Remote access market to expand 34% by 2010

Published 31 August 2006

Originally sold as home office technology, remote access has significant security and business continuity advantages

Remote viewing is a trick employed by psychics and other charlatans to convince the gullible that they can see events unfolding on the other side of the world. Do not confuse it with remote access, a growing IT technology whose strength as a security measure has finally come to the fore. According to the IDC study, “Worldwide Remote Access Services 2006-2010 Forecast and 2005 Vendor Shares,” the market for remote access services will realize a growth rate of 34 percent through 2010. Although many companies first heard about the technology from employees who purchased programs for their home offices, over the past few years vendors have begun offering more than one version of the software, often with expanded administration and control functionality for IT professionals.

Remote access permits users to access their work computer desktop via the internet. Instead of carrying a company laptop while travelling (itself a security risk), users simply log-on using any available computer. Best of all from a business continuity perspective, “if a disaster occurs, and a company has a remote access services strategy in place, the disaster does not have to affect worker productivity if they can’t get into the office,” says Stacy Sudan, research analyst in IDC’s Mobile Software research program. Of course, any remote access program must also employ significant security measures itself.

-read more in Coreen Bailor’s DestinationCRM analysis