Less than five years ago, working remotely was an occasional perk, even a novelty for most. Fast-forward to today, and it's a regular occurrence, with many individuals either working from home full-time or adopting a hybrid routine. This significant change in working patterns has created a need for robust remote work networking solutions to ensure operations remain seamless even when teams are dispersed.
In this blog, we explore the impact of remote work on network infrastructure, identifying what digital challenges it has created and what essential remote work networking solutions are available to ensure your business continues to run smoothly.
The Remote Work Shift and Why It Is Here to Stay
It is often assumed that remote work came about because of the pandemic, and if we hadn’t all been in lockdown for months at a time, we would have all continued to commute to and from a place of work to do our job. While it is true that the pandemic accelerated our change in working habits (only 4.7% of UK employees worked from home in 2019), we were already undergoing a digital revolution where remote work networking solutions were being developed to facilitate this work-from-home protocol. The shift may not have happened as abruptly as in 2020, but we probably would have gotten to the same place in a few years anyway.
Another factor that suggests that remote work was always on the cards and is now here to stay is that the percentage of employees working remotely worldwide has actually increased in recent years. In 2022, 25% of UK employees worked from home at least some of the time. This figure rose to 28% in 2024.
While we may have had many digital tools ready to adopt remote working patterns when forced into lockdown, we likely did not foresee all the challenges it could create, nor did we have sufficient remote work networking protocols ready to address them.
The Challenges of Remote Work on Network Infrastructure
Remote work sounds simple enough – just log on at home and get on with your daily tasks. But behind the scenes, keeping everyone connected when they're spread out across the city, country, or even the world is very challenging.
Remote work created issues in several aspects of digital network use: performance, security, reliability, and complexity.
Maintaining performance with increased bandwidth demand
As we all started communicating via video calls, using collaborative apps and attempting real-time data sharing, demand for bandwidth surged. Networks needed to handle a lot more data flowing back and forth, and many weren't ready for it. That's why lags – such as freezing mid-sentence during an online meeting – became a frustration we grew far too familiar with.
Security concerns with increased points of access
We'll never really know how much thought was put into security before we all made the rapid switch to remote work. But we now have a clearer idea of just how much it risks our data, operations and businesses. Every connecting remote device and Wi-Fi router provides opportunities for cyber-attacks. They are points of access, and, unfortunately, cybercriminals are out to exploit them.
If you have a team working in a variety of locations, your IT department has a much larger and more scattered attack surface to protect. Picture your network infrastructure like a building. We may have locked the front door, but now all the windows and side entrances are open where intruders can get in. We need to adopt multiple layers of security to keep it protected.
Reliability connectivity
Purpose-built offices are designed to ensure reliable connectivity. At home, only some have that luxury. Your distributed workforce may work in rural areas where the service is spotty or live in a busier household where everyone competes for bandwidth. Whatever the reason, reliable connectivity for your employees when working from home cannot be guaranteed.
Network management complexity
Juggling network management across distributed locations is another key challenge. Now, instead of a few select business locations, there are multiple endpoints and addresses where we need visibility to ensure everything runs smoothly. Moreover, with workforce flexibility, the dynamics are changing on a regular basis. To maintain network performance and troubleshoot, IT teams often need new tools and even training.
Key Solutions to Support Remote Work Networking
Thankfully, there are a variety of remote work networking solutions available to tackle these challenges. Let’s look at how key technologies and protocols are used in three fundamental ways to help keep your remote teams connected, secure and productive.
Network optimisation
Put network optimisation tools in place, and you can ensure your bandwidth is being used where needed most. SD-WAN is one example of a technology that can help you achieve this goal. Think of it like a digital traffic warden, ensuring that traffic continues to flow smoothly. It makes sure those critical video meetings are not interrupted by a background download taking all the bandwidth!
Enhance security solutions
VPNs have been around for some time, and while they can protect your activity, newer strategies like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) provide the next-level security that remote work requires. With a ‘trust no-one’ approach, Zero Trust verifies every access request, no matter who or where it comes from.
Cloud-managed networking
Cloud-managed networking is another way to ensure your remote team can work efficiently and without a hiccup. It allows all network activity to be monitored and managed from a single, central platform in the cloud. There’s no need to be on-site and most adjustments can be made remotely and in real time. It simplifies troubleshooting and gives you flexibility and scalability for your operations.
Partnering for a Resilient Remote Work Network
Remote work is here to stay, and it is reshaping how we connect, communicate and collaborate. To facilitate this way of working, we need to adopt new, purpose-built remote networking solutions to be secure, agile, and ready for anything.
However, keeping up with these fast-moving demands can be a challenge, and that’s where partnering with a managed network services provider can help. A partner like Hughes makes evolving your network infrastructure for remote working effortless. We offer expertise in everything from network optimisation to enhanced security and cloud management. With a proactive, future-focused approach, we can bring solutions that support your activity today and offer scalability and flexibility for whatever tomorrow brings.
To learn more about how Hughes can manage your network infrastructure to address the complexities of remote work, please get in touch with our team.