Short Answer : Amazon Web Services (AWS) has options for your hardware, communication tools, and security solutions. Allowing you to leverage the scalability of the cloud.

2020 has been a brutal year for a lot of people all across the world. Businesses that wanted or worse needed to stay open had to quickly pivot to a virtual solution and allow there employees to work remotely. You may be prepared to transition people from working in the office to their home, but it can still be a massive undertaking. Not many people realize how AWS can help your business work from home.

• Hardware
• Communication
• Security

Hardware

Workspaces

Hardware is probably one of the more difficult tasks to set up when it comes to allowing your employees to work remote. Computers, software on those computers, phones are some things you either need to make mobile or in our case here, virtual. AWS Workspaces can provide you with a virtual desktop that each of your employees can use. What's great is you can set up one system then essentially duplicate it for everyone else. This makes setting up the entire office with a system pretty easy. So now they just need a computer to tap into the AWS Workspace. The specifications of the virtual desktops can be set depending on what the user needs as far as power. A unique pricing plan allows you to pay monthly or by the hour. Depending on your use case this can save you a ton of money if set up properly.

Workspaces Review : FinancesOnline

AWS FSx

AWS FSx is a fully managed Windows File Server. In a nut shell you can utilize it just like a network drive but without the hassle of having to deal with physical hardware. You can adjust the storage size to whatever you need and mount it to any computer that has the correct amount of security access. 2 great things about FSx is that it can be attached to Microsoft Active Directory and it is highly performant.

AWS S3 Storage

Simple Storage Service or S3 is pretty straight forward. It's a file storage hosted by Amazon. It competes with the likes of Dropbox, Box, Google Drive. You are given a S3 'bucket' which is your root folder and you go from there. The biggest perk of it, zero maximum storage size! Pretty big deal in the world of data, it seems like every year we need more and more storage space. One big thing to note though is that a S3 bucket can be as locked down as you want or completely public. So it's important to set up security correctly if you want it to be internal only.

Communication

AWS Chime

Communication is a part of business that is generally most effected by workers going remote. The ability to walk over to a coworker's desk or office is no longer there, so we have to get a bit more creative. Many businesses went into the pandemic era using software like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meets. Amazon joined into that market by releasing AWS Chime. It allows you to have chat (instant messaging), video conferencing, and actually allows you to make phone calls and text messaging as well. Pretty great feature set to look into especially if you are already dedicated to the AWS platform in general.

Chime Review : TrustRadius

AWS Workmail

Probably not a solution many people will consider since email is one of the first things you set up. But if you are just getting established or are looking for a new solution, having used it myself it's pretty good. Can be integrated into Microsoft Outlook, manages contacts, and has a calendar. You can't ask for much more in an email platform. Again more for people just getting started looking for a solution.

Security

AWS VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)

AWS VPC or virtual private cloud is basically a bubble in the cloud that only you have access too. Alot of AWS services can be placed into a VPC, anyone that has access will be able to use any tools you have configured. One of the more powerful things to set up within a VPC is a VPN. Confusing I know but stay with me, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is what you would use to access your 'bubble in the cloud' remotely. This will allow you to completely lock down your VPC and only allow those with VPN access will be permitted to use those tools.

VPC Review : G2 (tons of user reviews)

AWS IQ

An awesome solution for getting into AWS Services. If you know what you want to accomplish but not sure where to start or just intimidated. AWS IQ is something to look into. Basically you post what you want done, the amount you want to spend and a certified AWS professional will contact you. If you are a business owner wondering how AWS can help your business work from home, this would be a great first step. It's a great hands off approach to getting a cloud based solution set up for your company. Something worth exploring for sure.

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