"IT departments are increasingly being asked to provide distributed access to business critical applications and information assets," remarks Mark Fabbi, vice president, enterprise communications, Gartner Group in a technology report.

Fabbi’s remarks assume significance, as remote access is increasingly becoming a challenge to many enterprises. Cost cutting for remote communication and at the same time putting in place an agile solution that enables mobile employees to connect with the corporate network from anywhere are on top of every CIOs IT agenda these days.

However, it is easier said than done, as most of the time, perception factors influence a CIO and hence putting in place a new technology has always been a challenge.  This applies to remote access technologies also.

For instance, the most preferred remote access technology now is the IP Sec VPN. But the inherent strength of an IP Sec- secure and reliable gets defeated if one factors the cost implications and the technology limitations. However, a new trend is emerging in the VPN space called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN. This is fast becoming a technology that is challenging the traditional IP Sec VPN. Some of the biggest drivers that will propel SSL VPN are - it is simple, easy to use, and cost effective.

IP Sec Limitations
Over the years, remote access has been achieved through leased and dial up methods. But this was a cumbersome process marked by slow transmission speeds. With the advent of virtual private networks (VPN), the whole remote access landscape changed. Users of VPN typically dial the local POP and connect to the corporate network. But the limitations of this technology became evident. For instance, an IP Sec VPN requires client software to be deployed on each user’s system. So deploying the client software in thousands of corporate user systems is a time consuming and laborious process. Moreover, IP Sec VPN also calls far training each user and if the client software changes in time, it demands frequent training programs. Yet another major lacunae in IP Sec environment is that the employees have to carry their notebooks with them, and they cannot gain access to their corporate network if their notebooks fails to interface with the local network settings, like for instance from a conference hall.

Says Rakesh Singh, general manager, Asia Operations, Netscaler, " Today most enterprises are using VPNs based on IP Sec. Though robust and secure, IP Sec VPNs have significant limitations. For instance, the administrative challenges in rolling out the VPN client software to thousands of remote access users lead to significant incremental and operational costs."

The client specific software becomes a sore point in IP Sec. This is mainly because there is no interoperability agreement between the manufacturers of VPN gateways and hence software conflict happens. This limitation puts IP Sec as a preferred choice for site-to-site connectivity rather than for remote access. If you are a CIO struggling to manage your remote access even after IP Sec deployment, then it is time to review SSL VPN that might offer panacea.

SSL’s Rise
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was originally developed to conduct online commerce and hence all popular browsers have SSL embedded in it. Moreover, SSL has been around for years and it is only in the recent times that it got graduated as a complimentary VPN technology. Says a MIS manager of an auto ancillary company in Chennai, "The core strength of an SSL-based VPN is that it allows remote access from virtually any browser and aptly suited for the user on the go. It does not call for any complex set up procedures and users can access corporate data from an independent system even form a cyber café. At an appropriate time we will be evaluating SSL VPN at our company."

"The beauty of a SSL solution is that the user no longer needs VPN client software installed on their laptop or computer to get connected" "Increasingly enterprises are facing demand to connect remote users to enterprise applications and corporate network resources. This remote access is possible through SSL technology" Rahul Swarup president- enterprise solutions, Sify Paul Serrano sr director, marketing, Asia Pacific, Netscreen Technologies

Agrees V Thyagarajan, DGM, IT, Ashok Leyland, " SSL is simpler to use and access is possible without too much hardware being carried in the form of digital certificates and authentication devices. On the other hand, IP Sec VPN necessitates a user to be notebook dependant."

With growing interest in SSL, the question that surface now is - will it replace IP Sec VPN? But technology specialists strongly disagree to such schools of thought. Quips Sharad Sanghi, managing director, Netmagic Solutions, "SSL is not an alternate to IP Sec, rather it is a complementary technology. For instance, IP Sec VPNs have two distinct offerings - the network-to-network and remote access. So the organization’s demands will drive SSL, if the requirements are purely remote access. That way it makes more sense to adopt SSL than running a IP Sec based VPN."

In most instances, the debate on IP Sec verses SSL VPN is marked by cautious optimism. It is billed as the need-based technology solely determined by the remote logging patterns and the business critical nature of remote access to the enterprise.

"SSL is not an alternate to IP Sec, rather it is a complementary technology. For instance, IP Sec VPNs have two distinct offerings —the network-to-network and remote access" Though robust and secure, IPSec VPNs have significant limitations. The adminis–trative challenges in rolling out a client software to thousands of remote users and managing them is indeed a daunting task" Sharad Sanghi, managing director, Netmagic Solutions Rakesh Singh, general manager, Asia Operations, Netscaler

Says Rahul Swarup, president, enterprise solutions, Sify, "SSL VPN can be an alternative where the entire enterprise is web enabled, and there is no client server application. But an enterprise cannot be without a client server application and this indeed a difficult pre-requisite, and hence SSL will be applicable only to specific scenarios of remote access."

Notwithstanding reservations towards SSL VPN, companies like Netscaler and Netscreen Technologies are bullish about SSL VPN adoption. Netscreen for instance has more than 1,000 customers spread across the world with 36% market share in this space.

Says Paul Serrano, senior director-marketing, Netscreen, "The SSL-based VPN access will take-off in a big way in India as it continues to grow globally. The key drivers that will move forward this technology would be the ease of deployment to thousands of users cutting across employees, partners, and customers. My view is that the VPN deployments will be characterized by a segmented approach- site to site connectivity will be IP Sec and remote access will increasingly lean on SSL."

So one is seeing a definitive trend in the VPN space with the emergence of SSL. But at the same time, before going in for an SSL, a CIO has to clearly map the remote access pain points and implement appropriate access technologies. The SSL technology should plug in the limitations of IP Sec. Post SSL, the enterprise will move towards a remote access regime that is software independent, offering ubiquitous access from anywhere and granular access control (access to corporate data as per security at the access point). SSL also facilitates pervasive remote access to mobile employees unlike IP Sec, which is restricted to few senior level executives. Since SSL is browser based, it is also well suited for emerging geographies.

The Indian Scenario
India right now is an IP Sec dominated geography with major players like Sify and Comsat Max, concentrating on IP Sec deployments. Given that, industry analysts feel that major demand will initially come from enterprises, which already has a VPN in place. Due to the IP Sec inhibiting factors, the enterprises will embrace SSL and scale up their remote access capability.

Comments Sanghi, "SSL VPNs have a good market in India, mainly because the laptop penetration is not that high and the mobile workforce does not have to carry the laptop always. As long as the SSL VPN gateway is competitively priced, I do not see any roadblocks towards SSL VPN adoption in India."

However, it is early days to say the direction SSL will take in India, as established players are more bent on promoting IP Sec. Meanwhile, SSL VPN emergence clearly point that future VPN deployment will be mix up of IP Sec and SSL. The ultimate beneficiary obviously is the enterprises that no longer need to be stuck with one technology. Rather it can now put in place a judicious blend of technologies aimed at creating a cost-effective and hybrid VPN architecture.

Shrikanth G in Chennai

Page(s)   1  2