Top 4 business VPNs — improving your business cybersecurity
Keeping all cybersecurity principles in check has become a regular business procedure. Over the last few years, data and information have become one of the most valued assets a business can have. However, storing that data and keeping it safe has become a constant struggle, especially for small business owners. Today the most feared criminal in the business environment doesn’t go around stealing laptops and other costly devices but goes after data, the thing that can make or break any company.
But setting up the correct network security software and policies can be a hassle for business owners that no little about this matter. For non-tech-savvy managers, without an IT department on hand, it can be challenging to understand the basics of each security tool and to what extent it is needed. But I’m here to guide the way to the most simple cybersecurity software tool on the market today — a VPN. The reason that I chose to talk about business network security and VPNs is that all other essential security apps are pretty much standard procedure (antivirus and firewall). However, a VPN is a tool that goes the extra mile and is very easy to grasp for beginners.
What is a business VPN, and how can it benefit a business?
A VPN, in the most general terms, acts as a tunnel for your data, encrypting it and making it unreachable for any cybercriminals. Using a VPN on your devices, let’s you browse the web anonymously without leaving a trace of your IP address. To some, this may not be needed daily, but a business VPN has many more features to offer when compared to a regular consumer-based VPN.
- Dedicated IP addresses for business needs (dedicated IPs help personalize priority servers)
- Easy account control (multiple account management)
- Easy database accessibility (safely access databases even when not at the office)
- Extra security settings (depending on your chosen provider)
- Centralized billing (meaning an endless amount of accounts can be calculated into one monthly bill)
These features can benefit small to medium-sized businesses in numerous ways. Some companies still choose private VPN providers for business needs, which is not always effective in terms of efficiency, privacy, personalization, and even cost.
What other benefits can a VPN offer to a business? VPNs are more universal than one might think, and can be used for multiple other reasons:
- Online anonymity — this can be helpful when tracking competitors or for general security issues.
- Marketing research — a VPN can significantly benefit marketing research as connecting to other country servers can supply more accurate search engine results.
- Better pricing deals — a VPN can also help companies like travel suppliers look for cheaper plane or hotel tickets, having the ability to remain anonymous and connect to any worldwide server can help get better pricing deals on numerous products.
- Business travel — a VPN can benefit business travel in the sense that with a VPN, employees will be able to access private company databases from anywhere in the world. Using a VPN abroad can also help bypass geo-blocks that are an often pain when working in other countries.
- Secure Wifi — you can have a small wireless network that uses multiple access points for better wifi transmission.
Business VPNs and VPNs, in general, can greatly benefit any company of any industry, as it is a universal software tool.
Top business VPNs on the market
Picking best practices for network security can be tricky if you do not have sufficient knowledge on the matter. Here I will try to rank the top business VPNs on the market, including their top features and prices. This may help you narrow down your choices and pick the best provider for your needs.
NordVPN Teams
NordVPN Teams is among the most used private user VPNs to date. It provides users with 5700+ servers in 60+ countries worldwide. Earlier this year, it introduced a new product called NordVPN Teams, that is made for business owners who prefer to outsource certain cybersecurity tools.
NordVPN Teams is a business VPN solution that can be used by freelancers, small, and medium-sized businesses.
What do they offer?
- Dedicated company servers — a company can have static IP addresses assigned, meant for the company’s use only. This supplies easy access to corporate resources and IP-sensitive websites.
- Control panel — a unified management panel meant created for effective employee administration.
- Dedicated 24/7 support — dedicated account manager, who personally address any business client needs.
Pricing?
There are no concrete price tiers as of yet if you want to find out how much this software tool will cost your business, you have to fill out a form. As far as I know, pricing is then calculated according to business details. However, NordVPNs private VPN has pretty average pricing, so I estimate that business solutions should also be priced accordingly.
VyprVPN
VyprVPN is an American-based VPN service also offering both private and business-oriented business services. For their business packages, VyprVPN offers two business solutions: VyprVPN for business and VyprVPN for business cloud.
VyprVPN states that its two services are meant for entrepreneurs, journalists, traveling employees, and distributed workforces.
What do they offer?
- NAT firewall — an additional layer of security that blocks unrequested inbound traffic when connected to VyprVPN.
- Dedicated account manager — 24/7 support to business clients for any business need. Quick responses to network problems.
- Apps for every device — easy-to-use apps on a variety of devices such as windows, mac, android, ios, and TV.
Pricing?
The primary information that VyprVPN offers on pricing is the two deal price starting points. The VyprVPN for business package starts at $299 per year, although it is not clear on how many accounts this can get you, you can always reach out and ask or try a free trial. And for the VyprVPN for business cloud package starts at $349 per year, the price differs because of dedicated IP costs.
Perimeter81
Perimeter81 is a business solution powered by a private VPN supplier SaferVPN. SaferVPN has 700+ servers in 34+ countries worldwide. Perimeter 81 is one of their business services that claim to be “The zero-trust network as a service”.
Perimeter81 is an industry leader trusted VPN service.
What do they offer?
- Secure cloud and network access — this ensures user-centric and adaptive network access to in-house resources, such as company databases, SaaS applications.
- Site-to-site interconnectivity — lets you interconnect your cloud environments and different network branches.
- Cloud VPN — provides remote corporate access via Cloud VPN.
Pricing?
Pricing is based monthly, offering businesses services from $8/month per team member with adjustable features like a dedicated gateway for $40/month. Perimeter81 also provides personalized packages for businesses with larger amounts of staff members.
PureVPN
PureVPN is yet another private VPN that has come out with a business service. PureVPNs private VPN service offers users over 2000+ servers in 140+ countries worldwide. PureVPN business solutions are broken down into three main categories: VPN for teams, dedicated IP VPN for teams, and dedicated server VPN for teams.
PureVPN has over 5000 business clients already using their business VPN services.
What do they offer?
- Internet kill switch — this is a connection kill switch for whenever your VPN connection drops so that no information or data is leaked when the VPN disconnects.
- IP whitelisting — whitelists specific IP addresses for access to one dedicated IP.
- 24/7 technical support — around the clock technical support for any business needs.
Pricing?
PureVPN provides a billing system depending on the number of team members. With the least amount of team members, prices start at $8.45/month per user and go up to $399 per month for a dedicated VPN server for teams. PureVPN also provides the possibility of monthly or annual billing.
So these are my top-ranked business VPNs on the market to date. I strongly advice companies to consider purchasing or even just trying out a business VPN as it has numerous merits. The only thing to keep in mind is that when choosing a VPN for business purposes, be sure to select a business-oriented VPN and not a private VPN service. This will benefit you both price-wise and quality service-wise.
