How to be Successful in a Hybrid Working Computing Environment
Finding success in the Hybrid Worker Computing Environment may sound more challenging than it really is. As organizations start to design post-pandemic workplaces, many are offering flexible, remote working arrangements. This is creating a hybrid environment, with some employees in the office and others working from home. With COVID-19 redesigning the way the average workforce goes about their day, it is bound to impact day-to-day operations, and leaders and their teams may need to develop new habits and systems. New challenges are being faced on a day to day basis, but with a few simple steps and the right technology, any company can be successful.
Adapting to the hybrid workforce environment
As businesses shift their everyday operations amid COVID-19, we are actually gaining a glimpse of what the future of work may look like. It requires being able to adapt quickly with your people and your strategies as the new workplace demands it. Everyday we are seeing a decrease in in-person collaborations and a higher demand of collaboration tools leveraging video conferencing. This is why it's so crucial for employees working from home to feel just as part of the team as if they were in the office. Adapting to the current workforce right now is not only beneficial for the present time, but also for the future.
Best practices and technology applications to leverage
The simplest solutions for maintaining constant communication and collaboration is utilizing Microsoft teams, a UCaaS platform, or a combination of the two . We have already seen many companies make this transition while Gartner predicts that, “By 2023, more than 50% of large organizations will connect to cloud providers using direct cloud connectivity from their WANs, up from 10% in 2019.” Some of the providers that are thriving in this space, whom we are partnered with, include Microsoft, Zoom, RingCentral, 8x8 and many others. In essence, using MS teams or a UCaaS vendor enables an easier form of internal/external communication, plus offers higher availability, reliability, and scalability as compared with your standard PBX/PRI (Private Branch Exchange/ Primary Rate Interface) system sitting in an office. On average, companies tend to save substantially more money going this route and remote users experience ease of use with the added mobility features and softphone capabilities. These benefits are just scratching the surface for why using MS teams/UCaaS will help support your company through the hybrid transition.
What to be aware of with at home employees
In a past blog, we mentioned the risks that come with using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access your company network. The big problem continues to revolve around cybersecurity and staying compliant , which are hot topics right now. Not only is VPN not the most efficient way to access files and transfer data, with the issues of latency and slow connection, it poses a much bigger threat in regards to the vulnerabilities it opens up. Read more on the dangers of VPN for at home employees and alternative options here.
Long - term solutions
Virtualizing all your servers in the cloud and using a technology called VMware/VM Horizon View, proves to be not only more efficient and cost effective, but also quite sustainable. No company would want to go through the hassle of moving all of their data & applications virtually if it was just a temporary fix. Fortunately, going virtual to the cloud and using technologies like DaaS or VDI are not only beneficial for the hybrid workforce currently, but will provide a great return on investment going forward. The bottom line here is that with a more feature rich, mature, and reliable technology, your IT team will be freed up to spend more time on innovation for business needs and less time fixing issues.
At Conectrix, it is our goal to make the complex simple for all our customers. Understanding best practices and technology transitions for your company to make in this hybrid workforce environment may seem daunting. Fortunately, by partnering with us we can help walk you through these challenges and set you up with the most qualified provider to meet your needs. Please do not hesitate to connect with us.