Page 24 - EngineerIT June 2022

ICT

The tools needed for success in

the hybrid working enviroment

By Winston Ritson, Chief Business Development Officer at Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security

ne of the phrases that emerged in the last two years as more companies adopted convergence. Employees are always
remote working was ‘the new normal.’ At the time, most of us took that to contactable, encouraging collaboration,
Omean that – along with having to wear masks and sanitise our hands at every which drives their engagement and
opportunity – businesses that found they could continue operations on a remote working productivity.
basis would continue to do so in perpetuity. A cloud-based voice platform
But now that lockdown levels have lowered, many companies insist that their also offers more resilience and fewer
workforce return to the office. This is because there’s a level of creativity and interruptions to business continuity
collaboration that isn’t possible outside the workplace. This is partially true, as is the thanks to its provider’s cyber security
counter argument that remote working increases productivity, which is why many measures and reliable connectivity;
businesses are combining the benefits of both remote and office working. businesses are less likely to find their
employees unable to dial into important
The Hybrid Working Environment conference calls or suffer downtime
The ‘Hybrid Working Environment’ is becoming commonplace in many companies, because of hacking. In addition,
reaping significant benefits from this new model. For example, businesses can right-size customers will always be able to contact
to make a cost perspective; the morale of their employees is maintained, and costs for a business, which means there’s no loss
real estate and maintenance of office premises are lowered. of sales and revenue. On top of that, any
Another benefit of the hybrid working model is talent pool expansion; businesses can upgrades or maintenance for software
choose local talent or source from a global workforce. Because of remote working, and infrastructure are moved to a service
companies are no longer limited to contracting employees in any specific geographical provider, saving further costs; service
region. Rather than just being limited to hiring within the geographic area of operations, leverage agreements (SLA) ensure that
there is a growing trend towards looking for the correct talent further afield. service providers are on hand to assist
As a result of this model it is easier for businesses, with the intention of expanding with support, continuity and expansion
into other African countries, to hire the right talent. Additionally, it also ensures that plans.
organisations can consider talent across a broader diversity and technology backgrounds. The best collaboration offerings
This approach is more cost effective and also helps the organisation take advantage of should furnish users with a versatile,
local business knowledge, as well as tapping into global experiences and skillsets. reliable platform and host as many
devices as possible. As a Microsoft Gold
The Right Tools partner, Liquid Intelligent Technologies’
However, hiring the right talent is only half the battle! Organisations need to ensure that OneVoice for operator connect is a
the right talent pool has access to the right tools. Lack of access to the right tools means contemporary unified communications
that employees will not be able to work effectively. A vital ingredient of a successful vehicle pioneering the hybrid working
hybrid model is access to digital technologies like the cloud. environment in Africa.
Over the years, intelligent technologies like cloud, IoT, or SD-WAN have enabled There has been very little positivity
better collaboration and improved productivity. When they are not confined to a specific in the last two years, but the fact that
desk, phone or computer screen, employees have the freedom to share their skills and organisations have finally embraced
pursue new opportunities from any location, with nothing but access to a device and high technology is a key win for the future of
speed connectivity. work. Businesses finally adopting cloud
Collaboration is vital to keeping efficiency at the highest in remote working, and for all their operations has empowered
companies should gravitate towards a provider who can offer a multitude of cloud-native them to reimagine how they work. For
collaboration solutions. the first time, organisations are not
Migrating voice functionality to the cloud brings flexibility, stability and security limited as to where they hire their talent
as it becomes part of a business’s cloud infrastructure. It offers numerous benefits pool, so they should make sure that the
to any business operating in a hybrid working environment. Users can be assigned a right tools are in place to create the
fixed number across all their devices and thus be reachable no matter where they are hybrid model, which should be planned,
geographically or what device they happen to have at hand – a kind of ‘landline on well-executed and not treated as an
the move’. They can also move seamlessly between devices, bringing the value of true experiment that lasts just two years. n

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