication around these threats, updating staff on what to look for and what not to click. There are multiple tools to equip and test your company’s workforce so that personal and company data is less likely to be compromised and that company revenue is not lost due to fraudulent schemes.
The exercise of taking inventory can ensure that there are no gaps between working from home and working back in the office. No matter what your company is planning, it is helpful to know that you are protecting company assets wherever your workforce may be. If you need guidance, please reach out to the Affinity team. We have been vigilant working with our clients in all these matters from inventory, to cloud sharing, to phishing, VPN, and other remote security, and we would love to help you.
We provide support for issues as they occur, but our main focus is preventing issues from ever happening. Contact our team today for work from home IT support.
