Effective Business Continuity Plan: A much needed solution in the new COVID-19 World

Shibu Paul, Vice President InterntionalSales, Array Networks

The dynamics of the business world saw a seismic shift post-COVID-19 breakout. Enterprises across have reached crossroads where effective plans for business continuity is the need of the hour. It is in times like these, where organizations need to understand what is critical for their revenue and mitigate risks as much as possible. Digital transformation is playing a major role in aiding business continuity and the factor that determines the success of a business continuity plan (BCP), a detailed remote access plan. Only when business-critical processes can function without any hiccup, a robust business continuity solution can be achieved. 

“The business continuity plan of any organization must include a detailed remote access plan. With remote working becoming the new trend, VPN solution has become paramount. Array Networks Best-of-Breed SSL VPN built from the ground up for enterprise-class SSL VPN includes remote access VPN, remote desktop access and secure web access ensuring business continuity with scalability, flexibility and sustainability. 

To ensure profitability, enterprises need to maintain workforce productivity and this can be achieved with business-critical processes being provided uninterrupted remote access," said Shibu Paul, Vice President – International Sales at Array Networks.

The aim of a business continuity plan is to ensure that virtually 100% of the workforce can work remotely. The existing remote access solutions need not necessarily be the right answer for a BCP as traditional VPNs are not built for all employees as these traditional VPNs are set aside for corporate teams and not in-office workers. 

Enterprises need to find a trustworthy BCP augmentation solution for remote productivity; satisfying the full set of requirements for employees, IT and the corporation as a large entity and cost-effectively leverage the existing hardware investment with a minimal additional effort to implement it.

Array’s BCP solutions include wide ranges of solutions/products –

•    Remote Access Solution: The best-of-breed SSL VPN remote access solution allows businesses to securely scale remote access in response to pandemics and other unanticipated events, providing flexibility and scalability to enable remote working for any type of worker in any organization. Available as physical appliances or as virtual appliances, the AG Series is ideal for enterprises that need to support multiple communities of interest as well as service providers that need to provide remote access to globally dispersed data centers.

•    Remote Access VPN: VPNs require different levels of remote access and often require a user experience tailored to their unique requirements and devices. Mobile devices and BYOD present additional challenges in providing on-demand connections for native mobile applications in a manner that keeps data secure in the corporate network and limits exposure. As most VPNs lack these requirements, Array’s secure remote access solutions provide greater levels of security, a greater range of access methods, a broader range of device support and the ability to provide differentiated, identity-based access tailored to the needs of multiple communities of interest. The benefits of remote access VPN are minimized attack vectors, limited exposure, achieving compliance, drive productivity, mobilizing businesses.

•    Remote Desktop Access: Array’s remote desktop access solution leverages proven remote desktop protocol (RDP) and SSL technologies to allow workers to remotely connect to office PCs from any device, anywhere and at any time. No additional laptops, software or training are required; remote access can be cost-effectively scaled for as many workers as needed from a single appliance. Security is assured as data never leaves the network. The benefit of remote desktop access is to drive productivity, reduce costs, business continuity and eliminate data leakage.

•    Secure Web Access: Enterprises can publish select applications in a secure web portal for use by any employee group, on any device in any location. This eliminates any chance of credential hacking and secures sensitive data transmission when applications are accessed from outside devices.

Taking business continuity to the next level simultaneously with digital transformation is necessary and for that organizations need to take steps to arrive at a sensible, pragmatic plan and Array Networks business continuity solution is facilitating organizations to succeed in the transformation.