Network Solutions for Hybrid Work Environments
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the overall workplace landscape forever. It resulted in the creation of remote job positions that allowed individuals to work from wherever they were. This shift undoubtedly offered greater convenience to many and even allowed companies to save on high utility bills. Additionally, several companies implemented hybrid work solutions to keep their employees connected. This facilitated discussions and work-related issues to be resolved in-person that couldn’t be resolved remotely. However, with this new trend, companies must cope with certain changes to manage their overall operations, particularly their network infrastructure. In such a situation, it is quite challenging for companies to provide their workforce with uninterrupted, seamless, and secure network solutions ensuring their tasks run smoothly and productivity remains unhindered.
In this regard, Wateen plays a vital role in supporting companies with network and infrastructure solutions to ensure their workflows remain smooth and their data safeguarded against cyber threats.
In this article, we’ll discuss in detail the importance of network solutions for hybrid work environments, the challenges that most companies face, and the solutions that companies like Wateen provide to address network-related concerns.
Understanding Hybrid Work Environment
A hybrid work environment allows employees to work typical office hours with the flexibility of remote work in combination with on-site presence. The employees can work from home and visit the office on alternate days for meetings or discussions. This model has proved successful and has increased employee satisfaction, better work-life balance, and enhanced productivity. However, this model also brings numerous complexities, mostly related to network infrastructure.
To achieve success with a hybrid workplace model, companies must ensure their employees have consistent, reliable, and secure network resources no matter where they operate.
Challenges of Hybrid Work in Implementing Network Solutions
There is no doubt that hybrid workplace models are trending and have been adopted by numerous companies around the globe. However, they still bring various challenges that companies must address to ensure work efficiency for remote and in-office employees.
Here are some of the most common network-related challenges that companies face:
Security Risks
The first and most pressing concern is cyber threats. When the employees access company data from various locations it increases the network’s vulnerability. As most of the employees working remotely use Wi-Fi networks, they lack the security protocols that corporate networks normally have. Moreover, most of the employees use their personal devices for office work, which further exposes the company’s data to potential risks. As a result, viruses, malware, breaches, and unauthorized access become the main concerns for companies dealing with large volumes of data.
Inconsistent Network Performance
Another concern is inconsistent network performance. While in-office networks are designed for high-speed internet and optimized for corporate applications, the internet used in homes is quite the opposite. It is slow and unreliable, has bandwidth limitations, and is prone to connectivity issues. To remedy this issue, businesses must implement solutions that ensure optimal network performance for all their employees, regardless of where they work.
Communication
Through hybrid workplace solutions, companies reach out to their employees through digital platforms or use various tools for messaging, video meetings, and shared workspaces. All these tools require a stable network infrastructure to avoid interruptions. Dropped connections or high latency are issues that can be quite frustrating for both employees and team members, as they hinder workflows and ultimately lower productivity. This throws a wrench in the works of meeting organizational objectives.
Scaling Network Resources
It is important for businesses to scale their network infrastructure to ensure employees working remotely can easily access the company’s resources, such as data or applications, from their remote locations. It is imperative that companies provide access to services like VoIP to facilitate remote work.
Hybrid Work Solutions with Wateen
Wateen has always been at the forefront of innovation by providing hybrid workspace solutions for employers. Wateen’s hybrid solutions ensure that employees can work efficiently in a secure office network at home without worrying about connectivity issues. For over a decade, the company has been empowering businesses to overcome challenges to enhance their performance, security, and scalability.
About Wateen Network Solutions:
Managed Services
Wateen offers advanced technology enabling hybrid work, supported by managed services that allow companies to outsource network management and ensure their infrastructure remains above par. This means that their network infrastructure is optimized, secure, and tailored to the requirements of hybrid workers. Companies that collaborate with Wateen are free from the responsibility of managing networks and can focus on core business operations. Wateen’s dedicated team of network experts monitors the network performance round the clock to identify potential issues and resolve them at the earliest possible juncture. Moreover, outsourcing network management is quite cost-effective, and it helps companies avoid the high costs that they normally pay for their IT teams and infrastructure.
SD-WAN: Ensuring Reliable and High-Performance Connectivity
The technology for hybrid working also includes Wateen’s Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solutions that are designed to provide companies with secure, reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective connectivity. This is crucial for hybrid work environments. With SD-WAN, businesses can interconnect their offices, remote employees, and cloud services seamlessly, ensuring that employees face no connectivity or network security issues whether they are in the office or working from home. Furthermore, the SD-WAN automatically routes the traffic based on network conditions, prioritizing the most important collaboration and video conferencing applications, minimizing latency, and enhancing performance. Wateen also shares real-time network performance insights with businesses so they are able to make informed decisions regarding network resources.
Cloud Services: Enabling Remote Access and Collaboration
Cloud computing is becoming more important with the growing hybrid work trend. The cloud services offered by Wateen facilitate real-time collaboration and communication across teams to support remote employees. With Wateen’s cloud storage, it has become easier for employees to access the company’s resources from any location.
As cloud computing becomes the backbone of hybrid workforces, Wateen’s cloud services provide businesses the flexibility they need to support remote employees and collaborative workflows.
Conclusion
It is important for companies to embrace innovation and empower their employees. The work models are evolving and Wateen is offering network solutions to help companies operate either in-office, remote, or hybrid work environments. If you are not sure what network solutions your company should implement, reach out to the subject matter experts at Wateen by following this link.