WATCH NOW: The City of Henderson's Rapid Network Deployment

The City of Henderson, Nevada, serves 320,000 residents. ConvergeOne became the city’s go-to networking partner after supporting a firewall transition, assisting with training, implementation and long-term strategic planning for leveraging new technologies. ConvergeOne also helped set up rapid deployment kits that allowed the city’s emergency management and safety department to quickly and efficiently deploy COVID testing and inoculation centers.

“Having rapid deployment kits and partnering with ConvergeOne made us able to be heroes for city management and the activities that they want to do, and for our office of emergency management and safety to be able to deploy rapidly,” said Jared Hansen, IT Infrastructure Manager, City of Henderson, Nevada.

While there is no question that supply chain issues have emptied the whole toolbox into our collective gears, upending the most well-laid plans, this doesn't have to be the whole story: there is a silver lining to be found if you look for it.

How are we still talking about network modernization in 2022, you might ask? That is a fair question. The simple answer is that most companies and enterprises have yet to begin the process of modernization in earnest and instead continue down the well-worn path of early 2000s networking.

This article originally appeared in K-12 Dive.

For years, we have used MPLS and, more recently, SD-WAN to ensure a quality network experience for our office site users. I've noticed a lot of clients still keep their MPLS carrier service, but at a reduced bandwidth with SD-WAN overlays. This works great to deliver apps and services from centralized or regional network hubs.

The Cisco Meraki MX and Z3 have the native ability via presets to do Meraki AutoVPN or AWS/Azure-native IPSec VPN. Both your existing facilities and Public Cloud presence can also host and accept IPSec. AWS Cloud Hub or Azure vHub can host and accept and function as—you guessed it—an IPSec Hub.

Imagine this scenario: A Brazilian new-age clothing designer is looking to open a New York office to complement their São Paulo, Brazil, headquarters. The company has a lean IT staff and little experience supporting multinational locations. Further, the CTO is looking for security, switching, and wireless infrastructure that can be managed via a centralized, cloud-delivered dashboard. Finally, given the vicious and competitive nature of high-end clothing design, the CTO would like a solution that can help maintain the physical security of their environment.

While washing our hands at a sink, do we think about the source of that water… or do we just expect it to be there when we turn it on? Do we set hot, warm, or cold temperatures according to our unique comfort levels?

The remote workforce is now more prominent than ever, and companies are looking for the best long-term or even permanent solutions for a work-from-home model that meets the needs of the business. With video conferencing becoming more widely used by businesses, the ability to prioritize voice and video over the home internet connection can really add stability and improved experience to video and voice calls. The good news is that permanent home offices can now be treated in the same way a satellite office has been traditionally configured with an SD-WAN solution.

Business travelers and those who have traditionally worked from home have enjoyed the evolution of connecting via mobile apps for a while now. For some though, recent events may have just introduced them to the possibility of doing so. Let's take a closer look at some of these service types, and review ways to incorporate additional layers of security while connecting your newly remote corporate users to them.