Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010 Available in January 2010

Customers looking for a new access solution for their corporate network, or to upgrade from Intelligent Application Gateway will have a new product from Microsoft available in early 2010. Already released to manufacturing, Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010 will start being offered to customers in early January 2010, Microsoft noted. The commercial version of Forefront UAG will be offered via the Volume Licensing Service Center, but the fact of the matter is that the solution is already available for download.

“UAG was first introduced in the second half of 2007 and its release is a significant milestone in over 2 year’s journey, creating a world-leading Access solution. Building on its predecessor, Intelligent Application Gateway, UAG enables remote access via managed and unmanaged PCs and mobile devices. It integrates a deep understanding of applications, the health state of end user devices, and the user’s identity for greater security and reduced management costs,” revealed a member of the Forefront UAG team.

Officially launched at the start of December 2009, together with Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 (TMG), UAG 2010 was only RTM’d in the second half of December. Subsequently, the Redmond company released an evaluation version of IAG’s successor on the Microsoft Download Center. The bits continue to be up for grabs even at this point in time, for customers that want to take the product out for a spin ahead of deciding whether to buy it or not. The trial version of Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010 is time bombed, and set to expire after 120 days.

“While UAG provides a variety of connectivity options, such web publishing and SSL VPN tunnels, one of the best new features is UAG’s support and enhancements for Windows DirectAccess (DA). DA is the future of remote access allowing for seamless, always-on connectivity. Always-on keeps users happy as they are continually productive, but it also keeps administrators content as users are “always-managed.” UAG helps make DA deployments simpler, more extensible and easier to scale,” the Forefront UAG team’s representative added.

Unified Access Gateway 2010 is available for download here.