Modern Workplace
Thrive in the modern workplace
The modern workplace has evolved over the last 4 years from a 9-5 working week at the office, to either fully remote or hybrid working. This means organisations need to think smarter about the technology they’re using and what their employees need to remain productive, efficient and successful, wherever they’re working.
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What is endpoint and access management?
Unified Endpoint Management is defined by Gartner as a software-based tool that provides agent and agentless management of computers and mobile devices through a single console. Organisations must focus on an endpoint and access management solution to keep their employees secure when working remotely. By giving IT teams’ the control and transparency they need ensures only authorised users and devices are accessing the network
Unified Endpoint Management is defined by Gartner as a software-based tool that provides agent and agentless management of computers and mobile devices through a single console. Organisations must focus on an endpoint and access management solution to keep their employees secure when working remotely. By giving IT teams’ the control and transparency they need ensures only authorised users and devices are accessing the network
Unified Endpoint Management is defined by Gartner as a software-based tool that provides agent and agentless management of computers and mobile devices through a single console. Organisations must focus on an endpoint and access management solution to keep their employees secure when working remotely. By giving IT teams’ the control and transparency they need ensures only authorised users and devices are accessing the network
51%
of organisations are planning to increase security investments as a result of a breach, including incident response planning and testing, employee training and threat detection and response tools.
Source – IBM, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023
Zero Trust
Zero Trust policies follow a “never trust, always verify” principle to prevent a disruption to business operations or anyone stealing sensitive information.
Multi Factor Authentication (MFA)
Least privilege access
Device access control
Challenges and risks of endpoint management
If the adoption of remote and hybrid work environments wasn’t enough of a challenge, IT teams must prioritise the security and compliance requirements necessary and replicate this for every device.
Increased attack surface
As companies grow, more staff are employed creating more endpoints. This creates a challenge for IT teams ensuring all endpoints are secure and have authorised access.
Data security and privacy
Endpoints often contain sensitive information. Without the correct security and privacy policies, this data is vulnerable and could be leaked.
Patch management
IT teams are responsible for keeping software up-to-date with the latest security patches. This is a critical part of endpoint management but also becomes a challenge when more and more endpoints are added to a company’s network.
Compliance requirements
A company is responsible for ensuring all compliance requirements are met for data protection and privacy. It is important all endpoints adhere to these requirements to avoid a hefty fine and a damaged reputation.
Hybrid Working
The adoption of hybrid or full-time remote working can make a business desirable to potential new employees and help to give an improved work/life balance which is ever-important to today’s workforce. The question is, are they ready for the modern workplace? Organisations need to maintain security, drive productivity and optimise processes whilst also managing multiple endpoints.
Climb can help you and your customers thrive with robust hybrid working solutions.
BANNER GRAPHIC – According to the Office of National Statistics, 44% of UK workers currently work remotely. This is made up of 16% full-time remote workers and 28% hybrid workers.
Source: standout-cv.com – Remote working statistics UK 2024
Challenges within a hybrid workspace
Communication
Organisations need to ensure they have the right software available for their employees, so communication is not disrupted. When working in a hybrid environment, it is easy to feel siloed and lonely. Keeping open communication within the business can alleviate this and create a better company culture, where you’re working.
Collaboration
Working remotely makes collaboration harder. Creating a digital workspace where employees can collaborate effectively is an important part of the modern workplace and creating a successful hybrid working strategy.
Fatigue
Meeting fatigue has been a challenge since hybrid working was adopted, whether it was too many meetings or having meetings that served no purpose. Encouraging teams to effectively plan their time and use other tools to convey messages or ideas can reduce the fatigue.
Cloud
Cloud plays a big part in creating a successful hybrid workplace, helping to drive productivity and efficiency. Cloud solutions allows employees to access documents and edit at the same time as their colleagues, minimising the impact on team collaboration and project management. Additionally, organisations can password protect documents holding sensitive information, keeping them secure but easily accessible to the relevant employees.
Microsoft Cloud Services
Our technical services team, Climb Global Services, can support all aspects of cloud adoption, from migration to training and enablement services as part of our Microsoft Reseller Programme.
Climb offers Microsoft Azure with migration and support services, including:
• Azure Cost Analysis
• Azure Health Check Services
• Azure Design Service
Take a look at our technical services page to find out more or get in touch with one of our specialists.
Does hybrid working increase productivity?
46% of hybrid workers felt they were more productive at home (source: TechUK.org). But, as more organisations encourage hybrid working it is important for them to review the technology they are using and assess if it supports and enables their employees. Businesses require tools for project management, collaboration and communication within teams to ensure the day-to-day working isn’t affected, no matter where they are working from.
Time Management
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Whether you’re working from home 2, 3 or 5 days a week, monitoring your calendar and blocking out time to focus is an important part of increasing productivity. Providing a time management tool means employees can share their calendars, schedule and reschedule meetings as needed. Compared to this, when you’re working in an office environment it’s easy to get distracted catching up with colleagues and having in person meetings.
Collaboration
When employees are in an office environment, it’s easy to walk into a meeting room and collaborate on a project. But working from home makes this a challenging task if organisations do not have the right tools in place. Investing in software that encourages collaboration at any time means teams can continue to share ideas without the need for constant meetings. Allowing employees to clear their calendars drives productivity without distraction.
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Communication
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Whether you’re working full time, remote or hybrid, communication is extremely important. Video conferencing tools, such as Microsoft Teams, allows employees to continue with meetings as normal, whilst collaborating and organising their time efficiently. But is there such a thing as too much or too little? A 2023 survey showed that 47% of respondents said the primary cause of meeting fatigue was that meetings serve no purpose.
58%
of people who have recently started to work from home say they are now using workplace collaboration tools more than they were a year ago
Source – Surveymonkey and Zoom Poll: Future of work
BANNER –
TechSmith conducted a month-long experiment in July 2022, to see if solely asynchronous communication could improve employee satisfaction, job attitude, productivity and innovation.
Why is modern workplace security important?
Digital workplaces leave organisations vulnerable and open to cyber-attacks without a comprehensive cyber security strategy. IT teams need to be able to manage all endpoints, react quicker to threats and keep software up to date, as these often have security patches within them.
Lack of investment in an organisations security leaves them open to data breaches, leading to financial losses, reputational damage and prolonged network downtime.
Between July 2022 and June 2023 the UK remained the second most attacked country in the world
Source – ThreatDown, Powered by Malwarebytes. State of Ransomware 2023 Report.
Malware
Standard anti–virus solutions are no longer dependable as businesses move to hybrid working. It is important for businesses to ensure they have the best ransomware solutions installed on employee devices and teach their employees about the signs of attacks.
Social Engineering
Employees are often considered the weak link by ransomware groups and are caught out with email phishing attempts.
Ransomware
A type of malware that encrypts data and the attacker demands a ransom to decrypt. Ransomware attacks can cause massive financial losses, damage and operational disruption to organisations.
Top tips for keeping employees and customers secure
Strong passwords
Employees need to be regularly trained on the importance of spotting potential cyber-attacks and how to prevent them. Passwords are an easy target for hackers, especially if employees are using short, easy to guess options. Implementing two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection, making it more difficult for an attacker to gain access.
Patch management
Software updates can be automated to allow IT teams to focus on other IT matters. It’s important these are executed quickly as many software updates include new security features.
Data backup
In the event of a data breach, having a secure and immutable backup means less downtime and prevents permanent loss of data.
Types of Cyber-attacks
Phishing
Insider threats
Malware
Denial-of-Service (DoS)
Why work with Climb?
Climb Channel Solutions works with a wide range of vendors that offer modern workplace solutions .
Our team of experts can help you get the right solutions for your customers to monitor and secure their apps, cloud, endpoint and more.
Get in touch with the team today by filling in the form or giving us a call on +44 (0) 1364 655 200
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