Remote work in companies: Resources to face the Covid-19
At the moment, companies and freelancers find that due to the COVID-19 crisis, our businesses are suffering from the situation. As a technology company, with this post we want to help by giving technological possibilities that especially help telework. Today there are many solutions and companies that work virtually.
Below we will list different tools to make teleworking as productive and safe as possible. Below we will mention some of them:
The reader will see that we mainly recommend the Amazon AWS cloud since we are partners and specialists, we know its possibilities very well. Although to be more transparent, mention that there are other clouds such as Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud that have similar solutions.
Remote desktop for remote working:
In the first place we can find that the computers that are being used in the office are fixed and we cannot move them. Or even that several people can use the same computer.
For this, AWS has a managed and managed cloud desktop service called Amazon Workspaces. This service will allow us to work remotely and have a Windows desktop for all the users we need with the necessary characteristics for each one.
The advantage is that they will be able to access this desktop using the free Amazon WorkSpaces client application on compatible devices, such as Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, Fire tablets, Android tablets or Chrome or Firefox web browsers.
Other very interesting options that we can use are: VNC viewer (free), tightVNC (free) and TeamViewer. If we want to access Microsoft servers we can use Microsoft Remote Desktop
Secure connection to the corporate network:
It is very possible that in order to work remotely we need to connect to our corporate network, for this we can use VPN (Virtual Private Network) software such as AWS Client VPN or open source options also compatible such as Open VPN
This will require specific software or hardware to be configured on the company network.
Once the solution is assembled, the computers of our team will be safely connected to the corporate network.
Hybrid cloud:
In some cases we may have a hybrid cloud that will allow us to connect our network to the amazon aws network securely with the aim of sharing resources that are in the company with resources that are in the cloud.
This will require the previously mentioned VPN connection or also with a direct connection to the company internet.
The advantage of hybrid cloud is that we can privately share Amazon AWS services within the company such as databases, data storage, backups, server replication, cloud servers, etc. The possibilities are limitless.
Cloud storage:
We will also need to be able to access the data we use to be able to remote working.
We can use tools that allow us to work locally and synchronize with the cloud, such as Amazon WorkDocs, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloudand many more.
We cannot forget Amazon S3, which allows us to store data in the cloud in a secure way and at a very low cost.
There are clients and backup software to synchronize our data with S3, such as:
- The dragondisk client.
- To make backups:
- Iperius backup
- cloudberrylab (now called msp backup): supports backup of files, databases and others
Remote communication and collaboration:
During this period that we are going to carry out teleworking, it is very important that we can communicate with the team and collaborate remotely.
To communicate we can use applications such as Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom.us and Amazon Chime.
These allow us to have group conversations as well as share the screen to show what we want.
Regarding remote collaboration and teamwork, we want to highlight:
- Email and cloud documents:
- Project management and communication:
Cloud computing
If at the moment we cannot evolve our projects due to the impossibility of hiring or having the necessary personnel to install new servers or equipment in the company.
In the cloud we can deploy windows, linux servers of all sizes and with the highest security requirements.
An example is amazon AWS that we can deploy windows servers, linux servers, databases of all kinds and other services, but there are other providers that can provide simpler hosting solutions such as digitalocean.com, clouding.io, linode.com.
Platforms to create blogs and static websites
Now is the time to make yourself known online, for this we want to mention a series of platforms to create blogs and static websites: wordpress.com, wordpress.org, Wix, weebly
Here we have put our recommendations for the different uses although there are many more.
Virtual customer service center
For those companies that want a fully operational contact center that can be operated from virtually anywhere, we recommend Amazon Connect.
conclusion
We hope that this post gives someone a clue to fill the gaps in isolation that we are all responsibly doing and that will allow us to continue advancing in our work or business. Hoping that the situation will normalize as soon as possible and our support to all who are suffering.
Do not hesitate to contact if there is any topic that we can include in this post that you find necessary to help and improve remote working.
