CIO OPINION consumer-grade network equipment , which can cause user experience problems that pose a very real threat to workforce productivity and Business Continuity .
Indeed , as expectation levels rise and patience levels fall in the wake of the pandemic , employees at home must be able to connect and collaborate at the same level and access the same network functionality and applications as they do when in the office . addressed if employees are to be allowed to move freely between the office and home .
IT teams no longer have complete control over which devices employees are using and the risks they are taking . This new explosion of unmanaged devices connecting regularly to the network at its Edge means that organisations are faced with a much larger attack surface , but lack a good view of it .
To achieve this , organisations need to find ways to extend their infrastructure to the Edge of the network ( where employees are now connecting ). This will include looking for remote access solutions that can provide home workers with fast , reliable enterpriselevel network performance .
These solutions must be able to prioritise network tasks to eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks and have built-in policy enforcement to ensure that employees can connect securely to the network and key applications . Plug-and-play options should also be considered , as they make installation effortless for employees – and in turn , IT teams .
Network security will be more complex than ever
The rapid transition to working from home throughout the pandemic brought with it significant complexities for network security – complexities that must now be
They must find ways to increase visibility and control – without increasing workload . After all , securing and monitoring end-users , devices and things , on a scale that a hybrid workplace model requires , takes time that IT teams do not have .
Automation and Zero Trust Security models are the only way to effectively streamline security operations . With real-time monitoring , IT teams will be able to detect , prevent , isolate and stop network breaches , ideally before they happen . Solutions like automatic
I believe we will see a renewed focus on the home office as it becomes an integral part of organisations ’ longterm hybrid workplace strategies .
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