* Vendors add features to their SSL remote access products
As Secure Sockets Layer remote access vendors continue to push their technology as an alternative to certain uses of remote access IPSec VPNs, they are adding more and more features to their platforms. They seem to be converging on a target set of features that they all want, and some have more and some have less of these features.
Most recently, Netilla came out with software upgrades that expanded its functionality beyond access to just applications that support Microsoft Terminal Services. Netilla Service Platform now also supports Web-based and fat-client applications, greatly expanding the resources a remote user can access via the platform.
Also recently, remote access SSL vendor AEP System introduced a new version of its SureWare software for it’s A-Gate SSL appliance that adds what Netilla already had, namely support for Windows Terminal Services.
And Array Networks has announced that its Array OS 6.0 software upgrade adds support to accessing legacy applications such as Microsoft Exchange, enterprise resource planning applications or customer relationship management packages. The platform already supported Web-based applications.
Some vendors are going outside their own walls to add more features. For example, as mentioned here earlier, Aventail is encouraging use of Sygate’s firewall on the remote machines connecting via Aventail’s SSL gear.
Another competitor, Neoteris, says that its existing relationship with Sygate will be deepened this summer by tightly integrating Sygate’s firewalls with Neoteris’s Instant Virtual Extranet platform. And Neoteris promises similar integration with other partners.
So potential customers should be alert when shopping for what is generically called SSL remote access gear. There are lots of in-house feature options and partnerships with third parties that can make a difference.
