The government has directing this week, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, that everyone must stay at home unless their presence at work is totally necessary as a designated key worker.
Although many of the industries we work with are essential to the efforts in supporting the nation during this time and absolutely need to continue production, as many staff as possible are still being urged to work from home wherever they can. However, with many OT networks not having remote working capabilities, this is making doing this an impossible task for many.In addition, many sites may have restricted access to some employees that can't be on site due to “self-isolation”. Therefore the only way to access crucial contractor, supplier and self-isolating employee knowledge and capacity is via some means of remote working.
Embracing remote working
I recently discussed the benefits of remote working in a blog in December ‘Be there, be elsewhere’, and no one could have imagined in the following 3 months, a ‘should have’ would become such a necessity, not for operational efficiency but for general health and well-being. It's uncertain how long these lock-down measures will be in place for, which places businesses at a crossroads; do they eke out what they can do on site on their own or try to expand capacity with innovation now? What is certain is that once this pandemic is over, businesses will want to be resilient and ready for events like this in the future. Once bitten, twice shy.
With more people now being forced to work remotely, it is likely this will become the new normal. The cost benefits of remote working will become clear, not to mention the environmental improvements. Those organisations that embrace this change will find it will help them as part of their digital transformation journey in the longer term.
But what about now?
If you are affected by the inability to satisfactorily remotely access your operational assets, and wish to gain the benefit of being able to do so effectively, efficiently and securely then we can help you understand the options available.
We are currently in discussion with our suppliers, including the secure remote access provider Claroty, to see if we can offer assistance to our customers even more quickly and simply at this difficult time.
Take a look at the Claroty Secure Remote Access datasheet for more information or register to join our upcoming live webinar 'Being on Site Whilst Working from Home, and if we can help you get your secure remote access up and running now, get in touch today.
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