By Jermaine Stanley
Recently, me and a good friend of mine @Arthur Gluzman were discussing the current realities we are facing as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. He asked me “How do you think this will affect the IT Audit, Risk and Security world? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I shared my thoughts with him.
For those businesses in the IT Audit, Risk, and Cybersecurity world the biggest change I see is we are not having in-person meetings at all because of Social Distancing. Fortunately, the services provided in this space are built for this type of disruption! That’s because for years we have been leveraging technology to work remotely. Whether it is holding a kick-off meeting, conducting a walkthrough meeting, demonstrating a new product, or leading an exit meeting we have done this so many times via various online platforms. And the good news is, the technology options available to us have only gotten better. Think about it, we can enjoy great content and presenters at a major conference from our smartphones! (Couldn’t do that 15 years ago!)
What am I getting at?
Business leaders should invest more in resources that will protect their networks from cyber attacks and increase the awareness of their employees. This should be done from a technology and internal controls/processes/policies perspective. This is crucial because scammers are taking advantage of the chaos surrounding Coronavirus. Seriously.
Although, to pull this off sounds easier said than done, the fact remains that all industries will have to rapidly come up with solid and creative ways to leverage the ‘Work-from-Home’ productivity tools that are available. Why? – Essentially, companies have to stand up, in some cases, an entire remote workforce in short order.
What can businesses do?
For those business leaders and owners struggling with the challenges that come with standing up a remote workforce, here are some essential “Survival Kit” items your organization should consider.
- If you haven’t already done so, invest in / upgrade online meeting platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.).
- Increase Internet capacity with your Internet Service Provider (don’t overlook the ISP folks!).
- Invest in / upgrade your suite of productivity tools like Office 365 or Google G-Suite.
- Provide information, training, and tools to the most important resource, your people. Make sure they are capable of staying connected to the business.
- Hold regular touchpoints (i.e., town hall meetings) with your employees. I stress Leadership should be present and available to answer questions from employees. Nothing is more important, during the crisis we are facing, than showing them that the Leaders of the company have their backs!
- Most importantly, all of us, please pause for a moment to take advantage of the “Family Time” we have been blessed with by engaging in talks, walks, reading and some binge watching.
I would like to hear your thoughts. How are you managing your ‘Work-from-Home-All of Time’ situation? What would you add to the ‘Survival Kit’?
Thank you for visiting my post!
Stay safe and healthy.
#SocialDistancing #StayHealthy #ITRisk #ITAudit #Cybersecurity #WorkFromHome
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