Disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic could be with us for months, maybe years; tech and IT support in Surrey, London and beyond has a big role to play in helping businesses create a sustainable model for working.
Where is your business at?
COVID-19 restrictions have forced innovation and companies that were dead against their staff remote working have had to turn on a sixpence and make urgent provision for it.
As suppliers of IT support for businesses, we saw calls for our services go through the roof!
Cloud technology
enabled organisations to change their business models practically overnight and continue operating during the most disruptive period of our history since World War 2. Tech has been a force for good and has allowed us all to use automated processes to do more with less resources.
However, until now, companies have been doing the best they can to stay professional and productive whilst accepting that people’s lives are far from normal. We’ve reached a tipping point; businesses must continue to prioritise their people’s wellbeing but it’s no longer about just getting through.
Organisations are now wondering about how their business model should look going forward – they can either embrace change, go back to how they were before, or utilise bits of the old and the new together.
Where do you want to be?
Depending on your industry and your role within it, you may need to go back to the workplace to carry out your job. Or, you may find you can perform it even better when working remotely because it has less distractions, saves you time on commuting, allows you to work more easily with colleagues globally etc.
Some organisations may see the pandemic as an opportunity to decentralise operations away from their expensive headquarters. And they might view offering remote working as an attractive recruitment and retention tool.
So many businesses are now at a crossroads: they may want one thing, some of their employees another. Or they may all vaguely want the same thing but don’t know how to get there. And there’s another challenge – will the culture catch up fast enough for the expectation – or will the process of change seem too daunting and tempt employers to revert back to how they were?
3 ways IT support will help you create a sustainable business
In order to embrace the changes caused by the pandemic and mould the organisation into one that has your core values at heart, start with your people.
1. Invest in support to allow for staff to work remotely efficiently
They may need to work remotely either all or some of the time. You might also need to upgrade the tech you have in the office. Some companies are using money they would have spent on office space or paying their employees’ commuting fees to buy equipment for staff to use at home, broadband etc. Check for government grants too.
2. Train your people
The new technological reality we find ourselves in means people must be trained better. Everyone has different capabilities and preferences – some find digital tech scary. So, understanding what your business needs to achieve and training your people to get the best out of equipment, systems, Apps etc. and use them safely, is paramount. The synergy resulting from having inspired and empowered staff using appropriate tech that they’re comfortable with cannot be underestimated.
3. Cyber security starts with preventing human errors
While we’ve all been relying on our home computer networks and office connections to continue working during the pandemic, have you considered how robust and secure it all is? Thousands of businesses right now are allowing staff who aren’t trained to be cyber aware to use equipment which isn’t protected by appropriate cyber security measures.
This is odd – because you wouldn’t purchase a car and not insure it right? And you’d want to learn to drive before taking it out on the road … yet people in businesses large and small are not trained to spot potential threats and scams, they don’t know how to manage passwords – and they may be working on home computers with scant cyber security, if any. A cyber attack could not only destroy your business’s computer systems but take your sensitive data with it – and your reputation.
FREE cyber security webinar
We have a FREE recorded webinar on how you can use Multi-Factor Authentication to improve your account security and protect against password theft. To find out what it is and how it can help you and your business, visit our Webinars on Demand page.
We offer IT support in Surrey, London and the South East generally, as well as cyber security systems and training – if you’d like to hear more, please contact us using the form below.
