Hybrid work is slowly becoming the standard when it comes to the office environment. Although there is still resistance, the pandemic undeniably has shown that it works. According to a recent survey from Jobstreet, many Filipinos have been working from home (52%) even before the pandemic and it spiked up to 85% during the pandemic. Even now, 49% still prefer working remotely and would rather a hybrid setup than the traditional 9-5 setup. Having to deal with less travel time and having a better work-life balance from remote work are among the top factors that pushed many to prefer it.
However, as much as there is benefits to setting up a hybrid environment, there are also problems that companies must face. Below are few concerns that companies may overlook when shifting into a hybrid setup:
Increasing number of devices and connections
As more companies adopt a hybrid approach, they will see a steady rise in devices connecting to their network. This is due to users finding ways to be more mobile in the way they approach their work. Companies may not be able to provide enough resources into enabling remote work or they may even just prefer to use something they are familiar with. Cloud Applications will provide a solution for these shortcomings as users will be able to access the network in a multitude of ways with different devices. This will however cause the company to lose control and visibility as not all devices may not be compliant with policies.
Security of your network can also be affected by the increase in devices to monitor. A hybrid environment means that your users are not only connecting to your secure network to access the data they need. Working remotely means that they use whatever connection available to them to connect to your corporate network. This can be their own home internet or even those from outside like internet from café’s. This can put your network at risk if any of the devices that are connected are infected and non-compliant to your security policies.
Increasing Bandwidth Demand and Cost
Hybrid environments as well entail that more devices will be accessing your network remotely. This can drastically increase the bandwidth needed to handle all the requests to your network. If not properly addressed, it can lead to bad user experience and a drop in user productivity.
Due to the rise of bandwidth demands that additional devices are introducing; many companies are increasing the amount of bandwidth they currently have. This may be the most obvious solution to rising requests to the network, however this will cost companies and will be unsustainable in the long run.
Unrestricted Access to Websites and SaaS
Hybrid environments bring convenience to users with the flexibility to work remotely or on-prem. This can improve user productivity as it is more convenient for users as they are given the freedom to choose when and where they can work. However, if users are given unrestricted access to both the internet and your network, it will come with risks as well to your network.
Users may access sites that are not allowed during work hours causing a loss in productivity. Your IT team would not be able to monitor or secure data that has been downloaded from your network. This gives them the opportunity to upload data to different sites which may not be secure or can be a venue for data loss. Cyber attacks that use malicious website links can also pose a security risk to your network when infected devices connect to your network.
With SASE Solutions like iBoss, you can mitigate these risks by securing the internet access these devices connect to. Users are able to experience uninterrupted internet access while still complying with your security policies wherever they are. iBoss also allows your team full visibility to these devices through its dashboard and provides detailed event logs for auditing and reporting purposes. With iBoss web filtering, you are able to control what sites your users can access during their work hours while also restricting known malicious sites. Applications access can also be controlled to give access to only what users need to complete their work while also giving the option on limiting the hours or location they can access the application.
To learn more about how to better your hybrid environment with iBoss solutions, you can contact us at marketing@ctlink.com.ph so we can set a meeting at your convenience!