A secure network for the flexible employee
The way we work is evolving and employees are no longer expected to pass their day behind a desk. Instead, flexible work practices such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) are enabling more and more employees to work off-site or on the go from their device of choice. With Gartner predicting that there will be twice as many personal devices used in the workplace by 2018 as those provided by employers, a secure network has never been more important.
A pan-European survey by Zyxel revealed that while almost 70% of employees are using their own devices at work, IT departments only know about a third of these. Security threats are a fundamental concern for small businesses and remain a significant hurdle in adopting a cloud strategy. With flexible working practices significantly reducing overhead costs and boosting employee productivity, how can SMBs encourage modern working methods while mitigating security concerns?
A VPN tunnel is an established way to secure connections between staff in different locations and remote workers but a bolt-on VPN is commonly perceived to be difficult to configure and therefore many smaller businesses avoid using it at all. However, an integrated VPN is a viable and easy-to-manage solution that SMBs should consider to cater for the flexible employee. Automatic configuration removes the need for any manual intervention from in-house employees, while deep packet inspection technology scans the VPN for malicious threats and Trojans from remote employee devices. Furthermore, the latest products are ideal for BYOD as most are compatible with both iOS and android.
Simple installation and day-to-day management is of the utmost importance and Zyxel’s EASY VPN caters perfectly for this, by enabling fast and stress-free set up on any device. Ultimately, SMBs need to make it simple for each and every one of their employees to access the network in the most secure way possible. With a whole range of benefits there for the taking, an integrated VPN will cultivate a motivated workforce and ensure SMBs run smoothly and securely.
