RWS_Spring_21

I n the early stages of the pandemic, there was a lot of buzz around the “new normal.” Now the focus is shifting to what McKinsey is calling the “next normal,” as enterprises are looking ahead and planning for the post-viral era. Regardless of what the future brings, one thing is certain — remote work is here to stay. Cox Business senior director of sales and channel programs John Muscarel- la believes most enterprises won’t be fully back in offices until at least 2022. And even then, most companies are going to be on a hybrid basis, where workers rotate when they are on-site. “Remote work is not going away,” explained Muscarella. “At this point, enterprises need to lay the ground- work to support permanent telework, and refine their remote strategies. For most companies, the days of having everyone on-site are over.” Cox Business —which offers a robust line of remote work solutions — has worked extensively with enterprises throughout COVID-19, providing guid- ance and expertise to create secure and reliable remote environments. Shortly after the outbreak of CO- VID-19, the company released Cox Busi- ness Work-at-Home. This offering fea- tures a dedicated, enterprise-grade internet connection that goes directly to employees’ homes, supporting criti- cal business functions such as remote contact center and helpdesk services, meetings, and customer interactions. Cox Business Work-at-Home helps enterprises outfit their staff with a variety of ser- vices including managed cloud services from RapidScale, which is a Cox Business company, as well as broadband, Wi- Fi, and enhanced enterprise-grade security through McAfee and Mal- Block. Additional benefits include professional installa- tion for data connectivity, commercial features such as static IP addresses, and centralized billing, to name just a few examples. Cox Business brings together all the necessary elements that enter- prises need for remote work in one easy bundle, shielding workflows and sensitive data from shaky and insecure home networks. By working with Cox Business, companies don’t have to worry about issues including private meetings being impacted by family members playing Xbox or binge- watching Netflix. End users can have a completely different business line running into the home. As Muscarella explained, these bun- dles also give financial decision makers and executives greater confidence to move forward with remote work and cost-reduction initiatives, knowing that they have a framework to ensure productivity and communications. “Remote work is really a financial discussion, not an IT initiative,” Mus- carella continued. “It comes down to capital. Remote work can reduce office space, and save a company a lot of money.” The cost of supplying dedicated remote connectivity is minimal compared to having office space, said Muscarella. “It comes down to spending millions of dollars to keep people in an office, versus a nominal monthly fee on a commercial, business-grade internet circuit for teleworkers. However, there must be a strong foundation in place to make remote work happen.” This a time of significant change for enterprises, and some companies are having an easier time making the transition into remote work than others. According to Muscarella, the companies that are having the most success with remote work are those that had a plan in place beforehand and a well-documented strategy for supporting remote work. These com- panies were able to easily scale and provide end users with the services and support they need to thrive in remote environments. “Many companies are just starting to figure all of this out,” Muscarella said. “If somebody is seriously looking at really adopting teleworking to a bigger and broader extent, I highly recommend they team up with a provider who can provide insights and advice along the way. This is not a situation where you want to go it alone.” J Preparing for Your ‘Next Normal’ with Cox Business By Gerald Baldino John Muscarella, Cox Business senior director of sales and channel programs 50 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com NETWORKS