New Delhi, Sept 23: Anywhere access at the price of a local call seems like a dream to the travelling company man. According to Forrester Research, remote access to company local area networks (LAN) is where the real action is as this technology enables a dramatic transition from high-recurring cost, in-house modem banks and toll-free call lines that companies with a spread out network have traditionally fallen back on.Says Jason Ma, managing director, Asia Pacific, iPass Inc, "internet-based remote access has been making dramatic progress among US companies in the last two years as it reduces both long- and short-term costs." He was speaking on harnessing global roaming services in India.
According to Jason, advantages of remote working is gradually making sense to Indian companies. There has been quite some action in the past one year in nascent VPN (virtual private network) sector in the country. Companies which have big and widespread distribution and marketing networks have shown a keen interest in VPNs. According to Jason, this means that internet-based remote access would automatically complement setting up of such VPNs.
The advantages of internet-based remote access are cost-effectiveness, performance and security, says Jason. "Outsourcing to the internet results in huge cost savings. It actually means that key employees have anywhere access at the cost of a local call," says he. This virtually eliminates modem banks, the need to integrate multiple-access technologies, and the recurring high cost of long-haul leased lines, claims Jason.
One of the primary concerns of companies has been the question of secure interaction, while moving point-to-point over public networks. The technologies that exist to enable internet-based remote access, such as the one provided by iPass, use a 128-bit SSL encryption, which makes it very difficult for outsiders to break in, says Jason.
One of the main advantages of opting for such a technology is very rapid deployment. "We can set up a system for a company in hours," claims Jason. As the communication is web-based, there is no conflict in the working applications. Moreover, this process adapts itself to all known types of VPN, thus eliminating costs.
"As far as India is concerned, there is quite a big market for internet roaming services in the immediate future. The strength of the Indian infotech industry and the rapid and deep penetration of large distributor-based companies, who need to be connected to their people on the move, will insure a rapid absorption of such services in the country," says Jason.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.