How remote connectivity drives today's transitional workplace

While work-from-home levels may have dipped in 2024, they’re still more than triple what they were before the pandemic, when only 7% of paid workdays were remote. This shift implies a lasting change in work across organizations today.

Employers are exploring fully remote, hybrid, and mandatory in-office arrangements, with flexibility emerging as the key trend. In fact, 70% of US employers have now adopted hybrid work models. When it comes to flexible work, it looks like there’s no going back.

Expanding the digital ecosystem

For many, a workplace where all employees are on site is a thing of the past. The insurance company Allstate, for example, “has about 57,000 employees and 82% of those in the US work remotely.”

To support remote workers and the many connected devices they rely on—such as point-of-sale devices, self-service kiosks, and operational machinery—businesses are expanding their digital ecosystems. And this shift applies to companies of all sizes.

With this, remote connectivity has become a cornerstone for modern enterprises. Organizations are using advanced technology to expand connectivity across locations, time zones, and devices.

As a result, a centralized support and device management platform has become vital. Companies are looking to efficiently service their entire company from a single console and provide remote support to workers anywhere.

Even for local companies, this can have a significant impact as IT teams don’t need to walk from building to building on large properties to resolve issues.

When implemented effectively, these technologies connect workers, devices, and IT systems while reducing real estate and travel costs. For example, Dell Technologies says its remote employees reduce their travel by 136 million miles a year.

With more hybrid workplaces, it becomes increasingly critical to stay organized and prepared by maintaining IT and operational technology (OT) infrastructure reliably and securely. Proactive management of these systems is crucial to ensure smooth and secure operations.

Read more: Remote and hybrid work: Good for your employees, the environment, and your business

Handling security threats

While connectivity technology and the expansion of digital enterprises offer significant benefits—such as increased productivity, peace of mind, and convenience—they also come with the risks of accidental human errors and potential security challenges.

Statista shows that the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices worldwide is forecast to almost double from 15.9 billion in 2023 to more than 32.1 billion IoT devices in 2030.

Without proper visibility into these remote devices, organizations are blind to their potential problems. This means they’re unable to ensure that all security measures are functioning as intended. And this can bring serious consequences.

Since November 2023, there have been more than 2,700 publicly disclosed data breach incidents. And these incidents can have huge financial impact: IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report found that data breaches cost on average USD 4.88 million in 2024—a 10 % increase on 2023.

With increased device diversity, it’s vital to establish a company-wide security posture. This posture should be able to set, maintain, and monitor rules and policies to facilitate remote access across the entire IT estate, including all laptops, point-of-sale terminals, and kiosk systems.

Read more: What is device diversity? The advantages and disadvantages of device diversity for your business

Gaining visibility of the network