REMOTE WORKING
Know the 3 key areas of successful remote working
Can you get to all the information you need to do your job? Do review and approval processes still work? Are reminders and escalations sent out automatically? Are you always sure you’re using the right version of an important document?
If the answer is “no” to any of these, then you need to upgrade your remote working experience now!
Remote Working in Action
Contact us to learn about remote working with ELO
Remote Working – 3 Key Areas
The three key areas of successful remote working are security, access and collaboration.
So what are the main pain points to address and risks to mitigate when working remotely with your business information? There are three key areas to consider.
SECURITY
Security policies, procedures, and controls define how content is made available to whom and under what circumstances. The security function is about managing risk.
INFORMATION SECURITYACCESS
Remote working only works if you can access, find, and use all the information you need to do your job. Having access to business information is about productivity.
INFORMATION ACCESSCOLLABORATION
Many document-centric business processes span departments. You need active collaboration among departments to be efficient and in control.
PROCESS COLLABORATIONSecurity Considerations
When you remotely access company information – financial information, customer contracts, HR records – you need to do so securely. Your company should have clear information governance policies, procedures, and controls that protect information assets so only authorized users can access information.
Information moves around
At any given time, digital information is in one of three states: At rest (e.g., on hard drive, server, etc.), in use (read, edited) or in motion – as in, moving over a network. Each state has its security considerations.
AT REST
Protect information at rest with authorization. Information at rest includes business documents and associated metadata. The IT and IG functions define, enforce, and audit the security measures that allow authorized users to access remote file servers, databases, and cloud-hosted systems
IN USE
Protect information in use by securing the endpoint. Information in use is content or documents being viewed or edited at an “endpoint” – a computer – using software (a document open in Excel or Word), in a web browser (a PDF) or on a mobile device (content in an app). Keep every device used to access business info up to date with the latest security updates.
IN MOTION
Protect information in motion with a VPN and/or encryption. Information in motion refers to content or documents traveling over a network or the Internet between the “at rest” remote location and an “in use” endpoint location. Information traveling over an Internet connection should be encrypted (over HTTPS) and/or accessed using a VPN.
Access Considerations
Security policies and controls help protect information by securing information by using hardware and software and by adopting security standards. The second consideration is how to give authorized users access information they need to do their jobs.
Security policies drive information access
A role (manager) belongs to a group (AP approver), which has permissions (approve AP invoices) based on rules (all invoices over $20k require manager approval).
ROLES
A role is associated with one or more business processes. Assign users to roles and roles to groups because people may leave, be promoted, change departments, etc., but the role stays the same.
GROUPS
Groups are associated with departments (Accounting), functions (AP approval), and locations (Northeast). A role may belong to one or more groups. Functional groups may span departments.
PERMISSIONS
Permissions are assigned to roles and groups and should be based on the principle of least privilege, which is “privilege levels no higher than necessary to accomplish required organizational missions/business functions”
Cloud Content Management
If you need a secure, collaborative platform where your employees can remotely access and work with key business information, consider the Cloud Content Management SaaS solution from Ovitas.
LEARN MORECollaboration Considerations
What good is secure access if you can’t collaborate with co-workers on business processes?
Get work done faster
The days of walking over to accounting to check on an invoice are over. Remote work requires new processes that support digital collaboration across departments and functional areas.
PROCESS AUTOMATION
Remote processes in particular should be as automated as possible and should “go analog” when a business rule gets triggered. Manage routing, escalation, multi-level approvals and more using process automation to keep work flowing.
CROSS-DEPARTMENT
Business information and processes span departments. So information-related processes that require collaboration – like AP approvals – are most effective when roles (manager) are assigned to departmental groups (IT, HR) and functional groups (AP approver).
NOTIFICATIONS
Everyone gets a lot of information every day. Email. Chat. Text. Sometimes tasks slip through the cracks, so look for a solution that lets you prioritize tasks, has task reminders, and supports both sequential and parallel workflows.
