Enabling Remote Work Solutions During a Pandemic

Are you prepared to implement effective remote work solutions to keep your business running during a global pandemic or similar crisis?

Life is full of events that are out of your control — from natural disasters and shifting political tensions to health crises. In general, most businesses cannot afford to shut down operations entirely in response to these events. The ongoing coronavirus outbreak serves as a good reminder of the importance of preparedness to help businesses tackle whatever events come their way. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us how valuable it can be to have the option to transition your workforce to remote work.

Since early March, political leaders in the tri-state area have found themselves needing to take drastic measures to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. One of the main messages coming from these leaders has been to urge any workers who can work from home to do so in order to reduce crowding in public spaces. Clearly, implementing work from home (WFH) policies is a great way for businesses to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, the extent to which organizations are able to implement WFH policies depends largely on whether or not they have the remote access solutions in place to support a remote workforce.

The Importance of Having Remote Work Solutions in Place

The prevalence of remote work solutions goes beyond any short-term shifts in office culture due to current events. Remote work has been growing in popularity significantly over the years, well before COVID-19 called for increased precautionary measures. Why is that? For one, there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that remote work makes employees happier and more productive.

Research from Gallup shows that workers who spend around three to four days a week working remotely are much more engaged in their jobs than their traditional counterparts. The logic behind these results is easy to understand — when workers have more control over their lives and their work-life balance, they are likely to feel more fulfilled by their work.

The popularity of remote work shows no signs of decreasing any time soon. A 2019 survey of 2,500 remote workers found that 99% of the respondents said they would like to work remotely at least some of the time for the entire remainder of their careers. And even if you weren’t exploring remote work options for your company as a way to increase employee satisfaction, the current pandemic shows that having a remote work option available in a contingency plan is a good place to start.

Helping IT Departments Handle Remote Work

While remote work is a great solution in both emergency scenarios and in many business-as-usual circumstances, it can put a large burden on IT departments who need to support remote workforces. Fortunately, a remote networking solution can enable IT departments to better handle this burden without interrupting business operations. With a versatile remote networking solution, your IT department can securely extend your corporate network at a massive scale to overcome the typical complexities of remote work.

When it comes to picking the right remote access solution for your business, there are a number of key capabilities that you should look for to ensure that you’re enabling efficient and effective remote work. These capabilities include:

• Scalability: You need a solution that can meet the needs of even the largest workforce, and can grow with your company as needs and requirements may change.
• Wired and wireless security: Make sure the product you choose allows for role-based authentication and policy enforcement for all users and devices.
• Seamless access to applications: Corporate applications should work remotely and integrate with your solution without retraining or new software.
• Always-on connectivity: The data center and remote sites should always be connected to ensure your business operations continue to run smoothly.
• Resilient WAN connectivity: Your solution should be able to support both wired and 4G cellular access over WAN transports.
• Zero-touch provisioning: Check that your solution is easy to deploy, meaning the devices can be provisioned and configured automatically. This will eliminate most of the manual work, which is particularly important given both the current IT skills shortage and additional limits due to COVID-19.
• Regulatory compliance maintenance: Look for built-in compliance auditing and reporting to help your business avoid hefty fines with ease.
• Centralized management: You should be able to manage your entire remote network from a single, consolidated interface.

Finding the right remote access solution might seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. A managed service partner can help you implement the right solutions and meet new remote working requirements when you need it most.

Turn-key Technologies, Inc. (TTI) can be a partner in a time of uncertainty, helping to ensure that your business operations continue to run during a time where your customers will look to you for support. As an Aruba partner, we have experience deploying Aruba’s Remote Access Solution for our customers, and know that this product is equipped with everything you need to preserve business continuity during unprecedented times. Whether you are considering shifting toward a more remote workforce, or if you simply want to be prepared in the event of an emergency, TTI is here to help.