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It is important to determine the extent to which teleworkers will use any sort of technology to do their
jobs. Will they need a phone or cell phone to do their work? A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)? Hand-held
device? A computer? What about a printer, fax, scanner or copier?
If a computer is required, will teleworkers need to access the Internet to do their work? Internet access
is required for something as basic as sending and receiving email and conducting research on the Web, to
using communication tools, such as Instant Messaging, accessing Web-based applications or connecting to the
corporate Network. If a teleworker has very minimal needs for accessing the Internet, dial-up access may be
sufficient. This may be the case for a teleworker that only needs to send and receive text-based emails -
not large attachments. For teleworkers that need to send/receive emails with attachments, conduct heavy
Web-based research, or access Web-based applications, some sort of broadband connection (DSL, cable,
satellite) is essential. Be sure to include this as a checkpoint in the teleworker evaluation process.
Don't assume that everyone has broadband access.
If a computer is required, determine what software is needed by each teleworker. Software requirements
can range from standard business applications, such as Microsoft Office, to business process or industry-specific
applications that require the installation and maintenance of a client application on the desktop or laptop.
The operating system software, along with anti-virus and/or firewall software, must also be installed and
maintained on an ongoing basis.
When planning IT requirements, remember that teleworkers may have different needs depending upon the kind
of work they will do remotely, and how often they will telework. Take this into account when planning how IT
will support telework. Larger organizations may want to consider providing general guidelines and/or
requirements on some IT support elements while allowing different departments to make some decisions to
meet their unique telework needs and goals.
Who Provides and Maintains Teleworker Technology?
One of the most important decisions to make when building a telework program is whether the organization
will provide teleworkers with the equipment, technology and tools needed to work remotely, or if
teleworkers will be allowed to use their equipment. There are pros and cons to each approach, and
options in-between to be considered depending upon the types of positions that will be teleworking, the
kind of work that will be done remotely, and the frequency with which telework takes place.
While there may be a greater up front cost and lead-time to provide your teleworkers with all the tools
and technology needed to do their job remotely, these costs may be off-set in the long run in terms of
ease of maintaining and upgrading software, providing help desk support, and ensuring compliance with
corporate and regulatory requirements for data access. This approach is particularly suited for
organizations that have a large number of teleworkers requiring the use of technology and common
applications to do their jobs, or that have teleworkers that work with sensitive, particularly
regulated, data.
Allowing employees to use their own equipment may mean less capital outlay and less time required to
launch a telework program, but it raises a number of other questions:
- Standards: Can or should the IT department mandate the type of equipment
(e.g., PC or Mac) and/or software a teleworker can use? Are there any file compatibility issues that
arise from using non-standard equipment?
- Support: Who provides support? Is the teleworker fully responsible for
maintaining, upgrading and troubleshooting their own equipment? What, if any, liability may be involved
if IT does work on the equipment? If they do, will there be an impact on help desk productivity due to
the wide range of systems and software that may be on employee owned equipment?
- Backups & Version Control: Is it important for the organization to
maintain control over their documents and versions? Are there written backup and version control
guidelines? How are these monitored? What if a file system is corrupted or an employee-owned PC is
lost or stolen? Think about the recovery effort, and whether or not there are any liability or
regulatory considerations.
- Security: How can the organization ensure protection of sensitive data
on an employee owned PC or PDA? Who else might have access to it? Are firewalls and antivirus measures
in place and up to date? Can IT veto the use of tools they consider insecure?
Allowing teleworkers to use their own equipment may be suitable when pilot testing a telework program,
if teleworkers have limited technology requirements, or if the organization primarily plans to implement
telework on an infrequent, ad hoc or emergency basis (such as for disaster recovery or continuity of
operations).
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