Inquiry Spotlight: Remote Access, Q4 2008

IT infrastructure and operations professionals are tasked with building an appropriate remote access strategy for the growing number of mobile users inside and outside the organization. This is no easy task and thus no surprise that Forrester fielded 128 inquiries from IT pros on remote access technologies and strategy between April 2007 and July 2008. Questions focused on the different types of VPN access, how to provision more complex mobile access, and how organizations are supporting third-party workers. The answers are simple: 1) SSL VPNs are growing in popularity when compared with their IPsec counterparts, and 2) third-party workers and mobile employees who need a richer user experience are using tools such as Citrix XenApp (previously Presentation Server), but virtual desktop implementations are emerging and will soon be at the center of a next generation of remote access strategy.