Just when you think your technology infrastructure is fine, a global pandemic comes along and throws everyone for a loop.

That’s how many San Jose/Silicon Valley area businesses felt when they were faced with a lockdown and the resulting need to change their way of doing things.

Going from onsite to remote IT support and connecting with customers in an entirely new way, are just two of the IT challenges that businesses have had to figure out.

With reopening efforts underway in California and the rest of the country, it’s time for companies to evaluate the issues with their IT that the pandemic introduced.

Some of the things that the COVID-19 crisis brought to light for businesses were:

• The need to be able to run their business completely remotely
• Problems with on-premise only systems (like phones)
• Lack of remote worker security policies
• How to address shadow IT problems
• Lack of cloud or endpoint device management apps
• The need to be ready for anything 

Creating a Resilient IT Environment for the Next Crisis

Even after the last of the reopening phases are completed, the pandemic will have changed the way that companies plan their technology infrastructure.

Some of the biggest impacts will include enabling an ongoing remote workforce (either part or full-time) and creating systems that are not tied to any single location.

Here are some of the challenges that companies are facing due to the pandemic and how to address each to make your company stronger and more resilient. 

Meeting Virtually & Securely

Before the pandemic, no one had heard of “Zoom-bombing,” which is when troublemakers crash someone’s online video meeting. This exposed a huge security hole not only in Zoom but other video platforms as well.

The use of video during meetings in Microsoft Teams doubled during the pandemic. Video became the only way to meet face-to-face with customers, vendors, and colleagues, and it’s going to continue to be more popular than it was pre-pandemic.

Now is a good time to evaluate different video conferencing tools, grading them by usability, security, and cost to ensure you’re not just using one because it was convenient at the time, but because it makes the most sense for your organization.

Remote Worker Security

Companies that resisted using remote workers in the past, now see that it’s not really an option in an unpredictable world. Even if you don’t plan to have employees work remotely all the time, it’s become a necessity to have the option available should another pandemic hit or any other crisis that requires you to run your business remotely.

Several considerations go into the security of employees accessing business applications and data from offsite locations and potentially using their own personal devices to store work products.

While you may not have had time at the beginning of the pandemic to properly address remote security, you can now put systems in place that will protect you from a data breach for ongoing or future remote work situations.

Think about things like:

• Data backup for remote staff (as well as onsite)
• Using a business VPN 
• Endpoint and cloud application security tools
• How to handle security updates and antivirus on employee-owned devices

What to Do with Computers

One big decision that companies faced when “stay at home” orders went into place causing them to send employees home to work was what to do about computers. Do employees take an expensive work computer home, and if so, how do they get it there? Or do they access work apps and email from their personal PC?

There are pros and cons to consider with each method, or you can eliminate the decision by upgrading to virtual desktops, which are completely cloud hosted and can be accessed by any computer or mobile device.

Whichever you choose, you’ll want to put a policy in place now before the next crisis comes along so you and your team will be ready.

Ensuring You Have Tech Support Everywhere

One problem that companies noted during the pandemic was the “stranded employee.” These were employees that felt cut off from their companies and the support they needed to work effectively from home.

You can help prevent a feeling of helplessness when it comes to the IT support needed by at-home employees by ensuring you have extended IT and network support in place through a trusted IT provider (like GEEK911).

Not only does this improve your overall IT security and take a lot of the IT burden off your shoulders, working with an outsourced IT provider can keep your employees connected to the vital technology support they need, no matter where they’re working.

Get Help Reimaging Your Future-Proof IT Infrastructure 

Undergoing a transition to incorporate the lessons learned from COVID-19 can be made much easier by working with GEEK911. We’ll guide you through the process and help future-proof your technology.

Contact us today to schedule a technology review! Call 1-866-433-5411 or reach us online.