Macro Systems Blog

For years, we’ve seen the future of work as an abstract, distant concept that would eventually remove us from our cubicles. It has become abundantly clear that the future has arrived. The Mobile Office is no longer defined by a solitary laptop perched on a kitchen table or a temporary desk in a spare bedroom. Instead, it has evolved into a highly sophisticated, decentralized ecosystem of interconnected devices and cloud services that demand significantly more from IT infrastructure and support teams than ever before.

Every modern business is a technology business: whether you run a boutique creative agency, a high-volume law firm, or a retail shop, your ability to operate depends entirely on your hardware, software, and connectivity.

When the Blue Screen of Death appears or your server decides to take an unscheduled nap, the clock starts ticking; and it’s ticking directly against your bottom line. This is where remote support shifts from being a nice-to-have to a mission-critical asset.

If one fact has been proven true, it’s that remote and hybrid work are not temporary trends, they're future operating models that help businesses achieve greater flexibility and talent retention. Of particular interest is hybrid work, an approach that mixes the demands of in-office work with the advantages and flexibility of remote work. If you want to build hybrid work into your operational infrastructure, there can be no denying that your IT infrastructure has to be locked in—especially if you want to stay productive, secure, and competitive.

Listed below are the benefits and risks of hybrid work as an operational model for your business.

We’ve seen firsthand how the shift to remote work has revolutionized business operations. That being said, one area that still causes friction for many business owners is virtual meetings. A poorly executed remote meeting isn't just a time-waster, it can also drain productivity and disengage your team, damaging your company culture. Listed below are a few tips that show that with the right strategy and tools, your remote meetings can be even more effective and engaging than their in-person counterparts.

If your company has at least a couple of employees who spend part of their workday in a different location, are you doing all you can to help them be as productive as possible? While remote work is beneficial in so many circumstances, there are a lot of caveats to it that must be considered. Listed below is how you can mitigate risk and keep remote work from becoming a liability for your organization.

Remote work isn’t a new strategy, but ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-office activities for all types of businesses, the amount of remote workers has grown regularly. In 2024, nearly 22 million workers would be considered fully remote, with over twice that amount working a hybrid schedule where they are remote at least one day per work week. This shift in the way that people work has required some adjustments, and this month, we wanted to take a closer look at the employees’ side of the “new normal”

To be clear, this won’t be a comprehensive list of problems that remote workers are dealing with, but we will try to go through some of the challenges and benefits that people deal with when they work remotely.

Remote work has been incredibly useful over the past few years despite many employers having various concerns about its implementation. While these concerns vary, one prevalent one is how remote operations impact cybersecurity.

If you’re utilizing remote operations to any degree and aren’t concerned about cybersecurity, you must adjust this mindset and correct your approach.

Remote and hybrid work models have become more popular than ever, in no small part thanks to the enhanced technology businesses of all sizes can now access. Nonetheless, this shift has brought new challenges for businesses everywhere. One such challenge is maintaining and enhancing remote workplace engagement—a critical aspect that directly impacts employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

Do you remember a FEW years back when remote work went from being a privilege to the norm? It’s been a while since then, but many businesses have adopted hybrid or full remote operations, and as such, they are able to retain a semblance of normalcy even without the return of in-office work.

Some businesses have managed to get back to the state they were in prior to the pandemic, but there is a reason why a lot of businesses are not pushing the issue. Listed below are some of them, and why forcing the issue with your employees is not necessarily a good idea.

Remote work on a widespread scale was introduced in less-than-ideal circumstances, but that doesn’t mean that modern businesses shouldn’t utilize it to their full advantage. Listed below are a few ways you and your company can support your team as they work remotely.

Whether we like it or not, remote work is not going anywhere, and now that employees have gotten a taste of what it feels like to work remotely, more are eager to do so than ever before. Unfortunately, the reality is that employers are eventually going to want their employees to return to the office in at least some capacity. How can employers do this without upsetting employees too much? The answer lies in a hybrid work environment.

Remote work has become a bit of a topic of contention lately. While employees have been relishing the advantages that remote work provides them, many employers have been doing everything they can to bring their workforce back into the workplace.

Now, it wouldn’t be unfair for you to assume that we would push remote work as a managed service provider because we just so happen to assist businesses in managing it as a part of our services. This is true enough…but we aren’t the only ones with an opinion on the topic.

Remote work remains a fundamental approach to workplace operations these days. While this has led to great opportunities, remote work adds a new level of complexity to managing your employees. Listed below are a few practices that can help make this management simpler and more effective.

You may or may not have already made the transition back to the office, and this especially applies more to those who haven’t yet. That being said, even those who have may find some utility here, specifically in determining if a push to a full return to office was the right move.

Let’s explore how modern employees may react to the news that remote work will no longer be an option.

With so many employees working remotely, it’s imperative that you do all you can to ensure they have set themselves up for success with their home office. To this end, we have put together a list of suggestions you can use to help your employees build the most comfortable, and productive, home office possible. Here are four tips you can implement for a more comfortable workplace.

With many people continuing to work remotely to at least some extent, it would be irresponsible not to acknowledge that remote work can introduce a level of risk to a company's cybersecurity. This makes it all the more imperative that this security is locked down. Listed below is a discussion about the concept behind zero-trust security, and why it is becoming the benchmark that businesses of all sizes should meet.

While remote work has been a relatively new option for many companies currently using it in their operations, it has already shown significant benefits. However, it would be incongruous of us if we didn’t also acknowledge one glaring problem that remote work has helped to foster: a sense of disconnect in many of those making use of it.

Remote work has become a significant part of today's business operations for many companies, but there is also a difficulty that frequently comes into play with remote work: the phenomenon of overwork. Listed below are some tips to help reduce the risk of overwork as people continue remote work.

With so many organizations having successfully made use of remote work for so long, there has been some concern that this extended means of operation will have a negative impact on company culture. Listed below is a discussion on why this is something to avoid, as well as how to avoid this withering of your team’s collective working relationship.

Remote work has been embraced over the past two years, in no small part due to the impact of the pandemic. That being said, some of the impacts of remote work have made it clear to many businesses that its advantages shouldn’t be sacrificed once it is no longer required. Let’s review how businesses can improve by continuing the practices of remote work, even after the need for remote work has passed.