Before the Corona crisis, the home office in Germany was widely mocked and hardly used; by 2020, it had become a way of life for many. The pandemic forced a reconsideration; our working world has shifted dramatically in a short period. However, how do businesses bring their now dispersed staff together most efficiently and safely possible? For many businesses and workforces in this country, the transition occurred virtually overnight. Work is carried out carelessly wherever there is available space: in the kitchen at home and in the living room — safety is far too frequently a secondary consideration.

There are numerous considerations for businesses in this new hybrid working environment, and recent events have demonstrated that cybercriminals are attempting to capitalize on the transition to the home office. Cisco Systems, an IT specialist, assists in securing the home office through reliable and secure connections, while also promoting humanity through "collaboration" prospects.

Simple yet effective

With these solutions, users are not required to focus exclusively on technology, since Cisco provides simple-to-use tools for productive collaborative work in the cloud: facilitates collaboration within a team through video conferencing, messaging and file sharing, and working on digital whiteboards. The US company handles the topic of security with products such as user and device authentication, theft protection, and cloud security.

Cisco's recent report "Cisco Future of Secure Remote Work Report" emphasizes the growing need of protecting the home office. Before the pandemic, a maximum of 15% of employees worked externally; this percentage has since risen to 53%. And the trend is continuing to grow.

Small and medium-sized businesses might also use the crisis as an opportunity to catch up on an often-existing digital backlog. If more than half of all small and medium-sized organizations make considerable development, German economic output may increase by 328 billion euros by 2024 — according to the results of the Cisco study. Cisco offers these businesses specialized solutions centered on five major use cases: remote work, cybercrime protection, business continuity, modern workplaces, and the new normal in the office. These solutions are adaptable to specific requirements and can be scaled up or down as necessary.

How does it function?

Employees of small businesses are becoming increasingly mobile, and need dependable and secure Internet connections. However, technology must also be user-friendly and compatible to be a success factor. Otherwise, staff will seek a way around the specified solutions. Therefore, businesses should recognize early on that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for digitizing their operations. Simple, adaptable, and secure network connections serve as the foundation for all digital transformations – with the appropriate level of IT security to safeguard sensitive corporate information and data.

It provides a simple-to-install and simple-to-use solution for virtual meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, which has a significant advantage: external partners do not need to install any software and can connect via a web browser from any device.

Additionally, it features secure file sharing and built-in security for mobile meetings, safeguarding employees' and business contacts' privacy and sometimes critical information. It can be used to protect sensitive data by validating users' identities via secure two-factor authentication, for example.