One thing to keep in mind is that firms that process PII or other sensitive data may restrict staff that access these systems from working remotely. In particular, financial firms often have sophisticated monitoring programs that may not work for remote users.
Wade Mackey
Wade,
I agree with that to a certain extent. I am sure most of these type of companies would restrict remote employees to do so; however, a good portion of them would simply give you a VPN access and advise to be careful the WiFi network you are is using.
Although organizations typically provide things such as 3M privacy screens for employees that tends to travel or work out of the office, it is also good to mention that the employees also have the responsibilities to protect the information that they access. Good companies should have policies surrounding to what type of information can be access from a public domain (Starbucks) or a private domain (home office) when connecting to company’s network remotely. It is also good practice to not access information that is considered “sensitive,” like customer data or employee information, when you’re working in a public area.
It seems like there is a rule that when things become easier, it also comes with more risk. Allowing people to work remotely helped some employees who had special situation and retained valuable employees. However, it comes with some risk of information leak. It will be better if organizations reminds employees not to work in public. Starbucks is not a good place for working though, people who work remotely should at least stay at a private room like hotel room or their own room.