Spotlight on home-office connectivity intensifies in 2021 [Video]

Work-from-home users to get more sophisticated network hardware and software as enterprises consider options such as SD-WAN and SASE.

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Now that it’s clear remote work is here to stay, what are the technology priorities for IT departments charged with keeping the enterprise workforce productive and secure?

In a December report, research firm Gartner said it expects 48% of employees will work from home, even after the pandemic, compared with 30% pre-pandemic.

Forrester, too, expects the remote worker population to remain elevated. “While there is no clear end point to the pandemic yet, the number of employees working remotely will begin to dwindle, eventually settling in at 300% of pre-pandemic levels at the minimum,” wrote Forrester principle analyst David Johnson, in a blog post about 2021 remote work and automation trends.

“With that many people working remotely long-term, companies will need to rethink what that experience is like — not just from a technology and environment perspective but from leadership, …