Stars of the show: Cloud and VOIP

Despite annoying challenges presented by the abrupt shift to the WFH model thanks to the pandemic, there were some tech heroes that saved the day. These two made WFH possible.

The cloud
The cloud is that platform whereby you outsource your data storage as well as many of your applications. With the cloud, your data and software applications are no longer physically located in a specific geographic location. Therefore, access is no longer tethered to a user's physical location. The cloud was the biggest game changer during the pandemic because it allowed businesses to get anytime, anywhere access to their data as well as critical applications. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that if it weren’t for the cloud, a lot of businesses wouldn’t have been able to survive the pandemic at all.

VoIP
Along with the cloud, VOIP proved to be one of the most critical elements when it came to business continuity during this pandemic. It revolutionized business communications. An acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP is a technology that allows you to communicate by sending voice as data packets using the internet. VoIP replaced the old PBX (the phone system which physically tied you to the office if you needed telephony services.) Because VoIP is internet based, it's functions are accessible from anywhere. It also offers a wider range of services. Going beyond being just a telephone or voice system, VoIP offered organizations a single, unified communication solution that fulfilled all their business communication requirements such as voice calling, video and audio conferencing, and other collaboration requirements--a lifesaver for businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because these two stars are so important to successful WFH, and because they can be difficult to manage with a small IT staff, using an MSP to manage these tools can be an excellent way to support an organization that relies even partly on remote work.