There is a growing trend of remote and flexible working being made available to employees. To be able to work from home or another location, employees need to be able to access their files, emails and applications.
Remote access gives people the ability to access their files and applications from a computer in any location, as a long as there is an internet connection. This access lets them view their emails, access and edit files and use applications on a work computer.
This also allows staff members to access company documents and databases, which are available on a company network.
Such access is not just helpful for remote working, but for staff members who want to access files or check emails when they are not in the office, for example, at weekends or while on holiday.
There are different ways of providing remote access in a workplace. Various software is available, and there are inbuilt tools in operating systems which allow remote connection. A few of the popular remote access software are listed below:
These software tools allow remote connection to another computer and are mostly used by private individuals or smaller companies who cannot afford their own servers. However, with cloud storage, the need for servers is being reduced, with some companies opting to store all their files on cloud storage services.
For businesses, however, remote access needs to be actively managed and supported by a team of IT technicians so there no issues related to connectivity and security.
For a business, remote access needs to be a seamless process and there are security aspects which need to be addressed. Using a software solution might leave the company vulnerable to various issues such as data security and theft.
Most companies have an internal IT department or outsource their IT to a third-party supplier. An appropriate solution for your business needs to consider the purpose of remote access and use of cloud services.
As part of our managed desktop services, we offer remote desktop capabilities. Being a Microsoft Partner, we use Microsoft RDS Server 2016 to enable our clients staff to be able to access their work computer.
Our managed desktop service is cloud-based using a Windows 10 desktop environment with the added benefits of Office 365 ProPlus.
Core’s remote access as part of our managed desktop services is illustrated below.
Microsoft RDS Server allows users to connect to an application or full desktop without a requirement to install any application on the accessing device. In this scenario, the ‘work computer’ is stored entirely in the cloud.
Using this method removes any security or compatibility issues. The accessing device will not have to be changed or require any software installation to work.
Companies have strict policies on data storing and sharing can address those issues with the use of Microsoft RDS Server. With the use of Microsft RDS Server, users can be prevented from storing data in an unapproved location such as their own computer or any external drives.
Further restrictions can be placed on what applications can be run remotely and these restrictions can be user specific. Some employees can have greater access while others will only be able to access a few specific application.
Businesses that have a real need to set up remote access for their employees should consider the level of access, data security and management of any such service to decide which option they should choose.
Outsourcing the setup and management of remote access through managed desktop services can be a lot more cost effective than creating an internal process and employing a team to manage it. Similarly, any software solution is bound to have issues which need to be resolved and active management, which would be better in the hands of a company like Core.