Tools and Technologies to Make Work From Home Productive

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit us, the world came to a standstill. While many businesses were left in the lurch, others buckled up to make way for the New Normal.

Remote working became the only working mode. That being said, the workforce of various organizations are finding ways to telecommute effectively, using the right tools and technologies.

Offered by some reputable firms across the globe, these come to the rescue of virtual teams who have to collaborate to wrap up their projects. And in the process, they need to maintain efficiency.

On that note, let’s dive into the list of the top tools and technologies for being more productive while working remotely.

Technologies and Tools to facilitate Work from Home Productivity

Let’s face it.

With just the right blend of tools that help you communicate, collaborate, and share resources, you might chalk out your work from home solutions. Technologies that enable you to access the remote machines and servers without negotiating the security are equally important.

That being said, allow us to walk you through with the right and a wide array of tools and technologies to make work from home fruitful.

Cloud Computing

Storage and Backup

Now that working from home is trending as the new normal, an on-premise system can pose a significant accessibility issue if the servers are not taken care of frequently. The cloud comes to the rescue in this situation.

Because of its ease of establishing remote working, cloud storage has gained prominence like never before. Accessible via a URL from any device, Azure cloud storage servers, backup, and archival systems provide a perfect blend of security and accessibility. Furthermore, you can scale based on requirements sitting at your home office.

Disaster Recovery

Working from the confinement of homes should not stop your remote team from safeguarding their work. Disasters like any natural calamity or overwriting the codes can happen without any reminder. Azure’s disaster management facility is just the right thing to invest in to fly smoothly out of such vulnerable situations.

Located on a cloud, all your projects and applications are safe even if your data center loses the servers to any unprecedented issue.

Collaboration

Teams

Microsoft Teams provide an incredible collaboration platform for teams. With its video conferencing features, you’ll not miss the meeting rooms anymore for a face-to-face discussion. You can integrate Teams with your Outlook calendar. Microsoft Teams comes bundled with Office 365 and has a recording option, which can leverage pre-recorded webinars.

The tool has a mobile app too. Isn’t it a great option?

Check out how Logesys teams made work from home a breeze using Office 365 for their teams.

Security

Multi-factor Authentication

Cloud platform, contrary to popular belief, is secured and as tough to breach as any on-premise system by malicious attacks.

Using Azure’s Active Directory and MFA, enable the top-level security for your workforce working from home. Create groups, users, and roles using Azure AD and synchronize with Microsoft Office and other Azure products.

The 2-level authentication creates just the right approach to avoid any susceptible attack from unreliable users.

Servers Management

Azure VPN

One of the biggest challenges—of course, apart from the stringent mindsets—that you might face while implementing a smooth work from home is ‘Servers’ Access’.

Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN is a scalable solution, which can handle fluctuation in demands. It allows access to servers, both on-premise and in a cloud, with secured networking.

Windows Virtual Desktop

A virtual desktop allows users to access their work machines remotely. Your data will be saved on a network along with the OS so that you can access it over a system instead of accessing the device.

Windows Virtual Desktop allows you to access the remote content using any device like a tablet or a smartphone using any OS. This virtual desktop renders the feel of an actual machine.

File Sharing

OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive provides a well-organized cloud-based platform to share files. It integrates with Office 365 hassle-free and is enveloped with Windows.

For instance, you can share the uploaded files securely, and leave behind the worries of data leaks. Cloud makes the sync easy, and you can even work offline with the desktop replication of files. Being device-agnostic, you can use it on mobile or laptops on a wide variety of OS.

SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint enables more than just sharing files. You can share folders, and its integration with Office enables you to carry out real-time editing as well. SharePoint acts as a CMS at an enterprise level with its accessibility to people outside the organization without compromising security.

You can even engage your employees by sharing news and updates.

Azure Files

Azure Files help share large documents on the cloud network. Accompanied by various security protocols likes HTTPS and SMB 3.0, the data is highly protected against malicious access. You can even upload files from multiple OS like Windows and Linux to the cloud.

Project Management

Project

Microsoft Project provides a simple yet robust project management tool. With planning and tracking using Gantt charts, this tool makes the management easy. You can embed Power BI to share interactive reports and dashboards for tracking progress and project status.

Due to the customizable templates, you don’t need to start from scratch.

Planner is another alternative management tool from the same brand.

Others

Apart from Microsoft’s Project and Planner, popular tools like Trello and Freedcamp top the charts when it comes to managing projects and assigning tasks to team members.

Communication

Slack

Communication needs to be smooth between the teams for a project to fly high. Slack is a wonderful tool to facilitate team communications. You can share documents using drag-and-drop, bookmark messages, and communicate via separate channels with various teams.

Other Useful Tools

OneNote

A fantastic tool by Microsoft, OneNote allows you to gather information at one place. It can come handy during meetings. You can collate your data topic wise and collaborate with other users.

Time tracking

Tools like RescueTime, Toggl, and Harvest help avoid distractions and lets you track your time.

Productivity

The internet can be the biggest obstacle to a productive workday due to distractions galore on social media. So, how do you go about it?

Use tools like FocusMe and Freedom to block social media; Work Mode is a Chrome extension for the same purpose.

Before You Resume Work from Home

Some days can be less productive than others but let that not deter you. Use our suggested tools and technologies, or take your pick from any other trending ones on the market. And before you know it, you will find that you are productive even while working from home.

Like the list? Do share it with others who can benefit from it.

Have something to add to the list? Do let us know.