Whether an enterprise or a small business, SD-WAN technology can improve your network. This technology can increase network performance while providing cost savings and security. It’s ideal for companies moving towards a cloud-first strategy.
Cloud-first enterprises
Cloud-first enterprises need a business-driven SD-WAN edge-platform to ensure a high-quality experience for end users and IT. This technology automates cloud connectivity, secures direct Internet access, and simplifies data transfers across multi-cloud deployments. It also provides unified control and management, enabling IT to focus on applications.
The SD-WAN Edge platform for cloud-native enterprises offers a centralized management interface that gives complete visibility and control over a distributed network. It also helps organizations reduce the complexity of networking and improve application performance. In addition, its virtualized infrastructure also offers greater flexibility and manageability.
Cost-savings
SD-WAN, or Software-Defined Wide Area Network, enables organizations to save money on WAN connectivity. It separates applications from the underlying network services and uses a virtual overlay. The virtual overlay monitors the performance characteristics of underlying networks and selects the best path for each application based on configured policies.
In addition, SD-WAN allows businesses to maximize bandwidth at branch offices. This can lead to better user experiences and improved productivity. Moreover, SD-WAN can help organizations reap the benefits of cloud-based services. The result is a more efficient network, which can increase top-line revenue, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
Another advantage of SD-WAN is that it can manage multiple connections, such as private, public, or hybrid cloud networks. In addition, it can also support applications hosted in the cloud, including SaaS services. SD-WAN can automatically route traffic over the best path in real time and forward cloud-bound traffic directly to branch locations.
Reliability
The SD-WAN Edge platform is designed to extend control and connectivity to cloud environments. It comes in three subscription tiers: transactional, enterprise, and enterprise+. All subscriptions are based on software and include support for multi-cloud infrastructure.
While SD-WAN has several benefits, it is not without drawbacks. For example, many SD-WAN solutions do not offer integrated security. This means that branch locations must install separate security products. Additionally, many SD-WAN solutions cannot handle mobile and cloud traffic. Another drawback is that most SD-WAN solutions rely on the public internet, which can lead to reliability concerns. Fortunately, many of these issues can be solved with a secure access service edge platform.
Security
A well-designed SD-WAN platform should include comprehensive end-to-end security capabilities. For instance, a business-driven SD-WAN platform should provide next-generation firewall support and orchestrate and enforce end-to-end segmentation. Further, it should span the LAN-WAN-data center environment to provide a seamless, end-to-end networking experience. It should also support SD-WAN devices located at the branch or enterprise data center. Finally, security policies should be consistent and centralized, as opposed to being configured on individual devices.
Another critical feature of SD-WAN is its flexibility in handling many connections. It automatically moves traffic between different transport options, achieving optimal performance and cost per application. In addition, SD-WAN solutions can significantly reduce capital costs, saving enterprises money by avoiding the deployment and maintenance of point-to-point network infrastructure. They can also simplify the connectivity process across hybrid environments, allowing for zero-touch provisioning and analytics.