“Anywhere operations” refers to an organizational model which enables customer assistance from any place; staff activation from any location and remote product/service deployment. The Anywhere operation entails much more than work-from-home (WFH) or remote operations, it refers to an efficient and profitable commercial activity that can be carried out universally. While one part of Anywhere operations is remote work, the other encompasses value-added experience by uniting employees and customers to work on the same platform.

As corporate contacts became more virtual, dispersed, and mobile, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the desire for unrestricted remote capabilities. It forced businesses, traditional and non-traditional to improve in areas of collaboration, productivity, fully secure remote access, automation, and the utilization of cloud and edge infrastructure. Key buzzwords like virtual collaboration, virtual meetings, digital content sharing platforms, online staff upskilling and training, and seamless software product deployment became quite rampant in the service providers’ pitch.

Alongside, the famous mantra of “customer first”, companies have started paying equal attention to employees’ needs and comfort. Employees now seek the freedom to work where, when, and even how they choose to work. Adaptability to this new format is the need of the hour for the smooth functioning and sustainability of any business.

The community often equates Anywhere operations to remote employment. While remote work is a subset of Anywhere operations, the Anywhere operations paradigm extends well beyond people working from home. Some of the key differentiators are:

• Inclusion of customer and other stakeholders rather than merely supporting workers and customers

• Secure remote access that allows teams to interact and operate as if they were on-premises without exposing people, infrastructure, or networks to cyber threats.
• Collaboration features that enhance the capacity to work together, regardless of physical location, are included.
• Interactivity and commerce were formerly limited to in-person transactions, such as buying a new automobile from a computer or depositing money into a bank account by photographing a check with a smartphone.

There are possibilities to automate a wide range of processes and activities anywhere operations extend beyond the workforce to include customers, integrating data from several previously segregated apps to allow self-service for a wide range of consumer interactions and transactions.

As a result, operations anywhere provide more robust and adaptable business processes, more options for both employers and consumers, and the removal of geographic barriers.

In these five key areas of company operations, anywhere operation offers value.

• Collaboration and Productivity
• Secure remote access
• cloud and edge infrastructure
• Digital experience quantification
• Automation of remote support operations

Advantages of any operation model:

• Secure remote access.
• seamless customer support.
• Cost-Efficiency
• Employee empowerment
• Improved productivity and collaboration
• Automated deployment

Challenges of the Anywhere operation model:

• Using outdated software/Legacy Tools
• Complexity, expenditure, and disruption
• Cybersecurity

Security Challenges

With situations like customers and their details and assets being vulnerable in the face of malicious agents, external connections from unsecured networks, and tools and services being used unauthentically, lowering risks and combating threats should be an integral part of a digital business transformation strategy.

Businesses will need to use a holistic threat-prevention approach to channel their cybersecurity efforts to protect employees, corporate, and consumer data. The ways are:

1-Password-less and multi-factor authentication with intelligence: This increases security by requiring additional authentication steps, such as fingerprints or text messages before users can access accounts that contain sensitive data.

2-Zero Trust Network Access: IT departments should implement “transaction-based security,” which uses machine-learning algorithms to trigger a complex verification system that examines any unusual activity on employee devices or cloud-based services.

3-Secure Access Service Edge: This implements identity and context-aware policies, allowing users to access information dynamically and selectively.

4: Identity and access management: Authentication, initialization, and authorization are all improved by using identity verification standards. It is always ideal to develop an identity management system that is both secure and user-friendly.

The Anywhere model combines a strategic selection of cloud-based technologies with high-security standards, as well as best practices in digitalization and automation, as well as the flexibility to define and pursue long-term goals. When properly implemented, anywhere operations enable businesses to successfully react to problems by supporting their staff while continuing to provide value to their customers. People Tree believes that Anywhere operations are the way of the future for businesses. It does necessitate IT knowledge and expertise, but it can be quite advantageous to businesses because it allows them to continue operating even amid extreme circumstances.