The is the second instalment of a two-part series on using technology to work remotely.

The Idea Of Accessing Your office computer’s resources while enjoying your own idea of paradise is appealing. And whether you choose to work from a villa in Puerto Vallarta or an apartment in Paris, the options for doing so are broad. You can store data in the “cloud” and by using a virtual assistant to help you while you travel. But how can you access your full desktop resources while abroad?

Taking your PC along with you, with all of the computing power and data that you need, is one option, but that would be logistically inconvenient. The ideal situation would be to travel as light as possible while having access to all your computing resources. One solution is to carry an iPad or an Android tablet, which can give you access to your office computer using a third-party application.

LogMeIn Ignition, provided by Woburn, Mass.-based LogMeIn Inc. , is an application for tablet computers that enables users to access remotely the desktop of any computer that is registered to that user’s LogMeIn account and is running a small piece of the software. This setup means you can access your home PC and your office computer — and even your assistant’s or your mother’s PC, if you need to — all from a single, lightweight tablet device.

The desktop of any PC (or Mac) that you access will be displayed on your tablet computer as though you are using it locally. You can copy files between any of the devices registered to your LogMeIn account, and you can also save them locally to your tablet computer.

Assuming that you don’t need to do too much graphics-intensive work, LogMeIn could be a workable solution. It gives you the ability to travel extremely light, with a reliable device that contains no hard drive.

The potential downside is that in the event of a power failure or other mishap back home, you may find yourself without computer access at a critical time. You must, therefore, factor contingencies and downtime into your plan or copy essential files to your local tablet that will enable you to perform critical tasks if your office computer goes down.

That said, some alternatives do provide the ability to take control of a PC remotely, even when it is not turned on or it has no functioning operating system.

Some Intel processors contain a tiny, embedded server application called VNC, which allows another computer to control it over the Internet. Because these processors include the VNC functionality directly in the hardware, this provides what technology experts call “out of band” control. This feature enables operations such as a remote reboot and switching on, along with operating system reinstalls.@page_break@The alternative is simply to use a whole virtual computer, hosted in the cloud. Many competitors are appearing in this space, offering web-based access to Windows computers that exist nowhere other than on the Internet, enabling you to log in to a desktop computer as though it were just another website. These services, such as Vesk Virtual Desktop, Nivio and NextDesktop, all provide varying degrees of service and packages of rented applications that you can then use on these cloud-based virtual operating systems.

I have experienced limited success with these services. While the idea is good in theory, in practice, I ran into problems getting online machines to accept passwords for hosted desktops I had already set up, and some virtual desktops I had created and tried to start up would not load at all.

It is also worth noting that some of these systems require you to use separate, client-side software to access the virtual desktop, which may not be available for tablet devices — meaning you may have to use your PC anyway or, at least, have access to a third-party PC on which you can load this third-party software.

If you do decide to take your PC on the road, you may have to make arrangements to enable your tech support staff to control your machine remotely should it suffer technical difficulties.

“Small businesses need to keep in mind how they’re going to support the mobile technology should something go wrong,” says Stuart Facey, EMEA general manager with Ridgeland, Miss.-based Bomgar Corp. , which supplies remote-support software. “In addition to equipping financial advisors with mobile devices, your firm’s IT rep may need to acquire the tools to support and fix those devices remotely, so you won’t have to come into the office every time you hit a glitch.”

In addition to Bomgar’s tool, another piece of software, TeamViewer, provides access for remote support. Systems administrators can use this tool to control computers in the field remotely, solving technical problems for users without having to travel to the site.

Other options can minimize your technology footprint even further. If you are truly adventurous, you may dispense with a laptop and a tablet computer altogether, and just use an Internet café.

Solutions such as Virtual Box, a free, open-source product, enable you to install an operating system on a removable USB drive, such as a hard drive or USB key. You can then insert that USB storage device into a host computer, such as one in an Internet café or the business centre in your hotel or villa. Virtual Box will run the virtual operating system from your removable drive, using the host PC. Essentially, it’s a PC in your pocket.

For the most part — aside, perhaps, from some cloud-based virtual desktops — the technology behind all this is relatively easy. It is the change in process that might go awry if you don’t plan it properly. Prospective clients may not be happy with remote Skype conversations, so you may need to plan your sojourns of working in paradise for times when you’re not actively trying to build your book with new prospects.

This remote working practice is more likely to suit you if you are an established advisor who has built up a solid book of business over the years. What better reward for all that hard work? IE