Business News sponsored by Republic of Gamers ROG Zephyrus M16

While Chromebooks only entered the global market in 2011, their Chrome operating system has quickly risen to become the second most popular operating system today. The Chrome OS market share grew from 6.4% in 2019 to 10.8% in 2020, and today many businesses are beginning to choose Chromebooks for their enterprise-class speed, simplicity, and security. And, compared to most other laptops on the market, they’re also a lot more affordable. So, what is it exactly about these features that makes Chromebooks so good for business?

Unprecedented speed

Business operations are often slowed down by traditional operating systems that suffer from long start-up times, disruptive updates, and the inevitable slow-down that comes from prolonged use. Chrome OS, on the other hand, is one of the lightest operating systems out there and A fast boot time of 5-10 seconds. Chromebooks exhibit virtually no lag or stuttering when being used, and because of their cloud-oriented nature, your employees will always have instant access to all their data, applications, settings, and web extensions whenever they log into any Chromebook device.

Intuitive and simple

Anyone familiar with Google’s suite of applications will be familiar with Chrome OS. The interface is fast and intuitive, and making the switch to the Chrome operating system is as simple as signing into your Google account and uploading your files to Google Drive. Provisioning and deploying a network of Chromebook devices for employees is also made simpler than ever for enterprises, which has become especially important with today’s increasingly remote workforce.

A study showed that IT departments have benefitted from time savings with the help of Chromebook’s Zero-Touch Enrolment, which allows authorised pre-provisioning partners like Acer to send instructions to Google and enrol a Chrome device automatically once it is turned on and connected to the internet.

Similarly, managing a fleet of Chrome devices is easy and simple, as Chromebook Enterprise provides IT teams with access to oversight capabilities and device policies from the easy-to-use, cloud-based Google Admin console or other third-party Unified End Management solutions.

Enterprise-class security

The rapid pace of digitalisation as well as the remote migration of workforces has given cybercriminals a much larger attack surface, and businesses that lack sufficient security measures are becoming prime targets. Chromebooks were built with this in mind, using the principle of ‘defence in depth’, and Chrome OS is one of the most secure operating systems on the market. Chromebooks come standard with multiple layers of built-in protection, which means that businesses do not need to allocate additional spending to antivirus software. Google rolls out automatic updates with the latest security patches in a way that is completely non-disruptive.

Chromebooks are unique because of a security feature called ‘sandboxing’, which runs every program, website, or web application as a separate process in a restricted environment. If an employee accidentally opens a harmful website, for example, any threat will be contained and would not be able to access any other part of the computer. When a Chromebook boots up, it also completes a ‘verified boot’ to ensure that the computer has not been corrupted or tampered with, and if it has, it will restore itself automatically to a known and trusted backup. If a backup isn’t available, employees can simply download one from the cloud and their device will be up and running again – with all their documents readily available on the cloud.

If an employee misplaces their Chromebook, IT can easily disable the device remotely, preventing potential bad actors from accessing sensitive corporate data. Chromebooks can be set as ‘ephemeral’ so that any user’s data is removed at the end of their session.

All the support businesses need

With the support of Google certified partners like Acer, businesses can have access to support via phone, email, or directly from Google when they need it. IT managers have the ability to manage all devices remotely, allowing employees to continue working securely and effectively from anywhere. Along with Google’s extensive ecosystem of cloud and web-based applications, Chromebooks give employees everything they need to be more productive and protected in today’s digital work environment.