The Canadian Defence Team’s 24,000 civilian employees had to shift to the home office. Given civilian workers’ access to sensitive information and rigid security protocols, most computer-based work was previously carried out ‘on-premises’. The move to the home office has therefore been a significant shift for defence organizations – requiring them to rethink their approach to technology.

The pandemic-driven challenges have only strained existing issues faced by the broader defence industry when it comes to remote work. Amid a backdrop of ongoing military engagements and important time-sensitive projects, the ability to enable secure, time-sensitive, remote computing has been a significant pain point for some time – with the Department of National Defence (DND) struggling to keep up with remote computing needs across Canada’s 68,000 active military, 27,000 reservists, and numerous specialists, contractors and collaborators.