* Q&A with remote office networking expert
No longer is “working from home” a euphemism for goofing off for the day – some people actually prefer the quiet of their homes to get some work done, or are contracted to work away from the mothership. For you, it means providing these workers with the same level of access to company data as you do for on-site staff, as well as ensure that whatever networks remote workers use are as secure as the corporate net.
Next week, Network World columnist and remote networking expert, James Gaskin of Gaskin Computer Services will join Toni Kistner, Network World senior editor on a four-city Network World Remote Office Networking Technology Tour. The tour, which will travel to Dallas, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and New York, will discuss the technologies that can help you support your remote workers and increase your core network security.
As with the keynoters of the other Network World Technology Tours happening now (links to Q&As with the keynoters of the Network Management Automation and Wireless & Mobility tours below), I caught up with Gaskin to grill him about the challenges of managing technology for remote workers. Here is our Q&A:
Q: What are the top-three headaches that network execs face when managing remote networks and what are the remedies?
I like to say the top-three issues are people, people, people and the headaches are security, security, security. People get left out or upset, or don’t get the support they need and that creates headaches, and all headaches come back to the security issue sooner or later. Headquarters people often misunderstand or underestimate what remote offices and mobile workers need, and that causes problems every day. Remedies are easy to say: make sure every feature and security control available at the main office are available to every remote office and mobile worker. The implementation of that remedy takes quite a bit of work, however, and few companies have done it correctly so far.
Q: What areas of remote access security still need to be addressed and how far away are those solutions?
Security is more than an encrypted data link to the remote people, but often HQ stops there. Security includes data protection, file storage, and e-mail from remote and mobile workers, and those areas remain painful. Solutions are 2-5 years away unless we change the problems again (which we will). Security will always be a problem because we will always have people messing things up.
Q: What are your thoughts regarding SSL VPN vs. IPSec VPN and when would it make sense to use either?
Both work well, both stink, and sometimes nothing seems different between the two. Mobile users trend toward SSL, while the rollout for hardware-based VPNs are well in place for remote office locations. Home offices remain tricky and different companies provide different answers. The discussions from attendees always fascinate me, because companies solve identical problems in a wide variety of ways.
Q: How will VoIP change the remote office landscape? Should VoIP be embraced on an enterprise-scale before it can be used in the branch/remote offices or does it not matter?
VoIP has made communications cheaper the past few years, but the next three years will see an explosion in the value-added services that are possible because of VoIP. I believe everyone can benefit from VoIP, whether branch offices or mobile workers. Now that VoIP options exist for laptops and PDAs, companies have to be even more forward thinking about voice and the ways they can enhance services with VoIP.
Q: In your discussions with customers, what has been the most surprising challenge that has popped up while installing a remote office network?
The trend toward remote and mobile workers adds the employee’s entire household into the security equation. One attendee [at last year’s Network World Remote Office Networking Tech Tour] said he paid for spam and virus protection for every employee’s home computers whether they were officially connected to the company network or not, because he knew home security never worked well enough. Many attendees were surprised, but I think that man is ahead of the game and has happier, more devoted employees.
Q: In one of your keynote presentations on the tour, you will be going through a top-10 list of “things you don’t want to hear from your remote users”. Are these things being heard more often than they should?
No, they’re never heard by senior executives and HQ personnel because they don’t talk to remote and mobile workers often enough or honestly. I do the Top 10 in the afternoon, but in the morning, one of my points is “Why remote workers don’t like you.” Everyone laughs, as they should, but they start squirming after a bit because once they hear my reasons they realize they are guilty of remote and mobile worker mismanagement.
For more info about this year’s Remote Office Networking tour, click here:
https://www.nwfusion.com/events/remoteofficenetworking/index.html
Gaskin also writes the weekly Small Business Tech column for Network World. Catch the archives here: https://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/columnists/gaskin.html
You should also head over to Network World’s SMB and Remote Networking research center, where you will see up-to-the minute news, views and other useful information about small and remote networks (https://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/).
