In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CIO Solutions shared that their technology-based internal processes were what helped them successfully transition to a work-from-home environment overnight. Upon hearing the rumors of COVID-19 reaching CA, CIO Solutions proactively tested a work from home model with key service teams. With these tests yielding no challenges to service, they migrated to that norm before the statewide mandate to close their offices.

CIO Solutions has always prioritized building their team with competent, efficient, and passionate members. They have a Rapid Response team for standard technical issues dedicated to the goal of first-call resolution. They also have Dedicated Client Teams comprised of engineers, tech leads, supervisors, technicians, and onsite professionals. Due to this structure, when demand for work from home system assistance sharply increased, they were able to reallocate designated resources from these Dedicated Client Teams into a specialized team focused on these requests without compromising support for the rest of their clients. CIO Solutions worked to set up systems for the clients with the assets they already had, and found that the customers in the cloud computing environment transitioned to remote work most seamlessly.

Moving forward, one of the biggest challenges CIO Solutions has identified in this new normal is how it has compromised security for many businesses. When COVID precautions began, many businesses were focused on simply making it work. In this time, workflows changed quickly, and many companies had to compromise their security requirements for the sake of functionality. Unfortunately, changing workflows and increased uncertainty are ideal scenarios where hackers thrive. Now, companies may have many employees using personal computers and devices (which may or may not be secure), over connections that may or may not be secure, with altered communication patterns outside of the norm. With these changes, hacking is on the rise and tactics are becoming more creative. One of the best lines of defense in this new normal, is employee vigilance. Learn more about some suggestions for security best practices in CIO Solutions’ latest blog post.