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Here’s How You Can Optimize Your Work-From-Anywhere Workforce

Companies that made it through the pandemic learned first-hand the importance of a remote workforce. In fact, according to one study, global shipments of PCs and tablets exceeded 500 million units for the first time in history in 2021, sparked by the trend toward remote workers, reports Gartner, Inc.

That same study notes how many organizations have recently increased their use of cloud services to enable the connection between remote workers and company servers, a trend that brings about its own challenges regarding information security and team collaboration

Ten years ago, this scenario would almost seem to be science fiction. Business forecasters and CEOs saw it as something that could happen well into the future, but many were unprepared for the adaptations that needed to happen so quickly.

Since the consensus leans toward remote work becoming the new norm for world economies, the most obvious question for managers in 2022 is how to optimize remote workforces quickly to remain profitable and stable. Here we offer a few suggestions on how to make effective, useful adjustments in a short amount of time. 

Escape Endless Meetings

If this wish hasn’t gone through your head a time or two as part of a remote workforce, you’re one of the lucky few. One author in Forbes dares to voice what most of us are thinking when we’re on our fifth unnecessary Zoom meeting of the day: “Unnecessary meetings are bad meetings.” 

He goes on to write that while adapting to a remote workforce can cause managers to fear communication loss, that fear can actually lead to lowered productivity.

If you are an employee watching work pile up on your desk, the last thing you want is to spend an hour listening off-camera to a meeting happening that contains only a small percentage of information that applies to your role. 

Not only does this become a frustrating cycle for most remote employees, but it also fosters a habit of tuning out of meetings until your name is mentioned. In many cases, the result is obtaining information that you could have received in a brief email or 5-minute chat. 

Embrace Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Having a remote workforce comes with its challenges, particularly related to online security. As more users access company data, shared drives, and servers from their homes or local wifi hotspots, the chance for vulnerabilities and cybercriminal attacks increases dramatically. That’s where a secure access service edge (SASE) becomes the best type of defense strategy.

Secure access service edge (SASE) is a network security framework that combines WAN capabilities with secure web gateways or firewalls that are connected to a centralized cloud-based service. When a company incorporates SASE into their enterprise perimeter, it enhances security by reducing vulnerabilities and enabling access based on multiple criteria. 

It’s a solution that will become increasingly necessary as businesses move their intellectual property and collected data to the cloud. In fact, according to one survey, out of 750 professionals, 56% have begun adopting a zero-trust posture when determining access to company resources while 51% of respondents say over half of core work applications/services are in the cloud, reports Cyber Security Hub. Added to these figures, only 27% of organizations currently embrace SASE in over half of the technology stack.

As the data continues to reveal that remote workers are happier and more productive, business leaders are looking seriously at maintaining options that allow their employees to work from home. Trends that grew while adapting to the COVID-19 global pandemic are likely to stick in a post-pandemic world. The only thing to do now is to adapt. 

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