Linking to the Teleworker

Experts also recommend that companies get external backup drives for offsite employees, and, if necessary, use an over-the-wire backup service that automates the backup process and creates block-level backup images—exact point-in-time representations of the server contents—for fast and easy data recovery and restoration.

Policies are also important, and putting them consistently into practice is essential. “A company needs to establish security policies for teleworkers or for anyone that works outside the office,” Agar says. “If something is stolen or left in a rental car, what’s the policy? How quickly can corporate IT work to shut off a device?”

A Win-Win Situation?

Measuring the benefits of telecommuting to the company can be difficult. “The savings are hard to calculate,” Leese says. “There is obvious worker satisfaction and less down time due to family issues and weather delays. An added benefit is that telecommuters seem more willing to work early or late as necessary, since there is no commute time.”

“In general the ROI is derived by the cost of the activities necessary to establish and maintain a home office vs. the costs to setup and maintain workspace in a regular office,” Brower says. “Telecommuting will prove most popular for lower-paying positions in areas of the country with high commercial real estate costs.”

“An added benefit,” he says, “is that we don’t lose productivity when there is a weather event or things like power outages that would normally close the office.”

Whether employing teleworkers is worthwhile for your company might be determined by a cost-benefit analysis specific to your business. The expenses typically built into such an arrangement include training, IT equipment purchase and maintenance, phone installation and service, and possibly miscellaneous items such as furniture. A list of benefits might include travel savings, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and reduced office space.

“Production tends to go up considerably [among teleworkers],” Agar says. “Imagine if we received six inches of snow. Instead of sitting in traffic for two hours, a teleworker can be up and working at 7:00 in the morning.”