Remote Access Needs

Remote access is a widespread requirement in today’s business world. Users need to be connected to their data no matter where they are. There are many ways that this can be accomplished, depending on the business needs of any given environment.

Following are some brief descriptions of different remote access needs that ZAG has repeatedly come across in the past:

Email Remote Access

Remote access to email has gotten to the point where the need no longer has to be described. This need can now be fulfilled more simply and effectively than ever before. If done properly, the remote access solution can be nearly as efficient as working locally on the network. Following is a brief write up of some of the various ways that remote access to email can be handled from within an Exchange environment:

		RPC/HTTPS: - This is by far one of the best remote access solutions for email. User’s Outlook clients act the same whether they are on the Corporate Network or around the world at a remote site. Off line work is done using the same interface so there’s no complicated synchronization procedure for users to learn; the client is synched up when reconnected to the network. Requirements for this solution are Windows XP and Outlook 2003 on the desktop and Exchange 2003 on the server.
		SmartPhone: - Today’s SmartPhones can give a user as close to an always connected experience as possible. Email is synched to a user’s cell phone where they can be read and replied too. In addition to email, calendars and contacts are also synchronized. Of course, you are dependent upon the cell phone network, so performance may vary. Requirements for this solution are Exchange 2003 and a SmartPhone.
		Outlook Web Access (OWA): - OWA has grown to the point where it has become a very acceptable option for remote access to email; it is growing close to being as feature rich as the full Outlook client. Requirements to get the best results from OWA are that the Corporation run Exchange 2003. It is recommended that Exchange 2003 be adopted in order to get the full features of OWA.
		VPN Access to Email: - The need to use VPN remote access has dramatically diminished. The capabilities above include encryption thereby removing the need for a full fledged VPN client. This substantially reduces cost and administration. ZAG generically does not recommend VPN access for email.
		POP3 Clients: - With Exchange 2003, POP3 is now disabled by default. POP3 has fundamentally been replaced by RPC/HTTPS:. RPC/HTTPS is much more effective than POP3 and eliminates the potential confusion that managing Personal Folders can cause.

Application Remote Access

Be it from a remote office, while traveling, or working from home, ZAG has delivered remote access connectivity to applications utilizing Citrix since 1998. Remote access has matured a great deal since ZAG engineers began working with Citrix. Today, Citrix offers seamless applications that appear to the end user just as if they are running locally on their desktop.

But Citrix has become much more than the remote access company they originally were. Today, Citrix offers printing control that is far superior to the original. It also offers great features such as load balancing servers, seamless applications, and security with the Citrix Secure Gateway. Citrix now offers a full featured Access Suite that can be used to solve the most complex and demanding remote access problems.

Where it fits, ZAG has also deployed other solutions for remote access to applications. Chief among these is Microsoft’s Terminal Server solution.

Click here to learn how ZAG utilized Citrix Presentation Server to provide a corporation with offices across the Western United states with remote access to the information and applications their users need.