Some secrets are worth keeping, but we’re here to spill the beans on reliable, secure network connectivity for fixed retail locations. Overall, the retail industry has some of the most advanced data centers and hybrid cloud networks within today’s IT landscape. But the corporate center is not where the majority of business operations take place as many retail transactions occur at the outer edge. Some of these edge locations are more remote than others, yet they still rely on the same level of network connectivity. Overall, retail edge locations face unique connectivity challenges that urban, metro, and suburban locations simply do not. These challenges include:

• A lack of traditional network connectivity options
• Limited IT support in the area
• Higher rates of IT literacy amongst staff
• Disaster recovery and business connectivity

Despite these inherent challenges, retail vendors must satisfy consumer markets because customers are mobile and expect the same experience regardless of location. This means that retail vendors must have networks that are just as mobile as their customers. They also need networks that can be implemented quickly enough to respond to emerging and shifting trends, and unexpected events. Clearly, the next phase of retail digital transformation is taking place at the edge.

The Challenge of New Store Locations

In many ways, the opening of a new retail location is like a Broadway opening. Store openings must meet strict deadlines to satisfy revenue and business goals, and the show must go on without a hitch, ensuring that new store patrons have an optimized customer experience. These coordinated store openings do not have time to wait on unknown local vendors to install the wired lines required for network connectivity.

Launching a new retail location is a tumultuous task on all fronts that must be completed in a highly compressed window. Openings are often handled by specialized teams that streamline the process. The network solution must be ready to go out of the box and duplicated repeatedly, regardless of location. The out-of-the-box experience is incredibly important because, in many instances, retail locations lack on-site technical professionals.

And then there is the challenge of temporary or seasonal retail businesses whose peak activity and operations fluctuate across the calendar year. These sites need temporary networks that can be unboxed and deployed whenever and wherever needed. Yet, while network connectivity may be fleeting, they must still offer the same robust security posture that protects permanent fixed locations. Wherever the point of sale is, it must be secure, regardless of temporary nature.

The New Wireless WAN

You may be expecting this discussion to steer towards SD-WAN technology, but we are touching on the evolving solution of wireless WAN with Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions. To be clear, this isn’t just any wireless WAN that relies on fiber connectivity. Instead, this is a cellular wireless solution, built on LTE and that provide the low latency, high bandwidth capacity that retail business requires. Only cellular wireless has the agility and reliability to service retail storefronts residing at the edge or temporary pop-up locations with a defined service window. This is wireless WAN built to service-day connectivity and outdoor operations without the aid of on-site IT professionals.

A Full-Service Network

Retail locations at the outer edge need more than just network connectivity and wireless access. They require all the basics such as firewall protection, threat detection, access control, content filtering and security policy protection. That is what Ericsson’s cloud-managed, all-in-one deliver. Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions has wireless edge networking solutions that can provide your outer edge point-of-sale location with all network services needed to ensure that every sales transaction goes through predictably and securely. Ericsson enterprise-class cellular routers include features such as:

• End-to-end encryption to protect every sales transaction
• Cloaked private address spaces
• Integrated security measures to meet most business or government requirements
• Application-aware firewalls and threat management capabilities
• VPN access to corporate or regional offices when necessary
• Policy-based routing that is centrally configured by your corporate IT team or solution provider to separate and prioritize traffic according to your needs.

Predictability

Enterprise Wireless edge networking solutions help safeguard predictability. Its zero-touch deployment means that you’re not dependent on physical infrastructure or local IT talent to set it up. The router is preconfigured ahead of time and shipped to the designated location. This makes deployments standardized so every implementation gets completed as planned and on schedule. If you want to ensure predictable performance in the event of a device path failure, simply add a redundant router, with each router linked to a different carrier or cell tower.

Predictability isn’t just limited to hardware. A cellular wireless solution from Ericsson Wireless Enterprise Solutions allows for standardized and consistent WAN pricing as you can use the same cellular providers across wide expansive geographical areas. No longer are you bound by the rates of each localized ISP. Now you can leverage your hundreds of locations to negotiate the best price across the board. The simplicity of Ericsson’s inclusive cellular wireless package means that there are fewer vendors, fewer devices, and fewer configurations, all contributing to the predictable nature of this easy to deploy, easy to manage solution.

Conclusion

Now, fixed and temporary retail locations have access to enterprise-class reliability, manageability, and security at the converged LTE or 5G edge. And with Ericsson, your edge locations can operate on a level playing field with your other retail location and provide customers a secure place to make transactions. WEI can guide you every step of the way with Ericsson’s next-generation WAN solution.

Next Steps: Watch our video to learn even more on why wireless WAN is the next step to replacing legacy WAN solutions for your fixed retail location.

The post The Secret To Network Connectivity For Branch Retail Locations appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

A few weeks into January, there is still time to put on our fortune teller hat to make IT predictions for 2022. This is an opportunity to predict the trends, technologies, and challenges that enterprises will experience over the next 11 months. While we don’t claim to have any clairvoyant powers, we do have a good pulse on how the coming year will play out due to our involved client partnerships and our commitment to identifying and embracing new technology solutions that add value to our clients.

1. Ransomware Expected to Get Worse

A basic IT prediction for 2022 is that ransomware will be a threat that accelerates on frequency and severity. Is that a stretch? No, probably not. A major reason why we see this increasingly complex war getting worse is the utilization of Initial Access Brokers (IABs). These IABs are financially motivated employees who turn over RDP or VPN login credentials as well as expose firsthand information about a targeted organization’s infrastructure and its cybersecurity procedures. In return, these employees are promised a financial reward. One such ransomware ring, Black Matter, was offering IABs up to $100,000 if their supplied information and efforts resulted in a successful attack. With the size of the involved ransoms being so high today, threat actors can pay these insider fees as a cost to doing business. Ransomware gangs are constantly evolving their attack methodologies to make these events easier to execute and more effective.

The thing we must remember is that the psychology of these ransomware attackers is centered around a business-first approach. Such attacks are not usually politically motivated, nor is it economic warfare. Up until now, that is one of the reasons why political and regulatory efforts have been so lacking, and why ransomware still flourishes unabated. Thankfully, this is starting to change as our pollical leaders are recognizing the economic disruption that ransomware criminals create with each attack. Of course, depending entirely on political institutions and reactionary cybersecurity solutions is not enough for your enterprise. Business and IT executives must take greater proactive steps to combat this threat. Next week, the WEI blog will be featuring a blueprint strategy that outlines the proactive strategies and technology-based solutions to do just that.

2. It’s an “as a service” World

Fact is, we are steadily moving toward an “as a service” world where there are a gamut of acronyms for a multitude of “as a service” types including IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, NaaS and PCaaS. Even ransomware is available as a service, which has become a key driver of cloud service implementations as companies realize that on-premise datacenters are too vulnerable to threat actors. The pace of business is constantly accelerating, as is the pace of technology implementation. Users want things available instantly and only the cloud can deliver on demand provisioning at the required scale.

Many of the systems that we depend on today are now serviced by the cloud including Office 365, Salesforce, and virtual desktop technologies. We are seeing hardware vendors such as Dell and HPE with GreenLake package their portfolios into some type of offering. The key to packaging services this way is the ease to which they can be consumed. We see this getting easier in the coming year with more and more types of “as a service” offerings as we see users increasingly utilize them. At the same time, enterprises will make greater use of cloud management services and cloud-based monitoring tools to secure their networks.

3. Will Companies Embrace Windows 11?

Many companies took their sweet time upgrading their computers from a Windows 7 operating system to Windows 10. The question is whether companies will take the same elongated approach in We believe there are challenges impacting Windows 11 from being implemented at any sizable scale and some of this has to do with the benefits of Windows 11 not being articulated well enough for companies to consider it. Many don’t understand what the roadmap is for Windows 11 or why they should transition. As a result, it is a safe IT prediction for 2022 to not see a lot of conversation about Windows 11 for the first half of 2022.

We see Windows 11 making its way into enterprise fleets mainly through the purchase of new machines. However, the current supply chain issues concerning the manufacturing and delivery of client PCs and laptops is delaying this process. We do anticipate that by the end of 2022 enterprises will begin realizing the real benefits of Windows 11. Many of the embedded services within Windows 11 make it easy to interact with Microsoft Azure and that cloud fusion will add even greater value over Windows 10.

4. The Impact of 5G Mobility

No, we aren’t here to make predictions about 5G itself. Rather, this IT prediction for 2022 is about how 5G will impact cybersecurity and device management. Users are only as mobile as their level of internet access allows. In 2022, portable computing devices are going to be embedded with 5G. As a result, users are no longer dependent on at-home Wi-Fi or personal hotspots. Many consumers will be happy to know they will no longer need to stop at the nearest coffee house to get some last-minute tasks done for corporate.

The proliferation of 5G will greatly expand the need to secure those users so that they can authenticate from anywhere because the bad guys are quickly learning how to get around traditional multifactor authentication systems that use SMS texting. The challenge will be finding the balance between adding additional layers of protection while not prohibiting users from being productive. Regarding device management, companies such as Dell are offering the ability to manage, troubleshoot and remediate PCs regardless of location and that is going to become more and more valued by companies in the years ahead. The move to 5G will also cause a shakeup in that companies will migrate to vendors that offer best-of-breed 5G solutions.

5. The Transition of Internal IT

Let’s talk about the very nature of the IT Department. It is growing more apparent by the day that IT can no longer be located on an island while driving the bus, too. Their role is to support the business, and to do so, IT must make itself even more valuable by aligning itself to business needs. IT needs to be both adaptable and responsive as many companies have learned this lesson after witnessing shadow IT permeating throughout their organization. IT needs to be in lockstep with the business units they serve, and this means creating tighter liaisons with them. In the same way that a business knows its customer, Internal IT must know its users, and who its customers are.

Companies are expected to grow less reliant on administrators that specialize in a specific facet such as storage or networking. Instead, they will transition to operational staffs that know how to run their entire environments whether those resources reside on-premise or in the cloud. In some ways, we see the IT department operating similarly to a company’s facilities department. Why? Because technology is needed in the same way that electricity is. For example, as a user expects the lights to come on at the flick of a switch, they also take wireless connectivity for granted upon entering the building. IT is now the ultimate enabler for technology-driven users, and this requires somewhat of a cultural shift for many IT departments.

6. Concluding IT Prediction for 2022

We have a lot more to say about the coming future, but a sixth prediction is certain: The pace of innovation isn’t going to slow down. In fact, it will only accelerate in 2022 and even more so in the years ahead. IT professionals must be ready to keep pace. If you would like to hear more about the coming challenges we foresee, as well as the solutions we believe in overcoming these challenges, we urge you to contact us to help you create a roadmap to navigating 2022.

Next Steps: Flipping the calendar to 2022 means discovering and deploying new and innovative technologies that can help your enterprise reach new heights. More so than ever, CIOs around the world will be working around the clock to ensure that their enterprise is up to the highest cybersecurity standards possible. If you are an IT leader, we encourage you to read our eBook titled,

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