The work from home shift has revolutionized IT Departments more than any invention ever could. 

When closets became offices, and commutes morphed into strolls around the neighborhood, corporate IT was left scrambling. Many companies were ill prepared to support remote workers and this shift exposed security vulnerabilities. 

“The level that this pandemic made everybody go right at home, immediately created tons of risk around how you're going to support traditional security. That was out there and remote workers and remote security, it changed the dynamic tremendously.” 

While that dynamic had been changing for a while, it was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of IT Visionaries, we sat down with Bob Venero, President and CEO of Future Tech Enterprises, a global solutions provider that works closely with the Fortune 500. Bob explains why companies that have shifted to a philosophy of bringing your own devices, are opening themselves up to a bevy of productivity and security challenges. He also dives into the level of security challenges the pandemic has caused and how his company is aiding those enterprises through this big pivot.

Main Takeaways:

• No. 1 in our Hearts: The rise of software as a service is evident with many companies moving to a public cloud infrastructure, but companies still must focus on hardware components as well. Hybrid infrastructure models, where companies have a mix of public cloud and on-premise are the only way to ensure a company can avoid drops in productivity in case an internet failure occurs. 
• Is this BYOD?: With more employees working from home, companies have started to deploy a bring-your-own-device approach — a service where employees are provided with stipends and allowed to pick out their own device. The problem with this approach is it opens the company up to a lot of productivity flaws, including employees buying models based on price and if it can actually perform the duties of the job.
• It’s a Skill Issue: While many developers have focused heavily on producing software components, a ripple effect is that it has created a big gap in terms of personnel that can actually develop hardware products and service those products.

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