With the rise of remote work, IT networks have become essential for delivering connectivity and security to distributed homes and micro offices.
IT administrators must provide remote teams with the same connectivity, security, and support as they have on campus.
IT teams will need to perform a network requirements analysis. It will help them identify the services required to support a remote workforce.
Enhanced Security
As more remote workers connect to your network, you’ll need IT networking solutions to help you maintain security and configure systems. Manual intervention for these tasks can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, so you should invest in automated solutions that will monitor connections, analyze traffic, and update firewall rules as needed.
As you add more remote users, you may need to create a virtual local area network (VLAN) and modify your access control list (ACL) settings to handle higher traffic volumes. You’ll also need to ensure the network can cover everyone’s bandwidth requirements for crucial functions such as video conferencing and other applications.
Another reason why IT networking solutions are essential for remote teams is that it helps you protect your organization’s data from cyberattacks. It is crucial if you store sensitive information offsite.
In addition to traditional cybersecurity measures, your IT team must educate your remote employees on avoiding cyber threats. It includes:
- Not sharing passwords.
- Avoiding suspicious emails and links.
- Using strong encryption when sending company data on their devices.
Another thing you should consider is establishing a zero-trust model that prevents anyone from accessing your data without proper authorization. It eliminates the need to use usernames and passwords and ensures all your users are authorized.
Increased Visibility
Networking solutions are essential for remote teams as workers shift their work to the cloud and demand access to business apps and data from anywhere. IT must maintain visibility and control over the network to ensure all team members have access to resources, data, and applications while safeguarding against cyber threats that could disrupt the team’s productivity.
Increasingly, employees use their own devices and VPNs to connect to the company network, creating gaps in visibility that increase organizational risks. Without visibility, IT teams cannot track all traffic affecting the web — and they can’t pinpoint traffic anomalies or configuration mistakes that may lead to performance or cybersecurity problems.
It also needs to monitor bandwidth usage for internal and external users to help prevent bandwidth problems. Bandwidth management is essential for businesses with many people, devices, and apps on the network, as bandwidth consumption can impact network performance.
In addition, security and IT professionals must be able to troubleshoot network issues that affect remote employees quickly. It requires complete visibility into the home office network so they can investigate the root cause of any problem and provide timely solutions.
In addition to improving network security, IT teams must rethink how they collaborate with their remote teams. Streamlining communication through asynchronous channels and incorporating a mix of face-to-face meetings can boost visibility, collaboration, and employee satisfaction. Regularly using video communication can also improve team interaction and build a sense of closeness among team members, which will eventually help foster a more inclusive remote-first culture.
Scalability
IT network security is essential for remote teams for many reasons. Aside from protecting your data from hackers, a properly layered security system is also necessary to ensure your employees have the best possible experience. There are many different options, from mobile device management to VPN technology. It’s important to remember that only some remote employees have the same internet bandwidth. Your team may need to upgrade to a plan with better perks and more oomph.
Aside from all that, providing cybersecurity awareness training to your remote workers is vital. This will make them aware of their online activity’s dangers and ensure they are prepared to act quickly should a breach occur.
For the most part, you should be able to do this quickly, but the key to success is ensuring that your team has access to the right tools and resources to do so effectively. The top three components of this puzzle are network security, internet bandwidth, and communication tools.
Flexibility
As many remote teams grow, their IT networking needs will also expand. IT network security solutions are essential for these new, distributed teams because they help to ensure that business systems and resources stay available and secure, even when employees work from home or other locations.
One of the biggest challenges for IT staff is keeping up with remote workers as they connect in and out of the organization, especially when multiple devices are connected to the network. It can cause stress on the internet access links and network equipment, such as routers, switches, firewalls, and VPN concentrators.
Another challenge is identifying and addressing traffic anomalies or configuration mistakes that can affect the performance of business applications, data, and services. Tools that can granularly monitor and trace network traffic between company devices and applications in private data centers or public clouds can provide IT teams with this visibility.
Another benefit of IT networking solutions is their flexibility for organizations that want to support their remote workforces. With scalable, secure IT console servers, IT staff can monitor and troubleshoot connectivity issues remotely and securely from anywhere worldwide. IT teams can keep track of all vital connections across the company, ensuring that critical business operations remain secure and operational even when remote workers work from multiple locations.
