The people you employ and the culture you cultivate can have a direct impact on your organizational success. During this Power Hour, we'll discuss how we get our staff to perform at "A-Player" level, ways to promote employee engagement, and how technology helps streamline communication.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• What makes a culture
• Why culture matters
• How technology can help make your culture come to life
• Formal best practices

Presenter: 

Taleena Stanbrough: Director of Human Resources at Five Nines

Sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch this FREE Five Nines Power Hour Webinar: How To Develop A Company Culture That Drives Operational Success.

Five Nines spent time searching all over Husker Nation for the go-getters, the self-starters, and the individuals who were full of ideas. Other criteria of this search? Five Nines was looking to hire students to become a part of the first official Five Nines Internship Experience.

The Five Nines team worked hard to develop an internship plan that would give young professionals the opportunity to shadow and learn about all aspects of a Managed IT Services business. The internship program was designed, first and foremost for the interns, so that it can be a valuable use of their time and efforts over a 12 week period.

Director of Human Resources, Taleena Stanbrough: "Our primary focus was to provide a developmental opportunity for students who are passionate about what we do. We feel we have amazing people with incredible minds, top-notch clients and an environment that is collaborative and fun. It’s truly a perfect recipe for an extraordinary internship experience."

Through this internship experience, the Five Nines interns will have the opportunity to gain exposure to how IT environments operate, develop an understanding of the various roles a Managed IT Services organization possesses, shadow projects in an energetic team environment, and have the chance to learn new IT skills from some insanely smart Five Niners.

Taleena: "Developing the youth in our community is our social responsibility, and we are better equipped to do that now more than ever before. We love what we do, and want to share that with students who are passionate about the same things. They will bring us new perspectives, fresh ideas, positive energy, and the team at Five Nines could not be more excited!"

The Five Nines interns seem pretty excited about their new gig, too.

"I’m most looking forward to seeing what the engineers do to support and service their clients. I want to learn as much as I can from them, so that I can have the skills to succeed in this industry."

-Larry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

"Through this internship I hope to gain a vast knowledge of the inner workings of the IT field and how Five Nines functions as a successful business. Using the information that I will gain will bolster my IT experience so I can add it to my skills and resume."

-Jake, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

These new Five Niners will not only become part of the Five Nines work family, they will get the chance to see how an Outsourced IT Provider can support clients across all industries from day-to-day support to project work. They will also have the chance to practice their foosball skills with fellow engineers over lunch.

Taleena: "The Five Nines interns will leave here with a better understanding of who we are as a company, and why we believe in what we do. In turn, our hope is they will understand themselves better as a professional and a person and be better equipped to navigate their journey outside of college."

Welcome to the first Five Nines Internship Experience, Larry and Jake!

For an inside look at what makes Five Nines different, click the button below. 

In today's world, technology is on-the-go and there are no trends to show that this on-the-go tech culture will change anytime soon. According to a poll conducted by Gallup, in 2017 43% of Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely. Working remotely is becoming more and more popular, whether it is a part of company culture or for special circumstances.

We want you to know that it's okay to go remote, and that working on your devices outside of the office can still be safe and reliable. Whether it's a common trend in your organization or not, the ability for employees to access their work remotely is always good for unexpected, on-the-go work.

Here are some things to think about when configuring your IT environment for remote work.

VPN'S

A VPN, or a virtual private network, is a way to connect to a remote site securely, while using a standard Internet connection. The most common remote access VPN used today is secured via Secure Socket Layer or SSL. This is essentially security technology that protects your data as you pass between the web server and different browsers. Your VPN can be configured to tailor your organization's needs and make working remotely efficient and protected without your employees having to take any extra steps.

CORRECT CONNECTIVITY

There are a few steps every business should take to ensure users can connect remotely. First, you must ensure a remote access VPN is licensed and configured properly on your firewall. Your IT team should also ensure an SSL certificate is purchased so it can be used for the remote access VPN for added protection. Doing this will limit many common cyber threats.

On the remote employees' side, they must have a reliable Internet connection as well as a home network. It is typically fine to work in places such as coffee shops, but users must be aware that they could experience a poor connection from time to time as those networks are used by many outside devices.

OTHER SOLUTIONS

Remote solutions are going to look different for every organization, as it varies based on the type of IT environment a company is utilizing. For example, other business class solutions that would allow for employees to remotely access their work are Citrix NetScaler and Microsoft Remote Desktop Gateway. If you are currently using Citrix for published applications or desktops, the Citrix NetScaler option might work best for you as it would be a straight-forward process that would allow for SSL encrypted remote access to the Citrix resources. If your company uses predominantly Remote Desktop Services, the implementation of a remote desktop gateway will allow for remote access by the user.

If your employees are encouraged to work from home if needed, make sure your organization is protected while doing so. If remote work isn't as common for your employees, it's still an important aspect to focus on so that if the opportunity arises the user is protected. Life happens, and sometimes there are no other options than for a user to work remotely. Make sure your organization is prepared.

If you're curious about more ways to collaborate with your team from anywhere through technological tools, click below for a free Five Nines webinar that dives into why Office 365 is more than just an email tool.