Software-defined home products improve remote productivity

As a result of the pandemic, tens of millions of employees are working from remote offices and home offices, and they need a secure, high-quality application experience. Traditional options such as virtual private networks and consumer-grade Wi-Fi affect user productivity and may affect security and compliance.

Software-defined home (SD-home) products are now available that deliver the benefits of both software-defined WAN and software-defined branch - such as application prioritization, reliability and centralized management of SD-WAN and converged LAN, WAN, and the security of SD-branch.

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Expanding the Remote Workforce

In the past, in order to ensure corporate productivity, offices needed to run like factories. However, everything changed during 2020. Most employees work from home, most white-collar work can be done anytime and anywhere, and many employees like the freedom of working from home (at least for a while), and they don’t have to rush to the company during peak hours.

Globally, tens of millions of employees will choose to work entirely from home in 2021 and beyond. As the COVID-19 pandemic eases, hundreds of thousands of employees will shift to a hybrid model, where they go to the office two days a week to interact with their teams.

IT organizations need to deploy new technologies to support this portion of employees working from home, which ranges from 30% to 70%. Remote users need reliable and fast access to cloud and local applications. IT organizations need products that are easy to configure, secure, and can be quickly troubleshooted through a centralized management console. Home products are easy to use, flexible, and cost-effective.

Software Defined Home

SD-home products leverage the benefits of software networking technology to provide a unified option for professionals who work from home most of the time. This all-in-one SD-home package should provide the following features:

• Professional-grade WiFi;
• Built-in security—on-premises and in the cloud, based on Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA);
• Enable application prioritization through SD-WAN and routing capabilities;
• Zero-touch provisioning;
• Centrally manage, update and control
• Supports multiple WAN links, including 4G LTE and 5G

Many network providers have launched SD-home products that meet most (if not all) requirements, such as Cisco, Citrix, Cradlepoint, HPE Aruba and Versa Networks. The price per home is usually around $1,000, but as sales increase, the price may drop. Aryaka provides a managed network remote access option. Other innovative vendors focus on software-based ZTNA products to replace virtual private networks and improve secure remote UX, including Ananda Networks, Elisity, Infiot and Tempered.

5G for Home Use

Current mobile networks offer performance of 100 Mbps or more, and speeds will continue to increase as 5G networks are rolled out. For home users, both 4G and 5G can provide dedicated connections and can provide ideal backup options when the primary internet circuit performs poorly.

As mobile data pricing becomes uncapped and bundled into enterprise plans, 4G and 5G connectivity will become increasingly popular for both home and mobile workers. In the next few years, 4G and 5G mobile services will become the standard choice for SD-home deployments.

Software-defined Home Market Opportunities

In 2021 and beyond, a key area of ​​investment for IT organizations will be in providing improved remote and home networking options. This includes providing a complete SD-home offering - a centrally managed box with Wi-Fi, security and SD-WAN, replacing VPNs with ZTNA platforms, and funding remote employees' home setups, such as upgrading broadband or Wi-Fi and adding 5G.

Employees who work from home permanently and those who choose a hybrid model of working from home two to three days a week will significantly drive the development of SD-home products. Doyle Research predicts that by 2024, the market size of global home networking and security spending will exceed $10 billion, including new networking and security hardware, software, cloud services and bandwidth upgrades.

Long-term plans

Deploying and managing home-based networking and security platforms at scale has become a top priority for most businesses. IT leaders need to shift from a short-term perspective to a long-term architecture to support large numbers of employees who will continue to work from home at least some of the time.

SD-home products must provide reliable, high-quality access to all applications. They need to be easy to deploy and easy to use, with strong centralized management capabilities. Remote access cannot be a separate island; it needs to be integrated with the enterprise's overall network and security architecture. Vendors should offer home products with a variety of prices and features, including all-in-one pure hardware and pure software and cloud-based options to meet the different requirements of employees and their enterprises.