No matter what industry you belong to or what size of business you own, internet connection is a crucial part of every business operation today. Its importance has all the more increased with the popularity of cloud-based applications. Poor quality connections reduce the efficiency of your staff and affect your bottom line. This is because it directly impacts your entire business operations; it reduces your profitability and, in turn, your revenue. So if it has been a long time since you haven’t made significant changes to your wide area network (WAN), it is high time to transition to SD WAN (Software-defined wide area network).
WAN (wide area network) connects local area networks (LANs), separated by a significant distance from a few miles to thousands of miles. Software defined-WAN applies SD networking technology to the organization’s WAN connections. Still not clear? Continue reading! This article will help you understand everything about Software-defined WAN in detail.
What is SD WAN?
It is a programmatic and automated approach to managing organization network connectivity and the cost of circuits. It extends software-defined networking (SDN) into a software application allowing enterprises to create smart hybrid WAN quickly and efficiently. It utilizes software and virtual network overlays and has made WANs easier to design, build and operate while addressing the challenges associated with the cloud, mobility, and the internet of things.
It would not be wrong to say that software-defined networking has redefined the static world of WANs. Moreover, it has modernized networks and solved the problems like multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) costs and management of complex networks. Organizations widely adopt it as a cost-effective and reliable way to connect their branch offices to data centers and IaasS, SaaS, and other cloud-based applications.
Since time has changed and technology has evolved, more and more businesses have started using SaaS and IaaS applications in multiple clouds. Organizations have realized that the user experience is degrading. Furthermore, traditional WAN cannot manage the unprecedented explosion of traffic, data vulnerability, and application-performance unpredictability.
Benefits of SD WAN
Here are the top four benefits of software-defined WAN:
Boosts security
That said, digital transformation is a double-edged sword. It, of course, helps improve customer experience and extend customer reach; it also exposes your organization to various security risks. The good news is that software-defined WAN comes with an in-built security system and a wide range of integrated security features, including IPS, encryption, AV, NGFW, and sandboxing that help prevent downtime and data loss, legal liabilities, and regulatory violations.
Improve performance
Software-defined WAN offers a faster business connection and enables multiple high-bandwidth WAN links, thus optimizing performance. Over that, it uses AI to manage traffic coming from various locations and re-route them to the highest-performing available link. This maximizes the capacity nf the network and improves the user experience.
Lowers complexity
The larger an enterprise scales, the more complex WAN management becomes, which ultimately becomes a burden for organizations to maintain and manage. Plus, it becomes challenging to achieve granular visibility into the network. SD wide area networks resolve this issue by providing a centralized and integrated view of the network, which is easy to manage.
Reduces costs
SD WAN is considered the most cost-efficient solution for global networks compared to traditional WANs. It does not lock the customers into an overarching network or demand customers to pay for extra services. Businesses say they had observed an average reduction of 40% in fees when they transitioned to the latest technology software-defined WANs.
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