Cisco AnyConnect - keeping employees connected wherever they choose to work

Cisco AnyConnect is being used throughout my organization as the primary tool to connect offsite employees to company network drives and intranet sites. AnyConnect and other Cisco software products have been used by my company for years even prior to the pandemic, but AnyConnect has especially received regular use company-wide since more than 70% of the workforce has transitioned to working from home exclusively. AnyConnect software allows employees to retain secure access to company intranet sets and network folders from anywhere in the world, provided a secure internet connection is established and 2-factor authentication through PingID is satisfied.

My organization has greatly benefited from AnyConnect providing employees secure remote access to company resources. It essentially has allowed employees to transition to 100% remote work without any interruption to accessibility to network drives, intranet sets, and company resources. By allowing employees to effectively work from home with the same access as they would have on-site, remote meetings are more productive and inclusive, and business operations carry on uninterrupted with fewer office building resources.

The hybrid work model used at our organization for most employees is 3 days working from the office (on-site) and 2 days working from home.
Exceptions are made for some employees who have filed flexible work arrangements or who have symptoms related to COVID or any other communicable disease. Cisco AnyConnect allows employees to access the company intranet and network drives seamlessly from anywhere with an internet connection, allowing the flex work model implementation to be completed rapidly.

There was a lot of resistance by employees to return to the office. Most of my teammates and cross-functional partners have been as productive working from home, and so the plan to return on-site was not viewed favorably by many. There was some attrition as some employees elected to pursue external full remote opportunities instead, but overall the implementation of the hybrid work model was very successful, especially from a technology perspective. There is a seamless transition with no loss in productivity when transitioning from on-site to from home work and Vice versa.

Cisco’s AnyConnect software and headset hardware has made working from home extremely effective. The security features are preserved and access to necessary network drives and intranet pages is immediate, fast, and uninterrupted regardless of work location. Cisco’s solutions really maximizes efficacy of remote work, and so the only issue in my organization has been persuading employees to return to working on-site.

We have all experienced great success in working from home and interacting remotely. We use Microsoft Teams for all virtual meetings and messaging, and all of my team members have grown very comfortable using these tools to organize and participate in meetings across all geographic boundaries. Many of my coworkers haven’t seen as much value in working on-site, since virtual interaction is simpler and more efficient.

The other VPN software that was considered was Citrix Gateway. However, we found that Cisco AnyConnect was an overall superior product with faster connection speeds and more reliable access to installed applications on local C: drive folders. Cisco AnyConnect was also considerably less expensive than Citrix Gateway, and thus the clear better choice for our needs.

Cyber resilience is a tremendously important feature in modern software, especially those being used to run or support essential business functions. Companies must be assured that business can carry on uninterrupted, even in the event of a cyber attack. Cyber resilience is a concept that runs parallel with an agile environment, and so just as a company is expected to continually adapt to changing environments, software is also expected to effectively address unforeseen challenges in real-time.

Leaders should first build strong executive support and ensure adequate investment in people and technology capable of combating cyber attacks. Leaders should also have a strategy for mitigating security risks and responding to attacks. This strategy should be independently assessed regularly and updated as necessary. Also, critical assets should be protected through diversification of cyber infrastructure. Leaders should know what assets are most critical and how to best protect them in the case of a potential breach.