COVID-19 Calls For Proactive Remote Workforce Measures

Managed IT Experts Help Companies Navigate COVID-19 Remotely

Business leaders must help slow the coronavirus spread. Tapping a Bay Area managed IT professional can increase your off-site work until the crisis is over.

Officials in California were quick to call for schools and certain brick-and-mortar business closures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Now, leaders in all sectors must do their part. Taking proactive measures to ramp up a remote workforce will not only limit the exposure of your valued employees, but it will also minimize disruption. In troubled times like these, businesses can rely on San Francisco-based On Time Tech to help take necessary steps to shift to off-site operations.

Prominent Corporations Advocate For Work-From-Home

Big Tech has already asked their valued employees to work remotely. Recent reports indicate online titans such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, urged those who could work offsite to do so. Twitter went as far as making remote work mandatory. They have taken the warnings of state and federal agencies to heart.

“As of now, there has been no official diagnosis,” a Twitter spokesperson reportedly said. “We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety. We closed our San Francisco office as our team completes a thorough and deep cleaning.”

While the so-called “Masters of the Universe” likely have more than enough bandwidth to move customer service and profit-driving tasks to the Cloud, such resources are also well within reach of small, mid-sized, and large companies in the Bay Area. Many have already begun building a remote infrastructure, and augmented use may be just the elixir companies need right now. That’s why many are enlisting the help of third-party IT experts to pivot immediately.

What Companies Need To Know About Remote Workforces

There’s little doubt that COVID-19 will impact companies in terms of health and interruption. But even traditional on-site outfits may be better prepared than you realize.

When various department heads began approving Bring Your Own Device policies, you inadvertently began laying the groundwork for an increasingly remote workforce. If you already have people working from home or using devices to connect to Cloud-based data, the crucial next steps involve augmentation and enhanced cybersecurity.

Industry leaders will now need to tap managed IT experts to set expand usage, set parameters, and walk management through a series of decisions that include the following.

• Select a use-appropriate Cloud plan that meets your increased needs
• Select a workforce collaboration application such as Microsoft 365 or Office 365
• Craft net-zero controls, privileges, and permissions for designated team members
• Consider a governance app such as Microsoft Teams apps for administrative oversight
• Secure all endpoint devices

During an infectious disease outbreak, entrepreneurs and CEOs might consider taking the expedient route of circling back to beef up cybersecurity after the remote workforce is operational. But what has stunned the world is the fact that hackers have been circling the crisis like vultures and running coronavirus scams.

COVID-19 Crisis Calls For Diligent Cybersecurity

Recent research by Check Point indicates that cybercriminals have been engaged in nefarious schemes to play off COVID-19 fears to breach networks. Digital con artists have created coronavirus-themed websites and are sending direct emails rife with malicious applications. There are two primary methods that your soon-to-be remote workforce will need education, training, and secure endpoint policies to maintain data integrity.

• COVID-19 Phishing: Bulk emails are being sent to places that report an outbreak. The greater San Francisco Bay certainly qualifies. These targeted emails often look like official governmental agency communications. A single click can cause ransomware to download and infest the system.
• Coronavirus Spear Phishing: Social media and other platforms are pushing people to phony coronavirus websites. When unsuspecting workers try to get a fast test kit or information, hackers gather intelligence to penetrate your network. During this crisis, rely only on CDC and other official websites.

As organizations work quickly to make the remote shift, it’s critical to enlist a team of managed IT cybersecurity experts to educate team members, secure endpoint devices, and augment a cybersecurity strategy. Shifting projects and daily employee duties offsite will undoubtedly improve health safety and minimize any disruption.