BATTLING BURNOUT SASE to SSE SA Dispelling WFH Myths BETTER ONBOARDING SaaS MANAGEMENT SaaS N G MEN VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 | Q2 2022 | rwsmagazine.com Sponsored by Leaderships matters more than location
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16 10 24 28 18 CONTENTS VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 | Q2 REMOTE INTELLIGENCE 8 WFH & wellness 8 Same-day office supplies 9 A case for flexibility 9 Zoom insight for selling 10 Leadership Over Location Dispelling the myths concerning remote work, company culture and colleague collaboration By Martin Vilaboy REMOTE SECURITY 14 Bots go mobile 14 Lessons in remote support 16 Taking Credit A weak cybersecurity stance can impact your company’s credit rating, says S&P By Brady Hicks 18 A Unified Front Consolidated security could become key to peace of mind By Brady Hicks REMOTE CONTROL 22 Automating MACDs 22 Facial authentication for DaaS 23 Lessons in remote support 23 Remote desktop protocol 24 A Better SaaS Experience Managing software tools to improve worker satisfaction and retention By Bruce Christian 27 Changing the Grade PowerSchool manages the shift to remote work with workforce management By Vickie McGovern REMOTE RESOURCES 28 Employees Say Onboarding is Off Track By Martin Vilaboy 34 Battling Burnout Workplace policies must align with the unique needs of hybrid workers By Bruce Christian 38 Peace of Mind Awareness of worker mental health needs increasing post-pandemic By Bruce Christian REMOTE NETWORKS 42 The Difference an ‘A’ Makes The recent rush from SASE to SSE By Martin Vilaboy 45 Astound Broadband: A New Name for Familiar Services By Brady Hicks 46 Hybrid Meet-Me Room Product Showcase The latest tools for effective collaboration By Martin Vilaboy 6 Letter from the editor 50 Advertiser index 50 Contact RWS 4 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
Martin Vilaboy Editor-in-Chief martin@bekabusinessmedia.com Bruce Christian Senior Editor bruce@bekabusinessmedia.com Brady Hicks Contributing Editor brady@bekabusinessmedia.com Percy Zamora Art Director percy@bekabusinessmedia.com Rob Schubel Digital Manager rob@bekabusinessmedia.com Jennifer Vilaboy Production Manager jen@bekabusinessmedia.com Berge Kaprelian Group Publisher berge@bekabusinessmedia.com (480) 503-0770 Anthony Graffeo Publisher anthony@bekabusinessmedia.com (203) 304-8547 Beka Business Media Berge Kaprelian President and CEO Corporate Headquarters 10115 E Bell Road, Suite 107 - #517 Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 Voice: 480.503.0770 Email: berge@bekabusinessmedia.com © 2022 Beka Business Media, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in any form or medium without express written permission of Beka Business Media is prohibited. RWS and the RWS logo are trademarks of Beka Business Media If you type “hybrid working” into the search bar of any online image bank, the first page of results will be filled with images of happy workers collaborating across a video conference. Indeed, it’s become the cliché of the hybrid work environment, with video conferencing often the butt of office humor. We’ve spent so much time on Zoom, Teams, Webex, etc. that “Zoom fatigue” recently entered the business language lexicon. While the growth in video conferencing has been mind-boggling (Microsoft estimates that online meetings among Team users increased 153 percent between March 2020 and February 2022), video meeting fatigue doesn’t seem to be damaging the work experience. Rather, video conferencing could be driving some positive effects in terms of employee engagement. In its research on how hybrid work conditions impact company culture, MIT Sloan Management Review found that more than 50 percent of business leaders working in hybrid environments said the ability to express their personal opinions in the workplace has improved since the start of the pandemic. Only 7 percent of all respondents said it had gotten worse. A similar percentage of respondents said that feelings of inclusion and diversity have improved in their organization. “Even in regions where expressing personal opinions and ideas is subject to strict social norms, such as avoiding controversy in a group setting, things seem to be becoming more flexible,” said MIT SMR researchers. “Respondents in South America and Asia say the ability to express a personal opinion has improved even more so than in Europe and the United States.” Video conferencing, it turns out, could be “leveling the playing field,” offering a “very powerful tool” to improve the quality and fairness of meetings and discussions, said researchers at MIT Sloan School of Management. Everyone being in a small box on the screen, they argue, opens the room to more voices and perspectives and effectively alters the dynamics of the traditional business meeting. For starters, online meetings diminish leaders’ ability to control workers with an imposing physical stance and gestures, said Wayne Turmel, cofounder of the Remote Leadership Institute. “When people are meeting in person, it is much easier for leaders to use gestures to show power over the folks in the room,” he continued, “But when everybody is the same size in a box on a screen, that’s much more difficult to do.” On most videoconferencing platforms, a skilled facilitator has many tools available to promote fairness, agreed Thomas Kochan, Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kochan pointed to the ability to mute everyone until they want to speak by using a raise-your-hand feature. “Doing so prevents more aggressive participants from interrupting others or speaking over them,” said MIT SMR researchers. The chat function, meanwhile, allows people to address the group without interrupting whoever’s speaking and enables private side conversations without distracting others. And according to Turmel, online/remote meetings have given executives an opportunity to develop new levels of empathy. “Through remote meetings, they can see what is going on in people’s lives and relate that to the challenges at work,” he told MIT SMR. “Before the pandemic, if you were working from home, you kept your phone on mute. You put the dog in the garage and kept children out of the room. You did everything to conceal the fact that you were working at the dining room table. But then the pandemic hit, and we really got to know each other as people.” Senior executives long have been advised about the benefits of casually chatting up employees in hallways or by their desks to hear what’s on their minds. This type of “management by walking around” goes a long way toward making employees feel heard, while strengthening executive decision making by providing firsthand knowledge of what’s actually happening in an organization. The challenge, argued Kochan, is that many executives don’t have the time to walk through offices, especially if the company has multiple sites. Teleconferencing tools, he said, can make these opportunities grow exponentially. So, while online and video meetings may lack some of upsides of in-person engagement, employee interaction within the digital realm does come with tangible benefits. Video Killed the Office Bully 6 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
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A recent study by Swiss economists came to the demotivating conclusion that long commutes destroy happiness. According to the research published in The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, people with longer commuting times report lower subjective well-being, even when regarding a number of alternative explanations. Conventional wisdom among economists was that long commutes are based on the economic principle of rational choices, with commuting being a tradeoff one was prepared to put up with, even if tedious or over long-distances, in order to hold a job or take advantage of more-affordable housing choices that benefitted general wellbeing. But the Swiss economists’ hypothesis has been further reinforced by subsequent research which shows that long commutes also can have significant effects on people’s physical health. According to a study from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R), a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, a person’s likelihood of becoming obese increases by 6 percent for every hour spent commuting, which also was connected to an increased risk of high blood pressure. Long commute times were linked to factors such as insufficient physical activity and poor sleep habits. In other words, it appears millions of workers across the country are reaping the mental and physical health benefits of no longer having to commute. More sleep, for one, appears to be a big health benefit. A survey of more than 1,000 employees by mental health and wellness performance company 1AND1 Life found that 46 percent of respondents say they use the extra time of not having to travel to sleep in a bit longer, while 20 percent spend it making a healthy breakfast before work. Nearly one in 10 enjoyed the added benefit of being able to have a proper workout in the morning. The most highly cited benefit of not commuting was being able to spend more time with family (such as having breakfast together), named by 58 percent of respondents. Study: WFH Improves Worker Welfare Research Suggest Most Companies Feel Ill Equipped for Remote Work Instacart, Office Depot Partner on Same-Day Delivery Insightful, a workforce analytics and productivity software provider, released a survey revealing that despite increased acceptance and adoption of remote work, many company leaders still don’t feel fully equipped to operate optimally in this environment. What’s the biggest challenge with remote and hybrid work? Difficulties with collaboration and communications 21% Being in a different time zone than the rest of the team 18% Distractions at home 17% Hard to track employee productivity 15% Staying motivated 14% Not being able to unplug 13% Other 0% Source: Insightful, 2022 Among a wide-ranging series of findings, almost two-thirds of respondents stated they don’t have the tools they need to effectively manage and ensure the productivity of team members working remotely. Nearly four in 10 company leaders believe employees are less productive in a remote or hybrid environment. Not surprisingly, the top challenge with remote or hybrid was “difficulties with collaboration and communication,” cited by 21 percent of respondents. Despite the challenges expressed, 65 percent of company leaders stated that remote and hybrid work will become a permanent fixture in their organization. Online grocery platform Instacart and Office Depot now offer same-day delivery from more than 1,000 Office Depot and OfficeMax stores across the U.S. as Instacart continues to broaden the selection of household goods on its marketplace. Now, via Instacart, more than 70 million U.S. households can shop from a wide selection of office and school supplies from Office Depot including printer and ink supplies, computers and electronics, notebooks, desk organizers and more, to be delivered from the store to their doors in as fast as one hour. To begin shopping from Instacart for same-day delivery of Office Depot products, customers can visit www.instacart.com/ office-depot or select the Office Depot storefront on the Instacart mobile app. INTELLIGENCE 8 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
Slingshot Digital Workplace ‘Connects Everyone, Everywhere’ Software company Infragistics has introduced its Slingshot platform that streamlines companies’ workplace tech stacks by giving remote, inperson and hybrid teams a single place to collaborate, make data-driven decisions, set goals, share content and communicate within the context of the projects they’re working on. Slingshot is available as a desktop app (Mac and Windows) and mobile app (Apple App Store and Google Play) and can be accessed on any web browser at slingshotapp.io. Slingshot eliminates the obstacles and extra time teams spend switching from one app to the next to figure out where conversations happened, where content is stored, what others are working on and where they can find the data they need to make decisions. Its project management interface features native chat functionality, content-sharing and a data catalog that acts as a central location for the data that matters to an organization, so teams can make informed decisions through dashboards. Slingshot also brings the power of an integrated business intelligence (BI) machine into the daily workflow, allowing everyone within the organization to access and analyze data through the creation of visual dashboards. During its recent Work Transformation Summit, Zoom announced Zoom IQ for Sales, a product that uses AI to analyze sales meetings and deals to provide insights. According to Josh Dulberger, head of product, data and AI for the company, Zoom IQ for Sales can identify opportunities, assess risks and ultimately enable and improve sales team performance. It uses natural language processing models to process post-meeting transcripts and deal progress data, generating insights for sales reps and managers. For starters, Zoom IQ for Sales generates an engagement score that aims to capture how attentive a given customer is based on “talk-time” ratio, the lag time between responses and the number of times that the customer speaks during the call. A separate metric, the sentiment score, measures “positive” and “negative” words and phrases used in meetings. Yet another score monitors the use of filler words such as “like” and “um,” which studies show can have a negative impact on close rates. Zoom IQ for Sales also attempts to identify “good” questions by treating the length of customers’ responses as a corollary for engagement. Sales teams can feed a list of product features to Zoom IQ so the software can count the number of times each feature is mentioned during the call. Zoom last May introduced an AI-powered feature that shows highlights from recorded meetings, automatically selecting the “best” parts of meetings based on keywords from audio transcriptions. Flexibility in terms of work location and the number of days in the office is not only seen as a benefit by employees, but it’s beneficial for the organization as well, suggest findings from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). The independent research firm found that high-performance organizations – based on revenue growth, profitability, market share and customer satisfaction – are 3X more likely to provide employees flexibility. Zoom Launches AI-powered Features for Sales Teams Flexible Goes Both Ways 252% Percent increase in weekly time spent in meetings for the average Microsoft Teams user between February 2020 and February 2022, according to anonymized data of 365 users collected by Microsoft. The findings also showed a 28% increase in afterhours work since March 2020. Source: Kurmi; Pulse As new collaboration technologies emerge and their usage by end-users is accelerated by the pandemic, does your organization have a plan in place to automate and manage those tools? 43% 56% 1% 0% Yes, we do this already No, but we are planning to in the next 12 mo ths No, and we aren’t planni g to I’m not sure $243.9M When do you expect to have a desktop as a service (DaaS) Solution fully implemented at your organization? Source: Citrix; Pulse sur vey 11% We have fully implemented a DaaS solution 25% In the next 6 months 32% In 7-12 months 15% In 13-18 months 16% In more than 18 months High-performance organizations are 3x more likely to provide employees flexibility to choose: Source: i4cp From where one works The number of days worked in a given setting Times of day work is done 25% 9% 20% 6% 17% 5% High-performance organization Low-performance organizations 9 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
Even before companies were able to adequately establish home-based workstations for their newly remote and hybrid employees, experts and business leaders were decrying the downsides of dispersed workforces. Citing analysis of historical precedents, they told us how operating outside the boundaries of a physical office would make it difficult to maintain company culture and dimmish work teams’ abilities to collaborate. In turn, senior executives have expressed pronounced concerns over the impact of remote and hybrid work models on corporate culture and operations, said researchers at MIT Sloan Management Review. More than eight in 10 C-suite members surveyed by MIT Sloan Management Review say they are “somewhat” or “very concerned” about remote employees being able to participate fully in collaborative sessions. More than 80 percent fret about the ability of remote employees to make new friends, expand internal networks, and easily get someone’s advice on how to do things. About two-thirds of respondents agree that their organization believes it needs to have most INTELLIGENCE Dispelling the myths concerning remote work, company culture and colleague collaboration Leadership Over Location By Martin Vilaboy 10 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
For More Information, Contact Your Fusion Connect Channel Manager Industry’s Best and Most Comprehensive Service Guarantee Customer Satisfaction ©2021 Fusion Connect, Inc. All rights reserved. Fusion Connect Service Guarantee INSTALLATION GUARANTEE Fusion Connect will meet the agreed-upon installation date(s) for UCaaS and/or SD-WAN services. If the targets are not met, the customer is credited with one month’s MRC for the service. 100% UPTIME GUARANTEE A 100% uptime guarantee for customers who purchase both UCaaS and SDWAN, or Fusion Connect provides a credit. RATE LOCK GUARANTEE Rates for Unified Communications and SD-WAN services will not change for the life of the customer’s contract. FUTURE-PROOF TECHNOLOGY GUARANTEE Ongoing upgrades to the next generation of UCaaS and SDWAN technology will be implemented at no additional cost. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION GUARANTEE Customers will be satisfied with the quality of our Unified Communications (UCaaS) and SD-WAN services, and any issues will be resolved to their satisfaction, or the customer may cancel the service(s) without penalty.
employees working onsite to maintain the corporate culture. “This belief is consistent among all industries and, to some extent, among the largest companies,” said MIT SMR analysts. Such concerns, however, appear to be unmerited, as research from MIT SMR, among others, suggests many of the early concerns surrounding the difficulties and potential disconnectedness of remote working have not materialized. Remote and hybrid situations could even be improving workplace culture and team collaboration in certain ways. And as it turns out, executive leadership could be more important that geography when it comes to maintaining “the three Cs” of culture, comradery and collaboration.” “Beliefs appear to be trailing reality considerably in many companies,” said the MIT SMR report. “Only a tiny percentage of respondents — often fewer than 10 percent — say, in response to multiple questions, that hybrid work environments have a negative effect on corporate cultures.” Nearly half of senior leadership and management surveyed by MIT SMR say that levels of camaraderie have improved since workers went remote and hybrid. Another 40 percent feel those levels have remained about the same, leaving only 9 percent saying the level of camaraderie declined. Some might argue that current remote and hybrid environments leverage relationships established before the pandemic struck, when most people were still gathered in offices. But among those remotely full time prior to the pandemic, 47 percent say that levels of camaraderie have improved during the pandemic, while 41 percent believe things have remained the same. And among the 43 percent of respondents who began their jobs after the pandemic began in early 2020, the majority say their sense of fellowship has actually gotten better during that time. “In other words: Physical colocation doesn’t appear to be totally necessary for developing esprit de corps, even among those new to their jobs,” said the MIT SMR report. “Regardless of seniority levels or length of tenure, employees are connecting and building relationships remotely, in large part via the use of telecommunications tools such as videoconferencing platforms and messaging apps.” Indeed, rather than a growing disconnect from company and culture, as some assumed work arraignments of the past two years would induce, respondents’ level of trust in their companies, in how they are “seen and heard” and included, and clarity in their specific roles have largely improved if not stayed the same. Less than one in 10 respondents say both the ability to express their opinion (7 percent) and feelings of inclusion and diversity (6 percent) have worsened, compared to 46 percent of the former and 47 percent of the latter who said they have improved. Meanwhile, six in 10 say that they have been recognized more frequently for the work they do since switching to remote and hybrid environments. The younger that survey respondents are, the more likely they are to see positive impacts on company culture from the use of hybrid working models, showed the MIT SMR findings. The ability to openly express personal opinions is an example: 59 percent of respondents in Generation Z (those born since 1995), 50 percent of millennials (born between 1980 and 1994), 41 percent of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1979) and 40 percent of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) believe this has improved. The vast majority of respondents also believe that their companies’ leaders believe in them, show the MIT SMR findings. Two-thirds agree to a “considerable” or “great” extent that their companies’ leaders believe that individuals working at home INTELLIGENCE 12 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com Most and least concerned about hybrid/remote work environments interfering with important interactions with managers/key colleagues Role Very Concerned Somewhat Concerned Not at all Concerned Board members 29% 43% 29% C-suite 37% 46% 17% Senior executives 43% 46% 10% Middle/Upper managers 34% 43% 23% Supervisor/Manager 25% 51% 24% Individual contributor (non-manager) 19% 41% 40% Source: MIT Sloan Management Review Most and least concerned about hybrid/remote work environments making it look like they’re insufficiently motivated about their careers Role Very Concerned Somewhat Concerned Not at all Concerned Board members 33% 42% 25% C-suite 38% 40% 22% Senior executives 41% 43% 16% Middle/Upper managers 37% 40% 23% Supervisor/Manager 31% 44% 26% Individual contributor (non-manager) 27% 34% 39% Source: MIT Sloan Management Review
will get their work done well and on time. Top executives appear most confident about that issue, with 84 percent of board members agreeing that their organizations’ leaders believe that home-based employees will do good work on time. What’s more, a decisive majority of respondents (77 percent) “strongly agree” or “agree” that company leaders regularly check in with employees to see how they are doing, suggesting that digital tools have allowed for a type of “management by walking around” that some believed would be difficult to maintain with workers residing mostly outside the office. Contrary to another common assumption regarding remote and hybrid arrangements, so far FOMO doesn’t appear to be a huge problem with remote and hybrid workers. Only about a third of all survey respondents identified it as worrisome. And the less senior employees are, the less likely they are to worry about FOMO at all. When asked to rate their level of concern about getting sufficient face time with their managers and others important to their careers, 43 percent of senior executives describe themselves as “very concerned.” Only 19 percent of individual contributors, on the other hand, consider themselves “very concerned” in that regard; “an impressive 40 percent say they’re not concerned at all,” said MIT SMR analysts. Higher-level executives are also more worried that hybrid or remote situations could make them appear to be insufficiently motivated about their work or careers, of which 41 percent of senior executives are “very concerned” compared to about a quarter of individual contributors who are “very concerned.” Likewise, a majority (52 percent) of respondents in the survey say the line of sight into their own career trajectories has improved, while another 36 percent say it remained about the same. Only 9 percent said their trajectories became less clear. “Clarity likely stems from increased trust in management. The vast majority of respondents believe that management trusts them and that they are being recognized for the work they do,” said the MIT SMR study, which found that a large majority of 83 percent said they have confidence in their companies’ senior leaders to strengthen the overall sense of belonging. “COVID hit suddenly like a thunderstorm,” said Kevin Martin, chief research officer at the Institute for Corporate Productivity. “With business under threat, managers and executives really rose to the occasion. And that seems to have made people much more comfortable and built their trust.” Of course, digital communications tools and video conferencing, in particular, have played a large part in keeping folks collaborating and connected to culture. So, what about the dreaded Zoom fatigue? It might not be as prevalent as it is repeatedly mentioned. According to Pew Research Center, most workers who regularly use online platforms to connect with co-workers say they are fine with the amount of time they spend on video calls. About one-in-four say they are worn out by it. Perhaps folks have built up some stamina. Back in October of 2020, 37 percent of regular teleworkers who often used online conferencing said they were worn out by the amount of time spent on video calls, said Pew, although there was a larger percent of workers operating remotely. If nothing else, this research suggests organizations have done a fairly good job of avoiding some of the expected and potential downsides of a dispersed workforce. “I think it’s a fair statement to look at these findings and say that managers in remote and hybrid environments have very deep concerns and understand the possible pitfalls,” argued Robert C. Pozen, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management Investments and coauthor of Remote Inc.: How to Thrive at Work … Wherever You Are (Harper Business, 2021). “They are being very intentional about how to manage these situations and seem to be pretty successful.” It also should cause those organizations to pause as they consider “returning to normal,” argued MIT SMR researchers. “It’s important,” concluded the research firm, “to preserve those gains in whatever new environments evolve beyond the pandemic, as opposed to simply going back to the ‘old normal.’” J Meeting per person Chats per person Average fter-hours work Average workday span What Remote Workers Say they Need Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 23% Access to same benefits as oce workers 22% Reimbursing costs for maintaning a home oce 20% Remote brainstorming and workshops (Percent saying it’s critical) 18% Social events for remote workers 17% Reimbursing costs of space in coworking sites Bad Bot Reported User Agent Types, 2016-2020 Source: Imper va (Percent saying it’s critical) 0% 5% 0% 5% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 75.9% 83.2% 78.1% 79.4% 68.0% 16.1% 10.4% 13.9% 12.9% 28.1% 8.0% 6.4% 8.0% 7.7% 3.9% Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari Mobile User Agents Other User Agents 13 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
Palo Alto Networks has unveiled an enterprise edition of its Okyo Garde network security gateway as a way to extend secure access service edge (SASE) functionality to remote workers’ entire homes. Originally released last summer, Okyo Garde is a low-profile Wi-Fi 6 router embedded with Palo Alto’s security stack and threat intelligence. The appliance is controlled by a mobile app, enabling user provisioning, and is available as a subscription that includes hardware, software and security services. “The benefits of working remotely also come with the shared responsibility between employees and employers for protecting networks. At-home use of personal devices, email and social media accounts increases the risk of cyberattacks on the enterprise,” said Kumar Ramachandran, senior vice president of products at Palo Alto Networks. Citrix Systems recently introduced Secure Private Access, a cloud-delivered, zero trust network access (ZTNA) offering that provides protected access to apps and data from managed, unmanaged and bringyour-own devices, enabling employees to work in a secure, reliable and productive manner, wherever they happen to be. Citrix Secure Private Access allows contextual access to IT-sanctioned applications whether they are deployed on-premises or in the cloud. Using the solution, IT organizations can provide zero-trust network access to all apps, with adaptive authentication to continually evaluate access based on end-user roles, locations, device posture and user risk profiles. Palo Alto Doubles Down on WFH Security with SASE Citrix Modernizes Security to Accommodate Hybrid Work Bad Bots are Shifting Toward Mobile Bad bots, which are software applications that run automated tasks with malicious intent, remain true to the most popular Web browsers, mostly impersonating Chrome. But researchers at application security platform provider Imperva have seen an increase in usage of mobile browsers such as Mobile Safari and Mobile Chrome. The preference for mobile doesn’t end there, as Imperva observed a growing popularity of bot attacks being launched from mobile ISPs. Data centers are still responsible for the majority of bad bot traffic, with 54 percent of bad bots originating from them. But that is a significant decrease from last year (70 percent). The trend of bad bots originating from residential ISPs that has been going for four years in a row continued in the most recent Imperva bot report, rising from 27.8 percent in 2019 to 30.9 percent in 2020, and bad bot traffic from mobile ISPs increased significantly in 2020, accounting for a staggering 15.1 percent of traffic. That’s an increase of 556.5 percent from 2019 (2.3 percent). Most bad bots (68 percent) are self-reporting as either Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer. This is lower than the previous year (79.4 percent), as mobile user agents gain popularity, with a substantial rise from 12.9 percent in 2019 to 28.1 percent in 2020. $1.07 Million The average cost of breaches where remote work is involved is $1.07 million higher than breaches where remote work is not involved, show finding from Info-Tech Research Group. And cost of a data breach rose by nearly 10% in the past year, the highest rate in more than seven years. SECURITY How will you approach SASE technology selection? Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 23% Access to same benefits as oce workers 22% Reimbursing costs for maintaning a home oce 20% Remote brainstorming and workshops 18% Social events for remote workers 17% Reimbursing costs of space in coworking sites Bad Bot Reported User Agent Types, 2016-2020 Source: Imper va (Percent saying it’s critical) 0% 5% 0% 5% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 75.9% 83.2% 78.1% 79.4% 68.0% 16.1% 10.4% 13.9% 12.9% 28.1% 8.0% 6.4% 8.0% 7.7% 3.9% Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari Mobile User Agents Other User Agents 44% 19% 19% 18% eparate vendor for networking and security Single vendor for networking and s curity Consumer via an MSP or Telco Unclear; still determining how 14 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
Like a prize fighter, cybercrime is coming for your organization, juking and jiving in a certain rhythm to stage a calculated attack and take down your investments. The blindside strike? It’s the unforeseen financial implications that leave you on the ropes. We’re all aware of cyber risks, especially for the organization with a geographically dispersed workforce. With a widened attack surface and unmonitored opportunity for maliciousness, your cybersecurity posture and its financial implications have never been more pressing. Traditionally, those who have ignored the threat have witnessed some form of devastating attack on their operations, profits or livelihood. Now, according to Standard & Poor Financial Services, the stakes may be even higher and can impact your company’s credit rating. Over the years, malicious bad actors have grown more savvy in launching attacks against the common types of software and services companies employ. Pair that with a consolidating marketplace, and businesses find themselves increasingly reliant on the same systems and platforms, often following a comparable set of rules. Now, consider the upswing in remote logins as more companies than ever go hybrid or fully remote, relying on staff they cannot feasibly control. With limited access to costly cybersecurity resources, training and best practices, these employees are increasingly falling victim. According to Check Point Research, cyberattacks against members of the non-financial sector were up at least 53 percent year to year, with many data-focused companies witnessing far more dangerous growth due to changes in digiBy Brady Hicks Taking Credit A weak cybersecurity stance can impact your company’s credit rating, says S&P SECURITY 16 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
tal ecosystem, connectivity and cloud resources. Per S&P, coordinated attacks that contributed to a negative credit rating grew by 100 percent in 20202021 compared to the 2018 to 2019 period. The firm also noted that this trend will likely only continue and impacts virtually all sectors. Notably, healthcare, tech, retail and business services companies saw their bottom-line operations impacted during the period, and in several ways. Insurance Premium Hikes With growth in targeted attacks comes a sharp rise in cyber insurance claims. S&P noted that some businesses respond by seeking improved risk-management coverage, while others are subject to heavy rate escalation as a result of their inability to absorb the cost of an attack. Either way, price adjustments and insurance term changes are frequent. Rates are often subject to level of risk, considering the amount that a company has already invested in security standards and infosecurity improvements. Businesses with fewer cybersecurity-related resources now find a less-than-level playing field, while larger, more-equipped companies with more resilient security options at their disposal tend to receive the better rates. This emerging trend has caused some to reinforce their cybersecurity capabilities. For the others, the investment comes through the aforementioned increases. Cyber-insurance providers also can bolster your posture by providing access to resources such as IT services, crisis management and data restoration. While S&P noted that this can be beneficial to your company’s bottom-line numbers, it also can cause potential strain for insurance companies. This leads to – you guessed it – further rate hikes. As a result, S&P observed multiple instances of insurance carriers altering their clients’ terms-of-service to cut back on or eliminate cybersecurity coverage. And with greater retention levels and co-insurance requirements on costly ransoms, the actual coverage for your buck could be lower than ever before. Malicious Financial Aims According to IBM Security, average cost-per-penetration grew by 10 percent in 2021, with increased losses attributed to greater attack sophistication, data quality and sensitivity. This survey noted that data breaches were higher than ever for the year, hitting more than $4 million for the first time in history. In particular, ransomware attacks grew in frequency as techniques such as double-extortion – involving threats to leaked or stolen information – and hijacked operations continue to evolve. Unsurprisingly, average loss per incident was highest among the sectors with the most cyberattacks. S&P also noted increasing instances of strikes against software service providers and, by extension, the firms that regularly purchase and use their services. In a remotework world that continues to transition to cloud-based and other third-party resources, this factor increases the provider’s obligation to upscale its cybersecurity strategy and investment. Increased Financial Pressure There is also a degree of competition with the organizations in play. Developments within the cyber-insurance industry have caused a need to remain cognizant of your own cybersecurity presence to avoid being considered less favorable – and lower rated – than competitors. In this respect, credit harm comes via loss of customer and partner loyalty, supplier strain and damaged reputation. Another factor is the obvious financial impact. The risk – whether due to operational shutdown, necessary security investments, associated regulatory/legal costs or other constraints – can be substantial. According to S&P, new and emerging cyber threats represent not just a roadblock to operations and profits but to the kind of higher downside risk that affects your credit line. And, given attacker sophistication and reliance on cloud services, the risk can only grow. Consequently, your organization can’t afford not to enhance its cybersecurity stance. J 61.9% 31.4% 6.7% d work ale 54.4% 35.8% 9.8% d work tting Source: AON, The Council of Insurance agents and Broker Cyber Insurance Premiums Are On The Rise Average rate increases U.S. cyber insurance 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% (5) Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021 17 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
SECURITY A Unified Front Consolidated security could become key to peace of mind By Brady Hicks As remote workforces grow, organizations that embrace telework continue to find new ways to effectively manage their geographically dispersed and hybrid staff. Other areas, however, such as their critical physical assets and sensitive data, remain exposed over a significantly larger attack surface than ever before. Companies regularly find themselves juggling the need for accessibility, convenience and security, frequently choosing to employ a “best-ofbreed” series of a la carte services that, individually, attempt to address various areas of concern. In some sad cases, they don’t even achieve that much. To respond, many businesses have turned to consolidated security, a portfolio of options that handle virtually all aspects of this worry. Such SaaS (software as a service) applications work to seamlessly oversee security, manage critical communications, monitor data access and prevent the types of dangerous cyberattacks that continue to increase in frequency. 18 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
In turning to a single service provider for their on-demand, consolidated security, many businesses expect to bolster operational output, collaboration and threat detection/prevention, ultimately promoting a more seamless environment for their geographically spread employee base. Consolidated security lends a multi-pronged approach to cyber coverage. This type of architecture seeks to secure any and all potential IT attack surfaces, exchanging similar threat-protection, management and threatintelligence service options regardless of whether it is securing a network, cloud connection, endpoint, mobile or IoT device. Overall, the goal is to simplify the architecture while enhancing connectivity and improving the overall cybersecurity posture that is so critical for your organization’s needs. Generally speaking, consolidated security tends to include: • Threat Prevention - Addressing potential holes in security, no matter from where they stem. • Threat Intelligence - Real-time, spanning virtually any environment. • Security Management - Unified to promote more effective security oversight. • Patch Management - Including for operating system and thirdparty applications. • Encryption - For securing communications. • Threat Reporting - Daily updates on applications, networks and components. • Data Management - Overseeing and auditing information, whether from endpoints, at rest or in use. According to WatchGuard Technologies, comprehensive coverage is key. The company’s senior vice president of product management, Andrew Young, recently noted that how consolidated security software “enables MSPs [managed service providers] to offer a comprehensive set of enterprise-grade security services to protect businesses of all sizes. Endpoint modules not only drastically simplify the management of our endpoint security portfolio for MSPs but provide them with new cross-sell and up-sell revenue opportunities as well.” There are, of course, many other benefits for a company with remote workers. Zero-Day Threat Resolution Predicting the next big threat can be very difficult, as it can come from almost anywhere. To further complicate matters, remote staff often find themselves unable to coordinate in real time, if for no other reason than the complicated logistics of being distributed across many miles – or even in multiple time zones. Today’s businesses must be able to efficiently and effectively mitigate risk as it is encountered, delivering consistent, standardized protection (across all digital assets) and secured connectivity (spanning many points of entry). According to Check Point Security Technologies, consolidated security is most effective because of its ability to prevent threats in real time. This area is critical for a dispersed workforce, in which employees tend to be scattered across a wide area and addressing such issues in a timely, coordinated fashion can be problematic. After all, Check Point contends that most attacks are easier to prevent than to address. Management Indeed, when you have remote workers, coordination can be key. One benefit to consolidated security is that it streamlines all management options, continuing to field “OVERALL, THE GOAL IS TO SIMPLIFY THE ARCHITECTURE WHILE ENHANCING CONNECTIVITY AND IMPROVING THE OVERALL CYBERSECURITY POSTURE THAT IS SO CRITICAL FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NEEDS.” 19 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
threats while easing your ability to implement across-the-board changes as needed. Most consolidated security includes customizable, automated software to bolster an organization’s response to impending threat. This includes access to AI (artificial intelligence) options for fielding threats in real time; information processing, simultaneously, across multiple sources; centralized management that classifies threats and consolidates tasks for effective resolution, along with other measures to reduce response time. Automated Security Available across virtually all points of access, most consolidated security options employ a specialized dashboard for handling threat intelligence across many different feeds. By nature of being automated, this software can improve identification and remediation, making it especially useful in cases where the remote worker simply cannot rely on an IT team being situated just down the hall. Threat Visibility The dashboard of a consolidated security implementation is critical for gaining a more intensive – often 360-degree – view into security operations. Included is access to consolidate and report on various metrics, assemble pieces of information and alleviate what would otherwise be poor communication between multiple applications. This extended visibility also serves to clarify security posture, providing oversight for out-of-office staff who otherwise might not have access to such resources. Reduced Ownership Cost Consolidated security equates to fewer overhead expenses. Per Check Point researchers, it can reduce the need for physical personnel by 50 percent, cutting the hours spent focusing on security by consolidating tools, marrying policy, addressing threats, delegating roles and enforcing compliance and integration. “Statistics show that point solutions take an average of 40 days to identify attacks, costing … $667,500 in remediation,” noted Check Point. “Consolidated solutions identify attacks in an average of two days, with an average total cost of $6,800 in remediation. It goes without saying; a consolidated solution is the better deal.” Recently, Gartner reported on an emerging trend toward unified software – and in particular consolidated security – in order to streamline operations in a largely remote work world. Of note, the market analyst predicts that, by 2025, 80 percent of businesses will combine web, cloud-based and private applications from a single provider’s SSE (security service edge) product. About a third of enterprises will employ a DSP (data security platform), while 70 percent of organizations will marry cloud-native application lifecycle management to no more than three providers. Gartner also estimated that by 2027, 50 percent of “midmarket security buyers” will employ XDR (extended detection and response) capabilities to consolidate workspace security tech. While these figures are largely based on speculation as to where the market is headed, Gartner also indicated that as many as 83 percent of companies have consolidated their software provider vendors “for at least one year.” The shift to a largely remote work scenario is now a few years in, and effectively creates a growing need to offer 24x7 support for those staffers, their communications and the essential information that their jobs require them to access. By employing consolidated security, those workplaces gain access to cloud-based policy and the peace of mind that it offers. Here’s the problem: – sophisticated attacks are targeting your critical networks, cloud services, endpoints and other assets every day. That’s where consolidated security options such as those available from Check Point and WatchGuard come into play: helping to field, manage and simplify virtually all of your organization’s security concerns from a consolidated dashboard. J 83% of Organizations Pursuing a Vendor Consolidation Strategy Have Been Doing So for at Least One Year Source: Gartner SaaS Portfolio Size and Spend by Company Size As the size of the company grows, so too does its SaaS portfolio Pursuing/Plan to Pursue Vendor Consolidation Strategy Duration of Vendor Consolidation Strategy 17% 25% 51% 7% Less than 1 Year 1 to 2 Years 0% 30% 60% 29% We are currently pursuing a vendor consolidation strategy 51% We plan to pursue a vendor consolidation strategy in next 2-3 years 20% We have no plans to pursue a vendor consolidation strategy in next 2-3 years 3-5 Years More than 5 Years 20 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
A full 90 percent of decision makers of unified communications (UC) platforms value the time they spend managing MACDs (moves, adds, changes, deletions) in those platforms each year at $100,000 to $500,000, according to surveys by Kurmi Software and Pulse. And about three-quarter of respondents (72 percent) said they spend about 26 percent to 50 percent of their time each week managing end-user MACDs in their organization’s UC platform. So, it’s not surprising that 84 percent of UC decision makers agree that automating MACDs is critical to keep pace with the growing volume of work. What’s more, 99 percent of UC decision makers either already have a plan to automate and manage their UC tools or will in the next 12 months, showed the Kurmi survey. Accops Systems, an India-based global provider of integrated remote access products and solutions, has launched Accops BioAuth, a fingerprint and facial authentication solution with continuous user environment monitoring, enabling organizations to authenticate DaaS users no matter where they are working from. This unique solution will help data-sensitive businesses prevent identity impersonation and shoulder surfing, as well as authentication-related attacks, said the company. The facial authentication feature can be integrated with any laptops, PCs and tablets to capture a user’s face and validate it against a face template of the user pre-registered with Accops BioAuth database placed in the organization’s data center. For critical process users, Accops BioAuth can be used for continuously monitoring the users’ work environment to check for the presence of any unauthorized person or object and lock them out if need be. Moreover, Accops BioAuth’s fingerprint authentication feature provides biometric authentication for any corporate application using biometric devices from any vendors. “Ensuring security across digital workspace with a geographically distributed workforce is a major challenge for organizations today. Traditional passwords are not potent enough to secure the modern enterprise network from highly sophisticated cyberattacks,” said Vijender Yadav, CEO, Accops. “Biometric authentication is done based on ‘who the user is’, and not merely ‘what the user possesses (OTP)’ or ‘knows (password)’. So, it is inherently much more secure than other forms of authentication, including OTPbased MFA,” he explained. Unlike other DaaS providers, Accops offers an enterprise-ready remote work infrastructure with integrated ZTNA, biometric-based MFA, productivity monitoring, endpoint compliance checks, and data protection capabilities. Further, Accops DaaS comes with a flexible power management feature that automatically shuts down idle VMs, reducing expenses. Also, it can be seamlessly integrated with Linux-based thin clients and zero clients provided by Accops. CONTROL Source: Kurmi; Pulse As new collaboration technologies emerge and their usage by end-users is accelerated by the pandemic, does your organization have a plan in place to automate and manage those tools? io ate 43% 56% 1% 0% f Vendor n Strategy Yes, we do this already No, but we are planning to in the next 12 months No, and we aren’t planning to I’m not sure 17% 25% 51% 15.3M $42M $243.9M $64.7M % 30% 60% Spend When do you expect to have a desktop as a service (DaaS) Solution fully implemented at your organization? Source: Citrix; Pulse sur vey 9 59.8 11% We have fully implemented a DaaS solution 25% In the next 6 months 32% In 7-12 months 15% In 13-18 months 16% In more than 18 months High-performa ce organizations are 3x more likely to provide employees flexibility to choose: Source: i4c From where one works The number of days worked in a given setting Times of day work is done 25% 9% 20% 6% 17% 5% High-performance organization Low-performance organizations What Remote Workers Say they Need (Percent saying it’s critical) Accops Offers Facial Authentication Solution for DaaS Users $4.2B Expected size of the growth in spending on IT asset management software between the years 2021 to 2026, representing a CAGR of 6.77 percent, according to Technavio’s findings. The adoption to cloud-based asset management is expected to see the most growth, with SaaS management softw r driving much of the spending. Automating MACDs 22 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com
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