Secure access to application in the data center

 While this is unlikely to change for the vast number of remote workers, Valente argues that enterprises have an opportunity to address these issues for “high-value, customer-facing workers. What was once ‘good enough’ for occasional evening and weekend work at home stints is no longer adequate,” he wrote.

This is where SD-WAN appliances come in. While many enterprises adopted technologies like what is computer engineering or ZTNA to provide secure access to application in the data center or cloud, they only address part of the problem and don’t do anything for slow, congested, or over-provisioned broadband connections.

Valente makes the case that for certain employees it can make sense to deploy enterprise hardware like SD-WAN appliances in the home, not only to mitigate disruptions and keep workers productive, but to extend security beyond company-issued devices to the LAN and enable application-level quality of service. Once the SD-WAN appliance is deployed, the employees home can be treated like any other branch office, allowing IT teams to apply policy consistently across various business segments.