A staggering 7.5 million UK workers want to work from home permanently once lockdown restrictions lift in June, a report has found. At Timico, we’re not surprised.

The report by Deloitte highlighted that the number of workers wanting to work from home has more than doubled in the last year and there has been a simple reason for this, technology. In fact, 59 per cent of recipients stated that IT solutions have been essential in helping them perform in their role during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At Timico, we have experienced the shift to home working first-hand. Customer of ours across various sectors, including public sector, manufacturing, finance and professional services, are now only returning to the office once a week or even just for face to face meetings.

But, with technology playing such an important role in home working, how can businesses make sure they have the right solutions in place? This is where we can help.

Microsoft Teams

It is no surprise that Microsoft Teams was been one of the fastest growing IT platforms in 2020. The video conferencing solution enables virtual meetings to take place with an option to share the screen for presentation meetings. Microsoft Teams also provides instant chat and file sharing features, helping staff to communicate with each other across multiple locations and improve collaboration levels, without the need to be together in the office.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based platform that gives users to the ability to access, share and edit files securely from an office desktop, tablet or mobile. More than one user can work on a document at the same time, and easily see any changes that have been made by other colleagues. These solutions can speed up time to resolution, cut down long processes and enable employees to keep working at the same productivity level, as if they were in the office.

Cloud platforms

With a cloud-based digital infrastructure, there are no geographical restrictions. It allows some, or all of an organisation’s applications and data to be hosted in a public, private, community or hybrid cloud platform. Employees can benefit from seamless information and server access whenever they want it. What’s more, cloud provides flexibility for employees, by allowing data to be accessed securely from any device with an internet connection, at any time of the day.

SD-WAN

Additional devices and user locations can put additional strain on a business’ network, creating downtime and slow processes if the right technology is not in place. An SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) solution supports cloud capabilities and increased data usage by overlaying an existing network. It provides the business with complete control and visibility regardless of where the traffic originates and enables organisations to flex to the new challenges and demand on services, such as remote working.

Security

Employees working from home can open your business to new cyber-threats. Are devices password protected? Are your staff trained on best cyber security practices from? With documents and sensitive information being continuously shared between different locations and offices, there are more avenues for cyber criminals to target so its vital to protect data, with reliable security solutions, employee training and ongoing threat monitoring and detection.

As UK businesses increasingly move towards a permanent at home or hybrid way of working, our experts are providing organisations with effective solutions to support them. Speak to us today about how we can help you.