Is The IT In Your Business Future Proof?

The world has seen immense changes in 2020, and we have witnessed many businesses being put to the test. So, what are successful businesses doing to ensure their sustainability, maintain productivity and continue to collaborate and innovate, even remotely?

Most organisations have been forced to support remote workforces, but we need to consider life beyond COVID and 2020, and a whole new way of working. In a recent Dell survey it was determined that 65% of employees prefer to work for an organisation that offers mobility and flexibility, over a pay rise! We believe it’s safe to say that tomorrows workforce will look very different from what we are “used to”.

1. How can I guarantee high levels of network performance for critical workers?

The rapid growth in remote workforces puts great strain on many corporate and home networks. Visual of the network in its entirety will aid in fine tuning performance and stability, to determine bottlenecks.

Often blamed on the network, delays and lags may be the result of PCs or other under-sized devices, so company managed, and deployed equipment is advisable to ensure a safe and stable network environment.

Investing in purpose-built networking appliances make managing the IT requirements of the organisation much more efficient and allows for rapid deployment and remote configuration. Make operations more consistent, leverage existing WIFI connections, and centralise networking management.

“The Dell EMC SDWAN solution – extending the corporate network to the home, and going beyond the traditional VPN”
- Barry Leicher

2. How do I get most of my people, who are now working from home, productive as quickly as possible?

The current world has accelerated the work from home, “virtual workspace” era, and Dell Technologies is uniquely positioned with the “unified workspace and VDI solutions” 

Right now, deploying remote work capabilities with speed and efficiency will be essential to maintaining business continuity. Employees need the correct equipment, preconfigured and approved so that they can get up and running immediately.  

Even though they may be working remotely, it is essential to create a virtual workspace where the playing fields are level and accessibility and security are of the utmost importance. When technology decision makers provide the right ecosystem, not only will workers be more productive due to them being able to work more efficiently, but also their attitude towards their employers will be better. 

When companies tailor technology to workers’ needs, those workers perceive their companies as taking an interest not only in corporate goals, but in their personal success. It was found that the vast majority (85%) would prefer that their organisations provide them with an ecosystem of tested and supported devices and accessories rather than providing that ecosystem themselves. In short, they want IT to get it right. 

“The current world has accelerated the work from home, “virtual workspace” era, and Dell Technologies is uniquely positioned with the “unified workspace and VDI solutions.”
- Naiem Kassim

3. Do I have the infrastructure that will allow me to work in the new world?

Having the correct vehicle to deliver the services your business needs to support today’s world and workforce.

Business needs to have the infrastructure to support the demands of our users, applications and clients regardless of where our applications reside. Using Hyper converged infrastructure (HCI), in a virtualised ecosystem, allows business to meet the needs of today, and be positioned to grow to the cloud if necessary, as the business needs change over time.

By hosting the virtual desktops, it allows companies to maintain control of the user experience and associated corporate data. Remote management, including of the virtual desktops and applications, will support the requirements of the user while ensuring the correct security protocols are being enforced. Employing the correct secure cloud strategy will not only allow for direct access for demanding users but will assist IT departments in maintaining data integrity.

“Having the correct vehicle to deliver the services your business needs to support today’s world and workforce.”
- Naiem Kassim

4. How do I make sure that all my data is secure and available?

Decentralised work creates new data protection challenges. It may seem obvious, but many users still do not manage their data with the correct behaviours. So regular communication, reminders and policies, to centrally store critical work-related data is essential in assisting organisations to tighten up on data management. Creating a safe system and virtual environment with strictly managed data, hardware and closely monitored user access privileges will create a better controlled space, while limiting unnecessary external risk. Once that data is in the correct place, protection of it is key! Backup, recovery, replication and retention are all critical components to the protection strategy.

Investing in a modern platform to provide all these capabilities is vital.  This will increase your peace of mind and legal compliance requirements without compromising performance. Central management and analysis of all system events to determine your organisational trends and potential threats so that proactive steps can be timeously taken. Not to mention the ability to make use of best data storage location and cost via on site retention and cloud tiering if needed.

“The number of organisations that still leave the backup component of their data storage strategy to the end of the solution cycle is concerning, especially as we move forwards into a time of increased legal compliance requirements and reputational damage with every breach. This needs to become one of the high priorities for business.”
- Chris Larkins

5. How can I scale my data centre to cater for the remote workforce and new systems requirements easily and quickly?

Cloud brings availability, but also the much-needed elasticity to grow or shrink platforms as required by the business.

Not only remote locations, but social distancing too, has made on-site work problematic and in some cases inefficient. To make your IT investment as productive as possible, as quickly as possible, you need smart planning, bulletproof data migration, and high-performance reliability right out of the gate. Of course, migrating suitable on-premise applications to make use of a cloud-based solution offers the flexibility needed to achieve a true digital transformation. 

 With centralised management, Networking Engineers can easily configure devices via a Cloud-based dashboard rather than dispatching onsite to remote locations and are able to monitor and track network activity across the organisation. With the incentives for shifting to remote work growing each year, companies that align their IT networks with those needs, will be in a strong position to remain competitive in the future.

“Cloud brings not only availability, but also the much-needed elasticity to grow or shrink platforms as required by the business.”
- Naiem Kassim

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