networking plus december 2014: connecting mobile workers

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G reater flexible working could add £11.5bn annually to the economy, according to the findings of a study just released by Citrix and the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It reveals that 96 per cent of the UK’s “knowledge workers” (such as architects, software engineers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, academics, etc) who have the option of flexible working utilise the opportunity, whilst 83 per cent would do so if it was made available to them. The researchers say if organisational culture throughout the UK changed to allow for this, there would be savings in commuter costs of £3.8bn, with a further reduction of 533 million hours spent travelling to and from work annually. “Businesses in the UK need to look very closely at the provisions they make for flexible working,” says Jacqueline de Rojas, VP of Northern Europe, Citrix. “The technology to make this happen is widely available, but we need to see a mentality shift to where it becomes an everyday part of working life. The economic argument for flexible working is quite clear – the UK as a whole needs to contribute to a culture where anywhere, anytime working is the accepted norm.” Other industry experts also confirm that the number of mobile and remote workers in the country is on the rise. For example, cloud security specialist Netskope says its latest research confirms that nearly half of all cloud app activities now originate from a mobile device. And Cisco says it’s also seeing continued growth of mobile working practices, especially in a public sector being driven by austerity measures. “Earlier this year the UK Government extended flexible working to all employees in the UK, which is further recognition of the growing trend as mobility is shown to deliver productivity gains and increased employee satisfaction,” says David Goff, Cisco’s manager of product sales specialists. “As mobile networks get faster thanks to Wi-Fi and 4G, those using them will be able to work faster as well.” There’s yet further evidence from Vodafone. It recently conducted its own survey which asked business leaders for their thoughts on flexible working. Eighty per cent said that their staff are asking for more flexible working, and 60 per cent of employers currently give remote working capabilities to most of their personnel. “A majority of employees in Britain now consider access to flexible working options to be almost as important as financial benefits like a good salary or pension,” says Angus Flett, Vodafone’s head of portfolio – connectivity. “Furthermore, these younger workers now see mobile technology as a fundamental part of their lives and they bring this expectation into the workplace.” And there’s the problem. With increasing numbers of workers expecting to access corporate resources using wireless devices – both personal as well as official, and using external as well as internal networks – the IT team has its work cut out as it tries to monitor and manage them all. The blurred lines of ‘shadow IT’ Citing an April 2014 survey from TECHnalysis Research, remote network management specialist Opengear says around half of all firms now have some level of ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) adoption happening in the workplace. And it believes that figure is only likely to rise further as the benefits of enterprise mobility become more widely known. That will lead to a whole new area beset by the blurred lines between personal and corporate usage, according to Sue Goltyakova, Netskope’s senior marketing manager: “With employees seeking out their own preferred apps, which they can set up themselves, ‘shadow IT’ becomes a danger to the organisation and opens it up to the risk of data breaches. “The explosive growth of mobile is fuelling an increase in the use of cloud. But the two combined are putting pressure on security teams to be aware of what cloud apps employees are using, to understand what the risks are, and to put in place policies and controls to limit exposure.” As a result, and as Cisco’s Goff points out, it’s imperative for IT teams to know who is connected to their network (employee, guest, contractor), where they are connecting from (secure corporate networks or coffee shops), what device they are using (employee owned or corporate provided), and what applications and data they are accessing. He also warns that opening your network to an increasing number of devices has other implications, such as application performance, how to ensure precious corporate bandwidth is being used for the right things, and how staff collaborate with each other if the office is no longer their primary place of work. connecting mobile workers networking december 2014 A rise in flexible working practices across the UK inevitably means a greater number of employees using mobile devices to access their corporate networks. RAHIEL NASIR looks at how tablets are giving headaches to network managers. 10 According to TECHnalysis Research, around half of all companies now have some level of BYOD adoption happening in the workplace. According to TECHnalysis Research, around half of all companies now have some level of BYOD adoption happening in the workplace. Network to go Network to go register online @ www.networkingplus.co.uk NEW WEBSITE NOW LIVE! When used with its multi-platform routers (pictured), Peplink says its SpeedFusion VPN bonding technology offers a single gateway or AP for remote clients to connect to.

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Page 1: Networking Plus December 2014: Connecting Mobile Workers

G reater flexible working could add£11.5bn annually to the economy,according to the findings of a study

just released by Citrix and the Centre forEconomics and Business Research.

It reveals that 96 per cent of the UK’s“knowledge workers” (such as architects,software engineers, lawyers, doctors,accountants, academics, etc) who havethe option of flexible working utilise theopportunity, whilst 83 per cent would doso if it was made available to them.

The researchers say if organisationalculture throughout the UK changed toallow for this, there would be savings incommuter costs of £3.8bn, with a furtherreduction of 533 million hours spenttravelling to and from work annually.

“Businesses in the UK need to lookvery closely at the provisions they makefor flexible working,” says Jacqueline deRojas, VP of Northern Europe, Citrix.“The technology to make this happen iswidely available, but we need to see a

mentality shift to where it becomes aneveryday part of working life. Theeconomic argument for flexible working is quite clear – the UK as a whole needs tocontribute to a culture where anywhere,anytime working is the accepted norm.”

Other industry experts also confirm thatthe number of mobile and remote workersin the country is on the rise. For example,cloud security specialist Netskope says itslatest research confirms that nearly half of all cloud app activities now originatefrom a mobile device. And Cisco says it’salso seeing continued growth of mobileworking practices, especially in a publicsector being driven by austerity measures.

“Earlier this year the UK Governmentextended flexible working to all employeesin the UK, which is further recognition ofthe growing trend as mobility is shown todeliver productivity gains and increasedemployee satisfaction,” says David Goff,Cisco’s manager of product salesspecialists. “As mobile networks get fasterthanks to Wi-Fi and 4G, those using themwill be able to work faster as well.”

There’s yet further evidence fromVodafone. It recently conducted its ownsurvey which asked business leaders fortheir thoughts on flexible working. Eightyper cent said that their staff are asking formore flexible working, and 60 per cent ofemployers currently give remote workingcapabilities to most of their personnel.

“A majority of employees in Britain nowconsider access to flexible working optionsto be almost as important as financialbenefits like a good salary or pension,” saysAngus Flett, Vodafone’s head of portfolio –connectivity. “Furthermore, these youngerworkers now see mobile technology as afundamental part of their lives and theybring this expectation into the workplace.”

And there’s the problem. Withincreasing numbers of workers expectingto access corporate resources usingwireless devices – both personal as wellas official, and using external as well asinternal networks – the IT team has its

work cut out as it tries to monitor andmanage them all.

The blurred lines of‘shadow IT’Citing an April 2014 survey fromTECHnalysis Research, remote networkmanagement specialist Opengear saysaround half of all firms now have somelevel of ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD)adoption happening in the workplace. Andit believes that figure is only likely to risefurther as the benefits of enterprisemobility become more widely known.

That will lead to a whole new areabeset by the blurred lines betweenpersonal and corporate usage, accordingto Sue Goltyakova, Netskope’s seniormarketing manager: “With employeesseeking out their own preferred apps,which they can set up themselves,‘shadow IT’ becomes a danger to theorganisation and opens it up to the risk of data breaches.

“The explosive growth of mobile isfuelling an increase in the use of cloud. Butthe two combined are putting pressure onsecurity teams to be aware of what cloudapps employees are using, to understandwhat the risks are, and to put in placepolicies and controls to limit exposure.”

As a result, and as Cisco’s Goff pointsout, it’s imperative for IT teams to knowwho is connected to their network(employee, guest, contractor), where theyare connecting from (secure corporatenetworks or coffee shops), what devicethey are using (employee owned orcorporate provided), and what applicationsand data they are accessing.

He also warns that opening yournetwork to an increasing number ofdevices has other implications, such asapplication performance, how to ensureprecious corporate bandwidth is beingused for the right things, and how staffcollaborate with each other if the office isno longer their primary place of work.

connecting mobile workers

nn ee tt ww oo rr kk ii nngg december 2014

A rise in flexible working practices across the UK inevitably means a greater number of employees using mobile devices to access their corporate networks. RAHIEL NASIRlooks at how tablets are giving headaches to network managers.

10

According to TECHnalysis Research,around half of all companies now

have some level of BYOD adoptionhappening in the workplace.

According to TECHnalysis Research,around half of all companies now

have some level of BYOD adoptionhappening in the workplace.Network

to goNetworkto go

register online @ www.networkingplus.co.uk NEW WEBSITE NOW LIVE!

When used with its multi-platform routers (pictured), Peplink says its SpeedFusion VPN bondingtechnology offers a single gateway or AP for remote clients to connect to.

Net+ 1412 p10-13 (Mobile workers).qxd 15/12/14 17:53 Page 10

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Page 2: Networking Plus December 2014: Connecting Mobile Workers

connecting mobile workersregister online @ www.networkingplus.co.uk NEW WEBSITE NOW LIVE!

Berlin-based telecoms solutions providerTELES heaps yet more woes onto this list,as technical consultant Werner Schimekexplains: “Company policies used todictate which smartphone vendor or evenmodel was allowed but we think thosedays are over. Different platforms offerdifferent ways of user interactions, andthese have to be understood and supported.

“A vast diversity of devices hasbecome the daily nightmare of the ITdepartment. IT staff are facing supportcalls during installation and usage of softclients and smartphone apps on end userdevices from multiple vendors.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom. RajeshGanesan, director of product managementat ManageEngine, reckons the BYODtrend is having a positive effect on the ITdepartment’s ability to control and managethe corporate network due to three mainreasons: “Firstly, BYOD increasesemployee efficiency and mobility. This inturn has a positive effect on organisationalproductivity. When IT and business arealigned, better communication can takeplace between IT and other departments.This will lead to better management of thecorporate network.

“Secondly, BYOD makes the ITdepartment think of network security in awhole new light. The IT department hasto now proactively plan and formulate theright policies. It has to comprehensivelyassess risks, vulnerabilities and impact toensure security of corporate information.This makes the IT department morestreamlined and better equipped tomanage the corporate network.

“Thirdly, BYOD can allow IT depart-ments to save costs. With people bringingtheir own devices, there’s bound to be substantial cost savings for the company.

These savings can be used to improve otherIT processes and enable IT to play a moreproactive role in managing the network.”

Ganesan admits that while BYOD doesmake things a little hard for the ITdepartment – such as dealing with thereality of giving access to a variety ofdevices while keeping the hackers away –a well-managed IT department will

overcome these challenges and turn theminto opportunities for growth.

Netskope’s Goltyakova also highlightssome positive aspects: “In some ways,having remote and mobile workers canimprove the life of a network manager.Having a remote workforce which reliespredominantly on cloud apps can reducethe capacity and maintenance required.”

But she adds that these workers willalways look for the easiest, most effectiveway to work, and often this meanschoosing their own apps without eveninvolving IT. “So it’s a double-edgedsword. Network managers don’t have toworry as much about keeping on-premisesolutions up and running, but remote userswith unsanctioned cloud apps can lead toIT having little or no visibility of thesolutions in use and of where data is. It’sa perfect storm of security challenges.”

Don’t bring a virus to workFormulating the right policy is clearly keyto managing BYOD and remote workers.And of course security plays a critical rolehere. Every organisation should have astrong and flexible policy which protectsthe privacy of users as well as sensitivecorporate data. Ganesan says security in aBYOD environment has become especiallycrucial because the number of endpointsfrom which threats can enter has increased.

For instance, by using a vulnerableendpoint, a hacker can easily gain access toan employee’s smartphone or tablet whenhe or she is travelling for work. Advancedpersistent threats can work with stealth andcan lurk in the office network for a longtime before they can be identified.

He goes on to say that other BYODsecurity issues that network managershave to deal include: deciding whichgroup of employees can use their owndevices; what information they can haveaccess to; which type of devices can beincluded; how to demarcate theemployee’s office files and personal fileson the same device; how to deal with lossor theft of a device; and what policies tofollow when an employee quits the job.

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Are you ready for ‘WYOD’?UK enterprises are unprepared to dealwith the security risks posed by WYOD –wear your own device.

In a recently published survey of ITdecision makers from 100 organisationswith more than 1,000 employees, 77 percent of respondents revealed that they donot currently consider wearabletechnology as part of their broader mobilesecurity strategy. Just over half admittedthat they had yet to consider theimpact that wearable technologycould have on data securitywithin their organisation.

While 61 per cent of ITdecision makers said that theyalready had employeescurrently using wearabledevices within theirorganisation, 37 per cent toldthe survey that they did not seeany need to embrace WYOD at all.

The research was carried out byenterprise mobile solutions providerAccellion. Its CMO Paula Skokowskisays: “With the anticipated launch ofvarious new wearable devices in 2015,the age of WYOD is upon us. AlthoughUK enterprises are beginning to come to

terms with the need to securely enablethe use of smartphones and tablets bythe workforce, the next challenge is toensure that wearables are given thesame attention.”

When asked what they think would bethe most popular wearable devices in theworkplace next year, 41 per cent said thatthey expected to see the Apple Watch intheir organisation in 2015, compared tojust 36 per cent opting for Google Glass.

Email (29 per cent) isexpected to be the most

popular application tobe used by employeeson wearable devices inthe coming year,followed closely bysocial media apps (20per cent), internetbrowsing and MSOffice applications (10

per cent each). Only sixper cent consider voice

calls on wearable devicesto be the most appealing use.

Smartwatches from Sony and Samsung areamong the most popular wearable devices inthe workplace, but the Apple Watch (pictured)is expected to make a big impact in 2015.

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Ultimately, safeguarding the networkfrom mobile workers should all be part of acompany’s best practice procedures.

“A few years ago, network managershad to provide security, connectivity andapplication speed in a work environment,”says Ganesan. “But now they mustprovide all these in any location theemployee chooses to work in. After all,for employees today, work is only anactivity to get done – not a place to go to.”

Derek Watkins, Opengear’s VP of salesfor EMEA and India, says BYOD oftensupplements the IT environment alreadyin place rather than totally changing it.“This means that a remote site networkinitially built to only handle desktops andprinters now needs to deal with an influxof smartphones, tablets and laptops.”

But he continues by pointing out thatthis added demand can easily overload

existing support infrastructure, especiallyat remote sites with few on-premisesresources. “In some cases, everythingfrom access points and switches tocontrollers and routers may need to beredesigned and reconfigured with BYODand enterprise mobility in mind.”

Furthermore, not only does BYODaffect the infrastructure at branch offices,but it can also place added strain on in-house data centres as well. Withemployees more frequently demandingaccess to data and files from any device,Watkins believes companies must ensurethat they have the cloud infrastructure inplace to support all such requests.

Vodafone agrees here. Flett says remoteworkers need desktop-functionality fromtheir remote devices, and this requirescloud-based business applications – all ofwhich need high bandwidth to function.

Peplink, which provides load balancingand VPN bonding solutions, also supportsthis view. While it admits security is alwaysimportant, the biggest issue it sees ismaintaining reliable connectivity in remotelocations/dead spots or when on the move.

“Normally, attempts are initially madewith USB dongles and embedded cellularconnectivity in tablets and smartphones,but a number of challenges arise fromthis,” says Peplink’s ‘technologyevangelist’ Martin Langmaid. “Firstly,contract management for increasingnumbers of SIMs and their associateddata plans gets very complicated quickly– even more so when BYOD is in themix where data contracts can be ownedby the staff members themselves.

“Secondly, cellular coverage can be achallenge when only one provider is beingused. We’ve heard of cases of staff taking

written notes in interviews with clients andthen driving to motorway service stationsor pubs with public Wi-Fi to then re-enterthat data into the corporate ERPs.”

Managing the appsAre there any solutions to these myriadproblems? According to Goff, the first stepis to get a security policy managementplatform that automates and enforcessecure access to network resources.

For example, he says Cisco’s IdentityServices Engine (ISE) delivers user anddevice visibility to support enterprisemobility. It shares contextual data withintegrated partner solutions to acceleratetheir capabilities to identify, mitigate andremediate threats.

Cisco also offers its ApplicationVisibility and Control (AVC) technology.Goff says that this is a suite of services inCisco network devices that providesapplication-level classification, monitoringand traffic control. It’s designed to improvebusiness-critical application performance,support capacity management and planning,and reduce network operating costs.

Vodafone is the first provider globallyto have embedded Cisco’s AVC systeminto its network. Flett says it canautomatically identify more than 1,500different applications and report on theirperformance at a real-time and granularlevel that simply wasn’t possible before.

He says AVC enables the networkmanager to drill right down into a singlesite from a global view to see how staffare actually using and engaging with thenetwork. “They can build a granular viewof the applications running and potentiallyclogging the network. The CIO can thenprioritise the different applicationsrunning and pre-empt issues – if there areapps that are failing, for example, this canbe picked up at site level.”

Staying connectedTo provide and maintain connectivity and security in remote areas, Peplinkrecommends the use of dedicatedhardware with multiple embeddedcellular modems using external antennas.

Langmaid adds that by keeping theconnectivity method as a physical andcorporate managed resource simplifiesnetwork management since all devicescan be centrally managed. “[They] can

connecting mobile workers

12nn ee tt ww oo rr kk ii nngg december 2014

register online @ www.networkingplus.co.uk NEW WEBSITE NOW LIVE!

“For employees today,work is only an activity toget done and not a placeto go to.”Rajesh Ganesan,Director of product management, ManageEngine

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Page 4: Networking Plus December 2014: Connecting Mobile Workers

provide the end-to-end security,monitoring and management required asthe enterprise network extends itsphysical and geographical boundaries.

“Also, it draws a clear line ofresponsibility between the end user devicesand the enterprise network, where networkengineers and desktop/application supportanalysts have a clear division ofresponsibility for service delivery.”

This idea of central management is alsocrucial for ManageEngine. Ganesan saysit is necessary for network managers totrack all the assets assigned to staff,manage data access and passwords, andcreate user or department profiles from acentral location. “The IT team should alsobe able to configure any device from thiscentral location. This will eliminateredundancy and improve productivity.”

He adds that network managers shouldalso be able to deploy and scan apps: “Incase an employee downloads a blacklistedapp through their home network, it must bedeactivated as soon as they enter the officenetwork. For example, it is possible toblock apps with a built-in camera function.Furthermore, IT must be able to deployapps for all chosen user profiles whichemployees can then download.”

Netskope’s Goltyakova concurs hereand says it is critical to be able to seewhat is on the network: “The first stepshould be to discover every app in usewithin an organisation’s environment.Usually this number is far higher thanexpected – the latest Netskope CloudReport found that there are now 579 cloudapps in use within an average organisation,many of which are totally unknown to IT.

“Secondly, activity should be monitoredto look for patterns of behaviour andanomalies. What data are your employeesuploading and sharing? Are sanctionedapps being chosen, or alternatives whichhave not been approved by the companyand might not be secure?

“Thirdly, an organisation should lookto set policies which are flexible anddon’t just mean blocking everything that‘looks a bit dodgy’. A blanket ‘block’policy will antagonise users and willprobably be ineffective – users are veryclever these days at finding workaroundsand ways to do what they want!”

Opengear believes that a fundamentalconsideration of any network infrastructuremanagement plan should recognise thepossibility of a failure where the primarynetwork is unavailable. Watkins says thishas led to increased demand for solutionsthat utilise 3G/4G and even satelliteconnectivity as a means of providingcentralised IT teams with ‘remote hands’ tofix issues that occur at branch level.

“The notion of a sending out an IT techto a remote branch office – to reset orreconfigure an errant network switch oraccess point, for example – is an expensiveand impractical solution. Any organisationrelying on BYOD must have a strategy toensure accessibility to the network as wellas a fall back to meet outage scenarioswhich are more common than networkvendors would like to admit.”

Langmaid claims the only truly

successful approach for reliableconnectivity is to use multiple dataconnections from multiple ISPs and thenload balance (or VPN bond) across thoselinks. Bandwidth monitoring andmanagement also then becomes a keyelement of any large scale deployment.“The IT department needs to know who itsbiggest data consumers are and why, and beable to identify any abuse of the systems.”

He goes on to explain that SpeedFusion,Peplink’s VPN bonding technology,bonds multiple cellular and fixed WANconnections to create what’s claimed to bea highly resilient and available secureVPN connection from a remote locationback to the enterprise network.

When used with the vendor’s routers thatcan combine cellular, fixed line and satelliteWAN links (from any provider), Langmaidsays SpeedFusion offers a single gateway or

AP for remote clients to connect to. “Wethen have a cloud management app thatgives the IT department full visibility of itsmobile device estate, providing centralisedmonitoring, reporting and management.”

While predicting the future is always arisky business, one thing is for sure:bandwidth-consuming applications willkeep growing. And that means networkmanagers will need to continually look athow to balance the use of these applicationsto ensure the network is not overwhelmed.

Flett offers the following advice:“Network managers will succeed bygetting to know their networks better.Greater visibility will lead to greaterknowledge which in turn will result inbetter control – and better control willultimately mean a better network. Thepromise of the truly application awarenetwork will become a step closer.” �

connecting mobile workersregister online @ www.networkingplus.co.uk NEW WEBSITE NOW LIVE!

13 december 2014 nn ee tt ww oo rr kk ii nngg

“A majority of employeesin Britain now consideraccess to flexible workingoptions to be almost asimportant as financialbenefits like a good salaryor pension.”Angus Flett,Head of portfolio – connectivity, Vodafone

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