Agile remote access solution leverages Fortinet FortiGate to provide virtual private network (VPN) capabilities at scale to support distributed workforces.

Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, has announced it has partnered with NEC Australia to offer a managed cloud virtual private network (VPN) to meet the demands of the modern, distributed workforce.

When organisations across Australia had to rapidly provision their workforces to work from home, infrastructure and security gaps created barriers to a seamless transition.

Many organisations implemented workarounds which are now steadily being replaced with future-proof solutions that strike a balance between facilitating connectivity to mission-critical business systems and securing these systems and corporate networks against cyberbreaches.

Even as some organisations are returning to work in the office, further restrictions or even lockdowns are possible as COVID-19 resurges.

The traditional office-based work environment is unlikely to ever become the norm again. Instead, distributed workforces will proliferate.

This will let organisations flex to allow people to work from home or in the office as needed and according to social distancing requirements.

The distributed workforce model, proven to be successful during COVID-19, may also solve workforce challenges such as skills shortages.

Organisations now realise that, with location no longer a factor, they can recruit team members from anywhere in the country or the world, opening access to a far larger talent pool.

However, working from home can create challenges around managing costs, and gaining control and visibility over devices and systems. The most common solution is a VPN; however, these are typically designed for low-volume use and are complex, requiring manual management.

NEC and Fortinet have partnered to solve these challenges with a dynamic secure remote access service. With optimised VPN performance and enhanced user experience, organisations can deploy the solution using their preferred cloud provider: Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. The service accommodates low and high volumes of users with flexible service configurations.

Jon McGettigan, Regional Director, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, Fortinet, said, “The modern distributed workforce means organisations must provide secure, remote access to mission-critical systems. Access needs to be reliable and deliver a seamless user experience, and security needs to be strong.

The solution must also be scalable without increasing costs. Fortinet has partnered with NEC to deliver a managed cloud VPN system that meets all of these demands and more. Combining NEC’s proven security capabilities with the robustness of Fortinet FortiGate has resulted in a solution that will deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers,” Jon McGettigan said.

Nick Route, National Cyber Security Solutions Manager, NEC, said, “The business environment will never be the same again and it’s important for organisations to seize this opportunity to modernise their workforce and deliver flexible, agile ways of working.

“This will help organisations improve productivity and growth, with the ability to scale their environment, enable their workforces, and manage costs effectively.

“Working with Fortinet, NEC has developed a solution that ticks all of these boxes and empowers businesses to embrace a distributed workforce without compromising security and efficiency,” Nick Route said.

Flexible pricing and a monthly subscription model mean that organisations adopting the NEC managed cloud VPN may be able to reduce their infrastructure costs while improving access and security simultaneously. With flexibility to transfer existing Fortinet licences into this solution, and simplified pricing and service arrangements, a managed cloud VPN approach will help address existing business challenges and future-proof the organisation.

Key benefits

The NEC managed cloud VPN solution includes:

• Improved user access and experience: enterprises can quickly scale up and down to support business continuity and distributed workforces with a reliable, monitored access solution.
• Secure access: proven VPN gateway technology from Fortinet secures access to cloud and on-premise systems.
• Reduced costs: no infrastructure is required and VPN gateways can be switched on and off as required, including outside business hours, to further reduce costs.
• Comprehensive support: skilled security experts are available to ensure your connectivity is maintained and correctly configured. The NEC managed cloud VPN solution powered by Fortinet is available now.

About Fortinet

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organisations around the world. Fortinet empowers our customers with complete visibility and control across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric platform can address the most critical security challenges and protect data across the entire digital infrastructure, whether in networked, application, multi-cloud or edge environments. Fortinet ranks #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 455,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. Both a technology company and a learning company, the Fortinet Network Security Institute has one of the largest and broadest cybersecurity training programs in the industry.

Learn more at www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, or FortiGuard Labs.