What is an enterprise VPN? An enterprise VPN (virtual private network) helps companies large or small to access their resources safely, regardless of where they are hosted - either locally or in the cloud. Sometimes known as cloud VPNs or VPNaaS (VPN as a service), enterprise VPNs protect an organization’s sensitive assets when employees need to access them using unfamiliar or unsafe wifi connections or are connecting via different unrecognized devices. Enterprise VPNs radically increase security, improve bandwidth, and expand your overall network’s reliability. In other words, enterprise VPNs are essential for organizational networks and offer companies a solution that is scalable and secure, while providing the safety needed for employees to be able to work remotely.
Employees can connect to their enterprise VPN solution whenever and however they like by simply logging in. Once they are granted secure access, an encrypted tunnel that is created between the network and the device they are using allows them to freely browse the web safely. When used remotely, an enterprise VPN protects a company’s vital resources, such as sensitive files, data storage, cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) apps, and much more. Enterprise VPNs are also helpful for IT managers and teams, making it easier for them to delineate specific rules and network policies across cloud and local environments - all without a messy installation process, configuration issues, or expensive hardware upkeep.
The goal of an enterprise VPN is to make sure business data is protected from data breaches or other cyberattacks. An enterprise VPN is also used to provide security for remote workers when logging on to an office network. Access controls and permissions further secure networks by enabling enterprises to authenticate and authorize users and evaluating required credentials. Because data breaches are happening more and more often, the amount of compromised data is rapidly increasing. When using an enterprise VPN, companies can be more proactive about cybersecurity, and attacks can be prevented.
The three most common VPN solutions that are managed by an enterprise are:
While both enterprise VPNs and self-hosted VPNs provide end-to-end encryption across unsecured Wifi networks, the two have stark differences, one of the main ones being anonymity. A key advantage of hosting your own VPN is that it allows you to view VPN data, see how it is handled, and review its quality, reliability, and anonymity while an enterprise VPN does not. An enterprise VPN is generally more reliable and can sometimes be cheaper. However, a self-hosted VPN can operate faster than an enterprise VPN since only one user is using the service. By using an enterprise VPN, organizations don’t need to worry about patches or the security of software like one would have to do with a self-hosted VPN. Unlike an enterprise VPN, a self-hosted VPN guarantees that only your hosting platform is aware of your IP address.
Below are some of the benefits of an enterprise VPN:
SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, works by combining multiple network and security technologies into one solution. It is an identity-centric secure access platform, it utilizes zero-trust capabilities, and ensures secured access among applications, services, endpoints, and distributed users. Unlike VPNs, SASE gives users the ability to access applications without needing to connect to the network.
The traffic created by concurrent users causes VPN capacity to become strained. For large enterprise organizations, this can cause a disrupted and poor VPN experience as multiple users try to route internet traffic to the same data center. With SASE, however, a VPN capacity is already pre-built, and therefore allows companies to easily expand their VPN platforms. The SASE model enables thousands of remote employees to do their jobs successfully without compromising security. SASE also has another advantage over an enterprise VPN because traffic travels through a private network and not via the public internet.
