In early March, as businesses worldwide faced stay-at-home orders due to the rapidly rising number of Covid-19 cases, IT professionals were scrambling to quickly get their workforces connected remotely. Months later, many professionals across the globe are still working from home.

With that change, tech challenges have become more common for CTOs, IT departments and average Janes and Joes alike.

Through those challenges, technology has taught us a few hard-earned lessons about how to successfully work remotely, and Micro-Star International Co. Ltd (MSI) has been at the forefront of helping to make the work-from-home transition easier by offering powerful business laptops that have tools for productivity and features to reduce stress:

1. An Upgraded Laptop Is a Must

The biggest lesson learned from working from home is that investing in a laptop that offers speed, efficiency, security and reliability is key. With this in mind, MSI has rolled out a line of laptops for corporations, business professionals and everyday users:

The Summit series laptops is a completely new line catering to corporations. Outfitted with the latest Intel 11th Gen processor, these laptops are built with an emphasis on productivity, security, reliability and style. The series packs high performance, a touchscreen display and flip-able design, plus supporting IT security and management measures. Security is a big concern for corporations — especially with much of their workforce working from home — and MSI’s Summit series has a number of features to address security.

The Prestige 14 EVO, which is geared toward business professionals, features state-of-the-art technology to efficiently boost daily work and empower unconstrained creativity. The Prestige 14 EVO also features instant wake and a battery that can run for up to 12 hours. The Prestige Series delivers heavyweight performance, but it’s thin and light, giving users easy portability. Adding to that, it’s crafted with diamond-cut edge and sandblasted texture with high quality materials for a unique and elegant design.

Created for day-to-day use in the office or at home, the Modern 14 is packed with Intel’s latest CPU technology, and its versatility makes it perfect for everyday users. With Windows Pro, long battery life and powerful performance housed in a sleek portable design, the Modern 15 optimizes workflow. It also comes in stylish colors – Bluestone to mirror the blue skies; Beige Mousse, which gives off sun-kissed vibes; and Carbon gray, which conjures evening calm.

Clifford Chun, MSI’s system product management director, says the new laptops were created to meet a broad spectrum of business needs: “We believe this is the perfect line of laptops in the market for business users.”

2. Technology Can Increase Productivity

During the pandemic, videoconferencing, communication and collaboration platforms and content creation tools have become more widely adopted for a reason: They significantly boost productivity when people are working remotely.

MSI’s laptops were created with productivity in mind, too — particularly for those who remotely. For instance, MSI Sound Tune is an AI-powered noise cancellation software that filters out unwanted background noises to enhance users' communication experience. So, users won’t be interrupted or have to put their conference call on hold if, for example, their family is making noise in the background. Also, the independent LED light will turn on to notify users, which also provides double privacy and network security safeness.

In another feature that boosts productivity, MSI’s Modern 14 is outfitted with Windows Pro, which ensures long battery life (up to 10 hours) and powerful performance. “We know the trend of laptops is always ‘thinner, lighter and the longest battery life’” Chun says. “We put in the largest batteries that we can squeeze inside a laptop without making them too heavy.”

3. Technology Can Make Working Remotely Less Stressful

Working remotely can be stressful — whether it’s because of poor Wi-Fi or interruptions by family members. But technology can help ease the stress for corporations, business professionals and everyday users.

First, the MSI Summit series is equipped with features that reduce stress for corporations over elevated security concerns with a large remote workforce. For instance, its hardware-based Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 offers another layer of security beyond the capabilities of consumer hardware, as does its Windows Hello face and fingerprint authentication. You also can lock the USB ports and SD slot, and there’s an LED next to the webcam to indicate whether it’s on or off as well as LEDs on the keyboard to let you know whether the ports are locked, the speakers are muted and the microphone is on or off.

MSI laptops also have Microsoft Autopilot features, which ensure a corporation’s IT department is always around to help whenever there are system issues. That prevents system crashes from happening when important tasks need to be done — making working from home less stressful.

Additionally, MSI laptops were developed to help professionals and everyday users unwind and de-stress, too. The embedded webcam, for instance, enables people who are working from home to not only stay connected with their coworkers, but also their friends and family: a birthday party for family, a virtual date night, or catchup session with friends are all possible. “Laptops are becoming the major entertainment units or the major connection units, for business and personal use,” says MSI’s Chun. “We strive to give people: the newest technologies. That's what MSI believes in and we always want to come out with features before people even know that they need them.”

The right laptop can make remote work better.

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Technology’s Role in the Great Work Migration -2