Positioning for Post COVID-19 Remotely
Tags: computerscience, covid19, remoteworking
Published: 2020-10-18 00:47:20

Outline
•	What does ‘Remote’ or ‘Remotely’ mean in ICT?
•	Remote Positioning
•	Remote Tools
•	COVID-19
•	The Timeline – Pre COVID-19, COVID-19, Post COVID-19
•	Positioning for Post COVID-19 remotely
•	How to position for Post COVID-19 remotely
Remote or remote access is the ability to a physical digital entity such a computer, network and so on, from a different location. That is, the ability to work offsite. Remote access is enabled through a network such as a LAN – Local Area Network, WAN – Wide Area Network, Internet, VPN – Virtual Private Network and so on.
Remote access has given ability for service to be done remotely. Remote working is working away from the employer’s place of business. Remote working and access have some benefits like increase productivity, cost reduction, satisfactory working environment and greener business.
Despite the benefits, there are some challenges to remote access with the major being network and power issues. The network issues have to do with the speed and stability of accessing the data. Power issue dwells on the inconsistency and epileptic electricity supplied to the citizens especially in Nigeria and Africa.
Remote positioning is one leaving the onsite to the offsite, doing the same job as when onsite. When an employer empowers the employees using remote tools for remote working, then the employer has done remote positioning.
Remote tools vary but the most paramount is the network then the software or application proceeds. Some of these are:
1.	GoTo Assist
2.	Windows Desktop Sharing
3.	TeamViewer
4.	Apple Remote Desktop
5.	Zoom
6.	Google Meet (formerly Google Hangout)
7.	IdeaBoardz
8.	ConnectWise (formerly ScreenConnect)
9.	DameWare
10.	Bomgar
11.	GitLab
12.	GitHub
13.	Fiverr
COVID-19 caused some businesses a great cost, however, some made a big fat from the pandemic. These were businesses that are digital in nature and remotely focused in their work. Others are those that owns the platform (application and software) for remote access such as zoom. Many companies and businesses had to shift from onsite to offsite; working from home and dependent on tools than ever before, so that there will be continuity of business and services rendered to their customers.
The only entity that was not shutdown during the heavy wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was technology. You can attest the fact that even government was shutdown in some countries.
The predictions on remote positioning for post COVID-19 are that:
1.	Remote working has come to stay
2.	Technology will continually play significant role in lives, businesses and governments.
Table 1	The Timeline
Pre COVID-19	COVID-19	Post COVID-19
Onsite businesses
Good/fair economy
Workforce okay	Business shutdown
Economy worst
Workforce shutdown	Offsite businesses
Economy reviving
Offsite workforce
 
Figure 1	Daily Cases Confirmed in Nigeria
 
Figure 2	Cumulative Cases in Nigeria
Table 2	COVID-19 Statistics (Global and Nigeria)
Nigeria cases
Updated Sep 29 at 10:43 PM local
Confirmed
58,460
+136	Deaths
1,111
+3	Recovered
49,895
+101
Global cases
Updated Sep 29 at 10:43 PM local
Confirmed
33,484,120
+327,308	Deaths
1,004,082
+5,386	Recovered
23,212,633
+251,197

 
Figure 3	COVID-19 Infection Rate in Africa
Data from: CDC, WHO, ECDC, Wikipedia, The New York Times
Positioning for Post COVID-19 remotely is a call to all and sundry whether a business owner or not; to shift from onsite business activity to offsite business activities. This is so due to the precautionary measures of COVID-19 and the trend to which the business ecosystem is following in this period of post COVID-19. Businesses that were not positioned remotely in pre COVID-19, suffered during the COVID-19, and the same story awaits businesses that will not position for post COVID-19 remotely.
Below are some keys to be positioned for post COVID-19 remotely:
•	Have an internet presence using Google Business
•	Open page for your business using Facebook and LinkedIn.
•	Open social media account for your business using Twitter and Instagram
•	Have a business account with Fiverr
•	If you are a developer, make use of online repositories like GitLab, GitHub, GitBucket and so on.
•	There is no harm in your business having a blogsite even if there is a website for the business.
•	Have a business website.
•	Make use of VoIP applications like Zoom, Skype, Telegram and Whatsapp.
•	As a researcher, make use of Academia, LinkedIn, ResearchGates and others.

Reference:
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/5553/remote-access#:~:text=Remote%20access%20refers%20to%20the,such%20as%20the%20office%20network.
https://www.safeguardict.com/remote-working/
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/23696/remote-computer
https://www.trustradius.com/buyer-blog/remote-desktop-tools-for-efficient-tech-support
https://www.ekoapp.com/blog/the-future-of-remote-work-after-covid-19-3-common-predictions
https://www.bing.com/search?q=covid+19+chart&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=&sc=0-0&sk=&cvid=0327AB994BD944CEAE5972C85A684AE7
* Websites were accessed 29th September, 2020

About the Author
Hampo, JohnPaul A.C. is a techy who with the help of God founded Hamplus Technologies (aka Hamplus Hub). He is a full stack developer, a data scientist and a researcher. He majors in Python, Php, Vb.net, C#, ASP.net, HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. He can be reached via 07063047037, 08050736053; hampojohnpaul@gmail.com; www.hamplustech.com; also on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Academia. He has 99.5% internet presence. Google his name and find out!