VMware targets remote work security with Anywhere Workspace

Providing secure access to vital applications has been a key challenge for businesses forced to adapt to remote working during the pandemic. And with many businesses set to continue to support a distributed workforce even after offices reopen, it will remain a priority for IT for some time.

With this in mind, VMware has unveiled a suite of security and endpoint management tools to support remote workers. VMware Anywhere Workspace, announced on Tuesday, combines VMware’s Workspace One, a “digital workspace platform” that delivers applications across a range of devices, with its Carbon Black Cloud endpoint security tools and SASE, which provides secure network access for distributed teams.

“By combining these three things we can deliver value to the stakeholders that include employees, the CIO, CISO, lines of business and HR,” said Shankar Iyer, SVP and general manager, end user computing at VMware. “This results in highly engaged employees, a broader and more effective security model, reduced cost and overhead.”

The tools will provide a “great user experience and consistent performance on any device, from any location, over any network,” said Renu Upadhyay, vice president for product and technical marketing, end user computing at VMware.

VMware said that Anywhere Workspace meets customer demand for an integrated product offering. An integration between Workspace One and Carbon Black Cloud will bring “physical and virtual endpoint management and security capabilities” together, for instance, while Workspace One and SASE will enable zero trust network access over globally deployed points of presence. More integrations are planned going forward.

The move to remote work exposed weaknesses in IT operations and business infrastructures, especially around how end-user workspaces or working environments are handled, said Phil Hochmuth, IDC program vice president covering enterprise mobility. VMware’s Anywhere Workspace tools can help here, he said.

“Getting devices delivered, set up, configured, and secure to spec has been a huge challenge for organizations where all the tools they used for this were based on the premise that the device would be inside the corporate perimeter (on-prem firewalls/corporate LANS, or remote VPN/WAN setups),” he said.

The launch of the Anywhere Workspace suite is “very timely,” said Bob Laliberte, practice director and senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. As organizations embrace work-from-home and hybrid work strategies, IT teams are required to deliver “secure, personalized experiences that also ensure workers are productive, regardless of where they are working,” he said. With this in mind, a packaged suite of apps “should be attractive to customers, enabling a comprehensive solution to power a secure hybrid work environment and be able to scale,” Laliberte said.

Pricing for Anywhere Workspace, which is available now, depends on individual products used.