| | JULY 20238CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONAs I write this, over half of Australia is under a COVID-19 lockdown. Some cities have been in multiple lockdowns, and this has changed, forced, how businesses work.Before the artificial intervention of the pandemic, the ability to work from home was a rarity and something offered to a select few. Or maybe it would only be available in an emergency, for example when a child was sick at home.Remote working was viewed as the Holy Grail, showing that you have succeeded and broken the shackles of corporate life to some extent. The dream of software engineers was to work from the beach somewhere warm, but this situation was rare in reality. And if there was a request to work remotely, managers would ask, `How do we monitor them? Are they actually working?" Remote working being forced on businesses by the pandemic invoke Charles Dickens, who mused, "I have been bent and broken, but ­ I hope ­ into a better shape."Our company, Enero, is a global group of businesses, and we had to tackle business issues arising from COVID-19 all around the globe. However, the very disruption that COVID-19 brought to the business world also allowed us to fast-track some of the technology evolution that was sitting in the queue. Through quick decision making (and a lot of work), we were able to remove old school methods and digitise workflows that were long overdue for change.Organisations found that staff could work successfully from home, and some of the more astute ones have made this arrangement permanent. Indeed, the pandemic has permanently changed how and where work is done.Richard Branson, a supporter of remote working, noted, "We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge REMOTE WORKING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19Dr. Daniel O'SheedyBy Dr. Daniel O'Sheedy, Group IT Director, Enero Group [ASX: EGG]
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