Using technology to keep your workforce safe and connected

, Mar 4, 2020

In the wake of the government responses across Europe to Coronavirus, businesses are facing a disparate workforce like never before, and with little to no warning. Entire technology campuses have closed around the world, placing an unprecedented demand on company's infrastructure and remote working tools. Remote working not only brings collaboration challenges, but can severely challenge a business' resilience and security. If you're facing challenges due to the impacts of Coronavirus, we've compiled a short list of quick, practical measures which you can deploy quickly to better enable and secure your workforce.

Make use of collaboration tools – If your company doesn't currently use Cisco Webex or Microsoft Teams, both vendors have recently announced free licenses (3 months and 6 months, respectively. Seat restrictions apply.) for organisations across the UK and other affected regions. Both tools allow you to create secure spaces for your team to meet, share documents, and collaborate in real-time. While sometimes there is no replacement for face-to-face, this is the next best thing and will enable your business to work with more agility even after this outbreak passes. The licenses are easy to deploy so if you'd like to take advantage of these free offers, please get in touch today. 

Home Network Protection – Most organisations will be sending people home on laptops – but most security protection will be designed for inside the firewall. There are already numerous coronavirus phishing scams circulating, and we're expecting to see an influx over the coming days and weeks. Therefore, putting strong protection in place needs to be done simply, without effecting user experience. Cisco Umbrella is DNS-level security, and is easy to setup and get running. Umbrella can ensure home working is done safely without a huge and complex effort to build out new security infrastructure or capabilities. Cisco is currently offering free trials of Cisco Umbrella and Logicalis can help you deploy this across your network free of charge*. 

Multi-Factor Authentication – Many organisations are already avid users of flexible working tools, but it is vital that they know who it is at the end of that remote laptop. In order to rapidly deploy multi-factor authentication, it has to be super simple but also incredibly flexible across the devices people will have access to. Duo Security is a quick and clever way of allowing our customers to enable their employees to work flexibly, but ensuring they retain control and visibility of who is accessing key systems. Duo also supports most cloud-based applications, so accessing cloud apps such as Office 365 is made safe, secure and simple. Cisco is currently offering free trials of Duo MFA, and Logicalis can help you deploy this across your network free of charge*. 

Privileged Account Management – If you are in a regulated industry, or you just wanted to ensure that the people accessing and configuring your key IT systems are who they say they are, then quickly deploying a PAM system like Thycotic might be a key enabler in a business continuity (BCP) plan. Some companies may find themselves in need of third parties to support their critical IT environment if they lose key staff due to illness, so being prepared to hand over key tasks in a controlled way could be a simple step to being ready. 

Communicate Best Practices - Finally, beyond any product features, make sure your workers know how their actions outside of an office can impact your business. If you have a corporate VPN remote workers use, remind them to log off when they finish work so your company doesn't face traffic overload when everyone begins streaming a film in the evening, for example. If they're working from coffee shops, don't leave laptops or phones unlocked and unattended, and don't connect to unsecured public wifi without using a VPN. 

Logicalis and our partners want to take a smart, sensible and simple approach to our customers’ needs at this time and provide support that will not only help during this current crisis but provide a strong foundation for the future. If we can help with scaling our your BCP plans or enabling your remote workforce, please get in touch today. 

*Please contact us to learn more and take advantage of this offer. This offer is subject to approval by Logicalis and can be removed or altered at any time. 

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