Obviously, the team here at Guardian is not HR or claim to be culture experts. And we certainly don’t want to opine on what’s best for companies, but from an IT perspective, we have opinions on the WFH/RTO debate.
If you are an organization teetering on this exhausting debate, here are some important priorities to consider when building an IT infrastructure that is fully distributed, in the office, or a mix of the two.
Security in the age of WFH
The first aspect you’ll want to consider is the security of your employee’s work stations. It’s important to understand that it’s nearly impossible and not cost-effective to put firewalls that you can control at every possible location of your employees.
A solution to this is XDR where the device itself is secure and will be protected no matter where the employee works. With this solution, you maintain security whether the employee is working from home, in a coffee shop, or in their mother-in-law’s house.
Learn more about Guardian’s XDR or extended detection and response solution here.
RTO Security
If you’re all-in on the RTO movement, this next aspect might be a hard pill to swallow. Having an IT department on-premises is not essential. IT support is absolutely something that can be accomplished remotely. Guardian Computer was pretty good at supporting a distributed workforce before the pandemic, and if there’s one silver lining to the last 2 years is that we’ve gotten much better at it.
The pandemic escalated the need of finding solutions to support all types of work environments. Healthcare workers in clinics or employees in offices suddenly found themselves working from home in unsupported environments. It’s not realistic to think an IT department can visit individual’s homes.
Things are more fluid now and being in the office is not as critical these days. The truth is, even with an IT department in the office on the 15th floor, it’s unlikely they are traveling to the 3rd floor to resolve a ticket. Even in the office premise, problems are getting resolved remotely.
With all that said, there are key aspects to setting up the IT infrastructure in an office that are paramount. The easy things you can do for your office environment are:
- secure your firewall
- manage switches
- and secure your WiFI.
The next level is to consider the security of you visible servers.
The Hybrid Solution
If you’re considering a hybrid method, technology can help bridge the gap in the delicate balancing act between security and camaraderie. It was previously thought that the most secure solution was to have everyone in the office. However, the advent of new technologies, such as XDR or VPNs, has shifted this in-office necessity. These solutions keep employees protected wherever they go allowing for a successful hybrid solution.
In a hybrid solution, you really must be prepared for all the options. In addition to the key aspects mentioned for an in-office IT infrastructure, you also must consider your employees internet bandwidth at home.
While there isn’t a one-size-fits all solution in IT for companies, there is an IT checklist of sorts that will get your prepared for a hybrid model.
Guardian is your guide
No matter which environment you choose to go with, the team at Guardian can get your IT infrastructure set up and prepared for any situation. Guardian is your trusted IT advisor bringing you a peace of mind around your technology like never before. Contact us today to get started.
