The corporate VPN was built for a simple world: a few travelers who needed, occasionally, to reach into the office network from outside. When the entire workforce became remote overnight, that model was asked to do a job it was never designed for, and its limitations became liabilities.
The core problem is that a traditional VPN grants network access, not application access. Once connected, a user often sits on the same broad network segment as sensitive systems, and a compromised laptop becomes a compromised foothold. The tunnel that was meant to protect access instead widens what an attacker can reach.
The emerging answer connects users to specific applications rather than to the network as a whole. Access is brokered per-application, based on verified identity and device posture, so a person can reach exactly the tools their role requires and nothing else. The applications themselves stay invisible to anyone not explicitly authorized, which shrinks the attack surface dramatically.
This approach also solves the performance complaint that made users route around the VPN in the first place. Instead of backhauling all traffic through a central concentrator, connections take efficient paths to the resources they need, and the security controls travel with the request rather than living at a chokepoint.
For any organization whose people work from anywhere, the practical migration is gradual: identify the applications that matter, put identity-aware access in front of them, and retire the broad tunnel as coverage grows. The destination is access that is both tighter and faster than the VPN it replaces — a rare case where security and experience improve together.