Much has been said over the years about the pros and cons of telecommuting, and yet for some reason many business managers still feel a great deal of resistance toward the notion. As a professional geek this is something quite baffling to me. Especially in light of a recent article that reported on findings of several studies on the subject.

Managers know how to do the cost analysis, so I won’t go into that here. Instead, I’m going to spend a few minutes discussing some of the variables affecting remote users from a technology perspective, so that business managers can make a decision from a more informed position.

So what does a telecommuter need to function properly but from their home? Well first they need a computer of course. Then they need an internet connection, a phone line, and some manner of connecting back to the office securely. You’d also want to probably give them a firewall for security as well.

Laptops work well for telecommuters, especially since there may be times where they need to go to the office. If they can sit down at an empty desk and work away for a while before or after meetings, then take that same computer home and continue working, then the work flow can continue uninterrupted. This makes far more sense than having a desktop for the home user. The caveat: make sure that the laptop is properly secured, and protected against potential data loss.

Managing the computer is easy to do over a remote connection. Help desk tools are available that work across remote connections, so if the telecommuter needs tech support there can be no added hurdles. A properly designed infrastructure can make this management an absolute breeze. The catch to this one? Testing. Use a pilot group to make sure that everything works the way you expect, before doing a mass roll-out.

Home network security can be provided with a firewall. The type of device needed to make this work properly is not expensive. In fact most consumer-grade devices will perform the4 task adequately. This helps by reducing the cost and complexity of deployment. Believe me when I say that your IT department will thank you for taking that approach.

And how do you ensure that the connection to the home office is secure? The easiest way is to deploy a virtual private network (VPN). I’ve discussed VPN’s briefly, but the short version is that it provides a way to secure communication between two end points. There are many options for the ‘office’ portion of this one. Some are easy to deploy, some are more complicated. Microsoft Windows servers have at least basic VPN endpoint software built-in, and specialized devices are also available. The difference between them is chiefly in the options for security, and the cost – the more options and the tighter the security you want, the more money you need to spend. Of course, security is never a bad thing though, is it?

The total hardware and software cost to deploy a remote user from scratch (not including the office portion of the setup) is somewhere around the $2000 mark plus an additional $100-200/month or so in running costs (phone and internet). And considering that an 8×8 cubicle, at $2.50/ sq. ft. costs $1960 per year, you may not see any ROI until at least year 2.

So is it worth it? Most geeks will say yes. The flexibility and accommodating atmosphere can make a large positive difference in productivity, with no loss of functionality. Of course, since it’s a bit more of a complex subject you should talk to your technical support provider about the options that are best for you. And then get ready to dial into the future.