Clear strategy: (From left) Raj, Ganeshwaran, Izzat, Sharliza and Lee at the seminar, which aimed to help organisations simplify how they can evolve their hybrid work infrastructure.
PETALING JAYA: When implementing a hybrid work model, companies will find that having the right solution partner is critical for security and ease of deployment.
“Due to the pandemic, many employees have become familiar with working remotely over the last three years, and are now reluctant to return to a fully office-based environment,” said Lee Chee Kheong, who is Cisco director of commercial sales.
At the recent “Maximise The Inclusivity At Your Hybrid Workplace” seminar at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya, Lee pointed out that while a hybrid work model is increasingly gaining traction, organisations are concerned about adopting the right strategy and processes whilst keeping their budgets and costs aligned with technology investments that will allow them to do so.
“Companies need to be clear on their strategies and business objectives. From there, they can move on to the software solutions and the right partner to work with in deploying hybrid workplaces,” said Lee.
The seminar, organised by the Star Media Group Bhd in partnership with Cisco Systems Malaysia, aimed to help organisations simplify how they can evolve their hybrid work infrastructure and empower their hybrid workforce with seamless and secure connectivity for any device, any application, anywhere.
It was moderated by StarBiz senior writer Ganeshwaran Kana, with speakers and panellists including Lee as well as Raj Mohandas, Cisco Asean’s SMB (small and medium business) business development manager; Sharliza Mohd Haris, Telekom Malaysia’s Head of Unifi SME Business Solutions and Campaigns; and Izzat Aziz, KPMG’s director of technology, risk and cybersecurity.
According to Izzat, many businesses including small and medium enterprises or SMEs are increasingly looking at and investing in a hybrid work model.
“With technology and innovation, I do believe that eventually hybrid working is the future of work,” he said.
Izzat also pointed out that organisations are exploring the cost savings potential of hybrid working.
“When you have hundreds or even thousands of people working on-premise, that can be very costly,” he said.
Sharliza said adopting a hybrid work model is increasingly important in a global marketplace.
“You can have people working from anywhere, but still delivering on shared outcomes,” she said.
Sharliza explained that organisations need to look at four key areas, namely, the mindset, tools, skill sets and processes.
“To shift to a hybrid work model, organisations need to adopt strategies that will still drive productivity. Most organisations are still used to face-to-face communications to deliver outcomes,” she said.
Meanwhile, organisations should invest in technologies such as cloud solutions, and a document management system with online approvals and cybersecurity protection that promote remote collaboration securely.
Skill sets, on the other hand, are about being able to use these technologies effectively.
“Processes govern the rules and regulations of a hybrid work model, and how managers and their teams resolve issues more efficiently,” said Sharliza.
Meanwhile, in a Gartner Research survey of 500 enterprise businesses, 45% of business respondents cited reliable network performance as the top challenge for hybrid work adoption.
In the survey, over 60% of information technology (IT) and operations leaders cited reliable network performance, accessing secure applications, and overall remote worker support as their three top hybrid workforce challenges.
Raj said that today, many employees are demanding work flexibility from their employers.
He noted that during the pandemic-related lockdowns, employees had come to realise that they can maintain or even increase their productivity via working remotely, and make better use of the time not spent in traffic congestion and commuting to offices.
“Staff retention is becoming a critical issue. I know many people who have left their organisations to seek other opportunities that allow them more flexibility,” he said.
Raj pointed out that Cisco offers products such as Meraki which allows for the easy deployment and management of networking devices at corporate headquarters or remote branches all from the cloud.
Cisco Meraki has smart, cloud-managed solutions and all its devices are centrally and securely managed from the cloud using a single web-based dashboard.
The feature-rich, intuitive Meraki architecture enables customers to save time, reduce operating costs, and solve new business problems.
The Meraki Z3, for example, is a teleworker gateway that an employee can use at home by connecting to their existing home Internet. This device will automatically create an Auto VPN tunnel back to the corporate network in the office.
“When a user at home connects to the Wireless SSID broadcasted by the Z3, it’s almost like they’re working in the office,” said Raj.
Meanwhile, Cisco Umbrella offers flexible, cloud-delivered security and extends data protection to devices, remote users, and distributed locations anywhere.
Cisco Umbrella includes secure web gateway, firewall, and cloud access security broker (CASB) functionality, plus integration with Cisco SD-WAN (software-defined wide-area network), delivered from a single cloud security service.
Umbrella packages can provide the feature-functionality needed for small businesses without dedicated security professionals, to multinational enterprises with complex environments.
Raj pointed out that another key product is Cisco Duo which provides multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), remote access and access control products that can be deployed fast in any environment.
“Duo introduces us to zero trust architecture. Phishing is still an important issue in a lot of organisations. Duo can secure your workforce against phishing attacks with strong MFA, and device trust,” said Raj.
“So, no matter where people work from, Cisco solutions enable them to collaborate well. They’re going to enjoy using the technology,” he added.
Need help in setting up a hybrid work environment? Visit Hybrid work for Small Business: https://www.cisco.com/c/en_my/solutions/small-business.html.
