Two years on from the pandemic gripping the world and enterprises being forced into remote work because of lockdowns, the return of the five-day working week in the office doesn’t look like returning anytime soon. The hybrid workplace and remote work remains popular with workers, and many enterprises find that they have to offer flexible work to attract and retain talent.
Simply put, people do not want to work in an office when they can work well at home – and they will look for a flexible job if their employer doesn’t offer it.
Most enterprises are better off enabling rather than killing the hybrid workplace, but to deliver a truly efficient and effective hybrid work environment, organisations must enthusiastically embrace a more flexible approach to networks.
Challenges Creating a Flexible Wireless Environment
The role of the network in enabling hybrid work is simple – the network runs secure environments and systems in which workers get stuff done. The trouble is that system operators now find themselves overseeing hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of remote network connections.
This creates endpoint complexity with the quantity and diversity of devices, and managing networks is more challenging due to siloed on-prem and cloud environments that require a tremendous level of visibility at scale.
Wi-Fi networks are under intense pressure, and many organisations find themselves with outdated Wi-Fi that can’t compete with at-home networks. This creates friction with hybrid work and slows down worker productivity.
Networks must support key security frameworks such as zero trust, SASE, and network segmentation and cope with planned and unplanned spikes in network traffic and demands for new services to be truly flexible.
Ensuring a consistent and secure experience for hybrid workforces is essential because providing employees remote access to corporate networks and services is a security risk. A tightly integrated network and security solution that leverages AI for self-healing and optimising will go a long way to assuring security.
Enterprises should adopt a unified cloud-based management solution – one solution to manage on-prem and cloud workflows is optimal for a simplified network.
Throw AI and automation into the mixer, and you can unlock excellent efficiency. Consider Aruba Central for this and build a flexible hybrid work model for the future – Aruba consolidates wired, wireless, and SD-WAN, providing AI-powered insights and automation for streamlined network management and control. Get in touch to learn more.
