The decentralised IT environment is constantly evolving thanks to SD-WAN. Organisations are making operational changes, and SD-WAN is helping in securing remote access to applications. Enterprises with distributed offices are unable to provide responsiveness and security with their existing Network infrastructure. It is here that network evolution helps optimise the management structure to connect the distributed workforce. Enterprises are looking for cost-effective solutions to connect to the cloud, data centre, and applications on their existing network, and it is here that SD-WAN can pitch in.

The SD-WAN integrates with the existing WAN architecture to discover the most effective traffic route. SD-WAN facilitates monitoring through a centralised controller, enabling network managers to control and configure based on real-time network traffic without the need for on-site IT support.

How is SD-WAN bridging the gap between distributed offices?
Application optimisation: A regular enterprise using over 300 cloud-based applications can report performance issues with apps. This could be due to hitches in traditional WAN architecture that call for cloud-destined traffic to be backhauled to the data centre. It leads to latency issues that degrade application performance.

SD-WAN can make a difference here. It enables direct cloud connectivity, bypassing the need for backhauling. Performance is improved with application-aware routing, which identifies app characteristics and applies optimisation techniques to give priority to latency-sensitive overload.

Hybrid Work: When employees connect to a shared network, there is a possibility of network congestion and bandwidth contention. Introducing SD-WAN into your enterprise network can help scale up or down bandwidth depending on your needs to meet your organisation’s demands. Another way to reduce congestion is to choose multi-path connectivity and intelligent routing to improve traffic management. SD-WAN supports real-time applications crucial for a distributed workforce.

Edge Computing: Computing and storage resources are deployed close to the users and data centre, minimising latency and preserving bandwidth. Traditional WAN is challenging to connect and manage due to its manual nature. SD-WAN supports centralised management and configuration of edge routers. Once the routing policies are defined and the traffic is prioritised, SD-WAN designs and controls the application policies and traffic flow depending on the network conditions.

Integrated Security: In a distributed office, data is constantly moving between data centres, remote users, brand offices, cloud offices, and edge sites, creating security risks. SD-WAN helps create a highly integrated security environment that delivers consistent policy application across systems, devices, and end-users.

SD-WAN allows network connectivity for Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions, which combine Firewall-as-service, network segmentation, cloud access security brokers, and zero-trust security controls into one cloud-delivered service. This not only simplifies data protection but also reduces the number of security products used in an organisation to manage and maintain the network.

SD-WAN has its challenges. Organisations deploy multiple SD-WAN platforms for different branches, geographically distributed applications, and user groups. Interoperability problems can cause issues during management and upgrades.

SD-WAN is essential for organisations looking to fulfil their digital goals without interrupting their business continuity while catering to branch offices and remote workforces with limited infrastructure. SD-WAN features like centralised management and zero-touch deployments provide quick configuration rollouts, allowing the collaborative applications to perform well, even while delivering to a large number of remote users.

If you thought SD-WAN was for branch offices only, then it is time to change your perception. Today, SD-WAN has become a technology that supports multiple use cases, such as WFH, data center to cloud, etc. It helps connect clouds to deliver an enriching user experience while protecting critical applications.

One cannot forget that security is critical in SD-WAN. Overlay is not a solution for dynamic connectivity environments with multiple networks. Organisations need a full stack of security embedded into every SD-WAN device, enabling home users, data centers, and branch offices to share common security policies. Moreover, it allows security to adjust to dynamic changes and offers protection across the network.

SD-WAN has a significant role in modern business infrastructure. It facilitates a fast and secure rollout of a networking environment with easy connectivity to users and resources, applications, and data. Moreover, it can reduce the deployment time by connecting every single branch office, remote worker, distributed cloud environment, or data center to a distributed network, making SD-WAN a highly secure option.

SMOAD Managed SD-WAN is a turnkey solution to safely and securely connect distributed offices like remote users, branch offices, hybrid works, and cloud workloads. SMOAD Managed SD-WAN consolidates multiple providers to one partner and a single invoice for all your distributed offices.

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