As many organizations are gearing up to return to the office full-time, extra pressure is being put on the IT team. Returning team members need to be connected quickly, securely, and in spaces they may have never been before. Because of this, IT pros are facing a quick and stressful turnaround to make sure the first days back are smooth and productive. With this new need in mind, here are four essential questions to consider how with support from StarTech.com you can maximize your organization's productivity and minimize your IT team’s support workload. 1: Are your devices due for an upgrade? It can be surprising how fast technology has moved since everyone packed up and began working from home. Devices that were once top of the line may be insufficient to support the latest operating systems and technologies. With the end of support for Windows 10 on the horizon, and the rise of AI demanding more from our devices, it’s starting to become time to consider an upgrade to devices like Snapdragon Copilot+ PCs and ensuring that your equipment is compatible with an upgrade. StarTech.com makes it easy to access operating systems and hardware compatibility in the technical specifications section of each product page and as convenient filters on our search pages drilldown menu. This will ensure you select products that will work seamlessly in your environment and prevent unnecessary support tickets later. 2: Is your information secure? Working from home meant only seeing your own screen, but back in the office, accidental peeks at others’ screens can become a problem. To increase privacy and prevent accidental visual eavesdropping, consider investing in privacy screens. Privacy screens are an efficient way to keep visual information confidential and by using our convenient Privacy Filter Finder grid, selecting guaranteed compatible filters for your devices is simple. You also shouldn’t forget about physical security— StarTech.com’s IT friendly universal device locks simplify the process of deploying and managing various devices across your business with different lock slots. These unique locks save you time by allowing you to adjust the lock on-the-fly with a single twist of a screwdriver instead of needing to disassemble the lock or installing adapters. 3: Can everyone connect to your hotels and hot desks? Managing a hybrid workplace means ensuring that devices are functional both at home and in the office. With the growing trend of hoteling and hot desking, it’s crucial that every workstation is compatible with any device or operating system your team uses. Though mixed hardware environments can seem like a headache, universal docking systems simplify deployments with driverless installation for a user-friendly deployment and guaranteed compatibility with any hardware or OS platform. StarTech.com ensures this guaranteed compatibility by having every product we develop tested by engineers in our Innovation Lab and backed by third-party certification ensuring you always have a reliable, tested solution to staying connected, Using universal docks also allow for multi-monitor capabilities enabling better functionality for your team, but be sure to keep yourself informed on the specific needs for multi-monitor solutions for Macbooks. 4: Is your inventory being managed efficiently? Balancing your workload alongside your teams' access to compatible accessories can be difficult, and it gets harder as everyone returns all at once. Vending machines provide your workforce with easy access to the correct compatible accessories for your IT environment and prevent unnecessary support tickets. We support this innovative style of asset management with new specialized ESG packaging and planograms to ensure worry-free dispensing. Learn more about the vending machine optimized accessories we offer at our resource page. Knowing the answers to these four questions will maximize the productivity of your workforce when they return to the office and minimize the support workload for your IT team. Stay tuned for additional tips for preparing for the return to office such as how to keep your meeting rooms connected with collaboration tools and how to get the most out of your network infrastructure, in the coming weeks.