How the Transition to Work-From-Home & Hybrid Work Has Impacted Enterprise IT
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the landscape of our workspaces has drastically changed. Along with this shift in where we work, business has experienced an increase of cybersecurity threats by more than 25%1. It is imperative for enterprises to not only adapt to these new challenges, but to find ways to capitalize on the flexibility of today’s hybrid workplace.
The challenges, as well as the solutions, of these pandemic-era issues are discussed in depth in our One Year Later webinar. View the full Webinar
Over the past year, the needs of organizations have dramatically shifted driving a renaissance in IT innovation and a search for business resiliency solutions.
The results are numerous security challenges, shortages in IT resources, and networks
that are stretched farther (and thinner) than ever before.
What was once a “nice to have” is now a “got to have”. As we transition back to the office, or not, companies are attempting to balance a worker’s health and safety in the office while balancing the need for new ways to maintain workflow with workers away from their desks and meeting rooms. This means that what used to be tools for productivity, such as video calling, instant messaging, and hardware/software technology for “hot desking,” are now integral features of the normal Digital Workplace. Consider this: about 60% of our webinar attendees said half of their workforce is going to remain remote or be hybrid.
Nowadays, it has become paramount to reimagine certain aspects of workflow and the traditional workspace in order to maintain productivity.
However, many IT professionals are finding it overwhelming to manage the array of networking and security
tools that have arisen due to the pandemic; they need a way to operate without getting bogged down in alerts and alarms.
Today, as opposed to the beginning of the pandemic, businesses are confident they can develop the infrastructure necessary to stay secure and productive. To do so, IT professionals are evaluating VPNs, multi-factor authentication, SD-WAN, and more. But the challenges go beyond remote security. Now IT must determine how to integrate those tools and make them accessible and easy to use. By consolidating devices and tools, companies can save hours of work which can be much better spent driving enterprise forward.
It’s no secret that employees and employers alike enjoy some aspects of the hybrid workspace. Employees save money on commuting; they get a few extra minutes of sleep; and athleisure has become the uniform of choice. However, employers have benefited as well. For example, the time employees have been saving on their commute, is time that goes back into their work. This equates to a 20-30% increase in workforce productivity and nearly $2 million annually which goes towards the bottom line.2
Even after our society has returned to normal, traditional workspaces are never going to be the same. The hybrid approach to work is here to stay. While some people may miss the bustle of the jam-packed office, many are seeing why the old office is a thing of the past.
In the healthcare industry especially, it is critical to be able to rapidly adapt to the changes in workspace necessitated by COVID-19. At the onset of the pandemic, hospitals had to find a way to balance the health of their administrative employees as well as the overwhelming load of COVID patients. They would have to turn to a hybrid approach to maintain the health of their employees and to focus on patient outcomes while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
By finding solutions that enable hospitals and healthcare providers to transition non-patient-facing personnel to hybrid workspaces, healthcare organizations reaped the benefits associated with hybrid workflow, all while keeping their employees safe and bolstering security. These solutions gave hospitals the breathing room needed to focus on improving patient outcomes in the midst of a global pandemic.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, enterprises were forced to pivot suddenly in order to protect employees, while still servicing customers and exceeding expectations. Now, armed with the capabilities to conquer the challenges of remote work and absorb the initial shock of a year of turbulence, businesses are looking to grow and innovate. With the right tools, companies no longer seek to recover the costs of the outbreak, but grow to new levels of success and business resiliency.
More than a year removed from the initial shutdown following COVID’s global outbreak, enterprises have acclimated and capitalized on the “new normal.” Companies have revised their approach at every level of the organization to be more prepared for future disruptions. According to McKinsey, 80% of executives think their current business models are at risk to be disrupted in the near future and an additional 84% of executives say that innovation is important to their growth strategy.3 Their new focus is building processes that support flexibility and resources, and ensure not just business continuity but business resilience to thrive when facing the challenges of tomorrow.
The COVID pandemic has disrupted the foundations of traditional workspaces and workflow in ways previously unimaginable. Along with new risks to the health of employees, businesses had to combat emerging security threats at an unprecedented rate. These circumstances necessitated a shift to a simple, secure network which gave companies the flexibility to not only respond to change, but to thrive in it.
To help you adapt and capitalize on an ever-changing landscape of technology challenges and solutions, watch our full One Year Later webinar: https://go.bboxservices.com/SRW-1_Library. For more information, call us at 855-324-9909, or email us at contact@blackbox.com.
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1. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/security-outcomes-study.html
2. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Capital%20Projects%20and%20Infrastructure/Our%20Insights/The%20next%20normal%20in%20construction/The-next-normal-in-construction.pdf
3. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/how-we-help-clients
