By: Dennis Otwori

Many businesses are striving to maintain their operations by making some or all of their employees work from home during this era of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it has been a challenge for most of them to identify a remote access solution that meets their requirements. It does not need to be that way. 

This article will take an unbiased look at the available remote access options to make it easier for you to decide what works for your business. We are not talking about remote access to Microsoft Office 365 and other similar cloud services. Employees with log-in credentials can easily access those services from anywhere. Instead, we are talking about access to other important business applications unique to your organization that need specialized solutions to access remotely. 

Why Businesses with Remote Workers Need a Remote Access Solution

The first and one of the most important considerations is security. Security means securing the connection between the worker and the database. This is important because unauthorized access to proprietary business applications can lead to detrimental effects on your business. 

Cost-effectiveness is also an important factor that makes businesses need a remote access technique. With a remote access strategy, a business can develop a solution that is effective at a friendly cost. 

An effective remote access strategy can also enhance user experience. No business would like a situation where employees have a bad experience accessing data and files they need to complete their work because it can reduce their productivity. 

Having seen that a remote access strategy is important, here is a detailed explanation of each available option. 

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A VPN securely interconnects a remote user and a corporate network. It is a secure and cost-effective way for employees to access corporate IT resources such as shared printers and folders. There are numerous VPN providers with numerous packages depending on your budget. 

However, hackers tend to look for vulnerabilities in some popular VPNs. They can compromise your network because VPNs add a single layer of security that does not provide full protection. 

Therefore, VPNs should be used alongside other tools such as URL filtering tools, Domain Name System (DNS) protection tools, and anti-malware tools for enhanced protection. You cannot trust VPN alone for your security because it provides protection against interception of data and eavesdropping only. 

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

VDI leverages the power of virtual machines to provide virtual desktops to remote workers. To explain this concept further, consider a physical computer running Microsoft Windows 10. The owner of the physical computer can decide to run Linux operating system alongside Windows 10 on the computer. In that case, he can use a hypervisor to virtualize the hardware resources and, as a result, create a virtual machine. 

A virtual desktop is a virtual machine in the cloud since it uses hardware resources that are located in a server in the cloud rather than a local computer. VDI is the technology that enables users to securely have the virtual desktops of their choice on any device. Shells is a perfect example of a virtual desktop.

Remote Desktop Services

RDS is similar to VDI except that computer resources are split among users and users utilize the same server interface. That means that users cannot customize the interface to their liking, making the user experience the same.

Comparison between RDS, VPN, and VDI

Among the three, VPN is the cheapest to acquire and set up. VDI is the most expensive because a layer of software is needed to host a virtual desktop. When it comes to maintenance, RDS maintenance is easier than VDI maintenance since maintaining the latter involves running updates and patches on fewer machines.  In addition, maintaining VPN setups can be a challenge sometimes since it needs off-site resources. 

End-user hardware is not important when talking about RDS or VDI because data processing is performed in the cloud. However, local computer resources are needed for processing data for VPNs.

Most importantly, VDI and RDS are the most secure compared to VPN because you can configure the VDI and RDS to restrict outbound data. VPN only secures data in the tunnel, leaving both ends unprotected.

Which One is the Best?

The best way to approach this question is to find out the type of business developing a remote access strategy and its needs. If it's a small business, RDS or VPN might be its perfect fit. Small businesses have limited needs, limited financial resources, and a few users. But then again, virtual desktops can be tailored to the requirements of small businesses. 

In any case, the best remote access strategy is the one that meets your needs best. To get there, start performing due diligence and find out your business needs before considering the above-discussed solutions.