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Data Magic Inc. Talks Remote Work On BIZTV Texas


Data Magic Inc. Talks Remote Work On BIZTV Texas

Pivoting to a remote work model during the coronavirus pandemic isn’t necessarily easy, but it’s not impossible - that’s precisely what Shane Kimbrel talked about on a recent episode of BIZTV Texas.

Remote work capabilities are extremely important for businesses that need their staff to work from home during a crisis like the current coronavirus pandemic.

Have you been able to manage your staff effectively while they’ve been working from home?

Data Magic’s very own Shane Kimbrel recently appeared on BIZTV Texas to talk about remote work productivity and security.

“We’ve been 95% remote since [March 16], and it’s actually been really good for us,” says Shane Kimbrel. “We seem to be more productive now.”

What Do You Need To Keep Your Remote Staff Productive?

  • Cloud Platform: This solution is how your staff accesses business data. If your business is already in the cloud, then a lot of the work is done for you. For example, if you're using Microsoft 365, your staff will just have to download local applications or use the browser-based version from home.
  • Business Phones: If your staff has been using their personal smartphones for business calls so far, you've probably noticed some challenges. Does everyone have everyone else's contact info? Are you going to reimburse employee phone plans for the additional charges? The simpler option is to roll out a softphone solution for your business, which provides business phone lines through the cloud to remote users.
  • Video Meetings: As a primary form of communication, email is inconvenient and time-consuming. A daily meeting with your staff over a video platform like Microsoft Teams can put you all on the same page, and provide an opportunity to socialize (something many in-office workers are likely missing at this point).

But you can’t only be concerned about keeping your employees productive - you also need to make sure you’re keeping your business secure.

Do You Know How To Maintain Cybersecurity With A Remote Workforce?

"The problem is, when you're hooking up these home users, you have to give them VPN access," says Shane. "That basically means expanding the business network into home users networks. If we’re going to go that route, we want to make sure that the PC and network they’re connecting from are safe.”

In order to keep your staff safe, make sure to both have the right technologies in place, and make sure your staff knows what threats to watch out for:

  • Educate Your Employees: Now more than ever, your employees need to know how to spot social engineering scams:
    • Phishing: Phishing (and all social engineering techniques) is about the element of surprise. It’s a method in which cybercriminals send fraudulent emails that appear to be from reputable sources in order to get recipients to reveal sensitive information and execute significant financial transfers.
    • Business Email Compromise: Business Email Compromise is a social engineering technique used by cybercriminals in which they pose as a business or member of a business in order to execute fraudulent payments. In layman’s terms, a cybercriminal will write an email pretending to be from your credit union, and request that a payment be processed – instead of to a legitimate source, the payment will go to them.
  • Use A VPN: When you use a virtual private network (VPN), your data is encrypted, or hidden, as it moves from your device to the VPN and then continues onto the Internet. That makes it harder for an attacker to identify you as the source of the data – no matter whether you’re on your mobile device’s data connection, or using an unsecured retail Wi-Fi network while you’re in line for coffee.
  • Stay Up To Date: Did you know that one of the most common ways that cybercriminals get into a network is through loopholes in popular software? Much of the software you rely on to get work done every day could have flaws -- or "exploits" -- that leave you vulnerable to security breaches.  To address this, developers regularly release software patches and updates to fix those flaws and protect users. This is why it's imperative that you keep your applications and systems up to date.

Like this article? Check out the following blogs to learn more:

How Partnering with an IT Company Can Help You Support a Remote Workforce

How to Embrace a Remote Workforce During Coronavirus Outbreak


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