Laying The Groundwork for Remote Working
Remote working is nothing new. People have been connecting to their office infrastructure while travelling for business, working from home and while visiting customer sites for years. Thanks to the Internet and cloud-based technologies, we have the ability to access the same resources we would inside the office from our laptops and mobile phones. Allowing company resources to be available outside of the on-premise network removes the restrictions of where workers can do their job effectively.
Working from home can be an ideal solution for knowledge workers. Instead of commuting into the office every day, workers can log into their systems remotely and keep businesses operational from no matter where in the world they are. For businesses, it means employees having the ability to deal with problems as they come up, offering a new type of flexibility to the working environment. It also means that in times of health and safety concerns, everyone can reduce their risks and still continue to operate effectively.
While remote work is not a new concept, provides many benefits for workers and businesses alike, there is still some groundwork that has to be put in place to avoid disruptions.
Ensuring that employees are able to log onto their VPN to get onto the corporate networks,
Bandwidth and Redundancy
download the proper video software, are prepared with instant messaging tools and have the ability to share files easily, enables them to do their jobs fully outside of the office. In order to fulfill all of these application requirements for every employee outside of the corporate network, it puts incredible strain on bandwidth.
Amid health and travel concerns, some companies are running tests before jumping ahead with a fully remote workforce. Others are thinking to the future of work and how they can prepare their network now all while thinking of how this current environment will impact the way we fulfill our jobs.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has been using Martello’s solutions for 4 years now, and has seen great value from ISP redundancy. By using two ISPs instead of just one, you can ensure business continuity, even when traffic peaks. Should one link go down, the backup link will kick in and the end user will stay seamlessly connected.
STM offers train and bus service to passengers throughout Montreal. Their mobile app provides real-time updates on train and bus schedules to ensure passengers are informed of any delays the transit system experiences. With daily ridership of over 2 million people and 68 stations, there is a lot of potential for spikes in traffic through the app when there is an interruption in the transit system. With the ability to have ISP redundancy of up to 32 carriers, STM is confident that their network is scalable for the future.
With the solid network foundation they have in place, STM is prepared to have employees work remotely should it become necessary.
“To create a platform for remote work, you need a solid network infrastructure with available and scalable bandwidth. Martello’s technology creates this foundation, so that new applications and services can be deployed without bandwidth limitations,” said Richard Crevier Network Analyst at Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
Whether they need their employees to access resources at home, or they introduce new applications that require more bandwidth resources, STM can feel confident about the network infrastructure they have in place and that it is both flexible and scalable for future needs.
