The recent pandemic has affected the internal processes of virtually every business going and there is no going back. The IT management sector prides itself on adapting to changes as part of its job description but with the economic fallout of COVID-19 reverberating for years to come, the future of IT management is going to have to fall in line in order to literally get back online in these unprecedented times.
The changing face of the workplace
IT companies experienced a causative boom in business precisely because of the pandemic. Many businesses had to quickly adapt in order to support employees working from home and digital transformation services were quickly called upon. Sometimes this has to happen literally overnight in order to meet the demand of supplying cloud-based technology and automated solutions to keep things running, albeit in a different style.
Even now with lockdown restrictions lifting, however; it doesn’t seem likely that a full return to the workplace is going to happen anytime soon. It may be that a new hybrid way of working is the new norm. Although parts of the workforce were brought to a standstill – online retail soared. Both these factors mean that more and more businesses will be looking to maintain existing and new outreach services, as well as calling upon IT management to overhaul internal systems.
The best has to do better
In the post-lockdown economy, it can be a wise investment to hire an experienced consultant such as those at cartisan.com to review or manage your inventory of software and hardware assets. That way you can work to maximize efficiency and enable your business to stay one step ahead in the post-pandemic marketplace. With IT equipment now spreading out over residential homes and personal Wi-Fi connections, Consultancies are on the rise to minimize threats to company security.
A strong business continuity plan
Businesses need to adapt to a new hybrid work structure that incorporates people working in the office and remote employees who will be logging on from home. This plan should make security its focal point and a strong asset management team is the key to providing a central hub so that everyone is aware of the new company policy. This will include:
– Setting up and communicating new security policies for both in house and outreach workers
– Securing employees virtual private networks (VPNs)
– Regulating personal-device use so that work data remains uncompromised
– Addressing security issues such as authorization and authentication
– Ensuring employees are aware of malware campaigns that may be tailored to the current Covid crisis
– Ensuring remote employees have fully functioning IT assets in order to maximize work productivity
There will always be hackers and those attempting to steal sensitive data but post-pandemic we will likely see an unprecedented amount of malware attacks due to businesses being at their lowest ebb. Therefore it is important more than ever for IT management to keep their guard up; ensuring they have a full inventory of assets and eliminating any weak access points. Data breaches can be expensive and costly in time as well as money and they also generate bad publicity.
Making the leap
Implementing new IT practices for a hybrid workforce where home is the new office is no easy feat. However, it is absolutely necessary in order to continue to protect against security breaches and theft. The need to focus on agility and cost management is also imperative as these three issues form the cornerstone of a post-pandemic marketplace; where a united workforce will operate as seamlessly as possible and still make a profit, no matter where employees may be physically located.
