Following the onset of COVID-19, many companies had to make the switch to remote work. In August, 24.3% of those employed worked from home due to the Coronavirus. While this is the best way to keep employees safe, working from home poses new challenges to businesses. With employees not used to working at home, often times on home or public networks, and on personal devices, there is more room for user error. Along with this, many people are not used to being in a setting where they cannot interact with coworkers directly, or get help from in-house IT when things go wrong. 74% of companies have stated that they may continue to have some employees work remote post-corona. With this increase in teleworking, implementing managed IT services is one way to curb some of the major and minor issues with remote work. This is a way of using outsourced IT that is available to help remotely.
Security
With people working from home, insecure networks can pose a threat to company information. Employees could be working from home networks, and personal devices that are not secure. They can also be working from public networks, such as cafes, hotels, libraries, etc. Forbes has even reported COVID-19 has aided in quadrupling cybercrime by using things like phishing emails and malware campaigns to steal victim’s credentials with links posing as information to coronavirus. A data breach can cause the company $3.86 million on average according to IBM
Manage IT Services can provide companies with sophisticated ways of securing their information to decrease the threat of a data breach from home. They can help implement multi-factor authentication on personal devices, as well as installing anti-virus software. Manage IT services can help users navigate secure cloud services that allow employees to access, store, and retrieve information. They can also help create business continuity plans for employees and companies to deal with security breaches if they do occur, and ways of recovering data.
Teamwork
Teleworking has impacted businesses where collaboration is a valuable asset. Remote work can eventually lead to positive connections with teams around the globe in the long run. However, many businesses can be slow to start these new approaches to teamwork.
Manage IT services can help set up ways of collaborations with employees and/or coworkers. People can help provide training and education on what is available in terms of collaboration applications. This can help when there are questions from coworkers, or a meeting needs to be established with groups of people, or when multiple people are working on the same project. Manage IT services can provide safe, protected ways for companies to make sure their team is communicating effectively.
Efficiency and Accessibility
Getting quick answers can be difficult when working alone at home. Without IT staff in house, it can take time to get answer needed. Quick response to breaches, for example, can save the company over one million US dollars, if caught in under 200 days. Along with this, older technology can cause lack of efficiency, and wasted time. Most of the time, loss of productivity stems from slow systems, connection failures, and outdated software. This problem persists with personal devices being used, and with all different devices for each employee, it can be harder to get answers for how to fix problems.
Managed IT services can aid in finding the best technology for the tasks at hand. Many companies that provide IT help are available 24/7 to provide over the phone help and answer any questions. They can also provide remote monitoring to help catch any problems before they become larger.
