You have an urgent meeting or a deadline to meet, but then news arrives of yet another strike that paralyses the city. You end up having to postpone all activities and are stuck with yet another unproductive day, as the country’s economic woes grow further. Do we have a choice? 

Yes.  With technology allowing one to work from anywhere, there should be no reason why businesses should suffer!

First layer: Make Data accessible

The operations of every organization depend on the data it handles. Making that data available for remote employee access allows for work to be done out of office.

Tools and Services: Dropbox, Just Cloud, SugarSync, YouSendIt, OpenDrive and Google Drive.

Second layer:  Make computer systems accessible

The nature of some businesses may require the use of high performance computers by employees.  Should they not be able to come to the office for any reason, the facility should exist that allows employees to remotely access their office machine from other locations. Once accessed, work can easily be done.

Tools: TeamViewer, Ultra VNC and LogMeIn Pro.

Third layer: Make your network accessible

In organisations where work is dependent not only on files, but requires multiple integrated systems over a single network to be used, remote network access is required. This is achieved by setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN), allowing employees to carry out all operations as they would sitting at the office. However, this requires an Always On network for use at any time.

Tools: VPN tools include Open VPN, Hamachi, ViP Tunnel, Ultra VPN, GetMyLAN etcetera.

Fourth layer: Make people accessible

Employees work in teams in most organisations.  Therefore it is important that they should be able to communicate effectively.  While face-to-face meetings are usually the ideal way to communicate, they are not always feasible, especially with team members in multiple locations. In this case, team members could communicate either through instant messaging, voice calls/conferencing or video calls/conferencing.

Tools:  Skype, Google Talk, Google Hang out, Voice Over IP systems, Video Conferencing tools like Cisco WebEx, Adobe Connect etcetera.

Fifth layer: Make customer services accessible

Once your information network is up, there should be no reason why your clientele should also suffer during a strike, especially when it exists in other cities or countries. The provision of non-stop services and support require organisations to equip their staff with devices that are able to access all the facilities that have been outlined.

These technologies can help any organisation make it feasible for employees to work remotely. However, what is needed more importantly is willingness on the part of management to invest time and money; and on the part of employees, the honesty, dedication and self-discipline to make such remote working arrangements successful.