The novelty of virtual meetings has worn off, but it is apparent they are our new “normal.” Our current need for distance and safety has made virtual meetings a must, although because they have worked, businesses are signing up to keep them long term. Big companies like Google and Facebook have announced that most of their employees will be working remotely until late 2021, demonstrating that most of us can do our jobs from anywhere. So we are thrilled that Microsoft is giving us as many options to make our virtual meetings even more productive.

2020 has been a year of change. For better or worse, we have seen a great deal of transformation. When we heard that Channel Futures was altering their judging criteria for the prestigious MSP 501 list, we were intrigued. As a five of five year winner of this prestigious award, we were eager and hopeful the new criteria would incent us as well as other MSPs to push themselves to the next level. We were pleasantly surprised. To take a look at how this has changed, let's first examine what the MSP 501 is and the original judging criteria.

The world has changed, so has our view of business and office space. More and more companies are announcing that their employees will be working virtually for more extensive amounts of time or even forever. Yesterday, Google announced that all full-time employees will be working virtually until at least the summer of 2021. Our offices look different and so do our meetings. To make the virtual office experience effective, we need various options for meetings as there is no one-size-fits-all model. Thankfully, in addition to announcing Together Mode, Microsoft announced a variety of other Teams meeting options to fulfill all your virtual meeting needs.

Do you find yourself even more exhausted at the end of day after a day full of virtual meetings? You are not alone. Microsoft Teams saw a 200% increase in Teams meetings from March 16, 2020, to April 9, 2020, with close to 3 Billion meetings in a day. “Zoom Fatigue” is a real thing, and it is affecting us more than ever with the increased need for virtual meetings. When on a video meeting, we process information differently. To show that we are engaged, we must stare directly into the camera for extended periods. Unlike an in-person meeting, it is uncomfortable to glance away or briefly look out the window. We fear that if we do, the other participant will have the impression we are not listening. Also, the necessary focus on a virtual call is much higher. To follow who is talking and attempt to understand a conversation without being able to view body language and the non-verbal cues is extremely taxing. Luckily, Microsoft has a better solution to combat “Zoom Fatigue,” and it will be generally available in August.

Cyber-readiness is the art of taking the proper steps to ensure your business is as prepared as it can be. You need a secure plan which assures that you have completed all the steps to ensure that your environment is without any major faults. Yet, there is still one more significant step. You must do your research. Are your passwords at risk? Are you monitoring your network? What are your vendors doing to protect you? If you don't know the answer to these questions, then you are at risk. Cybercriminals know and understand the proper channels to take to deploy a successful attack. In the final part of our cyber-readiness series, we are exploring the vital research needed to help keep your business safe.

As most of us know, cyber threats are on the rise due to the many uncertainties in our world. To combat the imminent risk, last week, we began our three-part Cybersecurity Readiness series. Part one of the series covered the necessary groundwork for a successful cybersecurity readiness plan. Without a multi-dimensional plan, the flaws and holes will be prevalent in your security. With the right foundation in place, we can move on to part two, which includes the steps we need to take daily to sustain a robust security strategy.

Part-two of our cybersecurity readiness series includes the daily steps needed to help prevent a malicious cyberattack.

Cybersecurity threats are never-ending in today's world. In the past few weeks, we have discussed how cyber threats are up with the many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. The issue with cyberthreats is that there will always be some form of uncertainty in our world, and the cybercriminals only need one hole or weak point to carry out a malicious plan. To help your team combat cybercrimes' imminent threat, we will be doing a three-part series on cyber readiness strategies. We will be attacking these steps sequentially each week. We hope that these steps will help keep you one step ahead of a malicious cyberattack.