Matt Van Syckle, Montana’s Chief Technology Officer, has recently been vocal about adopting a remote work culture. In a virtual conference on Monday, he expressed that state agencies need to consider a “work-from-anywhere” policy. This “ever evolving” work environment is here stay.
How is “Work-from-anywhere” Policy Different from a “Work-from-home” Policy?
In an event hosted by VMWare, Matt Van Syckle talked about how Montana will encourage state employees to “work from anywhere”. This means Montana will allow workers to work at different state-owned property and buildings while also supporting hybrid and full-time in-office work.
The state is also working on making all of its digital applications cloud-accessible so that work-from-anywhere can happen smoothly without any hiccups..
“The work-from-home strategy, we tried to approach it as a work-from-anywhere strategy, and I think it’s going to bode well for the future of state government here in Montana,”Matt Van Syckle, Montana Chief Technology Officer
A robust IT infrastructure is the biggest requirement for a “work-from-anywhere” model to be successful. Van Syckle addresses the challenge further and talks about how cloud-native apps could probably be a solution.
“Some legacy apps, you need to be almost in this building on this desktop logged in with this username and password on Fridays of a leap year in order for it to work just right. And that doesn’t work well in a work-from-anywhere environment. You need to have a cloud-native app or a modern workplace in order to deliver that app. So I think we need to get back to basics in identifying those apps that have this unique work environment needed in order to function.”Matt Van Syckle, Montana Chief Technology Officer
What About Security Threats?
This is why Montana’s next priority is to remove as many manual functions as possible. This includes automating Montana’s cybersecurity processes. State enterprises are highly susceptible to ransomware attacks and agencies can’t count on manual responses for ensuring security.
“It’s not enough to say ‘we got an alert, we’re going to notify a 24/7 operations response center. We need to have that response automated. So the ability for phishing attacks to be automatically detected, automated response and automated remediation. Those things should be zero-touch.”Matt Van Syckle
Montana is on it’s way to a remote work revolution and the preparations are in place. With most states, countries and industries moving to a remote work culture, it is evident that work-from-home or work-from-anywhere is here to stay, survive and thrive.
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