Fortunately, all the office-issued laptops from the company I presently work for are VPN ready. Upon receipt of our laptops, we also get a small file with instructions, passwords and DNS as back up, should something go wrong while we are not in the office.
VPN or Virtual Private Network connection is the only way to go for us, due to the company's policy on security and the fact that we need to have access to our in-house program.
Not all companies, however, have VPN. It is expensive to implement and the support and installation is time consuming. So, unless, there is a dedicated IT/Computer department then, it probably wouldn't be a wise investment for the company to have VPN.
But, it still is possible to access your office computer using commercially available programs. These programs can remotely access your computer from any other Internet-connected computer in the world through a secure connection.
GoToMyPC is one example.
"GoToMyPC is a unique Web-based technology that works with your existing firewall and Internet infrastructure. You do not have to change or open ports, configure IP addresses or deploy any hardware or software, and you can use your existing corporate Internet connection. The service and architecture are designed for maximum performance, reliability and scalability"
It's the easier and cheaper option. The perfect solution for business travellers, especially if you need access to your PC data during your meetings. Nothing is more frustrating than facing a client, trying to argue a point and not have the data you need to support your argument.
In my opinion, remote access to office files does contribute a lot to a business traveller's productivity.
Another secure remote access product is RemotePC.
Entire communications between the computers are fully encrypted using 128-bit RC4/SSL, as this is the high standard of encryption used in the industry.
It also has a browser interface by which travellers can easily access their remote computers with secure encrypted communication and with proper user authentication. This web interface always works with your current firewall and internet infrastructure too.
Posted by: Emily | July 13, 2006 5:23 AM | Permalink to Comment