Hybrid work is dead, long live “work”

As 2022 approaches, work will no longer be distinguished by where an employee (or student) works or learns. Working from anywhere, on any device, will just be “work”. This paradigm shift on the future of work is having ripple effects for employees, students and IT departments in all sectors of the world.

The pandemic has forced businesses around the world to embrace remote working solutions – and ultimately, access to remote working forever changed the hearts and minds of employees who now realize that working from home. anywhere is a priority. There is no turning back. People want flexible work and organizations around the world are up to it.

Here are six predictions for the future of work in 2022:

Flexibility dominates with employees taking the lead: While 2021 may have been the ‘Year of the Great Resignation’, 2022 will be the year when all kinds of organizations – from educational companies to high-tech companies – offer increased flexibility to their employees to retain employees. members of their team and improve their loyalty. And employees will continue to demand accommodations to work from anywhere, on the device or technology of their choice, and in a way that works for the employee or student and their family.

CIOs move to mindset first remotely: CIOs will adopt a distance mindset to adapt to the new way employees work and to address the growing IT staff shortage. IT staff can now work from anywhere without any geographic limitations. And, with the right tools for unattended remote assistance, IT administrators can use detailed permissions and security protocols to resolve employee remote access and other technical issues without them even present.

Ransomware targets SMEs: Cybercriminals identify the weakest link in the attack vectors and leap up. While large corporations, hospitals, and government agencies have traditionally been prime targets for ransomware attacks, SMBs will be an increased target due to unpatched VPNs and poor user authentication of the Remote Desktop Protocol ( RDP). Cyber ​​criminals will exploit weak password security and VPN vulnerabilities to gain access to the network, steal information and data, and inject ransomware.

Removing VPNs: Gartner has estimated that by 2023, up to 60% of businesses will phase out VPNs in favor of a different architecture – Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). As businesses continue to recognize the inherent risks and performance flaws of VPNs for their flexible workforce, they will begin to embrace modern remote solutions with built-in security like single sign-on (SSO) and authentication. multi-factor authentication (MFA), which follow a zero trust approach.

AR takes off: Many companies have tested augmented reality (AR) for IT support. In 2022, AR will move beyond the pilot phase and become a core technology to support the Operational Technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. AR will increasingly be part of the overall IT support function for diagnosing and resolving customer issues – and customers will increasingly expect this to be part of any remote support.

Technology accelerates equity in education: Access to learning is important for accessibility and diversity and for tackling the “digital divide” in education. Regardless of geography, distance learning for socioeconomic status will accelerate new educational opportunities for students of all ages to learn anywhere, anytime, on any device they have while accessing same resources as if they were on campus, including a resource-hungry computer. laboratories.

Conclusion

The past two years have forever changed the way we work. As we move into the new year and beyond, IT’s drive to standardize distance work / school or a mixed work / learning home / office / school environment will simply be seen as a standardization of. the way people work, wherever they are, wherever they are. the device they have chosen.

Whether a person is remote or in the office, the way they connect, access files, perform tasks, collaborate and receive help will be the same. Companies will no longer distinguish between teleworkers and teleworkers – they will all simply be productive employees / students who value a flexible work environment.