If there’s one thing that 2020 has taught us, it’s the importance of being able to work from anywhere. Many companies like Salesforce, Slack, and Twitter are even switching to a remote work model indefinitely, giving their employees the option to continue working from home long after the pandemic is over.

Right now, in a time when social distancing is required to help keep ourselves and our communities safe, working from home is key. But having a secure workplace no matter where you are? That’s just as important. 

Citrix is making that happen for law firms who want to give their employees the option to work from home while still protecting their most valuable data. Here’s how Citrix does it.

A Secure Space No Matter Where You Are

Not all work can be taken home or handled on the same laptop where your children play games. Your personal apps—and the malware that sometimes accompanies them—could expose your entire organization to a virus. 

Without the proper legal technology solutions in place, working from home can pose all kinds of security threats. Out-of-date software and a lack of antivirus protections on your personal device can mean hackers can find their way into your company’s data.  For too long, this was the main hurdle for many companies considering remote work options; there wasn’t a way to do so while keeping files secure.

Working on a personal device presents all kinds of security issues and potential exposure to viruses or malware. For example, each time Microsoft (or any other operating system for that matter) introduces a patch, the patched vulnerability becomes public knowledge. This gives malware coders and hackers the opportunity to find their way into your system if your device isn’t up to date.

On a personal device, there are also problems with:

• Insecure passwords
• Vulnerable WiFi networks
• Insecure communication between employees and clients

The challenge with these kinds of security issues isn’t just about losing or exposing data; it can also do major damage to your reputation as a company. Data Breach Today shares that 54 percent of companies believe it can take anywhere from 10 months to over two years to restore a company’s reputation after a breach of customer data. 

How does Citrix solve these problems? With a Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) infrastructure and hosted workspaces that are centrally located and secured and delivered through Citrix’s cloud. Using multi-factor authentication, employees can still safely access crucial corporate information, but intellectual property and sensitive information stays protected, even as employees work from home—or anywhere else.  

When you need to protect sensitive client information and avoid costly, reputation-damaging breaches, Citrix can help by using secure-by-design systems that have been carefully architected to minimize vulnerabilities. 

Citrix Solutions for Legal Firms

Having the ability to work from home is different in the legal realm. There are strict standards that must be met to keep the integrity of attorney-client privilege. Clients should be able to expect confidentiality, which means that a data breach where personal identifying information is exposed is a direct violation of attorney-client privilege, and could even prove to be seriously damaging for a client.

Citrix is a solution that’s been carefully designed to avoid these breaches of client trust for law firms. Partners are working hard to maintain a balance between keeping exceptional attorneys on their team while also meeting the strict standards of their industry and ensuring secure access to confidential information. One of the strongest benefits of this secure remote access is that it improves attorney-client relationships by enabling faster response times and anytime access to secure file sharing and collaboration tools.

Improved Efficiency

One of the ways that Citrix’s DaaS hosted workspace is supporting a work-from-home climate is by simplifying and accelerating business processes. Thanks to the cloud-based managed platform, your team can make marked improvements in operational efficiencies and speed up time-to-value for acquisitions by delivering IT as a centralized, cloud service.

How does this happen? There are a few ways that this infrastructure expedites the work process:

• Real-time file sharing and collaboration
• Total application availability
• Complete business communication integration

Sharing files with employees should be easy and secure, but if you’re relying on antiquated practices like sharing files via email, you’re not only risking security threats but also lost efficiency. Rather than use email, peer-to-peer file-sharing software, flash drives, or consumer-grade cloud solutions that can become compromised and take way too long, why not enable on-demand, secure access to crucial files instead? Citrix makes that possible. 

With Citrix, employees can share documents using ShareFile technology, which ensures secure document sharing and full monitoring, while providing faster, more efficient file sharing practices to boot. Not only will your employees be capable of expediting their projects, but you’ll know who has had access to each document, as well as when and what they did with it. At any time, you can generate a report with a list of users who have had access to a given file.

See Improved Productivity and Happier Employees

Remote access and hosted workspaces give your employees the power to work from anywhere they need to be, which can actually benefit them and you in the long run. According to one study shared on Business Insider, remote employees worked 3 more weeks per year than those who commuted and worked in an office. 

Remote employees also tend to be more focused: Employees who work in an office spend an average of 66 minutes per day discussing non-work topics, while remote employees spend only about 29 minutes doing so. 

Looking to retain more employees and keep them happier? When you enable a work-from-anywhere DaaS infrastructure and allow your employees to work from home, they may just end up more satisfied working for your company. One study discovered that employees who work solely from home reported being happy in their jobs 22 percent more often than those who work entirely from an office. 

Remote workers also are pleased to report a better work-life balance and feel more focused and less stressed. They also tend to stay with their company longer than purely on-site employees do. In fact, of a group of surveyed remote and in-person employees, the remote workers stated that they were likely to stay in their job for the next five years 13 percent more often than on-site workers.

If you’re looking to boost productivity, give your employees a better balance between work and family, and increase their satisfaction working for your company, you can make it happen by providing secure options that allow them to work anywhere and still access critical applications and data. With Citrix, your employees will feel a restored sense of balance between work and the rest of their lives, and you’ll hang onto your best employees much longer. 

If you’re searching for ways to improve your firm’s efficiency, effectiveness, and mobility, Citrix is making it happen. There’s never been a better time to give your employees a way to work from home. Want to learn more about how you can make it happen? Contact us today to experience it for yourself!