Alpha FMC

Technology and Remote Working

Nick Chappell

Technology will have been top of mind for many organisations and employees over the last month, as we all find ourselves navigating a new remote-working reality. Now more than ever, technology is pivotal in keeping us all connected and keeping the show on the road.

This situation will also undoubtedly change the way in which we all use technology forever; applications and infrastructure that seemingly worked okay will need to scale and new technologies which we hadn’t previously considered may need implementing.

Whether organisations have been born in the cloud or still leverage a stack of technology on-premise, everyone will find themselves adjusting and navigating what works effectively for their organisation in these unprecedented times. Whilst there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, there are some good principles to take into consideration.

At Alpha, we’ve been giving thought to some of the important themes around using technology within the evolving landscape of remote working.

Knowledge Sharing

  • As we adapt to working remotely, we all find new ways of using the applications and technology we’re routinely used to. Sharing knowledge, tips, tricks and hacks amongst teams is key in boosting productivity and make the most of existing technology.
  • Many SaaS (Software as a Service) based providers are offering free webinars and drop-ins for their customers on how to make the best use of applications and learn more about features and functions – these can be shared amongst wider teams for virtual knowledge sharing or ‘lunch and learn’ style sessions.

Collaboration

  • Leveraging VC (Video Conferencing) toolsets for meetings is an important way to stay connected with colleagues. Virtual meeting rooms should be sufficiently secured with a password, pin or another access control to maintain security.
  • Dialling into meetings using internet audio is relatively lightweight in terms of bandwidth consumption and using a good quality headset/microphone will usually offer a better experience than dialling in via telephone.
  • Many collaboration suites cater for video, audio conferencing and cross-team instant messaging. A number of vendors are now also making some services free or have reduced pricing given the remote working boom.
  • If multiple applications are being leveraged, integrating these applications where possible is a great way in sharing cross-platform context and dialogue amongst the team.

Security

  • Cybercrime will unfortunately continue to be prevalent and to some degree remote working presents additional security considerations and complexities. Security is something we can all play our part in and creating a dialogue internally helps to raise awareness and keep the team focussed on potential threats, such as Phishing attacks.
  • Ensure software, operating system and mobile app updates are regularly applied. Whilst these can crop up at inconvenient times, they are vital in ensuring any vulnerabilities or security gaps are addressed and help keep your devices protected.
  • Secure e-mail gateways and threat analytic tools are an important part of protecting organisations and teams against common cyber threats. Many enterprise e-mail platforms have built-in security modules which can be configured and leveraged.
  • Everybody should continue to maintain good password complexity and leverage multi-factor authentication, which is now baked into many applications or available as an add-on making it a cost-effective and easy option to implement.
  • Leveraging Single Sign On (SSO) where possible is also a good way to reduce risk.
  • User device management (laptops, mobile phones, tablets) will increasingly be a priority with a remote workforce. There is a breadth of important tools to consider in protecting remote devices including antivirus suites, DLP (Data Leak Prevention), and Remote monitoring and management (RMM) software.

This phase of operating as a remote workforce will undoubtedly shift and evolve how businesses leverage technology to innovate, operate, and collaborate for many years to come.

About the Author

Nick Chappell
Global IT & Infrastructure Manager

Nick is Global Head of Infrastructure within our Business Operations team at Alpha, responsible for delivering and overseeing the group technology and cyber security roadmap. He has previously held several technology roles in Financial Services, and most recently won Computing magazine's "Rising Star of the Year" award in 2019.