Key Considerations for Preparing Your Company
Many of our clients are considering having their staff work from home during the coming weeks as they deal with the COVID-19 health crisis.
What about your business? If you need to send home sick employees or undergo precautionary quarantines, are you prepared from an IT perspective?
The vast majority of our clients already have the tools they need from the Microsoft 365 Business software and hosting solution that we provide.
However there some important considerations while planning for staff to work from home:
Computers & Remote Access
- Do you have adequate capabilities to allow staff to work from home?
- Will staff use company-issued computers or will they use their home PCs to access work resources?
- Do you have critical on-premise applications and files that must be accessed via a VPN connection?
- Do you have enough VPN licenses to service this need?
- Do you need to remotely control computers at your office or use a remote desktop server?
- Do you need to move your company's documents to a cloud-based solution like OneDrive or SharePoint?
Phones & Call Handling
- How will staff handle incoming and outgoing phone calls?
- Do you have an on-premise or cloud-based phone system?
- Will staff use their personal mobile or home phones?
Meetings & Collaboration
- Do you currently have online meeting capabilities available to all staff members?
- Does your staff have adequate web cameras on the PCs they intend to use if working remotely?
- Does your staff know how to conduct online meetings, collaborate with co-workers, and share documents in a remote working environment?
Testing & Training
- Have you tested your remote work capabilities?
- Do you need training on how to connect to VPNs, use remote desktops, and leverage collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams?
Taking the Next Step
Employers and business leaders have some tough decisions to make over the coming weeks, and no one wants to put employees, clients, or vendors at risk when there are viable alternatives for conducting business safely.
We're here to help, and now is the time to prepare.
Please contact us and we'll help you make the right choices for you, your employees, and your business.
