As the content delivery market becomes more and more crowded, Akamai Technologies Inc. is increasingly looking elsewhere for growth opportunities.

As part of the effort, the Internet giant today launched a cloud-based remote access service that promises to help companies make internal applications more easily reachable. It targets the growing number of people who perform their work on mobile devices, as well as the suppliers and other third parties that a firm must accommodate. Such outsiders often require the same degree of access as internal staff even though they command less trust.

Maintaining a strong security posture in these circumstances is difficult. Companies normally need multiple tools to address the challenge: A virtual private network to establish secure connections for users, authentication software that can regulate access and the list goes on. Akamai describes its new Enterprise Application Access service as a much more convenient alternative that is easier to manage while leaving fewer moving pieces for hackers to exploit.

At the core of the offering is technology that the company gained through its acquisition of Soha Systems Inc. in October. According to Akamai, the service lets users access their applications through a direct TLS connection without having to open any firewall ports. The more advanced tasks involved in securing inbound connections can in turn be handled through a back-end administrative console.

Enterprise Application Access provides single sign-on support, a logging mechanism that records every important action and security controls for regulating who can interact with what application. Akamai says that the service enables administrators to enforce customized policies based on a variety of factors ranging from a user’s corporate affiliation to their location.

Enterprise Application Access comes as a valuable addition for the company’s burgeoning security lineup, which is emerging as a vital source of revcenue. The business was credited as one of the main drivers behind the 6 percent sales increase that the company reported during its last earnings call. The report easily beat analyst expectations and sent Akamai’s stock price up more than 15 percent to a 12-month high.

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