Workforces have become very much split in terms of their office presence over the last two years. Some companies have implemented 100% remote work policies, while other businesses have been counting down the days until their staff returns to the office full-time.
However, many organizations fall somewhere in between and are offering their staff a hybrid work model where they spend part of their time in the office and work remotely for the remainder of the week. While it’s great that businesses offer such flexibility to their employees, the generosity does not come without risk in terms of cybersecurity.
When half, or possibly more, of a company’s workforce is handling secure data offsite or transferring it from a non-work server, how can anyone guarantee its safety?
Fortunately, companies offering a hybrid work model can continue to do so and have the same peace of mind that in-office businesses enjoy by managing their computers through a decentralized architecture.
Keep reading to gain a better understanding of what decentralized architecture is and how businesses can use it to keep company and customer information safe even when it’s in use offsite.
What is decentralized network architecture?
Decentralized network architecture uses numerous servers rather than one centralized server. Any server within a decentralized network can act as an independent main, or master server. Any necessary workload is distributed throughout the network to allow for load balancing. When one server stops working, another one in the network can assume its load so the network keeps working, avoiding stoppages.
Network administrators can determine how network loads are distributed among a decentralized architecture. If the admin decides the work should be distributed evenly, that’s what they’ll specify. The key is the network does not automatically divide the network loads evenly, it operates based on the admin’s specifications.
What are the benefits of decentralized networks?
Decentralized networks are typically more reliable, private and have a higher ceiling for scalability than their centralized counterparts. Additionally, decentralized network architecture is usually free of a “single point of failure” since users’ machines don’t count on any particular server to handle all of their processes. Decentralized networks’ capability to scale allows users to add more devices to a network, as well as additional computers without much trouble. In terms of privacy, data passes through multiple points in a decentralized network, making it harder for bad actors to track information as it moves through said network.
Data can also move more freely through a decentralized network, eliminating “traffic jams” as this set up allows for data to move throughout multiple services, which can be deployed to data centers or to a company’s various offices.
How does decentralized network architecture work?
Nodes, points of intersection within a data communication network, essentially enable decentralized networks. These nodes can communicate without oversight, which is a key component in the networks where they reside being decentralized.
Meanwhile, decentralized networks use consensus mechanisms to validate data functionalities without a central controller. A certain number of nodes have to agree that any data being transmitted on a network is valid, however. In this decentralized environment, nodes can move ahead with this validation process without getting instructions from a centralized party even though they’re abiding by a common rule.
How can decentralized architecture help hybrid workforces?
Flexibility is the key point of offering employees a hybrid work option. So, businesses’ technology solutions have to be as flexible and mobile as the workforce is. These solutions have to work as effectively for an employee when they’re working offsite just as well as it would if they were in the office.
The flexible nature of the decentralized network architecture makes this possible — the vast scalability potential allows for devices to be added to a network with little difficulty. The ability to add more devices efficiently allows for workers to have the same access to what they need whether they’re in the office or hundreds of miles away. Additionally, decentralized network architecture can help make it easier for employees to transition from office to remote mode on the days they change work locations.
How Faronics can help
The Faronics Cloud Deploy solution offers lightning-fast application, Windows updates and operating systems deployment. It’s currently the fastest and easiest way to deploy applications, patches, and operating systems to managed devices. Deploy also lets you take an inventory of your deployment and remote into your machines over the web.
Faronics Deploy’s scalable cloud console allows users to manage any number of computers independently without choking local resources or bandwidth with the decentralized cloud-based architecture.
Additional Faronics Deploy benefits include:
- Security: Users can implement Faronics Anti-Virus for comprehensive protection from malware and security threats, as well as patch Windows and application vulnerabilities.
- Remote control: Support your end users from anywhere in the world. Remote into computers, deploy software and update patches from a single web-based console. No middleman server is required.
- Real-time access: The always-connected Control Grid makes managing your computers a live-visual experience. Accessibility options like Dark Mode and Enhanced Contrast make it easy on the eyes.
- Reliability: Faronics Deploy is always connected and no local server is required. Everyone’s workstation connects to the Deploy Server individually, eliminating the risk of single-point failure. In the event of a failure, updates are detected immediately and populated in a dedicated grid on the system dashboard.
- Multi-platform control: Perform application updates, inventory devices, and remote over the web for Windows and Mac operating systems.
There might come a point when a majority of employees are working in their offices five days a week versus their homes again. Until that time however, businesses must remain aware of how to best accommodate their employees who are spending at least part of their workweek offsite.
Those accommodations begin with having the best tech solutions available that not only make it just as easy to do their job from home, but also keep company and customer data protected. Using a decentralized network architecture in tandem with Faronics Deploy is a surefire way to make that happen.
Faronics has products that enable you to simplify computer management with comprehensive Cloud-based solutions. To learn how your computing environments can benefit from Faronics Solutions, contact us today.
