Remote Access for Fun and Profit

The workforce has changed dramatically over the past few years with more and more people working remotely and having 24/7 remote access to the work they are responsible for, as well as all of the files that go with that. 

The Benefits of Remote Access

Remote access has amazing benefits for you as an employer, as well as for your employees. For instance, you can now go on vacation and still be able to keep tabs on what is happening in the office. This can prevent a lot of potential issues before they become a problem. For the business owner who can’t turn off without knowing everything is ok with the business, taking that 10 minutes a day to check in can make or break your time away. It can also save your marriage! 😉

For employees, there is the benefit that working from home has increased productivity and reduced sick days in many cases. An employee who has an early morning migraine may not come to work, meaning they have lost a full day. But if they feel better later in the morning and are working remotely, they can start working as soon as they are feeling better. Employees feel more freedom working from home, especially if flexing their schedule is an option. This allows them to get their work done in a timely manner, but also participate fully in life at home – kids activities, enjoying the nice weather, appointments and more. Employees tend to be more content and therefore, far more productive, which can only mean good things for your business, including increased profitability. This may not work for every employee, since some can’t handle the lack of structure, but overall, having the ability and option to work remotely is beneficial to most workers (and the businesses they work for).

Another advantage of remote work and remote access is that it can increase your employment pool significantly. You are no longer restricted to workers who are in your local area, but can now access talent nationally, or even worldwide. This brings an entirely new dimension to your business allowing for employees with different skill sets and different outlooks to provide valuable input to your company.

The Risks of Remote Access

While there are many benefits to remote access, it would be irresponsible to overlook the risks involved with workers having access to your business through insecure networks and computers.

While you can do many things to protect your files and data, you will not be able to eliminate all threats. The inherent risks of allowing remote access need to be weighed against the benefits. Is productivity increasing? Is your bottom line improving? Is your security system strong enough? Are your employees taking the necessary precautions to protect both themselves and your company?

When employees visit the local coffee shop to work for the day just for a change of scenery, they are using an unsecured connection, which means that anyone else on the network could potentially gain access to passwords, personal information and company data. This is why security such as 2FA is vital to your business security. Then so long as the second factor of authentication (usually a phone) remains secure, their password being exposed is no longer a risk. Another preventative measure is to ensure that your employees are trained in cybersecurity and know how to recognize potential threats.

One of your best protections is to have a team of security specialists, like MicroAge Chilliwack, who can set up and monitor your security and stop problems before they start, making sure that remote access is as secure as possible for your entire organization.

You may not be able to control everything, but by ensuring that you have done all that you can to protect your business you will sleep much better at night, and enjoy those vacations when they roll around.