As COVID-19 vaccines continue to rollout across the nation, and companies begin to consider the rationality behind returning their workforce to offices or not, groups such as The 20 have begun navigating the logistics associated with the decision.
A business development group focused on scalability and growth for MSPs, The 20 suggest that clients address the implementation of their vision from a technical perspective. Therefore, they focus on various issues with cybersecurity, infrastructure whilst also considering the technical implications of the workplace transformation generated by the pandemic’s onset.
A challenging time for businesses, the pandemic necessitated a plethora of cuts and changes for those hoping to remain functional in the drastically altered environment. In response to lockdown, companies replaced in-person meetings with Zoom or Microsoft Teams and rushed to alter their company infrastructure by transferring to cloud-based services. This caused large disruptions both due to poor connectivity and vulnerable networks throughout many organizations globally. Relocating the workforce back to offices will once again require a shuffling of assets and considerations if remote working is undesirable.
Arguably most important, cybersecurity concerns when returning to the office will be paramount. With office devices outdated and the focus having been dedicated to remote workers' secure access, entire office networks will need to be retouched and updated as most MSPs will likely have had fragmented attention for the area. In response to this, assets and devices within the office and those arriving must be audited to prevent vulnerabilities and hacking attempts; outdated software must also be removed to protect sensitive data.
Another area of concern is in relation to infrastructure, which was heavily altered during the pandemic. Many businesses found it necessary to implement scalable systems where there previously was none; this was to facilitate secure and widespread work from home. However, these drastic changes to infrastructure negatively impact onsite security, requiring updates to fit security guidelines and service restoration. Additionally, having been disregarded during the pandemic, various onsite infrastructure must also be replaced to support cloud migrations or other changes. Moreover, alternating what is on the centralized network will be important as some things that were valuable when working from home will now only slow down the network without proper investment into bandwidth.
With many clients returning to their offices, the logistical structure of many businesses will likely change with a balance between office work and remote work replacing the prior permanence of either. As a result, individual MSPs will need to make considerations according to their own framework and budget when working to effectively provide for their client.
To aid MSPs through this, The 20 offer collective expertise, a standardized model for maximum efficiency, and unified resources to propel MSPs into the top 20% of the IT industry; they are available at Miami, Florida-based ITEXPO June 22nd to 25th in Booth 229 MSP.
Edited by
Luke Bellos
