Network needs are becoming more complex in enterprises. No longer simply managing the connections with desktops and laptops, the need to support mobile employees, cloud technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT), networks are becoming exponentially more complicated. It’s no wonder many enterprises are turning to software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) to address these challenges successfully.
What is SD-WAN? An SD-WAN approach allows the enterprise to use business policy to determine the path for network traffic through the WAN. It also offers a wide variety of benefits for organizations as they grow and launch new branch locations, including scalability, centralized management and troubleshooting, and improved visibility into the network. Not only is it cost-efficient, but it also allows for segmentation of network traffic, which serves security purposes as well.
SD-WAN helps enterprises save on capital expenses as they run a software overlay on commodity hardware. Through this overlay, network traffic can be managed for optimal performance, prioritizing critical data transmissions over an employee streaming a YouTube video on their break.
In some situations, an enterprise may have the resources to develop, launch, and maintain their own SD-WAN. After investing months into the construction of SD-WAN infrastructure, some teams may be reluctant to then turn over management of the network to a service provider. In most situations, this will not be the case.
Most enterprises should choose to outsource SD-WAN management.Implementing SD-WAN is not as simple as installing a few appliances around your branch offices. Complexity comes in with security, such as using firewalls, URL filtering, and anti-virus, in addition to internal network needs like Active Directory and print services. At the edge of the network, there may be a need for WAN optimization, traffic balancing, and bandwidth management.
Few enterprises will have the internal resources to manage all the areas of the network that are needed. Service providers have the ability to implement a hybrid solution that accommodates your MPLS, broadband, and LTE pathways. A service provider can optimize all these options so that your network connections deliver superior performance, but at a lower price than what you’ve been experiencing with your current network infrastructure.
If you would like more information about SD-WAN and other services, contact us at AMD Technology today. From networking to technology insights, AMD Technology is your ideal partner and advisor for digital transformation.