How COVID-19 is already impacting your IT infrastructure

As the world adjusts to life during a quarantine, here are 3 statistics that show COVID-19 is having a bigger impact on your IT infrastructure than you thought:

1. Back in “normal times,” only 2.9% of the total U.S. workforce worked from home at least half of the time (based on a 2017 report*). Although the exact number is hard to pinpoint, a new poll says that 88% of organizations are estimated to have recommended or required their employees to work from home so far due to the coronavirus.*
   Unfortunately, most people were not prepared for this shift and the suddenness of the change. Companies are running into shortages in laptop availability, inefficiencies in their infrastructure, and inadequate capacity in certain applications.
    
2. According to Comcast, internet usage as a whole has increased by as much as 60% in some communities. As you work from home, you’re battling the rest of the neighborhood for bandwidth. There is a 38% increase in streaming and web video consumption, while VoIP/Video Conferencing is up 212%*!
    
3. VPN traffic is up by 40%*. A VPN is sometimes described as a tunnel to your business’ network and it lets you access the internet via a secure server. If not configured properly, your VPN could get bogged down or even have leaks. The increased traffic turns any small loophole into a serious liability.

The good news is that Standard Computer Systems is ready to help! Even during these difficult times, we're here to make sure your IT systems stay up and running so you can maximize your ROI. Contact us today and let us know how you'd like to improve your IT environment. 

*Data collected from The 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce Report, Facility Executive (2020), and Comcast (2020).