That shift is: more and more, organisations are talking about modelling their workforces as ‘distributed’ rather than ‘remote’.

This adjustment in the terminology is not just semantics. ‘Remote’ and ‘distributed’ models are not the same. Moreover, they are enabled by very different underlying technology and network setups.

So, how did the transition from ‘remote’ to ‘distributed’ workforces come about?

When it materialised in its current form in early 2020, remote work described a structure where employees existed as appendages to the main body of a business. An ‘office’ was still the central point that all staff needed to interconnect with, and these connections were enabled with a fairly traditional ‘‘hub-and-spoke’ network architecture.

While this was a functional model, two years on it’s clearly not the only possible model for the future of work, nor is it necessarily the best option available. Instead, we are seeing alternative models being pursued.

In particular, it’s becoming more common to see businesses back ‘distributed’ workforce models. These models aren’t built around a central office. There may be no headquarters or single centralised point that staff must ultimately connect to virtually or occasionally attend in-person.

In a ‘distributed’ workforce, every person is a component of a larger and more widespread body, with an almost centreless network in place to connect all the different parts.

GLOBIS Insights crystallises the difference as such: “Remote work is ‘everyone in the office vs. that remote [person]’. The distributed workforce removes the ‘vs.’ and relies on a different social contract between employee and employer… A distributed workforce operates on a foundation of in-person meetings being irregular, assuming they happen at all. There are no questions about how individuals will function away from the office because everyone is away from the office.”

So why have ‘distributed’ models taken off?

Talent shortages are seen as one of the key drivers for adopting ‘distributed’ workforce models. Organisations are having to look further afield when recruiting new people. Restricting recruitment to a certain radius or commutable distance from an office may be the status quo, but it’s increasingly shortsighted, placing an artificial limit on the available talent pool. At the point when access to skills becomes a constraint to growth, organisations are clearly willing to entertain alternate structures and evolve to meet changing business needs.

Leaders understand this. Research by Deloitte shows that leaders “have bold aspirations to pursue a more distributed workforce.” This isn’t just a workforce of people working from remote locations; it’s a workforce that also comprises nearshore and offshore resources, and a mix of employees, contractors, freelancers, vendors, consultants, and everyone in-between.

It’s not just leaders that need to change their mindset here. Given the rise of ‘distributed’ models, all members of an organisation need to grow comfortable with this change in terminology because doing so allows for more accurate planning for the structures needed to support their organisation’s future.

Redefining the tech foundations

The flattened structure of a ‘distributed’ workforce requires a different kind of technology setup so that everyone in it can be productive.

For many ‘distributed’ workforces, the key enabling technology is likely to be a software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN.

It is vital to ensure that ‘distributed’ employees can still have a great experience in using their workplace technologies. This was not such a pressing concept in previous decades, but in an era of vastly enhanced career mobility, exemplified by current trends such as the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, user experience (UX) has become significantly more important.

UX does not simply apply to employees’ choice of where to work, but also to technological challenges such as the quality of video chat technology, which can tax external internet connections and internal home networks heavily. With ‘distributed’ work becoming a fixture, it’s inevitable that collaboration technologies will continue to improve and expand, with a shift towards more immersive VR-styled working environments replacing the current multi-screen mosaic of Zoom and its competitors.

Outside of UX-friendly ways to meet and collaborate, ‘distributed’ workforces will also grapple with new demands around transferring data between each other. This poses severe scalability challenges to a traditional network system.

As a software-defined network, an SD-WAN uses multiple modes of transport that allow for secure connections to, from and between ‘distributed’ workers. These connections may be MPLS, broadband Ethernet, and cellular.

The SD-WAN allows for centralised management and configuration. This gives IT and security teams more visibility and control. It also means that ‘distributed’ workers won’t experience issues with accessing or sharing data, since the SD-WAN is programmed to find ways to get data to where it is needed, when it is needed, securely.

As ‘distributed’ workforce models continue to grow in stature and number, organisations with more traditional office-centric or remote work setups should take note. Observe leaders in this space and the changes they’re making, and start making plans of your own for what is likely to become the de facto structure for organisations everywhere.