I'm sure that's part of it but going remote also introduces a ton a workflow impediments as the team adjusts.

There are a lot of obstacles for temps/contractors to gain remote access at google. I'd imagine a lot of testing is done by people who aren't FTEs.

disclaimer: I am a Googler, but know nothing about how the Chrome team operates

> There are a lot of obstacles for temps/contractors to gain remote access at google.

I thought that Google were all-in on BeyondCorp, which doesn't require a secure perimetre. Did they not actually convert everything, or is it still in progress?

(edit: removed a non-constructive suggestion)

BeyondCorp gives you basic access to unprotected things on the network (intranet, google apps, etc), but not to secure systems, source code, etc.

Out of curiosity, how does that work? VPN? Remote desktop? Both?

One man’s obstacle is another man’s security measure :)

I used to work in Techstop, I wonder how crazy of a time that team is having right now. But I wouldn’t call them an obstacle.

Techstop and CorpEng have been absolutely amazing through this situation -- I wish them them the best.

At google?

I find it harder to believe that google is not equipped for remote work than somewhere like Ubisoft (where I work) which is having serious pain as testing games over RDP is bandwidth heavy and horribly laggy.

And we’re not pushing any releases as far as I’m aware.

Remote work is one thing, working with kids at home because daycare is closed, not being able to lead a normal life, people getting sick... that's a completely different matter.

I believe major releases are blocked because much of the QA staff isn't authorized to access key systems remotely.

A project like Chrome, where there is no super high value source code, shouldn't really be having this issue...

Chrome runs with user privileges on billions of computers. The impact of someone hacking the software delivery chain and inserting malware is enourmous, let alone the risk for the brand/user trust. And don't forget that Chrome is not a charity project, but meant to secure Google's search and adtech monopoly. They actually pay a lot of money for Firefox to ship their search engine as default, and that's for a tiny market share.

The blog post is pretty accurate. I know it seems pretty general, but nearly the entire team is working remote and at the same time it's not prudent to push change on the ecosystem when everyone is trying to keep their site running.