As global enterprises ready themselves for a Post COVID normal, industries across sectors are ramping up technology solutions to empower a hybrid work model. Multinational companies with branches across the globe are working out ways to tackle the fallout from the virus. Virtual and hybrid meetings are expected to grow exponentially in this scenario as people prefer remaining in their comfort zones. In an Interaction with SmartStateIndia, Mr.Faiz Rehman, National Business Head, India and SAARC, Collaboration, Barco elaborate more about the adoption and security threats for hybrid workplaces.
With the Covid pandemic accelerating the adoption of digital transformation, across industries, enterprises now need to enhance business resilience by preparing for future, hybrid workplaces that are powered by mobile connectivity, cognitive tools, and new-age technology solutions. Gartner predicts that, by 2022, 60% of hybrid workers will prioritize a smart office over a remote office. An increase in remote working employees and under-utilization of existing office spaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic will trigger a need for smart office spaces in the future.
How can enterprises leverage virtual collaboration techniques to combat risk of Coronavirus and improve their bottom-lines?
Even before the onset of the Coronavirus, enterprises were trending towards flexible and remote working. The Global Workplace Analytics study suggests that, by the end of 2021, an estimated 25-30% of the workforce will be working-from-home multiple days a week. This phenomenon has been fuelled by the lockdown necessitated due to the spread of Covid-19, increasing the demand for digital hybrid workspaces across sectors. The ongoing work from home situation has enabled enterprises to find value in the hybrid workstyle, aided by seamless virtual collaboration techniques. With the workforce growing comfortable with remote collaboration and the influx of solutions enabling seamless virtual conferencing, the need for physical contact and traveling for work is strictly limited, thus combating the risk of contracting or spreading the virus.
Enterprises are increasingly adopting hybrid solutions, with many Fortune 1000 companies today using Barco’s innovative remote conferencing solution ClickShare to boost virtual team collaboration and enable personalization and efficiency within hybrid workplaces. With meeting technology determining how cost-effective and engaging company meetings will be, Barco’s ClickShare will ensure that companies regain valuable time while reducing additional costs, including business-related travel, thereby improving bottom-lines.
ClickShare Conference ensures that enterprises –
- Save time – Users can set up video meetings in 7 seconds, ensuring seamless connectivity with remote colleagues.
- Reduce spending on expensive hardware – Users can work from their own trusted laptops while retaining the user experience they prefer.
- Optimize use of meeting space – ClickShare Conference makes it easier to set up small huddle meetings and connect with colleagues who work from home.
- Limit work-related travel – With efficient and seamless virtual conferencing, ClickShare Conference reduces the need for business travel, thus saving costs for the organization.
- Complete wireless collaboration experience – With ClickShare Conference, users can leverage the experience of wireless content sharing as well as wireless video conferencing, along with advanced features of ClickShare Conference like Touchback, Moderation, Annotation, Room View and Whiteboarding which dramatically improve users’ collaboration experience.
What is the major security threat faced by hybrid workplaces?
Security is key to a wireless presentation system for two very important reasons. Firstly, you are sharing company information through the system and secondly, it is in many cases connected to your network. It is not a matter of if there will be a security vulnerability but when. Some of the most common wireless system vulnerabilities are due to:
- Lack of proper authentication
- Encryption of data transmitted
- Easily hack-able firmware
- Software vulnerable by malicious software
- Vulnerabilities caused by unprotected network integration
At Barco, we have specifically developed various security processes and had ClickShare ISO27001 certified to ensure we handle security issues and vulnerabilities proactively –
- Barco has implemented security controls based on an extensive risk assessment and these controls are periodically reviewed and verified during audits. The necessary fixes and advanced features are included with every quarterly release.
- Barco has dedicated Product Security Incident Response (PSIRT) personnel who continuously monitor privacy and security risks and drive security improvements.
- It is not necessary to deploy Barco ClickShare on the organisation network as the device can work in silo mode.
- In case the organisation has a bifurcated guest and employee network, users can deploy Barco ClickShare on both these networks, therefore ensuring guests do not access the employee network.
- Barco ClickShare is enabled with the secure 256-bit AES symmetric encryption (equals 15360-bit asymmetric encryption) for best results.
