As Wi-Fi 6 and 5G become more widely implemented, the potential benefits they offer for a variety of industries are becoming clearer. Each technology has different use cases but they tend to play well together, delivering the flexibility and seamlessness that users and organizations expect.

5G is a great fit for outdoor applications, such as when colleges need to cover large areas of their campuses. It can be simpler and more cost-effective than trying to supplement coverage with Wi-Fi. 5G will also advance smart city applications, enabling governments to deliver services remotely, such as reading smart water meters. It also can help ensure reliable connections to services including police and emergency response.

Wi-Fi 6 is primarily for use indoors and in large spaces, such as stadiums, where existing cell towers can’t handle the demand. Stadiums also demonstrate the way that Wi-Fi 6 and 5G can work together. A stadium could augment its Wi-Fi 6 installation with 5G as the number of base stations increases. Both are designed for high speed, low latency and high capacity, which makes them align effectively.

Over the past year, many organizations scrambled to roll out new collaboration technologies and end-user devices to enable their employees to remain productive while they worked remotely. These efforts were necessary, and they bridged a gap to keep businesses up and running during an unprecedented period. However, they often resulted in one-size-fits-all solutions that did not adequately account for the differences in how business units and individual employees use collaboration tools.

As we head into the “next normal” — a period when many people will return to offices even as hybrid and flexible work schedules remain common — it will be important to optimize collaboration environments. One way to do this is by understanding and developing end-user personas.

As we gradually emerge from a nationwide shelter in place, businesses across the country will be opening up to an uncertain future. One certainty is that we will not return to business as it was just a couple of months ago. We have already seen shelter in place measures lifted, with some states, counties and cities slowly reopening.

As more organizations return, we should anticipate that we will experience localized shutdowns if we see virus flare-ups. With this in mind, companies must be agile enough to evolve as the situation changes. The cloud presents several ways to help organizations pivot.

CDW recently participated in a Cisco workplace transformation hackathon to create a proof-of-concept solution to showcase the changing workplace. What exactly is workplace transformation? It is the process of reimagining the workplace to adapt to the changing needs of workers and ever-evolving technology, as well as accommodating different types of work within the same organization….