The mass shift to remote work has accelerated and publicized what has been a quiet tech revolution in the modern work environment. Most leading companies recognize that the pandemic-driven move to working from home is permanent – so they’re migrating to anywhere operations to capture the full benefits. Net Friends is doing our part to help our customers implement this innovative framework.
What Is Anywhere Operations?
The concept of Anywhere Operations originated from the Gartner-coined term: everywhere enterprise. Three components are critical to adopt a work from anywhere framework: (1) distributed infrastructure, (2) a remote workforce, and (3) a dispersed customer base.
The Anywhere Operations model relies on a decentralized enterprise to help businesses develop resilience and access wider talent pools. Yet, Anywhere Operations involves far more than telecommuting. Your teams should not be restricted to working from home. Rather, they should be able to operate from anywhere, at any time, as a hybrid workforce.
The best Anywhere Operations will be people-focused and location-independent with secure remote connectivity.
How to Implement Anywhere Operations
Implementing Anywhere Operations requires investment in five core areas:
1. Establish a Reliable Distributed Infrastructure
The first step is to implement the best cloud, edge, or hybrid solutions to support your Anywhere Operations.
The secure deployment of business tools and services allows employees anywhere to support your customers’ needs everywhere.
2. Promote Collaboration & Productivity for Remote Workforce
According to Forrester, the size of the remote workforce at the end of 2021 will be three times pre-COVID levels. Many widely available collaboration tools facilitate significant productivity gains for remote workforces. Greater collaboration and productivity help your teams better serve your far-reaching customer base.
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3. Secure Access That Supports Remote Work
The work from anywhere framework is convenient and attractive, but there are cybersecurity risks. Remote operations require responsive IT support and cloud security tools, such as Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions, passwordless authentication, Zero Trust models, and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). These cybersecurity interventions involve stronger security controls over data access and applications within your company.
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4. Quantify & Improve the Digital Experience
Modern business success requires creating the best digital experience for your employees and customers. You need detailed metrics on employee and customer engagement to quickly troubleshoot problems and implement successful resolutions and product offerings.
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5. Embrace Automation & Zero-Touch Solutions
The pandemic has driven us toward a greater reliance on contactless interactions, such as zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), that eliminate the need for IT personnel to configure network devices manually before deployment. ZTP makes it possible for your remote workforce to install secure network devices themselves. There are many other instances of automation that will help you maximize your anywhere operations.
Adopting Anywhere Operations
Anywhere Operations is here to stay and it’s in your company’s interests to be at the forefront of this innovative shift. Net Friends is ready to partner with your remote teams and optimize their ability to work from anywhere on the globe. Our suite of managed IT services, such as NetVisor, NetForce, and NetCore, are available to support today's distributed workforce.
We will have your operations running on a safe and secure cloud infrastructure with the appropriate collaboration tools. At Net Friends, we provide remote work solutions so your distributed workforce has everything it needs to operate at its best. Contact us today to leverage the benefits of Anywhere Operations and boost your company’s growth and market dominance.
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At Net Friends, we believe in the power of human expertise. While we leverage AI to enhance our content and processes, all blog posts are written and edited by our knowledgeable staff. You can trust you are getting insights directly from our team.