5 Free Networking Products To Help Businesses Survive Working From Home

In light of coronavirus forcing many to work from home, here's some free networking, security, and application performance solutions to make life easier for businesses that need to stay productive.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is shuttering offices around the country and forcing many to work from home as a way to help slow the spread of the virus. But many homes are not equipped for potentially longer-term remote working situations. At the same time, some online services, such as delivery services and healthcare organizations, are being bombarded with unprecedented traffic that their networks weren’t necessarily prepared to handle.

This is where IT vendors are coming to the rescue. Many wireless, application performance, and business continuity providers are giving customers free access to some of their offerings while end users adjust to the new normal.

Here's a handful of free networking products and services that vendors are extending for free, as well as complimentary access to payment deferment plans and educational content being offering right now.

And check out CRN's list of free videoconferencing tools for working remotely.

AppDynamics APM Software, Tech Support

AppDynamics, the application performance monitoring software arm of Cisco Systems, knows that now is not the time for online services to fail as the number of remote employees grow larger by the day, and as essential businesses, such as grocery stores and healthcare organizations, need to stay up and running now more than ever.

To help organizations deal with the brand-new demands they are seeing on their networks, AppDynamics is providing free use of its application performance monitoring software through free AppDynamics SaaS licenses for qualified customers until July 15. The company is also offering free 30-minute one-on-one technical help for new and existing customers.

The firm is also making access to its Premium University content free until May 31.

Cisco Collaboration, Security Solutions

In response to the influx of brand-new home workers, Cisco Systems is giving away some of its collaboration and security solutions for free right now.

Cisco earlier this month expanded the capabilities on its free videoconferencing and collaboration solution, Webex, in all countries where it is available. The new Webex features include unlimited usage or no time restrictions and support for up to 100 participants. Cisco is also providing free 90-day licenses to businesses who are not Webex customers in this time of need through its sales team and Cisco partners.

Cisco Umbrella, the firm’s cloud-based security platform that protects users from malicious internet destinations while on and off the corporate network, is now available to new customers via a free license. Existing customers can also exceed their user limit to support more remote employees. The same deal goes for both Cisco's Duo Security offering, which offers duel-factor authentication, as well as Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, its secure endpoint access solution, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

Extreme Networks' Cloud Training, Payment Plan

Wireless vendor Extreme Networks wants to help partners and end customers get their home offices up and running quickly, without worrying about cost right now.

Extreme is letting businesses buy the network solutions they need today while preserving working capital by allowing them to defer payment until July 1 with Extreme Capital Solutions, the San Jose, Calif.-based company said. Extreme is also offering its cloud technical certification training through July 20.

Additionally, Extreme announced its Branch Portable Kit, an offering that includes networking capabilities for connection, security, and remote networking management of teleworkers, Extreme said.

Igloo Software

Software-as-a-Service specialist Igloo Software is arming customers with everything they need to keep their businesses going, from any location their employees may be located, and right away.

Specifically, Igloo Software is giving away access to its Business Continuity Bundle. The bundle offers a News Hub for employees, a restricted, Leadership Corner for executives to share updates and communicate, and an Incident Planning Hub.

The bundle, which can be up and running in a matter of hours, will be available to companies until July 6, according to the Ontario-based company.

NGINX Plus

NGINX, the application delivery software arm of F5 Networks, is helping websites and mobile applications handle unexpected surges in traffic related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company is offering one free year of NGINX Plus, its load balancer, content cache, and web server platform, for those in the education, public government, and non‑profit sectors. NGINX is also opening up its trainings and making the content available at no cost to educational organizations.

At the same time, NGINX employees are being encouraged to spend more of their time at work responding to requests for help and questions that come in from social media platforms, like Twitter, the company said.