Top Six Remote Work Tools

Like many Quebecers, you and your teams are working remotely (telecommuting), and you want to optimize collaboration among team members. Here are six high-performing IT tools that are secure, efficient, and effective.

1. Microsoft Teams – A powerful collaboration app

With a collaboration app such as Microsoft Teams, you can invite everyone you work with to chat, videoconference, share screens, collaborate on documents, and meet – any time, anywhere.

Using a single app, you can view, share, and edit Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel workbooks – in real time. You will find that with the Microsoft Teams collaboration app, your organization will become more efficient, faster, and more united, even at a distance!

2. VPN – Secure your work environment

A VPN (virtual private network) is a system used mainly to secure your work environment, even at home. It provides a secure, encrypted internet connection between work computers and company servers. In other words, a VPN is used to prevent anyone from spying on an unprotected network. This is very practical for working remotely because not all employees have access to a secure internet connection.

Delays, data loss and ransom demands are just a few examples of the risks associated with poorly protected IT assets. If people in your organization have to access, share, or work on sensitive documents, it is highly recommended that you opt for a VPN to protect all data. VPNs are not very expensive, and there are several VPN solutions available. We recommend that you consult a cybersecurity expert to determine which one is right for you.

3. Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure – Share and manage documents in the Cloud

Sharing and storing documents directly in the Cloud are essential functions of an efficient telecommuting organization, and many IT solutions are used to do just that. By combining the applications and multiple features of Microsoft 365 with the power of Microsoft Azure, you will be able to set up a new remote work strategy that is efficient, collaborative and secure.

In addition to sharing documents in the Cloud, you will appreciate the ability to simultaneously co-edit documents and manage their access and editing rights. You will also be able to recover content deleted by mistake by restoring a prior version via the Version History, from anywhere and on any device.

Microsoft 365 packages include, among others, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, and the Teams collaboration app. You will also find a multitude of features and other applications to optimize remote work.

4. Getting organized to perform better – Computing equipment and project management software

Working remotely requires specific computing equipment, and it requires reviewing your work philosophy. Among the essentials for being well organized are

• headset
• high-performance webcam for videoconferencing
• recent PC or laptop

Providing the minimum computing equipment necessary for telecommuting is a must, but remember to standardize your purchases in order to facilitate installation and management. Take advantage of the situation to incorporate project management software. Changing work methodology goes hand in hand with a change in work philosophy. You can change the corporate mindset to being more task-oriented, instead of focusing on a 9-to-5 presence.

If your company does not have an IT department, entrust your computing equipment needs to us, and take advantage of our full service for the configuration, implementation, deployment and management of these technologies in your company.

5. Microsoft Planner – For effective project management

Often, the hardest part of work is not agreeing to a task, but remembering to perform it, especially when an isolated message gets lost amid new requests. This is where project management software such as Microsoft Planner makes it easy, by assigning tasks via a predefined channel. People then complete tasks within an agreed time, improving project management and heightening the sense of accomplishment.

6. Microsoft Power BI – Visualize your strategic data for informed decision-making

With telecommuting on the rise, it is important to keep teams informed about project progress, changes in customer behaviour, and even accounting ratios. Microsoft Power BI allows you to automatically generate dynamic reports in order to visualize all your business data in real time. In addition to providing a range of tools to perform BI (business intelligence) in the Cloud, the application is available on all kinds of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and any type of computer.

For example, you can combine the data generated by your technical support with your ERP and your project management software to obtain detailed productivity reports, again in real time. This will allow you to better distribute tasks according to the strengths of your teams and consequently reduce delivery times.

Our business intelligence experts are available to evaluate all of your options with you and to ensure that you have access to dashboards tailored to your needs, enabling you to make informed decisions on a daily basis. Trust Kezber to integrate, format, centralize, and deploy your data sources in Power BI.

Conclusion

Whether you are thinking of implementing BI, increasing collaboration in your organization or securing your IT assets, our team of Microsoft Gold Partner certified experts extends across Quebec, and knows how to get the most out of technology in an organizational context.

We also offer training on new collaboration apps – tailored to your requirements while respecting best security practices.

Take advantage of Kezber’s comprehensive expertise to set up an optimized telecommuting structure in your organization. For more information, email us at info@kezber.com or call us at 1‑833-584-8036.