In my previous blog Telecommuting | The 6 Domains of Teleworking with Ovnicom, I wrote about Ovnicom’s Value Proposition to Collaborate and Help Companies to migrate their work environments from the physical office space to a 100% Remote environment, making use of Ovnicom solutions, while you maintain the SECURITY of your HUMAN RESOURCE and the CONTINUITY OF THE BUSINESS.
In this blog, I will talk about the Telecommuting Architecture and its 10 Domains.
This blog answers the following question… What aspects should I pay attention to in order to implement Teleworking correctly while maintaining the Collaborative Efficiency and Effectiveness of my Company in a 100% Digital Environment?
Let’s start, with the detail of the 10 Teleworking Domains that you must manage, promote and implement in your company, to create a highly competent Teleworking environment that will last over time, beyond the Pandemic, and even, “Transform your Business in a permanent Work model”.
Telework Architecture
- Processes.
- Calculation.
- Connectivity.
- Security.
- Call Services
- Local and International.
- Applications
- Collaborative.
- Business Applications.
- Cloud Services.
- Data Protection.
- Change management.
Processes
What are the key business activities that need to be moved to the remote environment?
By answering this question, you will observe and simplify the activities that you must systematize so that they can be executed simply and smoothly by your collaborators from their homes.
Remember, that what you are sending to the house of your collaborators, is the business and the Business are Processes of:
- Customer Support.
- Sales.
- Marketing.
- Technical support.
- Collection.
- Direction and Management.
Defining these processes, just to name a few, will give you an important advantage when moving your business to the Telecommuting model.
Calculation
Do my collaborators have the adequate computing resource to do Efficient Teleworking?
It is not enough to have a computer, with access to the Internet!
If you want to implement a Teleworking model, where you guarantee the Customer Experience and Operational Effectiveness, your collaborators must have:
One or two computing devices, which can be a cell phone and a laptop.
Multimedia Resources, such as HD Camera, Audio and Sound System.
HeadSet, Headphones or Microphones.
Even if the collaborators are not Graphic Designers, they will require computers with advanced Multimedia capabilities!
This will facilitate connectivity and collaboration between themselves, your customers, your suppliers and your community.
Connectivity
Do your collaborators have a good Internet connection?
Do they have good wired or wireless connectivity inside your home?
Today, we take for granted that “EVERYONE” has access to the Internet! And thinking like that is NOT real. This should not be taken for granted!
In the event that your collaborators have Internet access from their homes, we must answer another question.
- Is my collaborator’s Home Internet Service of QUALITY?
This question answers the possibility or not, what will my collaborator have to establish remote work sessions without wasting time and without delays.
Guarantee that your collaborator has a Quality Internet from home. Failing that, provide it with 3G/4G/LTE type Cellular connectivity.
Security
Do you know what a VPN is?
Virtual Private Network is the most secure and robust technology that each of your collaborators should implement when they are working from home and need to connect to digital resources within your organization or to any cloud service.
Other services that you should consider are:
- Firewall.
- Protection Systems
- Intruders.
- Traffic control.
- Antivirus.
You should consider at least a good Antivirus, to guarantee the protection of the data stored in the computing device of your collaborator.
Last but not least, is the CONFIDENTIALITY of the Data.
By opening up your closed business environment to various open mini-business environments, you are amplifying the vulnerability of the business, as well as the possibility of data loss and attacks on your system.
Also, you must be attentive to COMPLIANCE with your Company’s Security Policies.
Local and International Call Services
How to guarantee the incoming communications of your clients without losing a single call?
How to guarantee outgoing communications from your customers at any time of the day?
Definitely, you need a Public Telephone System that assigns you local and international telephone numbers.
The 800 numbers, as well as the Telephony services, will move almost entirely to the laptops of your collaborators at home and this must be achieved in a transparent way!
The solution is IP Telephony!
Collaborative Applications
Does your company have an application that allows people to manage projects, tasks, calendars, chat, video and documents in a single digital place?
You must have a business collaboration tool!
In this way you will have “A single Communication Point 100% distributed among all your collaborators”
The benefits are:
- Access and Communication in Real Time.
- Document and Video Sharing.
- Digital Receipt of Minutes.
- Management of Tasks and Calendars.
- Support of all Company Data in Real Time.
Business Applications
How do my collaborators access the CRM, ERP or Business Databases safely and without risk?
Nowadays, the Digital and Systematized Management of the Processes of:
- Sales.
- Marketing.
- Collections.
- Customer Support.
Collaborative applications will be responsible for keeping communication alive inside and outside your business, in times where Digital is more alive than ever!
Sharing Business Data, establishing Secure Access POLICIES is one of the most relevant aspects of this domain.
Cloud Services
Are my Applications on Physical Servers or are they on Virtual Machines in the Cloud?
Cloud Services are many, Cloud Services with Personalized Attention are Few!
One of the advantages of having business applications in Cloud Computing Services, with Local and Personalized Attention in your Language, is the ability to pick up the phone, or write a WhatsApp message and be answered in seconds, instead of being considered a ticket in the Public Cloud services.
In these moments of high uncertainty and high risk of being infected with COVID-19, it is essential to VIRTUALIZE your computing environment and business applications, as well as having the support, attention and advice of your local cloud service provider.
Your Cloud Service Provider can support you in enabling and maintaining the availability of computing resources that your business requires to guarantee the provision of your services to your clients and suppliers.
Data Protection
Where is your business data backed up?
What is your disaster recovery strategy?
Typically, companies lack these types of strategies and business services that guarantee data recovery and disaster recovery in a transparent, fast and efficient manner.
You need to have a data protection system, easy to use, quick to recover and with professional, specialized and dedicated support 24 hours a day.
Based on the value proposition of the VEEAM house, I recommend establishing the 3-2-1 strategy for the Assurance and Protection of the Data of your Business.
That is to say:
- 3 Instances of your Virtual Machine.
- 2 Copies of the Virtual Machine in the Company.
- 1 Copy of the Virtual Machine in a VEEAM Cloud Provider.The Business Data Backup services obey a RESPONSE GUARANTEE towards your clients and suppliers in case of a failure or accidental loss of your business data.
You must act today, in case you do not have any kind of data backup!
Change management
Who in your organization is measuring changes in business processes, tasks, and projects during the COVID-19 pandemic?
How will you know the impact, positive or negative, that will be generated in your organization before, during and after COVID-19?
What indicators or metrics have you considered to manage your company on a day-to-day basis during the COVID-19 pandemic?
In this environment of extremely high uncertainty, 100% changing, uncontrolled, vulnerable and high risk, the RULES of Data, Personnel, Process and Project Management HAVE CHANGED!
And quite possibly a new Business and Commercial Model will be generated throughout the World! THE PERMANENT TELEWORK!
Business Management, based on OPENNESS and TRUST, is the modality that you must implement with your entire work team, from the beginning of the work day until the end of the work day.
Added to this Business Management model, you must have Indicator and Report Management tools.
You must share these reports with all your collaborators in a PRO-ACTIVE way and in REAL TIME.
Teleworking is a sub-domain of the Digital Age and in the Digital Age, Continuous Change is the Norm.
Managing Change is and will be the Post-Coronavirus base!
Managing Trust and Expanding Trust among your Collaborators and Clients is the Base of the Work Model on the Internet.
Changes within PHYSICAL Organizational environments are normally SLOW, while Changes in the Digital Environment over the Internet are actually VERY FAST!
Implementing a Stable and Lasting Teleworking Model over time, among your Collaborators, Clients, Suppliers and your Community, requires knowledge and the correct implementation of all the areas described in this blog.
At Ovnicom, you have a Strategic Ally, who will collaborate with your business in Implementing the Teleworking Model that you need, for the Protection and Safety of Your Staff, as well as to Guarantee the Continuity of your Business, even after the Coronavirus Pandemic.
In my next blog, I will talk about “Telecommuting | A Digital Ecosystem”
Greetings, success, fight the Coronavirus and let’s all work for the Restoration of World Health!
EVP & CTO
Ovnicom
