Transcript: Secure Remote Access from NETGEAR

This transcript is from a PodTech.net podcast at:
http://www.podtech.net/home/technology/2147/secure-remote-access-from-netgear

Guest: Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Host: Paul Lancour - PodTech

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Hi I am Paul Lancour with PodTech.net and we’re here at the RSA conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. We’re at the NETGEAR booth and they’re talking to people today about their SSL VPN Concentrator and look its Vivek Chug, Product Line Manager with NETGEAR, Vivek how are you doing?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Hi Paul, how are you?

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Maybe you can give us an overview about the SSL VPN Concentrator. What are you talking to people about today?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Sure, so, what we are showcasing is our entire security portfolio which you see on my right here. So, let me show you the box.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Yeah.

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
We introduced the SSL VPN Concentrator six months back, it’s got a really nice reception in the market, it’s targeted towards small and mid-sized businesses and what this box offers is clientless or what we’d call as browser based access to your remote resources or browser based access to corporate resources. So, one of the key benefits that a solution like this offers is the fact that it allows our small and mid-sized businesses to get remote access by just using their web browser.

So, whenever they’re on the road they can open up their laptop or a PDA, point to a specific URL, type in their user name and password and then get access to their entire corporate resources, their entire network as if they were working locally. So, this is one of the key benefits that a solution like this offers.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Now before this, there was access to the network remotely but it was different, how was it different and how does this help?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Sure, so previously the way our SMB customers used to get access to the corporate network was through a technology called IPsec VPNs. IPsec VPNs traditionally were designed for providing branch to branch access or side to side access. They were not designed primarily for remote access so the interesting thing about SSL VPNs or the solution that SSL VPNs provide is that they allow you to connect and get access using a browser versus a (Inaudible) which IPsec VPNs used to be.

So, the two key issues with IPsec VPNs specifically for remote access were cost and complexity. Cost because you know you have to pay money for every VPN client license that you’ll put on every corporate laptop and the complexity because you need to essentially configure every single client, for every single laptop, for every single user.

So, there’s a cost and a complexity that’s involved with IPsec VPNs and then we got a lot of our SMB customers coming to us and telling us that there has to be an easier way for us to provide remote access to our mobile employees because even with SMB customers you’re seeing a lot of SMB employees or customers that work for small and mid-sized business being mobile more and more such as companies like yours and companies like mine. So, we are more and more on the road and we need access securely and safely and easily. So, that’s where SSL VPNs came in.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
And you eliminate the cost of all of the licenses; you eliminate the complexity of having to configure everything because you can use your browser which most people are familiar with. So, if I am with an SMB, exactly what happens, I buy this box then what?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
You buy this box, so every SMB that you see today, let me show you two boxes, has a firewall. So, this is a firewall and they have a firewall already on the network, majority of the companies already do and what this box does is that it seamlessly integrates interior existing infrastructure, they’ll come in and sit behind a firewall as you can see here and that’ll give you remote access.

So, what do you typically do is that this sits behind a firewall, traditionally it does sit behind a firewall and what customers will do is that they’ll basically -- or first an admin will do is that will basically connect to this box, configure the box, one of the emphasis that we do -- one of the key things that we put a lot of emphasis in at NETGEAR is ease of use and it’s a really simple, easy to use interface where you can connect, configure the box, in 20 minutes you configure the box then you’re done and then you have your remote users you say to your remote users connect to this URL, enter in your user name and password and you’re done and you get access to your corporate network and our SMB customers love a solution like that where they don’t disrupt an existing investment that they have and they seamlessly comes in and integrates into their existing infrastructure.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
So, as a user all I know is now I from my remote location my home for example, I can through my browser, access the network, it’s that seamless?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
It’s that seamless and you don’t require any training because everyone knows how to surf the Internet. So, no training required which is another interesting -- which is another positive thing for a solution like this.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Now, your product’s been out in the market for about six months, you’ve had a chance to get some feedback from your customers, in what ways are your customers using this?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
So, we have a wide variety of customers, so the initial feedback that we’ve got has been extremely positive whether it be independent test organizations testing the product or whether it be key technical journals in the market all through the security space as well as also the SMB space who have reviewed the product and loved the product.

So, there is a lot of positive press on the product. Now, the customers that are using a product like this have been anything from our traditional SMB customers which are lawyer offices, real estate offices, education and also we’ve seen a lot of larger enterprise class customers using this product for branch office access because branch office in a bubble, is like a small business or a small and mid-sized business.

So, we’ve had a bunch of larger enterprise customers deploying it for branch office access. So, we’ve had a wide variety of customers who have deployed this product and have been interested in this product. Now, what we have also -- and of course I forgot to tell you, that this product supports up to 25 years as who can simultaneously connect to the network.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
So, each individual box is good for 25 people?

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Simultaneously, getting access to the network. We could have a hundred people in the company but if 25 % or 25 people are mobile all the time, this box will support access to 25 people.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Great, well Vivek, thanks for taking some time out of RSA today and talking to us about SSL VPN Concentrate.

Vivek Chug - NETGEAR
Great, thank you for having me.

Paul Lancour - PodTech
Yeah, Vivek Chug is Product Line Manager with NETGEAR.