As managed service providers (MSPs), you’re familiar with the implications of physical location and remote work. Over the last ten years, we’ve seen how workers go from functioning off a local area network (LAN) to working outside of an onsite infrastructure, and evolving to a model that has enabled workers to be productive from almost anywhere. While this is nothing new, what is new is the speed at which the pandemic has changed the remote access landscape. Remote work is no longer the exception, but rather the new norm.
According to Scott Sinclair, Senior Analyst at ESG Global, “Even before the current pandemic, businesses, whether they planned to or not, we’re becoming increasingly dependent upon remote work. The arrival of COVID-19 now has acted as a shock to the system. Businesses, almost instantly, are now only as successful as their remote digital workers.”
How many MSPs are having your clients ask, “How fast can you help me?” and “How can we do this as quickly and as smoothly as possible?” What’s your answer? Businesses have to adapt quickly, and remote workers are required to learn and adopt remote working technologies rapidly.
“Secure and simple collaboration tools have become essential services for modern businesses, helping them continue operations and even find opportunities during this current crisis.”
– Scott Sinclair, ESG Global
MSPs can try to rely on virtual private networks (VPNs), which we don’t think is a good idea, replace them altogether with software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs), or look at moving workloads to the cloud. New times call for new modern technologies.
The Future of Work
Cloud computing is on the rise as well as the need for more collaborative cloud tools that address modern computing needs. Channel2e pointed out a few trends for the managed service provider MSP Market Forecast according to an ISG Index Report.
SaaS spending is likely to shift to cybersecurity, cloud migration, and collaborative tools.
High-Performance Cloud File Service for Distributed Workloads Collaboration
LucidLink Filespaces solves the business needs around storing large data sets on and off-premises and accessing them over distance while offering best-in-class security and privacy guarantees. Users get a near-local experience when accessing terabytes of remote data.
Filespaces can be easily shared across a large number of connected devices or users. Administrators have complete control over which parts of the Filespace users can access. This fine-grained access is achieved while maintaining a powerful encryption model, ensuring users cannot decrypt information they are not allowed to see.
When asked about the future of work, Randy Kerns, Senior Strategist & Analyst at Evaluator Group, provided his input. “Collaboration for working on projects where data is shared is needed, not only now with the work from home mandate, but continuing in the future as people gain expertise with this type of work environment.” Kerns continues, “This requires integrity and consistency of data access, security with different levels of authenticated access depending on the company’s needs, and performance not to make it seem like always waiting for something.”
“The choice of a solution to these needs will be critical to productivity and success.”
-Randy Kerns, Evaluator Group
Collaboration Across Regions, Data Sets, and Applications
Remote teams working on shared projects, such as architects collaborating on a shared Autodesk Revit model, work seamlessly, as if collocated, without sacrificing performance. Post-production video editors using Adobe Premiere or Avid easily collaborate on videos no matter where they are located.
LucidLink’s SaaS approach improves scalability, reliability, and data durability while enhancing team collaboration and productivity. Customers benefit from time, cost savings, tighter control over data storage, security, and device and sovereignty mandates.
Using LucidLink customers can:
LucidLink transforms any cloud object store into a shared Filespace. Stream files from the cloud of your choice, providing instant access to an unlimited, shared, and secure “hard drive in the cloud” – no syncing or downloading. Choose the cloud provider and the region that’s right for you. We currently support Microsoft’s Azure Blob cloud storage and S3 compatible storage platforms such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, IBM Cloud Storage, and many other storage partners.
When access to data from anywhere is on top of your client’s needs, give LucidLink a try.
SaaS offering, no hardware or IT support required
End-to-end security encryption
Works with any object storage
Instant on-demand file access from anywhere
Works with any OS