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“Coronavirus will transform the way we live, work and travel in the UK” Edmund King, President, The AA.
With the majority of the UK workforce now in its eighth week of working from home, it would be difficult to disagree with Mr King. Home working, which was previously only done as a last resort if a delivery was due or a repair in the home was being carried out, is now very much a reality for many workers. Now that they have their home office set up, they have found a new routine and it is likely that this will be something that they will be looking to continue once normal life resumes.
It will transform the way people think about work
With most of the country having had a taste of working from home, companies have continued to operate effectively. Teamwork has continued with meetings and presentations taking place over Zoom or Microsoft Teams. We have proved that with the aid of remote working technology it is still possible to carry on with minimum disruption. Add to that the improved work life balance, the reduced stress and demand on the country’s infrastructure, the less time spent commuting and the positive effects on the environment, and it is easy to see the benefits of home working and why it will be more important to people in the future.
It will no longer be ‘the work is here and here is where you work’
Gone will be the days when working from home was regarded as ‘slacking’. Instead, it will be an enabler to more flexible and agile working. Smart companies will have realised that post-coronavirus, working in general will change dramatically. They will be using this time to think ahead and ask themselves some important questions. How many of our employees will be looking to continue homeworking to some extent? Did we cobble together our remote working solution? Do we have the correct set up to support continuous homeworking once the current crisis is over? Are there improvements to be made? Do we need a bigger office? Do we need a smaller office? How can we change to reflect the needs of our staff? To name a few.
Stakeholder buy-in is key
All of these are well founded questions. With the correct remote working IT solution, businesses will be able to embrace change and be ready to prepare for a new way of working when the questions start to be asked. The absolute key to implementing a successful solution will be for IT managers to change the perception at the highest level and get full buy-in from stakeholders and senior management so that they have full authority to put processes in place which will prepare the business for new working practices.
Achieving many more things through technology
Once they’re on board, the most important thing is to examine your existing investments in remote working and the technology you already have in place. You can then consider if it can meet extra demands or if you need to consider upgrading or finding an alternative solution.
With remote technology, ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ which is why it’s important to look at the pros and cons of the different solutions. You may already be working in a cloud-based system which gives remote access easily and is device agnostic. Or it could be that you have a VPN (Virtual Private Network) system in place giving remote workers flexibility to work securely on their company laptops in the office and at home if they wish with online applications accessed via a web browser. Alternatively, you may be looking to upgrade to a VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) which gives secure connection from any device via a hosted desktop system and avoids the need to save locally.
Find a trusted partner to work with
Whichever option you choose, it is absolutely vital that you find an established and reliable partner to work with. You will need a company you can trust and who will work with you to design the right suite of solutions for your business. These are complex technologies and there’s no right way for setting up a remote working solution, so be sure to opt for a company with many years of experience and with a proven track record of success who will listen to you and consult you throughout the process.
No time like the present
There is likely to be a surge of demand to continue to work remotely and smart businesses will be thinking now about how they position themselves for the future. The coronavirus crisis has shown us that it is possible to have teams working and collaborating virtually and what will follow is a higher level of trust. Ultimately, this new policy will have a place in employment contracts and will allow you to attract and retain staff whilst being smarter about how you onboard people. Old school perceptions will no longer prevail. There is no barrier on the technology side, it is simply a new way of thinking.
Lumina Technologies has been at the leading edge of this for many years. We’ve been maturing rapidly with our customers of all shapes and sizes. Our strength is to see what is coming through and to present the right solution to the right customer at the right price. Contact us for more information on how we can help you prepare your business for the new remote working revolution.
Lumina Technologies have taken the time to understand the requirements of our business and work as our strategic IT partner, enabling us to concentrate on delivering a high quality service to our clients and focus on our growth strategy. They have delivered a 100% cloud solution to our business with no underlying infrastructure costs or maintenance, which gives us scalability for our planned growth. It also means our business critical applications and data are securely accessible from virtually all our user devices. Lumina’s professional approach and strategic expertise is highly valued and their management of our IT – based on their in-depth knowledge, leaves us confident that our systems are available 24×7.
Luke Harrison
Keidan Harrison LLP
Lumina have supported us so well through the difficult circumstances of 2020. They worked extremely hard to ensure we were able to work remotely and continue to operate our business successfully. The support team are very friendly and knowledgeable, and have excellent response times.
The team have also enhanced our cyber security which is so important in the legal sector, and they continue to provide high quality advice to help us move forward with our IT goals.
Robin Illingworth
Managing Partner, Adams & Remers LLP
The quality of IT Support provided by Lumina Technology is of the highest standard and is complemented by effective client liaison with impressive response times. Trap Oil Group plc has no hesitation in recommending Lumina as a dedicated and specialist group of IT professionals.
Martin David
Technical Director, Trap Oil Group plc
Richard and his team are a real inspiration to anyone who meets them and I have watched Lumina’s growth over the last few years with interest and admiration. Richard has been an amazing supporter of the Hospice of St Francis, being a Gold member of the Corporate Partner Network for almost two years. He takes an active interest in the community and is passionate about his company and his town: nothing is too much trouble, he is always willing to help, to give up his time and to provide business advice when asked. Lumina is an inspiration to any company wanting to set up business in Hertfordshire.
Carolyn Addison
Corporate Fundraising Manager, The Hospice of St Francis
Lumina Technologies Prism Hosted Desktop has allowed our business to centralise our global corporate data, allowing much faster access for all our staff – regardless of their location. We have also been able to simplify and reduce our infrastructure and management overhead. With the new Prism Hosted Desktop solution all staff now have simple and secure access to corporate data using any device they choose. Prism Hosted Desktop has increased the productivity of our staff and given us a single, consistent and familiar experience for all users from any device, in any location, 24/7.
Katherine Roe
Chief Executive Officer, Wentworth Resources PLC
The commercially sensitive and regulated nature of Lambert Energy Advisory’s business requires an IT provider able to maintain the highest levels of integrity and confidentiality, Lumina Technologies has consistently been unimpeachable in this regard over the nine years we have employed them.
Patrick Agar
Lambert Energy Advisory
It has been a great pleasure working with Lumina Technologies over the past two years. They have fully committed to being involved in the local community with volunteering and with professional advice and commitment, helping many local charities along the way. As a growing company it proves that being involved in the local community is helping them attract and retain a talented workforce and I look forward to working with them well into the future.
Cindy Withey
Connect Dacorum
Hawkstone Management Services Ltd is a small company for which IT Outsourcing is realistically the only viable option. Lumina Technologies have successfully performed this role for over fifteen years. They also provide innovative solutions to keep pace with technological progress. I would have no hesitation in recommending Lumina to similar sized businesses.
Stephen Pembury
Hawkstone Management Services Ltd
Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP have been using Lumina Technologies for a number of years now and continue to be impressed by the technical know-how and contemporary knowledge of their senior management, who provide a timely, efficient and friendly service. Whether it is a small issue with one computer, or a strategic IT decision, they maintain a current knowledge of available technologies. Lumina are always at the other end of the phone to help resolve issues and minimise business interference. The technical knowledge of Richard and his senior team means that there has not been a problem that they can’t solve to date. I am sure we will continue to use them in the years to come.
Charles Douglas
Managing Partner, Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP
The team at Lumina Technologies have made the Amoun Travel & Tours office IT transition seamless and problem free. The office set-up has been vastly improved and the IT Support services are flawless. No issue goes unresolved, which is extremely reassuring.
Adam Helmy
Amoun Travel & Tours Ltd
Lumina Technologies has been Salamander Energy plc’s IT provider since start-up in 2005 and has supported us in London during our expansion across operational offices in SE Asia. Their professional approach, strategic advice and close co-operation have been essential in making this a success.
John Bell
Group Technical Director, Salamander Energy plc
Richard and his team at Lumina have provided Perrett Laver Limited with high quality strategic and practical IT Services for over ten years. During this period, Perrett Laver has grown from 10+ colleagues based in London to nearly 100 colleagues located in six offices across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Richard and the Lumina team have not just been responsive to our ‘everyday’ IT needs, but have proactively sought to work with us on developing an infrastructure suitable for the type of operation we are today, and are planning to be months and years down the line. I would not hesitate to recommend Richard, especially for small to medium size business with growth in mind.
Clementine McKinley
COO, Perrett Laver Limited
Society Limited has been supported by Lumina Technologies since our earliest start-up phase. From large logistical challenges like an office move, through to smaller fiddly issues like fixing a faulty e-template, we know we can count on their support and advice. They’ve also been able to engage with us strategically on the challenge of scaling-up our infrastructure as the firm continues to grow and evolve. We always feel confident going to Lumina with a problem, since we know they genuinely care about sorting things out and helping us to get on with our core business.
Simon Lucas
Managing Director, Society Limited
The Vita Group HQ staff have worked with Richard McBarnet and Lumina Technologies for over 9 years, with Lumina providing all our PC, server, phone, and software support. The services have included C-level executives based in London, Manchester, the US, as well as supporting home office IT as well. The service provided and intellectual capabilities are outstanding and we would highly recommend Richard and his Lumina team.
Joe Menendez
CEO, The Vita Group
We worked with Lumina on a GDPR Audit. Richard was knowledgeable and professional throughout, and did the best he could to bring a dry topic to life through lots of real life examples and analogies. We were so impressed with the service Lumina provided and the value we got from partnering with them on this project – we couldn’t recommend them enough.
Holly Cottingham, Vintec Laboratories
