Working remotely with VMware with no internet connection

This is one of the issues that comes with working remotely and there is no way around it other than to tell them to come into the office if their internet is not working, there is just no way around it. We have home agents and if they are unable to get connected within 30 min then they are required to come into the office.

As a Business, we install Internet into the Remote User House, we give them a PC, and give them a laptop with 3G/4GB connectivity.

Joe Daly,  What is the amount of time it takes to download the local mode desktop?

I can hear it now, "You expect me to download this every day and it takes 45 minutes"?!!!

Zindel1,
What do you do about traveling employees that always run into situations where there is no internet and they need to work?

What Country are you located where there is No Internet?

We have employees, that work around the world, offline and online, without access to Internet.

We use Citrix, VMware Horizon VDI, Web email, Exchange Activesync, Dropbox, Box, Wuala, Amazon S3, Drive, Skydrive, Google to exchange data between Remote Workers and our offices.

I've also worked, offline and online, in very remote places, even in the Masi Mari in Kenya, from Hot Air Balloon!

How about White Sands New Mexico for DoD?  You ever get internet there?    I don't think so.

Do your employees need to be connected 24x7 for their applications to the Internet?

Is the VMware technology that you are using VMware View Horizon? Is it a requirement, if the user already has a laptop, he needs to access VDI ? No Local applications on the laptop?

can they worked in offline, cache mode, and use location applications, Word, Excel, Email, Presentations, what market is your business in, reading electrical meters, gas meters, oil wells, turbine generation?

Our traveling employees never know where they will have internet access because of the places they go.  Lots of places with restricted access.
They want to be able to work offline just like with a regular system, but we are moving to 100% Virtual.  We want to control the data....they want to work no matter what.  That's the dilemma.
We have very impatient work-a-holics who sometimes work from the office, sometimes from home, sometimes on the road, sometimes at a base.
They want it work when they want to work, whenever that is.  That's why they are so upset about the possibility of any downtime if they can't get internet access.

So, why can't your "on the road staff", have laptops, and local applications, so they can work offline, and then connect back into offices, when internet allows to sync back data ?

 what data are they producing?

Word documents, Excel documents?

Because their workstation can never "mingle" with the network...if they use anything other than a Zero client it MUST be sandboxed

when you were completing your Requirements gathering for your design, this was never captured from users?

Looks like you are going to have to review your design.

So why not enforce VPN, so they cannot mingle with the network, and use Remote Connectivity to connect to "inner network" when they have internet access.