For many organizations such as manufacturing, healthcare, or utility & energy workers, working from home amidst a pandemic was never an option for these essential in-person industries. While we continue to see supply chain delays, overwhelmed hospitals, and energy crises, we have to do our best to support businesses on the frontlines, as well as the ones that have had to take operations fully remote.
Is Remote Work Stifling Business Functions?
First, we’ll acknowledge some common ways enterprises have found how remote work hinders their workforce from actualizing their business potential. Then we’ll discuss how the decision to re-open offices and in-person business operations, creates a renewed need for buttoning up security defenses.
- Challenges to Innovation
In a recent survey of 9,000 managers conducted by Boston Consulting Group and KRC Research, Microsoft executives cite their employees as productive but have seen decreases in innovative ideas. Reasons cited are that because employees are not in each other’s creative spaces, siloed from company culture and connectedness, the opportunity and ability to collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other is lessened.
- Lack of Coordination
Lack of coordination in remote work shouldn’t come as a surprise for most business leaders and teams. Employees live and work in different regions and time zones across the world, so timing and styles of communication need to be adjusted. When remote conversations require quick action or deep understanding between multiple employees and offices, efficient coordination is a challenge. When teams are in the same place at the same time, this concept isn’t nearly as extraneous.
- Self-Discipline and Accountability
Some employees are self-disciplined anywhere regardless of an in-person or remote work environment. Others are more motivated when their leadership holds them accountable. In a recent Gallup research study, “less than 30% of employees agree that their manager involves them in goal setting, 27% strongly agree the feedback they receive helps them do their work better, and 22% strongly agree their performance is managed in a way that motivates them.” Given these percentages, wouldn’t it make sense for leaders to be more involved? The obvious answer is to be in the same office as your team. In-person settings can help leaders and employees keep each other more accountable than when you’re not in the same space as each other.
So Why Does This Matter?
Many executives feel strongly that re-opening their offices to employees can stimulate innovation, increase efficiency in coordination, and keep their employees accountable. All of those are good things for business. But with the influx of employees coming back into work, and third parties and clients visiting the premises, what does this mean for IT & Security?
Updating IT & Security Needs for Enterprise Office Reopening
Reopening is happening. Did you retain a number of employees on your team from pre-pandemic? Did your management team hire new staff during the pandemic? Are they planning on hiring new talent in spite of the reopening? If you’re anticipating the return of employees and the increase in visitors, then it’s imperative your security measures are prepared for the influx.
No matter what the landscape of your workforce looks like, printing new employee ID badges, or reissuing updated ones to verify identity, should be the first priority. Second, depending on the roles and privilege levels of your workforce, your physical and logical access control systems should properly read these newly assigned credentials. Lastly, for enterprises that accommodate visitors, how do you manage check-in processes, secure your premises, and provide a good experience for guests? Let’s take a look at each aspect below:
Secure ID Badge Issuance for Enterprises
Do you have a head count for returning, newly promoted, or newly hired employees ready to come into all your facilities? The first step is ensuring your enterprise ID printing system is up to speed.
- Printers like the HID HDP6600 are reliable, durable, and can print up to 230 high-quality employee ID badges per hour
- Next, you’ll want to leverage Enterprise ID Card software so you can customize ID badges for role privileges related to access control
- This allows IT & Security users to share across networks: a common database, multiple workstations, customizable templates, and advanced ID applications for each location or department.
- HID ID Cards:
- We recommend HID iClass or Seos for the best security. Unlike 125kHz low-frequency ID cards that are easily cloneable, HID Seos uses encrypted technology which is great for secure authenticated access.
Speaking of authenticated access, enterprises that are reopening may need to upgrade or assess the strength of their existing access control technologies to identify any vulnerabilities in their system.
Access Control Upgrades
Between physical and logical access control systems, both technologies need to be accounted for when adjusting to the increase of on-prem guests and employees. As mentioned above, physical access control systems that still rely on low-frequency prox cards will not be sufficient security for your facilities. IT and Security are exploring updated access control technologies that can apply across numerous physical sites and networks, with the ease of application rollout and management.
Physical Access Control Components:
- Use smart card technology with secure encrypted credentials to protect your personnel’s identification data
- Upgrade to mobile-capable readers so your team can use encrypted credentials for secure computer logon and access control
Logical Access Control
ADVANTIDGE Multi-factor authentication offers logical access solutions that benefit both the physical and digital environment such as:
- ActivID Multi-Factor Authentication: Prevents breaches and achieves compliance with the updated NIST 800-171 and equivalent mandates, policies, and guidelines across multiple industries. Ideal for:
- Organizations securing mobile access to networks and applications behind the firewall and in the cloud
- Organizations securing access to partner portals
- Governments, banks, and healthcare providers securing access to online services for citizens, customers, and patients
- HID PIV (Personal Identity Verification): This government-strength solution leverages a vast ecosystem, digital and physical, across many applications and operating systems.
Multi-factor authentication is great for securing both physical and network access permissions, a perfect blend to facilitate your organization’s re-opening.
Visitor Management Solutions
Ideally, your physical and logical access systems are updated, penetration tested, and squared away. Your leadership team is happy everyone is back at the office, your IT colleagues are adjusting to the rollout of upgraded applications, and now you can focus on visitor management for the final piece of reopening security.
The team at ADVANTIDGE recommends Visitor Management Systems that offer:
- Pre-registration modules: Allow visitors to check in ahead of time, streamline the check-in process, and remain contactless
- Host notifications: Notifying reception when guests arrive increases security and can prevent reception from getting overwhelmed during busy hours
- Visitor Data Tracking: Tracking who and where people are, while inside, is not only important for access control, but it’s important for emergencies to determine where guests maybe if they need rescuing
With those key components, not only do you keep your workforce and buildings secure, but you can provide visitors and guests with a seamless experience at your facilities.
Check out HID Easy Lobby SVM
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Conclusion
Several enterprises try to balance what’s best for their business with what’s best for their employees. Recognizing that remote work environments for some organizations can stifle innovation, coordination, and accountability amongst staff, it makes sense to shift back to in-person settings. However, given the desire to reopen, IT & Security teams must be supported by the best solutions to secure their organizations’ people, facilities, and assets.
Talk to ADVANTIDGE today, to determine what solutions can best support your plans to reopen.
