Standard Life saves remotely

Financial services firm expect cost reductions of 30 to 40 per cent

Finance giant Standard Life expects to save more than 30 per cent in remote working technology costs after signing a two-year contract with virtual network operator (VNO) Sirocom.

The system will allow 1,200 remote workers at the financial services firm to access business applications more easily when they are working from home or while travelling.

Standard Life’s sales team will be able to use the Siroconnect product to access a number of key applications, including Salesforce.com customer relationship management (CRM) tools, email, and quote and cost analysis systems that are accessible via the corporate intranet.

Standard Life and Sirocom have installed broadband in 150 consultants’ homes and plan to provide WiFi and 3G connectivity via supplier iPass to all remote workers by October.

‘Employees will be able to take the laptop they are using at home and then go and use WiFi in Starbucks or even connect by dial-up,’ said Derek Murray, network architect at Standard Life.

‘Our sales team is required to travel extensively on a daily basis. Access to corporate applications is critical, and as a result we need to guarantee ubiquitous, secure access to the corporate network at even the most remote locations.’

Standard Life expects to make financial savings of between 30 and 40 per cent over the two-year contract, by reducing the cost of previous systems.

Further savings will be made using Sirocom’s VNO business model, meaning employees can access the internet and corporate systems via 100,000 access points around the world. Instead of having to set up multiple contracts with different network operators, Sirocom selects the best deal with local telcos and provides a single bill to Standard Life.

Standard Life will also be able to view employee use via Sirocom’s FlexiVision web portal and bill internet departments.

The new remote working system will also add heightened security and use SurfControl web filtering technology to ensure that employees do not access sites that contain malicious software or content.

‘If an employee tries to access the network but does not have the current version of anti-virus software then the virtual private network onto the system will not be created,’ said Murray.

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