Still, wondering why you should immediately give up using a VPN to access documents and processes? In this article, we explain in detail the issues that arise from using VPN in the remote working model and how you can upgrade your workflow.

Adaptation to the remote working model

The years 2020 – 2021 were a difficult yet enlightening period for businesses both in Greece and worldwide. The need to adapt to the remote working model highlighted small and large weaknesses in the infrastructure of each company. Specifically, there were shortcomings and issues in the ability to remotely access critical information and tools necessary for the daily processing of tasks of the company. 

A large part of the market has opted for temporary solutions in order to be able to cope immediately with the new working model. One of these was the use of VPN technology to provide staff with much-needed remote access to company documents and applications.

However, VPN soon became a pain point for:

  • the IT department 
  • the Quality Assurance & Compliance department  
  • all staff

VPN in simple terms

VPN stands for virtual private network, allowing us to connect remotely to our company’s internal network even if we are away from the office. Through a special application installed on your personal device (computer, mobile phone, or tablet), you gain access to the applications, folders, and files you manage at your company headquarters.

VPN technology is also extremely useful for technical staff who can perform remote maintenance work on a company’s information systems.

But what happens when its use expands to support remote working by staff and other departments? This is where the significant problems and weaknesses of this technology begin to emerge.

Issues arising when using VPN to access documents and applications

Decrease in productivity

Those who have used VPNs know the frequent problems and delays that occur in daily work. Valuable staff time is wasted every day due to the following:

  • Significant speed reductions
  • Problems in connecting and disconnecting the VPN
  • Frequent errors occur in the applications running via VPN

Increase in operating costs

The rising number of VPN users has resulted in ever-growing needs for:

  1. Network infrastructure
  2. Technical support  
  3. User support

The thing is that this translates into further infrastructure and man-hour costs. Furthermore, if the enterprise expands to multiple buildings, these costs multiply.

Hard to mitigate Legal Risk

VPN use is a nightmare for the network security manager. By enabling access broadly across all of your staff, you increase significantly the risk of breaches, horizontally across the enterprise infrastructure. At the same time, the ability to control or log access to information and applications is severely limited. In addition, working via VPN from personal devices that are not controlled by the company’s IT department exposes the entire company network to malicious actions and software.

Barrier to growth

VPN technologies are by nature quite restrictive and difficult to expand and manage, especially as a business grows. The set of problems and limitations listed above require disproportionate resources to address even partially.

On the contrary, Cloud architecture offers the possibility of dynamic scaling following and meeting the needs and capabilities of each organization.

A better solution to remote working

Since the remote or hybrid working model is here to stay, companies have two options:

  1. They can take on the cost and risk of using temporary solutions by leveraging the VPN for remote access to documents and processes. This will cause a reduction in productivity for the C-Level as well as inconvenience for the staff.
  2. Or, they can choose a digital transformation and upgrade their working environment. This can happen by leveraging document and workflow management platforms in the Cloud, such as the Papyros ECM Platform.
Benefits of Document Mangement with Papyros – Solutions by Industry

As much as using a VPN may appear like “the easy solution”, the Papyros ECM platform offers more benefits and ensures seamless workflow. By leveraging the Papyros ECM platform in the Cloud, from day one your staff will be able to do all the below mentioned from one single point:

  • Manage and deliver business documents 
  • Sign them with digital signatures
  • Receive approvals from management
  • Keep track of critical dates and tasks

On the other hand, the management gains quick access to all needed information for effective decision-making. At the same time, it retains control over the progress of day-to-day tasks.

It’s as simple as that!

Once you have abandoned the VPN and designed a secure document repository in Papyros ECM, staff will be freed from a number of problems. In addition, they will be able to complete their daily tasks simply, quickly, and efficiently. Finally, your executives who are often on business trips will be able to handle their workload via their mobile, laptop, or tablet.

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