Before the arrival of COVID-19, less than five percent of the U.S. population was working remotely full-time. A Gallup poll conducted in early April 2020 determined that over 60 percent of employed Americans worked from home during the crisis. This year, remote work became a necessity. With social distancing guidelines, government restrictions and serious concerns over a health crisis, businesses worldwide have had to adapt to the times, including allowing all non-essential employees to work from home.

Naturally, transitioning your workplace to remote capabilities at the drop of a mask has presented its challenges. Cybersecurity concerns, an isolated workforce and communication issues are a few of the most pressing issues facing businesses with teams suddenly removed from their everyday work environments. Fortunately, leveraging technology is one solution that can help mitigate many of these issues. With the right people, processes and technologies in place, your entire team can work together from anywhere in a secure, connected, flexible workspace.

Collaboration and Technology

In its most fundamental sense, collaboration is the process of motivating employees to work together toward a shared purpose to reach a collective goal. With the right resources in place and the right technology experts in your corner, you can enable more employee interaction, spark collaboration and increase productivity. Several innovative technologies are available to businesses of all sizes that can maximize workplace collaboration — even during a pandemic.

Let’s discuss four ways your business can thrive in 2020 and beyond.

1) Trust in the Cloud: According to Cisco, cloud data centers will process 94 percent of workloads in 2021. Cloud computing technology gives businesses direct access to the information they need. With workers in the office and at home, file storage applications are secure and allow employees to instantly access and share information. With more flexibility and easy remote access, your team’s productivity will go through the roof.

2) Upgrade Your Software: Cloud technologies do more than store valuable information. When you integrate the cloud with Microsoft Office 365, employees work smarter, more efficiently and improve communication. Teams have access to all their familiar applications. They can work on projects simultaneously, share worksheets in real time, and reduce overlap, miscommunication and other issues that bog down productivity levels.

3) Use Team Collaboration Tools: Microsoft Teams and Slack are two forms of team communication platforms that provide an entire team with a secure, centralized place to communicate and streamline their workflows. Employees can instant message, share files, set up virtual conference calls and collaborate on projects from anywhere. Filtering out the fluff of a traditional email system saves the workforce time and increases productivity.

4) Engage Your Team With Video: Video conferencing software like Zoom and Skype can help your team stay connected and accelerate the decision-making process compared with an email or phone call. Video conferencing tools enhance meetings with recording features, chat messaging, and screen-sharing options for visual engagement. Virtual conference rooms can be an engaging way to assemble your team during a time when they may feel isolated.

The Future of Collaboration

Although many businesses are moving to the above technologies out of necessity, they can become a constant and reliable component of any business model moving forward. Considering that flexible working has become the “new normal,” companies that continue to invest in collaborative tools that increase productivity will work seamlessly in the present day and thrive in the future. We can help your business develop a reliable and affordable IT technology infrastructure that can increase team collaboration and productivity.

Get set up for success with the best collaborative tools. Contact us today.

 

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“Most departments view legal and compliance support as key to smart growth. They want to enable the business to balance risk with reward, and to modernize their own operations through process and technology improvements. But [Gartner] found a wide gap between the importance of initiatives and leaders’ confidence in their ability to solve them.”  -Ross Gardiner, Director, Advisory, Gartner

If you’re like most busy executives, compliance is a priority — but it’s not necessarily at the top of your to-do list. Yet businesses of all sizes are governed by federal (and sometimes even international) regulations, and whether you like them or not, they’re in place for a good reason. As a business owner, it’s up to you to stay compliant and protect your precious data, but it’s a responsibility that nobody should shoulder alone.

You don’t have to be intimidated by the regulatory landscape when you’ve got technology on your side. With the right IT infrastructure in place, your company can navigate this tricky terrain while keeping everyone’s private information secure. Whether you’re running a healthcare testing facility, financial institution or a small to medium-sized business, you’re bound to face compliance challenges. From HIPAA to PCI and everything in between, compliance is simpler when you leverage technology to your advantage.

See what an industry-specific compliance plan looks like. Contact us today.

Conquer Your Compliance Checklist

• Step One: Conduct Research
  Maintaining compliance can be intimidating if you don’t know where to begin. Figure out what regulations apply to your industry, what your current protocols are looking like and what you need to do to secure your business and safeguard your data going forward.
• Step Two: Establish Firm Policies
  When you have to protect patient health records, credit card information and other sensitive information from data breaches, make sure your employees follow the proper procedures. Educating your workforce via security awareness training is one option.
• Step Three: Get Technical
  Work with IT professionals to update your technology and determine what it will take to bring your business up to speed. Avoid falling into the treacherous zone of noncompliance by protecting your perimeter, including setting up firewalls and more.
• Step Four: Encrypt Your Data
  Hackers are hoping that you adopt new technology, use the default security setting and forget about it. Take proactive measures to keep personal details regarding medical records and financial transactions safe and abide by government regulations.
• Step Five: Protect Hardware
  When you’re conducting business virtually and making important online transactions, your data will be accessed remotely from countless devices. Mobile device management is the way to mitigate privacy concerns and stay compliant.
• Step Six: Get an Assessment
  Once you’ve done what you can on your end to tighten up your processes and procedures, it’s time to enlist the help of professionals. A free assessment or consultation can prepare you for a compliance audit and other potential obstacles.

After going through the above checklist, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. But by putting in time and effort ahead of time, you’re giving your business the best chance of staying compliant — and staying in business. Remember, every regulation put in place is done so for a reason, and if you value your customers’ trust, do the right thing. Invest enough resources into protecting your valuable data to keep you covered no matter what comes your way.

How We Can Help

Running a business is hard enough without worrying about compliance. Let a managed services provider take some stress off your plate by setting you up with the IT solutions you need at a price you can afford. When your good name and your clients’ personal data is on the line, what could be more important? Spend more time focusing on growing your brand and less time worrying about data theft with help from a trusted managed services provider (MSP). Connect with an expert today, and take compliance off the table tomorrow.