CoreTech Blog

In our last blog, we mentioned how companies have adapted their workflow amid the pandemic. We now expect that this new hybrid practice, where employees mix home working with office working, is here to stay. To put a figure on it, the Institute of Directors carried out a study, which showed that 74% of companies are going to offer support to employees who work remotely after the pandemic. Of course, this is good news for many but it is also a challenge for those in IT.

When the majority of employees only visit the office a couple of times a week, it becomes important to have a smooth-running IT infrastructure. There are many challenges to overcome, including data security, reduced visibility, and home Wi-Fi connection issues. To work effectively and keep businesses moving forward, hybrid working needs IT support.

COVID-19 Challenges

The global health crisis of 2020 created many challenges for most companies. It was an opportunity for us to enhance, shift, and adapt to our new reality. Managed Service Providers quickly learned how to help businesses stay available for their clients as well as their employees at home. However, many companies still used static and inflexible network designs. This meant they had to make big changes to be able to support their remote workforce. Poor bandwidth was the first big hurdle. Security issues and increased cloud traffic meant many companies had to turn to IT professionals to help them adapt.

MSPs as key partners

Managed Service Providers have worked tirelessly to help solve the new problems arising from the increase in remote working. What makes MSPs effective in their role as a key partner is their relationship with the network operators. This means they can find the best available services for their clients to help them solve their problems. MSPs also help remote workers with phones, software, data storage, and security.

An MSP complements any existing in-house team. They can monitor network security and server performance and prevent potentially costly outages by increasing security. Essentially, a good MSP minimizes disruption to key functions in a business.

Another thing that MSPs can offer is mobility support. This means they can arrange plans and devices for remote workers to help them be just as effective at home as they were on site. Setting up phones, tablets, and webcams will ensure your team never loses connection with you.

Cloud Technology

With remote working at an all-time high, cloud technology has been essential. Forbes believes that almost half of the data in the world will be cloud-based in 2025. MSPs can help businesses migrate their IT infrastructure to a cloud-based system. This means employees can continue being just as productive wherever they are working. This ease of accessibility needs to be secure, and MSPs are there to help.

Automation

Automation can help the hybrid workforce by removing a lot of the friction they encounter. For example, repetitive processes – e.g. data entry – can be an automated task. That means employees can focus on other, more complex tasks. They become more productive as a result, which means the business can grow.

It is also possible to automate other things, such as diagnostic tools. With automated diagnostics, employees can troubleshoot, identify and fix small issues on their own, remotely. This reduces pressure on other team members and saves the company time.

Automation also helps improve visibility in the organization. It means that interactions, progressand updatesare kept in check for all to see. This is vital to preserving transparency when hybrid working is involved.

Final thoughts – helping companies adapt to their new ‘hybrid’ way of working

The hybrid workplace is going to be around for a long time. Perhaps forever. MSPs can help companies embrace the changes that the pandemic forced upon them. They can help businesses maintain their continuity and provide them with the support they need for their future growth. Simply put, an MSP can help companies reap the rewards of a solid IT support base.

If you have any issues or questions concerning your network infrastructure, or about creating a hybrid workplace, please let us know. As your MSP, we are here to help you with everything technology related. Contact us to discuss your needs!

It is undeniable that businesses have increasingly been relying on technology. The past year has been especially digital as millions of people were working remotely. Many of these people required some type of technology support. Today, we are going to discuss how companies like ours were able to provide comprehensive IT support to so many people while they worked from home.

Because of the protection it can offer your organization, data backup is a necessary tool for you to have—that is, provided it has the requisite security and reliability you’ll need should you ever have to lean on it. Let’s go over a few guidelines to help you be sure that your backup is trustworthy enough to stake your business’ future on.

Since Coronavirus turned things on their head, businesses across the globe have responded well to enforcing remote working. And now, things are on the move again. Businesses are trying to decide how things will look in a post-Covid world. Many workers and businesses don't see a complete return to office working anytime soon, therefore introducing a hybrid workforce.

Recent surveys tell us that over 50% of workers in the U.S. favor a mix of office and home working. Other surveys predict the numbers of remote workers will double before they begin to drop. Pre-pandemic, less than 20% of employees worked at home. Whatever the final number happens to be, businesses need to be flexible to the constant changes.

Present Arrangements

Currently, businesses are dealing with these changes in different ways. Some companies have set dates for their employees to work remotely until the summer of 2021. Others have started to bring back people into the workplace on varied schedules. 

And some are letting the individual employee decide where to work. Everyone is trying to figure out the best possible life/work arrangement. 

Longer-term Expectations

Companies across the globe are beginning to consider what things will look like in the long term. They're looking at how to structure work hours, office communication, and physical presence. What many businesses are considering is a hybrid working model that combines office working with remote working.

What would Hybrid Workforce look like?

When we use the term ‘hybrid’, it sounds like we’re giving employees more freedom. With hybrid working, employees often decide where they work and when they work. This means employees have more autonomy to decide how their work fits in with other things in their lives. In an ideal world, hybrid working provides sociability and structure alongside flexibility and independence.

One common approach is to decide on specific days for working ‘at the office’. On such days, there are meetings and discussions. And on ‘remote’ days individuals can focus on their own specific tasks.

With hybrid working becoming more common, companies will likely reduce the amount of office space they rent. They simply won't need to accommodate so many office workers at any one time. Plus, downsizing office space is a great way to trim the budget.

What is the Optimal Amount of time in an Office?

Current studies show that two days of remote working is the optimal time for balancing quiet work with collaborative work. This will also allow employees to benefit from commuting less. Of course, you need to decide what works best for your business.

What does Hybrid Working need to be successful?

Companies need to aim for equalization between workers. In an ideal world, all employees would attend the office during the same hours.However, this will make social distancing difficult.

It is also important to instill an ethos of transparent communication.This means that all communication is shared with everyone equally as needed to avoid unnecessary conflict. Every employee, no matter where they are working, needs to be on the same page.

How to make a Hybrid Workforce work.

Arguably the best legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic is the improved focus on employee wellbeing and health. This is paramount to success. Prioritizing a safe working environment and healthy work practice is going to mean businesses retain workers while improving efficiency.

Without the necessary technology, support, and resources, a hybrid team simply won't work. The team needs to be equipped with the devices and technology they need to do their job while working remotely. Businesses need to consider video conferencing software, how to share documents and files, Wi-Fi connections, and messaging apps, just to keep track of everyone.

It’s clear to see that remote working is going to play a big part in many businesses in the coming years and the future beyond. Companies should start planning for a hybrid workforce.  Proper planning will make it work well for you and your employees.

If you have any questions about setting up remote workers, or if you need to restructure your office network, contact us.  We can make sure you’re set up for any workforce structure you need.

Few things are scarier for a modern business to consider than the idea that they will be hacked, regardless of that business’ size or industry. After all, hacking can, will, and does cause significant damage across basically all aspects of your organization. This is precisely why it is so important that—should a business be hacked—the proper steps are taken in response.

Accessibility to the Internet is a hot topic because, at this point, almost everyone should be afforded Internet access. The fact that some people don’t have access to the Internet puts them at a severe disadvantage. One group that has major problems with accessibility are disabled people. Let’s discuss what can be done about that.

With many—if not most—computers and especially laptops featuring integrated webcams at this point, it isn’t hard to imagine how disastrous it would be to be spied on through it. Let’s take a few moments and go over a few ways to be sure that your webcam isn’t being used without your consent by someone else.

Proper communication is an imperative part of doing business, and nothing improves this aspect of your company better than a telecommunication system of some sort. Some businesses rely on their legacy telephone system for interoffice communication, but this can be both difficult and expensive to maintain.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, a majority of companies have had to make the switch to working remotely to protect employees. This happened quickly when the pandemic was new, and we were told to enforce social distancing. We had to adapt to the acceptance and implementation of becoming a remote workforce.Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have been instrumental in providing IT support to businesses across the globe. They assist businesses and companies by securing, monitoring, and maintaining networks and IT infrastructure.

Research has revealed that cyberattacks are spending decreasing amounts of time on their targeted networks before they are discovered. While this may sound like a good thing—a faster discovery of a threat is better than a slower one, after all—this unfortunately is not the case.