During this period of working from home, the network requirements will be different for almost all companies, as we are now dealing with a remote working infrastructure.
If all employees are working from home, you can turn off some network components. For example, you can turn off the switches that support the employees' offices to save energy and air conditioning.
Wi-Fi can also be turned off, but if some employees are still entering the office, the parts of the network they use should remain active.
Working from home means a lot more videoconferencing, which can be beyond what your remote working infrastructure is designed to support, and beyond the capacity of the internet links you have contracted.
In this case, contacting your network service provider to request additional capacity may be the way forward. However, as providers may be dealing with many similar requests from other customers, be prepared for them not to respond to your request at the speed you expect.
As a short-term fix for the link capacity problem, spread large meetings throughout the day. You may find, for example, that the capacity problems are occurring on Monday morning, when many meetings are scheduled to define tasks for the week. You'll need to set up a schedule to distribute the meetings throughout the week.
Even if your Internet links are sufficient, the network configuration may be backing up into the demilitarized zone. In this case, you may need to add resources to these components. This can happen if you manage to buy more bandwidth for Internet links.
These were just a few examples of what may be happening in your local network infrastructure. Remote working has led companies to go through a major adaptation phase that they are probably not prepared for.
Managing remote working security
Security is always a major issue in a remote working infrastructure, and employees working from home add additional risks.
You may already have assigned different levels of login privilege on the local network, depending on the resources each employee needs to access. But some employees may not have been allowed to work remotely in the past because of the data they must access. In this case, changes may need to be made to the login privilege settings so that work can continue.
If employees are using their own computers, it is essential that they are running at least antivirus software. Installing a network access control product can help ensure that the security software on employees' systems is up to date and that traffic is inspected as it reaches the corporate network.
As additional remote logons make more use of VPNs, it may be necessary to add features. Traffic for corporate VPN connections can be reduced by using the split encapsulation feature found in some VPN products.
This feature splits traffic so that only traffic destined for the corporate network is sent to it, but web browsing and similar traffic do not consume resources on the corporate network.
On the one hand, the current situation is expected to be temporary, so some of these steps may not be considered long-term fixes in a remote working infrastructure. On the other hand, the total duration of the coronavirus pandemic is unknown and it could emerge again soon.
Some companies can find value in allowing employees to work from home during part of their weekly workflow. Remote working can even improve performance. So implementing these practical changes now could be valuable in the future.
Conversys can help your company reduce the risks and impacts of this global crisis. Contact our experts now and find out about Aruba Networks' security, network management and connectivity solutions. We are on hand to help you overcome this challenge.
About Conversys
Conversys IT Solutions is a provider of Information and Communication Technology services and solutions operating throughout Brazil.
With a highly qualified technical and commercial team and a network of partners that includes the main global technology manufacturers, Conversys IT Solutions is able to deliver customized IT and Telecom Infrastructure solutions to clients.
We invest in our employees and partners and strive for a long-lasting relationship with our clients, because we believe that this is how we gain the skills and knowledge we need to innovate and generate value for the businesses in which we operate.
About Aruba
ARUBA, a Hewlett Parkard Enterprise company, is redefining the smart grid with mobility and IoT solutions for organizations of all sizes globally.
Offering IT solutions that empower organizations to serve the Mobile Generation - mobile-savvy users who rely on cloud-based applications for all aspects of their work and personal lives - and to harness the power of insights to transform business processes.
With infrastructure services offered as private or public cloud software, Aruba offers secure connectivity for mobility and IoT, allowing IT professionals to create networks that keep pace with change.
