In today’s business environment, you can’t afford to have poor Internet connections. With so many business-critical applications hosted in the cloud, downtime or unreliable connections can cost you dearly.
In addition, if your business has multiple locations, you also need to connect all the offices through an external network and the most common solution is using WAN connections.
However, WAN connections can be slow and unreliable at times but thankfully, you don’t have to put up with it anymore.
By switching to an SD-WAN technology, you can increase uptime while saving on operational cost.
What’s SD-WAN
SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide-Area Network. While most companies use WAN connections for communications between multiple locations, the solution is often inefficient, costly and inflexible. The ROI on traditional WAN is unsatisfactory, given SD-WAN as an alternative.
SD-WAN is a software-defined upgrade or update to traditional WAN technologies. The network control is hosted in the cloud and the connections to each site can combine fibre, broadband and traditional technology to deliver flexibility and cost-savings.
Why Switch To SD-WAN?
Compared to WAN, SD-WAN offers improved service, flexibility, and broader capabilities. Here are the top reasons to switch to SD-WAN:
1. Independence and Flexibility
SD-WAN allows you to aggregate a variety of circuit types at any location, based on what’s available. You can use 4G, LTE, MPLS, Internet, or fixed wireless. These services can be delivered by fiber, copper, coax, or over the air.
2. Security
Instead of implementing security measures on each individual location, SD-WAN allows you to set up universal security functions, such as cloud web content filtering, malware defenses, and intervention protocols so all systems can be updated in a timely manner. It also has built-in encryption capabilities so only authorized users can access your data.
3. Smart Pathway Control
SD-WAN allows you to increase efficiency by steering traffic based on the applications used and the bandwidth required. This can be controlled either from a centralized location or at each individual site.
4. Reduced Equipment and Bandwidth Cost
The technology helps reduce bandwidth cost since you can use a much more affordable standard internet connection instead of a designated MPLS without compromising network speed, security, and uptime.
5. Automatic Configuration and Ease of Deployment
SD-WAN simplifies the deployment of WAN systems for businesses. You can send devices to each location unconfigured, thereby reducing IT workload. Upon activation, each device can download its own policy, crypto certificate, and keys based on the location and access requirements.
6. Rapid Provisioning
You can provision new locations quickly using broadband circuits instead of waiting long lead-times for fiber installations. This can significantly reduce the time and cost required to connect a new branch to the corporate network. In addition, the system can learn traffic pattern to further simplify provisioning.
7. Streamlined Management
The cloud-based solution helps facilitate the deployment of WAN services (e.g., firewalls, security updates) to each individual site. It also streamlines the management and orchestration of IT activities (e.g., scaling up or down bandwidth needs) from a central location so you don’t have to send IT personnel to each individual branch. As a result, critical updates can be made cost-efficiently in a timely manner.
8. Single Interface
IT administrators can be notified of any issue and manage the entire WAN for the enterprise through a single interface without manually configuring the network at each individual location.
9. Lower IT Overhead and Operational Spending
The ability to centralize network management and automate provisioning means you can reduce overhead since you no longer need a full IT team at each location. In addition, the lower ongoing operational cost can help increase the profitability of the organization.
10. Business Growth and Expansion
The low cost and ease of deployment allow businesses using SD-WAN to expand quickly as they can get new branches up and running with much less friction. This allows organizations to be more nimble and respond to market conditions in a more agile manner.
Conclusion
SD-WAN is the most cost-efficient way to set up your network so you can maximize flexibility, security, and agility.
Want to see the technology in action? Request a demo and get a hands-on look at how you can change the way you network.