Month: March 2020

How To Quickly Shift To A Work-From-Home Business Model To Maximize Productivity In Today’s Coronavirus Environment

Posted on by Jamie Harrison

As a business owner today, you are now facing unprecedented challenges to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic. You are asked to self-isolate and practice social distancing to “flatten the curve.” You are asked to allow your employees to work from home to reduce possible exposure and slow the spread of COVID-19.

These are all reasonable requests. However, as a business owner you also need to maximize productivity, bring in revenue and try to grow your business in these demanding times. How can you accomplish these goals when your office is now a ghost town and productivity has fallen off a cliff?

The answer lies in setting up your office to function remotely. If you’ve never implemented a work-from-home policy before, it may seem like a whole different world. Managing an entirely remote workforce goes far beyond giving your employees a laptop and reminding them to check in every once in a while. After all, there are many factors most business owners haven’t ever had to consider, such as:

  • What technologies do I need?
  • How can my employees work from home without compromising the security of our network?
  • How can I make this new work environment as easy, comfortable and productive as possible?

We understand these are unique times. We know that “business as usual” is going to be quite different for an undetermined amount of time. But together we can help you adjust to today’s new normal by giving you the tools, technologies and insights to create a secure and productive work-from-home business environment. Here are three important considerations to getting you set up and running a successful work-from-home business:

1. Avoid employees using home computers or devices. Their mindset may be, “Well, I’m working from home so I may as well use my home computer.” This is a dangerous mistake. Our team works hard to ensure your company computers and network are secure and protected from malware, viruses and cyber-attacks. Their home computers and devices could be littered with tons of downloaded music, videos, images and more. Because it’s more exposed, it can invite malware into your network. Rather, provide a company-approved and secured computer/laptop for employees to use at home.

2. Secure their WiFi access point. Without a secure WiFi access point, you’re essentially leaving a back door open to hackers. That’s because WiFi signals are often broadcast far beyond your employees’ homes and out into streets. Yes, drive-by hacking is popular among cybercriminals today. A few tips for securing your employees’ WiFi access points:

  • Use stronger encryption and a more complex password
  • Hide your network name
  • Use a firewall

These security measures are not difficult to set up. But if you have any questions or need assistance, we will be happy to help get your employees set up remotely.

3. Use a two-factor authentication VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network. It’s essentially a private, encrypted tunnel that goes direct to your IT network in your office. Ideally, you’ll want your VPN to support two-factor authentication. This means it’s doubly secure because your employees will need to call in to access the network. If you don’t have a VPN for your employees to use, you can consider other services, such as Globalnet Connect, which we are currently offering FREE for two months.

As business owners ourselves, we too are having to pivot and work differently than we ever have before. However, because we have the technology and infrastructure in place, we are able to continue as normal, with little disruption to our usual service.

Our team wants to help your business survive and thrive during today’s unique environment. If you and your IT team need extra hands right now…or solutions to help your employees work SECURELY from home…we have software tools, expert staff and resources we’d like to offer you to keep your business as productive as possible.

FREE LIVE WEBINAR – Manage Your Remote Team

Most people managers are experiencing considerable challenges in managing their staff as team members work from home.  The traditional way of managing people doesn’t work, especially in the current environment.

This short webinar will help you to manage the day to day workloads and relationships on a day to day basis.

The reality is that COVID-19 has changed the way we work, potentially for good. This is an excellent opportunity to increase your skill base and ability to manage remote workers.

This 60-minute webinar provides:

5 Essential leadership behaviours

9 Key practices for home working efficiency 

8 Things you must do to maintain engagement

Up to date thinking on remote management

High quality support materials including tools to use in the workplace

Unbeatable offers

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW >>

5 Steps To Rise Above The Fear Of COVID-19 And Focus On Growing Your Business

Posted on by Jamie Harrison

In a matter of just a few short weeks, we have gone from living how we’ve always lived to changing just about everything we do. Schools are out for weeks if not months. Cruises have stopped sailing, and most planes are grounded. Bars and restaurants are closed, sporting events are nonexistent and so many people are now worried about their jobs, if they still have them! If you watch the news or follow social media and see the number of infected keep rising, you can’t help but wonder when (or if) life will return to normal.

As a result of these unprecedented life changes in such a short amount of time, so many people today are frozen in fear. They don’t know what they can do and what they can’t do. They’re numb, fearful and questioning everything.

I believe that the accomplished and determined business owners in our world are facing a unique brand of fears: Will I lose sales and revenue due to the coronavirus? What if I have to lay people off? How can I keep my team and keep them working hard? How will I continue to provide for my family? How long will this last?

Here are five steps you can start taking now to stop being frozen in fear and move forward with your business, your family and living your life.

Step #1: Communicate Often

You should make an effort to constantly communicate with all of your stakeholders. From your employees to your customers to your partners and suppliers, stay in communication with them to share how your business is doing and how you can continue to serve them.

While in-person visits may not be ideal at this time, you can always resort to the good old phone, e-mail, videos or webinars. You can bet that if your customers aren’t hearing from you, they are hearing from your competitors.

Step #2: Be a Valuable Resource

While money is always important, now is the time to be a trusted resource and friend to your clients and prospects. People today need bold solutions. If you’re actively bringing solutions to your clients, you become a valuable resource. If they’re simply paying invoices and never hearing from you – especially in today’s environment – you’ll be first on the chopping block when they have to cut expenses.

Step #3: Rely on People

It’s ironic that the one time we need people more than ever before, we are supposed to socially distance ourselves and stay in our homes. Through video conferencing and web conferencing, work together with your team, your partners and your Accountability Groups to lean on one another. Because nobody has gone through anything like this before, nobody has all the answers. But as a collective group, you will find most every answer you need. Applications like Microsoft Teams and Zoom are perfect for face to face video calls. Teams is especially useful for group meetings with your employees, while Zoom is better for clients and suppliers.

Step #4: Be MORE Than a Businessperson

They may be your employees, your colleagues and your clients. But they are PEOPLE first. And just about everyone you interact with in your business world has endless stresses when the workday is done. Their kids are home from school all day getting into who knows what. They’re worried about going to the supermarket and if there will be meat and toilet paper. They’re concerned about keeping themselves and their family healthy.

When your clients and prospects start to see you not just as business cost, but as a friend and someone who truly cares, that’s when they want to do business with you for life.

Step #5: Be Informed But Not Obsessed

People were glued to their TVs for weeks after 9/11. As a result, although they were informed, they were also more stressed, depressed and fearful. Don’t do that to yourself. Yes, it’s prudent to know how to “flatten the curve” and protect your family, but watching too much news or social media right now can dominate your thinking and actions. That can negatively impact your business.

During this otherworldly pandemic, it’s good to have a little fear. To keep us safe. To keep us making good decisions. However, if you want to ensure your business is stable and growing, to help your family cope and get through this, you should take these steps to rise above the fear.

If you need immediate IT support or if you need help in setting your business up so your employees can work remotely from home, contact us today.

Globalnet works with businesses throughout London, Essex, Kent and Herts to ensure their data and networks are secure from all threats. Call us on 0203 005 9650 today to find out how we can provide the right protection for you.

Globalnet aims to be an integral part of your success, providing the best business advice, superior IT support and technology to help you reach your goals. 

How To Stop Cyber Attacks During Lockdown

Posted on by Jamie Harrison

The world is slowing down during this COVID-19 pandemic. People are no longer going out. We’re told to quarantine or self-isolate and not engage in groups.

You can bet there’s one group that’s not slowing down at all. In fact, they’re probably working overtime while the rest of us have our lives turned upside down. Cybercriminals and hackers know there’s no better time to strike than during a global crisis. While you are distracted and spending your time trying to make sense of this new normal, they are finding new ways into your IT network so they can steal data and passwords, compromise your clients’ private information and even demand large ransoms.

dark web scanning

Cybercrime is already on the rise and is expected to cause $6 TRILLION in damages by 2021! But, if history repeats itself, hackers will be out in full force throughout this coronavirus scare. We fully expect in the upcoming weeks that headlines will change from stories about COVID-19 to accounts of a frenzy of cyber-attacks on corporations and small businesses.

Here are solutions you can implement now to help protect your business data, money and productivity:

1. Be more suspicious of incoming e-mails

Because people are scared and confused right now, it’s the perfect time for hackers to send e-mails with dangerous malware and viruses. At this moment, your in-box is probably filled with “COVID-19” subject lines and coronavirus-focused e-mails. Always carefully inspect the e-mail and make sure you know the sender. There are realistic looking gov e-mail address out there now that are not legitimate and are spamming in-boxes across the country.

Avoid clicking links in the e-mail unless it’s clear where they go. And you should never download an attachment unless you know who sent it and what it is. Communicate these safeguards to everyone on your team, especially if they are working from home.

2. Ensure your work-from-home computers are secure

Another reason we expect a rise in cyber-attacks during this pandemic is the dramatic increase in employees working from home. Far too many employers won’t think about security as their team starts working at the kitchen table. That’s a dangerous precedent.

First, if possible, make sure your employees are not using their home computers or devices when working. We know this is economically and practically difficult for many firms, but there can be problems with malware and viruses on unsecured home computers, particularly if its the family computer used by everyone.

Second, ensure your work-at-home computers have a firewall that’s turned on. Finally, your network and data are not truly secure unless your employees utilize a VPN (virtual private network) or are using secure remote connections. If you need help in arranging your new work-from-home environment, we would be happy to get your entire team set up.

3. Improve your password strategy

During crises like the one we are all facing right now, your passwords could mean the difference between spending your time relearning how to grow your business and trying to recoup finances and private data that’s been hacked. Make a point now to reevaluate your passwords and direct your team to create stronger passwords.

Also, while it’s so convenient to save your passwords in your web browser, it also lessens your security. Because web browsers simply require their own password or PIN to access saved passwords, a skilled hacker can bypass this hurdle. Once they access your saved passwords, they can steal as much as they want – credit card information, customers’ private data and more!

Instead, you should consider a password manager to keep all of your passwords in one place. These password managers feature robust security. A few options are LastPass, 1Password and Keeper Security Password Manager.

You, your team and your family have enough to concern yourselves with in regards to staying healthy, living a more isolated lifestyle and keeping your business strong. There’s no need to invite in more problems by letting your computer and network security slide during these times.

If you need additional security advice or would like to have a consultation to discuss how to keep your data safe, simply connect with us today.

Globalnet works with businesses throughout London, Essex, Kent and Herts to ensure their data and networks are secure from all threats. Call us on 0203 005 9650 today to find out how we can provide the right protection for you.

Globalnet aims to be an integral part of your success, providing the best business advice, superior IT support and technology to help you reach your goals. 

FREE Business Solutions For Remote Working

Posted on by Jamie Harrison

 

In the last month we have seen an increase in demand from clients for hosted desktops. With much of the UK being battered with multiple storms leading to widespread flooding and the increasing threat of the coronavirus impacting our lives, an increasing number of businesses have been dusting off their business continuity plans, that’s if they have one at all. Businesses are realising that their plans are not robust enough and that they need to look at remote working as a real option to ensure their people can continue to work even if they can’t access their normal office location.

Whilst COVID-19 is still at a relatively early stage in the UK, we are seeing the impact that it is having in Europe, America and Asia and the next few weeks will be critical in its management to keep its spread low. It is estimated that 20% of the workforce could be off sick at the virus’ peak, as well as significant numbers of employees being in self-isolation, looking after children during potential school closures or caring for ill relatives. Businesses recognise that doing nothing is no longer an option to ensure that they can continue to operate, albeit with lower capacity.

To help our clients ensure survival of their businesses, here are just a few reasons why a remote desktop solution or a simple Globalnet Connect account could be the remote working solutions your business needs.

Keeping Employees Safe and Well – Employers are under a duty of care to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all its employees. Providing tools to help reduce travel, face-to-face meetings as well as the ability to work in a safe environment can help keep employees productive and safe.

Keeping your Business Running – If any or all of your employees need to self-isolate, provide childcare or are unable to travel they can continue to access their PC from home and continue working.

Limit Financial Impact – By providing remote working solutions for your staff, you can minimise any financial impact on both your business and on your employees.

Ease of Access – With a remote desktop solution, employees can work from anywhere with an internet connection and from most devices. Over 95% of employees have access to superfast broadband from home, meaning that even if their desktop or laptop is at the office, they can access all of their applications from home. (Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report).

 

Globalnet Connect

*UPDATE* WAS £10pm, now FREE for the duration of the crisis!

Fast Set-up – This is a software based solution that allows your team to connect with their office PCs from their home PCs and can be installed relatively quickly, though the more users you have the longer it will take!

Best for Small Companies or a Fast Fix – This is suitable for small businesses with fewer than 20 people or larger companies with only a few employees working from home and needing a an emergency solution.

FREE   Low Cost– With a relatively small set up fee and user licence, this is an affordable solution for small businesses or when only a few employees are away. Larger companies may find our remote hosted desktops more cost effective.

Remote Desktop Server

On-site Server – One solution is an on-site server, which can be remotely accessed by your staff working from home.

Best for Larger Companies – This is suitable for larger companies and is more robust than Globalnet Connect.

Permanent Solution – Once installed, the server will function for several years and provides a permanent solution moving into the future.

Cloud Hosted Desktops

*UPDATE* First two months FREE!

Off-site – Hosted desktops together with cloud servers and storage move much of the management of desktop computers and servers into the cloud so that any disruption to business use of IT can be minimised if and when the need arises.

Ease of Access – With a hosted desktop, employees can work from anywhere with an internet connection and from most devices. Over 95% of employees have access to superfast broadband from home, meaning that even if their desktop or laptop is at the office, they can access all of their applications from home. (Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report).

Keeping Data Safe – Losing data can have a major impact on businesses, in fact some businesses never recover from a large loss of data. With a Globalnet hosted desktop solution we backup all your server data to an offsite location.

Lower Risk – Moving to a hosted desktop solution reduces the risk of an incident leading to a disaster for your customers. Fires, floods and power failures can mean that customer’s IT systems are completely unusable. With a hosted desktop solution from Globalnet you have peace of mind that you can be back up and running almost immediately should the worst happen.

SPECIAL OFFER

Free Service for 2 months (if you signed up today, we wouldn’t invoice you for the service until June)

Free Set Up

Prioritised Set Up (to get you up and running ASAP)

Free Data Migration

Includes:

  • Windows 8/10 Style Desktop
  • 5GB Personal Storage
  • 10GB Network Storage (per user)
  • Data Backed Up Across Multiple Sites
  • Webroot
  • 24/7 UK Based Support
  • Application Server (min. 3 users)

 

We understand how worrying the recent events are for our customers and we have products that suit any business, whatever size and whatever industry, so that if disaster strikes we’ll be here to get you up and running. Our team of experienced engineers is dedicated to ensuring that our service is reliable, monitored and above all secure.

Call us on 0203 005 9650 today for find out more about remote access, whatever size your business!