It has never been more clear that remote operations are here to stay. After all, if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s the importance of being agile and open to evolution and growth. It’s the only way you can guarantee continued success. But as organisations have moved the bulk of their data, devices and networks to the cloud- many are still relying on ageing technology to navigate an increasingly modern space.
VPNs are a crutch for organisations trying to secure their remote access. But this legacy technology doesn’t come without its own challenges.
Challenges of the VPN
Flexibility
Flexibility is not a luxury in today’s world, it’s a necessity. A necessity that VPNs can’t necessarily offer.
VPNs lack flexibility and granularity in what the user can access. They provide wide-open access to the network, which means that if a breach occurs, it will not be easily limited or contained.
Cost
As organisations continue to grow their remote operations, there could potentially be tens, hundreds or thousands of devices and users accessing the network. Each and every device would need to be protected and with that, comes a need for numerous VPNs and multiple licences.
The sheer amount of licences needed for an average business- certainly wouldn’t come cheap. Then comes the cost and labour associated with consistently managing these licences, ensuring that they are up to date and assigned to the correct parties.
Experience
VPNs create a non-unified user experience between devices, creating much greater latency, whilst also failing to protect users’ anonymity when accessing websites.
Additionally, organisations need to ensure that devices and users connecting to the network are both secure and trustworthy, no matter the level of access they need or have. VPNs don’t make this easy to manage and are unable to prevent threats caused by lateral movement.
With increasing processing demands from applications, machines that are allowed VPN access will have to be upgraded more often. Not only that, but the changing requirements of cloud application requirements mean that VPNs are no longer an ideal solution.
Often causing more trouble, downtime and cost than they’re worth.
ZTNA – A Better Alternative
“More Than Half of Enterprise IT Spending in Key Market Segments Will Shift to the Cloud by 2025” – Gartner
With even more demand for cloud services and remote access on the horizon, you might be wondering how you can ensure your network remains secure.
You might be glad to know that there is a better, more cost-effective alternative to the VPN.
Enter… Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
ZTNA provides a solution for networks that are adapting to a cloud and mobile-first world.
It enables users to access required applications anywhere- from any device. With the use of ZTNA, an organisation can more easily provision and secure remote access for its users.
All whilst improving user experience.
With 45% of businesses encouraging users to use personal devices for work-related activities, it’s more important than ever to create a frictionless and secure remote environment.
ZTNA ensures users have the freedom to use their own devices with the same level of security- with no additional risk posed to the wider organisation.
The Benefits
What are the benefits of using ZTNA – in layman’s terms?
Why should it be your go-to alternative for VPN?
- Reduces the requirement for VPN access and is possible to implement with a smooth and easy transition.
- Improves customer and user experience, flexibility, capacity, ease of management and security. All for a lower cost.
- Enables secure access for users from any device, to any network, to any resource with a unified user experience, with reduced latency.
The Future of Remote Access
With cloud computing growing and an increasing desire for flexibility and scalability, the implementation of ZTNA to replace VPN access is often the first step to introducing Zero Trust principles and building a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
Transforming the concept of a static security perimeter to a more dynamic policy-based, cloud-delivered edge, accommodates a modern, more remote workforce.
Let’s chat
Get in touch to understand how Bright Cyber are replacing traditional VPNs through a quick, easy and proven method.
Providing a platform for the introduction of Zero Trust architecture and a Secure Access Service Edge
