Did your cybersecurity workload increase in 2020? It did for 56% of businesses.
It’s not surprising with rapid network growth to support home working and the inevitable ransomware and phishing attacks adapted to utilise Covid-related emotional hooks that got home workers clicking.
Do you remember the TV series “How we used to Live?” Well, this got us talking recently about “How we used to work!”
We took some time to reflect on how different things were before the rapid network growth of the internet and hosted desktops we have seen in recent years. Who resonates with us and remembers how difficult it was?
“Blimey, I remember the God awful sound of dial up internet and how slow it was…seemed to take forever to change the page. And no-one could ring you at the same time!
Faxes were very popular when I first started at Synergy Technology – physical faxes coming through to the printer then we upgraded to have faxes sent direct to my email address and I would forward to the relevant person – in fact before electronic signature apps we had to fax finance documents and contracts over to clients for a physical signature and then wait for them to send it back.
We used actual phones and not a VOIP system, I miss a real phone…
Being able to log on and work from anywhere that has internet is amazing and I am unsure how we as a business would have managed during this pandemic if we had to work from home say 10 years ago.
The fact I can disconnect from the platform at home then log on elsewhere and have everything as I left it is brilliant. Speed has really cut down the waiting times for tasks.
Also the ability to have someone log on remotely and to fix a problem is fab, cuts down on time issues again and allows bloody peace of mind instead of having to wait for an actual technician to arrive.”
“In the time of faxes and printers, it was a real hassle to send a message from A to B.
The first hurdle you had is deciphering which was which. Printers and faxes looked the same! There were numerous times where I’d be standing next to the printer either trying to send or receive a fax, getting increasingly frustrated with the device.
Once I had realised that I was trying to use a printer as a fax, the next issue I faced was knowing whether the message had been sent to the desired recipient. With a maximum of 3 attempts, I had to listen out to know if the fax had been successful or a failure. It was a moment of luck if the fax actually acknowledged this. Otherwise, I would have to get in contact with the recipient to know if they had received the message. Today things are much easier with the stability of emails and phone lines enabling instant communication.
My first experience of the internet was with my 11-year-old son. It was like walking into a library and not knowing what you’re looking for. Not knowing what to do we searched “Disney” – which was one of the only fully developed websites at the time. Before I knew it, we had spent £1.50 watching Tom and Jerry!
At the end of our first experience of the internet, we all thought the same thing…
It was rubbish – how wrong we were.
Nowadays the usability of the internet is far greater. There is no arguing with the household when trying to make a phone call or surfing the web at the same time. The way the network has advanced is amazing both for work and home life, it should not be taken for granted.
Many businesses would have struggled to continue without the ability to host everything at home and instantly communicate during the recent times of Covid. Here at Synergy Technology, we use Citadel’s hosted desktop which means I have everything I need to work from whatever location I am in and everything just works!”
“The main thing I remember about dial-up (phoneline) internet was the cost. It was so expensive compared to current broadband!
In order to keep the costs as low as possible, I would have to do all of my work offline, plug in and then send everything out at once. I would not be able to constantly check for new emails and messages the way we do now. Instead, I would check every now and then to keep expenses down. In some ways, this was a positive as when the working day finished you were able to completely switch off from work duties. However, on the other hand, it would take a long time to communicate with one another. Everything moved at a slower pace.
An additional plus of the network growth we have seen recently is the ability to share files with one another. Having shared files and being able to access them is so much easier and quicker, than trying to allocate everyone with their own separate copy. Hard copy documents were difficult to share and access and if they were mis filed – well that was that – they were gone. Photocopying was endless and sending memos internally. Thankfully we can now search documents with a Control F and share documents without the waste of time printing and posting.
These are big parts of using a hosted desktop such as Citadel. It also means that people can access everything on their desktop from anywhere, at any time. Hosted desktops have enabled businesses to work remotely during these unprecedented times with peace of mind over stability and security. If you haven’t got these simple things in place then your working day will be impacted leading to working longer hours than necessary and a lot of frustration.”
When reflecting on the past we can really see how far technology has come and the benefits that Citadel’s hosted desktop offers!
Want to learn more about hosted desktops? See these blogs:
Or contact us and a friendly team member will be more than willing to help!