Last year, predictions were widespread that corporations would respond to the increased importance and complexity of remote access by outsourcing the whole operation to carriers, ISPs, or other third parties. But by and large, that hasn't happened yet. Hence the increased interest in carrier-class systems. A recent IDC survey found that only 10 to 15 percent of corporations are outsourcing remote access, and only another 10 to 15 percent plan to evaluate outsourcing. Carriers and ISPs haven't developed such services yet or effectively articulated them, says Baldwin.
Managers have unresolved questions about security.
We're in such an early stage of remote access that managers want to have a firm understanding of what you need to im- plement remote access effectively before they make a decision whether to outsource. But there's lots of uncertainty and doubt, especially about security. So network managers continue to tackle remote access themselves. It's still very much the network manager that handles this. This, of course, comes as no surprise to the IS staff, as their hunt for helpful technologies and tools goes on.