Remote Desktop Access: Working Through Distant Mode

Today’s corporate environment besides being technologically enabled is a multicultural and multilingual one, spread across geographical boundaries. Though this enhances business productivity and corporate revenues, it also brings in a set of challenges. Business continuity in case of any disruptions, be it man made or environmental, in any of the locations world wide, is one of the challenges faced by these global organizations.

In order to mitigate the effects of such business disruptions and boost productivity, employees need access to their workstations and desktops from remote locations or from home. Technological innovations have paved for an appliance-based remote desktop access product, which leverages scalable technologies to enable users, a secure access to their office desktops.

This enterprise class solution for a secure remote access can also be used from any high-end hand held devices. This energy-efficient remote access solution allows users from far flung locations to remotely turn on to their office desktops when needed. This, when calculated annually, results in showcasing how any small and medium sized enterprises would be saving an average annual amount of $165,000 in energy costs besides contributing to the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

The remote access technology also ensures that the data never leaves the network, thus eliminating the risk of data leakage. The users from remote locations gets access to the full applications loaded on their desktops, thus ensuring maximum productivity. This remote desktop access solution runs with the help of a universal access controller series of high-speed hardware appliances. These appliances are SSL VPN encrypted and also features a built-in active clustering which accounts for its unmatched performance and scalability.

Further, with connectivity through low bandwidth, the remote desktop access solution has the capacity to work over high latency links making it easy for the mobile workforce and their Internet based communications. Thus ensuring business continuity come what may.

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Secure Remote Working Made Easy with SSL VPN

Remote working is becoming a key factor for business, driving corporate success and resulting in reduced costs and increased employee productivity. Although there are a number of employees who would like the option and the flexibility of working from home, one of the main concerns that companies have with remote working is the security risk of employees accessing the company's network from home. The answer to such concerns is the Virtual Private Network or VPNs. They provide remote workers with secure access to enterprise resources via the Internet by encrypting all communications between company networks and remote user machines.

 

Prior to SSL VPN, remote access characteristically required administrators to install, configure, and maintain special software on the users' computers. And as VPNs were expensive and complicated to operate, remote access was customarily only offered to a few corporate employees. With the SSL VPN technology, all the drawbacks and concerns of remote access were eliminated and essentially any computer with a Web browser can be used for remote access.

 

Understanding how SSL VPN simplifies Remote Access? Remote desktop access to the network is possible from any location, not just from dedicated laptops or remote VPN sites. Companies can easily setup secure Extranets for business partners and customers and SSL VPNs provide fine-grained application level filtering, that permits easier usage and deployment. There is no necessity for remote users to remember the names or IP addresses of machines on the corporate network to access corporate servers and applications, as all resources are made available to remote users in form of bookmarks, favorites or web links.

 

The best security with SSL VPN applications SSL VPN appliances provide maximum security and control with unmatched safeguards for taking care of business-critical information. As all the data is encrypted over the Internet using SSL, the end-point security agent authenticates requests are based on user and device identity and the administrator's comfort level for a given device or access environment. Integrated compression, connection pooling and hardware-accelerated encryption, there is fast performance for each user, even under the heaviest load.

 

It is no doubt that SSL VPNs are evolving to meet the industry's requirements. Although they started as a dedicated VPN solution, they have become integrated with other network and security services. SSL VPN has taken its stance as the leading remote access mechanism for many organizations by permitting clientless access to web applications. VPN is the best way of extending physical boundaries of the corporate network when taking security measures.

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Firm Actions for Strengthening Business Performances

Improved performance of applications, reduced costs and stringent security controls have unquestionably become the salient requisites in an IT environment. Today businesses are seeking opportunities for reliable and structured network management processes so that efficiency is enhanced and expenses are reduced. Each day innovative models are being introduced to maintain business continuity irrespective of any precarious situation or natural calamity. Thus the concept of mobile workforce is gaining momentum as more businesses are modifying their standard policies for accelerated business continuity.

However these innovative modifications involve challenges and risks too. The encouragement shown in adoption of these mobile practices also entails providing remote access to business applications and desktops to the employees and users. To ensure that the employees are being provided remote access businesses have to employ virtualization solutions where on-demand access to applications is provided to the users on the cloud. Virtualization can definitely help in keeping a check on the excessive costs. Its integrating capabilities enable the business to make changes promptly as per the latest requirements.

Remote accessibility also attracts unknown entities that are forbidden but use force to enter and maliciously attack the sensitive and confidential business information stored in the IT systems. Thus it becomes necessary to implement a safe and fast acting SSL VPN solution that provides applications securely to only authorized users on the cloud using any device. The solution deploys processes for maximizing the resources available, and enhancing the performance of the applications with an enriching server load balancer.

The server load balancer provides 99.99% application uptime and unmatched data center scalability. It ensures uninterrupted delivery of critical business applications and IP services. It increases the efficiency and ROI by offloading the web and application servers. It optimizes configurations and helps in their deployment without wasting time. It fosters integration and leverages intelligent data center virtualization management and controls with excellent processes for resource allocation and reallocation.

Security breaches are rampant causing massive and irreplaceable losses to businesses. Every IT organization has to ensure a robust and competent security architecture with centralized management controls that provides powerful and supportive encryption, and prevention methods along with real-time information. The SSL VPN solution adamantly restricts all access requests that fail the SSL authorization metrics. Leveraged performance, improved business agility and a streamlined management process is what helps maintain the business continuity and the SSL VPN solution is a powerful tool that delivers precise results.

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Business Continuity to Ensure Productivity At All Times

Unexpected business disruptions have potential to prevent employees from getting to work. The disruptions can range from public health issues, transit strikes, or cyber-attacks and can result in losses to productivity and revenue. With Business Continuity Planning, or BCP , it becomes easier to deal with such disruptions. Companies find themselves using up pointless cycles and resources to maintain rudimentary business continuity without a BCP implementation that automatically, securely, and cost-effectively accommodates surges in usage. A business continuity plan facilitates vital services or products to be continually delivered to clients. As an alternative of concentrating on recommencing a business after critical operations have ceased, a business continuity plan ensures that critical operations continue to be available at all times.

The importance of a Business Continuity Plan

Business Continuity Planning is a proactive planning process that ensures critical services or products are delivered during a disruption. A Business Continuity Plan includes plans, measures and arrangements to ensure the continuous delivery of critical services and products, which permits the organization to recover its facility, data and assets. It also includes the identification of required resources to support business continuity, including personnel, information, equipment, financial allocations, legal counsel, infrastructure protection and accommodations. Having a BCP enhances an organization’s image with employees, shareholders and customers by demonstrating a proactive attitude. Additional benefits include improvement in overall organizational efficiency and identifying the relationship of assets and human and financial resources to critical services and deliverables.

Making the most of the benefits to ensure productivity at all times

Business continuity support can provide specific expertise and services that ensure a company’s capability to cost-effectively maintain operations despite a crisis. Every organization needs to ascertain the appropriate types and service levels it requires. And once the necessary types of support have been selected, the business continuity solution can present considerable benefits. Some of the benefits include,

1. Business critical resources can be accessed by any employee anytime, anywhere.

2. The IT department will not be saddled with additional equipment costs just to enable users.

3. BCP ensures remote access gateway, with performance consistency for entire workforce on a single platform.

4. There is no need for any intervention from IT during an emergency. The business continuity plan will ensure that there is no dependency on a single person or process.

With a good BCP, there is no disruption of business in the event of an emergency, for both SSL VPN users and remote desktop access as well. Creating and maintaining a BCP helps ensure that an institution has the resources and information that needed to deal with any emergencies.

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