Features

Business Continuity will Push Remote Access Services Software Growth

By Sophia Mayengbam

Business continuity plan has become an integral part of today’s businesses, which are on constant threats from natural disasters and other catastrophes. To successfully maintain business continuity it is imperative to provide employees, partners and employees with continued access to critical resources and data even if the usual office facilities are unavailable. Business continuity encompasses a variety of processes related to preparing for, coping with and recovering from emergencies or disasters. Remote access services software is one way to ensure this.

According to IDC, remote access services are just now being recognized for their business continuity potential and this market is expected to experience a year-over-year growth rate of 34 percent through 2010.

IDC believes that remote access services software has the potential to grow across many horizontal and vertical markets. It can be used by both consumers and businesses, as anyone with a PC is a possible customer. Remote access services use screen-sharing technology that enables one PC to stream its desktop to a remote PC by an Internet connection. Once on the remote PC, the user can access all of the applications sitting on their desktop via a Web browser. These products are offered as a service, but vendors may allow the application to be hosted within a customer's datacenter as well.]

To date, remote access services products have experienced the most success in the prosumer market. Now, there is a strong push to market these services to corporations. As a result, vendors are offering more than one version of the software, often with expanded administration and control functionality for IT professionals. Interestingly, vendors have found that their prosumer customers are often the ones that provide the initial inroad for corporate adoption.

IP-telephony technology is one of the bases of that has supported business continuity. It offers design redundancy and system resiliency in case of hardware, software or network failures that result from inherent quality issues or outside forces. With the use of VoIP phones call center agents can work from anywhere with a sufficiently fast Internet connection. Incoming phone calls can be automatically routed to users VoIP phone, regardless of the location. Additionally, phone service via VoIP is free or costs less than equivalent service from traditional sources.
Web conferencing is another method for maintaining business continuity and a research by Wainhouse Research shows that the method is best suited and adopted in small amd mid-size businesses. Unlike large enterprises, these smaller companies report they meet online using Web conferencing more than any other method -- including in-person or audio-only meetings -- to drive revenue or conduct business.

"In today's business environment, there are a number of use cases for remote access services, and business continuity is certainly a strong one," says Stacy Sudan, research analyst in IDC's Mobile Software research program. "By giving workers the ability to access their office desktop from a Web browser, remote access services software allows them to be productive from anywhere, no matter what the situation is."


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