TECHNOLOGY BLOG

The coronavirus has us all living life a little differently now. It has changed how we travel and shop. How we communicate and spend time with others. It has also changed how organizations are conducting business. They have had to adapt to shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. With the many kinds of businesses out there, they certainly are finding different ways to adapt to continue operations. Primarily working remotely.

But what does that mean?

Take the scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) located in Pasadena California, for example. They aren’t exempt from the coronavirus, so they’ve had to adapt to the global pandemic and find ways to continue their mission. The crew operating the Mars Curiosity Rover are currently working out of their home offices, kitchen tables, living rooms, and couches. They are doing so without any of the equipment they would normally have while in the office. With a couple of weeks to prepare for the impending stay-at-home order, they distributed headsets and other equipment to have the ability to control Curiosity from their homes.

Members of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission team photographed themselves
on March 20, 2020, the first day the entire mission team worked remotely
from home. - Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›

Commanding a rover on Mars and deciding where it should go is a logistical challenge, to say the least. Most often a team of 20 or more scientists are in the same room joined by scientists from around the world to help decide what the rover will do and where it will go. But with all the key players practicing social distancing at home, this was not easy to do. They needed to plan how they were going to communicate in real-time. They must always be on the same page. Working remotely, they are conducting multiple simultaneous video calls and chat sessions to communicate with the various teams. Think about conducting an orchestra of 60 people over video calls and text messages, all from your kitchen table!

NASA’s Curiosity Keeps Rolling As Team Operates Rover From Home

NASA scientists are currently using blue and red 3D glasses to drive
Curiosity rover around Mars while working from home.

If NASA can coordinate dozens of scientists and engineers across the world to control a robotic rover 117 million miles away from their homes during a pandemic, why can’t you conduct your business remotely?

You can.

With Office 365 (Re-branded as Microsoft 365) your organization can collaborate with internal and external users securely, keep projects moving forward, and communicate in real-time. All while in their pajamas. Most people who’ve used a computer in the last 20 or 30 years are familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and perhaps Outlook. But Microsoft 365 goes further and gives you and your organization access to many more amazing tools.

Because these tools are hosted in the cloud, you are automatically benefiting from the security and reliability that is offered with a cloud architecture. No more having to host these systems locally or rent space in a data center for your hardware to run these applications. They can be managed from anywhere. This architecture allows you and your business to operate more freely and gives you flexibility with your workforce.

Below are some questions you may have about what Microsoft 365 is and how it can keep operations moving forward when your workforce must work remotely.

How will you know where you should start?
We are consultants first. Always. We are not afraid to advise you to do nothing if that is what is needed. Any engagement with a client starts with us listening to you. Learning about your organization and how you do business. We like to address your most important pain points first. What are your business goals or things you’d like to tackle first? We collaborate with you to develop a business strategy to address your immediate needs, plan which future projects should happen next, and in which order they need to be developed. Our advice will always be what is the best strategic thing to do next. Listen, advise, and then execute.

But my organization is different, can this process still work for me?
Our approach to consulting, project management, and development will work for virtually any company of any size because it focuses on the right things. Consulting first, planning, and then proper execution. No matter how your company is organized or how it operates, we can help you figure out what is your strategic next step. Additionally, we’ll be able manage the project in a way that will give you complete insight and allow you to control project costs. We work with Managed Service Providers (MSPs), private companies, non-profits, and government agencies to develop the right business strategies that make sense for their organization.

How can this make a difference in my organization?
We love to educate! Helping people and organizations learn different technologies and how they will be a force multiplier for their businesses makes us happy campers. Short of doing a happy dance, we take great pride in seeing staff get excited about working collaboratively with each other while not compromising on security. It will make work more fun. These tools will give you immense flexibility in conducting business, but also provide you the security to protect your investment. The ease of these collaboration and communication tools alone will provide your organization an immediate benefit and return on investment.

How will you help my organization deploy these tools?
With proper planning, training, and minimum investment, we can get your staff using these tools within a few days. We deploy these tools in a way that makes sense for your organization and how it operates. A little consulting goes a long way. You know your organization better than anyone. We listen to you and advise you on the best strategy to roll out these tools with minimal interruption.