This may sound crazy, but from all the different mobile technologies that have been released in recent years, one that had the more profound impact on me is Microsoft ActiveSync. ActiveSync, if you are not familiar with it, is the protocol used by Outlook to communicate with Exchange. Not a few particularly exciting technology, but the main change is that its architecture, it is easy to support remote clients to communicate with the Exchange server without using a VPN.
Between ActiveSync, XenDesktop and SaaS, I almost never connect to a VPN which made my completely transparent workflow whether I'm "in" or "out". In fact, because my Mac defaults to pick up the open air (outdoors only) wireless network first, by default I work as if I were a mobile user, even in the rare moments when I'm my desk.
In essence, the scope to my office network has completely melted. And I'm not alone in this experience.
Unfortunately, the firewall market continues to roar along at a $ multi-B rhythm that told quite a different story. There is still a perimeter and is very defended. It is just the definition of where this scope is and its role is changing before our eyes. At the heart of this transformation is the mobility and BYOD, a change that left users perpetually outside the network. For IT, it means a change in strategy with regard to access to applications seamlessly.
Historically, once a user has been determined as trustworthy (implicit in being on the network), they are given access to an application. Firewalls can further segment the network and provide additional security. In the new world of always being on the outside, the role of the bastions reappear as a key element of any solution.
Bastion hosts are generally considered application level officers with knowledge of protocols and use cases. This allows them to provide security and intelligent switching services to the right users can access the right resource without introducing risk. In particular, the bastions are supposed to be very secure and manage direct contact with the Internet.
The technology such as NetScaler especially become ideally suited for the role of a universal front-end applications need access without VPN. We do it every day, to scale, for countless e-commerce, SaaS and bodies already XenDesktop - bringing this expertise to the company is simply a matter of learning the good policy to get there. Start looking at how often you need to connect to VPN ... a year from now, ask yourself if you connect to more or less often.
Mobility gives rise to a whole new network perimeter. Do not be too surprised when this scope is much like your friendly ADC.
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