A Little Help if You Still Need a Remote IT Plan

If you haven’t thought about it before, you may very well be thinking about it now: how do you keep the business up and running when coming into the office isn’t an option?

Whether you already have some remote people or none at all, you may encounter challenges for your entire team to remotely work securely and efficiently. 

We thought it would be helpful to give people a few ways to begin addressing remote working and the top items to think about. 

Assess where you are

To help with planning, start by doing the below exercise:

1. Make a list of items that make working from home challenging: 
   1. Does your team have portable machines or the ability to take their computers home?
   2. Think of what they currently can’t access if they are out of the office
   3. Think of what they couldn’t access if they can’t get online
2. Make changes (or get help making changes) in areas that are preventing your team from successfully working remotely. 
3. If possible, run a test -- currently, you may still have time for you to run a test with a select group of people to test and see what issues come from remote working. 

Your biggest concerns (IT wise)

As you're making the list above, you may not even know what types of issues will arise. Think about the below that are common areas we often address for remote work forces. 

#1 The network

So many companies have constructed their business to run online services and many have secured their organization’s data behind their firewall. 

• If applicable, is your VPN running properly?
• Can your VPN properly support the volume and workflow of your users?
• Do your users have a home network with enough bandwidth and stability? 
• Are you concerned about the security of your users’ home networks? 

#2 Access to data and services

You need to keep the ability to securely and easily access files and applications that the team uses to run the business. Since you have less control over the remote environment and/or are used to working in person, certain new challenges can arise. 

• How does the team access files and other services? If the files are large, will they be able to work the same way as they currently do (local files usually have faster access than cloud files)
• Do you have a good communication strategy for collaboration such as chat or video conferencing?
• Is your phone system set up for remote access via a soft phone client or another solution?

Being prepared to work remotely doesn’t have to put a stop to your business! With modern technology, working remotely is as viable as it has ever been for many businesses. 

Hopefully, you and your team are staying healthy and safe!

Still need some help? Find out more about how and who we help. We've helped hundreds of businesses set up secure, working remote solutions for their Apple devices. 

Credits:
Photo by Gabriel Beaudry on Unsplash