This year has been an unusual one on many fronts. As many offices around the world were forced to work remotely, EMI too embraced a new way of work-life. EMI’s IT Manager, Jonathan S. shares a little bit about his work.
Explain briefly what your work as IT manager includes.
My role includes overseeing EMI’s IT department. This includes thinking, planning, forecasting EMI’s overall IT and the direction it will go in, maintaining and managing the existing IT setup across all the offices of EMI, and providing IT support to various offices as needed.
How did the lockdown impact your work?
My work didn’t get impacted as such. Before the lockdown, I managed 9 offices remotely and with the lockdown, the India office got added to the list. It was challenging to work from home as the nature of my work requires dedicated and focused time with a workspace. My home with a 3 and 1.5-year old wasn’t the most conducive place to work from. However, Preeti supported me and did her best to help me as I worked from home.
What were the major challenges you faced working with all offices this year?
The major challenge was to equip all the offices to work remotely. The systems weren’t completely in place to support working remotely in EMI and the pandemic had me scrambling to set up systems to enable it to function effectively. There were hiccups during the setup of the remote working systems, but those seem to be ironed out now.
Were there things you learned? And are there ways you have improved the processes in which offices work?
Yes. To be specific, I have learnt more about VPNs and how they can be integrated into EMI’s current IT setup. With systems now in place to enable work remotely, in the future people will have the flexibility to work remotely and not be limited to the office space. Unfortunately with remote working during the pandemic season, cyber threats have gone up significantly. Digital security has become highly important as users accessing the organization’s resources remotely puts the resources at some risk. To that end, EMI has stepped up its digital security and in the coming months, people across EMI will be able to see EMI’s efforts as it dials upon its digital security.
How do you see things moving forward in the months ahead as some offices get back to work in person, and others continue remote working?
Since the systems to enable remote working is in place, it wouldn’t matter where people work out of. It is now beneficial that EMI now supports working remotely through its IT.
Do you have thoughts on the role technology has played in work settings, especially in this year?
Technology was never bad as was the popular school of thought during the pre-pandemic era. I’m glad that people realize that through these times and appreciate technology more.