Remote Workforce Transformation from a CFO

As the COVID-19 pandemic began, many companies recognized early on they needed to make some changes not only keep their employees and customers protected but also to keep their company alive.

The traditional workforce was greatly disrupted in early March of this year as companies began closing their physical doors and transforming their teams and even new hires into a remote workforce. With this transformation, many did not take the necessary measures as it was believed at the time to only be a temporary situation. As we know now, this remote workforce is becoming more permanent for many companies thus requiring more time, attention, and resources to be done correctly.

With transformation, comes expenses. During a national pandemic and a declining economy, expenses matter. There is a trade-off that every executive is currently facing – physical overhead versus I.T. overhead. When looking at this transition, it is also important to be looking at specific logistics such as phone packages, remote employee equipment, internal processes for hiring, training, prospecting, onboarding and the expenses associated with these..

Physical vs. Remote

It is no secret that local and state governments have required business closures causing employees to take their day-to-day office home. What many companies are finding is that a job once believed only capable of being done in-office is still very doable remotely. Reduction in physical overhead decreases a company’s footprint and operational expenses due to no office space lease also eliminating the employee’s commute. Furthermore, cutting operational expenses in non-labor areas increases a company’s ability for employee retention.  

Remote work has also brought about a newfound work-life balance and time freedom to many employees and employers alike; however, it has also increased the needs for I.T. expenditures to ensure your company though dispersed is still operating securely and productively.

Equipping the Remote Workforce

In the beginning of March, many would not believe that they would still be working remotely come the end of July. Because of this, certain measures were not taken to ensure productivity and security. Equipping employees to work remotely is the biggest key in this transition.

Phone systems are more relevant than ever as you do not want your customers calling your employees’ personal cell phones. Whether you are using hardware or software, ip phone packages are needed.

Employees need a secure way of accessing your network due to the increase in cyber attacks since the beginning of COVID-19. Secured network access through a VPN or Edge SD-WAN is important yet both require an infrastructure. How is your team accessing, transmitting, and saving confidential data to your network?

Facilitating the Change

The world is changing rapidly and to keep up, companies must change as well. Hiring and training a remote workforce is new territory for many; however, it is very realistic thanks to the collaboration tools from partners like Cisco.

Onboarding new customers also looks different; however, what this tells me as a CFO is that the funds traditionally spent in travel and meals to nurture relationships are now able to be reallocated because those relationships are now being nurtured remotely due to COVID-19 yet still yielding positive results.  This reallocation can create margin for this necessary I.T. transformation.  

Facilitating the change from having a traditional workforce to a remote workforce is vital to not just surviving this pandemic but thriving in it. As the CFO of Hypercore, I understand the decisions and planning that goes into this transformation as we too have gone through this. This requires careful management of funds, planning, and precise execution taking each team’s main objective into consideration. The good news is that the tools and the people are in place at Hypercore Networks to help you make it happen.

There is a long list of benefits the world is seeing to having a remote workforce and while many have been working remotely for several months now not all companies have taken the necessary steps to make this permanent transition.

Hypercore Networks offers all the products you and your company need to transform your teams into a fully equipped, secure, and productive remote workforce from hardware to software to fully managed network services. Whether you are needing guidance on how to secure your remote teams or need full remote workforce transformation, we tailor solutions around your business needs. Contact our sales team today at sales@hypercorenetworks.com to start your I.T. transformation.

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