Increase Productivity and Reduce Security Risks for Teleworkers

Aventail White Paper
I n c rease Productivity and Reduce Security Risks
for Teleworkers Aventail White Paper
Executive SummaryToday, people work in more places more often. They use corporate laptops, home computers, or airportkiosks. And they expect access to corporate resources from as many places as possible. With expandedaccess capabilities, enterprises improve employee productivity. Yet, as productivity increases, so do risks toyour network. You want to give your users a solution that offers complete mobility and transparency so they can workmore productively from anywhere. But to an IT professional, it's unthinkable to give users anywhere accesswithout an underlying platform that makes it secure, scalable, and manageable. That's where Aventail'sproven experience puts us ahead. Aventail SSL VPNs are designed specifically to enable increasedproductivity for teleworkers and other remote users, while minimizing many associated risks and costs. This paper provides an overview of how teleworking helps meet today's productivity demands, whatadditional network security risks anywhere access can create, and how Aventail addresses these concernswhile offering additional benefits for today's mobile workforce.
Anywhere access and extended hours and work on critical projects from home. People have formednew habits of accepting and relying on technology inboost employee productivity everyday life-regardless of their location.Ubiquitous computer technology and connectivity enablepeople to do their jobs virtually anywhere and at any time- Employees prefer flexible, around-the-clock,while traveling or at home. Increasingly, "the office" is anywhere accessanywhere employees can get an Internet connection to access For maximum efficiency, today's mobile workers need around-the resources they need. As a result, workers enjoy more the-clock access to key information, collaboration tools, andflexibility in their work hours and work locations, leading to business applications. Research shows that employees whoincreased job satisfaction. Companies benefit from extended telework often express greater job satisfaction than their on-work hours and improved employee productivity and morale. site peers, and they may also experience reduced levels ofSeveral factors contribute to the growing number of stress, due to control they have over organizing their tasks onteleworkers and increase in alternative work environments. 2a day-by-day basis. Anytime, anywhere access cancontribute to worker satisfaction by enabling increasedInexpensive computing equipment and flexibility in work hours, better work/family balance, reducedbroadband connectivity commute times, and therefore, improved morale.A desktop PC that used to cost $2,000 three years ago isunder $500 today, and the cost of portable PCs has dropped Tangible ROI for corporationseven more dramatically. At the same time, the subscription According to "Economics of Teleworking" by Noel Hodson, thecosts for residential broadband service have decreased to average worker spends the equivalent of 30 working days per$25-$50 per month. As a result, the number of high-speed year commuting, traveling, or engaging in office chit-chat.connections has more than doubled, to 22.3 million U.S. Converting some of this down time into productive time is ahouseholds at the end of 2003 from 10.7 million in 2001, clear win for employers. For example, IBM believes that1according to Yankee Group. Many more employees can be teleworking boosts employee productivity about 20 percent,cost-effectively equipped to work anywhere, any time. and eliminating office space for 10,000 teleworkers saves the3company $75 million a year.Increased employee comfort with technologyand connectivity Employers also gain increased productivity and organizationalAs the 10-hour work day is now typical at many companies, responsiveness resulting in faster completion times foremployers and employees increasingly blend professional and important initiatives. Since the start of the recession in Marchpersonal tasks. Many employees regularly respond to e-mail 2001, U.S. worker productivity has increased 4.6% annually.Due to the significant technology investments made in the late
1 Telecommunications; What's On? The battle among broadband providers has moved to a new arena: content Peter Grant. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York,N.Y.: Mar 22, 2004. 2 Life Lines, Susan Hirshorn. Occupational Healt... [download for more]