1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,680 Remote and hybrid work are here to stay, but working from home 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,280 creates A variety of challenges from a technology standpoint. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,720 For HR for compliance, we're speaking with Mark Custodio, the 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,200 Director of Enterprise Sales at Verizon about these challenges 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,560 and solutions. I get to meet with the largest 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,480 global companies in the world at their locations, doing tours of 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,920 their facilities and really getting a deep rooted 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,320 understanding in terms of how their business operates. 9 00:00:29,730 --> 00:00:34,010 Mark, as you're speaking with your customers talking about 10 00:00:34,090 --> 00:00:39,730 remote work and hybrid work, what are they telling you what's 11 00:00:39,730 --> 00:00:43,890 going on today in this world? Hybrid is here to stay. 12 00:00:43,970 --> 00:00:48,250 That's the first thing you know. It seems like the IT HR 13 00:00:48,250 --> 00:00:51,690 professionals, they did herculean work to get folks to 14 00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:53,730 get home when the pandemic struck. 15 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,320 And I think it probably accelerated many, many years 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,200 worth of, hey, we're talking about doing work from home or 17 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,840 talking about these hybrid environments too, right now we 18 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,560 have to how do we do it. And they were able to kind of do 19 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,120 this patchwork to get them to work. 20 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,440 I think they think it's working OK in some instances, but they 21 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,560 have a little bit of concerns around employee experience, 22 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,920 around security risks that they don't really know where to go 23 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,400 yet. What are the shifts or the 24 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,000 changes? That you see these folks going 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:24,680 through in their organizations right now. 26 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,360 I think the first major shift is in the employee mindset. 27 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:32,680 You know before and it's almost hard to remember, but it wasn't 28 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,200 too long ago where we had to be at work on time, at office, in 29 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,480 the desk. And now I think the latest 30 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,000 statistic is 58% of employees would actually seek a different 31 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,320 job if they weren't able to work from home at least some of the 32 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:49,800 time. So now it's really put a lot of 33 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,120 control in the employees hand saying, look I have choices out 34 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:55,640 there. I want the best possible 35 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:57,680 experience. I want a work life balance. 36 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,240 I also want all the tools that I need in order to be effective at 37 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,400 my job at home. And so it's putting the 38 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,040 companies in a position where OK, we want to embrace this. 39 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,919 How do we give the best experience to attract and retain 40 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:14,200 our top talent but also ensure that we're meeting our. 41 00:02:14,810 --> 00:02:17,930 You know, productivity goals, our financial goals because it 42 00:02:17,930 --> 00:02:20,890 might be an out of cost in doing this and of course securing 43 00:02:20,890 --> 00:02:25,010 everything end to end. You know now the office is their 44 00:02:25,010 --> 00:02:28,010 home and that's essentially a branch location for these 45 00:02:28,010 --> 00:02:30,250 enterprises. And so now that they've 46 00:02:30,250 --> 00:02:33,490 established a work culture policy essentially enabling 47 00:02:33,490 --> 00:02:38,050 folks to work in their home environment or at a Starbucks or 48 00:02:38,050 --> 00:02:39,970 at an airport or wherever they might be. 49 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,040 They're trying to figure out, OK, what's the right tool set to 50 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:44,920 give. Broadly speaking, what are some 51 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:49,600 of the challenges that organizations face as they make 52 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:55,360 this transition from being exclusively in the office to 53 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,920 remote and hybrid work? You know you mentioned me being 54 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,560 in front of customers a lot, so I can hear first hand some of 55 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,520 the challenges that they're saying that was with a large 56 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,120 insurance company recently and they have many work from home 57 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,940 employees. They're utilizing their own home 58 00:03:09,940 --> 00:03:12,900 Internet connection, which you could imagine there's dozens and 59 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:16,460 dozens of different providers and they've been experiencing 60 00:03:17,140 --> 00:03:20,700 lots of issues with their VPN just staying connected and lots 61 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:23,300 of VPN drops. It's been really hard for them 62 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:27,180 to troubleshoot this because essentially they can look into 63 00:03:27,180 --> 00:03:30,940 their own system, but they can't really look into the home users 64 00:03:30,940 --> 00:03:32,740 network because that's their own home Internet. 65 00:03:33,220 --> 00:03:36,780 They don't have access at an enterprise level to the provider 66 00:03:36,780 --> 00:03:38,140 that's giving them that home Internet. 67 00:03:38,550 --> 00:03:41,030 Even if they call that provider, they're not treated as an 68 00:03:41,030 --> 00:03:42,790 enterprise. They would be calling on behalf 69 00:03:42,790 --> 00:03:45,190 of the consumer and they don't have the rights to do so. 70 00:03:45,510 --> 00:03:48,910 And so for them to be able to troubleshoot at scale, you can 71 00:03:48,910 --> 00:03:51,990 imagine how exponential that problem becomes. 72 00:03:52,470 --> 00:03:57,390 So what customers are saying is how do I get one standard that 73 00:03:57,390 --> 00:04:00,830 not just delivers that good employee experience, but reduces 74 00:04:00,830 --> 00:04:04,400 the IT burden? Because when I get dozens and 75 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,000 dozens of calls that could have dozens of different root 76 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,440 problems across dozens of vendors, it's just not scalable 77 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,640 and I don't have the resources to support that. 78 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:19,120 So enterprise IT departments are in this position of needing to 79 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:24,560 manage their own network, but at the same time manage networks 80 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,320 out there among their entire employee base. 81 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,960 You got it, Michael. And you think about the risk 82 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,960 that that entails? You know in your average home 83 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,960 there's probably tons of IoT devices and smart devices and 84 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:38,840 things that are listening and snooping. 85 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,840 And whether malicious or not, my guess is they don't have all of 86 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,160 the up to date security parameters that a business or an 87 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,600 enterprise would want or would accept on their own network. 88 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,800 So the the biggest recommendation that I can give 89 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:58,200 is start the conversation of now saying those home offices. 90 00:04:59,060 --> 00:05:01,220 Are an extension of your business. 91 00:05:01,620 --> 00:05:04,340 If you were going to allow somebody to work at a different 92 00:05:04,340 --> 00:05:08,380 location, you have to treat that with the same fervor or the same 93 00:05:08,540 --> 00:05:12,180 rigor that you would do for your own branch location, your own 94 00:05:12,180 --> 00:05:15,380 brick and mortar. Because essentially that user 95 00:05:15,380 --> 00:05:17,980 has the access to the same amount of information they would 96 00:05:17,980 --> 00:05:20,420 have within your four walls. So you have to protect that 97 00:05:20,420 --> 00:05:23,580 information in the same way. The zero trust framework is 98 00:05:23,580 --> 00:05:26,020 becoming more and more prevalent in conversations. 99 00:05:26,380 --> 00:05:28,580 But you really need that visibility end to end and be 100 00:05:28,580 --> 00:05:30,340 able to manage those connections end to end. 101 00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:33,420 And so enterprises are saying, OK, if I own everything end to 102 00:05:33,420 --> 00:05:37,620 end and I have visibility end to end, it's going to help me 103 00:05:37,620 --> 00:05:41,300 across several different vectors, all of those calls to 104 00:05:41,540 --> 00:05:44,260 various different providers. Well, now that anomaly is gone. 105 00:05:44,260 --> 00:05:46,260 I don't have dozens of standards. 106 00:05:46,260 --> 00:05:48,700 I have one standard. In addition, when there's an 107 00:05:48,700 --> 00:05:51,660 issue, I have remote access, remote control, remote 108 00:05:51,660 --> 00:05:55,580 capability to actually diagnose and troubleshoot that challenge. 109 00:05:55,950 --> 00:06:01,870 So by controlling that connection, you create a simpler 110 00:06:01,910 --> 00:06:05,710 environment that's easier to administer. 111 00:06:05,990 --> 00:06:09,030 And at the same time, from a security standpoint, everything 112 00:06:09,030 --> 00:06:11,030 is standardized and so you know what's going on. 113 00:06:11,390 --> 00:06:14,430 That's exactly correct and and I think that's really what the IT 114 00:06:14,470 --> 00:06:18,590 professionals want. HR is really burdened with this 115 00:06:18,590 --> 00:06:21,770 challenge as well. We've seen several states start 116 00:06:21,770 --> 00:06:24,370 to do legislation. I think there's about 11 states 117 00:06:24,370 --> 00:06:27,530 that have legislation. Some are more specific than 118 00:06:27,530 --> 00:06:29,170 others. And if you think about an 119 00:06:29,170 --> 00:06:34,370 organization that spreads across multiple states, they tend to go 120 00:06:34,370 --> 00:06:36,370 towards whatever the strictest standards are. 121 00:06:36,890 --> 00:06:39,450 So if in California, they're requiring you to reimburse for 122 00:06:39,450 --> 00:06:43,170 certain tools that you need to work from home, that often 123 00:06:43,170 --> 00:06:47,730 includes Internet connectivity. And so very similarly to how 124 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:51,210 corporations. Really have on mass migrated 125 00:06:51,210 --> 00:06:54,250 around, bring your own device. They started to do that trend 126 00:06:54,250 --> 00:06:57,050 many years ago, but it was very difficult to manage. 127 00:06:57,050 --> 00:07:00,090 It started to be very expensive. They were starting to be asked 128 00:07:00,090 --> 00:07:01,610 to give stipends and things like that. 129 00:07:01,970 --> 00:07:04,170 They've really all brought back and said you know we're going to 130 00:07:04,170 --> 00:07:07,770 provide a corporate phone. HR professionals are saying you 131 00:07:07,770 --> 00:07:09,370 know what, we can view this as a benefit. 132 00:07:10,010 --> 00:07:12,650 We can view this as a way to meet our standards across. 133 00:07:13,020 --> 00:07:15,620 We can view this as a way to improve employee experience 134 00:07:15,620 --> 00:07:18,500 because you know, you and I are communicating virtually right 135 00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:20,380 now. And if we don't have a solid 136 00:07:20,380 --> 00:07:23,380 connection, the relationship just doesn't work. 137 00:07:23,380 --> 00:07:26,140 And so giving them that solid connection makes them better at 138 00:07:26,140 --> 00:07:27,580 their job, makes them more effective. 139 00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:30,780 And so there's value across a lot of different work streams 140 00:07:30,780 --> 00:07:33,780 here. We're seeing some early adopters 141 00:07:33,780 --> 00:07:38,100 in call center space. You think about call centers are 142 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:40,460 not on mass in these giant buildings anymore. 143 00:07:40,780 --> 00:07:44,320 There are many at home. Often they don't have the most 144 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,120 reliable Internet connection is there's been that move to rural 145 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,680 where you don't necessarily have fiber and some of those high 146 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,400 speed connections and then all those other challenges. 147 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,880 So they provide a kit, a kit could include an Internet 148 00:07:54,880 --> 00:08:00,240 connection, some security applications, a void phone and 149 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,000 essentially day one they're on board. 150 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,480 Do they have everything they need to be successful. 151 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:09,040 What are the considerations around choosing these kinds of 152 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,210 tools? A few things that folks need to 153 00:08:11,210 --> 00:08:13,850 consider. You know, one, it needs to be 154 00:08:14,090 --> 00:08:18,410 easy to operate and easy to deploy because essentially, you 155 00:08:18,410 --> 00:08:23,970 don't have somebody in every home doing a robust setup, 156 00:08:24,410 --> 00:08:29,010 installation, troubleshooting. Many corporations, including 157 00:08:29,090 --> 00:08:32,450 right outside this door at our office, we have, you know, a 158 00:08:32,490 --> 00:08:34,010 help desk. So if you're having a challenge 159 00:08:34,010 --> 00:08:36,330 with your technology, make an appointment, walk up to the help 160 00:08:36,330 --> 00:08:37,730 desk, and we'll troubleshoot that for you. 161 00:08:38,260 --> 00:08:41,539 Well, at home it's not quite so easy, so I think you should look 162 00:08:41,539 --> 00:08:43,059 for something that's plug and play. 163 00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:46,260 Second, something that you can remotely manage, so if there is 164 00:08:46,260 --> 00:08:48,700 an issue, you can diagnose and see what that is. 165 00:08:49,340 --> 00:08:51,580 Third, I think you need to look for something that's scalable. 166 00:08:51,700 --> 00:08:54,460 And what about from a security perspective? 167 00:08:54,860 --> 00:08:57,340 Security means different things to different folks, but 168 00:08:57,700 --> 00:09:00,420 ultimately you need to be able to protect the data that's on 169 00:09:00,420 --> 00:09:03,060 there, you need to be able to protect your end users, and I 170 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:04,740 think you need to make it a little bit foolproof. 171 00:09:04,740 --> 00:09:07,290 We just released. Our data breach investigation 172 00:09:07,290 --> 00:09:10,490 report and what are we finding? Well, security breaches are on 173 00:09:10,490 --> 00:09:13,930 the rise yet again. So despite many efforts it's 174 00:09:13,930 --> 00:09:16,650 happening more. Many of these breaches are are 175 00:09:16,650 --> 00:09:20,650 organized and many of them are for financial motives. 176 00:09:21,050 --> 00:09:24,930 And so we know that the motives are there to get the information 177 00:09:25,210 --> 00:09:28,930 and often the breach happens with the employee, right that 178 00:09:28,930 --> 00:09:32,170 ends up being the the firewall that's at most risk. 179 00:09:32,250 --> 00:09:34,410 The other thing though is you need to balance that with 180 00:09:34,410 --> 00:09:37,230 employee experience. So you need to put solutions in 181 00:09:37,230 --> 00:09:41,030 place that enable the employee to do their job without having 182 00:09:41,030 --> 00:09:44,230 so many restrictions that it's draconian and they can't access 183 00:09:44,430 --> 00:09:47,110 the sites and the information they need to be successful. 184 00:09:47,950 --> 00:09:50,590 So we can guide through all of that and that's really what it 185 00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:53,390 is. It's a consulting journey where 186 00:09:53,390 --> 00:09:56,390 we look at the outcomes that the customer wants to achieve. 187 00:09:57,110 --> 00:10:02,950 We help them diagnose what products, services, consulting 188 00:10:03,270 --> 00:10:05,110 enables them to achieve that outcome. 189 00:10:05,530 --> 00:10:08,090 And then we deliver a package that's really seamless to that 190 00:10:08,090 --> 00:10:10,570 end user. You mentioned the HR benefits 191 00:10:10,570 --> 00:10:12,770 earlier. Can you be a little more 192 00:10:12,770 --> 00:10:19,370 explicit in linking this kind of connectivity and control that is 193 00:10:19,370 --> 00:10:25,730 obviously so beneficial to it to the value, the benefit, the 194 00:10:25,930 --> 00:10:29,890 employee experience and therefore the HR benefits? 195 00:10:30,350 --> 00:10:34,470 I'm reminded about a visit I did at a large physical security 196 00:10:34,470 --> 00:10:36,550 company. We were walking their facilities 197 00:10:36,910 --> 00:10:42,110 and they had shown literally stacks and stacks and stacks of 198 00:10:42,110 --> 00:10:44,310 expenses, paperwork and timesheets. 199 00:10:44,310 --> 00:10:47,230 They were very antiquated in some of the ways that they did 200 00:10:47,230 --> 00:10:50,950 things where they were faxing information in from each of 201 00:10:50,950 --> 00:10:55,310 their security locations, and whether that be an expense for a 202 00:10:55,310 --> 00:10:56,990 phone, whether that be an expense for Internet 203 00:10:56,990 --> 00:10:58,910 connectivity, whether that be their actual timesheet. 204 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,680 It was all manual in nature for folks to process this. 205 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,440 So one, at an enterprise level, when you're providing these 206 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:09,320 tools and resources, you can remove all of that necessity for 207 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,120 one, the employee to do expenses. 208 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,160 And by the way, Michael, I've yet to meet an employee that 209 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,280 wakes up in the morning, is excited to do their expense 210 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,440 reports and by the way, sometimes get them kicked back 211 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,160 and audited and all the things that come with that. 212 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,960 So you remove that. Now you're giving them a benefit 213 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,440 that's really easy to manage. I think 2. 214 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,360 You're compliant. So essentially you're providing 215 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,920 those tools and resources. So it's not just compliancy from 216 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,360 the IT and security that we talked about, but compliancy for 217 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,160 the regulation that's in place today and potentially future 218 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,360 regulation as that starts to mature as hybrid and work from 219 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:45,760 home becomes more and more the standard, not the exception. 220 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,560 And then finally you need to think of ways to differentiate 221 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:51,920 yourself. So you imagine you're coming 222 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,480 into a brand new job and you might be coming into a brand new 223 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,690 company. Day one, how easy is it when 224 00:11:59,690 --> 00:12:03,330 you're not at a physical office, you're at your home to connect 225 00:12:03,330 --> 00:12:06,010 into the training that you need? How do you feel if when you 226 00:12:06,010 --> 00:12:09,650 connect into that training, it's choppy, it's not reliable, you 227 00:12:09,650 --> 00:12:11,850 can't get the VPN to stay. You're not able to get that 228 00:12:11,850 --> 00:12:14,730 clear communication to learn the information you want. 229 00:12:14,970 --> 00:12:17,770 I think what you're probably going to find is if we're not 230 00:12:17,850 --> 00:12:21,690 adequately equipping those home users, we're going to see churn 231 00:12:22,290 --> 00:12:24,530 tick up very rapidly, employee churn. 232 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,440 Why do I have this prediction? Well, it's pretty simple if my 233 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,680 onboarding experience in those first few weeks is poor, even if 234 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:33,720 I'm an existing employee. But now I'm working hybrid or 235 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,640 home, and my work experience is not as good or better as it was 236 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:41,000 when I was in the office. And I now have less physical tie 237 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,520 to a brand or a company because I'm not building relationships 238 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,280 within those four walls. Plus, maybe I have a little bit 239 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,280 of extra time to have on my other monitor. 240 00:12:49,650 --> 00:12:53,530 LinkedIn and Indeed and job searches and monster.com to 241 00:12:53,530 --> 00:12:56,090 search for those. It makes it really easy for me 242 00:12:56,090 --> 00:12:59,850 to find something else. And so we need to be thinking 243 00:12:59,850 --> 00:13:02,970 differently about how we attract and retain talent, how we 244 00:13:02,970 --> 00:13:05,770 develop our folks. That face to face interaction is 245 00:13:05,770 --> 00:13:08,690 now likely a virtual face to face interaction. 246 00:13:09,090 --> 00:13:12,530 So those experiences need to ride on a different type of 247 00:13:12,530 --> 00:13:16,410 infrastructure. And I'll also add I know that 248 00:13:16,410 --> 00:13:19,490 5G. Is going to bring experiences 249 00:13:19,890 --> 00:13:25,130 that weren't possible in the past by a virtual connection, 250 00:13:25,130 --> 00:13:28,450 things that were only possible in face to face augmented 251 00:13:28,450 --> 00:13:31,130 reality and virtual reality. Different ways of training 252 00:13:31,130 --> 00:13:34,450 different types of employees are now becoming more prevalent, so 253 00:13:34,450 --> 00:13:38,090 that need for a more robust connection with really low 254 00:13:38,090 --> 00:13:41,250 latency, so it's a good experience for everybody is 255 00:13:41,250 --> 00:13:42,810 becoming more and more important. 256 00:13:43,250 --> 00:13:47,210 Mark, tell us about the cybersecurity implications. 257 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,440 When you don't own the connection at home, you don't 258 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,600 know what else is riding on that network, what might be causing 259 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,680 risk. But at home, I think most 260 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:58,080 enterprises have no idea what's riding on that network. 261 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,840 You want to know where the data is going. 262 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,880 Would it interest the organization if they found that 263 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,600 data from that connection was going to another country, 264 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,280 another nation state, a part of the world where they don't do 265 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,540 Business Today? Would it interest them to know 266 00:14:14,540 --> 00:14:16,860 if there were incoming attacks? Would it be interesting for them 267 00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:20,820 to know if certain websites were being accessed? 268 00:14:21,180 --> 00:14:23,420 I think this would be interesting to know, but more 269 00:14:23,420 --> 00:14:25,220 so. You can then create policy 270 00:14:25,260 --> 00:14:28,380 framework and automation. When you own the connection you 271 00:14:28,380 --> 00:14:31,740 can encrypt that end to end. When you own the connection you 272 00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:35,500 can add on analytics that help you search and seek out what's 273 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:39,260 going on, and when you own the connection you can quickly. 274 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,320 Put in framework that restricts access, allows access. 275 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,800 Put in framework that quarantines that does all the 276 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,880 things you would expect in an enterprise environment. 277 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:56,120 Mark, what about the privacy and the compliance implications or 278 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,800 benefits from using this type of connectivity? 279 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,080 That needs to be at the forefront of everything we do, 280 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,400 because employees aren't going to be happy if we're invading on 281 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:07,760 their privacy. Having a dedicated Internet 282 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,450 connection means. You don't have that risk at all. 283 00:15:10,730 --> 00:15:14,850 The connectivity that you have for your business products, your 284 00:15:14,850 --> 00:15:16,890 business solutions, your laptops, your phones, your 285 00:15:16,890 --> 00:15:18,970 tablets, whatever connectivity that you're using, their VoIP 286 00:15:18,970 --> 00:15:22,130 phones, that's segmented off from their home Internet. 287 00:15:22,970 --> 00:15:25,130 And so now you don't have to worry what they're doing on 288 00:15:25,130 --> 00:15:26,810 their network. They don't have to worry about 289 00:15:26,810 --> 00:15:28,090 how they're monitoring their network. 290 00:15:28,090 --> 00:15:29,770 It's under the same policy and framework. 291 00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:32,450 So that makes it really easy. But if you flip that and you 292 00:15:32,450 --> 00:15:35,410 say, OK, well, if I want to add these types of security 293 00:15:35,410 --> 00:15:38,650 solutions and I don't own the Internet connection. 294 00:15:39,510 --> 00:15:42,230 Well then, what risk does that put me in, in terms of what data 295 00:15:42,230 --> 00:15:44,950 I'm collecting on my employees? What risk does that put me in, 296 00:15:44,950 --> 00:15:48,150 in terms of how their perception may be of how I'm monitoring? 297 00:15:48,390 --> 00:15:51,150 If they're doing something malicious or wrong or have a a 298 00:15:51,870 --> 00:15:55,270 security breach on their phone, that's their personal I don't 299 00:15:55,270 --> 00:15:58,030 want to put my information at risk or vice versa. 300 00:15:58,510 --> 00:16:00,750 And by the way, employees think the same. 301 00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:05,020 Hey, I want to be able to access information, but I don't want 302 00:16:05,020 --> 00:16:06,820 you seeing what I do on my personal device. 303 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:09,500 Let's segregate that. Let's make sure there's a fence 304 00:16:09,580 --> 00:16:13,140 and we don't have to worry about personal information and work 305 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:15,740 information. We have dedicated lanes and I'll 306 00:16:15,740 --> 00:16:19,420 tell you once you do that, it's so empowering for the company 307 00:16:19,740 --> 00:16:21,540 because it can enable a better experience. 308 00:16:21,940 --> 00:16:26,180 An example might be, let's build a private network. 309 00:16:26,460 --> 00:16:28,820 So maybe you don't need that VPN anymore. 310 00:16:28,980 --> 00:16:31,060 Maybe the moment you authenticate that device. 311 00:16:31,630 --> 00:16:34,070 To your Internet connection, it just immediately connects. 312 00:16:34,510 --> 00:16:37,510 And so these are things that we can do or maybe we do a private 313 00:16:37,510 --> 00:16:39,910 network with a VPN and add a completely different layer of 314 00:16:39,910 --> 00:16:42,030 security. Maybe we say, you know what, 315 00:16:42,030 --> 00:16:44,950 we're going to prioritize certain bits of data or 316 00:16:44,950 --> 00:16:47,990 applications just like we would do in an office location. 317 00:16:47,990 --> 00:16:50,750 So because we own the Internet, we're going to put a little bit 318 00:16:50,750 --> 00:16:53,630 of priority on that VoIP phone so you get the best experience 319 00:16:53,630 --> 00:16:56,370 on your voice. And you know any other 320 00:16:56,370 --> 00:16:58,450 applications like YouTube and things like that or more best 321 00:16:58,450 --> 00:17:00,970 effort, These are things that you can start to think about 322 00:17:01,130 --> 00:17:04,170 when you own the connection and you have the applications, the 323 00:17:04,170 --> 00:17:06,210 hardware that's wrapped around it. 324 00:17:06,609 --> 00:17:12,130 Given the importance of employee training around issues such as 325 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:17,450 phishing, what resources can you recommend for folks that are 326 00:17:17,450 --> 00:17:20,210 listening to learn more and to help their employees? 327 00:17:20,540 --> 00:17:24,020 On our website, we have a great Internet portal, the Verizon 328 00:17:24,020 --> 00:17:26,859 Business Internet. It gives great information at a 329 00:17:26,859 --> 00:17:29,220 high level as to some of the recommendations we have for 330 00:17:29,220 --> 00:17:31,260 this. In addition, and this is really 331 00:17:31,260 --> 00:17:33,060 the most important thing that you can do, let's start with a 332 00:17:33,060 --> 00:17:36,020 conversation. I heard Danny Johnson who's head 333 00:17:36,020 --> 00:17:37,780 of one of our product marketing divisions. 334 00:17:37,940 --> 00:17:41,420 He made a great analogy that the most important investment that 335 00:17:41,420 --> 00:17:43,700 you can make, if you're listening to this as a business 336 00:17:43,700 --> 00:17:45,740 leader, as an IT professional, as an HR professional. 337 00:17:46,670 --> 00:17:49,110 Is the investment of your time. Because at the end of the day, 338 00:17:49,390 --> 00:17:52,070 there's unlimited upside to what that conversation can bring and 339 00:17:52,190 --> 00:17:53,950 there's very little risk, there's very little downside. 340 00:17:53,950 --> 00:17:55,470 You're just investing in conversation. 341 00:17:55,830 --> 00:17:59,870 So let's have a conversation meet with your professional. 342 00:17:59,870 --> 00:18:02,750 We have folks that are assigned to almost every business that's 343 00:18:02,750 --> 00:18:04,150 out there. We'll have a conversation. 344 00:18:04,150 --> 00:18:06,830 We'll understand what your goals are because that training may 345 00:18:06,830 --> 00:18:08,990 not be A1 size fits all. There's different levels of 346 00:18:08,990 --> 00:18:11,270 maturity and outcomes that the customers are looking for. 347 00:18:11,630 --> 00:18:13,110 We can design a solution for that. 348 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,440 Now for companies that are a little bit more advanced or 349 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,480 looking for more something holistically, we have world 350 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,400 class business consulting services. 351 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,440 We're on retainer for some of the largest companies in the 352 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:28,160 world where we do specific trainings, red table events for 353 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,960 example, where we simulate some very sophisticated attacks and 354 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,560 we utilize this information because. 355 00:18:33,910 --> 00:18:36,430 The data breach investigation report, I think this year it's 356 00:18:36,430 --> 00:18:39,750 maybe something like 15 or 17,000 data breaches that we 357 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:43,030 investigated that we ingested and then gave analytics on. 358 00:18:43,030 --> 00:18:46,870 So we see what happens across networks around the globe. 359 00:18:47,070 --> 00:18:51,550 We see how these things are manifested and then we know how 360 00:18:51,550 --> 00:18:54,830 to prevent and if it does happen, how to respond very 361 00:18:54,830 --> 00:18:57,150 quickly. And so we're able to consult and 362 00:18:57,150 --> 00:19:00,430 do the training at any level and increase that adoption. 363 00:19:00,790 --> 00:19:02,310 And so we encourage you to work with us. 364 00:19:02,310 --> 00:19:04,670 We really are experts when it comes to this. 365 00:19:04,910 --> 00:19:07,550 The network, the security, the applications that are all within 366 00:19:07,550 --> 00:19:09,470 there and we'll help you get the outcomes you're looking for. 367 00:19:09,830 --> 00:19:14,070 Mark clearly the solution demands both technology, 368 00:19:14,070 --> 00:19:17,590 infrastructure as well as employee training. 369 00:19:17,910 --> 00:19:21,470 I would completely agree, and the technology infrastructure 370 00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:25,830 should at some point become so easy that the employee training 371 00:19:25,950 --> 00:19:29,790 could just be a simple card that they receive that says plug in. 372 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:34,640 And play and that's literally the extent if something doesn't 373 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:39,440 work, contact here. And so it makes it very easy for 374 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,120 that employee to see the experience. 375 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,360 But I think awareness as well as training is very, very 376 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:47,600 important. You need to be aware that at 377 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,120 least from a security standpoint, these risks exist 378 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,320 and there's things that we can all do in our personal and 379 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,360 professional lives to ensure we're living the most secure and 380 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,240 reducing the risk as much as possible. 381 00:19:58,670 --> 00:20:00,230 So awareness is really important. 382 00:20:00,230 --> 00:20:03,390 I think businesses need to continue to do that, double down 383 00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:05,390 on awareness campaigns, let them know what's going on. 384 00:20:05,390 --> 00:20:07,710 If there's a breach that occurs, let that happen. 385 00:20:07,710 --> 00:20:10,150 And by the way, all of that information is publicly 386 00:20:10,150 --> 00:20:12,710 available for free. We have a mobile breach report, 387 00:20:12,710 --> 00:20:15,710 a data investigation report, and folks can use that information 388 00:20:15,710 --> 00:20:17,870 to help train and make aware of their employees. 389 00:20:18,350 --> 00:20:21,720 And then. Second to that is let's ensure 390 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,800 that now that they're aware, how do you respond, what do you do 391 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,440 when something occurs And by the way, what's the investment that 392 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,080 we're making in you to make it easy so that doesn't happen? 393 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,640 Again, that creates employee loyalty because the employee 394 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,760 recognizes the investment that the organization is making in 395 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,640 their well-being and in their skills. 396 00:20:41,150 --> 00:20:42,830 No doubt. And when you think about that 397 00:20:42,830 --> 00:20:45,990 importance of data, protecting the employees, data protecting 398 00:20:45,990 --> 00:20:49,350 the company's data, if you look, if it's a global organization, 399 00:20:49,350 --> 00:20:53,550 you think about some of the GDPR requirements that are on there, 400 00:20:53,950 --> 00:20:58,750 the image brand and financial implications that that could 401 00:20:58,750 --> 00:21:01,510 happen if we're not adequately protecting that data. 402 00:21:02,070 --> 00:21:06,070 This is not an if it's really a must, we must do these things, 403 00:21:06,150 --> 00:21:09,120 not just. From a governmental policy 404 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:13,440 standpoint, but from what we do is terms of the right things for 405 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,400 our employees and our customers that serve. 406 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,920 I know when I'm negotiating a large agreement with our 407 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,760 customers, this is a question they ask us now. 408 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,080 I'm very proud of our record and the things that we do. 409 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,760 And so we can talk about those things and customers are very 410 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:30,360 satisfied with the steps that we put in. 411 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,880 And then in that conversation says, well, here's how we can 412 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,730 help you do the same. And I encourage any organization 413 00:21:35,730 --> 00:21:38,210 as they're contracting with a company to do that. 414 00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:40,410 I think it's table stakes to make sure that you're partnering 415 00:21:40,410 --> 00:21:43,250 with somebody that you know preaches what they practice and 416 00:21:43,250 --> 00:21:45,810 practice what they preach. Mark, let's talk about 417 00:21:45,810 --> 00:21:49,330 implementation. You speak with so many Verizon 418 00:21:49,330 --> 00:21:52,170 customers, very large organizations, organizations of 419 00:21:52,170 --> 00:21:54,570 every size. What are some of the best 420 00:21:54,570 --> 00:21:59,850 practices that you see for implementing remote work? 421 00:22:00,010 --> 00:22:05,020 Process is really important. What you want to do is enable 422 00:22:05,020 --> 00:22:09,940 some of this technology to either work before it arrives 423 00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:12,860 and you can accomplish that a few different ways. 424 00:22:13,260 --> 00:22:17,100 So one some companies either do internally or they outsource 425 00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:22,580 staging and kidding, where essentially the device is set up 426 00:22:23,140 --> 00:22:26,740 to the industry or the company's standards before it's shipped 427 00:22:26,740 --> 00:22:30,340 out to that end user. So that process of when the end 428 00:22:30,340 --> 00:22:33,930 user receives it, it just works. That needs to happen now. 429 00:22:33,930 --> 00:22:37,410 In addition, there's some automation you can do with that. 430 00:22:38,210 --> 00:22:40,610 You know, for example, we see that with smartphones where we 431 00:22:40,610 --> 00:22:44,090 can actually enable what's called a supervised mode on that 432 00:22:44,090 --> 00:22:45,850 device. We ship out that smartphone or 433 00:22:45,850 --> 00:22:48,450 tablet to the end user the moment they turn it on and it 434 00:22:48,450 --> 00:22:50,970 authenticates with the network. It says, hey, this is corporate 435 00:22:50,970 --> 00:22:54,370 owned, here are the policies that need to be on here and it 436 00:22:54,370 --> 00:22:57,570 just works. You can also do that with a 437 00:22:57,570 --> 00:22:59,850 router device. Now depending on what those 438 00:22:59,850 --> 00:23:02,690 requirements are, some companies also say, you know what, we're 439 00:23:02,690 --> 00:23:05,170 going to put some custom information in there. 440 00:23:05,330 --> 00:23:08,130 I mentioned that card that kind of explains plug in and play. 441 00:23:08,530 --> 00:23:10,610 Let's go ahead and include those instructions and then if 442 00:23:10,610 --> 00:23:12,730 something doesn't work, here's how you contact. 443 00:23:12,730 --> 00:23:16,290 So that process is the number one best practice I see. 444 00:23:16,450 --> 00:23:18,890 Another part of that process that I see that's really, really 445 00:23:18,890 --> 00:23:25,250 important is doing qualification in terms of what the experience 446 00:23:25,250 --> 00:23:28,050 might be from a coverage standpoint at that home. 447 00:23:28,790 --> 00:23:32,310 So although you know, we cover 99% of the US population, I'm 448 00:23:32,310 --> 00:23:35,190 certainly not going to sit here and say in every building, in 449 00:23:35,190 --> 00:23:37,870 every nook and cranny at every location are we going to have 450 00:23:37,990 --> 00:23:40,510 great coverage. But what we do have are some 451 00:23:40,510 --> 00:23:43,750 geospatial analytics and a wealth of information that can 452 00:23:43,750 --> 00:23:46,190 give a pretty good indicator as to whether there's coverage 453 00:23:46,190 --> 00:23:48,750 there. If it's an enterprise office 454 00:23:48,750 --> 00:23:51,670 location, you know, we typically come in, we do a site survey, we 455 00:23:51,670 --> 00:23:55,030 do readings, we might install an external antenna, we do things 456 00:23:55,030 --> 00:23:56,790 to ensure the best possible experience. 457 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:00,000 But when it's a home user, you need to use as much intelligence 458 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,280 beforehand as possible. Now the good thing is, again, 459 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,440 this can be automated and easy. We get the addresses from the 460 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,800 end users. We then spit out a range that 461 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,720 says this will be a good experience, a great experience, 462 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,000 a poor experience. And then the company can make a 463 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,600 decision. Is this the right solution for 464 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,680 that home user? Or do we need to augment with a 465 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,360 booster? Or maybe this isn't something 466 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,730 that we can install at all? So up front, doing the work to 467 00:24:25,730 --> 00:24:29,450 have a process in place, we'll ensure success when the end 468 00:24:29,450 --> 00:24:31,130 users receive it on the back end. 469 00:24:31,410 --> 00:24:34,610 And you know, I say look, start small, let's do a pilot 470 00:24:34,610 --> 00:24:38,330 together, pick a hundred 200 users and let's get their 471 00:24:38,330 --> 00:24:40,210 feedback. And we are finding very, very 472 00:24:40,210 --> 00:24:42,490 high success. But we're also learning, hey, 473 00:24:42,490 --> 00:24:45,570 with this application, here are the settings that we need to do. 474 00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:47,730 Here's what's going on with the VPN. 475 00:24:47,730 --> 00:24:50,370 Hey, here are the policies that we need to do so when you go to 476 00:24:50,370 --> 00:24:53,130 scale, it ends up being the best possible experience. 477 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:58,880 Mark, as we finish up, where is hybrid remote work going and 478 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,680 what are the technology advancements that we're going to 479 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,920 see in in the near future? It's here and I think it's going 480 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,440 to be here for the long haul. I don't see us ripping back that 481 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,080 Band-Aid. I do see us doing more 482 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,280 purposeful experiences in our corporate offices to kind of 483 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:18,520 draw people in and build that engagement. 484 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,320 I was listening to 1 customer that said, you know what, we're 485 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,240 not going to have as much real estate, but what we're going to 486 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,600 do are events. So maybe every quarter we do a 487 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,480 really big event. We take some of the money that 488 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,800 we saved on that real estate. They're now working from home, 489 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,000 but we do things that are really purposeful to bring people 490 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,000 together. So I think. 491 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,120 This hybrid mindset, while still having some brand identity, some 492 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:40,200 culture identity is going to be there. 493 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,000 Majority of the time though, folks are going to be working 494 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,440 from their houses and so how will the technology advance? 495 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,200 Well, you know right now you and I have a great connection. 496 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,480 It's true high definition. I can see in great fidelity. 497 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:53,560 I can see the facial expressions that you have. 498 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,120 It doesn't look grainy. That's accomplished by you and I 499 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,640 having really strong Internet connections and a great 500 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,560 platform. By and large, much of the 501 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,960 technology that folks are utilizing today at a video 502 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,400 conference isn't even full HD today. 503 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,160 And so I think there's opportunities we're going to see 504 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,480 as connections become more robust, as 5G and fiber become 505 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,880 more prevalent across the country, it enables us to really 506 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,520 uptick the quality. Then on top of that, you're 507 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,760 going to see more and more augmented reality where we see 508 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,640 of ways of connecting and engaging with folks differently. 509 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:29,560 So that doesn't just require bandwidth. 510 00:26:30,140 --> 00:26:33,700 That requires latency because our eyes have excellent latency. 511 00:26:33,700 --> 00:26:36,740 We're able to pick up things really quickly and smoothly on a 512 00:26:36,740 --> 00:26:38,740 video screen that's attached to your head. 513 00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:42,060 That requires an even greater grade of that. 514 00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:46,460 So I think as more and more folks are working from home, 515 00:26:46,780 --> 00:26:50,300 having those applications pushed closer to them, so there's that 516 00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:53,700 great experience is important. That's where things like mobile 517 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:58,340 edge compute come in, having applications like that augmented 518 00:26:58,340 --> 00:27:01,770 reality application. Closer to the tower, closer to 519 00:27:01,770 --> 00:27:03,290 the cell site, closer to the network. 520 00:27:03,530 --> 00:27:06,410 So that experience and that response time is really 521 00:27:06,410 --> 00:27:09,810 seamless. So I think the applications are 522 00:27:09,810 --> 00:27:12,770 really broad. What most excites me and I think 523 00:27:12,770 --> 00:27:17,530 about this all the time when we launched 4G, when Verizon said, 524 00:27:17,530 --> 00:27:19,490 hey, we're going to have a nationwide 4G network. 525 00:27:20,010 --> 00:27:22,770 At the time that gave us 5 to 12 megabits per second. 526 00:27:23,290 --> 00:27:26,050 Which may not seem like a lot now, but was groundbreaking at 527 00:27:26,050 --> 00:27:28,050 the time. I mean, most folks were between 528 00:27:28,050 --> 00:27:31,370 600 kilobits per second and maybe a Meg, a Meg and 1/2. 529 00:27:31,370 --> 00:27:34,010 So going to 5 to 12 was groundbreaking. 530 00:27:34,410 --> 00:27:37,250 Well, what did that do for us? You think about some of the 531 00:27:37,250 --> 00:27:39,130 businesses that were transformed. 532 00:27:39,330 --> 00:27:42,570 The easiest example might be, you know, Uber and Lyft, they 533 00:27:42,570 --> 00:27:45,650 ended up creating applications that rode over the top of our 4G 534 00:27:45,650 --> 00:27:48,850 network that completely disrupted the way that we travel 535 00:27:48,850 --> 00:27:51,640 in the taxi industry. You couldn't do things like that 536 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,720 before because you didn't have a robust enough or reliable enough 537 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,440 connection. We built a network that enabled 538 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:01,080 that to work ubiquitously wherever you are and that's just 539 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,080 one of thousands of new businesses that were created. 540 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,320 So I'm most excited about the new businesses that are going to 541 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,240 be created, the new disruptions that are going to be created, 542 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,800 the developer community once they have these capabilities 543 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,200 that 5G really starts to usher in. 544 00:28:14,650 --> 00:28:16,690 Are going to be unleashed just like they were with 4G. 545 00:28:16,930 --> 00:28:18,970 And we're going to see experiences that you and I can't 546 00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:21,930 even fathom today that are just going to change the way that we 547 00:28:21,930 --> 00:28:24,250 work, play and engage with each other. 548 00:28:24,530 --> 00:28:27,370 It's exciting to imagine what's coming next. 549 00:28:27,650 --> 00:28:30,370 Marc Custodio of Verizon. Thank you so much for taking 550 00:28:30,370 --> 00:28:32,850 time to speak with us today. Thank you so much, Michael. 551 00:28:32,850 --> 00:28:34,970 It's a pleasure. I'm so excited to talk about the 552 00:28:34,970 --> 00:28:37,290 future of work and can't wait to talk to you again.