The realities of COVID-19 have hit us all hard. From travel restrictions to business lockdowns, our lives look very different to the everyday from a few months ago.
One of the new realities facing many Australians is the concept of suddenly working from home. While working in your PJs sounds like an easy dream, the reality is more complicated.
Video conferences, internet connectivity, device configuration, security, incompatibility and other IT hurdles are plentiful ⦠but they neednāt be a inescapable.
From our work involving fielding general enquiries, resolving client issues and tracking the trends more broadly, there are three overwhelmingly common IT limitations of working from home:
- BYO devices
- Internet connectivity
- Device configuration.
This article takes a look at whatās going on and how you can respond.
Ā 1. BYO devices
āBYO devicesā (or BYOD) refers to any IT equipment you use that was not provided by your employer. In terms of working from home, this might mean using your personal laptop or desktop in place of a work computer. A reliance on BYOD can have a number of drawbacks.
Most importantly, theyāre often not as secure as a commercial device. Many businesses invest in reliable antivirus protection and have procedures in place to help mitigate the risk of exposure.
Cymax General Manager Kylli Kidman explains that personal devices often donāt have this protection, leaving potentially sensitive business data at risk.
āPersonal devices can be a backdoor into the commercial systems theyāre connected to,ā Sean says.
The ramifications of using a vulnerable BYO device are serious. As well as risking both personally and commercially sensitive data, thereās also the cost of fixing the device following a mishap.
Cymaxās advice? Always use hardware and procedures provided by or supported by your employer or their managed IT services firm.Ā Some endpoint security licenses are per named user thus allowing installation on multiple devices for the same user (and price).
Ā 2. Internet connectivity
With a very large proportion of Australiaās office-based workforce now working from home, the internet landscape has changed significantly.
Private ISP services are now having to handle the demands of wider commercial use. This can lead to frustration on all sides as home connections struggle with constant load.
If youāre experiencing slow internet connectivity, itās often because your home plan with your ISP doesnāt offer a big enough āpipeā.
āWhen youāre in an office, thereās more data to go around,ā Kylli explains. āPeople at home with 1 or 2 or 3 children and plus a partner, and all using up bandwidth for non-business purposes – like video games and Netflix ⦠it can easily cause sluggish connection speeds.ā
In the case of slow connectivity, Cymax recommends talking to your ISP. If you plan to be working from home consistently, itās a good idea to up your home plan to help handle your increased use. Donāt worry, the extra cost is almost always a straight-up tax write-off.
If in doubt, check your internet connectivity speed at www.speedtest.net
3. Device configuration
We live in a multi-platform world. This is great for those of us on the go: we can simply pull out our phone or tablet and stay connected both professionally and privately. But it comes with some challenges.
The more devices you work on, the more devices you have to configure and align to ensure theyāre doing their job and talking to each other. This can regularly take hours out of a working week if youāre not careful.
Using only work-supplied devices is one way to keep this process simple. Businesses often have procedures and plans in place to keep their hardware secure, patched and running smoothly.
You should also ensure all your devices are up to date ā this means installing security patches when prompted and ensuring your software is the latest version.
And if you are working BYOD, then ask your employer for some tech support.
Yes, if in doubt, ask an expert
Thereās no substitution for the expertise of a professional. Here at Cymax we know IT and we make it our business to ensure IT mishaps donāt become major headaches for our clients.
āMany of our clients have been with us for a long time,ā Kylli says.
āIf they have themselves in a tangle, we can help unweave that knot. We do, however, work very hard to help them avoid the knots in the first place. Every good managed IT services company should be doing that proactively.ā
The best thing you can do for your IT is to keep a professional in the loop.
āItās far easier for us to mitigate a problem than it is to deal with the fallout of a failed solution. We can advise you how to do things properly the first time so you donāt have to spend time and effort fixing a major mistake.ā
Working from home neednāt be a headache
Working from home is the new normal for many Australians. Like any major change, it can come with its share of problems.
IT issues, especially, can disrupt even the most tech-savvy worker. This article has reviewed the three major IT issues weāre seeing as we advise new clients about working from home. These are likely to be the same sorts of issues you and your staff are facing.
And if you are dealing with these issues, weāre here to help. Cymax is one of Brisbaneās leading IT service providers.
City-wide and beyond, thereās no IT problem too big or too small for us to handle. Get in touch today to learn how we can help.