It is now clear that the telecommuting pattern continues. What are the technical priorities for IT departments responsible for maintaining the productivity and security of the corporate workforce?
Research firm Gartner predicted in its December report that the percentage of telecommuting from 30% before the pandemic to 48% afterward.
Forrester also expects the number of telecommuters to increase. Forrester Chief Analyst David Johnson said in a blog on the 2021 telecommuting and automation trend: "It's not clear when the pandemic will end, but the number of telecommuting employees will gradually adjust, reaching at least 300% of the pre-pandemic level." Revealed.
"With so many people working from home over the long term, companies need to rethink what this experience is in terms of leadership, change management and career growth, as well as technology and environment," Johnson said.
These changes pose additional challenges for corporate IT departments tasked with keeping remote office connections and security secure.
Neil Anderson, senior director of network solutions at technology and supply chain services company World Wide Technology (WWT), said, “As the pandemic continues to grow, companies are adding more sophisticated hardware and software for telecommuting around security and productivity. “We are reinforcing our telecommuting plans,” he said.
“IT departments need to quickly evaluate and deploy new cloud-based security models and quickly build trust in their solutions,” Anderson said. In addition, there is a growing interest in monitoring experiences and optimizing software in order to more closely examine and analyze how apps for telecommuting employees perform and how they can be improved.
In a blog post about the future of home office connectivity, Luke Valente, vice president of Cisco Product Management, Enterprise Routing and SD-WAN, said, “Individuals have limited options to speed up their home office connections, but IT departments are "Every minute with customers and coworkers is important, and we need to provide enterprise-class services to high-value employees."
“High value-added workforces need good connectivity to work flexibly from home as well as in the office with consistent performance,” says Valente. "Sometimes, when working from home in the evenings and weekends, the level that was right is no longer suitable."
IT department, need to upgrade home office settings
Valentin said when an employee's home office needs to be upgraded, the IT department has to look for a variety of functions. These include:
-The ability to quickly bring thousands of remote offices online with centralized policy management and zero-touch provisioning-
Quality of service (QoS) monitoring and connection reliability non-standard through remote troubleshooting Ability to enhance the application experience, from home Internet connection and Wi-Fi to cloud and SaaS resources-
centralized, cloud-delivered, multi-layered security with DNS URL filtering and application-aware firewall, intrusion prevention system, and advanced malware protection in the home office. Ability to protect critical traffic when traveling to and from the cloud or data center or vice versa-
Automatically detect and define devices connected to your home office network, apply granular policies to control access rights, and prevent infections in your home office. Ability to Prevent Spread to Enterprise Resources
SD-WAN is one of the most accessible technologies that provide this capability, including products from vendors such as Cisco, VMware, Extreme, and Juniper.
According to Cisco, the company's Remote Workforce Routing package supports zero-touch onboarding of all telecommuters' wired/wireless devices and Cisco wireless LTE Advanced PRO for backup. SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp and Umbrella security support also allow users to securely access applications remotely.
It also supports split tunneling so that customers can select specific traffic through the corporate VPN tunnel and send it to the enterprise. The rest of the traffic is sent directly to the Internet without going through the tunnel.
“A split tunnel configuration over a single WAN interface or a second interface over LTE provides redundant connectivity,” Valente said. IT departments can continuously monitor edge to SaaS performance in both the DIA and backhaul paths to ensure proper application quality of experience and consistent connectivity.”
Another example is VMware's SD-WAN Zero Trust Service. The service is distributed in more than 100 locations around the world and is provided through VMware's network of service nodes operated by VMware and its 120 communications service provider partners. It will also be included in the VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub. According to VMware, the Workspace One platform securely manages end-user mobile devices and cloud-hosted virtual desktops and applications in the cloud or on-premises.
The remote access client automatically connects to the nearest VMware SD-WAN cloud PoP. User traffic can be delivered to cloud firewalls, web security services, other corporate branch offices or data centers, and applications or services required according to corporate policy. VMware service also uses split tunneling.
Services to consider for home office security
Strong connectivity options are key for remote/home office users, but security also plays a big role.
"WWT is seeing a transition to cloud-provided security models such as SASE and zero-trust models," Anderson said. Instead of deploying thousands of security stacks, enterprises can more easily achieve scalable security by routing sessions to cloud edge services. For the IT department, this means quickly evaluating and deploying a new cloud-based security model and building trust in the solution.”
According to Anderson, there are many approaches to home office security, including traditional approaches such as VPN clients, home-based routers/FWs, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), as well as new approaches such as zero-trust networking.
"Of all of these home office security methods, we spend the most time with our customers on zero trust and VDI, and there are large customers who are serious about home-based router/FW solutions," Anderson said.
Cisco's Valente says cloud-based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) protection provides massive security for thousands of remote workers.
"Policy-based routing also protects against man-in-the-middle attacks, while protecting access to confidential and non-critical data."
“Since policies are centrally managed and distributed via SD-WAN controllers, wherever employees move between home, branch offices and corporate locations, access and security policies follow them and keep connections secure, regardless of location,” says Valente. IT departments simplify the management of thousands of distributed connections through a single pane of glass view of employee connections and security.”
For some companies, a managed approach to remote worker security may be the best option.
“Many companies are transitioning to a zero-trust environment, but small and medium-sized businesses often lack the resources for this rapid transition,” said Mike Puglia, chief strategy officer at management software provider (MSP) Kaseya. Because MSP has the expertise and economies of scale needed to provide the security features required for these remote work environments, in 2021, SMEs will become more dependent on managed service providers.” Forecast.
What's the other future for remote/home office users? 5G is also one of the possibilities.
"5G is still not mature enough to see a wide range of deployments," Anderson said. Most businesses still rely on single home broadband connectivity. As such 5G continues to mature and devices become easier to use, remote workers may be turning to next-generation networks as an alternative to home broadband. Imagine continuing to serve a home network over wired broadband with a home network 'split' and improving the quality of experience for collaboration tools by providing 5G to home office users. It can also serve as a backup connection for remote workers, just like the way companies currently support branch offices.”
Automation will be another area of increasing productivity
According to Forrester's Johnson, companies will focus their automation efforts on improving the efficiency of remote workers. One in four information workers will be assisted by software bots, robotic process automation, and AI, while some front-line workers will be assisted by physical robots. HR leaders will be supported by better tools to help them analyze and take action on workforce data while ensuring the health and well-being of their employees.”
Valente, from the big picture, provides office-like connectivity and security to home workers. It is expected to remain a corporate priority.
“WFH is not just a reaction to a health and safety emergency. It is a work style made possible by technologies that have a significant impact on energy and the environment as well as physical and mental health. Who really likes to commute? The better the connection between telecommuters and information, applications and colleagues, the more productive the experience is.”
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