Cisco Systems Inc. announced today it’s “re-imagining hybrid work” with multiple improvements to its Secure Access networking platform that will enable people to connect rapidly and securely from their home, office or any other location.

As Cisco notes in its pitch, hybrid work is fast becoming a mainstay of many enterprises today and it believes that success will be defined by their ability to adapt to change as it happens. That means reliable, mission-critical connectivity will be a must-have for every company.

The networking giant, not surprisingly, says the network will quickly come to be seen as the essential driver of productivity in a hybrid world, whether it’s at work, at school or in government. As organizations scale, Cisco adds, they’re going to need ubiquitous wireless connectivity, increased network strength and resiliency, and reliable security to ensure their work goes uninterrupted.

To that end, Cisco today announced a number of innovations around wireless networking and access, including new Wi-Fi 6E products, a private 5G managed service and a new series of Catalyst 9000X network switches.

Cisco said Wi-Fi 6E technology expands network capacity by accessing newly available, clean spectrum in the 6 GHz band, unlocking greater capacity, performance and reliability. It says the new products from Catalyst and Meraki are the industry’s first high-end 6E access points. They’re designed to address the most demanding hybrid work requirements, including bandwidth-hungry and low-latency applications such as augmented reality, virtual reality, video streaming and even holographic Webex experiences.

The new Catalyst 9136 Access Point is an enterprise-grade device for large-scale deployments, Cisco said. It offers unique features around power management, adapting its consumption based on the current load it’s experiencing. So if only a small number of clients are connected, it will automatically reduce its radio stream count to save power.

It also features something called “Band Steering” that uses software-defined radio resource management technology to optimize use of whatever spectrum is available to boost connectivity. That helps to ensure the best possible Wi-Fi performance in any situation, Cisco said, by automatically routing Wi-Fi 6E devices to the 6 GHz band, freeing the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands for “internet of things” and legacy devices.

As for the new Meraki MR57 Access Point, Cisco said it’s designed for the rigors of a dynamic hybrid workforce and combines the speed, power and security of high-end 6E access with streamlined management through the Meraki Cloud-Managed Dashboard. The MR57 is designed for use in next-generation offices, schools, hospitals, shops and hotels, Cisco says, providing high throughput, scalable cloud-based management and enterprise-grade security. Features include a flexible tri-band radio that can operate in 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz mode, giving users full control over their wireless networks.

The new access points also come with a number of features that will allow companies to manage safety in hybrid workplaces, Cisco said. It explained that the devices collect environmental data on air quality, humidity and so on, combining these with location data and other information.

That means companies can quickly access metrics on how many people are working in a given location and send an alert if a location is over capacity. Density is monitored based on user devices that connect to the Catalyst or Meraki networks, according to the company.

The new access points have won a lot of praise from Cisco’s partners and early adopters. “With access to new 6 GHz spectrum, free from legacy Wi-Fi congestion, Wi-Fi 6E is poised to deliver faster speeds, lower latencies, and enhanced reliability for improved communication, collaboration, and productivity,” said Eric McLaughlin, vice president of Intel Corp.’s Client Computing Group and general manager of its Wireless Solutions Group.

Dave Benham, principal technical architect at People Driven Technology Inc. said hybrid work means a much greater reliance on video conferencing and more use of sensors to see occupancy levels in different workspaces. “The Wi-Fi 6E capabilities of the Cisco Catalyst 9136, when combined with a Wi-Fi 6E client, can virtually eliminate the possibility of Wi-Fi bottlenecks in these environments,” Benham said. “The wide channels and clean 6 GHz RF spectrum can provide more bandwidth than a wired connection in many cases.”

Cisco’s new Private 5G service is designed to complement Wi-Fi connectivity to help connect physical operations in smart buildings and industrial IoT deployments with core information technology systems, analytics tools and automation. Cisco said its Private 5G managed service is delivered from the cloud to reduce technical and business risks, so it serves as an alternative to Wi-Fi in situations where environmental conditions or business imperatives demand an alternate approach to connectivity.

The new Catalyst 9500X and 9600X switches meanwhile are intended to serve as the backbone of modern new networks, providing the speed, bandwidth, capacity and scale needed to cope with the higher demands of hybrid work. The switches are powered by Cisco’s newest Silicon One processors, adding programmable flexibility to support a wider range of networking use cases, Cisco said.

International Data Corp. analyst Brandon Butler welcomed the launch of Cisco’s new products, saying a secure and powerful network that can reliably connect any user from any location will be fundamental to the success of hybrid work strategies. “IDC believes that the network of the future will need to address the increasing demands of network performance and reliability to ultimately deliver greater business agility and productivity,” he said.

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