It’s been just over 3 years now since the beginning of the phrase “work from home” really took off and became a mainstream necessity with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.  But there have been many advantages to our businesses of discovering this new found flexibility through working from home.  However, to truly leverage this advantage you need the correct IT to support you.  So, let’s get started and list MJD’s top recommendations which we give to current and new clients to setup a fit for purpose work from home setup.

Before we dive into the hardware and software recommendations, we should highlight a key consideration you need to answer to determine the exact type of device(s) that will be best for you.  Do you want to have just one transportable device to work from or would you prefer a dedicated device in the office which you can connect to from a device outwith the office?  This is important as it will dictate the specification requirement of the laptop or PC that will best fit your needs.  For example, if you wish to have one device the laptop would require to be the correct level of specification for all software and work requirements you need to carry out on a daily basis.  However, if you were to have a dedicated workstation with the correct spec and a lower spec laptop which allowed you to connect to the PC securely, this can sometimes work out at a lower cost as the higher spec hardware doesn’t need to be so small to fit into a laptop, compare with a desktop tower unit.

First up, our recommended office spec laptop for portability and performance is the Terra 1460Q.  This is the lightest laptop in the Terra range and is very stylish with it.  This doesn’t compromise on it’s spec as a result with an i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD you won’t be disappointed.

For a space saving solution on your desk, Terra offer a wide range of specifications using their micro chassis, which is about the size of your average book.  If you think this is even too big for your desk, these can be mounted to the back of there monitors!

Whether you’ve chosen to go with the laptop between home and office or a PC at your main desk and a laptop to travel with and connect back to the PC, you will likely require a dock to make switching between your devices or disconnecting and heading out a breeze.  Terra have two great docks for this purpose.  If your Terra laptop charges by USB-C we’d recommend the Terra 800 dock as this means you don’t need to remember to pick up and take your charger with you every time you head off.  The Terra 731 dock is a popular seller with us, and provides you with the ability to have multiple screens and further USB slots than the standards on your laptop or micro PC.

If you don’t think you have enough room for multiple screens on your home setup, think again!  This new portable second screen is small enough to slip in your laptop bag.  It’s similar to the size of your average tablet but allows you to have two screens to split programmes and windows to make reference information and work easier, without the need for large permanent monitors in your setup.  These are also ideal for those who travel and find it hard working away from their multiple screens when on the go!

We leave the most important considerations of your work from home setup for last and that is the software that helps to keep you secure while working away from the office.  The first piece of software is an anti-virus and anti-malware solution.  At MJD we have a CE compliant remote monitoring anti-virus and anti-malware software which we offer and encourage our clients to install as standard.   This is part of all our per device contracts.  This allows us to monitor and apply OS updates and check and scan for viruses and malware amongst other things.  Software like this is key when you are working in an office but is even more crucial when you take devices outwith your protected office network.

Our next software recommendation would be Microsoft 365 Premium.  This gives you email, Office software and a higher level of security functionality which is ideal for helping to strengthen the protection of your business devices when they are used outwith the business network.  It also gives you access to the Microsoft Suite of Office software as well as cloud storage through OneDrive and SharePoint to make hybrid working much easier and more efficient.

Finally, we’d recommend a VPN software to further protect all remote connections that are made from users working from home or out on site back to your protected office network.  Not sure what a VPN connection is?  Check out our previous blog on VPNs here.

This blog is only designed as a helpful tool to get you thinking and generating the questions you need to answer to solve the exact requirements of your business.  So, why not take your questions to us at the Moray Business Showcase event on the 7^th of June 2023 and lets make IT work for YOU.