How to bring
enterprise IT
capabilities
to the remote
workforce

We like to think of remote work as something new, but the reality is that most workers have been interested in flexible workspaces for years. Many businesses were already migrating to hybrid models, and COVID-19 simply accelerated this movement.

Now, more than 60% of workers say they would leave their in-person job for a remote position. Hybrid work is here to stay.

To maintain operations in this new landscape, businesses must find ways to bring the security, flexibility and collaboration of enterprise networks to their team, no matter where they are. To that end, Verizon Remote Work Solutions bring a suite of innovative services to clients ready to reimagine what a modern workplace looks like.

Employees were already looking for some form of hybrid work before the pandemic—but their employers weren’t necessarily keen on the idea due to these concerns:

• Network complexity: When employees work from a centralized location, it’s much easier to deploy a limited network infrastructure to support a central office and some satellite offices.
  
• Legacy infrastructure investment: Many companies had already invested significant resources in building and expanding their networks: an extensive wired network and wide-ranging wireless routers and access points.
  
• IT security and life cycle management: Security, performance, account management, hardware maintenance…all these processes are the daily cost of supporting enterprise connectivity. Centralizing these controls makes scaling across devices, locations and systems much easier and more accurate.

While the above concerns are legitimate, they aren’t as prohibitive as they once were. Network and security capabilities have evolved so much in recent years that organizations considering implementing remote work solutions for hybrid work arrangements no longer have to worry about them—provided they have the right tools.

For example, reliable and fast wireless business internet is available nationwide from Verizon. Companies can now deploy and manage internet connectivity for virtually all its remote employees much more efficiently than just a few years ago. This frees remote workers from relying on their home-based, consumer-grade connectivity to conduct business.

When a company helps employees turn their remote offices into business-grade workspaces through wireless business internet, it can then reassess its legacy network infrastructure and find ways to reduce costs. To achieve these goals, many companies are turning to an advanced Network as a Service (NaaS) infrastructure.

NaaS lets companies scale its network capacity up and down as needed, giving it an on-demand, pay-as-you-go bandwidth that can support the needs of a dynamic hybrid workforce. Whether they’re needed in the office one day for one week or five days the next week, employees have the connectivity they need to be productive, no matter their location or schedule. NaaS also gives companies more control over their infrastructure costs, as it’s delivered from the cloud and requires less capital investment. 

One of the more essential aspects of that kind of service provision is security. Enterprise networks must have in place proven protection for its systems and data.

Of course, maintaining solid security is often easier said than done. According to Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the top threats enterprise networks face from hacks are issues with credential exploits and phishing attacks. Furthermore, additional research from Verizon shows that 40% of surveyed companies reported that security issues originate from mobile endpoints (tablets and smartphones), which employees are increasingly using to answer emails, open attachments or respond to SMS messages.

Extending security controls to the remote workforce can be challenging, especially when remote workers share their internet connections with other household members. Even if company-issued devices have embedded security controls, every improperly secured tablet, smartphone, gaming system and smart doorbell in the house can potentially provide cybercriminals a way into the network.

With remote work, security starts with a dedicated internet connection from a single provider that also has built-in security controls, such as data encryption and user- and device authentication. It’s a challenge for IT teams to remotely secure dozens of types of routers and modems from dozens of at-home providers, so a centralized management approach to decentralized connectivity is a must-have for company-wide security. To further enhance remote worker security, companies can also extend protection to devices through controls like SIM secure and mobile threat defense.

Executives who resist embracing remote work often cite concerns about “team cohesion” and “employee engagement.” The good news is that modern, cloud-delivered collaboration applications have helped close much of the gap between in-office and remote workers. Teleconferencing and email have been expanded with always-on collaboration software, with task-oriented features covering project management, file sharing and quick messaging. Advancements in video conferencing solutions and flex spaces have also made it possible for local and remote employees to collaborate as if they were in the same room.