Valparaiso Magazine - Winter 2021

tech for success | REWORKING THE WORKPLACE
>> Working from home is, for the most
part, not bad, said Joe Grossbauer, security
analyst for GGNet Technologies. GGNet
Technologies’ mission is for people to
get more done with less time, effort, and
frustration by setting up computers and
software the way each person needs them
to work. They are located in Valparaiso.
(219-926-6800 | www.ggnet.net)
With cloud computing, which stores the data
on a remote server, it’s possible to work from
anywhere there is an internet connection.
Your connection to the office doesn’t require
a desk; it could be just about anywhere. “It’s
from the beach. It’s from the park. It’s from
your back deck,” Massa said. “It is moving
forward at breakneck speeds now.”
But employee productivity isn’t just a matter
of sitting down and opening the lid of a
laptop. One of the considerations for people
who work from home is to have a comfortable
home office setup. That includes ergonomic
chairs. “Workers need a chair they can sit in
for more than half an hour without their back
hurting,” Massa said.
“We’ve never sold as many chairs as we
have this year,” Greg Fox, president of
Pulse Technology added. Some companies
offered employees a choice of chairs with
the understanding that the chairs would be
brought to the office when workers returned
to the workplace.
Pulse Technology is an office solutions
business with headquarters in
Schaumburg and a local office at
312 Roberts Rd. in Chesterton.
(800-837-1400 | www.pulsetechnology.com)
The advantage for the employee was a caring
employer who even thought about details like
comfortable seating. The advantage for the
employer was more productive employees
and new office furniture when they returned
to the office.
Bucher took his two monitors with him.
“Having dual monitors improves productivity
20 to 30 percent,” he said. A real keyboard
is better than the one built into the laptop.
With the touchpad sensitive to a dragging
thumb, “all at once you’re typing in the wrong
paragraph,” he said.
Pulse Technology sells other office equipment
for the home, including printers. “That area
of business has gone through the roof,”
Fox interjected.
Security experts are concerned that nothing
bad goes through the firewall. “It’s really
important to control your own data,” Massa
said. In the office, workers typically don’t
think about having a firewall to secure data.
When they work remotely, however, security
should be a concern.
“Firewalls are a real thing. It’s a wall to protect
us,” Bucher said. “Most of us don’t have a
firewall at home. Their router can work like
a firewall, but it’s very rudimentary,” he said.
“Rule No. 1 is without having that firewall, you
can walk right into that person’s PC.”
Bucher’s firm has encountered ransomware
that tried the 10 most popular passwords.
Choose passwords carefully rather than using
one that is easily guessed.
Encryption is an important concern, too.
Grossbauer had a client hit firewall limits in
the fall because of the increased number of
VPN (virtual private network) connection. A
VPN uses encryption to protect data being
sent and received. That enhances security
but can slow traffic. It creates double traffic
because the data has to be encrypted,
decrypted and validated each time. Failed
packets of data get resent.
“My personal internet at home is getting a
little more shaky during the day,” Grossbauer
noticed, with more people working at home.
“Be very careful when handling sensitive
data,” including credit cards, medical records
and clients’ sensitive or confidential records,
Grossbauer said. Networks in the workplace
typically protect data well. “You need to take
extra caution when working remotely,” he
said. That could include a business-grade file
storage service like Dropbox with point-topoint
encryption.“If you’re handling normal
types of stuff, it’s not a big deal,” he added.
Make sure laptops are secure to prevent
concerns about data being lost. “Don’t store
data on a laptop or other mobile device,”
Grossbauer warned.
NW INDIANA’S PREMIER IT COMPANY • 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS
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219-462-7200 | info@golden-tech | golden-tech.com
6 VALPARAISO MAGAZINE | WINTER 2021