How can SD-WAN modernize your business?

SD-WAN – How it is modernizing businesses through digital transformation

Companies across sectors are currently redefining how they can leverage their businesses through digital transformation. They are bringing products and services to clients faster than ever before by utilizing a range of cloud-based technologies.

Traditional enterprise networks are finding it difficult to adapt to the changes as more organizations alter their infrastructures. Majority of firms would find it challenging to keep up with the evolving needs of cloud and hybrid networks, according to a new networking worldwide survey.

Traditional networks, which have not evolved much in more than 20 years, are not designed for the cloud-based operations of modern technology. The bulk of businesses are using expensive networking technologies from the 20th century while using cutting-edge technology.

SD WAN has not yet fully replaced Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) in the majority of business enterprises, despite being rated the most disruptive network technology on the market by Avant survey in 2019.

The same survey that caused them to label it a disruptor revealed that businesses are keen to investigate the deployment of SD-WAN due to advantages including auto-failover, streamlined management, and overall cost reductions over MPLS, with smaller businesses emphasizing the third benefit in particular.

Many firms are employing software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) to continue their journey toward digital transformation through viable network access point as they upgrade their infrastructures.

The widespread use of SD-WAN technology has begun. Businesses across a variety of sectors, including retail and education, are using the advantages of SD-WAN, such as network performance optimization and complexity reduction, to enable digital transformation at scale in a far more cost-effective manner than was previously feasible.

The benefits of digital transformation with SD-WAN – What are they

It can be costly and time-consuming to increase network capacity on a conventional WAN (which wasn’t made for the cloud). However, SD-WAN may be able to offer the flexibility and agility needed to support digital transformation.

The SD-WAN concept is designed to completely support applications located in on-premises data centers, public or private clouds, and SaaS services while ensuring the greatest levels of application performance. This is in contrast to the established router-centric WAN architecture.

With the same architecture, SD-WAN is intended to handle SaaS products, on-premise data centers, and applications running in both public and private clouds. For organizations, it is a revolutionary strategy.

In comparison to conventional MPLS connections, SD-WAN offers a number of real advantages, including significantly lower costs from using commercial internet and the capacity to manage and prioritize vital business applications more easily.

In fact, Gartner predicts that by the end of 2023, more than a quarter of organizations will manage their wide area networks (WANs) through software, and IDC predicts that the market for SD-WAN infrastructure will grow to $5.25 billion by the end of 2023.

When SD-WAN is implemented properly, the network may change to meet changing IT requirements. There are three main advantages to using this low-cost method to increase the capacity and flexibility of business networks and these include-

Better-performing services

SD-WAN supports digital technologies that boost corporate productivity and helps build quick and dependable connectivity for next-generation services. In general, it enhances businesses’ capacity to better keep track of application performance and end-user experience.

Uptime and availability

The networks’ uptime and availability are essential to many business processes. Fortunately, SD_WAN supports link failover and load balancing. SD-WAN can also provide automatic failover, which means that if the primary connection goes down, the SD-WAN CPE will automatically switch to a secondary connection to ensure that there is no interruption in network connectivity.

This can help to improve uptime and availability by ensuring that the network remains operational even in the event of a failure.

Digital first mindset

A software-driven virtual network is a great method to ensure that digital transformation is the standard for enterprises. Enterprise networks are made more visible by SD-WAN, which can pave the way for the adoption of further digital technologies and ground-breaking concepts for more effective company operations.

In addition to assisting businesses in adjusting to the changes brought about by the digital revolution, SD WAN advantages also enhance overall network performance. In the end, this platform will enable businesses to maximize their available bandwidth by ensuring optimal performance across all cloud-connected networks.

How SD WAN can modernize retail and real estate businesses

Using SD-WAN solutions for retail, retailers may optimize network traffic and take advantage of the most exciting advancements cloud tools have to offer through real-time communications.

For instance, retailers by adopting SD-WAN can unify communications among numerous sites, particularly those in remote areas without dependable access to high-bandwidth connectivity. With a single bill from one provider and a single point of contact for technical support, SD-WAN simplifies and lowers costs for retailers.

Similar to this, real estate companies can set up connections with SD-WAN. They also frequently oversee many offices and employ a variety of connections, from wireless connectivity to business internet providers. With SD-WAN, businesses may unify these disparate services under one roof.

They can simplify IT management and provide the high level of service required to employ performance-critical cloud products like video conferencing, which realtors now use to give potential purchasers through virtual home tours.

SD-WAN can make it possible for real estate firms to access the cloud solutions that will ensure their success in the future through network access point without having to make expensive upfront expenditures in private circuits.

How SD WAN can modernize finance and education businesses

The banking sector, long seen as a tech-forward business, also adores SD-WAN technology. As businesses undergo a digital transformation and quickly adopt bandwidth-demanding cloud services, banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions can leverage SD-WAN to maximize network performance.

Financial institutions also have a significant demand for continuous availability, and they rely on the built-in failover capabilities of SD-WAN to stay connected and instantly switch to the backup source in the case of an outage.

Financial companies with dispersed sites may see and control their WAN as a single entity, easing administration and maintenance, thanks to self-provisioning and automation features.

In educational sector, universities and other educational institutions by using SD-WAN solutions in their campuses can prevent the problematic network congestion that occurs when a student population consisting of digital natives’ accesses bandwidth-intensive services and strains the campus network.

Campus network managers may easily apply network policies across a complicated, segmented network environment due to SD-WAN systems’ improved bandwidth control.

Additionally, network managers have a better understanding of what is utilizing their bandwidth, which aids in their decision-making about network architecture and policies.

Conclusion – An outlook

Previously, SD-WAN was viewed as a specialized technology, but that is no longer the case. The development of SD-WAN technology has been one of the quickest industry transitions that businesses across sectors have witnessed in recent years.

Links:

https://www.vonage.com/resources/articles/why-every-industry-uses-sd-wan-benefits-digitally-transform/

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2022/08/10/how-sd-wan-and-sase-are-driving-digital.html#:~:text=SD%2DWAN%20can%20automatically%20adapt,with%20on%2Dpremises%20equipment%20upkeep.