Modern office, hybrid & remote working
Back to the office Tey were – as far as they were concerned – getting along just fine. Ten the pandemic was over, and they had to return to the office – and they oſten did not like what they went back to. Tey had got used to their set-up at home and wanted to emulate that experience in the workplace. Of course, it was never going to be that simple. To do that, the business would have to pay for new equipment, and aſter the lockdown, most companies did not have any spare cash. In addition, businesses wanted to standardise and stabilise their
environment again and make sure all devices and the network were properly secured. Te adoption of ‘shadow’ IT products by home users during the lockdown had been a growing concern, and with the return to ‘normal’ working, IT managers wanted to clamp down on the use of unauthorised products. Tere was a further challenge here, because the definition of
‘normal’ had changed. Post-pandemic, everyone expected to spend at least some of their time working at home. Even now, more than four years aſter the pandemic ended, that debate about exactly how much that should be is still going on in many organisations. But generally, it’s now accepted that people will work from home for one or two days a week – and there are plenty of businesses that have adopted an entirely flexible approach, allowing employees to spend as much time in the workplace or working from home as they wish.
Open plan With respect to technology adoption, businesses were compelled to listen to what staff who were returning to the workplace wanted and modify their approach accordingly. As a result, we have seen a surge in the use of collaboration and meeting room systems to ensure that employees get a much better experience in the office than they could ever have in the home. We have also seen businesses taking a more flexible approach to where people work. Many now have open plan designs in which many employees can choose to work at any available desk, and dedicated meeting rooms and huddle spaces, equipped with screens, cameras and AV equipment for conference calling. Tere has been accelerated uptake of smart meeting room
systems – to manage occupancy, control temperature and air conditioning, and ensure that lights and equipment are switched off when the room is not in use. Sensors and IoT devices are being used to measure and monitor the movement of people and the use of spaces. In these more open and flexible workspaces, users need to be
able to connect anywhere at any time. Tey need the connectivity to be fast, consistent, reliable, and secure. In addition, more bandwidth is needed to support users roaming between desks and meeting spaces and the growing number of sensors and IoT devices being deployed. Importantly, another thing that had happened post-pandemic
was that businesses recognised they needed to wrest back control of the home office environment and provide standardised equipment and protection for their users.
A big change All this has changed the way that networks need to be designed
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“As people worked at home more, they started to make use of products and technologies that they had not had access to in the office.”
and managed quite profoundly. It’s also had big implications for digital security. At Zyxel Networks, we always shape our R&D effort to meet the needs of our customers, and aſter the pandemic, it quickly became apparent that they needed four things: • Higher capacity bandwidth in the core of the network, alongside more design flexibility.
• More consistent WiFi with a greater range and capacity in terms of the number of users that could be supported.
• A simpler, unified approach to digital protection and cybersecurity. • Uncomplicated, multi-functional devices that combine routing, WiFi and security for use in small offices or branches and employees’ homes.
Our R&D team worked quickly to adapt our roadmap, and over the last four years, we have completely updated our product portfolio to meet the needs of the new modern workplace. We have launched a whole new range of multi-gigabit routers, which can support the bandwidth that is needed on the backbone of the network, and can easily adapt to changing needs within that infrastructure. We have also been developing the capability of our devices to
learn from each other. We’ve been using machine learning and artificial intelligence for some time now to provide enhanced identification and resolution of potential issues and to spot the early signs of attempts to breach network defences. By incorporating AI even more and sharing information through our global security network, we are enhancing both the performance and protection of our customers’ networks. All of this is making hybrid working more efficient and effective. In the workplace, we are providing the high multi-gig bandwidth
and flexibility needed to meet rising capacity demands. We’re delivering more consistent WiFi that reaches further and supports more users. We’re providing comprehensive, unified, and simple cybersecurity, and for smaller businesses and home workers, devices that combine key functionality and protection. With Nebula, we give customers and MSPs a way to install, monitor, and manage devices and networks remotely, and we’re using AI to make everything work together and enhance both performance and security. All this is making it possible for organisations to embrace new
ways of working and provide flexible working for their employees, while also keeping them and their business safe.
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