Which COVID-Created Network Trends Will Survive as the New Normal?

The pandemic has forced businesses to rethink their network strategies. To adapt to widespread work-from-home scenarios, companies have had to implement many changes to keep their teams connected and secure, and now it seems that some of these recent trends may be here to stay. At EPI-USA, we offer data center operations training courses to keep you apprised of these developments. Our training courses are designed to optimize your team’s responsiveness as demands on data centers continue to evolve.

 

In effect, the COVID-19 crisis prodded systems updates that made networks more secure and workforces more efficient. Five trends that may survive as the new normal include:

 

1. Increased Use of Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) Technology - SDP has proved to be vital to data center operations by providing a more secure and cost-effective alternative to virtual private networks (VPNs).

 

2. Transition to SASE Technology - Secure access service edge (SASE) network technology is replacing the prevalent SD-WAN setups by using the existing capabilities but adding new features such as a Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and more.

 

3. Growth of Pervasive Data Intelligence - The pandemic has caused companies to realize the urgency of being able to adapt quickly to changes. As a result, many enterprises have sought to boost their agility by growing their pervasive data intelligence, which incorporates the entire workforce in achieving objectives, rather than relying on central analytics solutions.

 

4. Improved Network Planning - Enterprises have come to understand the necessity of having flexible authorization and authentication practices in place to meet sudden disruptions to the usual workflow.

 

5. Better Network Performance Monitoring - Work-from-home setups have made IT teams look more closely at network behavior to meet the practical needs of the business.