vCORE Named Elite Managed Services Provider in North America
vCORE is one of just 150 IT Solution Providers in North America recognized as an “elite” managed services provider as part of CRN’s annual MSP 500 list.
Kurt Huegin | Director, Network Solutions
vCORE Technology Partners | Aug. 31, 2020
It’s been nearly six months since the majority of us were sent home to work due to Covid-19. Did you think it would last this long back in March? I didn’t! If I had, I probably would’ve been doing some upgrades on my home office. I’m kind of thinking I should have put a coffee maker by my desk, but alas I’ll have to trudge the 30 feet to my kitchen. 😊
It got me thinking though about most of the clients I’ve engaged with over the past six months. If they had known about the huge spike in work from home, the duration of the remote work, and WEREN’T rushed to get everyone connected, what would they have done differently?
While clearly the de facto standard was to stand up a bunch of VPN tunnels, I think with time we could have done better. As far back (and it feels far) as 2019, Network World was calling the VPN dead. After all, if there’s a chance an end user or their machine is infected, do you really want to bring them in — with full privileges — to your network? And if they’re headed for the cloud or a SaaS offering, why are they even coming back to your data center anyway?
The truth is that whether we like it or not, remote work is here to stay. Certainly we’ll yo-yo back, but likely not in the same fashion. Cisco is closing all but eight of their offices across the country. Nationwide announced a total hybrid model, closing many locations. And even for the companies planning a return to work, mid-2021 seems to be a popular date.
So if we can agree we’ve got some time, now what?
Move a full security stack to a cloud as close to the user as possible. This not only allows for efficient routing, but it also allows you to deliver a consistent policy across ALL of your remote users/locations. What’s more, it gets you out of the management nightmare of configuring, patching, upgrading, and integrating a whole host of security tools.
SASE is quickly becoming a vendor smorgasbord, but here are some key things to consider:
Video drives trust and will be required for effective remote communication. Make sure your leadership team has easy, dedicated video infrastructure that seamlessly ties into something like WebEx, Zoom, or MSFT Teams.
Consider an always-on “branch in a box” that can simply plug into a home modem. All the major SD-WAN providers have ROBO solutions that make this easy. I would consider WiFi a must, otherwise your executives would likely be going “back in time” from their current home network setup. Just remember, if you don’t have a standard, a standard will arise around you!
Yes, we’re talking about remote workers, but in the spirit of planning ahead, NOW’S YOUR CHANCE. The opportunity cost has never been lower. The top projects we’re seeing to take advantage of this are:
Here at vCORE we’re helping our customers navigate these choices. Our goal is to look back with you six months from now and say, “Sure glad we did that!” If we can help you as you navigate your organization’s new world, please reach out.
Cloud networking can help organizations adapt quickly to COVID-19 pandemic
3 Keys to Software-Defined Networking Success
5 Critical Cybersecurity Challenges IT Organizations Should Address Now
Kurt Huegin | Director, Network Solutions
vCORE Technology Partners | Aug. 31, 2020
It’s been nearly six months since the majority of us were sent home to work due to Covid-19. Did you think it would last this long back in March? I didn’t! If I had, I probably would’ve been doing some upgrades on my home office. I’m kind of thinking I should have put a coffee maker by my desk, but alas I’ll have to trudge the 30 feet to my kitchen. 😊
It got me thinking though about most of the clients I’ve engaged with over the past six months. If they had known about the huge spike in work from home, the duration of the remote work, and WEREN’T rushed to get everyone connected, what would they have done differently?
While clearly the de facto standard was to stand up a bunch of VPN tunnels, I think with time we could have done better. As far back (and it feels far) as 2019, Network World was calling the VPN dead. After all, if there’s a chance an end user or their machine is infected, do you really want to bring them in — with full privileges — to your network? And if they’re headed for the cloud or a SaaS offering, why are they even coming back to your data center anyway?
The truth is that whether we like it or not, remote work is here to stay. Certainly we’ll yo-yo back, but likely not in the same fashion. Cisco is closing all but eight of their offices across the country. Nationwide announced a total hybrid model, closing many locations. And even for the companies planning a return to work, mid-2021 seems to be a popular date.
So if we can agree we’ve got some time, now what?
Move a full security stack to a cloud as close to the user as possible. This not only allows for efficient routing, but it also allows you to deliver a consistent policy across ALL of your remote users/locations. What’s more, it gets you out of the management nightmare of configuring, patching, upgrading, and integrating a whole host of security tools.
SASE is quickly becoming a vendor smorgasbord, but here are some key things to consider:
Video drives trust and will be required for effective remote communication. Make sure your leadership team has easy, dedicated video infrastructure that seamlessly ties into something like WebEx, Zoom, or MSFT Teams.
Consider an always-on “branch in a box” that can simply plug into a home modem. All the major SD-WAN providers have ROBO solutions that make this easy. I would consider WiFi a must, otherwise your executives would likely be going “back in time” from their current home network setup. Just remember, if you don’t have a standard, a standard will arise around you!
Yes, we’re talking about remote workers, but in the spirit of planning ahead, NOW’S YOUR CHANCE. The opportunity cost has never been lower. The top projects we’re seeing to take advantage of this are:
Here at vCORE we’re helping our customers navigate these choices. Our goal is to look back with you six months from now and say, “Sure glad we did that!” If we can help you as you navigate your organization’s new world, please reach out.
Cloud networking can help organizations adapt quickly to COVID-19 pandemic
3 Keys to Software-Defined Networking Success
5 Critical Cybersecurity Challenges IT Organizations Should Address Now