Connecting Branch Offices, Warehouses, Retail Outlets, ERP/Applications, Home users with VPNs

The requirement

Many organizations function from multiple locations - perhaps around the globe. Usually most critical data and applications are in one location, the head office. It could become necessary for branches,  warehouses/godowns, retail outlets, traveling users or even home users to access data or applications which are in the central location. The nature of this access required could be online, e.g. connecting to an ERP application.

An economical solution for such organizations is to setup a Virtual Private Network (VPN). (The option of building a dedicated wide area network, WAN, is prohibitively expensive and not even considered.)

The solution

• A SSL based VPN service is setup in the customer's office. This node can also act as a firewall for the LAN and provide Internet access control.

• Clients can connect from Windows desktops, for which a small module needs to be installed.

• All traffic and data exchanged between the VPN client system and the VPN server will be secure and encrypted. Since it is over SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) the encryption strength and mechanism is the same as that used for banking transactions and other secure websites.

• Systems on the office LAN, and services on them

• Access servers like ERP, CRM, Tally accounting, etc.

• Access file and print servers

• This access can be from home, branch offices, hotels, etc. Hence an organization can achieve location independence for its staff, and increase efficiency.

• The VPN can be used to provide access to ERP from branch offices, factories, warehouses, retail outlets, etc. It can also be used to access accounting software like Tally / Tally.ERP; SAP R/3; Microsoft MS Dynamics / Navision and others.