At the centre of this transformation were technologies like Microsoft Office 365 that enabled this brave new world of automation and freedom.

Now, 4 months into 2020, we’re all re-evaluating our plans and frantically relocating resources for home working. Signs are that things aren’t going to change quickly – this is ‘business unusual’.

On the surface, Office 365 offers everything you need to fire up remote working and keep businesses alive and, to a great extent, this is true. But, as you rest after the frantic 2-3 months of relocation, now’s the time to give thought to network security.

Digital Transformation has shot from a nice to have, to top of the Must Have list and Office 365 is an ideal product suite for large and small businesses. Providing world class features, it can single headedly transform a traditional business into a business ready for the new digital economy. But O365 is not without its flaws.

Over the last 3 months, Microsoft has addressed over 100 issues per month, many critical, and have issued guidance in line with official government warnings both here and in the US. Clearly, a cause for concern.

But does this derail the values on O365, or the incentive for digital transformation? Home working is with us forever and products like O365 will be the workhorse to make it happen – just don’t expect it to do everything.

Security is one area you shouldn’t leave to chance, or rely on a general workhorse, however good it is. There are a number of easy to implement and affordable technologies that can be added that will provide greater protection without impacting on how you work.

The most common way to share data with home working is email, making it also the area of greatest risk. There are a number of products that can provide additional security layers to Microsoft O365, plugging the gaps and providing stronger management of email activity and usage. One, award winning Libra esva, has been specifically designed to work seamlessly with O365 and lists an impressive feature set for better all round protection.

Visibility is essential, with advice from government experts highlighting that you can’t stop what you can’t see. Nominet recently responded to the importance of visibility by acquiring CyGlass, a security vendor whose product identifies network anomalies and alerts security teams.

Last week, CyGlass released their latest update, which addressed the focus on threats outside the perimeter by extending its features to all network activity – inside the perimeter and in the cloud.

Technologies like Libra esva and CyGlass can help us respond to the current crisis and to ensure businesses of every size can embrace the benefits of digital transformation.

CyGlass have announced that the new release can be trialled for 90 days at no cost during to help businesses address the new security risks. Libra esva is available at no cost for 6 months.