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<p>We’ve
reached an in-between status of this quarantine. Businesses are starting to
open back up (with restrictions), but a lot of employees are finding themselves
in an awkward spot between working in the office and remaining at home. Doctors
are utilizing video and tele-conference appointments but are holding office
hours to see patients and perform “elective” surgeries. Companies are
requesting that their employees work from home, if possible, but they’re
relaxing requirements for coming back into the office. Other organizations are
welcoming people back from tele-worker status to full in-office expectations.</p>
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<p>With
“in-between” operations, we’ve helped our clients through a few technology
hiccups and wanted to help you avoid them too. Here are the top five things you
need to know when working from wherever you’re expected to be.</p>
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<p><strong>The Power of the Web App</strong></p>
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<p>The
majority of business applications have some type of web version. You don’t have
to have the software installed on your system to be effective. While you may
not be able to use every aspect of the software (higher processing functions
may be limited to the desktop version), test out online versions. This is
particularly effective if you’re trying to use a laptop or device with a much
smaller hard drive in a remote working environment. For example, you can get to
your current emails without storing your past five years of email history on
your system’s limited disc space. When using a web app, install two-factor
authentication wherever possible to maximize security.</p>
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<p><strong>A Note on External Hard Drives</strong></p>
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<p>First
came the punch card, then tape and the floppy disc; now if you want portable
physical data storage, it’s all about external hard drives (USB). They are a
fantastic way to easily transport data from one place to another, but there are
two precautions:</p>
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<ul><li>Hackers
     love to stash USB drives places just hoping that people will pick them up,
     get excited, plug them in, and then infect their computer and network.
     Moral of the story, only trust USB drives that you are familiar with.</li><li>If you
     are transitioning between a Mac and a Windows system or vice versa, there
     is a very high likelihood that your external hard drive will not work on
     both. Hard drives are configured to be read on one type of device, and you
     usually have to delete the drive to re-configure it to work on another
     type of system.</li></ul>
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<p><strong>Maximize the Cloud</strong></p>
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<p>We
firmly believe in the cloud for document storage, backup purposes, and
accessing line of business applications. When it comes to document storage
specifically:</p>
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<ul><li>Selective
     Sync Will Save You. If you already have large files stored in your
     Dropbox/Anchor/Google Drive/SharePoint, you don’t want your system trying
     to sync all of it to your hard drive for space, time, and speed considerations.
     Select only the folders that you’ll be using on a regular basis. The rest
     of the data will be accessible in the cloud. The online-only feature is
     also particularly helpful.</li><li>Follow
     basic sharing rules. Pay attention to read-only or editable sharing links.
     If you want someone to collaborate, make sure you give them the right to
     edit. When sharing, you can share a file or a folder. If you share a
     folder, bear in mind the recipient will have access to everything
     currently in the folder, as well as everything you add to it later. Never
     delete files that you did not create. It’s entirely possible that you
     delete the file for everyone while attempting to simply delete it from
     your system.</li></ul>
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<p><strong>Security</strong></p>
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<p>Your
safety is our biggest concern whether you’re working in the office, at home or
a mixture. In order to remain secure, invest in:</p>
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<ul><li>Enterprise-level
     security: Install an enterprise-grade firewall, anti-virus, and monitoring
     system on every computer.</li><li>Two-Factor
     Authentication: Like we mentioned above, enable two-factor authentication
     wherever possible.</li><li>Complex
     Passwords: When you’re utilizing multiple systems, you may feel tempted to
     simplify your passwords because you’ll be logging in numerous times.
     Instead, store your credentials in a password vault to protect all of your
     passwords, and rotate your passwords regularly.</li></ul>
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<p><strong>Backup, Backup, and More Backup</strong></p>
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<p>We
have seen a surge in interrupted power and Internet connections, particularly
with people working from home. Nothing is more frustrating than losing all of
your work right in the middle of a project.</p>
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<ul><li>Install
     a battery backup on any mission critical system (AKA anything you’re using
     for work). This will kick over and maintain power in case of a surge, and
     keep you running for hours in the event of a longer outage.</li><li>Ensure
     that your laptops remain fully charged. The myth that you can overcharge
     and shortcut long-term battery life is completely false. Most laptops
     today have lithium ion batteries and have an internal circuit to stop the
     charging process when full-charged. Charge away!</li></ul>
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<p>Deploy
an effective network-wide backup solution so that you can restore data whether
you lose a single file due to an employee mistake or lose a significant amount
of data in the case of a disaster or breach.</p>
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