Open Source Tools for the Modern Workplace

Organisations need a wide range of software tools in order to run efficiently, especially with a large section of their workforce working from home, fully or partially. Thankfully, there are quite a few open source tools they can rely on.

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Workplaces have undergone tremendous changes in recent years, from using desktops and laptops, to virtual desktops, the cloud, mobile devices, containers, and so on. A number of commercial tools and platforms have enabled this transformation. Many open source alternative tools have also evolved over time, which reduce cost, avoid vendor monopoly and improve interoperability.

VPNs and remote working During Covid-19, almost everyone was forced to work from home. To quickly facilitate remote access to IT systems, many IT departments started using VPNs for all. Post Covid, hybrid working has become the new normal. Bring your own device (BYOD) adoption and rise of the gig economy has accelerated remote working even further. Remote teams need to access enterprise applications and data in a secure manner. A virtual private network (VPN) gives online privacy and anonymity. It creates a private network from a public internet connection, and establishes a secure and encrypted connection for greater privacy.

A remote access VPN connection allows a user to connect to an enterprise private network from a remote location using a laptop or desktop computer connected to the internet. The user can access the secure resources on that network as if they were directly plugged into the network’s servers. Pulse Secure, Cisco’s AnyConnect, etc, are some commercial VPN solutions used by enterprises. There are a number of enterprise-level, open source VPN solutions that meet the needs of any corporation, large or small. Popular open source VPNs are:

• OpenVPN: